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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

Text

Dream SMP Recap (June 9/2021) - New Citizens

Ponk has a chat with Sam, Fundy and Purpled officially join Las Nevadas, and Ranboo receives an update message from the Council.

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VOD LINKS:

Ponk

Fundy

Purpled

Ranboo

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- Ponk continues building the bridge in his new valley

- He returns to Foolish’s summer home and finds the countersuit Puffy left. He reads it. Many of the claims he doesn’t think are actually against the law of the land. He insists he wasn’t quoting Roadtrip during his Banquet speech, but rather an old man

- Ponk will have the best lawyers (he also may pay the jury off but don’t tell anyone). He’s amused that Puffy would work with BadBoyHalo and call Ponk the ‘dirty Eggpire supporter’

- He finishes reading the lore suit and greets Purpled in chat, telling him that he’s getting sued by Puffy

- Sam logs on and Ponk takes him over to the valley. They’ve had their differences, but Ponk is in need of a good lawyer. Sam suggests Tubbo, but Tubbo is expensive and intimidating

- Ponk points out that Sam will be the only one in the jury with an elevated IQ like his own. Sam hasn’t been officially selected for the jury yet, and they might think he’s biased, having cut off Ponk’s arm (Sam says he did it for good reason)

- They reach the valley and Sam approves of Ponk’s bridge

Sam: “You can see Kinoko Kingdom from here.”

Ponk: “(gagging sound) No, you can see Niki’s place! Niki’s communist cult! It’s great! We’re gonna set up a nice trade agreement, and (mumbling) then we’ll burn Kinoko Kingdom down to the groun-- I mean, then we’ll have nice trade deals with everyone, you know?”

- Ponk is bitter about losing his arm and Sam blames it on him for stealing the keycards

Ponk: “Sam...just so you know, just so you know...You can come to me after...after everything. I will still support you, Sam, okay? You’ll have a place to stay, because, all the wrong you’ve done is gonna catch up behind you, you know? All the wrong that you’ve done--”

Sam: “I haven’t really done anything wrong.”

Ponk: “Haven’t you? Haven’t you?!”

Sam: “No, I think I’m a good guy.”

Ponk: “You think you’re a good person?”

Sam: “I don’t know, you don’t think I’m a good person?”

Ponk: “I mean -- my opinions are biased.”

- Ponk asks Sam to walk and talk with him on the way back to Spawn. Sam’s spoken with Purpled recently

- They visit the animal sanctuary and Sam suggests they steal the strider. Ponk tells him stealing is bad. Sam wants to let it out. They play with the strider a bit

- Ponk explains his conflict with Puffy in general terms

Sam: “Look, I have a random crossbow from one of those guys that we killed.”

Ponk: “You said that so casually...life is precious, you know.”

- Ponk asks about the bank. He’s free to work. Sam says it’s up to Hannah. The two discuss the bank system

- Ponk hasn’t seen Technoblade in a while. Sam thinks he must be overthrowing governments in a far off land or something

- Ponk offers to trade with Sam for two stacks of redstone blocks. He asks how much for his arm back. Sam says he destroyed it. Ponk is upset that Sam didn’t keep it, but Sam says it was too mangled

- Sam trades some gold for the redstone

- They fight a raid together and capture a Ravager

- The two continue to chat for a while

- Fundy stands by his bed. He had a great sleep! He dreamt about a Windows update and he’s looking...a little sleepy?

- He checks the to-do list. Today’s the day. He grabs some things for the road. Fundy decides he’ll go alone. He doesn’t want to risk losing his snow fox friend

- He says hi to his Aunt Panisha (a salmon in the river) as he sets off, asking her to wish him luck

- Fundy reaches Las Nevadas wonders where Quackity’s office is. After some deduction, he heads to the Needle and spots Quackity going up the elevator

- After some hesitation, Fundy goes up the elevator too and comes face-to-face with Quackity, who sees him and asks if he’s okay. Fundy says he’s doing fine, he had a weird sleep and may have woke up outside the window

- Fundy tells him that he took his advice and bettered himself. They sit at the table and Fundy shows him his new diet. Quackity says he’s proud of him

- Fundy mentions that last time they spoke, he suggested they play cards and back at home, he didn’t sleep because he was waiting for Quackity to come over...and then he didn’t

- Quackity explains he just had a bunch of paperwork to do

- Fundy spots some slime blocks bunched at the side of the room and asks what that’s about. Quackity says it’s “a friend” of his, that he’s probably asleep

- Quackity gets Charlie to emerge from the slime

Charlie: “Hey, Fundy from L’manburg!”

- He was in the middle of his gloop-morphosis. Fundy is confused at how he knows who he is. Charlie digs into the floor and gets Fundy to greet him, slurping up some slime

- Quackity tells Charlie he needs to speak with Fundy. Charlie says he can “sell it” and starts telling Fundy he looks like he wants to gamble. Fundy asks Quackity why he’s talking like this, and Quackity says he must have learned it from TV

- Fundy finds out that Charlie is incredibly old and asks Charlie about how he knew he was from L’manburg. Charlie declares them best friends

- Fundy tells Quackity that he’s changed, that he’s a better man. Quackity thinks it’s great, but he doesn’t want Fundy to portray a false version of himself

- Charlie looks at Fundy close-up and says he hasn’t changed

- Quackity doesn’t want Fundy to join under these conditions. Fundy insists he’s fine, he isn’t portraying a false version of himself

- Fundy’s lived in that cottage for way too long. All these nightmares are because of him interacting with people and he’s ruining it for them -- but ever since he’s improved himself and become more healthy, he hasn’t had those nightmares

- Quackity has thought about it a lot, and Fundy’s work in L’manburg was exceptional. He thinks Las Nevadas will be a stepping stone to Fundy’s success

- Charlie gets Fundy to smell him and asks him what it’s like to dream. Fundy sniffs and maybe swallows a piece of Charlie. Charlie tells him one day he’ll be whole again

- Quackity passes Charlie a bone of one of their “mutual friends” in L’manburg and asks Charlie to analyze it

- Quackity and Fundy leave Charlie in the Needle and go back down. Quackity brings him downstairs, where he tells Fundy there’s no going back. He wants to make sure Fundy can trust him and hands Fundy a book to sign:

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All persons naturalized in Las Nevadas, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of Las Nevadas and the land wherein they reside.

The signing of this document subjects you to the rights and duties of the nation:

TAXES. Residents are required to pay a jurisdictional and financial charge to the nation to fund future projects and development of the nation. Failure to pay could result in the extinction of your permanent residence and possibly death.

MILITARY PARTICIPATION. One of your duties as a resident of Las Nevadas is the complete protection of the nation. You’re required to participate in any wars, conflicts, or disputes of the nation, in favor of Las Nevadas.

LAND. One of your rights as a resident of Las Nevadas is a self assigned plot of land, approved by the proper authorities, to develop productive businesses, homes, entertainment centers, etc.

GAMBLING. Gambling is defined as staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain, on the outcome of a game. Gambling is completely legal in Las Nevadas, but subject to constantly changing regulations.

THE LV LEGAL SYSTEM ---------------------------- Las Nevadas and any disputes within the nation will be settled in the Las Nevadas court (TBA), with the presence of the conflicted parties, and the proper authorities.

FALURE TO RESPECT THE CONSTITUTION AND THE DUTIES WHICH ARE ASSIGNED TO THIS RESIDENCE WILL RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP, AND, IF GUILTY OF A CRIME AGAINST THE NATION, YOU ARE SUBJECT TO

DEATH.

SIGNED . . .

QUACKITY

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF LAS NEVADAS

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- Fundy is nervous and hesitates

Quackity: “Fundy, I -- You’re like a brother to me. We’ve gone through so much. But I still have to protect my nation...surely you can understand that.”

Fundy: “No, I -- I can. Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah, um...it’s strong...You really believe in this nation, right? It’s like your child--”

Quackity: “Fundy...this is all I have left...if this nation dies, I die along with it.”

- Fundy signs the document with his full legal name:

Fun Jonatahan Micahel Vincent Georgina James Sus Dy

- He signs the book, gives it to Quackity and asks that if he ever reads it, to not call Fundy by his legal name

- Quackity welcomes Fundy to Las Nevadas as an official citizen!

- Charlie has control over the piece of slime inside Fundy. He tells Charlie not to do that

- Quackity asks Charlie if he has a name. They decide to call him “Meat” for now, but Charlie tells Quackity in “secret” (very loudly) that he isn’t actually meat...he is slime from the ground

- Quackity suggests they call him Slime From the Ground. He then says he is bones

- He leads the other two to the edge of Las Nevadas’ road and points out that they have a big issue: Tubbo’s outpost nearby. Quackity suspects that Tubbo may be planning some dangerous strategy against the country

- Quackity gives Slime some armor to put on

Slime: “Ready for war...don’t take my music discs!”

Fundy and Quackity: “Wh -- what did you just say?”

- Quackity has an informational video he can show Fundy later. They investigate the outpost. He reminds Fundy about the military protection portion of the document

- Quackity remembers the Butcher Army and asks how much experience Fundy has with the military. Fundy was part of every single one that’s existed

- Quackity suggests they build their own version of the outpost

- Slime starts breaking Tubbo’s windows. Quackity encourages it and tells Slime it’s called “griefing,” handing him dirt to spread around the place

- Quackity finds the two Totems of Undying they have at the outpost and asks if they should take them. He then says they should test them. He doesn’t know what they do

- Fundy isn’t sure they should, or what Tubbo’s intentions are. Quackity decides to leave them unless Tubbo retaliates for the griefing

- They notice the bridge and Quackity suggests a tollbooth

- Quackity explains the concept of taxes to Slime, who’s been watching Purpled recently. Purpled hasn’t done much, just farmed

- They start building the tollbooth and Fundy brings up how medieval castles used to have boiling oil above the gates that they could use if there were people they didn’t like, and they could do something similar

- Slime starts throwing slime and Fundy can feel it (and it doesn’t feel good)

- Quackity asks for the bone he gave back, but Slime can’t tell the difference between all the bones

- Quackity remembers how when L’manburg exploded, Fundy and Niki came up to him and said it was a good day...what was that about?

Fundy: “The way I saw it was, during that time, everyone was trying to divide each other, right. Everyone was trying to divide each other...every one was either left or right and there was no in between. There was no...People always wanted to separate themselves and make war and destroy everything that was loved. When L’manburg was a thing, I cared about L’manburg, and then it got destroyed, right, and eventually, my hope at that moment was...that people just like, accepted that they shouldn’t--”

Quackity: “But you betrayed the nation...Fundy, the thing I’m getting at is, I don’t know your excuse or your thinking behind that...that will not happen again at this nation. No betrayals, no backstabbing. Not here. Understand?”

Slime: “What’s backstabbing?”

- Quackity and Fundy try to teach Slime how to backstab, then how to work the tollbooth against Tubbo

- Slime starts putting buttons on the walls. Quackity tells him not to, as it gives him bad memories

- Slime asks Fundy again what it’s like to dream. Fundy doesn’t want to talk about it, but Quackity notes that he’s been vague about it

- Fundy explains that every time something big happens in this place, he has dreams where he can sort of see what happens before it does. It’s like gazing into the future, except he loses details before it happens

- Quackity presses him on it. Let’s say they have a big war coming up, he takes Tubbo’s totems and Fundy sleeps and tells him what happens next so that they can prepare?

- Fundy doesn’t think that’s a good idea. Quackity doesn’t understand how real these things are

- What if they build an entire building for Fundy so that he can have these dreams comfortably? It’s just a possibility...

- Slime’s gloop-morphosis isn’t “complete” yet

- Quackity asks if Fundy knows Foolish. Fundy remembers one time he blew up a little bit of Foolish’s house and he finds out Foolish lives in Las Nevadas

- Quackity asks how long ago this was. Fundy says it happened a long time ago, but Slime corrects him

Quackity: “Just know, Fundy...he doesn’t know how to lie.”

- Quackity leaves to get diamonds and Fundy confronts Slime alone, asking him how he knows things. He tells Slime that in certain situations, it’s helpful to keep quiet on certain things for the benefit of other people

- They move on and Fundy teaches Slime a bit about fun and hobbies

- Quackity returns and they notice many squid in the nearby river. Quackity goes down and starts killing “cod” (salmon). Fundy corrects him that they aren’t cod, but to Quackity fish is fish. Fundy looks away while Quackity kills them

- They suggest Fundy be the food-gatherer. Fundy suggests a diet of fruit and plants

Slime: “What’s wrong with salmon? Your father loved them!”

- Quackity asks Fundy to elaborate on his father, if he came from a fishing family. Fundy asks Slime again about how he knows. Slime continually refers back to people “turning to dust.”

- They ask about what Slime knows about them, then about Slime’s favorite memory. He digs a whole in the ground and waits for a bit

- They teach Slime about humor

Slime: “Two people walk into a bar. One is green, one is red. The green one is shaped -- is a bigger guy, and the red one is a smaller guy. To get to the bar, both got off a train. The train the red guy was on was going west at 40 miles an hour for 60 miles. The train the other guy was on did not serve lunch. They both walked into a bar, and 500 years later they were still just dust in the ground. At the end of it all, they were just still dust, and none of it mattered.”

- Slime tells another joke about a chicken turning into dust.

Quackity: “How long do you think it’ll take for me to turn to dust?

Slime: “I...I’ll make sure you never turn to dust, Quackity from Las Nevadas!”

- Quackity asks about Fundy’s father

Slime: “The sooty guy?”

- Quackity and Slime ask Fundy -- shouldn’t he know? Slime says Fundy can ask Wilbur about his history himself

Quackity: “Your dad’s alive, Fundy?”

- Fundy tells Quackity about how Phil came to him with some interesting news, that Wilbur is actually alive. Quackity ask when was the last time Fundy’s seen Wilbur. Fundy hasn’t seen him alive again yet

Quackity: “What’s your relationship with Wilbur?”

Fundy: “It’s...it’s complicated, man. It’s very complicated.”

Quackity: “Because...there’s an issue.”

- Fundy wants to talk to Wilbur about a lot of things. Quackity brings Fundy over to the headquarters and breaks the news that Wilbur came to see Quackity

Fundy: “...He saw you? He went on his way to see you, and -- and he’s not shown up to me to, you know -- why, why?”

- Quackity shows Fundy the “mark” Wilbur made. Wilbur asked to join Las Nevadas, and Quackity said no. He shows Fundy the name: Fort Big. Tommy and Wilbur are working together

- Quackity is just warning Fundy. He hopes this won’t get in the way of Fundy supporting the nation. Fundy just doesn’t know why Wilbur didn’t come to him, but he went to Quackity.

Fundy: “Did he talk about me?”

- Quackity thinks he did, but he doesn’t remember what

- Fundy says goodbye to Slime and Quackity, heading off to settle down on his own. He stands at his plot of land, wondering if he’ll have to fight Wilbur

- Purpled is at his old base by the ruins of L’manburg. Life is good. He has DogChamp, he’s been fishing, no human contact

- He has something to attend to and goes to the cliffside nearby, finding Slime. He asks why Slime’s been watching him, who told Slime to spy. Slime avoids answering

- Purpled figures it’s Quackity and asks Slime more about how long he’s been above the ground, what he knows. Slime refers to him as “Purpled From a UFO” and Purpled shows Slime that his UFO has been destroyed by Quackity

- Purpled leaves Slime and visits the ruins. He notices Slime following him and tells him to leave again

- Slime traps himself in Dream’s honeymoon suite and Purpled continues down the path, looking at all the builds. He visits the Socializing Club and checks beneath the floor -- the trap he made all those months ago is still there. He wonders if anyone remembers these things

- Slime slimes his way out of the trap and Purpled visits L’manburg. He was just a pawn, there was no “Purpled in L’manburg” or “Purpled in Pogtopia” or “Purpled on Dream SMP’s side.” There was just no Purpled

- He returns to his house, gets DogChamp, puts him into a hidden chamber elsewhere. He stores his valuables...and rigs the entire place with TNT

He sets it off and it goes

- Slime talks to Purpled again. Purpled asks if Quackity is still interested in a new resident

- Purpled asks Slime to trust him as he retrieves DogChamp, and he gets Slime to lead him to Las Nevadas

- He makes it there and goes into the casino. Quackity doesn’t know what he has planned. He comes out to find Quackity there. Quackity takes him up to the top of the Needle

- Purpled makes it clear he only cares about the opportunity for himself, not for Quackity. He doesn’t stand for what Quackity does, doesn’t think there will ever be a time that he’ll respect Quackity as a person

- Quackity tells him they all change in some way or another. When he first became Vice President, he saw the best in everyone

Quackity: “I don’t really see the good in people anymore...but I do see opportunity.”

- Quackity tells Purpled that if they succeed with the nation, the two of them will be going down in history. Purpled starts to come around to thinking that maybe they are on the same page

- Quackity had a citizenship document he meant for Purpled to sign, but he’s willing to gamble on it without

Quackity: “Welcome to Las Nevadas, Purpled.”

- He gives Purpled the document either way and tells him he has a right to a plot of land. Quackity will have a business meeting with all the residents soon

- Purpled asks for land behind the casino. He has an idea for something. Quackity agrees to give it to him

- Purpled leaves and speaks to himself with DogChamp at the stage. Things will be looking different around here real soon

- Ranboo goes to the mailbox he set up with the Council and checks it, finding a new update in the book along with a Netherite Axe labelled “axe of the end” in Enderman.

The update reads:

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Hello. We have been observing the happenings around the server and we come bearing not news but rather a warning for you. We know that you like to stand idle and not engage in any kind of acts of violence and we respect you for that.

However, we also know that there are people that you care about and you need to understand that in order to take care of those people you are no longer able to just stand idle. You need to take a more active role again. We have given you something that can help with that. Use it carefully.

We respect your wishes. - The Council

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- Ranboo takes the axe. He planned to work on Tubbo’s outpost, make it seem like more of a shop than an outpost

- He goes to the outpost and finds the griefing, cleaning it up

- As some protective measures, he leaves signs:

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Hello! Whoever put a bunch of dirt everywhere, Dont!

This is going to be a new cookie shop! We dont have cookies yet

Please leave it alone! Or violence will be used.

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- He continues working on the outpost and Techno logs on. Ranboo goes over to the new tollbooth and pays the toll of one bone

Techno: ranboo have you unlocked teleportation yet

Ranboo: not yet i dont think

Ranboo: let me try

Ranboo: yeah no

Techno: can you hurry up

Techno: asking for a friend

- Ranboo explores around Las Nevadas and makes a to-do list

- He makes a hidey hole in the strip club and strips some logs. He gets tempted to steal a Netherite block

His to-do list reads:

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TO DO LIST FOR LAS NEVADAS: 1. Figure out what to get inside of. 2. Figure out what the hollow buildings are 3. Figure out why there are so many horses 4. Figure out who runs this place 5. Figure out what the black pillars are for

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- He returns home and speaks with Tubbo in VC

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Upcoming events remain the same.

#dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts

180 notes · View notes

mindibindi · 3 years

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Beyond disappointed in Ted Lasso. What were they thinking?!

The writing is a complete betrayal and insult to Rebecca’s character and Hannah’s skills as they’re being seriously underused. It’s also insulting Sam’s character.

Hoping someone pulls Rebecca’s head out of her ass tbh. Sam shouldn’t be getting caught in the crossfire of her looking for romance. I know he showed up at her doorstep but she still should’ve turned him away, and not even messaged him in the first place.

Hey, I'm with you, Anon, though we do seem to be in the minority. Sam is definitely not blameless here, he is also in the wrong. But if one of them is more in the wrong, it is Rebecca. I can't speak to whether her head has left her arse as yet because I have quit watching (at least for now). I hear she called it off with Sam in the most recent ep, though not because of any major crisis of conscience or because anyone in her inner circle expressed any reasonable reservations in response to her bad behaviour. And to be honest, I'm not sure we should need to hope and pray that Rebecca's precocious god-daughter, her slimy ex-husband, or the brutal British press will act as a moral compass on this ill-advised relationship. Both Rupert and the press have been set up to some extent as the villains of the piece. And a 14 year old should never have to school her elders on what is and isn't acceptable. Nora's needs have already been neglected by Rebecca for far too long.

If a moral position is to be taken on this, it needs to be taken by the show (because stance matters) and/or by its characters. But the show has for the most part depicted this relationship as ill-advised but ultimately hot, sweet, funny and romantic. As for the characters themselves, Sam has shown at least once that he has some moral backbone but seems to be adorably clueless when it comes to fucking his boss who keeps trying to set boundaries with him. Meanwhile, Rebecca's whole arc in s1 was about learning not to misuse her power for her own selfish ends. In season one, she misused her power within the club in order to exact revenge. In season 2, we have seen her misuse her sexual power, though I still cannot see to what end. I'm a bit at a loss as to what exactly she gets out of this 'relationship' but then I'm a grown woman so I have absolutely no interest in sleeping with a Harry Potter enthusiast barely out of his teens. I couldn't think of anything less sexy and more ick. I was certainly hoping for better character development for her this season.

As to what the writers were thinking, obviously I was not in the writer's room, but I would guess that they were thinking that any drama is good drama, people are stupid and fan devotion will trump any meaningful critique. In other words, they were thinking exactly how every other television writer thinks, despite the fact that this show posited itself as 'not like other TV shows'. This, to me, is where the blame really lies. Not with the characters or with the actors who are doing their best to sell this ludicrous turn of events. It must be noted, however, that both actors were completely blindsided by this relationship that had supposedly been so cleverly foreshadowed. Newsflash: if the people actually living these stories did not see this coming then you haven't foreshadowed shit. Sure, there were a handful of people that paired Rebecca with Sam but this does not constitute proof either. Fans have free-range to imagine and re-imagine characters. In some cases this may extend to imagining relationships between characters who have barely, if ever, interacted. There may be little to no evidence that these characters have even clocked each other's existence and some fans will still ship it. The existence of a handful of shippers does not legitimise such a problematic and divisive plotline making it onscreen.

But wait!, you might argue, this may not be a case of a popular show seeing just how far they can stretch fan devotion. This may not be a case of fan service to a handful of shippers. After all, the creators mapped out the entire three-season arc of Ted Lasso before they even pitched it to Apple. This was their brilliant plan all along! To which I would say: then maybe they should've rethought their second act based on people's strong reactions to their first. Ted Lasso was touted as the show we all needed in 2020. The writers and creators have all marveled at the chord it struck considering it was conceived prior to the pandemic and all the chaos it wrought. And while there is something to be said for having/sticking to a creative vision, there is also something to be said for being flexible and responsive to your audience and the cultural zeitgeist with which you're engaged. Season 1 of Ted Lasso told its story so gently, without creating distrust, division or unnecessary anxiety. It did not treat its audience like a gaggle of stupid lemmings to be led over a succession of narrative cliffs. THIS is what I mean when I say the show has broken with its brand. And look, this whole dark forest thing would be okay if the narrative arc was as well-crafted as s1. Season 1 gave us meaning, cohesion, comfort, sense in a senseless time. It was an almost perfectly crafted season of television. And I kept the faith for 6 episodes, despite the first half of s2 being pretty damn wobbly. But the follow-up to this stellar debut has been less than extraordinary so yeah, perhaps they should've thought a little harder about what made s1 so special before throwing it all out the window.

But wait!, I hear the faithful say, you don't know how things will pan out yet! Wait until the season is over and everything will make sense! But -- wearily and once again, I say -- we should not need to wait until the end of the season to understand what the hell is happening. By this point (over halfway through the season and show) we should have a v clear idea of the show's themes and the characters' arcs. And tbf, from what I can tell there are some fab things happening in other aspects of the show that I wish I could watch and enjoy. But my biggest fear at this point is that they are going to use Sam to solve Rebecca's childlessness. That, like Rupert (because the parallel cannot be avoided), she will become pregnant with a young fling and the show's attitude to this relationship will ultimately be: oh well, it was a bad idea and didn't work out for them but it was all for the best in the end cos who can be mad about a cute lil baaaayyybbbeeee??!! If they do go down this path then I will definitely be abstaining from the rest of the show. I will simply recall my repeated viewings of s1 with fondness tinged with regret at just how badly they fucked up a good thing.

Ultimately, Anon, I think this may be a case of there simply not being a diverse enough perspective in the writer's room. I am not saying that every single woman or every single person of colour will necessarily object to this relationship. I am simply saying that women and people of colour will be more sensitive to the issues of gender and race that are relevant here but that have not been fully or sensitively acknowledged in the writing of this plotline. Neither am I saying that Rebecca is the first woman to sleep with a man much (much, much, MUCH) younger than herself or indulge in an ill-advised relationship. But the comparison with Rupert both works here and doesn't because Rebecca is not being written like a white woman, she is being written like a white man. Realistically, only a white man can engage in this kind of hugely imbalanced relationship seemingly without any major moral qualms or societal ramifications. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this kind of relationship is reserved for all the Bills and Joes and Brendans and Jasons out there -- not for the Rebeccas and definitely not for the Sams. We are way beyond the point in feminism where we believe that liberation is simply the right for a white woman to behave as badly as a white man. The truth is that whatever wealth, power and privilege Rebecca has, the rules are different for men and women. She will not be treated the same as Rupert if and when this affair is uncovered. She will be treated far more savagely than Rupert ever was and Sam will be treated far more savagely than Bex was. This is not an argument for the equal treatment of these two relationships. It is an argument against how the relationship between Rebecca and Sam has been envisaged, i.e. through the wrong perspective. In writing from a 'neutral' white male pov, the show has invisiblised all the many issues activated by this storyline and revealed a blindspot that was always there.

As much as I loved and still love season 1 of this show, it has definite blindspots when it comes to representations of race and gender. There are at least two moments in s1 that stand out for me as being so obviously written by a man. Not necessarily because of what they do but because of what they don't do: what is missed, absent, unacknowledged. I was willing to overlook such minor failings in a debut season for many reasons. But s2 seems to have exacerbated these minor flaws rather than correcting them. And here I can't help thinking of Tina Fey speaking of the diversification of the writer's room at SNL during her tenure as co-headwriter. This notoriously male-dominated environment only began to shift and produce better work when a greater diversity of minds, voices and persepectives was allowed in the room. In this richer environment, she notes, different jokes played differently. Different sketches made it to air. Different perspectives were represented and different performers were celebrated. I can't help wondering if this plotline would have made it to air if there had been a female writer, a writer of colour or both further up the chain of command to challenge the ideas of the straight white dudes in charge.

One of the reasons I didn't think Ted Lasso was for me was that it centred a straight, white, cis-het, able-bodied man who rose to a position he didn't earn. That is just not a pov I would normally choose for myself, especially now that there is such a rich array of alternative perspectives through which to view the world. But I think the show won a lot of females fans with its first season largely due to its portrayal of Rebecca. She is the first person we meet. She is arguably the protagonist of s1. And while she would have been figured as a villain in previous pieces, the show never took that stance with her (because again, stance matters). Other elements like the depiction of female friendships, all centred around Rebecca, made this show female-friendly viewing. But imo, the major reason this show won over female fans (this one, at least) is because, in this post-MeToo, post-TimesUp era, it stood up and said: domestic violence is not okay, we stand with women and all victims of abuse, we will defend you, we know words can hurt, we know it can happen to anyone, we know all about toxic masculinity, we do not take this lightly and we will support you in your healing. Needless to say, this is how women hope men will act when they speak of their most difficult experiences but it is not how they always do.

The shift away from Rebecca this season has however meant that the white male experience is more centred than it was in s1. Rebecca's journey to recovery, health and happiness has been trivialised and sidelined, reduced to a highly questionable sexcapade. Meanwhile, we get overwrought manpain at every turn. We get Beard wandering around London (no, I haven't seen it and no, I don't need to. We've all been raised on white dudes thinking they're genuises when they have a figurative wank all over our screens). We get NO queer represention at all. And the only other female characters on screen are in care/service roles to men. The father/son, mentoring and toxic masculinity themes are all still there but they're no longer balanced out by ANY other competing perspective. One of the reasons I was okay with Ted failing upwards in s1 was that he used his power and privilege to lift up others. He was the one in service. He used his enormous privilege for good, as anyone with such privilege must. (Admittedly, it could be argued that this is just another version of a white savior narrative).

My point here is that I'm not sure that peeking behind the mask at the sad clown is as revolutionary as some might believe. We love it because it's familiar. But this is a narrative with a long and problematic history. Do I believe in tearing down toxic masculinity in all its forms? You bet. Do I believe that patriarchy traumatises men as well as women and every other minority in existence? I mean...nowhere near as much, but absolutely. Do I believe in men expressing their feelings and going to therapy? Wholeheartedly. But I am also aware that 100 or so years ago, we were in a very similar place with our narratives. Everyone is looking for a recapitulation of modernism and frankly, this might be an indicator of just that. Whenever women and people of colour have demanded rights and recognition, there has always been a resurgence of tales about just how frickin' hard it is to be a white man. Minority genders and non-white people have never in western history been as visible or vocal as they are now. So forgive me (or don't, I don't care) if I critique a show not only for centering fathers, sons, boys and men but for blindly and boldly writing one of its only female characters and one of its only black characters as if their gender and race just do not exist. There are many other power differentials at play in this relationship, including age, experience, wealth and position, but race and gender are the two that patriarchy is most invested in invisiblising. So I don't care how brilliant they think they are, I will not trust the writing of a bunch of white dudes trying to tell me that race and gender are irrelevant.

#ted lasso #rebecca welton #sam obisanya #ask #yeah this one got out of hand

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normal-thoughts-official · 3 years

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Oooh yeah the first time I was playing as a female mc because I wanted to romance ava and I usually go male mc if I want to romance a man and female mc if I want to romance a woman (and I think there was one book with where mc could be non-binary so I picked that one but I didn't finished the book), and Stacy's brother felt Hetero™ in a way, like Hollywood ish (? Honestly like cinematographicly bad hetero) but I ended up really loving Andy too, and Stacy felt a little flat but also I really liked her potential, like go crazy girl, and the mom issues.

Apart but holy shit you're 10000% right about that teacher like who inmediately threatens expulsion just like that for something not violent ??? And to an honor student with way too much on his plate ??? Obviously it would have been bad with any student, but you have literally the reason of why he's doing it and as a teacher HE LITERALLY COULD HAVE HELPED WITH IT ??????? Like something teachers can't really help students because it's a family thing only or is a financial struggle or etc but it was literally because of school (and his family, but the teacher could have heloed him with the school part)

(Identity thief anon (also I go by any pronouns ahhshs))

ur valid! that's lowkey what i wish i'd do (picking female MC if my fave LI is female and the other way around, i mean) but unfortunately i always go into the stories blindly having no idea what i'll find </3 so i cant really do that doiajdiosa and then i get attached for the MC i picked so i feel bad about changing their gender/name/appearance when i replay. so what i usually do is that i pick a male MC when i get the option because A- u don't always get the option, so i end up being male half the time and female half the time either way; and B- i feel slightly more comfortable with a male identity than a female one. like i'm still nonbinary and i wouldn't consider myself male aligned or within the gender of Man, but like... when i first came out i went by any pronouns but then because im afab everyone was like "cool, she/her only it is" so i was like fuck that and stopped using she/her. so i feel slightly more comfortable with a masc MC and end up going with that

there's also the fact that it always feels slightly genderfucky to have a male MC because choices is so sexist and also always writes the stories assuming ull pick a female MC, even when they give u the option not to. so when u pick a male MC he's very like not toxically masc and some things they add to make a QuiRkY MC that are very white woman and would feel annoying are actually kind of subversive for my black and brown male MCs. so like another win for queerness /j

ILITW MC in particular i feel has HUGE nonbinary vibes like no reason at all he just does <3 maybe it's just that for once the male clothes for ILITW actually fUCK. i wanna dress in that goth outfit <3 so gorgeous ugh. i love him even tho he's a fucking dumbass

also there's a book where an MC can be enby? worm? ive only ever read one book in choices with any enby characters at all (america's most elligible, books 2-3) but they weren't even a LI which is disappointing cuz they were a billion times superior to any of the LIs. sorry america's most elligible LIs fans

also oh connor IS the epitome of white cistraight man even when u play as a man tbh, like he was just so cistraight to me daouhdsaojdasij he kind of annoys me but also i forget that he even exists until he shows up onscreen and choices starts trying to push me into his lap and i'm just like, ugh, not again

and yeah i think i feel a similar way about stacy. i don't dislike her as a character and i don't feel like she as a character felt flat, her growth was very interesting and i loved seeing her start to challenge her mom like YESSS GO GIRL GIVE US EVERYTHING, she just felt flat as a LI to me ig? like idk i didn't feel chemistry between her and my MC personally, but also like, stacy girls are valid u know

right exactly. like i don't think ppl really understand that a school that doesn't drive people to cry during finals week and feel absolutely crushed by having to be there and that makes ppl feel like they're stupid, not enough, and overwhelmed IS IN FACT POSSIBLE and actually pretty easy to make when we stop treating students like statistics that will get the school more clients/funding (depending on whether it's a private or public school). and like as a teacher getting my degree in brasil it just feels completely surreal to me that anyone would see a student who's so overwhelmed by the amount of extracurriculars and responsibilities he feels like he has to take that he starts taking drugs to help his performance despite it affecting his health, and see that as like... something morally reprehensible? like it is bad that it happened but it's not the student's fault, what's morally reprehensible are the circumstances that led to his decision, not his decision

and like it is very much a systemic problem, more and more kids are taking focus pills to be able to survive the pressure of school and have a shot at a future, either on their own or because we are actually medicalizing not existing to be productive. and if it's a systemic problem then the fault is at the system?? and like holy shit i legit don't understand why choices gave us options like being like "it still isn't enough" when lucas gets rid of his pills, what do you mean it isn't enough??? enough for what??? to FORGIVE him???? for something that only hurt himself??? for something that is very much a systemic problem and therefore NOT HIS FAULT????? literally what the fuck even is this, lucas doesn't have to "make up" for a single thing, he needs to be HELPED is what he needs

like idk i know that the school system in the US is...... extremely backwards lmao which is not a term i like to use because it usually implies imperialistic views but the US is the height of world imperialism so like actually idc. brasil has a pretty progressive constitution and as a teacher my whole education was focused on being critical of the school system, particularly the productivity obsession, and drilling into us again and again that we aren't supposed to just be teaching subjects, we are also supposed to be teaching how to be a citizen, be a critical human being, work towards building a better future, and learning and growing AS A PERSON to be healthy and happy are values of the school system

like that's easier said than done when schools are under insane amounts of pressure by companies in practice to be productivity-driven, and most teachers who actually want to do a good job end up having to live at the edge of the knife and constantly fighting back outside pressure, but at least it is very much a mandatory part of our education to become teachers and also like literally part of the constitution. so i just... i can't fathom reacting the way mr cooper did? like as a teacher i felt BETRAYED, i felt like he shat all over my profession because that is the opposite of what we should be doing, this is a kid who needs help

and just like hOLY SHIT HE DID NOTHING WRONG, what are you punishing him for??? it's not even a like, stealing bread to feed your family situation, because what he did HAS NO VICTIM OTHER THAN HIMSELF, and therefore HE IS THE VICTIM NOT THE CULPRIT. he doesn't have to repent or atone or answer for a single fucking thing, he didn't victimize others, he doesn't have to apologize, there's nothing to punish him fOR??? like i don't believe in punishment anyway cuz im a prison abolitionist but doDAUSDJADASIJDAS???????????? HE DIDN'T. HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG. WHY IS THIS WHOLE GAME ACTING AS IF HE WAS IN THE WRONG. OH MY GOD

it's like saying that someone needs to be forgiven for self harming????? like how is it that someone has been hurt continuously until it led them to hurt themselves and then they have to? make up for it to a bunch of other ppl? my god it makes me so mad and i genuinely don't understand the logic, like usually when i see someone doing fucked up shit i can see the logic but i don't agree with it, but this time i genuinely DON'T SEE THE LOGIC. my USan friends said it was because he was technically doing drugs but like i legit still don't understand

anyway any school that drives a student to do something like that needs to rethink their entire curriculum and the psychological effect it's having on kids, because lucas is 1- not even the first one according to mr cooper; 2- even if he was, that'd be the only one who got CAUGHT; and 3- even if there was really only one singular student who went tHIS far, i doubt the others weren't feeling that same pressure and dealing with it in other similarly unhealthy ways

i know that's probably easier in brasil than in the US even if it's by no means easy here because here at least in public schools the curriculum and political-pedagogical plan has to be agreed on by the school community (teachers, parents, students, workers, and anyone who lives in the area of the school) and it's updated every year, so like, you have more means to do something to change the school in a deeper way, altho of course that still has to mean swinging the rest of the community, but still. but at the very least he could have looked for counseling for him? tried to find a way to take some of the workload off his shoulders? given him some more time on assignments? motioning for all the clubs he was the president of to have co-presidents so he was less overwhelmed?

like there was just daodsao he could have done so many things and he justs DIDN'T he chose to not only punish him instead but quite literally THREATEN HIM WITH DEATH because that's what calling the police on a latino student over a drug charge is. like he might've survived but the possibility that he would fucking DIE was very much there, and i know choices didn't think of that because they'd rather die than think about the racial implications of anything but holy fucking shit. and im not even getting into how mr cooper is BLACK because then ill just start biting people like thanks for putting that threat on a black character's mouth choices. if u need me ill be foaming at the mouth

anyway SORRY god why is it that i always get to the salty part within 2 seconds of joining a fandom i promise that i actually like it lives and the way they handled most of their plot, i genuinely think it's a very well written and actually worth ur time story but i just doadosaida like i said particularly as a teacher in the context where i'm being taught, plus with all my political beliefs, i just can't let it go aaaa

also ty for telling me ur pronouns! idk if i assumed them at any time, i don't think so but i might have done so without realizing and if i did im really sorry. also sorry for the gigantic salty reply daojdsaojdaisjsajdoadsaodasj rip me i never shut up

#it lives spoilers #ilitw spoilers #it lives #salt #long post #drugs tw #cops tw #police brutality tw #racism tw #victim blaming tw #anti connor green #ilitw #lucas thomas #ask #identity thief anon #self harm tw

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whetstonefires · 4 years

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Your post about romance was so spot on and this is from someone who really likes reading romances some of the time. I just wish there were more books where friendships (which after all make up the majority of people's relationships!!) were given the same weight and importance as romance gets unthinkingly. Like, I want books or fic which show the development of two (or more) new friends *as the plot and main part of the book*, and the same thing for the progression of pre-established friendship.

Human relationships are varied and complex and interesting and limiting writing to mainly concerning romantic or dating ones is infuriating! I enjoy reading character driven stuff, which is why I like some romances but I really want to see similarly detailed deep studies of friendship. Friendships are so important, and romantic relationships do not supersede them. Obviously there is gendered bias against romance as a genre but that is not the only reason to be uninterested in romance damnit!

Sorry for ranting in your inbox about romance and thanks for the post

Hah thank and welcome. Very true!

Yeah, the problem is not just how ubiquitous romance is but the inevitability of it. So many people are so much in the habit of hanging their emotional investment on ‘couples getting together’ that not putting one in is a risk, as a creator, and the faint suggestion of a possibility that a romance might eventuate between two characters constitutes a promise that the audience will be outraged to see not followed through.

So making a story focus at all on a relationship between two people who are considered valid potential romantic partners means having to go through incredible backflips and contortions as a writer to get away with not pairing them up, or there will be outrage. There will be outrage anyway, but hopefully on a contained scale that doesn’t have people throwing your book away.

(The easiest way, of course, is to give one or both of them an alternate partner, but then you either have to build up that relationship as the central focus instead, because you aren’t allowed to love anyone that much and not be romantically involved or be romantically involved For Real with anyone but whoever you love most, or accept that you’ve plastered on a beard of some kind in a way that at this point makes your main duo look even more romantic to people who are looking for that in the first place, even if it lets you write a plot that doesn’t acknowledge this.)

This has contributed enormously to the cultural truism ‘men and women can’t be friends.’ They aren’t allowed to be. And this weird intense romantic pressure is now increasingly extending to same-sex friendships, and it’s like...it’s good that gay visibility and acceptance are growing! That’s great!

But it means that all relationships are increasingly exposed to this honestly fucked up set of expectations. That every single love of any intensity is romantic and probably sexual. That that’s the only love that’s real, or that really matters. With occasional exemptions carved out for parents.

And that’s cultural, I want to say. The inclusion of and an interest in the romantic lives of characters in fiction is definitely natural and practically inevitable, but the outsize role it occupies in our current media culture is abnormal and totally non-compulsory. The central role of romance in so much of narrative is just...a pattern, a narrative schema that currently holds sway, born of an assortment of historical accidents and trends, and I don’t think it’s a good one.

I think it would be better for us as a culture and all our individual relationships for that particular social construct to be broken down.

Because this cultural obsession with The Romance in media mirrors and continually recreates the obsession with The Romance in real life. You know how many people are making themselves miserable by either being in a relationship predicated on the need to have one, any one, rather than actual mutual affection, or about not having a love interest currently at any given moment?

Like, quite separately from the actual frustrated romantic feelings themselves, people feeling like they are less or failures or just...unfinished somehow, because they don’t have a romantic partner. It’s so harmful and absurd! We all know this!

And there are of course a lot of sociological factors that have led to that point as well, but it’s linked particularly closely I think to the atomization of modern society.

You’re not likely to retain any particular community for long--we move around so much over the course of our lives, anything you have is designed to be taken apart. School friends are only rarely retained after school, work friends are only until you get a new job, family is quite often something to be avoided or something you have to leave behind, and not usually an extended network anymore anyway.

We are always moving into new contexts, or knowing we might be moved, and holding onto relationships from one context into another is generally regarded as an unusual feat betokening particular, though not lionized, devotion, and leaning on these relationships ‘too much’ or pursuing them with ‘too much’ energy is regarded with deep suspicion.

This, too, is not particularly normal in the human experience. We are not psychologically designed for this level of impermanence. And we have developed very few structures as a culture thus far to make up for it, which is why the modern adult is so famously, dangerously lonely.

But we have all these social protocols for acquiring a person and holding onto them. A person who’s just yours, all yours, who it is promised will fulfill all those gaping needs all by themselves, and if they don’t it’s because you or they are wrong, and need either a different partner or fixing.

The fact that this is insane and not how romance works over 90% of the time is irrelevant to the dream of it, and the dream overwhelms and controls the reality. I agree that codependency is really fucking romantic, and having a kind and supportive mutual one is a lovely fantasy! It’s just...

A lot of harm eventuates from pursuing this fantasy in reality with a media-based conviction that it is 1) a reasonable thing to expect and 2) a necessary precondition for wellbeing and worthiness.

But we have poured so much cultural freight and need into this one single relationship format. At this point having need in any other direction is regarded as disordered and suspect and probably a misdirected application of sexual desire.

The law, too, has put a lot of energy into supporting the focus on seeking the romance as life goal, because the nuclear family is built on the codependent marriage, and capitalism likes the nuclear family very much. The nuclear family is extremely vulnerable to market pressures and bad at collective action, and tends to produce new tiny humans whose main social outlet has been within the school system, which is specifically structured to condition you to accept abusive workplace conditions as a normal precondition of existence, and not to attempt too much intimacy.

Ahem. Spiraled there. But! It’s all connected! Many of the privileges piled onto the institution of marriage were put there specifically because the nuclear family was considered desirable for the expansion of the economy. That’s clearly documented historical fact.

So yeah, the modern cultural obsession with the romance is a symptom of collective emotional disorder, and it chugs along at the expense of the more complex emotional support infrastructures most of us need and deserve.

It’s not just about me wanting representation, wanting an image in the narratives of my culture where I can see myself with the potential for happiness. Everyone needs this. We learn so much about how to be, how to relate to others, from media at this point, since the school system and other weird age-hierarchy stuff keeps us largely segregated from human society for a majority of our growing years and limits our exposure to live examples.

So the paucity of in-depth explorations of friendship, of mutual support, of widespread narrative acceptance that you can have a good life without a romance as its central support pillar, is harmful to people in general.

It’s funny, I get frustrated about this periodically, when a piece of media lets me down, or even when I’m following along a funny piece of meta and then the punchline is ‘and the ace character is obviously in denial about how they’re already dating their favorite person’ or whatever.

(The meta is annoying on a surface level and distressing on a deeper level because it’s a threat; so many times a good platonic relationship will buckle under public pressure and it doesn’t matter how asexual, how uninterested in romance, how emphatically platonic the affection has been established as being, The Romance arrives in the next installment of the story because it’s what people expect. Which reinforces the general perception that any other love is illegitimate, lesser, and as soon as it’s meant to be taken seriously it has to be crammed into that one valid shape, and invalidates future insistences in the same mode.

Seriously people stop doing this, we long since reached the point where a character saying in words ‘I have no romantic interest in [person]’ is perceived as a glaring neon sign that they’re destined to get together and that does not do good things for fostering a culture of consent. Obviously people are in denial sometimes but it should not be understood to be the rule.)

But I don’t get upset about it until someone starts in with reasons I’m bad and wrong for not liking these norms.

Like, whatever, media does not cater to my needs, I’ll cope, but when people start trying to get in my head and make me not only responsible for my own discomfort that I’m managing thanks but dishonest and malevolent I...get upset. There’s history there, okay.

‘You don’t care about this ship because you’re homophobic’ ‘you don’t want a love interest in the sequel because you’re racist’ ‘you don’t like romance in stories because you’re a misogynist’ fucking stop.

And occasionally it’s like ‘i guess you have the right to feel that way but how dare you talk about it where other people might hear’ which...well, is particularly common and particularly ironic in the context of people hung up on gay representation.

If we as a society had a healthy relationship with romance, there wouldn’t be negative side effects to that crowd’s pursuit of their worthy goal of applying that schema in places it has been Forbidden, but as it is we don’t, and there are.

#aromanticism #romance #society #social constructs #i throw salt #on a related note #i know The Untamed was Ambiguous because of censorship #but i was still enjoying not being able to tell dammit #you can ALWAYS tell normally #and that's so boring #people complain less about getting fake foreshadowing about who the murderer was than about not knowing who's interested in who #and who has a real shot with their target #being forced to be ambiguous was making those actors bring their A game #so i still wish i could have watched it play out without spoilers #because it's SO RARE that you can't immediately tell which way a story intends itself to be read on that front #and it was such a nice change #and i have legitimately cried several times over the loss of the joy i was getting out of that relationship not being so fucking dull #because like it's still fun and well done and stuff but it's not INTERESTING #i didn't even realize how much i was missing that until i briefly had it and it was taken away #so now i get sad a lot when i think about it #and it sucks that the forms for including romance in our media are so formalized #that the only way to get that realistic unclear coalescence of emotional energies #is by writing a romance and being forced to lie about it #a nonny mouse #ask #hoc est meum

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years

Text

5e Rengar the Pridestalker build (League of Legends)

⚠️ WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BUILD USES CONTENT FROM THE MYTHIC ODYSSEYS OF THEROS SOURCEBOOK. DO NOT OPEN IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS. ⚠️

(Artwork by Riot Games)

I don’t really have a blurb to write about Rengar. Pretty much the only reason I’m making him is because it’s a blatantly obvious pick for a Leonin from Theros. Rengar hasn’t been that meta-relevant for awhile and I tried playing him once but I did kinda meh overall.

I’ve got nothing else so here’s a comic I found on Pintrest:

GOALS

Tonight, we hunt! - The key ability of the Danger Cat is to turn invisible and jump out at you from nowhere. Guess what we’ll be getting.

Don't trip - Rengar’s a simple cat who relies on simple tools to hunt. A knife and a set of bolas.

Comfort breeds weakness - And the ability to shout loud enough to escape danger. Okay maybe a little more than just simple tools.

RACE

Hey remember when I said this?

Pretty much the only reason I’m making him is because it’s a blatantly obvious pick for a Leonin from Theros.

Your race is going to be a Leonin from Theros. As a Leonin you get a +2 to your Constitution and +1 to your Strength, and a movement speed of 35 feet. (Which I wouldn’t normally mention but it is above the norm!) You have Darkvision up to 60 feet to see in the jungle, and Claws that do a d4 slashing damage. You also have Hunter’s Instincts for a choice of skill between Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, or Survival. We’re actually going to choose Intimidation because you’ll be getting the other skills from other sources, and you’re a fairly intimidating danger cat.

But the main ability we’re here for is Daunting Roar. As a bonus action you can roar to frighten enemies of your choice within 10 feet of you that can hear you. They must make a Wisdom save equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier or become frightened until the end of their next turn. You can only use this trait once per short rest, however. Man isn’t it great when we can get an ability straight from the race?

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You are a swift hunter, pouncing between bushes and climbing up the foliage for a height advantage... What I’m saying is that Rengar is a cat. (And if you don’t own Leonin feel free to play a Tabaxi, which probably works better for this build anyways.)

14; CHARISMA - Charisma is tied to intimidation, and one of your abilities is to yell at people so loud they take damage.

13; STRENGTH - More of a “we get +1 from our race and I dislike odd ability scores” than anything, but you spent your whole life surviving in the jungles of Ixtal. It’s safe to say that you lift.

12; CONSTITUTION - Rengar’s an assassin, but a sturdier assassin than most.

10; WISDOM - Would probably be more in-character to have a high Wisdom score since it’s tied to Survival among other things, but simply put we need other skills more.

8; INTELLIGENCE - You live a life of the hunt, not a life of the book.

BACKGROUND

Remember back in the race section when I said this?

you’ll be getting the other skills from other sources

The Outlander background gives you proficiency in both Athletics and Survival, which is why we didn’t take it from Hunter’s Instincts. You also get proficiency with one musical instrument of your choice (Drums might fit but see if your DM will allow you to have an Artisan’s Tool instead) as well as a language.

Your Wanderer feature allows you to remember the general layout of any area you’re in as long as you spent a day around it, and lets you find food and water for your party as long as its available in the landscape. I should assume most people know the layout of Summoner’s Rift by now, but it does help to know the best jungle clear paths.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Who would’ve guessed that an Assassin would start as a Rogue? As a Rogue you get four skills from the Rogue list: Acrobatics, Investigation, Perception, and Stealth would all make sense for a jungle hunter. Speaking of jungle hunter your pride likely communicated with Thieves’ Cant so that no stalkers from the void could tell what you’re saying. (Only other Rogues.) And speaking of sense you get Expertise in two skills of your choice, and both your sense of Stealth and sense of Survival are heightened far beyond the norm.

Stealth is important for Sneak Attack. You can hide in a bush and jump out screaming “OOGA BOOGA” to do an extra d6 of damage. You can also do that extra d6 if the enemy you’re targeting is near an ally, they’re incapacitated, or you have advantage to attack them. As long as you’re using a Finesse weapon to attack them it’s fine, and I’d argue that you’re probably using two shortswords.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

At level 2 Rogues get access to Cunning Action, letting them Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action. Naturally with expertise in Stealth you can do a lot of hiding, but running or... running is always an option. Not one you’d likely take but living to fight another day is all part of the hunt.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

At level 3 Rogues get to choose their Roguish archetype. “Oh Rengar must be an Assassin for those sneak attacks right?” “Naturally he’s a Scout since he spent so much time in the jungle?” WRONG! Rengar’s a Thief!

WHY THIEF? - Thief Rogues get climbing and added mobility when jumping around, which is very in-flavor for Rengar.

WHY NOT ASSASSIN? - The only real bit of “assassination” Assassin Rogues do is crit surprised enemies. It’s cool and all but the rest of the subclass is focused on disguises.

WHY NOT SCOUT? - Scout has more of a focus on mobility which Rengar really... isn’t...? It doesn’t have any Rengar-like abilities until level 13, and we won’t even be getting to level 13 in this build.

With all that being said...

Thief Rogues have Fast Hands, letting them use their Cunning Action to perform Slight of Hand checks to open locks, disarm traps, use an object, or anything else that Slight of Hand is used for (which you probably won’t do much.)

But Second-Story Work is something you will use a lot if playing in-character. You get a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and your long jump is increased by your Dexterity modifier, so you can pounce out of the bushes! Speaking of pouncing out of the bushes your Sneak Attack now increases to 2d6.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level means an Ability Score Increase, but hey odd ability scores. Time for our good friend the Athlete feat for +1 to DEX and the ability to stand up quick and jump without a running start. The climbing speed portion unfortunately doesn’t affect us because of our subclass, but there aren’t many other feats that fit in character except maybe Weapon Master for Scimitar proficiency? But that’ll become irrelevant soon as well.

LEVEL 5 - ROGUE 5

At 5th level Rogues get Uncanny Dodge. If you’re hit with an attack you can use your reaction to halve the attack’s damage against you. Exactly half you say? Wow it’s almost like Rengar has an ability to heal himself for half the damage he recently took! And your Sneak Attack increases to 3d6 at this level!

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 1

Jumping over to Warlock for a-OH GOD DAMMIT.

The extremely dead meme about me sticking Warlock levels into literally everything aside we’ll be investing in Warlock for a number of reasons, but the question one must always ask is what Patron to serve. How about the spirit of the jungle itself? More specifically an Archfey of the jungle. Your patron gives you a Fey Presence, allowing you to spend your action to force creatures within a 10 foot cube centered around you to make a Wisdom save against your Warlock DC or become either Charmed or Frightened by you. Yes this is effectively the same as your roar, only it affects allies, has a shorter range, takes a full action instead of a bonus action, and can charm. But you now have two roars; congrats.

But of course what we’re really here for is Pact Magic. You get two cantrips from the Warlock list and oh hey Eldritch Blast. The obvious one aside I’m actually going to suggest Create Bonfire for the second cantrip, and it’s entirely for the roleplay purposes. Sit down at a fire and spitroast your latest catch.

For your leveled spells Hex will let you mark a target for the hunt, giving them disadvantage on skill checks related to an ability of your choice and letting you do an extra d6 damage whenever you hit them. If you’re dealing with invisible enemies however buying a Sweeper Lens wouldn’t be a bad idea, and Faerie Fire from the Archfey list will let you reveal your foes for the hunt. And you get Advantage to attack enemies revealed by Faerie Fire, which means you can Sneak Attack them!

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get Eldritch Invocations to empower their abilities in a number of ways. Seeing as we have Eldritch Blast Lance of Lethargy will let us turn it into an Eldritch Bola to slow down our foes. For your second invocation just pick whatever you think is good since none of them really stick out to me. Similarly I suggest you hold off on taking any spells until next level.

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 3

Level 3 Warlocks get their Pact Boon and... yeah. Pact of the Blade makes the most sense. Summon a weapon; summon a scimitar that you have proficiency with if you so-desire. Take the one invocation that buffs up your weapons.

And now here’s the point where we get the spells I told you to hold off on: Hold Person for empowered E, Invisibility for R. Both great ways to get Advantage for Sneak Attack!

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 4

At 4th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Increase, because all classes get an Ability Score Increase at level 4. Increase your Dexterity for more dangerous stabs!

You also get another cantrip at this level, as well as another spell. Cantrip choice honestly doesn’t matter, but for leveled spell take Misty Step because you know me and suggesting Flash.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation and obviously as the danger cat who hides in the bushes you need to be better at hiding. One with Shadows lets you become invisible if you stand still in an area of dim light or darkness, so that you can pounce out and stab at anyone who comes close!

There’s a bunch of other good ones at 5th level you can take if you don’t want more invisibility though: Eldritch Smite? Mire the Mind? Even Thirsting Blade if you really want to spare an invocation just to attack twice.

You also get another spell at this level: Hypnotic Pattern is a big AoE bola that will root all your foes if they fail the save.

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Archfey Warlocks get Misty Escape. When you take damage you can turn invisible and teleport 60 feet as a reaction. I don’t know how to reflavor this but it does seem like a very “Rengar” thing to do. Trick the hunters into thinking they caught you before making them the hunted!

And when they know they’re being hunted you can hit them with the spell Fear, frightening them (no duh) and forcing them to run. What are you; a scarecrow?

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 7

At 7th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation and Trickster’s Escape will let you roar to get away from danger thanks to one free use of the Freedom of Movement spell. While the spell won’t make you completely immune to all crowd control like it does in League it lasts for one hour and can be applied to teammates! More of a Mikael's Crucible really, but still very useful!

Additionally you can now learn 4th level Warlock spells. The main one we want is Greater Invisibility from the Archfey list, which is like regular invisibility only you don’t lose it when you attack, which is insanely OP when you need to get Sneak Attacks. Feel free to replace Invisibility if you wish but do remember that you can make multiple people invisible with the lower level spell.

Other than that there are some other good spells to grab: Dimension Door is a great pick for a very long distance flash, and there are tons of other great spells at the 4th level which you can consider.

NOTE: If you know that you won’t hit level 20 then another level in Warlock would be wise for more ASIs, however for this build the Warlock levels stop at 7 for the sake of a capstone from Rogue.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 6

Going back to Rogue now: 6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills. I think just about any skill would make sense though I’d perhaps recommend Acrobatics or Athletics to help with movement and dealing with grapplers or shovers. Perception’s never a bad thing and the same can be said for Investigation, and Intimidation can help if you need to play rough.

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues get Evasion, letting them take half damage on a failed DEX save or no damage on a successful one. I always say this is you dodging a skillshot but this can also be you recovering from the damage with your roar. Your Sneak Attack also increases to 4d6.

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get an ability score improvement and it’s about time to cap off your Dexterity for maximum armor, evasion, stealth, and stabbing!

LEVEL 16 - ROGUE 9

At 9th level you get Supreme Sneak as a Thief Rogue, giving you Advantage on Stealth checks if you move no more than half your movement speed on your turn. This is the main reason I went for Thief Rogue: Rengar is a master of the hunt and a master of moving stealthily, and with Expertise and Advantage in stealth you can move pretty stealthily. And you know what benefits from all that sneaking? 5d6 Sneak Attack damage!

LEVEL 17 - ROGUE 10

At 10th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement: you capped off your first main stat so how about the other? Increase your Charisma to make your Warlock side better. And your scary lion side.

LEVEL 18 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent, making any role below a 10 on an ability check you’re proficient in equal a 10. Whenever I get this ability in a Rogue build I like to list off the minimum check you’ll get in every ability you have so...

27 in Stealth

22 in Survival

21 in Acrobatics (unless you put Expertise in it, in which case it would be a 27)

19 in Intimidation (unless Expertise for 25)

18 in Athletics (unless Expertise for 24)

16 in Perception (unless Expertise for 22)

15 in Investigation (unless Expertise for 19)

Your Sneak Attack also increases to 6d6.

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 12

12th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement so I suggest further investment in Charisma for better Warlocky stuff.

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 13

Your final level is the 13th level of Thief Rogue. Along with 7d6 Sneak Attack damage you get a capstone that while perhaps not too in-character for Rengar it was too great to pass up in a level 20 build: Use Magical Device lets you ignore all class and race restriction for any magical item you find, meaning that any high level loot your party finds that they can’t use you can grab instead! "All these trophies... I'm gonna need a bigger den!"

FINAL BUILD

PROS

A true hunter never rests - You are always prepared with the ability to summon weapons straight to your hand and tools for combat both up close and at range.

There is the hunter and the hunted - You are a lot harder to pin down than the average Rogue, and Rogues are hard to pin down as is! The only thing worse than dealing with an enemy with Evasion and Uncanny Dodge is dealing with an enemy who can also turn invisible and teleport!

Focus - While some of your skills are perhaps a little situational you are without a doubt the king of the jungle. When it comes to more hands-on tasks like Investigation or Survival you are the right cat for the job.

CONS

Remember every kill - You only have two spell slots, and while they do thankfully come back after a short rest a lot of your spells can be lost due to concentration. It’s hard to hit an invisible foe but still possible, and your Constitution isn’t fantastic.

Let’s fight! - The honest truth is that your Leonin roar along with all your other abilities that cause fear really don’t scale well into high tier play. Most high level enemies are immune to the frightened status effect, and neither your CON nor your CHA are high enough to make the fears truly reliable. Again: this build honestly would’ve worked better with a Tabaxi.

Let's see what they're made of - While your ability checks are great your actual stats leave something to be desired. Where this matters is saving throws: your DEX, INT, and CHA saves are great but +2 on a Strength save isn’t much.

But you’re meant to be an assassin and you’re a damn good one at that. A permanently invisible cat with an infinite amount of sneak attacking weapons is certainly a formidable foe. They are the hunted and you are the hunter: stalk them and strike them down when they receive the mark of the Danger Cat! Just look out for Aberrations: don’t want to lose the other eye.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

#DnD 5e #dnd #dnd build #dnd guide #dnd rogue #dnd warlock #yup it's another fucking warlock #fuck me this keeps happening #League of Legends #League of Legends Rengar #danger cat #Mythic Odysseys of Theros

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ddaengyoonmin · 5 years

Text

-Prologue-

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader, Jimin x Reader(future), Jungkook x Jin

Genre: Angst, Smut (future)

Warnings: none I can think of (always feel free to let me know if things should be added to the warnings)

The summer of 2015. It’d been four years now, but Jungkook still replayed the events of that summer like it was yesterday.

Until that summer Jungkook’s life had never been touched by the evilness and cruelty of this world. He’d been quite happy his whole life, he still had faith in humanity, and in love. That was all before he dove headfirst into the deadly webs that beautiful people weave.

Now, he had no hope for any of that, his life was full of hate for the human race and their games, only one person was spared of the hatred he held...one person that still made him wish that humans could be a little less cruel, because maybe if they weren’t…

--------------------------------------------------------------

In 2015 Jungkook had just graduated from University, not a well known one, but he graduated with honors and a degree in business. He held high hopes for the future and always had dreams of being successful, and settling down with a husband and a family to come home to after a hard days work.

Jungkook had decided to move out from his small town to the big city where his cousin lived, her husband had an internship lined up for him at the company her husband had inherited from his parents.

It wasn’t easy to find a place to live within his budget in this town his cousin lived in. Everyone who lived in her side of town must’ve been billionaires because the rent prices had almost made him faint.

Fortunately, and by some brilliant spark of what Jungkook could only call luck, there was a small cottage available, mixed in between two mansions across the lake from his cousins mansion. The rent was completely reasonable. It was a small house, but Jungkook couldn’t complain, it was his first home.

Everything went smoothly for him getting moved in, it was such a quaint and cozy little cottage buried a bit back into the woods, but he still had a view of the lake, and a tiny porch he could sip his coffee out on in the mornings.

He wondered if he should introduce himself to his neighbors, but decided against it. Their mansions were too intimidating and he wasn’t from any sort of money whatsoever, he didn’t know if they’d judge him, or ask him how he even managed to get into the neighborhood. But, mostly, Jungkook was extremely reserved and shy.

----------------------------------------------------------

The day after moving in Jungkook decided to pay a visit to his cousin’s house, he hadn’t seen her in what felt like years and he wanted to thank her and her husband for getting him the prestigious internship at Kim Financial Corporation. It was a well paying internship that was coveted all across the country by those with Jungkook’s major.

Namjoon had inherited the company from his father only just a couple years ago when his father retired, and that made for a convenient nepotistic stroke of luck for Jungkook. Not that he didn’t plan on earning his place there. Hopefully he could even move up in the company on his own merit.

The taxi dropped Jungkook off after it had stopped at the giant white ornate gates that opened to the long driveway up to the Kim House. Beautiful flowers and the largest most well maintained yard Jungkook had ever seen laid on either side of the road. A tennis court off in the distance to the left, and a giant shimmering pool with a slide and a diving board to the right.

He thanked and tipped the driver, then made his way to the front door. Nervousness flooding over him, as he raised his hand to ring the doorbell.

Almost as if he had a premonition that Jungkook would be there, a second before Jungkook had rung the doorbell, it was swung open and he was greeted with a cheery face.

“Jungkook! Cousin!” Namjoon grinned and pulled Jungkook into a strong hug. “We’d been expecting you to drop by,” Namjoons friendly dimples and charming smile put Jungkook’s nervousness at ease.

“Y-yeah I just arrived last night, I thought I’d come see y/n.” he replied “Oh, and to thank you for the internship of course” he added quickly.

Namjoon led Jungkook down an elegant hall, this mansion looked like it was a hundred years old with all of the intricate decorations, and old paintings on the wall, each one of Namjoon’s ancestors displayed in a painting hanging high on the ceilings. Yet nothing was crumbling, or out of place. It was quite the luxurious home, and Jungkook felt like the cheapest thing in there. He tried his hardest to stand up straight and put on his best manners so as not to be seen as some sort of street rat.

The worries racing through his mind were interrupted by a small squeak of his name.

“Uncle Kookieeeeeeeeeee” A small dark haired little girl ran from out of the room that Namjoon and Jungkook had been approaching.

She reached out her hands, her black curls bouncing up and down as she hopped off the floor the best she could aiming grabby hands at Jungkook.

“Izzy! Wow you’re so big” Jungkook beamed at her and picked her up spinning her around in a circle.

“I am four now” Izzy informed him with a serious but adorable face.

“Whaaat? You’re almost old enough to drive huh?” Jungkook chuckled.

“Daddy already told me he was buying me a car.” She said as Jungkook set her down.

Jungkook wondered if she was being serious, the amount of money that this family had it wouldn’t surprise him if his four year old niece already had 3 cars and 5 horses.

“Izzy don’t bother your uncle darling” A soft and angelic voice rang out from the couch.

There you were, y/n…

You were always the most put together and beautiful girl in the family, and the whole town where you grew up. Men had fallen at your feet your whole life, and Jungkook couldn’t blame them. You had this aura about you, it was irresistible to anyone you’d met, all women were either jealous of you or wanted to be your best friend. It wasn’t a surprise that you married into one of the wealthiest households this side of the country. You stood up and walked over to Jungkook, arms out wide and a glass of white wine clutched in one hand as you throw yourself around Jungkook.

“I’ve missed you cousin dear, you never visited while you were in college” You pouted.

Izzy was tugging on the hem of your white sundress saying “Hey mommy” on a loop.

“Honey.” you snapped “Where's the nanny. Can you please.” You spoke to Namjoon, trying to maintain your sweet voice but it had a hint of annoyance mixed in. To anyone else it might not have been noticeable, but Jungkook knew you well. Namjoon gritted his teeth slightly, “Of course love” and he left the room to fetch someone to collect his daughter. He didn’t return.

A maid rushed in and ushered Izzy away, who complained and whined the whole way out of the room.

You grinned widely and returned to the plush blue couch in the middle of the room. You motioned for Jungkook to come sit on the other couch across from you. That’s when he noticed another man was in the room sitting next to you with a red wine glass in his hand, reading a book.

“Jin dear, this is my cousin I was telling you about” you spoke to the man on the couch. Then you put your hand to your mouth, like you were telling Jungkook a secret, though you spoke in a normal volume. “I figured this summer I set you and Jin up. If you know what I mean” you wiggled your eyebrows up and down and chuckled, relaxing back into the couch and taking a large sip of your wine.

Jin looked up from his book and shot Jungkook a small smirk, “I’ve told her that’s not necessary. I have game and If I like a man, I’m more than capable of getting him without her help.” he looked Jungkook up and down and gave a small approving nod.

“Ah, that's what you say. Why are you single then?” you raised your eyebrows his way and giggled.

“I’m picky.” Jin snapped, but then his face softened as he looked back to Jungkook and bit his lip slightly. “I like pretty men, what can I say” he shrugged.

Jungkook felt himself blushing, and hadn’t quite figured out the right thing to say here.

Luckily Namjoon burst in and announced that lunch was ready.

Jungkook couldn’t remember the last time he ate lunch at an actual dinner table and not just off a plate on his lap in front of the television at his home.

He’d definitely never eaten dinner at a table this elegant. It was a deep brown glossy wood, with at least 30 chairs all around it, which seemed extremely unnecessary considering only three people lived here in this home. Maybe they have fancy dinner parties, Jungkook reasoned.

A giant glass chandelier hung over the table, it’s lights sparkled down and reflected onto the glossy wood like stars.

Jungkook chatted and caught up with Namjoon and you, Jin occasionally chatted as well, asking Jungkook about what he did for a living, and calling him boring when he said he was going to intern at Namjoon’s company.

“Boring? What do you do for a living?” Jungkook wondered what constitutes an exciting career in Jin’s eyes.

“I’m an Actor? You’ve really never seen me before?”

“Jinnie darling is quite the famous actor Jungkook, I thought you watched a lot of movies” you spoke smoothly with a small chuckle as you raised a newly poured glass of wine to your lips. Jungkook noticed your perfectly manicured nails looked like they cost more than Jungkook’s whole rent.

“Ah, No sorry, I mostly watch old television and movies, I really haven’t kept up with anything recent” Jungkook admitted.

Jin tsk’d and shook his head. “Well we’ll have to change that.” his eyes sparkling Jungkook’s way, making Jungkook’s cheeks go hot.

At that moment the sound of a cell phone ringing created a deafening silence in the room.

Namjoon who was at the head of the table, sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the number of the caller.

Jungkook noticed an odd emotion flicker in your eyes as you watched Namjoon inspect his phone, and he didn’t miss the way that you instantly lifted your glass of wine to your lips again gulping quickly.

“Sorry to be rude” Namjoon smiled at the group as he stood up from the table and bowed to all of you “It’s work, I’ve got to take this I’ll be right back”

You sighed loudly and finished your glass of wine. You held it up above your head for a moment and set it back down on the table, within seconds one of your servants came over and filled it again.

Jungkook tried to continue the conversation, “Well, I guess we’ll have to have a movie day sometime” he laughed and looked at Jin “I’d love to see some of the things you’ve been in Jin, how about it y/n?”Jungkook turned to you. Your eyes were distracted and locked on the door that Namjoon had gone out of.

“Yeah uh huh, cool” you spoke as if you hadn’t even heard a word Jungkook said as you got up from the table and followed out the door after Namjoon.

“So what genres of films do you do?” Jungkook asked his single table companion left.

“Shhh. Wait listen” Jin put a finger up to hush Jungkook and then pointed it to the door you had left though.

Jungkook’s brow furrowed in confusion and he cocked his head to the side. Listening closely as Jin had said.

Muffled yells sounded out from behind the dining room door. Jungkook couldn’t make out a word of it, but neither of the voices sounded happy.

“What’s…” before Jungkook could finish his sentence Jin was making tsk’ing sounds in the direction of the door.

“He never learns… You think she’d have the manners not to call when she knows y/n is home. It’s like she does this on purpose” he sighed

“Who..?” Jungkook questioned, feeling very confused and out of the loop.

“I thought everyone knew?” Jin shrugged, “Namjoon’s got a lady lover on the side,” he said as if it was nothing.

Jungkook was shocked, Namjoon was having an affair? And you knew? And here you were still having dinner and living like nothing was happening?

Jungkook couldn’t quite understand it, but he wanted to try and not judge, it was your business how you handled it after all.

Namjoon burst back into the room with a wide smile on his face, “Jungkook! I’ve been called into work for a quick second, looks like you get a personal tour of the building from the big boss, lucky you” he boomed pointing a thumb to his chest.

Jungkook choked a bit on the water he was drinking, “U-uh, yeah sounds nice” he stammered. You entered the room now, gracefully and silently, your sundress catching slightly with the breeze flowing in from an open window, looking like an angel as always, a small smile on your relaxed face.

But Jungkook was an observant person, he tended to be a watcher on the wall, he noticed the little things that no one else did. So because of that, he noticed the small crystal tear that was still lingering in the corner of your left eye. It hung like a little secret, the break in the illusion that everything was fine and lovely.

#bts fanfic #bts x reader #bts fluff #bts angst #bts smut #namjoon x reader #jin x reader #jungkook x jin #jimin x reader #bts au #jimin x you #namjoon x you #marriage!au #bts marriage!au #husband!namjoon

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angrybell · 5 years

Text

Things I have to get off my chest about Senator Kamala Harris (aka why no one should ever vote for her)

So you think Kampala Harris is a really great candidate for president. Really?

Was she a good DA? Her first elected office. Well, no, she was not. Her office somehow managed to get less convictions at trial than her predecessor (believe me, if you knew the sordid history of what her predecessor did to the office, it would amaze you). SF Weekly did a review of her office and reported that her prosecutors, “won a lower percentage of their felony jury trials than their counterparts at district attorneys’ offices covering the 10 largest cities in California[.]” Yeah, LA county was outperforming her, and their jury pool back then was a nightmare for prosecutors.

Was she an honest prosecutor? Nope. She was found to have hidden information about a crime lab technician which was discoverable under California law. This was information she was legally required to turn over to defense attorneys. This lead to 600 convictions being overturned and dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct.

Since this was SF, a bluer than blue city in a deep blue state, she received a promotion to Attorney General. Failure and abuse of power was rewarded.

As Attorney General, she directed her office to cover up prosecutorial misconduct. What does that mean I’m plain English? She protected prosecutors who falsified evidence.

This was not a one time thing either. Her prosecutors were cited for this multiple times. Just like when she was the SF DA.

In one case, the local DA added lines to the transcript of an alleged confession. Without them, there was no admission of guilt. Basically, they falsified the confession, so that the defendant would plead guilty. The only way it was caught was because the defense attorney fought for the tapes of the interrogation and got them. Now, the trial judge, when shown the evidence did the right thing: he dismissed the indictment completely.

Then-Attorney General Harris, who likes to portray herself as noble for not opposing the Prop 8 lawsuit, instructed her appellate prosecutors to take the issue up on appeal. She literally told them to defend lying and falsification of evidence.

This case was not the first time she’d had been caught defending a known lie to the courts. In a series of cases coming out of the Sierra Pacific/Moonlight fires, the investigators committed more outrageous misconduct. The state agency, CalFire (which handles wildfires in California) basically hid/destroyed evidence. And the Attorney General’s Office helped cover it up.

The conduct of the CA DOJ under Harris was so egregious, the Ninth Circuit was talking about making a referral for prosecution for perjury during the oral arguments in the Baca case.

In the Baca case, there was evidence that the prosecutor had actually suborned perjury. Harris’ appellate team tries to sweep it under the rug. Harris has her prosecutors fight tooth and nail to deny the appellate court access to transcript of hearing where the perjury came to light.

Did Harris’ DOJ prosecute these rogue DAs for their crimes? Nope. Did any of the appellate attorneys within her own office suffer any consequences? From what I’ve read, not a one has been disciplined in any fashion.

Clearly, she’s happy to tolerate and protect corruption. Is this what makes her a good choice give her your vote?

As Attorney General, she tried to force non-profit groups to release their donor lists. She was of the opinion that the government had the right to know the identity of everyone who donated to every group. Why? There’s no reason except for the purpose of harassment. Which is exactly what was happening as soon as the non-profits handed over their donor information. Witnesses at the trial testified to being harassed and intimidated because their private information was leaked.

Put another way, do you want Trump to have this power? No? Then you shouldn’t want Harris, or anyone else to have this power.

Fortunately, this program of Harris’ was stopped by the federal courts. And before you say “oh it was because a Republican judge”, the judge who enjoined the program was appointed by Lyndon B Johnson.

One of the reasons the judge ruled against Harris was because it was clear that the purpose of her program was not a proper one. Judge Real wrote, “As made abundantly clear during trial, the Attorney General has systematically failed to maintain the confidentiality of Schedule B forms.”

It was not an accident that the information was leaked. It was by design. She was blatantly using her power as AG to oppress people who disagreed with her.

And you want to reward her with your votes and give her more power? Do you think that she won’t turn on you if you end up disagreeing with her?

Think about that.

What has she done as Senator? Has she sought to find a way to broker compromise on issues where that is possible? If you look at her voting record, that’s not the case.

Has she gotten any legislation passed? She’s sponsored 76 bills, resolutions, and amendments to bills. She’s gotten the same bill passed twice. She’s gotten a couple of Senate resolutions thanking various groups for their service (my favorite was Buffalo soldier one).

So what’s the bill she’s gotten passed twice? It’s to outlaw lynching. Something I find hilarious because for more than a century, the Democrats blocked anti-lynching laws in Congress. Of course, the last lynching happened in 1981, so clearly it’s a pressing matter. In case your curious, it was a unanimous vote.

Is this a demonstration of her political skill? Not really. Being opposed to lynching in politics is as controversial as being in favor the sun rising in the East.

Being a politician means more than just winning elections in a state that is so in your favor, with a party machine that picks its people according to the wishes of the party leaders (and she clearly has thei favor). It means getting things done. So far, she’s done nothing. She’s built no alliances. She’s moved no bills through Congress.

She hasn’t even gotten a post office named and Bernie Sanders has been able to do that at least once.

What is she good at? She’s good at getting media attention and showing up to celebrate hard fought victories achieved by other people. The scene of her showing up in The Case Against 8 is one of the most disgusting displays of political opportunism I’ve seen in recent years. They fought the case. They went through it all. And she swooped in for a fucking photo op after doing nothing but making sure their victory was incomplete.

She’s not a good politician. She a good media whore.

Is that what you want in the next person to take the oath as the next President of the United States?

Where do you stand on your civil liberties? She’s anti-2nd Amendment, which I realize is a plus for people who are inclined to vote Democrat. What should trouble you is that she is also opposed to the 1st Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantee. How do we know this? She has called for Supreme Court Justices to be conformed who would overturn Citizens United.

Now, I realize that the propaganda is that Citizens United allowed “bad” money into elections, but that’s not true. the holding of the case deals with the power of the government to restrain free speech. The case is about a small group of people, who formed a corporation, to speak out on certain topics. One of those was to oppose Hillary Clinton and her proposed policies. If SCOTUS has ruled the other way, the ability of people to get their voices heard would be subject to government restraint. Or to put it in clearer terms: censorship. It would ensure only the wealthy would have a say in elections (who else has enough money to self fund a protest movie? Or ad?)

Think it would only restrain groups like Citizens United (you know, the evil right wing ones)? Nope. It would also apply to unions, the Sierra Club, and all the other “good” groups.

She has some other troubling positions that implicate the 4th Amendment. She is in favor of law enforcement doing a DNA dragnet through commercial DNA testing services, looking for familial DNA to develop leads on cases. I don’t know about you, but giving the federal government free reign to develop a DNA database is troubling.

Senator Harris is also proponent of civil asset forfeiture. As much as detested the Obama Administration, at least they were trying to make it harder to do. She is so much of a fan, she tried to make easier for the government to forfeit your property. Now, if you don’t know what civil asset forefeiture is, you’re not alone. In my experience, it’s one of the least understood things that the government does by lay people.

Essentially, civil asset forfeiture (“CAF”) is a law that allows the government to seize the assets of criminals. Sounds harmless right? Well, it’s an easy power to abuse. Under CAF rules she was supporting, the state would be able to forfeit the property if there was a “substantial probability” that it was obtained by criminal acts. Now, that sounds good but it’s really a lower standard. Remember, to be convicted of a crime, you have to be convicted only if there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. To make it worse, the presumption works against the person who has lost their property to the state asset seizure. You have to prove the negative. Prosecutors love this, because they almost always win (I do have the dubious honor of having lost one of these cases as a prosecutor).

So what does all this tell you? Senator Harris has a history of abusing power, violating the law, and protecting government corruption. If that’s how you like your candidates, then she a perfect choice. If you care about someone who will not intentionall violate the law, use the government to harass and intimidate her opposition, or be effective at upholding the law and constitution, find someone else.

Please stop rewarding her track record of failure and abuse of power!

#kamalaharris #kamala harris #democrats

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distractedhistotech · 5 years

Text

Before MSA + 1: Lessons

Vivi had been learning about various religions since she was a kid. It came with having a theology professor for a father. She didn’t really bother to sit in on lessons much anymore, but she was curious about Arthur Kingsman and wanted to see how he’d react to the lessons.

His reactions were…honestly a bit concerning.

“I’m confused. Isn’t Christianity the one true religion?” asked Arthur.

Vivi tried very hard not to stare. Was-was he serious?

“Do you mean Catholicism, Baptism, Methodist, Protestant, or Lutheran?” countered Hiro.

Arthur blinked. “Uh, are those all different names for Christianity?”

“They are all different types of Christianity,” explained Hiro. “They all have different ideas as to how the scriptures are to be interpreted and how to practice their faith. No proof exists as to which is the ‘correct’ version.”

Arthur blinked. “The oldest?”

“That would be Roman Catholicism for simplicity’s sake.” Yeah, it was probably too soon to talk about The Gathering. “You don’t practice Catholicism. Your community did not practice Catholicism.” Hiro crossed his arms. “In fact, I’d say your elders were trying to come up with a new form of Christianity based on whatever occurred to them.”

Oh crap. Arthur was raised by a cult, wasn’t he?

“God told The Prophet that humanity was corrupting his followers so we had to isolate the true believers to keep them pure,” explained Arthur.

Yeah, definitely a cult.

“Wouldn’t God rather have his prophet spread his word to the masses and save those who were simply misled?” countered Hiro. “That is the standard pattern in the Bible, often with the prophets suffering to fulfill their goal. Yet, there are also signs of divine favor being placed upon them. A sort of combined blessing and test to see if they were worthy. Was your prophet ever visibly tested? Did he ever show any signs of powers that could not be explained logically or scientifically?”

Arthur opened his mouth, paused, and went still. “He, uh, he got arrested a couple of times for…stuff?”

“It couldn’t have been his religion,” reasoned Hiro. “We have a separation of church and state, and the Constitution allows for religious freedom. You could say that you believed a flying spaghetti monster created the universe and that pirates are his chosen prophets; it would be completely legal.”

Arthur made a face. “Who would believe that?”

“The Church of the Flying Spaghetti is just a bunch of people who make fun of people who think if schools are going to teach people about evolution, they should teach about intelligent design too,” Vivi provided helpfully.

Arthur blinked. “I have no idea what you just said.”

“The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a fake religion that acknowledges that it is fake,” explained Hiro. “Evolution is the very long process of one species becoming another over generations of random, favorable mutations adding up. It takes thousands of years so no one has actually witnessed it happening, and scientists rely on the fossil record to support the theory and determine what species evolved from previously. Intelligent design is the theory that God or a similar entity created the various species on the planet with a plan in mind for each one.” Hiro paused. “Out of curiosity if you had to choose between evolution and intelligent design, which would you believe in?”

“Intelligent design,” said Arthur.

Oh, this poor boy.

“Do you know how dog breeds work?” asked Hiro.

Arthur blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic. “Uh, they only breed dogs with the traits they want?”

Hiro nodded. “And eventually the traits make them a distinct breed, a sort of artificial evolution. Now, what if a higher power, one that could live for millenia, did that with the species on Earth to make us along with all the animals we are familiar with?”

And now Arthur looked like his mind had been blown. “Is that what happened?”

Hiro shrugged. “I have no idea. These are all theories that cannot be proven unless someone figures out time travel.”

“…I’m so confused,” Arthur finally said.

Hiro nodded. “Religion is confusing. We wouldn’t have so many wars over it if it was clear cut. It’s really too bad.”

“Hey, uh, maybe we should end for today,” suggested Vivi. “It kind of looks like Arthur’s brain is about to explode.”

Hiro studied Arthur and decided Vivi was right. “All right. I do believe that is enough for the first day.” He pushed a book over to Arthur. “Your homework is to read the chapter detailing the different ways Christianity is practiced around the world. If you feel up to it, perhaps read the chapters on Judaism and Islam.” Hiro paused. “And if it is possible, try to find out why your prophet was arrested. It’s always a good idea to verify another person’s claims if possible.”

Vivi nodded. “Yeah, you’d be surprised what some people will lie about.”

Arthur looked like he wanted to argue about something but instead picked up the book. “Yes sir.”

Hiro nodded and checked his watch. “Now, your uncle should be here momentarily, and I have papers that I need to grade. Would you be all right left alone with Vivi and Ben?”

Arthur gave Hiro a shocked look. “But she’s a girl!”

“Hey!” What the heck was that supposed to mean?!

“Please explain to Vivi and me why that is a problem,” Hiro patiently requested.

“It’s improper for a boy and girl to be left alone unless they’re close relatives,” answered Arthur.

Oh, ugh, that was another cult thing, wasn’t it?

“You won’t be alone. Ben will be here to keep an eye on you,” said Hiro.

Said dog was sleeping between Vivi and Arthur and showed no signs that he’d paid any attention to the lesson.

“Besides, most people honestly don’t care if boys and girls spend time together,” continued Hiro. “Why I see it all the time, and it never causes any problems.”

Arthur looked between Hiro and Vivi. “Um…”

“If it would make you more comfortable, Vivi can find something else to do,” said Hiro. “However, I think it would do you some good to interact with children closer to your own age. You will be starting school within a few months after all.”

Arthur winced. “Y-Yes sir.”

Hiro smiled, because while it was small, it was still a step in the right direction. “Good. Come fetch me if your uncle wants to have a word, but otherwise I wish you a pleasant rest of the day.”

And then Hiro left and Vivi was alone with Arthur. That had been what she wanted so she could talk to Arthur, but well…she wasn’t sure she should. The poor boy kind of reminded her of the abused puppies shown in ASCPA commercials, like, like…

Like no one had ever loved or cared for him and he didn’t know how to react when someone did.

“Wanna pet Ben?” asked Vivi.

Arthur blinked. “Huh?”

Vivi started petting Ben. His tail wagged. “He likes to be pet, and it makes you feel better. Try it.”

Arthur hesitantly placed a hand between Ben’s ears and started scratching. Ben moved his head and licked Arthur’s other hand, causing him to jump a little. When Ben failed to do anything else Arthur returned to giving the happy dog scratches.

“It’s nice, right?” asked Vivi.

Arthur nodded. It was oddly relaxing. After a little while, Ben lifted his head and looked towards the door. A moment later there was a knock, and Lance opened the door. He studied them for a moment. “You ready to go?”

Arthur quickly grabbed the books and stood. “Yes sir!” He quickly walked over to the door.

“Bye Arthur! See you soon!” called Vivi.

Arthur winced but stayed silent as he and Lance went to Lance’s truck. He glanced as Lance started it up and waited for Lance to say something about what he’d walked in on.

“So, you like dogs?” asked Lance.

“I, uh, maybe? We didn’t have dogs. We were forbidden from having pets,” explained Arthur.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Figures. Seemed comfortable with that dog. What’s his name again?”

“Ben.”

“Ben’s a pretty big dog. I imagine you’d have been panickin’ if you didn’t at least like dogs,” continued Lance.

Arthur nodded nervously.

“Now, I would not have a problem if you got a smaller pet, but our apartment is probably too small for a dog, ‘specially one that big.”

What.

“And if you never had a pet before, you ought to start small. Maybe a gerbil or a hamster.”

“Are you offering to get me a pet?” Arthur questioned is disbelief.

Lance made a thinking sound. “Maybe once you settle down a bit more. A pet is a lot of responsibility, and right now you oughta focus on learning to live in…the outside world.” Lance had wanted to say the ‘real world’, but he thought Arthur might take offense.

Arthur was still surprised. “And you’re all right with that?”

Lance shrugged. “I sometimes consider getting somethin’ myself. Then I remember how busy I am,” he muttered. “Wouldn’t know what to get either. Not exactly the most…social person.”

Arthur nodded. He didn’t have many social skills either. It was different from Lance though. Whereas Lance just seemed to be stoic and blunt, Arthur worried about what everyone would think about him if he did even one thing wrong.

He was pretty sure he was doing a lot of things wrong.

…

Arthur wondered if he’d ever get the hang of this new life.

#Arthur Kingsman #Vivi Yukino #Mr. Yukino #Mystery the not-Dog #Lance Kingsman #religion #lessons #talk of cults #Arthur's had a messed up life

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v-le · 5 years

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Ktravels/Klife: Halfway through it all / 첫 학기 끝 !

Foreword: I am almost done! I am almost done with my first semester at Yonsei… damn.

I honestly cannot believe that time flew by so fast. I’ve mentioned this before, but I had been thinking about studying abroad for over a year before coming here. And now that I am about halfway through with this experience… damn, I just have no words. Jk I do, which is why I’m writing this right now lol.

My favorite parts about Korea so far: it is my emotional, musical wonderland. More on that later, but… it’s heart-warming to hear so many of my favorite, treasured artists occasionally on the streets or in a café. And no, not K-pop lol I know nothing about K-pop anymore. In terms of café culture, it’s a love and hate relationship because some of them are just so expensive sigh. BUT, after going to so many different cafes like all around Seoul, I have come to actually have specific preferences for what constitutes a gr8 café (for studying specifically bc that’s all my friends and I mostly do at cafes anyway LOL) hehe:

AFFORDABLE!! No normal person should be paying like 7 or 8 bucks for a goddamn coffee. Base price for drinks should be around 5,000 won. If their iced caramel macchiato costs more than 5,500 won, the place is too expensive. If it’s less than 5,000 won,

Reasonable cup sizes! Or better, LARGE ONES! (안녕, 낯선 사람 in hongdae has some super bang-for-your-buck coffee drinks, the best I’ve seen!! :^))

Music that isn’t too loud

OUTLETS. OUTLETS ARE A MUST.

Plentiful seats so that it’s never too packed & large-enough tables

Nice temperature (aka not too cold in the winter, not too hot in the summer)

You can sneak in outside food & eat it blatantly even if there are signs saying not to, and no one will ever say anything

Not too crusty: cozy, but clean

A nice, well-maintained bathroom

It may seem impossible to find the perfect café that could meet all of these expectations, but honestly there are just SO many cafes in seoul, that if you search hard enough or have enough luck, some will be out there somewhere :^)

ALSO can I address the business turnover rate here?? Is this why Seoul is considered a fast-paced city?? So many times, my friends I have tried to go to cafes or restaurants or stores we’ve seen online or found on Kakao/Naver Maps, only to arrive and discover that THEY’RE GONE. Even if I did thorough research and found a blog post of a place from 2 months prior, the place is just POOF, disappeared into thin air. This has literally happened countless times and we are flabbergasted each time LOL. As limited as the database of 맛집’s and cafes already is online, the Internet & maps can’t even keep up to date with information either. Businesses open up so randomly fast, too it’s crazy… Mangoplate, the supposed “yelp” of Korea honestly is not that useful either LOL it usually has places on the pricier side, it is also not always up to date, and I just feel like Seoul/Korea has way too many places & businesses worth trying that they can’t even all fit into one database. There are just so many of those un-documentable places. So I suggest: find a neighborhood, go with your friends, take a stroll around the place, and try to stumble upon a place of your liking. Unless you can read Korean & utilize naver blogs (slightly more extensive and useful than mangoplate but still not 100% reliable all the time), then walking around is probably your best bet rather than attempting to do research online. Trust me.

Hmm what else is there… It’s really nice to be able to get/buy anything pretty easily, with convenience. I am afraid I will get too used to this once I go back to the states.

I think once the work started to pick up later in the semester, I definitely started falling into a routine of going to my morning class & then leaving sinchon to run errands elsewhere in Seoul, or simply doing work in the business building which quickly became my go-to spot because 1) outlets, 2) can eat food 3) very nice facility, literally sparkling 4) on campus. It kinda hurts to think that this short-lived routine will be over quite soon, but maybe next semester will be a little more exciting.

Although I haven’t been speaking as much Korean as I would like to, I do feel like my Korean has improved to an extent: (very slightly) vocab-wise, reading-wise, and writing-wise. It is honestly SO refreshing to finally be learning Korean in a formal, classroom setting. It honestly makes me regret not doing it sooner. Why did I lock myself up in my room for 8 years and only settle for learning on my own?? Sigh, it’s okay. I can only get better from here, right? As much as I hate the timing of KLI, I still really do enjoy the class nonetheless and I feel some sort of… growth? I appreciate how all my background knowledge of Korean has helped me up to this point as well. That at least, I can be proud of lol.

With languages and culture in general, throughout the semester, for the first time ever, I got to reflect on how valuable languages are. It is so interesting; I’ll try my best to explain my realizations, but it might come out as gibberish in the end… I really think anyone that has been born & raised in the US should spend a prolonged amount of time abroad. As homogeneous of a society Korea is, being here has opened my eyes to the global society. The society in which multiculturalism is embraced, there is no one correct language of communication, and every member listens to the various cultural values of one another without judgement. I never thought of English as being a powerful language. In fact, I honestly think I have been taking English for granted. I have never realized the immensity of the English language, how the rest of the world vies to master it, and how I have been blessed to have grown up with English as my native tongue. But on the flip-side, learning other languages is just as worthwhile. Communicating in a different language is literally honing a different perspective, mentality, and set of values. You can try to translate target languages into your native tongue for ease of comprehension. Or, what I have come to deeply appreciate and understand is, you can and should take the target language as it is. In order to connect with the language and consequently the culture, stop thinking in terms of your native tongue. Doing this to a deeper extent in Korea than I ever did before has felt extremely rewarding: it makes the language dynamic and exciting to learn. It has led me to cherish specific words or phrases, more so than I already did before arriving here. And it really is just… beautiful. LEARN A SECOND LANGUAGE! EXPLORE GLOBALIZATION!

Quite frankly though, I am disappointed that I haven’t been able to go to as many places as I would like, within in Korea. Okay more like: I am super grateful for the gorgeous places I have been to, but I also wish I could’ve visited those classic, “must-see” places like Busan, Jeju-do, Jeonju, Daegu, etc. I did however, visit lesser known, less expecting (??) places like Gangwon-do (Jumunjin Beach, Gangmun Beach, Gangneung, Yeongwol, Jeongseon, Pyeongchang) & Gyeongju & like Anyang & Seongnam…? Do these last two even count LOL theyre just smoller cities outside of Seoul… but yeah, I guess I’ll just have to save Busan and Jeju and the others for next semester… when I’m not as broke hopefully lmao.

But forreals, I actually really appreciated my trip to Gangwon-do even though it was technically an assignment for one of my courses called “New Media and Digital Storytelling” (shoutout to prof ted for supporting us with this valuable experience!!) because it was literally a breath of fresh air. Seoul is constantly jampacked with people and cars and smog and noises, but Gangneung was still a city, still just as civilized, but much quieter. Granted, nothing much happens out there and some parts are straight up just farming grounds, but the beaches have these stunning sunsets that look like they’re straight out of a graphically-altered fantasy movie. It was stunning and the image still lasts behind my eyes to this day.

One of the other things that I have been struggling to accept is that fact that I feel… unproductive in life? I wish I put myself more out there this semester. Even though I met a good number of locals and have had a few valuable conversations, I never deeply connected with any of them. Plus, almost all of them are going abroad next semester or graduating ☹. I also did not join any clubs or organizations or sports teams nor did I get a job or an internship or do any tutoring or volunteering on the side… I have just been going to class, occasionally spending a lot of money, and then spending some more. Last year at UCI, I feel like I ran into my freshman year with a fiery heart: I joined the badminton team, became a part of the Antleader Mentorship Program (AMP, which I miss so dearly with all of my heart) in fall & winter quarter, and took all upper division education courses my spring quarter as well as fulfilled my fieldwork major requirement by tutoring at a Kindergarten class for 6 hours every week. But coming to Korea, everything felt stagnant. Academically, career-wise, I feel like everything has been on a pause. Granted, many people could tell me that “Oh, you just being in Korea is already so much more than you need! You are doing more than enough, don’t worry”. But am I really?? I beg to differ. I am honestly pretty disappointed in myself and at this point all I can push for is to try to get more involved next semester. It has also been hurting to know that I have been digging into my precious savings that took over 2 long years to build up so quickly :(.

SO yeah, as great as Korea has been, it’s also been money-draining and disappointing from a personal-growth kind of view. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself, but that is also simply my reality. I think I am also choosing to be hard on myself because my luck with all my favorite artists has just been… totally undeserving.

I feel so blessed and “but why me??” at the same time. I have gotten to see Roy Kim four times live (fifth time will be this coming Sunday; the Seoul shows were blessedly scheduled the weekend right before I leave) & he released a new song in September. Eddy Kim, whom ive been waiting 4 years for to come back, finally did so right in the middle of my time here. Fromm, my extremely beloved indie goddess for YEARS now, released a new mini album in November; I got to see her 3 times live, and even attended her breath-taking solo?? Alone?? Personal? 그냥 단독 콘서트. Sam Kim, who I first listened to when I was 15, who has saved my life so many times with his music, finally released a FULL-length album 2 years and 6 months since his debut EP. Not only was I selected to go to his album’s release showcase, but I also got to a meet him through a fansign event. Oh yeah, I also met Fromm through a free fansigning & Eddy Kim through his new album’s fansign event, too. (I will post about these artist-meeting experiences separately because I feel like these three occasions alone have taught me so much). I saw DAY6 live for their third-year debut anniversary and I could feel the immensity and sincerity brimming from their voices, especially with an unfortunately missing member from stage; I will be seeing them soon for their newest music release, which also happened to come out this December. Nam Woohyun of Infinite, the group that I gave my heart to for over a third of my life, the group that I owe so much of my existence to, released another solo mini album, and I was lucky enough to even attend day 3 of his solo concert series; I saw a few other members of Infinite, I could feel my 12-year-old heart screaming & flailing & crying & apologizing from within because I’ve missed them for so long now, and I even heard a never-before released track from him as well. It was a miracle; I saw Woohyun & glimpses of the others on November 4th. Almost exactly 5 years ago in 2013, on November 11th, I went to a concert for the first time in my life and saw those very own loves with my own eyes: Infinite.

ALL OF THESE. ALL OF THESE EVENTS. Have been a blessing. Have been some sort of indescribable, boundless, breath-taking stroke of luck. I promise you, just luck. Roy just somehow decided to take a break from school at Georgetown THIS semester. Eddy Kim, Fromm, Sam Kim, Woohyun, and DAY6 all just somehow decided to release new music within the last half of this year. ME, I, just somehow decided to study abroad not as a 3rd year nor a 4th year, but a mere 2nd year. I decided to leave my home university barely 1 year in, and go to Korea. Just because. Because it felt right and I knew I wanted to, I knew I had to. But never could I have predicted any of these things to happen. Never in a million years. The very artists that I had only been listening to and watching from my computer screen for years as I hid beneath the deep blankets of my bed, the artists that have made me cry on cue because of how beautiful, meaningful, and healing their music is, the artists that seem to barely exist on the Internet, that are so lowkey and precious that I feel like I am the only that really listens to and loves them, the very artists that make my world revolve, that push me to go on when I want to give up, that I owe so much of my life to, all decided to release music, suddenly be active, hold events, and meet their fans in one way or another. Right. When. I am here, too. This sort of timing in life is nothing I had control of. It was all luck and I am just so deeply, infinitely, perpetually, until the end of this world, thankful. Every day I am so thankful. I didn’t ask for any of this, I didn’t hope for it, I didn’t even think about the possibility of these events happening in my life. But they did somehow. And for that, I am just so so so grateful. It’s just crazy to think that years ago, as a sophomore in high school. My heart would bulge with immense affection for these people & their music. They were unreal, almost-fantasy-like existences that made life-saving music and that I cherished so immensely. But little did I know 4 or 5 years later, this could happen to me. That there was actually a worth to loving these almost “nobody” musicians. I just constantly feel like I am always receiving from them, and never giving back. I really do owe them so much. Thank you, to my beloved artists. For everything.

Moving on to the people that have made my first semester here at Yonsei even brighter: our dumbass squad consisting of lil hoorey, 왕언니 ana, smol laura, dumbass closted weaboo Wilson, & even dumber josh LOL I am so blessed to have met such funny, stupid, understanding friends. Before arriving to Korea, I was STRESSED that I wouldn’t be able to find friends because I hate alcohol, I hate clubbing, I hate mainstream K-pop and simply many parts of popular Korean culture are things that I am not particularly a fan of. But thankfully, I have found an endearing group of friends that share these same sentiments. These reliable people have honestly shaped so much of my experiences here and I am forever thankful. IT JUST SUCKS THAT I AM THE ONLY ONE STAYING FOR A YEAR LOL. But yes, thank you friends, for everything <3 .

Have I exhausted all of my thanks at this point?? Probably not. But I’ll save those for my own heart and mind to cherish. Going abroad was and has been and will be an experience that I don’t think I could ever properly express with words alone. I think it’s always like that when it comes to these rants LOLLL. I rant because I need to vent these feelings and emotions and flaring thoughts. But I just end up struggling to articulate everything and get my heart across properly. Sigh.

Homesickness? Is this something I was supposed to address? Maybe exchange students are probably expected to always talk about this. But for me, it was a nonexistent notion. Being born and raised in the bay area, having lived in the same exact house, having slept in the same creaky, old bed for 18 years in a row, has provided me with a comfort that I probably take for granted more than I should, but has also left me with an intense urgency to explore more, see more, do more, and just breathe more. The Bay Area can be extremely toxic and suffocating in so many ways, and it a space that I know I can go back to whenever my heart desires, but it is also a space that I do not wish to prolong my stay in any further. My immediate family has also never been a significant part of my life: I have never relied on them for emotional nor mental support. Maturing into an adult with this sort of detachment has hindered and helped me in countless ways. There were definitely times throughout my life where I despised them for the way in which everything turned out. For how miserable or lonely or stuck or negligent I sometimes felt. But I know that without that detachment, I would not be where I am today. To my next semester at Yonsei, you look questionable, daunting, and exciting. I honestly can’t even begin to imagine what will be in store for me. All I can wish for is health & happiness.

가즈으으아!!~

#korea #yonsei university #should this be called klife or ktravels i have no clue #i am quite confused about myself still #i am also currently very sleepy #i cant believe it's coming to an end so quickly..

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sagebodisattva · 5 years

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Open Individualism and the Platypus

So let's talk a little about open individualism, the view in the philosophy of personal identity, according to which there exists only one numerically identical subject, which is everyone at all times. I'm sure that this idea doesn't sit well with the majority of you, as I'm sure most of you like to fancy yourself a special little snowflake; a unique outstanding individual who is markedly different then everyone else. This would constitute the definition of individuality, would it not? Well, let's look at it. Because it's this type of thinking that has the world divided in a major way.

We look at other people and judge them for their conditions, but this assumes that their conditions are unquestionably below, or beyond us, that somehow, because we are on a different path, that we are in a superior position; a position that is holier then thou. Now I say "condition" instead of karma, because karma is a term that comes with a load of connotations, but really, that's all really karma means: a current condition. And yeah, a condition can change based on many factors, like actions, thoughts, and intentions, which will potentially bring varying results. Causes that bring effects that result in a condition. Karma is a distinction specialized to highlight the condition of sentient creatures specifically, which is why the term was coined, rather then just using a word like condition. Like we wouldn't speak about an object's karma because, even though an object does have a condition, it can't make choices to influence it's condition.

But I bring up karma, because people toss it around so often, and recklessly, even going so far as to act like they are some kind of karma police or something. You hear and read these things all the time on the internet, with statements like:

“Karma's a bitch!”

“Yeah, fuck with me and karma is gonna kick your ass three times over!”

“Yeah, he got what he deserved, karma caught up with him!”

Can we please stop with this nonsense already? Karma isn't some punishing judgmental force that roams around the planet doling out discipline. And who are you to be speaking like some representative of karma who can warn people on it's behalf? As if you are some close friend of karma, which will make it especially pissed off, if someone out there dares to mess with you. Would you stop it? Karma is a condition, not some metaphysical weapon to wish upon someone.

There's that vindicate merciless judge, so eager to assign sentences and carry out executions. And now, able to send the karma thug to torture you in the name of justice.

“Yeah, karma's a bitch, then you die!”

Once again, we only say these things because we assume a separation. We like the “us and them”, paradigm, and engage in otherization as often as we can. But what if the person that you assume is an “other”, was really just another version of yourself? Then what? Oh my goodness, perish the thought.

“Oh no, that just can't be. I'm six feet tall. I have an IQ of 115. I am of English descent. I am a male. I am a republican. I am Catholic. I am upper class. I am an exclusive member of the secret society Brotherhood of the Enlightened Platypus!”

Sigh.

You might agree that this kind of arrogance is ridiculous to hang a hat on, but it's even doubly more ridiculous considering all of these types of identifications are patently false.

“How's that?”

That's right. These types of identifications are a steaming pile of platypus shit.

“Oh but what do you mean? Are you saying that I'm not a tall, smart, high class catholic, republican English male that's part of the platypus society? ha ha ha.”

That's right. That's exactly what I am saying. In all actuality, you are none of those things. These are little identification teats for little non-existent suckling piglets. And what makes it triply worse, and often inspires the urge to vomit all over the computer screen, is all these bickering stalwarts, engaging in venomous discourse over mundane illusory identifications. And you know what I'm talking about; as most of you listening to the sound of my voice right now, are engaged in some type of superficial attribute mongering. Whether it be along the lines of gender, sexuality, race, religion, politics, or class may vary, but one way or another, you are in some sort of camp. A camp with an erected flag. And so, no, you are not neutral. You are not unbiased. Hence, you are un-objective.

But you have opinions and express them with an impassioned obsessive fervor! And oh what beautiful farts they are! Such a vile stink; it’s grotesquely curious, yet wretchedly repulsive. The cold cruel savagely ferocious need to personify a perceived enemy, and attack them, is unparalleled. And drama, aggression, pawnage, and condemnations, quickly follow. Yeah. You all go ahead and claw each other's eyes out, I'll be sitting at ringside with popcorn. Good luck with that and lemme know how that works out for you. Much ado about nothing.

But with a little compassion, and a birds eye view perspective, you would see how any person’s life or experience, could be your own life or experience, and that the only real difference is circumstance. You can only look at someone else's life and confidently assess it, (and make bold claims about what they should do, or what you would have done, or what you would never do,) because you are doing so from your own biased snapshot. It's not accurate and it's not helpful. You can't honestly look at someone else's life, like say a serial killer, and say you'd never do that, because you are not them; you don't know their experience, you don't know their circumstances, and you don't know their path.

Same goes with bigoted presuppositions. It's ironic that many of the same people, who dig the idea that they are distinguished in their identity, also, at the same time, have the tendency to generalize entire groups of people that are deemed to be "other", and make wide sweeping generalizations based on inductive reasoning.

Oh, but it's not bigoted if it's true, right?

Bullshit. More then likely you live in a bubble.

Being from New York City myself, I can personally attest that stereotypes are false, but often appear true; not because of innate qualities, but merely because of pack mentality. Sheep herd together, and are conditioned to want to belong to the group, and hence, copy and emulate patterns, behaviors, and memes of the herd. Monkey see, monkey do. But when you get into the larger cities, where people are more sophisticated, you have more cases of so called “different people “, who all live and interact with each other, and this is where people can start to break free from their cultural bubbles and define themselves as individuals.

I know this gonna come as a complete shock to some of you, but not all Irishmen are alcoholics. Not all Asians are good at math. Some whites can dance really well. Some blacks are intellectuals. Not all Jews worship money. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Not all Mexicans are illegal.

There's only one generalization that is absolutely true: people that generalize other people are assholes.

This is why you have so many people out there that are so eager and enthusiastic to judge other people, and want to assert that superficial aspects of a classified type are indicative of some kind of fixed inner nature of being. This is the basis of contemporary bigotry and discrimination. And it's a giant lie. You are not a gender. You are not a sexuality. You are not a race. You are not a religion. You are not a person, or a human. These are all equally false identifications of illusion. And investing into them is delusion. You are awareness. And so is he, so is she, so is the he/she, so are they, so are you, so are us, and so are them. You are that which is imagining a dream; you are not any of the inventory items within a dream.

This is water. This is a good metaphor for pure potentiality, the essence of what we are. We are the same. Undivided. Non-separate. We are one. So then what is the problem? The problem starts with: this is a man, this is a woman, this is a black person, this is a white person, and this is a transsexual person. This is a platypus. Oh wow. My my, look at all these different people. This one is different then that one, and that one is better then this one. This one would never do what that one does, and that one is superior to all the other ones. Oh really. And then what does death reveal? Here's the man. Here's the woman. Here's the black. Here's the white. Here's the transsexual. Here's the platypus. Wow, yeah, you sure are different and special. You sure are distinguished from all the others.

Can you now see how complete and utter nonsense all this is?

One of the hallmarks of being deeply in delusion, is the inability to see beyond the surface of things. Pure awareness is the true self, and is what unifies all sentience. It is the selfhood that is identical within all sentience. And this is why open individualism is already the case, not a theory.

Empty individualism, the view that personal identities correspond to a fixed pattern that instantaneously disappears with the passage of time, is false, because awareness is not ultimately bound to a fixed pattern, there's no such thing as time, and the essence of our being does not vanish upon death. Only a form undergoes a change. Pure potentiality is always so.

And the same goes for closed individualism, the common view that personal identities are particular to subjects, and yet survive time. It might be said that a particular identity might be associated with a particular form, but no manifested appearance is permanent, and so has no way to survive non-existent time.

The fundamental experiencer is never erased. It is the "I" in all of us. Experiences come and go, but not the "I" that receives all experiences. The "I" recognizes all as reflections of self. Within us all, is identical selfhood, preceding the bag of meat, and the personified characterization. The "I" that is aware of all phenomena, including the persona. That, which is before being, and all comings and goings.

“I", am that.

#openindividualism

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The Future of Housing looks Nothing like Today’s

What does a living room have to do with living? When Lisa Cini and her husband, kids, and rescue dog moved in with her parents and grandmother a few years ago, the Ohio-based architect pored over the design of her 94-year-old grandma’s bedroom “apartment.” An Alzheimer’s diagnosis made security and mobility important, but her ideas went beyond extra locks and grab-bars; she felt it was crucial that she have her own living room within the family home. “It’s interesting, when we’re younger and full of life, when we’re just doing life so hard, we have to find time to sleep. But when we get old, when we’re slowing down so much, we have to work to find ways to do more life and less sleep,” Cini recalls in her book about living with four generations under one roof. Designing a separate living room gave her grandma a space to hang out, engage, and entertain visitors outside of her bedroom, a subtle but important distinction. “Her living room really helps her keep living life,” Cini observes. Cini’s situation–four generations under one roof–was an unusual one, compared to the way most Americans have lived over the past century, when socioeconomic forces have made it normal for Americans to live as nuclear families, in contrast to the last few thousand years of human history. But for complex reasons that still puzzle researchers, multigenerational households are now on the rise once more. As many as 41% of Americans buying a home are considering accommodating an elderly parent or an adult child, according to a survey conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Living with your parents (or your adult children) has plenty of potential benefits–everyone tends to save money, it can potentially benefit health outcomes, and you get to spend more time together.

Just one problem: American housing stock, dominated by single-family homes and connected by cars, isn’t really designed for it.

The average American today lives for about 78 years. For the majority of those decades, most of us will work–a necessity to afford a car, a home, and a retirement plan that accounts for our care in old age. The goal of each of those major life purchases is something Americans seem to value very highly: independence, or the freedom to go where you want, live how you wish, and age without being a burden. The price of not achieving that perceived independence is the perceived shame of relying on someone else, whether your children or the government. This shame has deep roots in American life. Before the first nursing homes emerged in the 19th century, people who didn’t have a family or wealth to support themselves in old age were likely to end up in county-run “poorhouses,” where the indigent–whether they were criminals or simply unlucky–received rations, as Senior Livingexplains. Growing old in America can be a precarious business. Institutional buildings soon sprang up to accommodate aging Americans, later giving way to private nursing homes. At the same time, it became more and more normal to leave home earlier as millions of young Americans left home in search of land or work in the boomtowns of the new West. World War II contributed to the trend as well, and the G.I. bill also helped create more geographical distance between young adults and their parents. The advent of commercial air travel and the rapid expansion of American suburbia made inexpensive, single-family housing–and cross-country travel–attainable for more and more people. By 1950, just 21% of American households contained two or more generations. New funding for nursing homes from the Federal Housing Administration led to a boom in private nursing homes in 1950s and ’60s, and over time it became more and more normal to self-select into senior housing rather than living with your children. By 1980, the number of multigenerational homes had dropped to just 12%, according to Pew. The emphasis on physical and financial independence at every stage of adulthood has high incurred costs, though. The first is the massive accumulation of capital, from money to land to natural resources to labor, necessary to supply the cars, airports, fuel, roads, land, and housing for a country of 327 million people who want to live conspicuously apart. The second is social isolation. The idea that it’s normal for each nuclear family to own a single-family home, connected to other people only by cars, is actually “radical,” as architect and cohousing development consultant Katie McCamant puts it. “It’s held up this great dream that not only Americans should strive so hard for, but the whole rest of the world looks to as a model now,” she says. “There’s been so much emphasis on independence and on privacy that we really designed community right out of our lives without knowing it.” A question that many Americans never get a chance to ask is: Should independence be the goal? Or should we seek out other people to rely on–not just for social reasons, but for economic and environmental ones, too? How do we want to live as we age–and how should we live, as this abundant era of American history comes to a close? Over the past few years, Pew Research Center has periodically noted an intriguing trend in housing: More and more Americans are opting to live together. Compared to just 12% in 1980, the trend has been on a strong upward swing, with 20%, or 64 million Americans, living with two or more adult generations in a single household. It’s still too early to say exactly why. An analysis of internal migration in the U.S. by the Federal Reserve Board’s Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs found that domestic migration reached an “inflection point” in 1980, and has been in decline ever since. While the Great Recession and the contraction of the housing market are factors, the authors note, they aren’t the primary reason why Americans are less and less mobile: “The puzzle remains.” In short, for complex economic, social, and cultural reasons, what constitutes “normal” housing for seniors in America is changing. Culture may also play a role. “I think there’s a tighter connection just generationally between young adults and their parents,” says Chris Porter, an analyst at John Burns Real Estate Consulting who tracks housing trends. That closeness is influencing the senior housing market, as well as the way senior-focused housing is marketed. “We’re seeing the golf course as less of an amenity these days for senior housing,” says Porter, who has worked with several developers to redevelop golf courses as housing. “The real amenity for seniors is being near their kids and grandkids. I think that comes back to that connection between the boomers and their kids.”

For families that can afford it, major homebuilders are now offering “multigenerational” floor plans that make space for three or more generations. Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, launched a suite of floorplans that the company branded Next Gen in 2011. It describes its designs with a tagline: “Two homes. Under one roof.” Typical features include separate entrances and garages that let parents come and go as they please. These “in-law” units often have their own kitchenette and living spaces, too. The company touts the financial benefits of a multigen home: There’s just one mortgage, you’ll spend less on gas and waste less time commuting; you’ll also spend less on childcare, the company claims: “Getting a babysitter means getting quality time with the grandparents.” Lennar now offers Next Gen models in 13 states, and notes that its floor plans are also well-equipped to serve special needs adults and their families. One urbanist points out that there are drawbacks to aging in a single-family suburban development, which tend to neglect walkability–an important factor for seniors who want to be mobile and engaged in their communities. But in any case, homes designed specifically for multigenerational living are still a small segment of the housing market. Far more common are families that have renovated their homes to suit aging parents or adult children, like the architect Cini, whose firm Mosaic Design specializes in senior design, particularly assisted living centers. Her personal experience with multigenerational life eventually led to a book, Hive, a practical how-to for other families who, either by necessity or choice, are moving in together. In large part, Hive addresses the unspoken taboos and tensions of living with your parents and grandparents. “I had so many people–friends and family and business associates and clients–that said, ‘Oh yeah, my mother-in-law lives with us. Oh yeah, we’ve been doing that for years,'” Cini says. “And I had no idea because nobody talks about it. And because nobody talks about it, it creates a lot more stress because you can’t commiserate with and laugh about the issues and really find out, you know, kind of hacks on how to live.”

Cini recalls dealing with the design problem of making her parents and grandmother feel welcome in their living room (make it more like a frat house, she councils only half-jokingly: enough seating for everyone, then more). She designed a private entrance for her 94-year-old grandmother’s suite–formerly the home’s garage–and decided to keep a series of stairs leading to the apartment (a key point: stairs shouldn’t be avoided, no matter your age; they’re exercise). Other design choices were more contentious. Something as simple as storage can be emotional for grandparents who are moving into their adult children’s homes; giving them space to display memories of their lives is crucial. Finding the line between togetherness and privacy can be a matter of material choice and soundproofing, too. Cini remembers being mortified to hear moaning coming from her parents’ room one night (her mom had a leg cramp). Cini’s grandmother passed last year, and looking back, she has a few things she would do differently. Some have to do with small quality-of-life details: She wishes she would have added heated flooring to her grandma’s bathroom and a light under every stair. Others underline the challenges of designing for four generations with different expectations about technology. Even though she and her husband could control their Philips Hue lights from their phones, her dad missed the light switch. “It’s still about choice. I think we forget that that should be an option,” she says.

The experience is also reshaping her professional practice. This year, her studio bought a historic mansion in Columbus, Ohio, that dates back to 1914. Cini is turning the 10,000-square-foot building into a kind of Airbnb for aging–a model home designed to let families try out living together in multigenerational layouts. Working with partners from across the homebuilding industry, including Toto and Shaw Flooring, Cini is retrofitting the building with everything from step-in tubs and an at-home gym with specialized machines for seniors to details as small as toilet paper holders that double as grab-bars. “The idea is not only to have what is currently on the market but also to beta test products and gain valuable market feedback,” she explains. Her studio will relocate to the mansion’s carriage house, behind the property. “Having our design studio in view will create a natural dialog to help us serve the aging-in-place market with better designs and product development,” she says. The renovations are just beginning, and she hopes to open the model home-slash-hotel next year. Her long-term vision, she says, is to open similar rental properties in major cities, where families interested in multigenerational homes can experience one in real life. “A whole family can stay there and kind of actually see: ‘Can we do this? Is this gonna work?'” she says. “What kind of little tweaks can we make before they just get into it?” According to research by the AARP, almost 90% of seniors want to remain in their own homes as they age, also known as aging in place. That can be complex. For a multitude of reasons, living with your adult children, if you have them, isn’t always an option. Caregivers are increasingly hard to come by, and not all homes are designed for aging bodies. There are other, subtle problems that aging in place can create, as the architect Katie McCamant points out. “What I hear a lot is when people first retire, they often say, ‘I’ve never been busier. I’m involved in all these clubs and these groups and doing this and that and volunteering there,'” she says. But all that activity usually depends entirely on the ability to drive. Take that away, and aging in place gets more complex. “You find out that my connection to all these things I’m so busy with is my car. And if I can’t drive, I’m totally cut off.” McCamant is an expert in what you might describe as a third way between conventional senior living centers and the single-family, multigenerational household. As an architect and a development consultant, she has helped groups of Americans around the country build their own “cohousing,” a term for a group of private homes that share community spaces and resources. Cohousing was first pioneered in Denmark in the 1960s, but it has found a growing foothold in the U.S. McCamant got interested in the idea decades ago, as a young architect and parent with a strong interest in the power of neighborhoods–and how they’ve been neglected in American housing. “I believe that if people connect to their neighbors, they’re going to get more connected to their town. If they’re more connected to their town, they’re connected to the government, to the state, and they’re more active,” she explains. “So when people don’t connect in their neighborhood, it really is the beginning of a much larger isolation from everything.” Cohousing takes many forms: It can be a group of young families who want to share the cost of childcare and housework by pooling their resources, for instance, with one family responsible for the cooking one day and watching the kids the next. But there’s also a burgeoning network of senior-focused cohousing projects taking shape around the country, where the model offers seniors the ability to age in place, in a sense, while offering each other physical and social support. “It’s really about a proactive approach to: What do I want to do with this last third of my life and how do I set myself up for that?” McCamant says. For seniors–who are increasingly baby boomers who came of age during the countercultural revolution–cohousing offers an alternative to corporate senior-living complexes, along with the freedom to determine the design, values, and vibe of a collective senior community. In 2015, McCamant founded her own development consulting group, CoHousing Solutions, to work with groups interested in building their own cohousing developments. That includes projects like PDX Commons, a 27-unit housing complex that was recently completed in downtown Portland, Oregon. Oriented around a shared courtyard, homeowners share other amenities like a great room, roof deck, and guest suites for visiting family or caregivers. They also share a mission statement that includes respect, cooperation, and nurturing. While one person age 55 or older must live in 80% of the Commons’ homes, according to fair housing regulations, children and adults are welcome to live in any of the units along with their senior-aged owners.

PDX Commons While there are over 170 cohousing communities in the U.S. today, there are major hurdles associated with building one. The cost of one new home is gargantuan; for the average American, developing a group of them is unthinkable. “For most Americans, buying a house is your single largest investment,” McCamant says. “So I might rent a lot of different things, but when I come to buy? Developers are conservative, buyers are conservative, so changing anything in the housing world is long and slow.” Part of McCamant group’s mission is to share best practices for building cohousing with clients, developers, and architects. “If we’re going to move it forward, we need to start from the best practices and get better–not reinvent the wheel,” she says.

Her goal is to see the next 500 cohousing projects built within the U.S., which means teaching other people. She runs a yearly training program called 500 Communities, aimed at “training the next generation of cohousing professionals,” from topics like construction management to cash flow. This year’s participants include commercial real estate experts, architects, economists, housing advocates for seniors and neurodiverse populations, and a diverse array of other professional backgrounds. The value proposition behind cohousing, it seems, is attractive to more than just the clients.

Cohousing isn’t the only alternative to conventional senior living centers emerging in the U.S. Other models aimed at better connecting seniors with younger generations are slowly starting to pop up after finding success in Europe. One is known as “site-sharing,” or situating senior housing in cooperation with a daycare or school. Another alternative is what Donna Butts, executive director of the policy group Generations United, calls “intergenerational home-sharing.” In this case, college-aged people can rent rooms from seniors at reduced prices, in exchange for help around the house and engagement–from having dinner to walking the dog. “We really think that there’s a policy piece in the future with that that will tie student debt reduction with supports for aging in place, but it’s not there yet,” Butts says. Cities like Boston are already piloting the idea, offering affordable housing to grad students in exchange for help with chores. “The two populations that suffer the most from social isolation are younger and older,” Butts says. “And we haven’t built our communities in recent years so that they can bridge those differences in generation and differences in lifestyles.” During the industrial revolution, the “poorhouses” where many elders ended up gave way to more institutionalized care centers. Abe Bortz, a historian of social security in the U.S., observed that these early senior living buildings looked more like factories than homes. In other words, the way we choose to house ourselves reflects the things we value and the ideas we see as progressive. For the last century or so, those values have been independence, privacy, and individuality. Now, Americans face a twin challenge: First, the increasing expense of homeownership and retirement. Second, the uncertainty of an economy and climate in flux. A recent study of hundreds of California cities and their carbon footprints concluded that housing–and specifically, housing that makes cities more dense, infilling around existing suburbs and transit stops–can “reduce greenhouse gas pollution more effectively than any other option.” American cities and suburbs will need to undergo a radical change in response to climate change, shifting away from single-family homes and toward denser housing typologies, away from personal vehicles and toward public transit, walkability, and shared cars, away from independence and towards resource sharing. Ironically, we stand to benefit from those changes as we age. What type of life do we want to age into? What does the right amount of togetherness look like? A mixture of economic, demographic, and environmental forces are now emerging to force the answer–and over the next few decades, we’ll find out which of these nascent ways of living wins out. BY KELSEY CAMPBELL-DOLLAGHAN Read the full article

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