#what is with this entitled mindset in politics that you should be kind to people who want to hurt you

[serial-unaliver]

lol this person saying "the left" doesn't "reach out" to incels...yeah uh if anyone wants to do that, go ahead! me personally though,

[lol-jackles]

The original Snow White is my all time fave Disney movie. I saw it in theater as a kid when they rereleased it. I hate when people who were born after 1985 take something made before the 21st century and apply a 21st century mindset to it. They talk like they want a Snow White who will make an impact as if she didn't make an impact in the original film. If you actually pay attention when watching the original movie you can see the impact that Snow White has on those around her.

I didn't realize how much I liked the OG Snow White until we got a VHS tape of a stage musical that was nearly scene to scene of the OG Snow White. I watched it over and over again with my younger cousins. It held us over until Disney finally released the original Snow White to VHS in 1994, when it broke records and sold 50 million copies worldwide. I ask again, why would current Disney think it's a swell idea to change Snow White so much in the live action remake?

Looking back I really liked how Snow White was mostly show not tell, which is the most important aspect of any movie. But a lot of movies nowadays are full of monologues of what a character needs to do and what's going on and how they're feeling instead of showing us and letting us discern for ourselves.

Snow White's value is timeless, that's why she's endured for so long because she resonates with people all over the political spectrum and why they badly reacted to Disney's remake of Snow White based on Rachel Zegler's words.  Snow White epitomizes values about hard work, not being entitled, and choosing a survivalist mentality instead of a victim "woe is me" mentality. Moreover, it is realistic to have hopes and dreams, but not at the expense of shirking your present responsibilities.  Her world was pulled out from under her and she lost everything she knew, but she got right back up.  Many adults have rent and bills to pay so they couldn't just wallow in their self pity and misery.  They have to go to work and carry on, just like Snow White did.

Snow White is relatable.  Many abuse victims grow up to be abusers at worst or assholes at best. Not their fault but still people like Snow white should be admired, she didn’t expect to receive refuge without earning a living. And Snow White helped the dwarves become better people, she even broke through Grumpy and won his affection.  The dwarves answered to NOBODY, and yet they had to answer to Snow White because they loved her, and then would kill for her by chasing the evil queen to her death.

Snow White is a great example of “the kindness you give to others comes back to you” i.e Snow White helps the baby blue bird find her parents, who then return with her parents to help Snow White. Often times the best indicator of strength isn't whether you reject your circumstances but how you choose to live with them.  Snow White (and Cinderella and Aurora) teaches lessons about emotional strength, optimism, and kindness. Not only are these important lessons, but they should be on par with the lessons that Mulan, Tiana, and Moana teach.   Kindness and optimism are just as important as bravery and leadership.

Femineity is not weak or bad, and masculinity isn't either.  Snow White was strong because she is feminine, not despite it. While it is important to show that women can have masculine traits, it is even more important to show that it is okay for women to have feminine traits.

Side note: The Disney renaissance in the '90s was shaped by a man for whom a large part of his identity was rejected by society, and he was unable to express it, which makes the Renaissance make sense for why there are so many stories about self discovery. But the older films were shaped by a man who had to work hard to keep his company afloat during extremely rough times (World War I and The Great Depression), so those stories featuring hard work and resilience make sense. Walt had said that Cinderella was his favorite heroine and the fairy godmother represented the "miracle" (through Snow White) that launch the company to success.

[iwanthermidnightz]

(You don’t have to post this if you feel it might spark conflict or anything)

Idk. I don’t think JVN’s comment was anything for anyone feel slighted by (not to discredit anyone’s feelings or anything and not to attack the anon who brought this up).

It seemed like he was just saying she was being an ally in that she made a song/video that was supportive, inclusive and embracing of the gay community, knowing the kind of people who are in her fan base or who feel entitled to dictate this double standard of what she can or can’t speak about/support with her platform. Also knowing that she’s someone who can relate to her rights (as a woman) being under attack as well.

I mean, look how some people act over how her LGBTQIA fans personally connect her music to their own experience and tour visuals. Betty had to be changed to being from the perspective of a teenage boy, when James is a gender neutral name (as is the name Taylor) and can be a girl. They think she's only supposed to cater to one group of people only. It’s always “ended Gaylors” or they call them “weird” or they're “forcing their sexuality”. Or how they acted when Rolling Stone ran that Gaylor article. They constantly look for the smallest thing to try and use to belittle or justify their behavior, when the whole time, Taylor is the one putting this out there.

Which is (in my opinion) the learned behavior/mindset that had her thinking she couldn’t speak about a community she wasn’t a part of. Because she, Taylor Swift the person can speak about it, but Taylor Swift the brand could not. She has even said she was always told to never speak about politics and we saw her arguing with her Dad about needing to do so.

Like you said, IWHM—as we all know, you can be a part of a community and still be an ally/advocate for it. Plus, do they ever stop to think why she hy wouldn’t she support something that affects her directly?

Plus, just because JVN knows her doesn’t mean he knows her. It doesn’t she’s opened up that side of herself to him yet. It’s not like he’s on an Abigail level of friendship with her. If that makes sense.

Sorry this was so long and for taking up space on your page, IWHM, but it’s just frustrating at times.

Don’t apologize, I think this is very valid and should be brought up because this is how a lot of people feel, and you said it very well. I’m sorry, I feel bad that I don’t get into the details as much anymore because it does seem to spark conflict here where people cannot have a normal conversation without throwing insults around and I don’t want to deal with that. But I appreciate when we can have these discussions, and you can come to me to share your feelings!

I agree that it seemed like jvn was just saying that she was being an ally and she made a song/video that was supportive, inclusive and embracing of the gay community and that’s important.

One part of me wants to ignore these people that claim they’re fans who treat her lqbtqia fans so horrible. Another part of me has been made to feel guilty for wanting to call it out, for fear of “being too much”. The other part of me says screw that, they don’t get to tell queer people how to feel or tell us that we make things up to push a gay narrative. That’s called gaslighting. Taylor is the one that has been signaling for years putting things out that are blatantly queer. Queer people pick up on it. That’s the way it’s always been. That’s how we find each other. So people who act like *we* are the problem are unbearable.

Taylor sees this. It’s probably part of the reason she doesn’t want to explicitly say things even though she is basically out to people who want to see it. It makes me sad that she feels she has to do things a certain way to protect herself from certain people.

I keep thinking about the lines in dear reader where she says

Dear reader, you don't have to answer / Just cause they asked you / I prefer hiding in plain sight / You wouldn't take my word for it if you knew who was talking / If you knew where I was walking / You should find another guiding light

And in sweet nothing how she says

And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more" To you, I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it

To us, she can admit that. And I know she is held to a certain standard because of who she is and her platform, but at the end of the day she’s also just a person. She’s walking a line that she’s comfortable with and as she said last night, it’s okay to give yourself permission to make decisions that work for you. And you only.

So to your point about the double standard of what she can or can’t speak about/support with her platform, I agree. I’m kind of in between on this. Do I wish she would speak out more forcefully? Yes. Do I think she must? No. I believe she has a long list of considerations to take into account, but I also feel like she’s spoken out on important issues before, she can do it again. I’m not going to hold it against her if she doesn’t.

Sorry if I’m rambling. Thank you for your perspective 🤍

[cf56]

If they’re describing events that you’re not aware of, then they’re not talking about you. People have a right to block others for whatever reason, it’s part of curating your online experience. In real life, if someone is annoying you, you can choose to ignore them. Blocking is just an extra secure way of ignoring people. You aren’t entitled to an explanation or reason.

If stuff like this is legitimately upsetting you, please seek psychiatric help. Therapy isn’t the only option, there’s a lot you can do. This site has some great resources if you can’t afford counseling: https://psychcentral.com/blog/what-to-do-when-you-cant-afford-therapy

Hope this helps! Mental illness sucks, but it’s not an excuse for your actions. Personally, counseling has helped me get out of the mindset of “everything negative someone says is about me” and interpreting every action as a testament of someone’s disgust towards me. Eventually I realized the world doesn’t revolve around me. And in cases where I was right in assuming someone disliked me, I learned how to deal with it. It definitely took time to get to that point, but it’s worth the effort. Good luck, and have a great day!

Dude, who are you? You don’t know me. You have no standing to be coming in here every few weeks offering me any kind of serious psychiatric advice. You try to frame it as polite and helpful, but all it is is condescending.

They have the right to do it, but that doesn’t mean it’s right to do it. I have always despised block culture, to be honest. There are people on the other side of your screen. They aren’t robotic streams of content you should be able to dismiss at will for whatever tiny reason meets your fancy. You can’t do that in real life, not if you want to be decent to others. Block people who deserve it. But to block me and then make a post lumping me in with homophobes and transphobes ruining the fandom? I’m not going to stay quiet about that.

I have never once used mental illness as an excuse for my actions. I still don’t know where you’ve gotten that idea. Respectfully, if you don’t have a horse in this race, leave it alone. It isn’t your fight.

[hime-memes]

Hi, it's the anon requesting a PSA for non accessible rules pages, because I don't own a laptop. When I send it in, I was in a bad mindset after a couple of incidents in the rpc stressing me out. I was highly frustrated. I understand that using your inbox for venting wasn't right and I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable with my aggressive tone. What I won't do, is acknowledge that I felt entitled. Which I don't. I literally said I'm poor, I can't afford a laptop, I can't afford a smartphone, I live off little. I'm not privileged. When my mistake was to not say please and thank you, I get that. I'm usually very polite. I've been raised to be polite and kind to everyone, and honestly I'm surprised I didn't include this in my ask. And this is what I apologize for.

Thank you anyway for posting a very coherent, kind and relatable PSA. Have a nice day and don't worry, I won't reach out again.

Anon, everyone has bad days - no harm no foul, my own nerves were rattled by a lot of different askbox bullies and abuse a few days ago from multiple sides, so I imagine that heightened my own sensitivity to the the implied tone of the request and I apologize for that. You aren’t the first person to need to vent, I highly doubt you’ll be the last. I don’t think you’re a bad person for coming at it the way you did. We all lash out in frustration. The anon function stays open for a reason, we all have less than stellar moments and this way, no one has to be the wiser who that is - just know that’s a double edged sword on my part. Not everyone has good intentions behind the frustration and they really mean to hurt feelings when they ask for things. I can typically parse through those quick - but tone gets muddled in an ask. I don’t have to tell you, I know, that people hide behind it with the goal of trying to be truly mean and nasty. There’s just a lot to consider when sending an anon ask that everyone should be aware of.

I whole heartedly sympathize and empathize with your current situation. I was in very similar circumstances for about five years - and I sincerely wish you well and hope things get better for you! I’m terribly sorry you took my entitlement statement to mean your circumstances - that wasn’t what I meant at all. It was the the wording and the way it seemed to demand everyone understand HOW to be accessible on this shapeshifting hellsite. As it stands, that’s a hard thing to do - I’ve been kicking around on tumblr in some form or fashion for around a decade. Trying to figure out how to STAY accessible for everyone is tricky when tumblr wants to roll out new features every few months and throw everyone into a tailspin. I know, it’s difficult to thrive in a community where aesthetics and looks are the driving force of interaction ( typically ) and everything else comes second. It’s hard to ask for accommodations, and harder still to find people willing to do the accommodating - but, if you sent them an IM or inbox message asking for that plain text set of rules/mun information/muse information I think they’d understand and be willing to do so. If not ? Keep looking, you’ll find the right RP squad for you that can meet your needs !

I would hate for you to feel discouraged from asking for memes and such in the future over a misunderstanding, but I completely understand. My own words were hurtful and out of line - I will correct this going forward. Thank you for reaching out anyway to clear the air, I appreciate that. If I’ve misinterpreted anything you said in this ask, please IM me and let me know. It would tear me to pieces of you came away from this thinking things had an unsatisfactory resolution.

[choshasan]

random rant caused by a dumb argument with my mother last night ✨️

I never liked generation wars and shitting on other generations and bashing them, because stereotyping a generation on just it's bad people is dumb as fuck,

But istg, Gen X is the only generation I've personaly encountered that like..

One person, or one person and their imediate friend group, does [x] and then you tell them, heyy.. uhm.. y'know.. that's.. pretty fucking rude, right? And they be like

NO. Everyone does that! You should change your mindset and go out more if you don't notice everyone does that!

Like????

I literally had a horrible argument with my mother last night cuz we stopped at a drive through and she started off with "you're gonna give me" (in french "Tu vas m'donner") and I told her "hey. You're not gonna talk to the worker like that, she's a human not your bitch, and that's rude as fuck, we don't talk to people like that, that ain't how you fucking raised me." And she went on this entire rant about how everyone talks like that and how that's fully acceptable to talk to workers like that and it's not rude and if I can't see that everyone talks like that, then I need to get out of the house more. And just so much more nonsencical Shit and like ?!?!?!

Bitch what??

Literally, 1. You work custommer service, I KNOW you don't got people talking to u like that all day, cuz I can hear them talking to u on the phone and the vast majority of them are super fucking polite.

And 2. I GO OUT MORE OFTEN THAT THIS BITCH BRUH!! Like, she goes out once or twice a week, to buy groceries and shit, and then she be like i KnOw hOw ThE wOrLd Is BeCaUsE i HaD a LiFe In ThE '70s AnD '80's

Like gurl- wake the fuck up. It's not socailly acceptable anymore to call women "skirts" and smoke indoors and smack ur waitress on the ass cuz she's cute or whatever. Y'all just old, entitled as fuck, and reffuse to let go of the past.

And like, I know it's not all Gen X, cuz most of the people I know's parents are Gen X, and they're such kind and accepting people who accept the changing of times and recognise that someday, the world will be left to the younger generations, so they gotta addapt to them and make the world a better place for them,

But jesus fuck the entitled Gen X who act like it's the fucking 40's - 60's still in the fucking 2000s, like?! You've had 40+ years to addapt bruh, where'd your brain fucking stop??? I know change is scarry and you won't always understand the younger generations and the weird shit we do, but remember, you guys did weird shit too when you were young, and your parents were assholes about it, and you resented them for not understanding you.. like?? Remember Queen?? They had a whole music video where they cross dressed. Remember the beasty boys?? Who did satirical rap-rock?? Remember twisted sister?? Kiss?? And all those other bands??

And most importantly, remember how you were taught basic human respect?? Remember that first retail job you really didn't like when you had rude clients but you didn't have a choice to put up with them because you needed the job?? Or maybe even you chewed them out and kicked theor asses cuz you didn't care, you could just get another job??

Lets not make others lives a hell for no reason, kay? Lets be kind and polite to eachother, cuz seeing grown ass adults be more impolite than a toddler is legit embarassing bruh- 💀

And god knows how much y'all care 'bout appearances 💀

[depressedhangrybitch]

I feel so too, but as I said karnas acquisition was selfish on his part but not the friendship. I feel the friendship was genuine albeit not a good thing to happen to duryodhan.

As I have implied from my post duryodhan had a very privileged life compared to pandavas but he was not taught well. He did not have a shrewd political mind required by someone of his stature and this I blame on his company both during childhood and adulthood.

Karna friendship towards him doomed him in my opinion. And I genuinely believe that if he had just one person, one sane person to advise him and if he had one healthy relationship then the story might have turned out different perhaps for the better.

A man is what u make him to be and a child is like a blank parchment which will be whatever u write in it and safe to say, dhridarashtra and gandhari did not train him well. I do not expect bhishma and vidur to train him because of obvious bias but OK.

And of course, as I said before he was a tool for the greater cause. All of the characters within the epic were. That is the whole gist of hindu dharma philosphy; to sacrifice for the greater good. One man's life is not as important as that of millions and in this case billions of future generations.

Yes thank u for clarifying what game u meant, I genuinely thought it was dyut. But if we go by your logic then everyone in the epic has a game or role to play with no choice of their own just puppets on strings which also does not put an appealing picture for me. And unfortunately duryodhan had bad cards to play.

But if we look at the picture as the characters having some semblance of control in their lives then I would say, that both duryodhan and yudhister could have played clever games with each other in some points of their lives like varnavrat (duryodhan) and dyut (yudhistar)

They are just too entitled ( duryodhan) and naive to the point of stupidity ( yudhistar)

Duryodhans ego was his biggest enemy. Had he not listened to his ego he might have made peace with the pandavas even after vanvas.

His ego is what stopped him in making peace with the pandavas even after gandharva incident. And he would not be allowed to die before his role was finished. Gods would have not allowed that to happen so no successful suicide attempts.

His life and I quote, Alucard from castlevania;

'This entire catastrophe has been nothing but history's longest suicide note.'

And yes, in the end duryodhans life was never his, no character in the epic had a life to live for themselves which fills me with both anger and pity. Of what life they might have lived that even after such Wealth and power you cannot be happy and at peace. Not even some semblance of happiness.

On a side note, his good qualities and virtues as u put it were not there where he needed it the most. Being generous is a good quality to have as a human but as a prince who is fighting a succession battle you should have a political mind like krishn and a kind facade where people constantly underestimate u. Duryodhan unfortunately was too proud to be ever become flexible as the situation demands. When u face a high speed river it is better to give into it's waves rather than face them head on. The latter always leads to death which is what happened to duryodhan. He was living in a false sense of security that since his father is the king the pandavas will bow down and he constantly had the habit of underestimating people. All of the above qualities are not what a good ruler should have, this even bhisma admits.

I know he was intelligent enough to see that pandavas will not be easily defeated. The lac incident is the testament to both his intelligence and stupidity. (Depending on which angle you look it through)

From political mindset it's a stupid move but from a view of conspiracy theorist, a lac palace is a good way of killing someone if you are a normal human not a prince who is known for his enmity with the victims who in this case are pandavas. Duryodhan in some way aided to pandavas support as his actions portrayed pandavas further as victims which garnered them sympathy and support which a good king needs, his people's support to rule efficiently and effectively.

The angle through which you are looking at duryodhan is what I also saw him through for the first time I was introduced to his character which put such a depressing picture for me that I was forced to also look through other lenses as well.

Gods are capricious creatures and what they want will happen even if lives are ruined because in the end it's for greater cause.

And do u know who else thinks along such lines:

Dictators.

whoever gods are on the side of, that side will win no matter how odd the stakes against them are.

Perhaps you and I have such opinions that they may....OK scratch that.... they are definitely too controversial to ever be made public.

I do not like gods unnecessary interference within the epic or rather any epic be it mahabharat or illiad or anything else but oh well.... what can u do.

Conclusion: I agree with your opinions if I look through that angle but.... there an interesting quality about humans, we are very good at finding loopholes. Which duryodhan could also have done, he had many chances.

Also, duryodhan was surrounded by toxicity both in childhood and adulthood which is not a great thing for character development.

Karna was the most shitty thing that happened to him. Karnas constant egging and false lies pushed duryodhan to disaster and it's funny to me that usually in modern times, its shown the reverse way where karna was doomed by duryodhans company.

Karnas portrayal as a tragic hero is absolutely the most stupid thing to ever happen within the modern cinematic adaptations of the epic.

And I don't know how many times I have said this,

BUT NO CHARACTER IN MAHABHARAT IS DOODH KA DHULA......THEY ALL ARE HUMANS WITH DIFFERENT SHADES OF GREY.

But people don't listen so...what can u do....

I’m by no means an expert on the Mahabharata or Hinduism in general (I’d say my knowledge on Hinduism especially is rather limited) but am I wrong in thinking that the game was rigged against Duryodhana from the start?

There’s no denying that he’s far from a saint and some of the things he did were awful but I feel like he’s portrayed as such a completely morally black and bankrupt character when it’s sort of far from that.

Like as far as major characters are concerned, he’s the only one who has absolutely no interest or regard in the caste system whatsoever. There’s like three speeches of his that very very clearly show that. His intervention with Karna at their first meeting, although perhaps partly due to opportunism depending on your interpretation, is one of the most honourable scenes in the entire epic to me.

Not once has he ever even implied that Karna’s caste is of any importance and throughout their entire relationship, there was no one who he treated with more love and respect than Karna. Even in general, it’s well established that his judgements of people are based on their individual qualities and not caste.

Again, not saying that he was a good guy at all but he was also known for being generous and a good ruler. He’s almost always interpreted as a power hungry yet incompetent person but that’s also far from the truth. He was Balarama’s favourite student which means that there was a lot of good about him or why would someone like Balarama even bother with him?

Also, being told that on the day of his birth his uncle told his father to kill him and then his mother saying she should have killed him, is not something that anyone should hear lmfao so I think, in certain aspects, his anger is justified.

It’s also very clear that from the start, Krishna was against him. Every act of his towards Duryodhana was deliberately meant to sabotage him in some way. Even Balarama acknowledged this so it’s basically a matter of fact.

So yeah, I’m not saying he was a good guy or that he’s just some misunderstood pookie but I think that not acknowledging some of his very good traits and the fact that everything was rigged against him since day 1 is a disservice to the whole point of the epic.

I hope I didn’t offend anyone with this. I know for over a billion people the Mahabharata is a religious text and the last thing I want to do is disrespect that regardless of whether I believe in it or not. I’d really like to hear some of your opinions on this take and I’m also really keen on engaging with people about the epic in general <3

[robininthelabyrinth]

Spilled Pearls

- Chapter 9 - ao3 -

Lan Qiren was groggy with lack of sleep the next morning, but an evening’s contemplation of the Lan sect’s rules had put him back into the right mindset.

As a disciple of the Lan sect, he was entitled under the rules for his elders to remember do not disrespect your juniors just as he was required to respect and obey your elders. Pursuant to the rules, he should have the protection of his sect and their support, and if what he had was imperfect, it was at least something; for every Lan Ganhui that mocked him, there was a Lan Yueheng that encouraged him, and there were plenty of teachers that preferred him over all the others.

As for his brother – Lan Qiren should not hold his anger against him. He had been acting in the best interest of the sect, seeking to obtain benefits for what had been lost; he had thought throughout the trip that Lan Qiren had given up more than just his word of honor, but had refrained from punishing him accordingly. In the end, even his father had assigned him only to kneel, which was a milder punishment by far than he deserved for all his mistakes and insolence.

More than that, his brother was right: Wen Ruohan would be bound by his own word of honor and public reputation to treat Lan Qiren with dignity, and by endorsing the relationship rather than rejecting it, his sect was indicating that they would hold Wen Ruohan to his word. His father had appropriately expressed concern on Lan Qiren’s behalf, his brother had refuted those concerns with well-reasoned logic; it was inappropriate for Lan Qiren to take such an intellectual discussion to heart.

That he had – and that he had forgotten, even temporarily and in the privacy of his own head, the rule do not argue with family for it does not matter who wins – was merely evidence once again that Lan Qiren was inferior to his brother, who through keeping a cool head had enabled their sect to turn what could have been an embarrassment into a victory.

As for his father…Lan Qiren shouldn’t have been surprised, that’s all. Hadn’t years and years taught him that fathers only gave what they chose to give and no more? He had long ago learned that his father was kind and noble and equitable, concerned with all the Lan sect disciples (but for his dearly beloved eldest) in the same way and the same manner; being disappointed to receive that and nothing more was only his own foolishness.

(He only wondered, in passing, why it had been his father’s glacial voice that had scared him so, compared to the familiar warmth of his brother’s anger.)

So fortified and reassured, Lan Qiren returned to the regular flow of daily life at the Cloud Recesses.

It was not easy. As his brother had predicted, rumors about his sworn brotherhood with Wen Ruohan sprang up at once, and many of his fellow disciples were prone to staring at him when they thought he wouldn’t notice. The teachers handed out many punishments for breaking the prohibition about talking behind people’s backs, although with a certain leniency that made Lan Qiren suspect that they themselves toed the line of that particular rule behind closed doors.

The rumors themselves were split between those that theorized that Wen Ruohan had used nefarious means to entrap Lan Qiren and force him to agree to brotherhood – the Fire Palace was mentioned often, as were various theoretical misapplications of cultivation techniques of dark and unsavory natures – and those that skipped over the how of brotherhood and went straight to speculating as to the why, which typically also involved a variety of references to misapplied cultivation techniques, this time of the sort most often found exclusively in certain types of low-brow spring books.

Someone even suggested that Wen Ruohan intended on taking Lan Qiren to bed as a cauldron, which was the stupidest idea out of the whole lot.

“Of course that can’t be true,” Lan Qiren patiently explained to Lan Yueheng, who had come to collect his geometry book. As a gesture of thanks for his support, Lan Qiren had read the whole thing and sent an annotated list of questions and comments; Lan Yueheng had practically turned pink with excitement when he’d seen it and then secluded himself for two days to write a response. Lan Qiren still didn’t see the appeal of geometry, but he’d managed to coax Lan Yueheng into a discussion of the mathematics of music theory, an area in which their particular interests overlapped, and he had hope of a fruitful dialogue continuing into the future. “At least traditionally, cauldrons are individuals with high cultivation potential that has yet to be developed – raw natural talent, in other words, which can then be refined into strength for another. My inborn talent is only moderate, even low, and my progress is primarily due to good resources and hard work. So even if someone put in the work to make me a cauldron, they wouldn’t get much out of me.”

Lan Yueheng nodded, his brow wrinkled thoughtfully. “So your brother would’ve been a better cauldron than you.”

“…that is correct, but please don’t say it.” Lan Qiren quietly pitied Lan Yueheng’s etiquette teachers, and spared a thought to hope that his cousin’s children, should he have them, would take more after whoever he married than him. Even if only because Lan Qiren hoped to become a teacher himself one day, and he was sure that Lan Yueheng’s particularly brash and un-Lan-like bluntness would make for a terrible future student. “Perhaps it would be more helpful for you to think of it in the sense of energy transfers of heat? I’m already cold, so to speak, so he wouldn’t be able to draw out much heat from me.”

“Wait, if you’re cold and Sect Leader Wen is hot, would that make him the cauldron? Assuming you ever did dual cultivate.”

Lan Qiren pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s...not how that works, Yueheng-xiong. At all. I was merely attempting to use a metaphor to clarify the issue. Clearly I failed and only confused things further.”

Lan Yueheng shrugged. “At least you try,” he remarked. “And when you fail, you try again, doing something different. It’s better than the teachers who just do the same thing every time and blame you for being as bemused on the seventh repetition as you were on the first.”

Lan Qiren felt his ears go red at the compliment. “You’ve been here too long,” he reminded his cousin. “Your parents won’t be happy to see you spending too much time with me.”

“My parents don’t care. It’s my aunt and uncle who don’t like it. They say that people might start asking if I cultivate as a cauldron too –”

“Your parents listen to your aunt and uncle, so if they don’t like it, you shouldn’t disobey them. The rules say Be a filial child.”

“They also say Do not form cliques to exclude others, but that isn’t stopping the other disciples from playing favorites, is it?”

That was definitely one of the rules more honored in the breach, Lan Qiren thought with a sigh. But what could be done, when their elders did the same? The sect followed the example of its leader, and his father’s tendency towards favoritism were well known, albeit one that was widely indulged as a quirk rather than condemned as a serious flaw. 

“I will remind the teachers of that one,” he said. “Perhaps a refresher would be suitable, to remind people. But the rule are meant for your own discipline, not others, and – ”

“Just because other people aren’t following the rules doesn’t mean I shouldn’t, I know,” Lan Yueheng said with a sigh of his own. “I’ll go…oh! It’s getting late. Weren’t you supposed to go to the guest’s pavilion by the western watchtower already?”

Lan Qiren blinked. “I don’t have that patrol route in my schedule until the end of the week.”

“No, no! I was supposed to tell you! Lao Nie’s come to visit, and –”

There were rules against running in the Cloud Recesses, so Lan Qiren was slightly late despite his best efforts, but true to form Lao Nie didn’t admonish him: he only turned from where he was sitting in the pavilion and smiled, calling out, “Qiren! There you are!”

“Forgive –”

“Forgiven,” Lao Nie interrupted before Lan Qiren even got the first word out. Lan Qiren was relieved to see that there was neither food nor tea already prepared; he would have been mortified if it had grown cold while Lao Nie was waiting to see him. “And don’t bow, either. How have you been? Tell me people aren’t harassing you over the nonsense with Hanhan.”

Lan Qiren opened his mouth, then hesitated.

“Do not tell lies,” Lao Nie observed, grimacing. “Ah, Qiren! Sometimes your brother’s worse than useless. It’s a pity, really, I hadn’t realized – well. At any rate, I’ve been bothering him for weeks to tell me about you and he wouldn’t say a word.”

“He was angry at me for messing up the conference,” Lan Qiren explained.

Lao Nie’s eyebrows arched. “You mean the conference where the Lan sect got first place in both major events and then extracted serious concessions from the Wen sect in a completely unexpected and nearly inexplicable political coup that got the whole cultivation world talking in awe at your political acumen? That conference?”

“I lost face for him. He thought – well, he’d thought it was worse than it was,” Lan Qiren hesitated. “He’s not the only one.”

Lao Nie huffed. “People are, by and large, stupid,” he declared. “Don’t let them get to you. They’ll change their tune soon enough.”

Lan Qiren wasn’t so sure. “They say a reputation is like a porcelain vase,” he said, unable to conceal his worries in the face of someone actually expressing concern rather than curiosity. His dream was to be a traveling cultivator, and that would be much easier with a good name, which he had always had before – good, or at least boring, which was just fine with him. He preferred to be boring! It had never occurred to him that he might do something that would render him the subject of gossip; it had never happened before. “Once cracked…”

“Right now, there’s only some bored people speculating that there might be a crack,” Lao Nie said. His confidence was contagious; Lan Qiren couldn’t help but relax a little in the face of it. “No one’s actually sure about it, and they’re willing to hear otherwise – things aren’t yet so bad. Don’t worry. I’ve spoken with Hanhan about it already.”

Lan Qiren felt his ears burning in shame. “Lao Nie! You didn’t!”

Especially since that would undoubtedly only make Wen Ruohan even more angry…

Lao Nie laughed and put his hand on his head, rubbing it lightly. “I did. Not in your name, but rather his own – do you think the Wen sect wants to get a reputation for being led by a man with an unhealthy interest in noble-born children? It’s in his interest to get this cleared up as much as you.”

Lan Qiren felt the tension rush out of his shoulders all at once. That hadn’t occurred to him, but now that Lao Nie had pointed it out, it was clear enough.

After all, for all the talk going around about Lan Qiren, it was widely agreed that he was clearly the victim in whatever scenario they’d thought up, whether through having his oath extracted under torture or by force; even among those who theorized that Wen Ruohan intended to use him as a cauldron, the reputation Lan Qiren might get would be, at worst, that of a seductive flirt who couldn’t be resisted. Lan Qiren’s brother had scoffed audibly the first time he’d heard that, saying that such a rumor would naturally be dispelled the moment anyone came in contact with Lan Qiren for more than a moment, and in all honesty Lan Qiren agreed with his assessment. He had the classic Lan sect looks, yes, but so did many others, and he had a demeanor as stern as a schoolmaster, giving off the feel of an old man even though he wasn’t even of age.

Meanwhile, for Wen Ruohan, the consequences were undoubtedly more dire – if he was said to have a taste for boys, especially noble-born ones, the other sects might be afraid to send their sons around him. It was a different reputation by far than his taste for torture, or his supposed use of dark and forbidden cultivation; those would make people fear him, while lusting for children would only make people disdain him.

Still, Lan Qiren wasn’t sure how exactly even someone of Wen Ruohan’s cunning would go about fixing such a mistake – and that was putting aside why he would make such a mistake over Lan Qiren in the first place. He hadn’t had a chance to explain to his brother his theory that Wen Ruohan had acted just to irritate Lao Nie, and in the end he’d decided it wasn’t worth drawing his brother’s attention back to the subject.

Besides, if Lan Qiren could figure it out, with his notorious inability to understand interpersonal affairs, then surely his brother was more than able to do the same. It wasn’t as if Lao Nie were being shy about it…

“Hanhan said he had something in mind,” Lao Nie was saying, shaking his head. “He usually does, I find, and each idea’s more awful than the next.”

Lan Qiren shifted a little from one foot to the other. “If you know he’s awful, why do you…” he hesitated. “I mean, you call him – an endearment.”

“Oh, he’s a little awful, no doubt,” Lao Nie said, sounding rather fond. “But as long as it’s not my sect, what do I care? Anyway, Qiren, you shouldn’t worry. If there’s one thing you can trust with Hanhan, it’s that he takes care of anything associated with himself.”

Lan Qiren didn’t really like the fact that he was now counted among that number.

It didn’t seem all that safe.

“Though of course that doesn’t protect him from you,” Lao Nie added, suddenly smirking, and Lan Qiren blinked owlishly at him. “Apparently, you’re a very talkative drunk.”

Lan Qiren’s face burned red.

“And effusive, too! According to Hanhan, even after you forced him down in his seat to keep listening to you, you kept waving your hands around while you were talking and knocking things over; he had to pin you down to keep you from destroying things by accident.”

That would explain the marks on his arms.

“Apparently, you didn’t appreciate him doing that and kneed him right in the –”

“You really think he can make the rumors go away?” Lan Qiren hastily interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck a little as if it would make the heat of hideous embarrassment go away. That tallied up a little too well with the physical evidence to be anything other than accurate. “There’s – a lot of them. And I’d like to have a clean reputation.”

“You will,” Lao Nie said, thankfully distracted from his mortifyingly plausible story. “Anyone who meets you will know at once that you’re a righteous and upstanding person.”

Lan Qiren liked that better than the way his brother had put it.

“It’s just that you haven’t had a chance to make your name in the cultivation world,” Lao Nie said. He sounded sure of himself. “You’ll do wonderful things one day, Qiren. I’ve no doubt.”

“I don’t want to do wonderful things,” Lan Qiren said, scowling. “I just want to travel around and help people.”

“Yes, I know,” Lao Nie said, and he sounded fond again, just the way he did when he was talking about Wen Ruohan, or even Lan Qiren’s brother. Truly, Lan Qiren thought to himself, the Nie sect had no idea how lucky they were to have him as sect leader. “Really, Qiren, it’s like I said: don’t worry about it. Now come, tell me what you’ve been studying recently.”

Lan Qiren had promised himself that he would reduce the amount of time he spent with Lao Nie on his occasional visits to the Lan sect, not wanting to risk inciting Wen Ruohan’s unreasonable anger and jealousy any further.

He would need to assign himself an appropriate punishment for breaking that promise, he thought, and sat down to start telling Lao Nie all about the work he was doing with one of his teachers on comparing the origin points of the various Lan sect rules, as well as his experiments on arrays to enhance open-air acoustics that would, he hoped, eventually be inscribed on all Lan sect instruments to increase the range and impact of their spell songs.

He even mentioned the possibility of a joint project on the mathematics of musical theory, and for whatever reason he thought Lao Nie looked especially pleased about that.

He didn’t think about Wen Ruohan at all.

[thevindicativevordan]

On Maxima

Every time DC wants to put Supes in a relationship with someone other than Lois, I always wonder why they don't just go with Maxima.

Especially since she's basically what they turn Diana into every time they try to hook the two of them up. Why not just go with the actual Superman Rogue/supporting character who is also a warrior-queen? Who is already almost as violent as she is horny, forcing Clark to try to get her to chill out, even as he's tempted to join her? If it isn't already clear, I like Maxima. Her character archetype, the supervillainess who tempts the hero with sex appeal, is one that's pretty damn popular for obvious reasons. Also for obvious reasons, this kind of character can provoke a backlash nowadays.

Personally I think she can still work just fine, she just needs some revamp. The basics of her character and backstory are still solid and offer storytelling potential. She's the Queen of the alien Empire of Almerac. Maxima is drawn to Superman because of his power. The real big fix is changing why she's attracted to his power, and why she came to Earth in the first place, shifting it away from eugenics to something else.

What I'd Do With Maxima

So I'm going to take some cues from the DCAU incarnation of Maxima in that the reason she seeks Superman out is because she's been deposed.

DCAU Maxima got deposed after she met Superman, but she lost her throne because her people judged her too self-absorbed and immature to lead them. Which she totally was, and changing that formed the crux of her character development over the course of the episode. I'd take a similar route with reworking comics Maxima's backstory.

Maxima has just taken the throne when the Interstellar Empire of Almerac comes under the assault of Mongul of Warworld. Crushing Almerac's defenses, Mongul gives the world an ultimatum: Turn over a selection of their greatest fighters to fight for Almerac's continued right to exist in Mongul's gladiator arenas or he'll reduce the entire planet to ashes. He also demands a sizeable portion of the population be turned over as slaves tasked with keeping Warworld running, and he wants Maxima to be among those slaves as a symbol of Mongul's authority over Almerac. Maxima angrily refuses, but her people don't trust in her leadership on account of her youth and immaturity, and Maxima is overthrown. She's handed over for transport to Warworld, but while en route she breaks free and seizes control of the transport. Alone and without allies, Maxima sets a course for Earth to seek out the one person she's heard is a match for the Lord of Warworld: Superman.

Only interested at first in his power, and planning to use and dispose of him afterwards, Maxima at first presents herself to Clark as a potential mate. Her hope is that will entice him to support her on what could be a suicide mission, and that offering power and wealth via marriage will cement his loyalty. Being betrayed by her subjects still stings her though she takes great pains to pretend otherwise. Superman turns down the marriage offer, but agrees to follow her to take down Mongul and free Almerac. The two travel back to Almerac which is in the midst of choosing who will fight on Warworld. Clark pretends to be a native of Almerac and is chosen as one of the champions. Initially planning to stay on Almerac and purge those who betrayed her while Clark fights on Warworld, Maxima chooses to give herself up to Mongul, after he announces that he will be vaporizing an entire continent as punishment for the Almeracans failure to turn her over to him. Amused at her compassion for those who betrayed her, Mongul adds Maxima to the roster of gladiators, and she departs with Clark to the arenas.

Over the course of a series of battles, Maxima and Clark butt heads, watch each other's backs, and gradually fall in love with each other. Maxima admires Clark's resolve, restraint, and maturity, traits she's forced to admit she lacked. She's skeptical of his idealism however, seeing it as a flaw that undermines his effectiveness, particularly when it comes to killing. Clark admires Maxima's passion, bravery, and refusal to settle for anything less than the best in anyone including herself. All traits that make him ponder if perhaps she does have it in her to be a good leader. He dislikes her arrogance and entitlement however, particularly when it comes to her royal right to rule. A frequent source of fights between the two is whether the common person should have any voice in government with Maxima scoffing at that and point at how the mob gave in to Mongul, with Clark countering that Almeracans had long felt unheard and cut off from their rulers. Obviously that they're both super hot doesn't hurt as part of why they end up sleeping together.

Ultimately through a series of events Superman and Maxima succeed in freeing Almerac and driving Mongul away. Then everything promptly goes to hell. Having fallen for Clark for real over the course of their adventure, Maxima repeats her offer to him of marriage, except genuinely this time.

The two have had sex a couple times already, and Clark is genuinely tempted at the prospect of sticking with Maxima. He's grown to enjoy her company (having sex tends to do that), he enjoys the freedom to be himself without having to hide his powers, the Almeracans embrace him as their champion, and as Maxima's consort he could take an active hand in shaping society. At the point in Clark's career where I'd want to do this story, he's growing out of his youthful rage, but he's still not at peace with his lot in life. Earth's inability to meaningfully change at the pace he wants frustrates him, and leaving behind the restrictions of life there does entice him. My point is that I think the appeal of Maxima to Superman should and can be more than just breeding little Clarks as has been the case in the past.

However Clark ultimately rejects the offer. He can't bring himself to cut ties with Earth, Maxima's unwillingness to cede some of her power to her people isn't something Clark can accept, and Clark is also concerned that taking up her offer would compromise his ability to be a hero. As you would expect, Maxima is pissed at his refusal, treating it as another stab in the back. Due to his help in freeing her people and reclaiming her throne, she spares his life but exiles him from Almerac, declaring him persona non grata throughout the Empire.

Unbeknownst to Clark, who leaves after it's made clear the Almeracans don't want a civil war, Maxima is pregnant with his child. The child allows her to avoid entering into a political marriage, maintaining her independence since she now has a heir. This daughter will be groomed in hidden to take over the Empire, which Maxima now has plans to expand. The humiliation Mongul visited upon Almerac has had a big impact on her mindset. Now she's focused on eliminating any potential threats to her people, and she wants to transform Almerac into the greatest Interstellar Empire in the Milky Way. Then it will never be at the mercy of a foreign power ever again.

For stories, Superman and Maxima are clearly going to clash given she's become an imperialist herself, no better than Mongul. You can tell stories about Clark foiling Maxima's attempts to conquer other worlds, or Earth itself. Maxima would occasionally dispatch assassins or go personally to attack Clark, for the purpose of preventing him from getting "soft". The public reason for this is that he's become a roadblock to her aims, and needs to be eliminated. Secretly, her goal is to constantly push him to be stronger because she wants him to meet his daughter one day. Not for any sentimental reasons mind you, Maxima wants Superman to teach their daughter to be his equal in ability and resourcefulness. After learning everything she can from Clark, said daughter will be charged with leading the invasion of Earth. Conquering Earth, and defeating Superman, will be the girl's rite of passage into cementing herself as Maxima's heir. The world of her father, Superman, is destined to be her own Throneworld as Almerac's is Maxima's.

Think you could have a lot of fun in giving Clark a "Damian" of his own to deal with. Personally I'd have it so that the "daughter" would be akin to the New 52 Maxima who I thought had some potential. You could have Maxima and Maxima Jr. argue about the morality of Almerac's expansion, with MJ ultimately taking her father's side which causes enormous problems for her mother since she can't disown her daughter without a replacement heir. I think that could be a fun family dynamic to explore.

Wondering where Maxima will show up next. Part of me was hoping Almerac was that part of underdeveloped Superman lore PKJ talked about fleshing out, but that seems to be either Warworld or the Phantom Zone. I still think Maxima and Almerac have a lot of potential to be major players in Superman's world, but it's going to take someone being interested in fleshing them out. Maybe the upcoming Superman cartoon will accomplish that? If not I'll just have to hope someone will down the line.

[onionjulius]

Sean Illing: The issue here is something you call “political hobbyism,” an approach to politics that has become dominant. Explain what that is.

Eitan Hersh: Political hobbyist is a catchall term for the person who spends a lot of time consuming news or signing online petitions or engaging online with people about this or that issue. They mistake this for actual politics, but it’s not because it doesn’t contribute to power-building.

Sean Illing: Why not?

Eitan Hersh: When you’re a hobbyist, you’re learning the wrong information and practicing the wrong skills. You are typically learning about big national news items, and oftentimes it’s just drama. So a hobbyist might learn all the details of the Mueller report and feel that’s important to know and will spend hours and hours on it.

But then if you asked him how he could get involved on some issues of importance in his local community or in his state, or where the pressure points are in his community to influence government, he has no idea. He’s just caught up in the national news cycle and he’s not actually improving anything.

The hobbyist is also learning the wrong political skills. Online politics is all about provocation and signaling outrage. But changing people’s minds, turning your vote into many votes, requires empathy and face-to-face engagement. Not only are you not doing this online or when watching cable news, you’re learning exactly the wrong skill set.

Sean Illing: Why are white, college-educated liberals most likely to engage in political hobbyism?

Eitan Hersh: There are a few reasons. College-educated white people are likely to be in a social setting where they feel it’s a civic duty to participate in politics and to stay informed. They might find learning political facts to be intellectually gratifying. At the same time, the status quo for white, college-educated Americans is pretty good. They have good jobs. They aren’t being conscripted into military service like past generations.

So as much as they might lament polarization or despise this or that politician, they aren’t willing to roll up their sleeves and build political power. It’s only if you don’t need more power than you already have that you could possibly conceive of politics as an at-home leisure activity.

No one is spending more time learning facts and consuming news than college-educated white men. But research on real engagement — volunteering for groups and campaigns — shows it’s overwhelmingly women and disproportionately blacks and Latinos who are doing the real work of politics. Comfort with the status quo among college-educated whites, especially men, seems like the most likely explanation.

As to why this is more of a liberal problem than a conservative one, right now the white college-educated population is much more Democratic than Republican. Of course, there’s plenty of hobbyism on both sides, but right now this group tends to lean Democratic.

…

Sean Illing: What do political hobbyists get out of this kind of superficial engagement with politics? Emotional satisfaction? Is it about signaling who we are to other people?

Eitan Hersh: It’s a shortcut to engagement. You get to feel connected to a sense of community and a sense of mission without doing any heavy lifting, which is partly why online engagement is emotion-driven. If you feel angry at something from your couch, you feel somehow connected to it, even if you haven’t done anything.

Sean Illing: You’re preaching boots-on-the-ground activism and face-to-face interaction, especially with people on the other side. What do you say to people who are cynical about the possibilities of persuasion, who feel like the chasm is so deep that it’s no longer possible to engage with political opponents?

Eitan Hersh: I guess I would say that they’re wrong. Most of the people you engage with in real life are not at all like the caricatures in your head or online. Most of the people you’ll encounter in your neighborhood or in a community group aren’t raving Alex Jones followers. In reality, most people simply aren’t that invested and don’t have deeply held positions, and they’re open to persuasion if you’re open to being kind to them.

…

Sean Illing: The right seems to understand power better than the left, or perhaps there’s something about the nature of conservatism that lends itself to the sort of politics you’re advocating.

Eitan Hersh: I think you’re onto something there. A bottom-up approach to political change that focuses on the local stuff or the local institutions, like churches or gun clubs, is just more common on the right. We used to think more about grassroots organizing focused on unions, for example, but unions have collapsed while churches have gotten disproportionately Republican.

Again, some of the key demographics of the left, like college-educated white people, don’t attend any religious services at the same rate of people on the right, and so there’s less community engagement. And some of the paramount issues for the left, like race or climate change, feel like non-local problems, and that itself is a deterrent.

…

Sean Illing: What’s your advice for people who want to get involved and help build political power?

Eitan Hersh: I think they get started by building a cell of friends to do it with them locally, and they should be thinking about how they can dedicate at least one night a week to this, or a certain number of hours. The mindset is not “How can I influence the next election?” The mindset has to be “I’m entitled to my own vote, but how many more can I influence?”

I profile lots of people in the book who are taking this kind of approach and accomplishing amazing things. They’re showing that if you can get 100 or 200 or 1,000 people to share your values and to cast a ballot or show up to an advocacy meeting, you really can make a huge difference.

[cyanocoraxx]

this is @ all of you

writing shitty comments like this is a very strange thing to do. this was just being rude for the sake of being rude. what kind of mindset do you have to be in to see someone minding their own business and feel the need to shit on it for entertainment? are you guys okay?

and you can't even use the guise of giving "constructive criticism" because calling someone's art a joke isn't constructive, it's just needlessly cruel. constructive criticism is a critique that's actionable and beneficial to the person receiving it. for one, maggy didn't Ask for it, so this is advice that was never asked for. and yeah it's public but there's no reason why you can't just reach out and politely offer con-crit first if you really feel you have something important and helpful to say before publicly reblogging their work and adding hurtful comments for other people to potentially dogpile in when they want a kick out of... i don't even know... just being hurtful to make themselves feel high and mighty. i don't know what you're missing in your life or how you feel about your own work to get something out of behaving this way but that's your problem, not theirs

you're also shortsighted to say that the "purple one" doesn't fit the emotes btw…. obvious galaxy incorporation with the purple theme, rainbow hair, ice in the pale legs and gloves and a CD can imply something shiny hence the sparkles and star earrings. i only had to look for a second to see it myself so for all of you to dogpile in and say it doesn't fit at all is just weird. you're entitled to your opinion on someone's public work but some thoughts shouldn't be shared OR should be shared with care and nuance because they could be received poorly. there's a human being behind the art who liked it enough to post it for you to see and that's worth handling with respect and care even if you don't like the work. the comment "i would have liked to see the 8 ball more incorporated" is constructive and framed as a personal opinion which is fine, but for others to go on and call another piece a joke isn't constructive at all

it takes no courage or thoughtfulness to write a rude comment on someone's work. it takes actual guts and passion to post your work for everyone to see

Some emoji to oc thingies from Twitter

[vulpesse-arc]

i’ve been thinking about what i should and should not say about the matter for the whole night and even now,  i find myself very hesitant...  however,  i don’t want anyone to think that i want to hide my head beneath the sand and thus ignore the problem,  as i have always claimed that victims must be heard and must be supported and aided,  under any and every circumstance.  so,  first and foremost,  i want to apologize in case my silence yesterday has given the wrong impression or has made people feel unheard,  unwanted,  ignored. 

i unfortunately did not have the strength to get directly involved,  because as many know,  i’ve dealt with a very stressful moment in my life just recently and thus,  i could not bear yet another wave of soul-crushing anxiety.  however,  as i now have a clear mind,  i am here to repeat that VICTIMS MUST BE HEARD,  always.  and from this,  stemmed my desire to talk with the parts involved in private,  so that we could have a  (  hopefully  )  genuine conversation away from the eyes of curious witnessers and i believe that this is something that more people should have done:  it’s not a matter of “picking a side” ,  because we’re not cheering for two football teams or anything like that.  we’re talking about BEHAVIORS THAT SHOULD BE CORRECTED AND CONDEMNED,  about toxic mindsets and actions that can and will be harmful to others,  about misunderstandings that should be fixed instantaneously instead of allowing them to fester and about the necessity to be more open to understand those around us and their struggles.  

way too often,  do we forget that we’re not interacting with robots but that we have REAL PEOPLE on the other side of the screen and,  unfortunately,  this oftentimes leads some of us to forget every and any notion of goodness and politeness  ;  bullying and witch hunts become the norm,  as they give the perpetrators that feeling of brute strength and importance that they sickeningly desire and  THIS IS A BEHAVIOR THAT I WILL ALWAYS CONDEMN AND THAT I WILL NEVER EXCUSE.  anon hate,  bullying,  dropping names,  flaming,  hatred and lies and offenses...  these have become so disgustingly common in the rpc that many of us don’t even realize when they’re taking parts in these behaviors and it’s not only very concerning,  but also very heartbreaking.

what is want to say is that i don’t want to see anyone blindly picking sides as if we were just choosing our starter pokemon in a game, as this problem is much deeper than that and has affected the minds and hearts of everyone involved and of many people before them:  WHAT I WANT TO SEE IS SELF-REFLECTION,  SELF-IMPROVEMENT AND A CHANCE TO DO SOME MUCH NEEDED SELF-CRITICISM,  A CHANGE IN ALL THOSE BEHAVIORS THAT WERE HIGHLIGHTED AS HARMFUL AND WRONG AND ABUSIVE BY THE VICTIMS,  A LONG STEP TOWARDS A COMMUNITY THAT IS WELCOMING AND SAFE TO EVERYONE AND WHERE NO ONE WILL FEEL ENTITLED TO HARM OTHERS. 

as far as i am concerned,  i will work even harder to become a good person for those around me and to ensure that my blog can always be a safe place,  for everyone.  i will atone for any mistake that i have made and i will make sure to show my support more,  as i fear that i might have disappointed some people during the last few hours. 

PLEASE,  BE KIND.  PLEASE,  think of our community as a garden that must be nurtured and loved and treasured and protected by all of us,  a garden where none of the flowers will ever bloom if we poison them all with negativity and toxic behaviors.   PLEASE,  remember that we are just lovebots of our favorite characters and that many of us use this platform to escape from stressful and abusive environments,  to find people who have our same passions and to even make new friends  ;  think about this when you decide to ruin someone’s experience solely out of infantile spite.  AND PLEASE,  DON’T FORGET TO ALWAYS LOVE YOURSELF AND GIVE SOME LOVE TO THOSE AROUND YOU TOO. 

[samsilver975]

Alright everyone! Since everything seems to be going down tomorrow, I figure it’s as good a time as any to finish up these character analysis! This will pretty much be the SBI, with a few others, so get ready for part three!

Connor:

I know his role has kind of been comic relief, but like that he’s pretty much the only one willing to ‘forgive and forget.’ He says he doesn’t blame Tommy, and that he’s just confused, which is a surprising amount of wisdom from someone in a Sonic onesie.

Sapnap:

His role in doomsday was smaller and did more for Tommy’s character than his own, but it’s worth mentioning. Even though he was Dream’s friend, Tommy was able to pursuance him to Tommy’s side, an ‘alliance?’ that lasted past Doomsday. But more on that later...

BadBoyHalo:

What the hell is even going on with the egg. Writing about that side of the plot is a whole ‘nother... egg to crack.

Tubbo:

Tubbo’s character was surprisingly hard to write about. I think a lot of people kind of see Tubbo as the innocent best friend with not much else to characterize... but sitting down to write gave me a really hard time. Tubbo is not as innocent as he seems. The biggest thing comes after today’s (the 19th?) stream, when Ranboo confronts Tubbo about Snowchester’s true purpose. Tubbo was the president of L’Manburg. He saw how it corrupted Quackity, corrupted him. But now he’s saying he want’s Snowchester to be independent. When questioned, he says, “It’ll be different this time,” completely shocking Ranboo. If you remember my analysis of Quackity (I not so shamelessly suggest you check out my previous posts) I said that he and Tubbo were to two most affected by the government they formed. The two that ended up becoming two halves of Schlatt. But where Quackity realized how alike he and Schlatt had become, Tubbo... didn’t. Even now he doesn’t see the mistakes of the past or what they mean for the future. For whatever reason, Tubbo didn’t learn. He doesn’t realize that independant factions, truly independant factions, are a really bad idea. Forcing the idea of indepedence down Dream’s throat is a bad idea. Maybe he wants to prove that he’s capable of being a leader, but L’Manburg was doomed the moment Wilbur decided to rig the election. It had its good points sure, and I don’t entirely agree with it being blown up, but it also had some bad points... and I can’t tell if Tubbo acknowledges them. Tubbo’s character has been in the background for so long I think, that he hasn’t had his chance to shine outside of Tommy’s shadow, so maybe that’s playing a part too. Whether this is Tubbo being naive or actually power-lust I don’t know, but Tubbo, for all his forgiveness, is shaping up to be one of the most dangerous people on the server. And he doesn’t even know it yet.

Foolish: (honorable mention, not a part of Doomsday)

‘I’m not going to be a part of canon!’

Joins Snowchester. Antagonises the Eggpire

‘Haha... I’m in danger!’

Philza:

I really didn’t like Philza’s arc. Not to say it was bad or anything, but compared to everyone else, his story was kind of... meh. He just seemed to stagnate a bit. Like, he supports the anarchists obviously, but his entire character arc seemed to just be ‘oh, I live in the nation and have no opinion on it otherwise’ to ‘oh, this nation kind of sucks, it doesn’t need to exist anymore.’ Which, yeah seems like a pretty big change but... it wasn’t as impactful I guess? I also didn’t like how little emotion he showed to Ghostbur after L’Manburg’s destruction, but I’m not sure he really thinks of Ghostbur as a separate entity from Alivebur. He doesn’t have much sympathy for a being that he hopes will only be temporary. At this point, I can’t really tell where the character is going. Hopefully we’ll get some answers in the hopefully coming Ressurection Arc.

Ghostbur:

Of all of the arcs during season two, the one to me that was the most gut-wrenchingly sad was Ghostbur’s. He’s an interesting character because of the limits on his memory. I may be inaccurate here, but it seems like Ghostbur not only is unable to recall sad memories, but is incapable of making new sad memories too. At first, he was kind of the comic relief. Innocent, awkward, the friendly optimist. But... not everything with Ghostbur is so straightforward. I think, on some level, he remembers what Alivebur did. Not like a proper memory maybe, but a lingering notion, an almost-feeling. Something inside of him is still guilty, otherwise, why would he avoid talking about Alivebur’s actions? Why would he avoid Fundy? By all accounts, Ghostbur should be a stagnant character, and in some ways he is. He continues to be innocent right up until the very end. But in the end, he changes. He watches, time and again, as everything he builds, everything nice he tries to do for people, blows up in his face. Time and again, nobody feels any sympathy for him; he’s the background comic belief after all right? He doesn’t count as a character, right? I think that mindset played a big role is his decision to be brought back. And even if he can’t fully understand what is going on, he still feels enough to decide he doesn’t want to be Ghostbur anymore. It’s erily similar to Alivebur. Alivebur did what he wanted, and when his purpose was complete, he wasn’t needed anymore, he asked Phil to kill him. Ghostbur feels he was outstayed his welcome, he isn’t needed anymore if everything he does was for nothing, so he asks Phil to kill him. Ghostbur and Alivebur may be two different people, but they are two sides of the same coin that is Wilbur. Ghostbur, even though he doesn’t fully understand sadness, wants peace. He tried to give it to everyone, but I think he’s realized he won’t find peace on the SMP. But he doesn’t just want to die, he wants to do good for the server even in death. By bringing back Alivebur, he feels that he can help people. That may or may not be the case depending on what Alivebur is brought back or if Alivebur even wants to come back (I personally think, once he sees L’crater, that Alivebur will be pretty content). I leave you all with this: how could the scar still hurt, if there was nothing to hurt for?

That’s all for now! I’m fairly certain I’m going to reach a word cap if I continue. I’ll post the finale, Techno, Tommy, and Dream directly aftet this post, sometime tonight. Also, something I couldn’t find a place for anywhere: I didn’t want L’Manburg to be destroyed purely because I am a builder at heart, and seeing the pretty buildings get destroyed physically hurt. Emotional and political trauma? Nah. Sad because material wealth was destroyed? Yah. Anyhow See you in a minute! (The above paragraphs are purely opinion. You are entitled to your own! Feel free to comment your thoughts down below!)

[rainy-day-gracie]

Old Friends 9

 Part 1 of a series finale!!

Spencer Reid x Reader

I just wanna say thank you for all the love I’ve been getting :) the positivity is wonderful, so thank you and I love you !!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 9:

I groaned at the sound of the alarm clock screaming at me. “Spencer, time for work,” I said as I flopped out of bed. 

“Huh?” He flinched at me opening the drapes in my bedroom window, sunlight illuminating his sleepy eyes. 

“Get up, c’mon,” I pulled the covers off of him, and he jerked upright in his boxers. “Help me make the bed.”

There was something so entirely sweet about how domestic and loving getting ready together is. While he was brushing his teeth, I was standing there putting on makeup. When I was straightening my hair for work, he was making sure his hair fluffed in just the right way. 

I could easily see this being the rest of my life. 

“Breakfast will have to be on the run, we’re already late because you couldn’t get out of bed.” I poked him in the stomach as I passed him a breakfast bar. 

“We should just call in sick.” He spoke in the most serious tone, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. 

“Yeah, if both of us called in sick, I think there would be some questions.” I giggled as I grabbed my keys and left the apartment, Spencer following close behind. 

__

Morgan gave me a look as I settled down at my desk. “Did the pretty girl get some loving last night?”

I tried to ignore him as I pulled out reports I needed to finish. “Morgan, what are you on about?”

He laughed out loud and patted Spencer on the back as he passed by our desks. “Go get em’ lovebirds.”

Hotch had already talked to us about keeping everything professional in the office, but that didn’t keep the team from teasing us endlessly. Just last week Emily asked me if we’ve ever had sex at work. 

“You would think he would have a little more manners than that?” Spencer chuckled without looking up from his work. “You look beautiful, stop checking your camera.”

I sighed as I put my phone back in my pocket. “I’m actually worried about something else…” There had never been a time where I showed up to work with a hickey, and I was worried last night had broken my streak. 

Spencer smiled sheepishly, and glanced over my neck. “I don’t see any, so you’re okay.”

Garcia trotted across the catwalk in her heels. “Hello wonderful people! You have a case!”

__

“You are headed to New York City my fine friends, where there have been three murders, all women in their twenties, with cause of death being a gunshot wound to the head and a… message, written on their stomachs.”

Garcia pointed to the screen, where the crime scene photos popped up. 

“The first message read ‘mine’, the second one said ‘sin’, and the most recent read ‘whore’.” JJ explained, looking in the case file. “The words were carved into their stomach antemortem, that’s torture.”

“But the gunshot to the head is a completely different MO than torture.” Spencer looked at me, clearly confused. 

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What if the gun is just to keep them still? ‘I cut you, don’t flinch or it’s the last thing that you do.’ Psychological and physical torture means he could be a sadist.”

“The women were shown to have been killed in a week’s period, and the unsub is speeding up his timetable. Wheels up in 20.” Hotch took a phone call and left the room.

__

On the plane, Hotch explained his phone call. “The NYPD found another body three miles from where the last dump site was. Victim had the word ‘love’ carved in her stomach. The unsub seems to mostly be operating in Queens, one body was found in Brooklyn.”

Garcia made a video call with information. “My pretties, with my all-knowing powers of tech I have been able to identify all four victims. Most recent is Hallie Jones, she was a high end prostitute. $10,000 dollars a night, kind of high end. Third was Macy Johnson, she was a street prostitute, not much on her. Second victim was Fiona Lamber, she was also a street prostitute and kinda the same, not much information. First victim was actually a well known woman, Jamie Lorretta. Her father owns an oil company and she has had problems with drugs since she was a teenager.” 

Morgan gave a puzzled look. “Why change victimology from a well known woman with money to street prostitutes to a high end call girl?”

“The victimology could mean that the unsub himself comes from money and power himself.” Spencer pointed to the case files. “The gunshot to the forehead is personal, as is the cutting on the stomach. Both of these things point towards a craving for total domination, just two different kinds. The cutting represents a need for possessions, marking his property, and execution style killing shows an already confident mindset.”

“Both of which are things people in power need, ambition for possessions and major confidence,” I added. 

“The key to solving this case is Jamie Lorretta. Find out everything you can about her Garcia!” Hotch called over the video camera. Garcia nodded firmly and hung up. “Morgan, Prentiss go to the ME to examine the bodies. Rossi, JJ go to the latest dump site and see what kind of attraction the unsub may have to the area. I will go to the first dump site and see where the killer’s head was at when he first started killing. YLN, go to the station and interview the families of the victims and Reid, go with her and work up a geographic profile.”

I nodded at him and looked back down at the case file. 

What did these women do to get themselves killed?

Spencer squeezed my hand reassuringly, reading me like a book. “We’re gonna get him.”

I gave him a side smile. “We always do.”

__

Macy Johnson and Fiona Lamber’s families were distraught for sure, but it soon became clear that they didn’t know anything about the case. 

Hallie Jones’ family was one of the most composed families I’ve seen. They had sad eyes, but not once during our conversation did either of her parents shed a tear. I finally couldn’t take it anymore. 

“How are you so… stoic? I’ve interviewed many grieving families before and you two seem extremely calm considering your daughter’s body was found this morning.” I hated to be so blunt, but neither of them were showing any sign of grief over their daughter’s murder. 

The parents just looked at each other, then back at me. Mr. Jones took a deep breath. 

“Hallie… did what she did. We offered to take care of her, but she chose to have sex with men to pay the bills. After we paid for her degree, the least she could do was use it.” Anger burned in her father’s eyes, and disgust curled in my stomach. His child is dead and he was thinking about money?

“We told her God would punish her for her actions,” Mrs. Jones blurted. “She deserved what was coming to her in the end. All in all, she was probably asking for it.”

I wanted to vomit. These parents blamed their dead child for her own murder? “No one asks for this, Mrs. Jones. And right now, it looks to me like I want to catch your daughter’s killer more than you do, so either give me something that I can use, or leave.”

Both of her parents glared at me. After a moment, Mrs. Jones stormed out of the room, her husband close on her heels. 

I rolled my eyes and approached the police chief. “Where’s the Lorretta family? They were supposed to be here at noon.”

The police chief made a face. “The Lorrettas are refusing to leave their home. ‘Don’t want the attention’ of the local press. They said if the FBI wants to ask questions, you’re going to have to go to them.”

I swallowed my annoyance. “Okay, I’ll head over there. I don’t think I’ll be much use here.”

Reid raised his chin. “I’ll come with you.”

I appreciated the company. Maybe around him I won’t flip my lid with these damn parents. 

What kind of families are these?

__

The Lorrettas’ home could give Rossi’s mansion a run for its money. We pulled up in the SUV to a long paved driveway and saw gardeners working in the large front lawn. The front door was made of opaque glass and I could almost smell the entitlement. 

Spencer knocked on the door, which was opened almost immediately. A woman with obvious dyed blonde hair and botox greeted us.

“You must be from the FBI! Come in please,” she said as she basically pulled Spencer and I into the house. Not exactly the demeanor of a grieving parent.

“We’re here to ask some…” my voice trailed off as I saw the massive chandeliers and luxurious couches. Money and possessions. 

“Are you from the FBI?” A girl about 10 approached me hesitantly. She had clearly been crying, and I got on my knees to talk to her. 

“Yeah, I’m YFN and this is Spencer. We’re here to ask some questions.” I glanced over at the Mrs. Lorretta, who had suddenly abandoned her politeness. 

The girl looked to her mom, who was giving her a death glare. The girl just turned and ran up the stairs. 

“Ma'am, we’re to ask you about Jamie.” Spencer put his hands in his pockets. “Mind if we sit?”

Mrs. Lorretta picked the politeness act right back where she left off. “Yes, yes. Please sit.”

After a few minutes of awkward small talk, I went with the hard questions. “How did Jamie’s drug habits influence her? Did she have any enemies?” 

Mrs. Lorretta’s mouth tightened in a straight line, and she looked between Spencer and I. “Well… um, I’m not sure. She wasn’t really home much… she’s always been distant with us. I never heard about any enemies, but she never talked to me much anyway.”

Over her shoulder, I saw the girl peeking behind the staircase. Spencer noticed it too, and tapped me on the leg. 

“Excuse me, where’s the bathroom?” I kept my tone light and cheery. She pointed down a long hallway to my right, and I made a small motion to the girl to follow. 

Once we were out of earshot, the little girl burst into quiet tears. 

“Hey, what’s your name?” My voice was soft and I rubbed her shoulders. 

“Lily,” she hiccuped through her sobs. “My dad was always so mean to Jamie…”

“What do you mean?”

Lily squeezed her eyes shut. “He would always go into her room… and I could hear him hitting her. They would fight all the time. He’s why she did drugs… she needed to escape from him.”

I lowered my voice even more. “Do you know who did this to her?”

She opened her eyes and sniffled softly. “I wasn’t surprised when the police found her body. It was only a matter of time before he… and I heard screaming coming from our shed in the backyard.”

“What’s going on here?” 

Mr. Lorretta stood behind me, a smile looking like plastic on his face. 

Money, power, ambition. 

I smiled sweetly, patting Lily’s shoulder. “Oh nothing. I was looking for the bathroom and I just saw that she was upset. Your wife is answering some questions of my colleague’s, come join. I’m sure she’s being very helpful.”

In his eyes I saw an evilness that said that he would tear me to shreds given the chance. I turned away from him, beginning to walk down the long hallway back to Spencer. 

I felt him pull my gun from its holster behind me, and he wrapped a strong arm around both of mine, his other hand pressing the cold barrel against my temple. “Move.” He growled in my ear. 

Lily had taken off running, and as we moved closer, Mrs. Lorretta had taken hold of Lily in her arms. 

Mr. Lorretta hissed at Spencer, who had his gun drawn at this point. “Think about this, Agent. Don’t want the blood of two people on your hands.”

I looked at Spencer, begging him to lower his gun. Not for me, but for Lily, who was still in her mother’s firm hold, a kitchen knife pressed to her throat. 

The cold barrel of my own gun pressed into my temple, and all I wanted to do was kiss Spencer when he finally dropped his weapon. 

“Honey, they’re federal agents. We can’t kill them,” the wife reminded her husband, who seemed torn on what to do now. 

“Why did you carve ‘mine’ into your daughter’s skin?” I blurted. 

He laughed softly in my ear, and I wanted to throw up. “Because she needed to know her place before I put her out of her misery. That was the only way she would understand. Do you know your place, Agent YLN?”

“You are in complete control here, Mr. Lorretta.”

“Damn right I am.” I felt him beat the barrel of the gun against my head, and I was out cold. 

TAG LIST: @itsarayofsunshine @thesailbells @squirrellover1967 @softpeteparker @parkeroffline

[falloutblight]

Okay. I am so tired but here we go. Fallout: ghost hole faction rewrites:

So it’s still Fallout 4. Which I know is a weak start but I wanna fix the factions. I want the Institute to be a transhumanist cathedral and Father’s fixation on synth production not to be an effort to simply transcend and control the wasteland but to transcend humanity at the cost of the wasteland. Like if this is the Commonwealth’s faction of prewar American leftovers, then I think that the immense self infatuation and entitlement to everything life provides you that is present in jingoistic fascist prewar America should fit in nicely as a thematic. The mindset that lead up to the apocalypse never truly left kind of thing. Plus like it’s nice and lovecraftian etc etc. I want the synths themselves to be a lot less human and a lot more android- esque like something that is very quickly revealed to be non human but still sentient and aware and autonomous. This way the conversation around what gen synths are deserving of saving within the railroad can be a lot more nuances because you can start with the whole ‘at what level of sentience does rescue become absolutely necessary’ etc.

As for the Railroad itself, man. Okay like it’s an important thing to call back to irt American history, clearly, but the handling of the Railroad and its ingame theming was atrocious. You can’t equate black enslaved people escaping capture to created synthetic life that can be utilised to harm others, it’s a very ugly comparison. So I think the Railroad should operate more along the lines of helping people in general escape the Commonwealth (seeing as it’s a big shithole) with Glory taking a leadership role in helping synths escape the Commonwealth and the Institute all at once. She deserves the air time and at least this way the Railroad serves it’s purpose without the racist allegory. Also the idea that the Institute uses the Commonwealth populous as experiment fodder, as living material to be used as they see fit and hence are not allowed to leave the Commonwealth makes them a lot more fun and creepy.

The Minutemen should be an anarchist collective. Bite me. Preston is an anarchist revolutionary now, as God meant him to be. Idealists, protectors, community support. The Institute as a faction may not be actively known about but the Minutemen know that there’s something out there, aside from the deathclaws, that settlements need to be protected from. Think of them as a more trigger happy Followers of the Apocalypse. Tired and rugged, people who have shouldered protecting the folk of the Commonwealth from its wasteland dangers and do so with an exhausted smile. Can throw together a house from rubble and defend a settlement from a raider attack with a handful of molotovs and a can-do attitude. Few and far between but massively talented people if you can find em.

There should be. 👏 A supermutant faction. We are not arguing over this, it’s right and just. No more ‘ugg gonna blow up settlement for human flesh’. We’re adults. OG super mutants are WAY. more interesting and fleshed out that fo4’s- admittedly scarier- supermutants. With the themes of a transhumanist cult utilising the commonwealth as labrats and the factions within desperately fighting against that, I kind of like the idea of supermutants being the ones left behind, experiments gone wrong, who managed to get free and now roam the wasteland as outsiders. They can have an actual culture that isn’t just. Shit and blood? They can be nomadic, wandering from place to place because they’re usually not welcome at human settlements. They can have massive insight into the Institute and you could even have a quest aligning them within the minutemen’s protection. Thematically they’re a wildcard but also products of nationalistic ego outstripping the discarded elements it leaves behind.

Goodneighbour should be its own faction. You can’t just have the worlds worst written anarchist collective and then just. Have nothing meaningful to add to it. A settlement that accepts anybody that has multiple communal leaders that each have a say in how things are governed. Hank doesn’t roleplay as a slaveowner anymore, soz ked. He also didn’t become a ghoul through drug use, I hate that, he just got the radioactive clap like everyone else and turned that way. It’s a collective of dropouts and people who regard themselves as lost causes but whom together support and protect one another. It can still have it’s shadowy elements, Marowski deserves a bigger role than the one he gets. Perhaps he’s the element within Goodneighbour that needs routing, you have a quest chain with him of doing progressively worse shit until you can either kill him (and make goodneighbour an enemy of his allies) or keep him around as a political puppet.

As for the Brotherhood. Jesus, okay. Rogue element, first and foremost. Sarah is alive because I’m a dyke. Maxson is a little shit who went rogue to the commonwealth in the hopes of building up numbers and strength before returning to the capital to take out Sarah for good. Sarah was maybe betrayed personally by Maxson and is now on the hunt for Maxsons’ head. She’s a companion you can meet and romance. She’s emotionally distant but clearly has a connection to you she can’t resist. She’s physically powerful and jacked as shit. But with you she’s gentle, she’s- okay so I have a thing for tall powerful women. But you get the idea, maxson comes to the commonwealth as a fascist bullyboy but with Sarah’s help you take the little shit down and on the way you can convince Sarah that synths are no longer just technology out of control when they’re also fully sentient. Okay so maybe this is all an elaborate plan to get Sarah Lyons to fall in love with me. But listen. It will work.

[39th]

It's not that no Kp*p idol is allowed to have tattoos, many do. Most just have very small ones. It's a mix of culture, fear, image, older generation's frowns etc (I'm Asian). J@y P*rk (terrible person tho) has a lot of tattoos. Big celebrities getting tattos is helping destigmatize tattoos, J@y P*rk is one of the people who did it in a big way and he's a rapper, rappers have them more than idols do. Jungkook has always been adventurous, he had 4 to 6 piercings and at some point he tried gauge too. Back then some entitled fans whined about it so he took them out, there are 1000x more fans now and he is much more comfortable doing what he likes unapologetically.. from tattoos to long hair or pigtails. Another factor is company, so far BTS's company is the most lenient and progressive with their policies. They did hide his first knuckle tattoos (fandom nane, members' initials) in the beginning, they'll have to hide the sleeve for TVs now too, but they can't forbid him. It's not like BTS would be fired 😂 But this is the company whose CEO bought one of their older gnc male artist his first pair of high heels 😊 (and speculated by general public to be scouting queer artists all the time 😂)

The other two HYBE artists everyone seems to have gender envy for are Jimin and Yeonjun. They also have similar mindsets as Jungkook. Those two like playing with gender in a sensual way, Jimin sparked a huge conversation with his performance of Filter.

Sorry this is a lot of info, it's rare to see genuine progressiveness from Kp*p industry, and these people have been doing it for a long time, they've been a comfort to us queer fans for a long time.

Back to Jungkook, he is a very sweet polite introverted guy who loves gaming and snacks, gets incredibly jealous if his big brothers aren't playing with him, and likes to use them as weights when he does push ups. Please be kind to him and his big brothers. (If you want, look up Begin lyrics translation on doolset blog you'll understand)

i'm just so happy that their company is now more lenient about showing jungkook's tattoos! idk why they wanna hide it anyway, those tattoos look super good on him. i think they should just let jungkook stream live n show off his tattoos in HD and explain it in full detail !! that's obviously what the people want ♡ i hope the other companies start taking notes too and let their idols do whatever they want with their bodies!!

@ kpop companies just let your idols express themselves freely. it's really not that hard