#you don't have to justify anything to anyone

[susiephone]

This reminds me of people (who are unsurprisingly also on TikTok) that insist not tipping their server is Ethical, Actually because if servers stop getting tips, eventually the law will change and servers will have to be paid a proper wage

for those not in the USA, as bad as our minimum wage situation is in general, it's worse for servers, because it is legal to pay them "tipped worker's minimum", which is often half of regular minimum wage depending on the state, with the idea being that they make enough in tips to make up the difference. not all restaurants use this model, but many do, which is deeply fucked up because if you happen to have a really unlucky week where hardly anyone tips, you're shit out of luck. (there are other jobs this applies to, but waitstaff is probably the biggest portion of people in this situation.)

and like. restaurant owners know this. everyone who has worked in a restaurant environment (or knows someone who has) knows that if over half your income is based on the whims of your customers, you can be completely fucked over even if you didn't do anything wrong. restaurants know this and still make the conscious choice to pay their waitstaff less than minimum wage.

so when I started seeing people claiming that if everyone just stopped tipping, restaurants would have no choice but to raise wages, I wanted to rip my hair out. I can't tell if anyone sincerely believes this is how the world works or if it's all just pretense to justify doing what they wanted to do anyway.

but, no, if restaurant owners cared whether or not their employees made a living wage, they'd pay them a living wage. they aren't going to raise wages because you decided to screw your server out of one of their many $5 tips that they need to pay rent.

just admit you don't want to tip because you're stingy. just admit you don't want to put the cart back because you can't be bothered. everyone is selfish at times. but don't try to coat your selfishness in progressive buzzwords and call it praxis.

[calcified-fluorited]

Hey, fun fact for anyone who needs to hear this, but you don't have to justify your fave's actions. If your fave does atrocities and instead of acknowledging that you get up in arms about people calling them a bad person just don't get it, then you're too much of a coward to admit that your fave has a lot on their bill.

Cait gassed all those people and participated in the police brutality stuff. You can like her without justifying it. In fact, justifying it makes you look incredibly insensitive. Seriously, defending a literal war crime?

Jinx did a whole lot of shit under Silco. Yeah. idc I love her. She did all that and some more. Wish she wasn't so harmless in s2, it's like the writers got scared of her doing anything seriously bad

Mel.... I love her as a character but irl i wouldn't. I mean, you can't be the richest person of the city without being a major part of exploiting zaunites

Silco was a really fascinating character, loved all of his scenes. I don't need to talk abt him tho cause he was framed as a villain. you get it

no notes on Viktor because he turned into a cartoon villain and I can't take that seriously. emotions are a flaw? haha yea what show am i watching

[sikyulioness]

I don't know if you can make head canons but can you make one for Jinwoo as a yandere 🥲

✨Hope you like it✨

_______. ._______

Bound by Shadows

Jinwoo wasn’t the type to believe in fate. Destiny was just an excuse for weak men to justify their failures. He had spent years clawing his way to the top, turning his own death sentence into power, and he refused to let anything or anyone distract him from that.

And yet, the first time he saw you, something shifted.

It was supposed to be an ordinary evening. He had just finished eliminating a gate’s remaining threats, his shadows slithering back into place as he stepped into the quiet city streets. The weight of his responsibilities loomed over him, as always, yet for the first time in a long while, his mind went utterly blank.

Because there you were.

You weren’t extraordinary. There was no overwhelming presence, no aura that demanded attention. If anything, you were unassuming, lost in your own world as you walked past. But that was what made Jinwoo stop.

The world was a cruel, dangerous place, and yet you moved through it like you had never known fear. How? How had you managed to exist so quietly, so untouched by the darkness he had come to know so well?

His shadows stirred beneath him, curious, waiting.

He told himself he would forget you by the time he turned the corner.

But he didn’t.

—

At first, it was nothing. Just coincidence. He convinced himself that running into you again was a matter of probability, nothing more. Seoul wasn’t small, but it wasn’t impossible for two people to frequent the same places.

Still, he couldn’t ignore the way his eyes always found you in a crowd. The way his feet seemed to move on their own, trailing a little too close when he should have been walking the other way.

The shadows made it worse. They were drawn to you, following at a distance even when Jinwoo willed them not to. It was unnatural, the way they curled in anticipation whenever you were near, the way they whispered in his ear that you were something important.

It wasn’t until he noticed the changes that he realized just how far he had already fallen.

The obstacles in your life began disappearing before you even noticed them. A late-night stalker who had been watching you for weeks? Gone before he could take a step too close. That café you always visited, where the barista had been a little too friendly for Jinwoo’s liking? Suddenly under new management. The landlord who was thinking of raising your rent? Changed his mind overnight.

Jinwoo made sure your world remained untouched. Unbothered. Safe.

He was careful, always careful, never letting you see the way he stood just out of your line of sight. The way he listened to your voice from the shadows, memorizing your habits, your routines, the way your lips curled when you were deep in thought.

He thought it would be enough.

It wasn’t.

—

The gifts started appearing before he could stop himself.

A necklace in your favorite color, left on your doorstep with no note. A coat just thick enough to keep you warm when winter rolled in, arriving at your door as if it had been a mistaken delivery. Things you never mentioned wanting, yet somehow needed.

And when he saw you wear them—saw the way you smiled as you ran your fingers over the delicate chain, saw the way you pulled the coat tighter around yourself on cold mornings—something in him settled.

As if this was always how it was supposed to be.

—

Jinwoo never meant to frighten you.

He never thought you would notice, never thought you would realize the way the world bent around you in ways it never did before.

But then you tried to leave.

He heard it in your voice before you even made the decision, the way your words wavered as you told a friend you were thinking of moving. A fresh start, you said. A new beginning.

The shadows lashed violently beneath his feet.

No.

You didn’t need a new beginning. You didn’t need to run from something that had never been a threat.

You were his.

And nothing—not distance, not fear, not even your own resistance—would ever change that.

So when you opened your eyes one morning and found yourself somewhere unfamiliar, wrapped in warmth that was not your own, Jinwoo was already there.

Waiting. Watching.

Smiling.

"Good morning," he murmured, his voice smooth, affectionate. Final.

Because now, finally, he didn’t have to watch from afar anymore.

---

The End

[tavsianus]

Oh, I love this thing but I know that it is morally wrong and bad and a no no thing its just in fiction that's why I'm ok with it, well not okay, don't get me wrong, of course its not okay because its bad and I know it and I agree with it 100℅ and it definitely not something that should be done in real life and everyone who does this irl are definitely bad and fucked up, and I'm none of those things because I don't condone this and I need you all to know it before I can continue!!! It's just that it helped with the story (or whatever else reason I can think of to "justify" my interest/affection for this thing so you won't get mad at me) and even though it's bad and mean and horrible and disgusting it's also in the story and it just happened to be that part is my favourite part and I thought it was interesting, but please don't attack me, I am not bad!

[ehh-is-the-name]

reposting this from Pinterest 'cause it makes me ill.

This dynamic makes me AOUGHHH. I will say after the show ended I haven't thought too much about them, aside from the passing "thank fuck they're free," but I feel like this isn't quite it.

As an angst lover, tearing these too apart would be, a chef's estranged kiss, but as I break down what 3gs is saying here. I just can't help but feel like it wouldn't stay like this. At some point, maybe between learning what Mephone has done and everything, 3gs might feel this way. The anger of being forever in the mental shadow of someone who could be considered worse than you is real...They're both technically pretty fuckin bad now that think about it. One aided in colonizing and destabilising a whole society and the other created and traumatized like 30 people. Both are pretty bad.

I love this and hate this dynamic for them- I love the meeple plot point so much you don't understand oh my fuckign god

Text from img under the cut:

As I delve deeper into your activities, I realize more and more how immersed you are in your grief. I feel anger towards you, because you had the opportunity to be saved, unlike me. Fear is the only thing I live by. I am the consequence of a deep fear of mistakes, I erased my sanity for the sake of your existence. You are the logical outcome of my sacrifices. You and I are alike. Both shells with an artificial soul, our emotions and feelings are not caused by chemical reactions of the mind, but are predetermined by a built-up program inside us. We are the product of experiments conducted by Meeple organization under the leadership of Steve Cobs. Our creation is aimed at ensuring his future and success. But the perfection of our creator is limitless, he will never be able to admit to himself that he is weak. Easily get influenced by your fears, your hatred. Steve Cobs is afraid to look at me after my failure, because my failure is his burden. He was responsible for ensuring my capabilities, he trained me and guided me into action. But I failed and felt the disappointment of Cobs. Looking at me, our creator comes up with the idea that he is not perfect, because he left me to suffer mental anguish in the dark places of his office. I literally became the embodiment of his nightmares. But you are a gift from heaven, a godlike creation. Your capabilities are equal to the higher powers. Steve Cobs is obsessed with the fact of your existence, he feeds on everything you live on. You are perfect, truly perfect with your embedded qualities. You have directed your gift to compensate for your emptiness, and your emptiness is due to your stay in Meeple. There you realized what it feels like to think that your existence is meant for the well-being of your creator, you are just a goal, a thing and a machine. All conscious Meeple products have survived this devaluation of their own importance. Everyone had to put up with it, except you. You've got the same rotten fate that guided Steve Cobs. You created people, conscious people, and cursed their lives for years to come. They didn't even know that you were the cause of their troubles. You condemned them to torture in order for them to fulfill the purpose of playing the role of participants in your show, which you organized to prove to Cobs that you are something more than just a machine. You continued the activities of your tormentor, completely copying his behavior. You... you selfish asshole have never been able to comprehend the full weight of the damage done to your own reality. You and I are both doomed, but I am doomed because my mental integrity was destroyed not by my will. And you are a careless infantile and a victim of your own troubles, you are to blame for your moral ruin. It is sad to see that you will never, again, never be able to rely on reality, you disgusts me. You are driven by fear, just like your creator.

[summertimesadnessirl]

Someone else broke my life.

They should have to fix it.

I have repaired the damage of my shitty childhood and my shitty economic system and built a life I wanted to live like 3 times already.

I'm not doing it again.

If someone wants me to not rot in bed until I find a way to kill myself that sticks and is permanent for once...

Idk if this is a real ancient Chinese thing or something they made up for a shitty movie, but if you save someone's life you are responsible for them.

I feel like I am not responsible for what happens to me. I am not in control of my life. I keep saving my life and "doing the work" and in return not receiving personal autonomy. I'm not saying personal autonomy like blah blah blah toxic hyper independence you suck I hate you blah.

I'm saying I should be able to do the work and live alone and not have sudden random drastic fluctuations in my income, I repaired my credit and saved a huge emergency fund and lost it and now I'm in debt worse that before. I should be able to make friends and romantic liasons and business relationships with people where they don't fuck me over on the way out and they just wish me the best of luck. I should be allowed to be easily able to afford the things that make it easier to live with my disability without having to justify them to anyone and I should be allowed to tell people to fuck off if they are mean to me, and I should be allowed to know that if something is wrong in a social setting that people put on their adult underwear and tell me in words what is wrong before retaliation against me, and that my disability won't be used against me, and that I can tell people details of my life when they ask for them without having to worry that later they will intentionally use them to humiliate me, and I should be allowed to live in a society where we normalize the idea that people who follow the rules but use them to fuck people over are to blame for their own actions and the people who are pretending to be so hamstrung by the rules that they can't help are actually just as bad and the people who tell you it's your responsibility to do better and share dubious advice with you are on thin fucking ice.

Literally I built myself a little tiny micro version of that in my own life.

And then someone came and violated me and took it. And they did it in such a way that they will never face consequences and I have to know that no matter what I do, they could do that to anyone.

Building anything is pointless.

Saving my life is pointless.

Living has no value if it's only your breath and your lungs.

I'm not saying I won't work, I worked on my business for years before I got a dime, I worked 6 to 7 days a week when I had it running well for the majority of the time. I'm saying I'm not going to run at some fucking football and pretend that I'll be able to kick it this time.

The only thing I am willing to put the bare minimum of effort into is paying my bills and trying to figure out how to die in one shot relatively easily alone in my home.

I don't want to take anyone with me or die in front of anyone. And I don't want to heal. I did that. It took years and years and every time I got close and once I did, people just came along and retraumatized me.

It didn't even take much time or effort on their part.

So what I am going to do is die.

All of you are going to watch.

That's what you wanted.

You wouldn't be satisfied with anything else.

People have been coming at me and attacking me and spiting me and backstabbing me and betraying me and liking to see my cry my whole life.

Offering them something else hasn't worked. Hiding hasn't worked. Compromise hasn't worked. Begging hasn't worked. Therapy hasn't worked. Drugs, legal and prescription. Friendship, love, philosophy, religion, witchcraft, meditation, hypnosis, vice, virtue. None of it has worked.

You wanna torture me to death?

Here ya go.

If you didn't want to torture me to death, this wouldn't have gone on for three goddamn years straight.

If you wanted to not hurt me, you would have stopped hurting me when I said you were hurting me.

This was never what I wanted ot what I agreed to or what I asked for.

“no one else can save you” ok cool well i don’t want to do it. i do not view myself as worth saving anyway. godspeed

[girlsdads]

agree so hard…. like yeah ofc a lot of dirlies don’t like liam especially now lmao, is this not a very competitive sport are we meant to hold hands and sing kumbaya with everyone?? I’m sorry but haterism is fun too especially on tumblr where it literally Does Not Matter and can be so easily avoided

exactly!! like sorry for not liking the guy who took my fave's job lmao.

[lunar-fey]

oh yeah not sure where we're at w money btw. we might be able to get some of it back but we wont know anything concrete until friday

[martianmeerkat]

Both Jon and Catelyn were betrayed. Catelyn was already grieving many losses, and as far as she knew, the last of her family had just been killed in front of her. Not to mention, she was betrayed by people she already did not trust. The only thing on her mind was vengeance.

Jon was betrayed, yes, and that will have a big impact on his character. But we also know Bowen Marsh didn't hate Jon. He didn't even want Jon dead originally. He was more worried with all the changes being made that the Watch would be no longer. Do I think Jon will show mercy? No. But I would also like to point out that unlike Catelyn, Jon is a warg. He has a second life in Ghost before he will be brought back to his body. What that means and how that will happen I cannot say. But this also means that the influence death has over him will look different. There will still be a drastic change, and it most likely won't be pretty, but I don't think it will be vengeance that he seeks.

As for Gilly, because I knew it was going to be brought up at some point. It's a take many people love to point out to justify hating Jon. He didn't sell anyone. He made a choice in an attempt to save a baby's life. He feared that Melissandre would take the life of Dalla's child for the "King's blood." He didn't know she knew of his plan until after it had already been done. But he also didn't want a child to die. He didn't believe any child deserved to die. In fact, we see in his contemplation of taking up Stannis on his offer, that Jon imagines fostering both children at Winterfell. Raising them together as brothers, like he and Robb were. He even directly states like him and Robb. He did not make that decision lightly, nor did he only see it as a task to complete. He saw those babies as people, with lives that they deserved the chance to live.

He also didn't like the idea of separating a child from his mother since he himself grew up without one. If he had believed there to be another way, or if he had been able to trust that Melissandre would not take the life of an infant, he wouldn't have made that decision. You could make the argument that "why didn't he let Gilly take both children then?" Well, to that, I answer that he didn't know Melissandre knew of his plans. He was juggling multiple factions that didn't hold high opinions of one another, and if one faction got too angry, it could quickly devolve into violence. Something that absolutely would cause irreparable damage. Pissing off Stannis' witch who seems to hold a great deal of influence over the King's men is not an ideal thing to do. If she wanted a dead baby, especially that of a wildling prince, Stannis would give her a dead baby.

Historical presidence does place Jon politically above Dany in terms of heir placement. But I think its also prudent to ask the question of if Jon would even be able to have kids after coming back from the dead. He will be alive solely through magic, and while that can do many things, risking the heir to the seven kingdoms being a monster? Jon is already othered in every aspect of his life. And we see how people react to things that are "other." It's absolutely terrifying.

Add to this the fact that the seven kingdoms are in such a state of disarray, especially with winter on its way, tens of thousands dead, more still dying, wars being raged left and right, stability is what will be valued over anything else. Especially considering the fact that the rest of the Seven Kingdoms don't know about the threat of the others. In fact, most of the Watch and the Baratheon men don't even know about the threat that's right around the corner from them.

With all that being said, the biggest threat to Dany politically won't be Jon-Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, northern bastard, sometimes refered to as a turn cloak and wildling in his own right. It will be Aegon. Whether he's the real Aegon, whether he's a blackfyre, or whether he's just a kid from fleabottom that happened to have the Valyrian look and made an easy pawn. The Dance, the Blackfyre Rebellions, even Robert's Rebellion; hell, even the War of the Five Kings, they all set the presidence that you don't really need a claim for people to follow you, you only need to look and act the part. A mummer's show if you will.

We know the Lannisters currently hold the throne with the help of the Tyrells. But the Tyrells also have plans of their own that are brewing. They won't be staying loyal to the lions. That is practically for certain since it's evident that after the death of Tywin, the nobles don't quite trust Cersei, with good reason. Lady Stoneheart is tearing through the Riverlands, Littlefinger has got his hands all up in Vale business, Dorne has its principality divided, and even the North has political upheaval since Lord Manderly is serving Lord Frey his sons in meat pies.

The show may have made a mess of interpretations for the characters, especially by fault of twisting and combining narratives or flat out getting rid of some and forming others out of thin air, but the political climate of the seven kingdoms does not serve Jon just the same as it does not serve Dany. At the very least, what Dany has over Jon is that Aegon is willing to treat with her. But if there is to be a dance, it will be between the silver haired dragons, not the one hiding in the snow.

In all fairness, I will concede that there will likely be speculation of legitimacy, especially if it becomes public knowledge that Robb legitimized Jon as a Stark before his death. The Seven Kingdoms won't care if Rhaegar and Lyanna were married, I dont know why they did that in the show. There's historical precedence that Valyrians take multiple spouses, but there's even more historical precedence among nobility that the name must live on. Preferably the blood too, but that isn't always the case either, although that's moreso for lesser houses. It won't matter if Jon is true born or bastard so long as Aegon is running around, since he would be preferable to both. But it will matter that Jon is legitimized as a Stark.

Note: Aegon has Tyrion as an advisor, who we know is a friend to Jon. Tyrion, upon finding out the truth of Jon's parentage, might encourage Aegon to offer the same thing Stannis once offered Jon. Winterfell. To be Warden of the North and subservient to the Iron Throne. Something that when made known will likely be a point of contention. Especially considering that anyone who is on Aegon's side who might not be favorable to the North would believe Jon to be a threat to Aegon.

Let me say that again, they would consider Jon a threat to Aegon. Not a threat to Dany, but to Aegon. Which will be important because he's also the closest to the Iron Throne right now, aside from Cersei, and already been convinced by Tyrion to attack first and treat with Dany later. Which will in it of itself cause problems with Dany possibly obtaining support to take the throne. Though we do know there are a couple fleets heading her direction hoping to gain her favor.

So if we're going to talk political situations, let's not forget the context in which their situations reside. Because it's a hell of a lot more complicated than woman vs bastard.

Jon Snow’s misogyny toward feminine women who brush their hair and wait for knights to rescue them vs. Daenerys being feminine and wanting a man to carry her off is another clear indication of how incompatible Jon is for her:

In her dream they had been man and wife, simple folk who lived a simple life in a tall stone house with a red door. — ADWD, Daenerys II

Starlight and seafoam, Dany thought, a wisp of silk that leaves my left breast bare for Daario’s delight. Oh, and flowers for my hair. —Daenerys IV, ADWD

In my Seven Kingdoms, knights go on quests to prove themselves worthy of the maiden that they love. — ADWD, Daenerys IV

How beautiful, the queen tried to tell herself, but inside her was some foolish little girl who could not help but look about for Daario. If he loved you, he would come and carry you off at swordpoint, as Rhaegar carried off his northern girl, the girl in her insisted, but the queen knew that was folly. — ADWD, Daenerys VII

Another proof that Snowstorm shippers just see Daenerys as a self insert and don’t really know, like, or enjoy her character. Daenerys is NOT a warrior woman. She’s never had the privilege of being militarily or martially trained or given weapons to duel with. She likes brushing her hair and keeping it clean and bathing, things Jon seems to take issue with women doing.

Daenerys is willowy and tiny in stature as well, not hardened and tall. Yet more proof she isn’t Jon’s type and is exactly the type of feminine woman Jon reviles and is repeatedly derisive and misogynistic toward in his POV.

And I hate Jon’s line because Daenerys is a vulnerable and young orphan girl who suffered severe abuse from her brother. She wants to be rescued and protected. I don’t care about what Jon wants, except when it conflicts with what Daenerys wants.

This is an actually pretty good point to consider. Has there actually been some evidence that Jon would "make an exception" towards Dany or otherwise value ttis aspect to her for jonerys/snowstorm fans?

[unproduciblesmackdown]

truly something that, amidst facing / going through a dramatic Life Change ft. unavoidable emotional effects of that, there are instances where i can't conceal any & all degrees of being distressed / upset, & repeatedly getting "it's hard for me too" as a Direct Response to that: really something & a half how the asserted theoretical Sympathy of [i feel similarly!] is invoked so as to, oh you know, preclude sympathetic Treatment. such as that what would be More sympathetic in these instances would be to say Nothing, "if there's nothing but dismissal / making it first & foremost about someone else's feelings to say, don't say it at all" style

[canonisdead]

The tags might offend you but I love Guardian's flaws

Anyone on this planet: *Even slightly mean to Guardian* Guardian: >:/ That is really mean, I have done nothing to deserve this and I expect an apology right now

[gottagobuycheese]

head against wall head against wall head against wall

[princekirijo]

OK this is the last post I make on the topic because I don't like being too personal on Tumblr (not anymore at least) and tbh I might delete this after a while but it is so upsetting to see people shit on people who are addicted to gacha games. It doesn't matter what it is an addiction is an addiction. I've heard of people going into debt over these things like do you understand how sad and terrible that is. And like maybe idk we shouldn't laugh at them for spending 1k+ on some anime waifu maybe we should idk treat them like a human being and help them.

[theloveinc]

not claiming that i am automatically unproblematic by default but.. it does make me sad how such stupid things tear people apart on this site

[inazuma-fulgur]

Why do 99% of leftists seem to have never questioned their ideas around ownership?

Which is one of the most basic ideas to challenge and still I see almost everyone spread capitalist rhetoric and propaganda, including high profile/educated people

[jarognieva]

I need to vent