#he represents all of middle class america!!!!!!! or something!!!!!!!!!

[porcelainvino]

out of ALL of the glee characters i 100% relate to jeremiah the most… you guys don’t get it……

#middle class ohioan who hates public singing.. erm yes plz……. #i also hc him to be an art kid like LOOK AT HIM he just like me FR FR #also that he’s a aspec they/he user #him interacting w blaine twice.. probably forgetting about it and then BOOM he gets serenaded to AND fired like GOSH #out of all the glee characters i relate to the random background guy who appears for one episode then disappears…. ily bbg #he represents all of middle class america!!!!!!! or something!!!!!!!!! #better!glee #b!g jeremiah #porcelainposting

[slaygentford]

Armand's podcast chiarobscuro on obscure art history is just him speaking in a monotone for 1 hour about 1 page of 1 illuminated manuscript nd it's coincidentally number 1 trending on pods because people use it as a sleep aid. but then sometimes in the middle of it he'll say something incredibly disturbing and a cult (haha.) following starts claiming there are hidden subliminals in it which are allegations Armand never acknowledges and which people on twitter roast but reality shifters on tik tok get increasingly into. Daniels podcast by/line is beat out consistently by pod save America which is totally fine and not contributing to his alcoholism or his divorce or his psychosexual obsession with armand. he won't listen to armands podcast as a point of principle except for when he puts it on to fall asleep and then gets weirdly turned on and then pavlovs himself into arousal every time he hears armands voice. one sided psychological torture. Armand's cult (haha.) following continues to grow until lestat's podcast lestat (self-titled) filed in culture & the arts blows up and usurps him even though its an hour and a half one-man monologue about quite genuinely nothing at all, though worryingly often, his mother. and Louis? well Louis isnt privy to any of this because he has a child to raise and zones out whenever lestat starts talking about renting out a bigger recording studio for his podcast so that he can have guests on and invest in sound equipment FOR CLAUDIAS FUTURE, OF COURSE. her college fund Louis! the dividends will go toward her college fund. ahaha. what is the definition of this: dividends. Louis gets curious and listens to lestats podcast but gets distracted by recommended for you: chiarobscuro, finds it interesting enough that he doesn't fall asleep, and mentions it offhandedly to lestat after telling him lestat (self-titled) is cute. lestat is distracted by the high of being told Louis likes his podcast but wakes up in the middle of the night sitting straight up in bed when he remembers Louis said "chiarobscuro" in passing at precisely 7:46am this morning. lestat who has armand in his phone represented by the 🕴🏼emoji from college (Louis doesnt know he knows him, lestat has never once mentioned him) calls him from the bathroom at 4am and demands he immediately end his podcasting career. armand who of course answered at 4am counters that they meet in a neutral location to discuss terms. at 5am lestat and armand meet at a park. lestat rages, scaring off several sunrise joggers and their dogs. armand allows this to happen in silence and then says look across the pond. at which point lestat does and sees a bedraggled 50 year old white man plodding along with bodega coffee. you needn't worry about your Louis, says armand. I have a different project. I have been implanting subliminal messages in my podcasts in order to lure Molloy into my thrall. lestat, grudgingly impressed, concedes and stops to get coffee for the family before going back home. Louis and claudia are delighted by the impromptu breakfast and lestat is offered a special shower time reward. before disrobing, and working quickly, he hacks Louis' phone (passcode claudia's birthday) and in a fit of true selfless sacrifice deletes not just Louis' subscription to chiarobscuro, but his podcast app as a whole--damning his own podcast to never again be heard by Louis but removing armand permanently from their lives forever. he joins Louis in the shower, stunned by his own genius. perhaps he will have that worm molloy on his show in order to thwart armands plans. lestat 2 armand 0. it's almost enough to ease the burn of armand telling lestat in their audio production class in college that he's too dumb to start a podcast

[tiathecreator]

⋆⭒˚｡⋆ so american ( hobie brown ) !

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎.𖥔 ݁ ˖✎ᝰ synopsis — " he laughs at all my jokes and he says i'm so american. " blk reader.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟcontains — ooc (?) hobie, fluff, swearing, atsv!hobie brown, hobie is taller than you no matter what, very very slight.

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ tia speaks — because nobody told olivia to write such a cute song like my goodness. i love this song so bad ( almost as bad as i love accented men ) so i had to write a piece inspired by it ! i am also using this to be a complete feminism nerd and i almost wrote something similar with another olivia song lol. i totally recommend reading this whilst listening to 'so american' by olivia rodrigo !! happy reading !

despite his punk exterior, hobie is the best boyfriend you've ever had.

you'd first met hobie when you were selected to speak at a diversity conference in london. you were studying abroad in the middle of your second year of university, using the excuse of 'furthering your education' to read authentic european literature and cross of some of your bucket list. he was doing his usual routine when he swung by a billboard advertising the conference. he decided to check it, never one to shy away from social politic discourse. he stopped by a few panels, taking a liking to the minority in leadership panel, before stopping by the gender and intersectionality panel.

hobie's eyebrows rose as he watched you prepare yourself for your own presentation. you were dressed in business professional with the best shaped afro hobie had ever seen. his pulse quickened as you sent the moderator a ready smile before you began speaking.

and you were so american.

your charisma was enchanting, gracefully demanding the attention of the room. you engaged with the audience as you presented, throwing in small jokes here and there to keep the crowded attentive. he even imagined your expression becoming the slightest bit bashful as he caught your eye. you ended your presentation with another dazzling smile and an adorable tilt of your head at the sound of the applause filling the room.

he was even more impressed with your ability to answers questions on the fly. it was as if you thought of every possible questions and came up with perfectly calculated answers for each of them.

"i have a question for y/n. you mentioned white feminism and black feminism as two separate movements due to the lack of inclusion of marginalized women and their concerns. does that mean that you believe that white women are inherently racist?" a commentator asked. a furrow found its way in between your brow before you answered.

"no, i called it uninclusive because i meant it did not include the needs of women who were not upper class, able, educated, white women. black feminism can include women who are not black as it's an umbrella term of sorts. it serves to uplift and represent the underrepresented and unite all feminists, not imply that all white women are racist because of one social group. there are some wonderful white women who can acknowledge their privilege and use it to uplift us all as a united front rather than living in their individual comfortability. thank you for your question."

after your panel concluded, hobie found himself searching for you in the crowd of spectators. he eventually found you holding a bouquet of flowers from the moderator as you put away your things. he casually made his way to you, slipping through the ocean of bodies before standing behind you.

"would've gotten flowers if i had known someone as smart as you would be presenting here. however, i doubt i'd be able to find anything as beautiful as you, ms. america," he charmed, immediately gaining your attention as you turned to him.

"i take it that you liked my presentation," you mused, smiling up at the man before you.

"liked it so much that i'd like to hear it again. maybe over a meal some time, yeah?"

your cheeks stung from how wide you smiled as you punched your number into his phone, telling him to text you the details.

you guys hit it off as your personalities, morals, and routines meshed almost perfectly. you finished your educational responsibilities around the same time he finished his internship, leaving the two of you with enough time to see each other at least three times a week, excluding your weekend.

he's so attentive as he remembers everything about you, including things that you mentioned offhandedly. you'll expect him to pay it no mind until he says or does something that showed you that he was in fact listening to your every word.

and he's so soft with you. underneath your boyfriend's unapproachable persona was a man who was putty in your hands. he melts into your embrace, hands gently cupping your face as he laid a breathless kiss on your lips. he was always touching you when he was in your presence. he usually opted for the casual arm hooked across your front as he rested his chin on your shoulder. it was the perfect height for you to whisper all of your jokes into his ear, ensuring that he didn't miss the chance to indulge in your humor.

you actually guessed that he was the esteemed spider-punk after having rescued you from a mid-evening robbery. you noticed the stature of the hero looked familiar as you watched him swing through the air.

"what happened here?" you asked him one lazy morning, pointing to the bruise forming on his shoulder.

"i slipped in the shower," he mumbled, pulling you closer to him as he tried to go back to sleep.

"are you sure it had nothing to do with that pole the news showed you being flung into?" you mused.

"how'd you figure?" he asked, eyes now open as he looked down at you with a tired grin.

"what kind of girlfriend would i be if i didn't know my boyfriend when i saw him?" you replied, planting a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "plus i’ve tripped over your beat up sneakers enough times to recognize them."

"sneakers," he said, copying your accent. he let out an amused gruff after you painlessly slapped his arm. "you're such an american."

he made the effort to join you for your public demonstrations, only stepping in when someone got mouthed off at you too much for his liking, knowing that you could hold your own but preferring if you didn't have to. he read all of your favorite books as well as any pieces that you mentioned to him. he participates in most of your hobbies, even picking up a few and calling them his own.

he even calls your mom, asking her how she had been since the last time he had the chance to ask. she was more excited to see him the first time you visited since meeting him. she tried to treat him as a guest, but he was set on helping her around the house, taking care of any odd problems she had.

you might just have to marry him if he keeps this shit up.

© tiathecreator 2024. all rights reserved.

#☆ — tia the creator! #hobie brown x reader #hobie brown x black reader #hobie brown #hobie x reader #hobie x black!reader #spider punk x reader #spider punk x black reader #atsv x reader #atsv x black reader #spiderman atsv x black reader #spiderman atsv

[reasonandempathy]

The weird radical/revolutionary politic larpers on this site are so allergic to political pragmatism I swear lmao. I am definitely left of the Democratic Party and I am certainly voting for Joe Biden in November. Not because I like him (I don’t). He is absolutely horrific on Gaza and that’s only the top (and priority considering there is a genocide going on there) of a list of complaints I have about him. I even voted uncommitted in my state’s presidential primary (the Pennsylvania one; I had to write it in) to protest. However, I’m still thinking pragmatically. Trump has said things that make me credibly think he will be worse on Gaza (insane that being worse on Gaza than Biden is possible but it is unfortunately), and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Project 2025, the potential for him to appoint more deeply conservative justices, more of his aggressively screwing over poor and middle class people with his tax policies. And does anyone else remember the spike in hate crimes after the race was called for him in 2016? Before he was even inaugurated? Whether people vote or not in November we will still have to deal with one of these two men in office come January unless all of the internet ancom larpers overthrow the government by then (doubt), so I’d rather deal with the one who will be marginally less bad and who didn’t try to overthrow the government. Can’t have your revolution if nobody’s alive cause you kept pushing off politically participating because there was no perfect option. 👍

Political pragmatist anon, sorry for ranting in your askbox but I feel like I lose brain cells watching these people talk. The other day I saw someone say Biden is bad because Roe v. Wade fell under his administration… even though the reason for that was Trump appointed justices. 💀 (2/2)

Fucking insane. Sincerely.

It's a completely, flatly binary choice for anyone with a brain stem and sincerity. It's distilled into the two below images:

Where all major third party candidates are even on the ballot

How many electoral votes the largest of those (green party, a.k.a. Jill Stein) would win if they won every single state they're on the ballot for.

They are literally, legally, incapable of winning the election. They are not on enough state ballots to win and Jill Stein would need to somehow win California and Texas to even "win" all the states they're on the ballot for. Which, again, would still not be enough to win the presidency and throw it to the currently existing Republican House of Representatives. Which would put Trump in office.

It's that straightforward. That simple. That BLARINGLY obvious to literally everyone except these people.

On the one hand you have:

Significant and continuous support for Israel and it's genocide

Record levels of pardons for low-level drug offenses

the gearing up of the strongest anti-trust regime since the early 20th century

the most aggressive NLRB I've seen in my lifetime, with massive wins and institutional changes to help workers

Including getting Rail strike workers a week of sick-leave that gets paid out at the end of the year, which is better than NYC and LA sick leave laws

Millions of people (not enough) getting student debt forgiveness

Some trillion dollars (not enough)of investment in renewable resources and infrastructure

Proposed taxes on unrealized capital gains (a.k.a. how billionaires never have any money but can still buy Kentucky, Iowa, and Twitter)

Effectively an end to overdraft fees

The explicit support of leftist world leaders like Lula de Silva. Who he has explicitly worked with to expand worker rights in South America.

Has capped (some, not enough, only a tiny amount really but it's something) some drug prices, including Insulin.

Reduced disability discrimination in medical treatment

Billions in additional national pre-k funding

Ending federal use of private prisons

Pushing bills to raise Social Security tax thresholds higher to help secure the General Fund

Increasing SSI benefits

and more

vs

Said Israel should just nuke Gaza and "get it over with"

Personally takes pride in and credit for getting Roe v Wade overturned

Is arguing in court that the President should be allowed to assassinate political rivals

Muslim Ban Bullshit, insistently

Actively damages our global standing and diplomatic efforts just by getting obsessed with having a Big Button

Implemented massive tax cuts on ich people, tax hikes on middle class and poor people, and actively wants to do it again

"Only wants to be a dictator for a little bit, guys, what's the big deal"

Is loudly publicly arguing that the US shouldn't honor its military alliances after-the-fact

Tore up an effective and substantial anti-nuclear-proliferation treaty with Iran

Had a DoEd that actively just refused to process student debt forgiveness applications that have been the law of the land for decades now

Has a long record of actively curtailing and weakening the NLRB and labor movement, including allowing managers to retaliate against workers, weakened workplace accommodation requirements for disabled people, and more

Rubber stamped a number of massive mergers building larger, more powerful top companies and increasing monopolistic practices

Fucking COVID Bullshit and hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths

Openly supporting fascists and wannabe-bootlicks ("Very fine people" being only the beginning of it

It's really not fucking close.

#biden #trump #gaza #palestine #politics #original content #union rights #realism #2024 election #jill stein #rfk jr #cornell west

[hellohannie]

Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince | hjs

“𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪”

all you've ever wanted to do was graduate high school and get out of the small town you grew up in. that was until you met (and fell hopelessly in love with) joshua hong. part of the taylor swift x seventeen collection

♡ PLAYERS - joshua hong x f.reader

♡ WORD COUNT - 8.4K

♡ TAGS - high school au, cheerleader!reader, drum major!joshua, mutual pining, fluff, minor angst

♡ INSPIRATION - Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince by Taylor Swift

♡ NOTES - hi :) this is my first ever fic on tumblr! i write on other platforms , and i wanted to get a masterlist running on tumblr as well. also, this story takes place in a high school setting and revolves slightly around the american football season. however, for the purpose of the plot, we are going to pretend that state championships happen in april…lol

ok hope you enjoyyyyy :))))

Go! Fight! Win!

You stood on the sidelines, cheering as loud as you could. Your throat was burning, your legs aching, but the adrenaline pumping through your veins kept you from feeling it. It's the most important football game of the season. Not only is it the playoff game that would determine which high school would make it to the state championship, but it's also the night all the college scouts come to recruit seniors to join their teams the next year. 

As the senior cheer captain, the pressure was on to be perfect. With all eyes and cameras on you, this was your chance to get scouted by the most elite colleges in the nation. A scholarship to a coastal university is your only ticket out of the godforsaken town you live in. There was nothing holding you back.

Except...

"Touchdown, number 13 Choi Seungcheol!"

The sounds of students cheering, the announcer yelling, the scoreboard buzzing all faded away when the marching band began the play the school's fight song. The rest of your team members, along with the students in the bleachers, ran past you to rush the field, but you stood in your place, focused on something else.

Someone else.

All the way on the opposite end of the bleachers, in the designated band section, stood Joshua Hong. While his attention was on conducting the band, your attention was on him. He was beautiful, even in his stuffy uniform, with the wind blowing hair into his face. 

You'd loved Joshua since sophomore year, when you were just sixteen years old. It was the beginning of the spring semester, and he was a new transfer student. As the sophomore class rep for student council, you were asked to give him a tour. You remember being breathless when you first saw him, his soft features and doe eyes so inviting. 

"Hi, I'm Y/N, the sophomore class representative," you'd said, blood rushing to your cheeks when he smiled at you.

"I'm Joshua Hong, it's nice to meet you!"

He'd told you, as you gave him a tour of your school, that his parents moved here from Los Angeles. 

"From LA? Why would anyone want to move to middle of nowhere America when you could live in LA?" You were dumbfounded. All your life you'd wish to move out of your little town, so you couldn't imagine why anyone would want to move in. 

Joshua just shrugged. "I don't know, I think it's nice how everyone here knows each other. It feels warm and intimate in a way."

"You don't know anyone here though, aren't you upset you had to leave all your friends behind?" 

He turned to look at you, flashing you a smile that made his eyes turn into little crescent moons. Your heart stuttered to a stop. "I have you, so at least I have one friend here."

You decided then and there that maybe you could bear living in this town if Joshua lived here too. 

From that day forward, you'd meet up with Joshua after school every Friday. When it was cold, you'd meet him in one of the practice rooms in the music hallway. He'd play something on his guitar while you told him gossip about all your classmates. Once it started to get warm, you'd meet him under the big maple tree in the courtyard. 

If there was one thing Joshua loved most, it was music. You'd never seen him look as serene as he did when he played his guitar.

If there was one thing you loved most, it was Joshua.

When he was gone all summer visiting his family in South Korea, you felt empty. Of course you had other friends. You'd known the girls on the cheer team since you were children, cheering on the junior team together. Yet, no one understood you quite like Joshua. There were times when you'd sit under the maple tree and not say a word to each other. You'd do your homework while Joshua played, and you were the happiest you'd been all day. If you'd had a good day, Joshua would play happy music. If you'd had a bad day, Joshua would play somber music. If you'd had a stressful day, Joshua would play calming music. He could read you like the back of his hand, and you loved him more for it. 

It was no surprise to you when Joshua came back in the fall and joined the marching band. You were happy for him, ecstatic even, because this meant you'd be able to hang out with him at all the games. 

Or so you thought. 

You're not sure where you went wrong, but you and Joshua began to slowly drift apart. With classes getting harder, and you having cheer practice every day after school, you barely had time to talk to each other in the hallways, let alone meet up after school.

Then, one Friday in September, cheer practice got cancelled. While your teammates all rushed home to enjoy their evening off, you ran to the music hallway. You felt giddy as you approached practice room B and heard the familiar chords of Joshua's acoustic guitar. The thought of Joshua still going to your practice room, following your old routine, made your heart race. He still remembered. 

Your fingers just barely touched the door knob when you heard a voice, a female voice. Your blood ran cold. You peeked through the little window on the door of the practice room and saw a girl leaning over Joshua's shoulder, pointing at something on the paper in front of him. It was Kim Minhye, another student in the band. 

You took a step back, hand slipping from the door knob as you tried to blink away the tears gathering in your eyes. Of course Joshua had other friends, you wanted  him to have more friends. He was kind and charismatic, it would be impossible not to like him. Yet, it still hurt, knowing your guys's thing, was no longer yours. He was doing it with someone else.

From that day forward, you only ever saw Joshua like you did tonight, at football games. During the game, you focused on cheering, in hopes of catching the attention of a scout from a D1 school. At the end of every game, you'd turn and look at Joshua, and watch him do what he loved. You'd tell yourself that you'll always love him, even after you ran away from this town. 

When you got home and went to sleep, you'd dream of him. Except, in your dreams, he'd be running away with you. 

It was the first week of March. The weather was getting warmer and senior prom was steadily approaching. Ever since you'd met him, you wanted to go to prom with Joshua. However, you would've never anticipated the competition you would have. 

You'd be lying if you denied the popularity you had at school. As a top student who was involved in all sorts of extracurriculars and captain of the cheer team, it was a given that you'd have friends in nearly every circle. Now, Joshua's popularity was a shock, and that has nothing to do with his personality. It had everything to do with his antisocial tendencies. 

You could count on your right hand the people you'd consider Joshua's friends, and they were all in the band. Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung, and Choi Hansol were just as much in love with music as Joshua, so it was a given that they'd pull him into their circle. The only other person Joshua really interacted with was Kim Minhye, who was now also a drum major. 

Besides these four, Joshua never spoke to anyone else. That, however, didn't stop everyone else from wanting to speak with him. You supposed that when Joshua looked like he did, of course people would want to be friends with him. Wasn't that what you wanted when you met him two years ago?

The courtyard was alive with students after school, everyone wanting to soak in the first warm day you'd had in months before going home. As you walked, you noticed a crowd of people whispering and pointing. Curious, you walked in a direction that you hadn't been in so long, yet felt like second nature. 

There, below the maple tree, sat Joshua. 

There, like every other day, was a new girl, timidly asking Joshua to prom.

And there, once again, she was turned down by the Heartbreak Prince. 

It started the first week of February, the prom proposals. A girl from student council, Shin Nari, approached Joshua in the cafeteria during lunch. You envied her a bit, envied her bravery. She did something you wanted to do, but never could. That's why you felt bad for her when he turned her down. You thought it was obvious that Joshua would say no. Of course it was, because who else would he go with if not the girl he spent every day with, Minhye. Still, you couldn't blame Nari. This was Joshua. If you still had feelings for him, despite knowing he only had eyes for Minhye, why wouldn't anyone else. 

Since then, there was a new girl every day who would ask Joshua to prom, in hopes that she'd be the one to win over the Heartbreak Prince. Every day, another heart was broken. 

You stood there, watching as the girl walked away from the maple tree, brushing away tears. The students around you began to disperse, criticizing the girl for being naive enough to think she was the one Joshua wanted. Joshua went back to plucking his guitar, the newly growing maple leaves casting shadow patterns on his body and the ground around him. 

When Joshua was under the maple tree, he was always alone. You never understood why his friends never joined him. Instead, they'd sit at one of the benches nearby until Joshua joined them, at which point they'd leave together. Under the maple tree is the most peaceful place on campus, so it's a shame they never thought to experience it. 

You considered walking over and talking to Joshua. It had been so long since you'd heard his voice, it wouldn't hurt to just ask how he's been.

You're about to take a step forward when someone blocks your path. You glance up to see it's Seungcheol, one of your oldest friends. You and Seungcheol met in sixth grade, when your junior cheerleading team would cheer for his junior football team. Both of you shared a dream of becoming team captains when you were seniors, a dream you both achieved. 

"Hi Y/N," Seungcheol smiled, dimples pressing deep into his cheeks. 

"Hi Seungcheol, how are you?" You glanced down and noticed the single white rose he held in his hand.

Seungcheol responded to your question, but you didn't hear a single word as your mind drifted away. Joshua's mom adored roses, to the point where their house was surrounded by rose bushes. It's why Joshua's clothes always carried the scent of roses.

A hand waved in front your eyes and you jolted, looking up to see Seungcheol looking at you with worry. "Are you alright? I asked you something, but I don't think you heard me."

"Oh, I'm sorry Cheol," you replied, feeling guilty. "I think I just need to head home and rest. What it is that you wanted to ask me?"

It was only when Seungcheol extended the rose towards you that you realized what was happening. "I wanted to ask you if you'd be my date to prom."

Your heart dropped to your stomach, and one look at Seungcheol's shy smile was enough to make you wish the ground would just swallow you whole. "Cheol..."

"I've been wanting to ask you since freshman year. We've been friends for so long, it only makes sense that-" 

You couldn't bear to let him continue. "Seungcheol, I'm sorry," you cut him off, shaking your head. He looked at you, eyes wide in confusion. "I can't go with you."

You fisted your hands into the skirt of your dress, trying so hard not to just cave and say yes just to make him stop looking at you so hurt. 

"Why not?"

"You're really sweet and you're a great friend but," you turned your gaze to the grass below you to avoid looking at Seungcheol's expression. "I don't want to lead you on or give you false hope."

The silence was so long you had to look up to see what he was thinking. "Is there someone else you want to ask you?" His voice had dropped in pitch, face devoid of all emotion.

"Of course not!" you stammered, thrown off by the question. "Listen Cheol, I'm really, really sorry," you started to step back. "I just, I'm sorry." You turned and walked towards your car, eager to get home and out of this awful situation.

Seungcheol stood rooted in his spot, tightening his grip on the rose as his hands began to shake in anger. He knew you were lying. 

It was quick. So quick and reflexive that you probably didn't even realize you did it. Didn't realize that you took a quick glance over his shoulder when he asked you if you wanted someone else to ask you to prom. Seungcheol looked over his shoulder towards the maple tree. Towards the boy who you really wanted to ask you to prom. Towards Joshua Hong, who you didn't even realize was watching you wistfully as you walked away. 

When you got to school the next day, you looked for Seungcheol. You felt awful for lying to him and running away the day before. You owed him an explanation, and felt comfortable with telling him the truth. He was a close friend of yours after all. 

As you walked through the hallways, you felt eyes on you. As usual you smiled at your classmates as you walked by them, but today they didn't smile back. Instead they were glaring and whispering. It wasn't until you overheard what they were whispering that you realized they were talking about you.

She's such a bitch.

I can't believe she just pretends to be so sweet only to stab him in the back like that.

What a two faced liar. 

When you caught sight of your teammates, you rushed over. 

"Hey guys, do you know what's going on?" Your question was met with glares.

Dani, another senior on the team, scoffed. "You're kidding right? Just drop the act Y/N."

To say you were confused was an understatement. "What? What do you mean?"

"We know what you did to Seungcheol, the whole school knows," another girl responded, crossing her arms as she looked at you in disgust.

"Oh," you nodded in realization. "I know, I reacted horribly, that's why I wanted to find him and apologize. I feel like I owe him an explanation-"

"An explanation?" Dani asked, incredulously. "What explanation is there for using someone just to make someone else jealous?"

You paused, mouth open in shock at what Dani just said. "What?!"

Dani rolled her eyes, while some of the other girls in the group just scoffed and walked away. "Seungcheol told everyone the truth. That you guys had been dating since the summer, but you wanted to keep it lowkey until college admissions were in. Then when he told you that he got into UCLA and would go to college with you, you broke up with him and told him that the only reason you were with him was because you wanted Joshua, but you knew he'd turn you down."

By now, the hallway was dead silent, everyone listening in on your conversation with Dani.  

"You're nothing but a two faced liar. I can't believe I have to spend my last year cheering with a captain like you," Dani slammed her locker shut and walked away before you could respond. You stood frozen in shock, the students around you pointing and whispering until the bell rang and it was time to head to class. The sound jolted you out of your stupor and you went to class, simply going through the motions until the end of the day.

You were walking to your car when you noticed a figure leaning against it. It wasn't until you got closer that you realized it was Seungcheol. Quickly, you walked over, betrayal clear on your face as you asked, "Why did you tell everyone we dated and that I used you?"

Seungcheol smirked at you, still leaning against your car. "You lied to me Y/N. You told me you didn't want anyone else to ask you to prom, but you did. You wanted Joshua to ask you to prom."

You stiffened, "How did you kn-"

Seungcheol suddenly stood straight, bending over to meet your height. "The boys on the team all know I've liked you since freshman year. Do you know how humiliating it would be for me if they found out you turned me down for Hong? I couldn't let you ruin my reputation like that."

By now you were seething with anger. "So you ruined mine? I came to school today with the intention of telling you the truth because I thought you were my friend. How could you do this to me?" You were yelling, and people were staring, but you didn't care. 

"Oh please," he scoffed. "You should be thanking me, I did you a favor. You think the Heartbreak Prince would make an exception for you?" He cooed, mockingly. "Besides there's only two months of school left. Who cares if your reputation is ruined, you've always wanted to run away from this town anyways. Now you've got nothing left to hold you back." He patted your head condescendingly before walking away.  

You stood by your car, waiting for everyone to leave your sight before turning and running away. A pair of doe eyes followed.

It's been years since you sat under the maple tree. While you used to sit under it and laugh, this time, you were crying. 

Seungcheol was right, there was nothing holding you back from leaving now. The only thing you cared about enough to keep you in this town was Joshua, but there's no way he'd ever want you back now. 

You sat in the shade, arms wrapped around your knees, head buried between them. You shoulders shook as you sobbed, your breath getting caught in your throat. It was then that you heard it. Music.

At first you thought it was your mind playing tricks on you. As if the ghost of memories past was lingering around the maple tree, playing back the music that used to bring you comfort. Then you heard the crunch of leaves under shoes. 

You looked up and your heart stuttered. Even the thick tears blurring your vision could never keep you from recognizing Joshua. He stood there in front of you, acoustic guitar hanging from his neck, his delicate fingers plucking at the strings. The sun formed a halo around his face from behind, and he looked as ethereal as ever. You dropped your head to your knees again, sobbing harder at the heartbreak and embarrassment you felt after seeing him. 

You felt some movement next to you, and suddenly, the air felt warmer, music louder. Joshua had sat next to you, leaning against the trunk of tree as he continued to play the guitar. For the next thirty minutes, Joshua was a steady presence next to you. He didn't stop playing until you turned to him, breathing finally evened out. You sniffled and rubbed at your swollen eyes while Joshua rummaged through his backpack. There was so much you wanted to say to him, but your throat choked up every time you tried.

Joshua handed you a pack of tissues and kindly looked away as you blew your nose and wiped your tears. "How can I help you?"

Despite it all, you couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh. Of course he didn't ask you something ridiculous like are you ok? or what's wrong? This was Joshua, who always knew the right thing to say. You think in a different circumstance, you would've felt endeared. 

"Are you sure you want to be seen sitting with me? I'm a liar and a snake after all," you looked down at your hands, chipping at the polish on your nails. 

Joshua considered you for a second. "Have you ever lied to me?"

Your eyes snapped towards him as you shook your head frantically. "Never!"

Joshua smiled, reaching out to pat your head. "Then yes, I want to be seen sitting with you. You were my first friend here Y/N. I'd never abandon you."

The whispers still followed you down the hallways, but you didn't care anymore. People called you names, said you were a bad person who used people to her advantage, but it didn't bother you. The students stared and pointed as you made your way to the maple tree that Friday. Your companion was waiting for you, guitar perched on his lap as he scribbled on some sheet music. 

Joshua looked up at you inquisitively, searching your face for something. When he found what he was looking for, he turned back to his guitar, playing an animated tune. You sat beside him and opened your notebook, working on your homework as Joshua played out your emotions for everyone who was eavesdropping.

She's happy, the chords announced. You couldn't help but smile, because he was right. For the first time since sophomore year, you truly felt happy again. 

Once again, you and Joshua fell back into your Friday afternoon routine. One Friday in mid-April, you sat under the maple tree alone. Usually Joshua was there before you, but for some reason, you beat him there this time.

You looked up as voices approached you, and you recognized the girl with Joshua as Minhye. Like always Minhye was a constant presence by Joshua's side and while the sight of them together made your heart clench with jealousy, you tried your best to will it away. After months without him, you were finally back to having Joshua as a friend. If that's the only way you could be with him in this lifetime, then so be it.

They stopped by the bench where the rest of Joshua's friends usually sat. Minhye quickly looked your way before turning back to Joshua. "So anyways, I just wanted to remind you about the scholarship audition. Don't forget to sign up for it."

Joshua nodded his assent before walking towards you. You gave him a quick smile as he sat down and unzipped his guitar case. 

"So...what was that about?" You asked, hesitantly. 

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied, quietly tuning the instrument in his lap. "The state university opened their scholarship portal for prospective music majors and Minhye was reminding me of the deadline."

You nodded, picking at the grass tickling your calves. "Ah, ok."

You paused. "Wait," you scrambled to your knees. "You got in??"

Joshua looked up at you, sheepishly, then nodded. 

You couldn't stop the squeal that made it's way out of your mouth. "Shua, oh my god! That's amazing." 

Before you could process your actions, you lunged at him, holding him tightly around his shoulders. The smell of fresh roses sent your heart racing again, and it wasn't until a few moments had passed that you realized Joshua wasn't hugging you back. 

You pulled away quickly and fell onto your butt, scooting back a bit for good measure. Joshua sat frozen, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. You on the other were apologizing profusely. 

"Joshua I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me, I-"

A warm hand took ahold of your forearm and yanked you back into Joshua's chest. This time, it was your turn to sit shock still as Joshua wrapped his arms around your waist. 

"Thank you," he whispered, his cool breath brushing past the shell of your ear. You felt a shiver run down your spine as you pulled away, looking every where but at Joshua. 

You listened intently as Joshua told you about the incredible music program the state school had to offer. You chanced a glance at him once, and it was probably one of the biggest mistakes you'd ever made. Joshua's eyes sparkled as if the galaxy was held in them. You steeled your resolve. You can't leave this town anymore, not if this is the only place Joshua wants to be. The scout from the state university would be at the championship game. You plan to impress her so much she'll sign that scholarship check then and there, even if it kills you.

It was the night of the state championship game, and for the first time since junior year, you dreaded going. You expected it all, the glares from the students, the whispers from your teammates, the mocking laughter from the football players, but it didn't hurt any less. Still, you led the cheers and did the stunts that were muscle memory by now. 

Your school won and you watched wistfully as your peers rushed the field. The football players lifted their teammates onto their shoulders while everyone hugged and cheered. That was you once before. Now, you walked towards your bag with your head hung, hoping to quickly put away all of your equipment and leave the field before drawing any attention. Unfortunately for you, you were still one of the most talented cheerleaders in the state, and you were still in the running for some major scholarships. 

"Y/N L/N!" You heard your name being called from behind. You turned to face the flock of news reporters, microphones thrusted in your direction. You were asked an endless amount of questions on the game, the upcoming cheer competitions and your thoughts on college. Like you were trained to by your coach, you answered them all professionally, without giving too much away. 

"You know Y/N," a male reporter began, "Word on the field is that you are Lakeside High's own Miss Americana." 

You tilted your head to the side. "Miss Americana?" You asked with a fake smile. 

The reporter laughed, "No need to act so coy Y/N! Miss Americana, the encapsulation of all things good. You're the perfect student: beautiful, smart, talented. What's it like, to be the very thing everyone wishes they could be?"

The microphones were pushed closer to you, everyone curious about your answer. You fisted your hands into the straps of your duffel to alleviate your anxiety, while you kept the pageant smile plastered on your face. 

"Um...well-"

You felt your body get jerked to the side as a heavy arm threw itself across your shoulder. "I should've know it was Y/N hogging all the reporters," Seungcheol joked. "I was waiting so patiently to be interviewed on my winning touchdown." He mock pouted at the cameras, effectively charming the reporters. It took everything in you not to roll your eyes and throw Seungcheol off of you. 

"We were just asking Y/N what it's like to be Miss Americana," the first reporter told Seungcheol. You froze, afraid of how he'd respond. 

Seungcheol pulled you closer to his side, flashing you his infamous dimpled smile. "She's perfect isn't she? They say humans are flawed, but you'd think she's an exception to the rule."

Seungcheol turned back to the reporters while you continued to look at him, bewildered. Why is he suddenly being so nice to you, as if he hasn't been spreading malicious rumors about you all week.

All of a sudden, you noticed his gaze shift towards someone at the back of the group. His smile turned into a smirk. The reporters may not have noticed the shift, but you did. Your heart began to race when you followed his line of sight and saw the scout from your state college. She was looking at you with a smile, and you started to feel giddy. 

She was here to offer you a scholarship, she had to be. If you committed to the university then you'd be close enough to see your family often, to see Joshua often. Finally, it felt like things were falling into place.

Seungcheol let out a theatric sigh, "Too bad our school's sweetheart is going to leave us soon."

Your eyes widened, and you accidentally let your facade slip. Murmurs of confusion rippled through the group in front of you. 

No, no, no. Please don't say it, please-

"Y/N's biggest dream is to leave this little town and go live in a big city on the coast. She's a free spirit," Seungcheol moved his arm from your shoulder to grab a hold of your hand with both of his. "While we'll all miss her, we know we have to let her go so she can thrive. I just hope she doesn't forget us out there in the big leagues."

His eyes flashed to yours, triumph gleaming in his eyes. While the reporters all gasped and started bombarding you with questions, you looked around desperately for the scout. It was too late though. She had already left to go talk to another senior on your team. 

All of those cameras taking photos and videos of you, but not a single one caught the cries you muffled inside as you lost your last chance to be with Joshua Hong.

You didn't have to wait until Friday to see Joshua this time because he came to find you at lunch the following Monday. 

"Hey Y/N!" he sat down in the seat across from you. The cafeteria was full of students, but you had the table all to yourself. You supposed that's what happens when you become public enemy #1. 

"Dani has been running her mouth all over school about how the scout from the state university offered her a full ride," Joshua rolled his eyes, something he seemed to have picked up from you. "Was anyone from UCLA there?" He sounded hopeful. 

You were a little thankful that he seemed to care so much about your future. Lord knows you've given up. It didn't matter where you ended up anymore, not if it meant you'd have to leave Joshua behind. 

You shrugged, "Not that I know of." You pushed around the salad on your plate with a fork. 

Joshua nodded solemnly, staring at your plate. 

"Shua?" He looked up at you, eyebrows raised in question. "Did you apply anywhere else, besides the state school?"

He blinked. "Why?"

You sighed, a bit disappointed. "No reason. Hey, I have to go, I forgot I have to print something for class." You quickly grabbed all of your things before turning towards Joshua. "I'll see you Friday?"

He looked like he was going to say something, but you had already turned and walked away. 

It was the Friday before prom. You sat under the maple tree, waiting for Joshua to join you. You watched as his group walked through the courtyard, when a girl stopped them to get Joshua's attention. While he split away from them to speak to her, the rest of Joshua's friends moved to their bench. When you made eye contact with Minhye, you gave her a cordial smile, which she took as an invitation to approach you. 

"Hi Y/N," she greeted you kindly.

"Hi Minhye, how are you?" You watched as she sat in front you, tucking her legs underneath her as she smoothed out her skirt. 

"I'm fine, thank you for asking!" You glanced over her shoulder as she spoke, distracted by the interaction between the girl on volleyball team and Joshua. "Looks like he's turning her down too," Minhye commented, when she noticed where your gaze was directed. 

You nodded, silently, hoping the relief wasn't too evident on your face. You played with your bracelet, feeling awkward as Minhye studied you. 

"Are you going to prom tomorrow?" She asked after a moment of silence. 

You shrugged, "I'm not sure yet. I don't really have anyone to go with." A part of you was afraid you'd be met with pity when you made eye contact with Minhye. Instead, you were pleasantly surprised when she simply nodded in understanding. 

"If you do decide to go, Hansol, Jihoon and Soonyoung will be there. They'll definitely keep you company if you'd like," she smiled reassuringly. It was just as you feared. You couldn't dislike Minhye no matter how hard you tried. She was refined, thoughtful, and clearly very talented. No wonder Joshua liked her. 

"You're not going?" you asked, genuinely curious. 

Minhye sighed in disappointment. "I can't, the Dean of Fine and Performing Arts from the state university is coming tomorrow to hold scholarship auditions. Mine is at 8 pm and Josh goes at 8:30, so he can't go either."

You're not sure why your heart clenched in pain. It wouldn't have mattered whether Joshua went or not, it wasn't like he was going to go with you. Still, whatever small flame of hope you had in you that Joshua might ask you to the dance was finally snuffed out. There was a sudden chill in the air around you. 

You plastered on a smile as you looked at Minhye. "Good luck for tomorrow then. You won't need it though. I've watched you perform. They'd be at a loss if they pass you up as a student."

You brushed away the curl that fell into your face as Minhye grinned at you. "Thanks!" A burst of laughter caught both of your attention as your turned towards the bench where Joshua had joined his friends. 

"You know Y/N," Minhye turned back you, speaking in hushed tones. "I used to think it was so cold sitting under this tree. I never understood why Josh insisted on sitting here every week, even if he was by himself." She stood up, brushing the dirt off her clothes. "I get it now," she dropped a wink in your direction. 

By now, Joshua had joined you both, setting his things down as he greeted you. "What do you get now?"

"Oh nothing," Minhye smiled cryptically. "It's kinda warm under the tree today, isn't it Josh?"

He hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess it is."

As you laid in bed that night, you thought back to the conversation you had with Joshua after Minhye left. 

"What was she talking to you about?" Joshua questioned, skeptically. 

"She was just asking me if I was going to go to prom," you answered, rummaging through your bag for a calculator. 

Joshua wordlessly handed you his own before asking, "Are you? Going, I mean."

You shook your head. "Nah, I might pass."

Joshua's eyes widened in shock. "Why not? You've been looking forward to this since your mom gave you her old dress for your 15th birthday!"

Your mouth dropped open as your heart fluttered in your chest. You couldn't believe he'd remembered that small detail you'd shared with him one day years ago in practice room B. 

You turned your head away, hoping your hair would hide your red cheeks from him. "Yeah but I don't have friends to go with anymore. Minhye said your other friends would keep me company but I don't want to submit them to the life of being friends with a social pariah"

Joshua began to speak but you interrupted. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that I shouldn't let what everyone else thinks about me stop me from doing what I want." He snapped his mouth shut, shoulders slumped as a sign that you were right. "But, it's exhausting Shua. To pretend it doesn't bother me. Prom is the only other big social event we have left, besides graduation. I'd rather just skip it and lay low."

He watched you for a moment as you scribbled equations in your notebook. Then, he slammed his binder shut, causing your jump and streak your pen across the paper. Joshua turned to completely face you before grabbing ahold of your shoulders. 

"Y/N, you've spent the entirety of this semester avoiding everyone but me because you wanted to avoid being the center of attention. Yet, you were all anyone ever talked about anyways. I know it's a cringe nickname that you hate but you're our school's Miss Americana for a reason. Seungcheol spread those nasty rumors because he couldn't have what he wanted, you. Dani has been telling anything with a pulse about her full ride because she thinks she took it away from you. People want what's yours because they envy you. Use it." 

You were so fascinated by Joshua that you couldn't look away. His eyes were wide, alight with a mixture of emotions you couldn't quite place. You'd only ever seen him so passionate like this with one other thing: music. He was looking at you the way he did when he played music. 

It was like the whole world melted away. You couldn't hear anything but Joshua, see anything but Joshua. You felt like you were falling in love with him all over again.

A knock at your door startled you out of your reverie. 

"Hi sweetheart," your mom poked her head into your room. "I just wanted to say good night!"

You scrambled out of bed. "Mom!" She came back into your room, alarmed by your agitation. 

"Remember your old prom dress?"

A smile started to slowly take over your mom's face. "The one you said you didn't need anymore because you weren't going to prom."

You nodded, blushing as you thought back to Joshua's speech. "Can you bring it back out?"

It was seven o'clock at night when you stood outside the convention center, goosebumps erupting on your skin from both the wind chill and nerves. 

They envy you. Use it.  

Joshua's voice echoed in your mind as you willed up the courage to step inside. You looked down at your phone, quickly sending a text to the boy.

I'm at prom. I hope you're right about this. And good luck with your audition. You'll kill it.

With one last deep breath, you made your way to the ballroom. The music was loud, the bass vibrating the ground beneath your feet. Still, it was deafening, the way people began to whisper, a ripple of silence making its way through the room as your classmates began to notice that you had shown up after all.  

You considered tucking your tail between your legs and running back home. You were only confident when you were with Joshua, you should've known this was a bad idea from the start. Suddenly, a hand grabbed your wrist. You jumped and turned, yanking your hand away. 

"Woah, it's just me!" Hansol held both his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you."

You placed a hand to your chest as you caught your breath. "No I'm sorry, I guess I'm a bit jumpy." You nodded hello to Jihoon and Soonyoung, who both gave you kind smiles. 

"C'mon you can sit with us," Soonyoung said as he led you to one of the tables lining the side of the room. "You're a little late for appetizers but Jihoon grabbed an extra plate for you just in case you decided to show up. Here, eat!"

A small paper plate with some french fries and a cookie was placed in front of the empty chair that you guessed was yours. Your heart swelled at the boys' kindness, but you were also a bit worried. Everyone was still staring, except now, they were looking at the boys too. 

"Don't worry," Jihoon leaned in and whispered. "Any friend of Josh's is a friend of ours." You looked at the three faces who were smiling sweetly at you as you sat down. You hoped your own smile conveyed the gratitude you were unable to put into words. You sat with your back towards the dance floor. Maybe this was also planned by the boys, to keep your face hidden from the others and their faces hidden from you. 

They boys conversed with each other as you sat and listened, adding your own comments when they included you. When the music changed, Soonyoung shot to his feet. "I love this song, let's dance!"

You giggled at the pure joy in his face. That was until he grabbed your hand instead of Hansol's or Jihoon's. "Let's go, please!" he begged, bouncing on the balls of his feet. You looked at the other boys for help but they just snickered, amused at the scene. 

"There's no way he'll let you go now Y/N, you have no choice but to dance with us," Hansol called as he walked away with Jihoon. You surrender to Soonyoung's pleading, allowing him to drag you to the dance floor. You feigned annoyance, but secretly, you were glad the boys pushed you to dance with them. You finally felt you were enjoying the night. 

About an hour later, it was time to announce Prom King and Queen. Everyone returned to their tables and you applauded kindly as the couples who were voted for Prom Court walked down the dance floor to the stage. When you saw Seungcheol and Dani walk by, you sighed. There was a time, when you were a child, that you imagined you'd be Prom Queen, like your mom. Then, there was a time, after you'd met Joshua, that you imagined you'd be Prom Queen, and he'd be Prom King. It was just a fantasy though, and fantasies are just that: an imagination about something that's impossible to make true. 

To no one's surprise, Seungcheol and Dani were voted King and Queen, and they basked in the attention as everyone cooed during their slow dance. When it was time for all the couples the join, a few girls approached your table, asking the boys if they'd like to dance. Your three companions turned to you, eyes big and hopeful. It was clear that while they didn't want to leave you alone, they wanted to dance with these girls. 

"Go ahead," you gave them your signature (fake) smile. "I'll be fine!"

Soonyoung didn't look so convinced. "Are you sure?"

"We'll stay here with you if you want, just say the word!" Hansol added.

"If you'd like, we can dance with you instead," Jihoon nodded in agreement.

You tried to ignore the glare the girls shot you after that last comment. "Seriously you guys, I'm fine, go!" You waved them away, the smile staying on your face until they were out of your sight. You watched wistfully as everyone but you danced under the glittering chandelier. After two slow songs played in a row, and a third one started, you huffed. You took this as a sign that it's time for you to go home. You had just risen from your seat when the people on the dance floor began to gasp and turn to stare at the door to the ballroom. You tried to peek over the crowd but you couldn't see anything. 

"What's going on?" you muttered to yourself, as you walked towards the crowd. The gasps began to turn into whispers of a name.

Is that Joshua? What's he doing here? I can't believe Joshua came.

Your heart began to pick up speed absurdly in hopes that you heard right, that Joshua was here. 

Your brain began to scold your heart to be reasonable, Joshua is at his audition, why would he be here?

The students in front of you began to step to the side, and when you were finally able to see what was going on, you were astonished. There, standing on the other side of the room was Joshua. Your Joshua. 

Your feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move as you stared in pure shock. Joshua was here. Alone. Walking towards you.

When he got close enough, when you caught the scent of roses wafting from his skin, you reached out and slapped his arm.

"Ow!" Joshua looked at you, betrayed. He rubbed at his bicep. "What was that for?" 

"What are you doing here?" you hissed, completely oblivious to the onlookers around you. "Don't you have an audition at 8:30?"

Joshua simply nodded. "I do."

You looked down at the watch on his wrist. "It's 8:20, why are you here and not there?"

You stared, dumbfounded as he shrugged, nonchalantly. "I realized that it's more important for me to be here. With you." He was looking at you with the same smile he gave you the day you first met. The one that made you fall in love with him. The one that meant don't worry, you have nothing to be worried about. It was carefree, brilliant, beautiful.

You were at a loss for words, completely mesmerized by the boy standing in front of you. Your mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Joshua laughed endearingly, reaching out to tuck a curl behind your ear, before cupping your cheek.

"How long have you loved me?"

This snapped you out of your trance. You jerked back as a strangled noise escaped your throat, but Joshua reached out with his other hand and gripped your upper arm, holding you close to him.

"How long have you loved me Y/N?" he whispered, so softly you were sure no one else could hear but you, despite the pin drop silence that engulfed the whole room. "Because I've loved you since my first day here."

Your heart stopped beating. Your brain stopped thinking. Everything stopped. It was like the world froze, and only you and Joshua existed in it. 

"I should've told you from the start but you dreamt of leaving this town, I didn't want to hold you back. I was afraid that if I told you I loved you, then I would've also asked you to stay, and I couldn't let myself be the one thing that stood in the way of your happiness."

By now, Joshua's hands were holding yours, and he began to speak louder, as if he wanted everyone in the room to hear what he had to say. "So I pulled away from you. I thought that if I distanced myself from you, then the feelings would go away. Except they didn't. I still loved you, and it was a steady sort of love, one that didn't waver whether you were with me or if you were gone. I found comfort in that, knowing that I'd still love you, even if you left me behind some day."

You choked on a sob, remembering when you'd told yourself the same thing. That you'd always love Joshua, even if you left this town, with him in it. 

Joshua let out a breathy laugh, wiping your tears away with his thumb. "I didn't go through with my audition because I don't want to be here without you. You asked me once why someone would want to move to middle of nowhere America and leave all their friends behind. My answer is you. If I had known back then that I'd find someone like you in the middle of nowhere America," you couldn't help but laugh as you cried harder. "I'd leave LA all over again. In a heartbeat."

You reached up to hold Joshua's shoulders and pressed your forehead to his. "You have a flair for the dramatics, who would've guessed," you teased, and he laughed, holding your face in his hands so delicately, you felt precious. 

"I'm confessing to Y/N L/N, the town sweetheart, I couldn't be boring."

You smiled so wide, the way you do only when you're with Joshua. "I've loved you since I first met you, and I've been dying for you to kiss me ever since."

"Thank God," Joshua sighed in relief. "I'm tired of waiting."

When he leaned it to kiss you, it felt like you could finally breathe again. It wasn't explosive or dramatic. It was steady and warm, just like Joshua. His lips felt like silk against yours, his eyelashes tickling your skin as they brushed against your cheek. The sweet scent of roses engulfed you, and you felt your body relax into Joshua's chest. His grip tightened around your waist, causing your breath to hitch. Joshua pulled away slightly, gently bumping your nose with his as you opened your eyes to look at him.

You vaguely hear voices around you, but it doesn't register that you kissed Joshua in front of the entire senior class until Soonyoung whoops "Finally!"

You pull away and look around at all the faces staring back at you. Most of them were shocked, some of them were accepting, and a few were fond (Hansol, Jihoon and Minhye, who must've come with Joshua after her audition). Seungcheol and Dani looked at you with a mix of defeat and anger, and for the first time in a while, you didn't care. 

You look back at Joshua proudly, who smiled at you knowingly. "It's just you and me."

The music started up again, and while everyone around you started to dance, you stood there in Joshua's arms. People still whispered about you, but you didn't care. Right now, your whole world was just Joshua, and nothing else around you seemed to matter anymore.

"Babe, c'mon!" More knocks sounded on the door to your dorm room. "We're going to miss our flight!"

You opened the door to your loving boyfriend, who at the moment, was scowling at you. "I called you thirty minutes ago to tell you I was on my way. What happened?"

You rolled your eyes, "Shua you should be proud of me. I packed all my stuff in under thirty minutes." You brandished your arms wide, showing off your neatly packed luggage.

You felt a bit guilty for riling your boyfriend up on purpose, but you thought it was incredibly endearing how big his eyes and smile got when he got upset. "I can't belie-"

You cut him off with a quick kiss, pulling away with a big smile. It was physically visible, the way he melted when you looked at him like that. "It's just a one year reunion Shua." You say as you pass him your bags. "If you ask me, it's way too soon to 'get back in touch' with the people who made my life a living hell last year."

Joshua shot you an amused look before reaching out to tug on one of your curls. "Really? Because I think you're secretly dying to show off your new life in Los Angeles, and how you're so much better off."

You shot him look of fake annoyance. "I hate how well you can read me."

"No you don't!" he sing-songs back, walking down the hallway towards the elevator with your luggage. 

You turn to grab your keys off the wall hook, eyes catching on the photo above it. Preserved in a simple black frame is a page from your senior yearbook. Written under a candid picture of you and Joshua sitting under your maple tree are the words 

Most likely to run away together: Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince. 

#seventeen #fanfic #kpop #seventeen fanfic #joshua hong #hong jisoo #joshua x reader #svt joshua #svt fic #seventeen fic

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Miraculous World: Shanghai – The Legend of Ladydragon (Late 2000 Follower Special)

DISCLAIMER: I am not of Chinese ancestry, so I may not understand some of the content featured in this special. If anyone reading this is familiar with Chinese culture in any way, I strongly encourage you to speak up and either give your opinion on this special or point out anything I get wrong when discussing Chinese culture.

Back in 2021, I watched a video analyzing, of all things, Thomas the Tank Engine, specifically it's failed rebrand in a desperate attempt to salvage ratings, Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!. The premise was that Thomas himself would go on adventures in other countries, meet foreign engines, and learn about other cultures as a way to appeal to international audiences. Sure, it had other problems relating to the writing and new format, but one of the more noticeable points made by the creator of the video, The Unlucky Tug, was that for a show trying to focus on representing different cultures, a lot of the international episodes felt very... stereotypical with how the culture was portrayed to the point where it bordered on being offensive. Yong Bao, the Chinese engine, was fascinated with tigers after encountering one taught him to be more courageous, to the point where his tender has an emblem of one on it. Lorenzo, the Italian engine, loved to sing opera, and would even do so while on the job with his coach. Nia, the Kenyan engine, had her paintjob styled after the African flag, has no real personality outside of mentioning she's from Kenya to remind the audience, and was a blatant marketing attempt to make the main cast more diverse.

Where exactly am I going with this? In general, the international episodes were poorly researched, and in response, The Unlucky Tug said “When you think of a middle-class, westernized, white person writing a story about India, this is basically that, absolutely surface-level”. If that isn't a good way to describe the representation of other cultures in Miraculous Ladybug, I don't know what is.

Look, I've gone about this ever since I started this blog, but the way this show chooses to portray different cultures isn't that good. I'm not familiar with a lot of them, but even I know about some of the stereotypes associated with cultures like the Japanese being unreasonably strict, African-Americans being in tough street gangs, or Chinese people being masters of Kung Fu. There's also the fact that whenever Astruc gets backlash from people of color regarding the portrayal of certain races in the show, he gets very defensive, and at one point, ended a close friendship as a result.

It's stuff like this that is why I was very hesitant to review this special. I don't really know a lot about Chinese culture, so I was worried I would either get something wrong, or misunderstand something in it. With the New York Special, it was more about American “culture”, as little as we saw of it by focusing on very obvious things associated with America, like hot dogs, the Statue of Liberty, and brushing off what we did to the Native Americans in the past, so it was easier to talk about.

The point I'm trying to make here is that I might screw up a little on this review, so if I do, please don't hesitate to correct me or explain something I missed, like a cultural touchstone of China the special gets wrong. Although, I'm probably going to make one or two bad jokes about Chinese culture either way.

With all that being said, let's finally get into Miraculous World: Shanghai – The Legend of Ladydragon

First off, let's talk about the continuity of this special. According to the Miraculous Ladybug wiki, the fact that Gabriel is only Hawkmoth in this special, and the fact that Ladybug's form doesn't change when she uses her Lucky Charm later on, this takes place between Seasons 2 and 3. Why exactly did they set it then when the previous special was set between Seasons 3 and 4? There isn't really anything done with setting it in this specific timeframe, and I'll get to how it could have been done later.

We open on the night of a magical eclipse in the past, where the guardian of a mystical cave, Wu Shifu, was growing desperate to protect something, as his Kung Fu students who speak perfect English weren't willing to stay and help him. Man, if only there was a team of superheroes he could get help from to deal with whatever he needs to defend this cave from.

???: What had become of the ancestral values? Courage? Honesty? Loyalty? A mysterious stranger was doing all he could to force the master to sell his school. Someone clearly wanted to take over the land upon which it was built.

Just imagine if that guy genuinely had no idea of what the school was hiding, and only wanted the land to build a parking lot or a McDonalds on it.

Just when it seemed like Wu had nobody to help him defend this sacred place, not even having a family to pass on this responsibility to, conveniently, a baby was left in front of his school. Seeing an obvious chance, Wu decides “Hey, I bet I can be even more immoral than the entire Order of the Guardians combined!”. Yes, the baby would be taken in and would be trained to become the next Guardian of this special's MacGuffin, but with how the scene was framed, it made it seem like Wu immediately saw this orphaned baby and wanted to raise her for the sole purpose of replacing him when he retires. Even Shifu waited a few years until he started training Tai Lung. By the way, how exactly did Tai Lung turn out when he was groomed to be a very important warrior by Shifu again?

Oh yeah...

Over the years, the girl, named Fei, would be trained by Wu in the ways of Kung Fu, and was eventually made his successor, being given a bracelet that was connected to the cave. Unfortunately, the same group of thugs that tried to buy out Wu's school killed him and left Fei an orphan once again. To make things worse, the bracelet was stolen from Fei in her sleep. I'm guessing Wu is regretting a lot of his choices watching this Heaven right now.

After Fei vows to protect the cave by herself during the next eclipse, which is tonight, we get another Miraculous World opening sequence, only instead of a more orchestral rendition of the show's theme song, generic Chinese music plays over the credits. Let's be honest, a more accurate way to open these specials would be something along the lines of this, because it's pretty much what the writers were going for.

After the credits, we learn that it's Summer Vacation in Paris, and that there were a lot of activities planned for Marinette to do with her friends, even a picnic with Adrien in attendance. But while she delivers a birthday present for her Uncle Wang to the post office for her mother on the day of said picnic, Marinette learns Adrien is somewhere else at the moment.

Marinette: Save me a seat next to you-know-who, please, I'll be there as fast as I can.

Alya: But don't you know? I thought you knew.

Marinette: What? What am I supposed to know?

Alya: Adrien's gone to Shanghai!

Marinette: Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! His five first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!

Alya: Well, he didn't know either. He told Nino that the opening of his father's shop in Shanghai had been moved up at the last minute.

Marinette: Shanghai?

Ugh... here comes the cringe...

Okay, I'm sorry if this is beating a dead horse at this point, but it's really creepy that Marinette knows this much about Adrien. I get it, it's a cartoon, and they're trying to exaggerate a schoolgirl crush for comedy, but with how often Marinette says she knows this much about Adrien, it just makes me uncomfortable. How does she even know this much about Adrien anyway?

It turns out that the reason Adrien is even going to Shanghai in the first place is because Gabriel is after the very thing Fei is charged with protecting, the Prodigious. Supposedly it was a prototype that was abandoned in favor of the Miraculous, but other than a single line from Nooroo explaining that, we don't really get a lot of details on why this was created. It's just another magical artifact that could easily be replaced by another lost Miraculous, and doesn't even flesh out the idea of what a Miraculous is, despite them both being Chinese in origin.

Another thing that's kind of confusing is that Gabriel says that his plan to get the Prodigious has been going on for fifteen years, with a later scene confirming that he was the one who ordered for Wu's murder... when Emilie has only been in her coma for just under a year at this point. Why is Gabriel being tied into the backstory for Fei when he didn't have a reason to be evil while she was still a baby? Also, why is Adrien even coming along with Gabriel? The whole reason he was sent to New York in the last special was specifically to keep him away from Paris while he executed his plan, and now, he's risking his safety for this?

Back at Marinette's place, we get one of the more controversial parts of this special, Marinette lying to her parents about caring about her uncle's birthday in order to get an excuse to go to Shanghai to see Adrien. Okay, what exactly is her plan here? Is she just going to surprise Adrien like what Rebecca did for Josh in the pilot to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? How does she even think Adrien will react to this? And what about Paris? When Marinette got ready to leave for New York in the last special, she made plans with Cat Noir about what to do while she was away. What is she going to do now? In fact, does she even know Cat Noir isn't in Paris right now?

But then things get even dumber when we learn that Marinette's parents, Tom and Sabine, had saved up money for a family trip on the off chance that Marinette wanted to go and connect with her culture more. This just raises so many questions. How long have they been saving up money for? Has Marinette never thought to ask about her culture? Why didn't Tom and Sabine bother to teach Marinette anything about Chinese culture before this moment?

This whole plotline really highlights the problem with the representation in this show. So many media outlets, and even Astruc himself make a big deal about the main character of Miraculous Ladybug being a biracial girl, but the writers rarely do anything with it. “Kung Food” already showed how clueless Marinette was about Chinese culture to the point where Adrien, someone who was learning Mandarin Chinese, had to explain things to her. Now we have this special where once again, Marinette is shown to be oblivious to her own heritage just so she can be in the wrong here. If the point of the special was to have Marinette come to terms with how little she knows about her own culture, and how it's okay to not know a lot about her Chinese heritage (sort of like Carlton in that one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), I'd be a little more understanding. Instead, this special shames Marinette for not caring about her heritage while doing nothing to actually educate her on it, because most of the special is focusing on the actual conflict that has nothing to do with this plotline.

And I'm not saying Marinette needs to be completely fluent in Mandarin or know everything there is to know about Chinese fashion. My family on my mother's side is Irish, and while I wouldn't say I know a whole lot about the culture, I at least know the basics because of what I learned from my grandfather, who was very proud of his heritage. If there are any followers of color or biracial followers reading this post, I encourage you to give your thoughts on this aspect of the special and Marinette's lineage through reblogs, replies, or asks, as I want to see how your experiences differ from Marinette's.

But the biggest problem I have is that of all the reasons Marinette could have gone to Shanghai, this was what the writers chose to go with. They didn't have Marinette go to a family reuinion with Sabine, they didn't have Marinette go to check out a fashion show there, and they didn't have Marinette's class go to Shanghai on a field trip for a made up “Chinese-French Friendship Week”. They seriously thought the best way Marinette could go to Shanghai was chasing after Adrien for no real reason other than because they can't think of any motivation for Marinette to do anything that doesn't involve Adrien.

Also, I should probably mention that when someone asked him about this part of the special, this is where we got Astruc's infamous “Marinette has to make a mistake in every episode” explanation.

Hey, Astruc? May I offer a word of advice? If Adrienette is the ship we're supposed to support, DON'T FRAME STUFF MARINETTE DOES TO GET CLOSER TO ADRIEN AS A MISTAKE. HOW HARD IS THAT?

In fact, not even halfway through rewatching this special, I thought of a different reason for how and why Marinette could go to Shanghai that not only takes advantage of the timeline, but also expands on the lore of the show: A few weeks after the events of “Heroes' Day”, Master Fu realizes that the battle with Hawkmoth is only going to get harder now that he has a new ally, so he suggests going to Shanghai with Marinette to see if there is anyone who can help decode the Grimoire to boost their chances, or find someone who is at least familiar with the Miraculous and the Order of the Guardians. The reason Master Fu brings Marinette is because he believes his story about the Miraculous will be more credible with an actual Miraculous wielder by his side. Cat Noir will still be made aware of this, but will stay back in Paris in case Hawkmoth and Mayura try anything, with the plan to contact Ladybug if things head south while Ladybug uses the Horse Miraculous to teleport over there.

Marinette and Master Fu look for Wu, but only find the ruins of his school Fei made her home in, realizing she's pretty much their only lead now. This is also a chance to have Fei bond with Master Fu, as the two come from similar backgrounds, since they're both the last remaining Guardian from their respective order. So while Master Fu would help Fei learn about the Prodigious, Fei would give Master Fu the notes her adoptive father had on the language the Grimoire is written in. If you ever wanted to follow up on this in Season 4 or a sequel, have an episode where Marinette takes the Horse Miraculous to Shanghai to talk to Fei about how to deal with all the stress when she's pretty much the Guardian now.

There. In just two paragraphs, I came up with a plot that expands upon the overall story, portrays the characters in a respectful way, and doesn't rely on Unfunny Marinette Slapstick or her simping over Adrien.

But instead, Marinette goes to China to visit her Uncle Wang, who is conveniently much more fluent in English than he was in “Kung Food”. Wang says it's so it's easier to communicate with his niece, but it's not clear if he practiced specifically for Marinette's visit, or if he was planning to do it the next time he saw Marinette at all.

The next scene is pretty much Wang telling Marinette a little about her mother's side of the family, and how Sabine was originally named Xia Bing before she moved to Paris. From what I've looked up, this is something Chinese people do when moving to another country, but the reason is unclear. While Wang starts preparing dinner, Marinette uses the excuse to look for a secret ingredient to look for Adrien. Because yeah, a teenage girl walking all by herself in a foreign country where she can't speak the local tongue is perfectly fine.

As for Gabriel, he goes to the ruins of Wu's school and discovers the location of the Prodigious cave behind a waterfall. Of course, it'll be twenty minutes before he actually gets to do anything, because of this special's second act.

Meanwhile, Adrien himself is walking around with his bodyguard and is asked for a picture with some local kids his age, giving him a chance to remind the audience of how fluent he is in Mandarin. Okay, again, I'm not expecting Marinette to be fluent in every form of the Chinese language, and I'm not saying Adrien is wrong for learning the language at all, but I still think the writers really should have thought things through instead of making Adrien more knowledgeable about Chinese culture than the girl with Chinese ancestry. Although I will give this special credit, as Adrien isn't the one to explain Chinese culture to Marinette, avoiding one of the biggest problems I had with “Kung Food”.

While Marinette walks through the city, we get to see Fei again, as she gives a little monologue about some pseudo-philosophical stuff, because why wouldn't the Chinese girl try to be a young Confucius?

Fei: I'd like to see people as people, think of them as stories: their smallest pleasures, their greatest joys, their disappointments, their successes. That's how my adoptive father would have wanted me to see them.

While Fei is someone who wants to see the good in people, she's fallen on hard times, so she has to resort to stealing valuable objects from others in order to get the money she needs. Naturally, she decides to steal a small ring from the French tourist who has a tough bodyguard behind him. Unfortunately, Fei decides to steal Marinette's phone, Miraculous and the coin purse she uses to hide Tikki instead.

It turns out that Fei is actually stealing stuff for a local criminal named Cash in exchange for information on who killed Wu. Of course, Cash doesn't give Fei a lot of money for what she got, and goes on about how society has changed to focus more on financial needs, because I guess we're going for a “capitalism is bad” message now. Cash gives Fei the idea to bring Marinette to him so he can sell her stuff back to her, but not before shoving Tikki into the claw machine.

Okay, I like the idea of Marinette losing her Miraculous and needing to adapt, but this whole plotline just breaks a lot of the show's continuity. Earlier episodes have shown that if the Miraculous is taken off, the corresponding Kwami disappears from this physical plane (Origins, Feast), and while Marinette has lost Tikki before, it was only because she still had her Miraculous, and therefore, couldn't use it until she reunited with her (Princess Fragrance, Kwamibuster). And another thing, why can't Tikki just phase through the claw machine while nobody's looking and fly back to where Marinette was staying? This whole subplot is pretty much there to add to this special's runtime, because nothing is really added here.

While Marinette struggles to find her way back to her Uncle Wang's restaurant, she is chased by some of the guys Adrien was with earlier. One of them found Marinette's Kwagatama necklace, but in typical fashion for this show, she assumes they're thugs and runs away with Fei in tow. Meanwhile, Adrien goes out to look for Marinette as Cat Noir, as somehow, Marinette's disappearance has made the local news.

Marinette gets to know Fei a little more, not knowing she's the reason she's in this predicament in the first place, but her kindness does get Fei to feel more guilt about how far she's fallen. I actually like this, as unlike most instances of this trope, Fei isn't just a hardened criminal who was touched by Marinette. She genuinely has morals, and she hates the fact that she has to compromise them in order to survive. It's a nice take for this special.

Fei takes Marinette to the pawn shop, where Marinette finds her Miraculous, but Cash tells her to cough up ¥100,000 for it, which amounts to $15,000 for American viewers, and is just over €14,000 for European viewers. Of course, Fei does the smart thing and switches the earrings for a pair of lookalikes and bails with Marinette. Naturally, Marinette thanks Fei for helping her get her Miraculous back.

Marinette: You stole my earrings?

Fei: Weren't you the one who wanted them back?

Marinette: Yes, but not like that! Stealing is wrong. That seller paid a lot of money to buy my earrings from whoever sold them to him! If he can't sell them back, he'll have lost all his money!

Wow, ungrateful much? Okay, I get it, stealing is wrong, but it's not like Fei stole the latest copy of Bonestorm for Marinette. Marinette had lost one of the most important magical artifacts in all of existence, and all she can think about is stealing being wrong? I think when the only thing capable of de-evilizing Akumas is on the line, stealing is okay, guilty conscious be damned.

Cash realizes the ruse and sends some of his goons after Marinette and Fei, but when the three guys from earlier arrive, Marinette and Fei take advantage of the distraction and run away. Meanwhile, Cat Noir decides to call Ladybug for help finding Marinette. And before you ask, no, it's never explained if Cat Noir told Ladybug where he was going, and vice versa.

The writers finally remember Gabriel exists, as he prepares to akumatize someone to take on the guardian of the Prodigious. He also sees Marinette and Fei, but never questions why this random girl would be in the sacred temple at all. Just when Fei is about to tell Marinette the truth, Cash shows up and tells Marinette instead, meaning we get the standard “liar revealed” cliche that nobody likes. In his frustration of being scammed, Gabriel transforms into Hawkmoth (because I guess nobody heard him shouting “Dark Wings, Rise!”), and akumatizes Cash into King Cash.

King Cash has a pretty decent design. The armor is detailed, and the golden skin is animated very well thanks to the higher budget for this special. His powers are pretty much a knockoff of Style Queen's, with his fan blades having the power to turn whatever they touch into a gold statue, though we never actually see it happen.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug and calls Cat Noir to let him know about the Akuma. Speaking of, Hawkmoth meets up with King Cash at the door to the Prodigious, while Fei tries to stop the two supervillains, which goes about as well as you'd expect. Fei gets thrown into a well for her troubles, and thankfully, Ladybug does the heroic thing and puts her personal feelings aside to save her.

As the eclipse grows closer, Hawkmoth goes into the cave and gets the Prodigious, with the guardian spirit, Mei Shi, attempting to test him. Hawkmoth, doing arguably the smartest thing in the entire special, orders King Cash to turn Mei Shi into a gold statue, but before he can do so and get away with the Prodigious, Ladybug and Fei intervene. During the skirmish, Fei grabs the Prodigious, causing it to activate, transforming her into Ladydragon.

I'm... honestly not sure where I stand on this suit. I think it has a decent color scheme, but not much is really done to evoke the dragon or animal motif. I'm also pretty sure the yellow patch in the middle could be a reference to the yellow and black jumpsuit people associate with Bruce Lee, but that's just a guess on my end. I don't know, I just thought since the Prodigious glowed a lot of colors, there would be more of a rainbow color to the suit, instead of just looking like a scrapped design for Ladybug herself. It's not bad, it's just... forgettable.

But let's also talk about the little controversy this suit stirred up initially. Originally, Ladydragon had golden blonde hair when transformed, judging from the trailers. This naturally attracted allegations of whitewashing, something that the show was no stranger to thanks to Rena Rouge and Pegasus.

Thankfully, the design was changed to give her a more vibrant red head of hair, though with how quickly the change was implimented, you have to wonder if Ladydragon was meant to have red hair from the start, and what we saw from the trailers wasn't even close to the final draft.

While Ladydragon struggles to adjust to her new powers, she soon realizes she has some new friends to deal with. These are the Renlings, magical beings who embody several virtues of humanity. Yeah, remember the two or three times this movie talked about virtues, and every time, the discussion amounted to “Don't be a dick to other people”? It was actually building up to this very moment.

But I'm sure you have other questions about this scene, like...

Where did the Renlings come from?

Why is the Prodigious more dangerous than the Miraculous?

How can Ladydragon talk to the Renlings while transformed?

Why are the Renlings all bound to the single Prodigious?

Who even created the Prodigious, and why?

How are the Renlings and Prodigious connected to the Miraculous in the first place?

Has there been anyone else who has used the Prodigious before?

Why exactly was Fei chosen by Lao Shi to wield the Prodigious?

Why was the Prodigious sealed away instead of being placed under the protection of the Order of the Guardians?

How is Lao Shi connected to the Prodigious?

WHERE THE HELL DID THE PRODIGIOUS EVEN COME FROM?

This was honestly where the special lost me. With New York, I was more angry at the terrible attempts to tease the Love Square, but I had hopes for this special, as it takes place in the same country the Miraculous came from. You could have done more to establish the history of the Miraculous and Prodigious, but instead, this just came out of nowhere. We still know absolutely nothing about either, yet the show still wants us to act like the origins of these sacred magical artifacts the show is named after isn't important information.

Ladydragon has the ability to transform into various animals depending on the virtues they supposedly represent. Well, they say that, but she doesn't really struggle to transform into any of the other animals, with the exception of the dragon, which represents justice. Since she wants revenge on Cash for ruining her life, she can't access that form. So basically, this special ruined the idea of Hawkmoth getting the Prodigious, because now, we know he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing with it.

When Ladybug is cornered by Hawkmoth and King Cash, she notices Cat Noir hiding out. Using her already summoned Lucky Charm, a basketball, she deflects King Cash's fan so Cat Noir can Cataclysm it. Of course, since we have about ten minutes left, Ladybug doesn't immediately de-evilize the Akuma and takes the time to do a pose with Cat Noir for the trailer.

Hawkmoth then sends his Akuma towards Mei Shi, and even though he is supposedly an emotionless guardian, he somehow gets akumatized into Yan Luo Shi because Fei was focused on revenge... because even though she was already chosen by the Prodigious, that means it's perfectly okay to endanger innocent lives. I'm starting to see why the Guardians abandoned the Prodigious and their stupid guardian.

Yan Luo Shi has a pretty cool design. I like the way he's framed at this fearsome titan. Granted, his motivation to kill as many people as possible until Fei gives back the Prodigious kind of makes him look like a massive hypocrite.

Hawkmoth immediately realizes the problem with bringing Adrien along as he orders Yan Luo Shi to not destroy the city, only to get vaporized in the process. Maybe you should have left him in Paris, numbnuts. In fact, shouldn't this mean he would automatically be de-evilized if the Butterfly Miraculous was vaporized too?

After recharging offscreen, Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Ladydragon try to stop Yan Luo Shi, but Ladybug says that for some reason, only the dragon power of the Prodigious can reach the magic orb containing the Akuma inside him. Cat Noir tries to do what anyone else in his situation would do, use his Cataclysm to break open Yan Luo Shi, but because the plot wants to show off Ladydragon, he's vaporized too.

Ladydragon runs away and blames herself for what's happening, as if the crazy stone statue isn't the one to blame, detransforming to Fei so she can cry. Ladybug detransforms as well and talks to her as Marinette, but when the two are endangered, Fei manages to save Marinette using the power of the dragon... which is pretty much the same elemental powers the Dragon Miraculous has. Riveting.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug again and summons her Lucky Charm, a giant vase. She jumps in, and Ladydragon uses the dragon's elemental powers to shove the vase into Yan Luo Shi's mouth, so Ladybug can free the Akuma. Wait, you're telling me that evilized objects can be broken without using Cataclysm? I can't believe I forgot that.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, Mei Shi apologizes for his rampage, Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything, Mei Shi says the Prodigious is in good hands with Ladydragon before disappearing, later reveals his true form resembles the Kwamis, Ladydragon takes Cash to the proper authorities, and Ladybug and Cat Noir pretend to fly back to Paris in their Cosmobug and Astro Cat forms.

Back at Uncle Wang's restaurant, Marinette, Adrien, and Fei are having dinner, while Fei reveals that she can play the accordion. Ah yes, one of the most important lessons in learning kung fu: playing the accordion. Wang offers to adopt Fei, and just when Marinette finally tries to learn more Mandarin, everyone in the room laughs at her for saying something wrong. Because isn't it funny that a girl who doesn't know how to speak Mandarin doesn't say something right in Mandarin? And so the special ends with Adrien offering to teach Marinette Mandarin back in Paris, but just like the fact that Gabriel canonically hired an assassin to kill someone, we're never going to follow up on any of that.

While I think this special improved in some areas, it's still very disappointing as a whole.

The smaller cast of Marinette, Fei, Cash, Adrien, and Hawkmoth lead to a lot more character focused scenes, mainly between Marinette and Fei. I like how more focus was given on the origin of Ladydragon, especially after how divorced Eagle's debut felt from the New York Special. The actual animation was still very stunning, and some of the best in the show's history. The city just feels so alive here, and the lighting is so creative. I also like how they didn't focus too much on the Love Square, and kept the plot centered around Fei and Marinette. Granted, it made Cat Noir seem like a bit of an afterthought, but they still gave him relevance in how they stopped King Cash.

Of course, the negatives sadly outweigh the positives. Despite the entire plot starting thanks to Marinette caring more about seeing Adrien than her own culture, there's never really any closure to that plot thread. Other than a single scene where Marinette learns a little about her mother, and the ending, Marinette never really learns more about her culture. Sure, part of the plot hinges on Marinette mistaking people for thugs thanks to not speaking their language, but not much is done to teach Marinette, and by extension, the audience about Chinese culture. Again, I'm not saying Marinette needs to be completely fluent in Mandarin, but for a special marketed as Marinette going to China, they don't really focus more on the culture of the special's setting. Of course, I'm still glad it focused on the main plot with Fei, but I just think they could have done more, like have a few more scenes talking about the virtues that would later become more important once Fei gets the Prodigious. And hey, at least the representation wasn't as offensive as earlier episodes.

The Prodigious itself just didn't get enough explanation to warrant an entire story around it. The writers could have very easily done more to explain the origins of the Miraculous and their connection to the Prodigious, but they settled on doing absolutely nothing instead. It's just a really powerful MacGuffin with no negative downsides other than the user struggling to use it for a few minutes. Seeing how anticlimactic the drawbacks are, what was even the point of it being built up as so dangerous when all that happens is that you can't use it in a certain state of mind? It takes away a lot of the stakes to Hawkmoth getting the Prodigious, because now, we know it would be completely useless in his hands thanks to all of his crimes. Why not show more consequences to Fei using the Prodigious? Maybe if she tries to transform using a certain virtue, it hurts her or knocks her out of her transformation? Maybe Mei Shi can turn into Yan Luo Shi as a result of Fei trying to use the Prodigious for revenge as a result of his connection to the Prodigious? Do something to explain just what makes this artifact so dangerous to use. Is the danger only from Mei Shi, given he freaked out after Fei gave into her emotions once?

Something that also bothered me was the way the writers kept Fei from learning Marinette's identity as Ladybug. I get why she couldn't find out at the beginning, but as they bonded as friends and as the special went on, it just got ridiculous. Ladybug can know who Fei is, but not vice versa? They seriously have Marinette detransform in the middle of a chaotic fight with Yan Luo Shi to talk to Fei, when it would make no sense for Marinette to get to that building in the first place, much less with the giant stone warrior destroying everything. Would it have really killed the writers to make an exception to the identity rule seeing how Fei is from another country, and therefore, someone who isn't at risk of being akumatized? Marinette at least has Cat Noir and Master Fu to support her at this point. Besides the Renlings, who does Fei have? Maybe having Marinette be more honest about how her first time as Ladybug went could have helped motivate Fei to try again. The point I'm trying to make is that while the drama with Cat Noir is understandable, Marinette and Fei's bond could have been handled a lot better without the identity shenanigans.

The climax just felt pretty tacked on got the most part. It was already pretty stupid of Ladybug to somehow forget to de-evilize a recently freed Akuma, but it felt like the writers wanted a giant monster attack to spice things up. Not only do we barely know anything about Mei Shi, his anger at Fei is barely hinted at given how stoic he is. Markov at least displayed enough sentience to show emotion, but Mei Shi didn't even seem that angry before being akumatized. Cat Noir also felt like a last-minute addition, given how little he really does before the climax, and even then, all he really does is help Ladybug defeat King Cash. It was bad enough that Adrien's presence drove the plot, but they didn't even have him do anything worthwhile to justify him being in China other than because Cat Noir needs to be everywhere.

Overall, this special is just disappointing in a lot of areas. While I was more frustrated with the New York Special, this special just underwhelmed me for the most part. I just don't see the point in putting so much effort into making these specials when nothing actually important happens in them. There's no character development, there's no major worldbuilding, and there's certainly no plot progression. These specials are the definition of filler, and I can't believe we have to deal with at least four more of these.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE SPECIAL IS... MARINETTE

Putting aside her motivation for going to Shanghai in the first place, she didn't even tell Cat Noir where she was going when that was a major plot point in the previous special. Yeah, she thought Cat Noir was still in Paris, but even Adrien had some semblance of a plan when he left Paris in the New York Special. Marinette also seriously thought it would be a good idea to walk on her own in a city where everyone spoke a language she couldn't understand, and later had the gall to shame someone for trying to steal her Miraculous right after she got them back, thinking the shady thrift shop owner would be bankrupt otherwise. And during the climax, she not only failed to de-evilize an Akuma for no reason and risked her life going into the crossfire of an Akuma just to give Fei a pep talk when all she had to do was talk to her as Ladybug. It's kind of sad that she did more reckless things in this special than Hawkmoth, who gets the silver medal for the sheer idea of bringing Adrien along to a place with a dangerous artifact instead of keeping him safe in Paris like he's done for his other plans.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #fei wu #ladydragon #lady dragon #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #hawk moth #monarch #monarch miraculous #king cash #mei shi #yan luo shi #alya cesaire #wang cheng #tikki #renlings

[luna-rainbow]

I always wonder why the mcu keeps trying to push their peggy carter oc,like I understand characters aren't always going to be comic accurate and can be changed for better or worse. But what the mcu did with peggy is so weird to me

Staring off with the fact that she takes inspiration from a nazi spy , they even said so themselves she just doesn't take inspiration form Cynthia tho most of he likable traits are from other characters as well.

Going back to the Cynthia glass thing it's also uncomfortable that this peggy is also an alternate version of captain america even though they call her captain carter you can't escape the fact that she's supposed to be an alternate version of captain america.

I can understand wanting to make an alternate version of cap but why would you use the character that you've stated has taken inspiration from a nazi spy to represent a Jewish symbol who was made to fight nazis and for the oppressed it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks for the ask and sorry for the late reply!

I think the superhero genre, much like the Japanese equivalent of the shounen genre, is about power fantasies. That doesn't necessarily make them inherently trite or egocentric, though. A sensitive and knowledgeable writer can construct a power fantasy for marginalised folks, even those they are not a part of, and that's what people are asking for when they talk about "representation". People from all walks of life deserve an inspirational story and a power fantasy to project onto, to say that despite the barriers placed by society, it is still possible to fight against the restrictions and carve out a special identity for yourself. In a lot of the better written superhero stories, their powers are presented as something that is both a blessing and a curse/threat, and the story is about them accepting that difference and turning that into something good - as opposed to, often, their villains, who turn that into something used for bad.

And I think that's the key difference. Comics/manga are written for kids/adults who feel like they don't fit in (maybe manga especially, because of how suffocating Japanese society can be about fitting the norm). The fantasy lies in social odd-balls embracing their own uniqueness and doing good in spite of the world shunning them.

Once super-powered concepts hit Hollywood, the meaning changes. The writers are now (in general) people in positions of influence and affluence. They are confident in who they are, and in fact, they yearn to stand above the ilk. The power fantasy completely changes flavour - instead of an outcast learning to be happy with who they are, it is now about how a "normal" person gains something special that elevates them above the boring average folk.

The problem is - the former is usually sensitive to the struggles of marginalised folk ("we are different but we can be amazing"), while the latter is ignorant and self-serving ("I am amazing because I am not like other girls"). And because of the type of fantasy it is, it is not interested in exploring power as a potential flaw or a burden, it is simply about the celebration of strength.

This is all a long-winded way of saying, yes, PC is a power fantasy for a particular group of women - the middle-classed, primarily White, well-educated women, who do not want to be like other girls. She had to be made special at all costs - the private school/college education, the brother in MI6, the Howlies, the boxing champion, the directorship, and now finally the serum and the shield.

The implications didn't matter because the writers didn't care. She's their hero, this is a fantasy, and who cares if she recruited Nazis on her way to the top or that she wears a colonial symbol on her chest. Who knows, they (the writers) may even think of that as representation of her strength.

Remember how I said earlier how the heroes take their powers and make it into something good, while the villains use their strength and use it to do something bad? Welp.

#anti peggy carter #asks

[moregraceful]

Friendly east bay anon here, please consider this your official permission to go Completely Insane (if wanted, also I am saying this for selfish reasons bc I want the Most amount of your writing bc it is delightful), also 👀👀 boba thoughts - 🦃(I read your tags and have therefore chosen an emoji to represent myself; devastated to report that there is no hyena emoji and I am therefore relegated to the less metal option of the Turkey Cryptid)

oh no there is no hyena emoji, HUGE L for us....but we will always have the east bay turkeys. turkey cryptid east bay anon!! thank you for choosing an emoji 🙏

THANK YOU for your kind words, i appreciate it!! boba fic really is me teeheeing into the night, so you are very kind, and i will take this permission to write the 15k devon/cale boba fic no one wanted but will nevertheless receive in about 20-90 days...

also thank you for asking about boba thoughts, i needed to exorcise them, but they are just the Some Guys of all time. boba fic (arizona's version) under the cut:

BASICALLY it's just that loathe though i am to break anyone up ever, i had to admit to myself that if i wanted to write devon toews tenderly trying boba for the first time at cale's behest and experiencing shrimp emotions (for a hockey player, normal emotions for a californians), i have to break john leonard and cale up. and then i was thinking, well, that's not so bad for leno, because john leonard irl just went to arizona and there are many men i love in arizona now and i can do something with that EASILY

so BASICALLY:

john leonard goes to arizona to do americorps/teach for america in an elementary school class. he's a little whipped up about the break up with cale which, while as kind as it could be (cale went to do an environmental policy internship in with the denver legislature, leno really wanted to do teach for america in the southwest, it just wasn't gonna work out), was still kinda heartbreaking bc like. that was his boyfriend of three years! he really loved him! he knew that they might not really be able to make it work long-term, but he loved the guy! aw man :(

at his americorps school, his master teacher (for kindergarten bc that's funniest) is TRAVIS DERMOTT, a goofy canadian guy that all the kids love so much. leno is like....why am i in arizona still meeting canadians, why the fuck are there so many canadians wherever i go!! but travis is rly sweet and they become good friends quite quickly

anyway it turns out that travis is dating TROY STECHER, STALWART DEFENSEMAN FOR THE ARIZONA COYOTES, and leno is doubly like, why do i keep meeting nhlers. but troy is really nice and goofy in love with travis and it's incredibly sweet. travis takes leno to a bunch of games. leno enjoys going to hockey games with travis, bc travis is a former hockey player like leno and really insightful and funny, and even if they are sitting in the wag section, leno has experience with wags due to his soulbond with mario. so it's a lot of fun overall

one day in kindergarten when travis and leno are in the middle of a lecture about why NOT to eat paint, a beautiful black man with a broken clavicle shows up at the door and a smile that could melt ice cream. "what up montana," says travis, unfazed. "oh my god," says leno. it's MONTANA ONYEBUCHI, FRINGE DEFENSEMAN FOR THE ARIZONA COYOTES and he is dropping off boba for the two of them for lunch, but he messed up the timing. he got injured and is not yet traveling with the team, and troy (huge dope in love), told him to drop off boba for his beloved + his beloved's bestie and he would pay him $100.

bad timing, due to the paint eating situation, but also maybe good, montana is a huge distraction, which means leno can whisk away all the paint while the kindergarteners bombard montana with questions such as "what happened to your arm" and "are you really a hockey player" and "why are you so tall" and "is it illegal to eat paint"

anyway obviously he is kind and funny and gentle with the kids and he hangs out for 15 minutes and answers questions about hockey until it's lunch time. leno and travis drink their boba in peace and quiet and montana gazes at leno. leno is like, no fuckin way a guy that hot is interested in me

(montana is interested in him)(travis finds this incredibly funny)(kindergarten teacher to wag pipeline)(love is so beautiful)

i didn't figure out the intricacies of how they get together but TRUST it's gross how much montana likes leno and leno's broken little heart heals under montana bringing him boba like, every day, and sending him boba gift cards when he's on the road, and one day there is a family skate around the holidays and he invites leno to the family skate and leno is like, totally going to say no bc that feels like a big step forward, and then montana tells him he's going to be the elf on the shelf for the kids and leno's like aw fuck he's perfect and goes to the skate

and then they fall in love and it's perfect.....idk how it ends but they're probably in love forever or until my boba au gets trashed once again by these damn ass nhl gms who have NO respect for me 😤😤

critical to boba au (arizona's version): 1. travis knits baby booties for the other wags in kachina colors; 2. liam o'brien (beloved) is just floating around in the background, being the prettiest man in the world, and it is a running joke that he is so pretty that he is unattainable, and then leno finds he doesn't like boba that much and he's like, ok, point AGAINST how beautiful you are and is the only one who develops immunity to liam's smile. love u liam

#i could like. SO easily be a arizona appreciator next season they have so many of my Some Guys #unfortunate birdcage fanfictions #boba au #east bay anon #cage replies

[ravenssunshine]

i’ve been retweeting a lot of stuff about the war in israel/gaza today. if you don’t mind, i’m going to share my own thoughts now. i hope you’ll take some time to read.

my background is i went to a jewish day school for five years, speak some level of hebrew, and lived in israel for three months. i still have family and friends there. while i was studying in israel, i encountered a teacher who drove me absolutely nuts. we did not share the same viewpoints. i argued with him with every breath. he was so conservative i almost couldn’t believe it. i ended up leaving his group after he stated that there was no way a jew could marry a nonjew.

this man sent our class groupchat a text linking to an article on february 2nd: https://www.timesofisrael.com/an-open-letter-to-israels-friends-in-north-america/

this nationalistic clown of an american who decided to live in israel begged us to speak out against what netanyahu had done to the israeli government. netanyahu is the israeli nationalistic clown to end all clown. when the others are speaking out AGAINST him, you know there’s something wrong. this article warns of an inevitable disaster if we didn’t do something about netanyahu. we’re living that disaster right now.

the time to call your representatives and to protest the american ties to the israeli government (the GOVERNMENT. not israeli owned businesses. i will never support boycotting israeli businesses. “that israeli business supports israel” likely thing for them to do) was months ago. israelis have been protesting it for months. it’s not right now. right now israel needs its hostages to come home and gaza needs a ceasefire. if you wanted peace in gaza and you wanted to a chance to criticize israel without criticizing those of us who live in the diaspora, that time was months ago. when you ignore relative peacetime middle eastern politics (i say relative because i acknowledge that israel and palestine have not experienced a moment of true peace yet), you are contributing to the ongoing plight of palestinians who live in gaza and the west bank under israeli siege.

those of us with any sort of connection to israel cannot stand with your “free palestine” movement, even when we want exactly what you want. only, you won’t criticize the government. you’ll only criticize the people and you’ll only do it when they are suffering. your antisemitism is poorly masked.

here’s the article. it’s mostly worth the read. it’s also irrelevant now that we didn’t do anything when they asked us to.

#jumblr #jewblr #jewish #israel #israel/palestine #oops! i said my thing! sorry!

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By all appearances, Steve Bannon likes to think that he represents the soul of the MAGA movement. He sees himself as a tireless champion of the common man, fighting their battles against America’s corrupt elites. It’s not for nothing that his radio show is called War Room and carried by the Real America’s Voice network. But just like everybody else who has worked closely with Donald Trump, Bannon is either delusional or trying to delude. He’s not the everyman – he’s the corrupt elite.

This was driven home once again on Thursday, when Bannon surrendered himself to New York prosecutors to face charges of defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a non-profit organization that raised over $25m to build a wall to keep immigrants from crossing America’s southern border. Although donors to the group were assured that 100% of their money would be used on construction, large sums were siphoned into the pockets of those running the group. And who as chairman of the board allegedly took the greatest sum of all? None other than Steve Bannon.

This affair – in which two people have already pleaded guilty – is a very direct example of a prominent figure in the MAGA movement lining their pockets with the money of unsuspecting marks. But it also stands as a metaphor for the movement as a whole. Far from standing up for the interests of “ordinary Americans”, MAGA exists to funnel money, power and prestige to a small elite while not lifting a finger to improve the lives of anyone else.

During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Trump – with Bannon at his side – tried to present himself as a champion of the downtrodden. He promised to bring jobs back from overseas and help Americans get over their economic anxiety. But as soon as he got into office, he governed as a plutocrat. His one significant legislative achievement before the coronavirus pandemic was a 2017 tax bill which forced lower-income groups to pay more and allowed higher income groups to pay less. And every year the administration proposed steep cuts to the social programs used by real ordinary Americans, including a 2021 budget which would have cut $1.2T from Medicaid, food stamps and elsewhere.

In office, Trump continued to benefit from the economic recovery which had begun under Barack Obama, allowing him to tout high employment and wage levels. But just as the Biden administration is largely powerless to fight inflation right now, this economic performance had precious little to do with Trump. When he did intervene – for instance by launching a trade war with China – it was in ways which harmed manufacturers and cost American jobs. But for Trump and the MAGA movement it’s posturing for their nationalist base, not the real effect on real people, which matters.

But Trump and Bannon have done something even more pernicious than this. For they have also tried to exclude a large part of the population from even being considered as “ordinary Americans” at all. Theirs is an agenda not for the racially diverse working and middle classes that actually exist in America, but for a narrow white subset of it. They have made a mythic folk hero out of the white male worker, promising to return the country to an era like the 1950s, in which such people reigned supreme. That they then have actually done little to help even white workers should not obscure the fact that they have also poured hatred and vitriol on the immigrants and people of color who do so much of America’s actual work.

All of which brings us neatly back to Bannon and the wall. It’s no coincidence that when Bannon left office, he dedicated himself to building the wall rather than building working-class communities. The border wall has endured as the ultimate symbol of Trumpism because the soul of his movement is racism and exclusion, not charity and assistance. It is through the stoking of hatred and division that MAGA elites keep the punters engaged and happy to open their wallets. It’s also how they keep themselves rich and – through blocking any attempt to actually help working people – ensure the poor stay poor.

This, the true driving force of Trumpism, makes a mockery of conservatives who pretend that the Republican party can become a “multiethnic, multiracial, working-class party”. The proposition is absurd not only because the party is in hock to a movement built on racial hate but also because the same movement has never evinced any interest in actually helping “ordinary Americans”. Its leading figures will eventually depart from life leaving wealthy heirs but no record of ever having helped the people they supposedly stand for. In the end, MAGA is nothing but a scam with hate in its heart and other people’s money in its pockets. Just ask Steve Bannon.

#us politics #news #the guardian #2022 #Andrew Gawthorpe #op eds #donald trump #trump administration #maga #fuck trump supporters #trump supporters #alt right #conservatives #Republicans #gop #We Build the Wall #fraud

[whatintheactualworld]

Through Millenial Eyes:

I. Too Far Right

For context, I thought I'd try something new. The majority of my writing has always been fictional and has only made subtle commentary towards society and the world. However society has changed rapidly before my own eyes in just the past decade: from the invention of cell phones to the ubiquitous usage of generative AI, from a middle America that enjoyed lavish benefits and pensions under a modestly wealthy corporations to the looming fear of layoffs under an even wealthier corporation, from the steady circulation of global information through white washed news print headlines to the instant, chaotic influx of raw, challenging information taking us all by surprise on Twitter. It's become clear that things are escalating rapidly before our eyes, but what has troubled me most as of late are the key figures in our American system of politics--specifically the ones wearing ties bleeding in a deep, menacing red color. The right wing, responsible for keeping a brotherly sense of balance between itself and the left wing, has grown heavy, wearing down the bird of democracy, the arbiter for freedom, the posterchild for equality. It's time that we pull our heads out of the sand and acknowledge the elephant in the room.

One might suppose that this began with the rise of President Donal Trump--but that depends who you ask. Trump rose from out of the darkness with a voice that boomed throughout the lands, quaking the minds of men, women, and children from every corner of the earth. He was a proud, self assured man who ran for the presidency on the promise of bringing America to a state of greatness that has supposedly been stiffed by radical liberalism in the media, the tightened grip of government stifling American business, and the emergence of woke philosophies in the younger generations. I think it's fair to say that most of us felt pretty blindsided by these poorly defined accusations and his laughably childish rhetoric. He took to pride battles on twitter with the grammer skills equivalent to that of a 4th grader; he demonized leading liberal figures for their softness towards impoverished migrants escaping tyranny and gang run societies, for being too lenient with the powerful Chinese empire--as though they were children that needed to be spanked back into submission. No one took him seriously--Democrats and Republicans alike. But as it turned out, he received passionately vocal praise and support (it would seem) from a slim majority composed of wealthy "America first" boomers from the north and the lower class, simple folks of the deep south. To our relief, President Trump did not win the popular vote; to our astonishment, he won through the electoral college--an event many throught to be unthinkable, a moment in the American Political playbook that stunk to high heaven. Something felt off after that moment, something that alarmed me to the new precedent a figure like Trump would set for modern American politics, something that awakened me to the possibility that life as we knew it was about to plunge into a pit of chaos and darkness.

President Trump certainly left his mark during his reign, but as it turned out, he didn't seem to do much more than blow hot air toward foreign leaders and fall into a cycle of endless petty fight picking. Congress called for his impeachment; media outlets regularly criticized his lack of professionalism, his lack of education regarding how US government worked, and his capricious principles; republican leaders, divided, pushed back against his brand of far right anti-intellectualism like a plague that feasted itself upon impressionable republican minds. To everyone's relief, he lost the bid for reelection; however, the far right wasn't done with the world just yet.

As it turned out, a democratic presidency under Prsident Joe Biden met challenges with many Trump-inspired rising stars throughout American society. In the House of Representatives, Majorie Taylor Greene, a representative from Georgia, echoed many of trumps "Anti-Woke" concerns throughout Capitol Hill. Ben Shapiro sharply cut through the woke liberal minds present on YouTube and Twitter with an impressive ability to make anyone who challenged him in a debate look very dumb (because it wasn't about who was more right or more factual, it was about who could rouse the crowd to applause with the most spunk). Finally, we arrive at one Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, determined to externate wokeness from every corner of the sunshine state.

From out of the blue, he led a surprise attack against transgender individuals, labeling them as groomers and pedophiles responsible for morally bankrupting our children. What a strange assertion. In a clear move to appeal to fundamental Christians heavily entrenched in the deep south, he successfully got the whole country talking about the legitimacy of gender affirming care for young people, whether transgender individuals should be permitted to use the bathrooms of their chosen gender, and whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in sports with other women. Of course, the prevailing thought among many people prior to this sudden focus on transgender individuals was that it was a non-issue. No one was particularly concerned about it. We understood that the transgender community had become the victim of the political witchhunt that the far right seemed to enjoy springing upon the most marginalized, defenseless minority groups in society. They became the sacrificial lamb for DeSantis and his own ambitions: to gain the attention of the American people, to pave his way toward the republican nomination for the presidency.

And that's when it dawns on you.

We've been fooled. Fooled by wolves preaching of morality but only as it aligns with their own ambitions toward greatness. Fooled by a President who can "grab her by the p****y" (Trumps own words, not mine) and not face any consequences for it--a president so thoroughly lacking in morality, empathy, compassion, and intelligence who believed it was his right to hold the world hostige to his rampant narcisissm. Fooled by a congress woman who would rather set congress ablaze in the fight against woke ideology than have a genuine, productive discussion about addressing for instance the ever growing power and wealth of corporations who challenge the very foundation of sustaining a fair, all-inclusive, free market society. Fooled by a state governor who will target the innocent in his scheme for political power, who will go on to orchestrate more attacks against Disney for challenging his anti-lgbt rhetoric, against Florida teachers for teaching LGBT history, against African Americans for being anything less than grateful after having been brought here to America to "aquire useful skills" during their plight in slavery. After witnessing this unprecedented level of cutthroat behavior, of rapacious clawing to the heights of fame in the political theater, of propagating toxic ideologies that undermine the intelligence of our human civilization, I must ask what have we resorted to as a democratic society? What ideals are we arriving toward? What will America look like as this emerging far right movement insidiously thrust itself upon the decent, compassionate peoples of our country? Is their any hope for peace and cooperation among our own countrymen and women, or will we be the agents of our own internal demise?

The answer is simple, we can strive for peace, we can arrive at compromise, we can bring integrity and civility back to society, but only if we are brave enough to confront those who threaten it and encourage those equipped with the means to stand against it.

#politics #spilled ink

[the-daily-tizzy]

Bill Maher gets it!

No truer words were ever spoken. 

Regardless of what CNN and their ilk think, China is not shaking in their boots over Nancy's visit to Taiwan. 

China will eat our lunch ... and probably sooner than later.

"Real Time" host Bill Maher used his show Friday night by sounding the alarm on China's growing dominance over the United States. 

“Why are Americans sleeping?" he asked?...

"We aren't sleeping, we are spending our time teaching and assisting little boys on how to become little girls!!! 

And, if we aren't busy doing that, we have the Secretary of Defense, responding to an order from the 'commander'-in-chief, designing stylish new uniforms for ‘pregnant soldiers ’”

"You're not going to win the battle for the 21st century if you are such silly people. 

And Americans all now seem to be silly people," 

Maher began the monologue, alluding to a "Lawrence of Arabia" quote.

"Do you know who doesn't care that there's a stereotype of a Chinese man in a Dr. Seuss book? China," he said. 

"All 1.4 billion of them couldn't give a crouching tiger flying f--- because they're not silly people.

 If anything, they are as serious as a prison fight. ” 

Maher then wryly acknowledged that China does "bad stuff" from the concentration camps of Uyghur Muslims to its treatment of Hong Kong. 

But, he stressed, "There's got to be something between an authoritarian government that tells everyone what to do when, and a representative government that can't do anything at all. ”

"In two generations, China has built 500 entire cities from scratch, moved the majority of their huge population from poverty to the middle class, and mostly cornered the market in 5G and pharmaceuticals. 

Oh, and they bought Africa," Maher said, pointing to China's global Silk Road infrastructure initiative. 

He continued: "In China alone, they have 40,000 kilometers of high-speed rail. America has none. ... 

We've been having Infrastructure Week, every week since 2009, but we never get anything done!

Half the country is having a never-ending woke competition deciding whether Mr. Potato Head has a dick, and the other half believes we have to stop the lizard people because they're eating babies. 

We are such “silly people”.

"Nothing ever moves in this impacted colon of a country. 

We see a problem and we ignore it, lie about it, fight about it with each other, endlessly litigate it, sunset-clause it, kick it down the road, and then write a bill where a half- assed solution doesn't kick in for 10 years," Maher explained. 

"Then the half-assed bill gets forgotten."

"China sees a problem and they fix it. 

They build a dam. 

We debate what to rename it. ” 

The HBO star cited how it took 10 years for a bus line in San Francisco to pass its environmental review and how it took 16 years to build the Big Dig tunnel in Boston, comparing that to a 57-story skyscraper that China built in 19 days and Beijing's Sanyuan Bridge, which was demolished and rebuilt in 43 hours.

"We binge-watch, they binge-build. 

When COVID hit Wuhan, the city built a quarantine center with 4,000 rooms in 10 days--and they barely had to use it because they quickly arrested the rest of the disease," Maher said. 

"They were back to throwing raves in swimming pools while we were stuck at home surfing the dark web for black-market Charmin.

We're not losing to China; we’ve LOST. 

The returns just haven't all come in yet. 

They made robots that check a kid's temperature and got the kids back in school. 

Most of our kids are still pretending to take Zoom classes while they watch TikTok and their brain cells commit ritual suicide.

Our teachers' unions are finding every single way to keep themselves on the payroll but keep students out of the classrooms. 

WAKE UP AMERICANS!! 

That means ALL of YOU."

Maher then blasted former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, accusing him of degrading school standards by eliminating merit and substituting a lottery system for admittance to schools for advanced learners. 

"Do you think China's doing that, letting political correctness get in the way of nurturing their best and brightest?" Maher continued. 

"Do you think Chinese colleges and universities are offering courses in 'The Philosophy of StarTrek, 'The Sociology of Seinfeld,' and 'Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse'?

Can this be real? 

Well, let me tell you, China is real. 

And they are eating our lunch. 

And believe me, in an hour, they'll be hungry again."

I would add that the rot being developed internally by groups such as BLM, extreme left-wing groups, along with the free-loaders and a hundred other groups are perhaps a far greater threat than China, because they are all around us, and we tax-paying, country-loving, hard-working individuals just sit back and watch it take place.

That people like Omar and AOC and others can be elected, should just make you vomit. 

That a statue of George Floyd could be put up in Minneapolis and some historical statues taken down should tell you that it's off the rails, way off the rails, and unless it is stopped by the people who care about the matter, I fear that we are not going to get back on the track heading in the right direction.

[evashq]

𝐍ot everyone can say they’ve been to the Big Apple, but 𝐄𝐕𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍, a 38 year-old woman who has lived in NEW YORK for 𝟐𝟎 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒. This is the city of dreams and she knows it, because they came to NYC to be a 𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐘𝐄𝐑. Well, that and as an EX-FIANCE to JULIAN PIERCE. Living in the city means they meet all kinds of people, but everyone always seems to think they look like ANGELA SARAFYAN. They even got away with free cab fare once because of it!

❝  𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒:   ❞

FULL NAME: Eva Serena Sarkissian 

AGE: 38 years old (August 12th)

PARENTS: Daniel Samuel Sarkissian (CEO of Energy Company) + Catarina Lauryn Carter (Olympic Gymnast – Team USA)

ORIENTATION: Bisexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married to (TBA)

CHILDREN: One via surrogacy, Lara Sarai 

OCCUPATION: Lawyer @ Ventures LLC.

HOMETOWN: Chicago, Illinois

LIVES IN: Rockaways, Queens

❝  𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘:   ❞ – injury tw, death tw

Born to an American Olympic gymnast and an Armenian heir to an oil tycoon, Eva Serena Sarkissian had a role to play in her life. Eva’s mother, CATARINA CARTER, was a decorated Olympic gymnast. She met her husband, DANIEL SARKISSIAN, during the 1972 Winter Olympics at an after party. 

Heir to an Armenian energy company, DANIEL SARKISSIAN, was expected to marry someone of his social ranking– born a billionaire. He was edging late 30’s when he met CATARINA, finally deciding it was time to settle down after they hit it off one night in Sapporo, Japan. 

The pair came from two different worlds, ultimately deciding to build their family in the United States of America– CATARINA’S HOME COUNTRY. After agreeing to give up her professional career to become a housewife, the Sarkissian’s settled in CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, welcoming 3 children. 

Welcome, EVA SERENA SARKISSIAN! – a middle child and only girl of the Sarkissian siblings. Eva was a child Catarina prayed for, secretly wanting a baby girl to follow in her footsteps. 

Eva was born with a silver spoon of ultimatums in her mouth– it was either success or no support, in all areas. At the age of 2 years old, she was put in gymnastics class. 

Eva grew up with demands and repercussions when not performing to standards. CATARINA’S maternal instincts went out the window once Eva was eligible for competitions. The pressure continued through her life, academics and especially in gymnastics. 

The future lawyer never loved gymnastics but she managed to be good at it, and it kept her in good graces with her parents and the many luxuries. 

She met her future husband at a family function in middle school– destined to end up together after they played all night innocently, unaware of the intentions their parents held for their destiny in the end.

Eva made it through the Junior Olympic Program, weeks away from potentially being chosen to represent the USA in the Summer Olympics until she sustained a knee injury, ending her career in competitive gymnastics. 

The day before her high school graduation, Eva’s father DANIEL SARKISSIAN passed away after an unexpected heart attack. He left his worth to his family, split evenly between everybody. 

Banking on her future as a gymnast (through her mother’s encouragement) ended in shambles, leaving her without a real credible reputation for her future– something her father shamed Eva for on his death bed. Her father’s death is a touchy subject between lack of empathy and regrets between their strained relationship. The positive that came out of it: Daniel’s money. 

Eva packed her bags the day after she graduated high school, bid adieu to her family members and moved to New York City to pursue her own dreams. 

Now at 38 years old: Eva is a highly accomplished attorney; recently being recognized as one of New York’s top Business, Commercial and Corporate Lawyers. She opened her own firm at 33 years old, Ventures LLC. She is also a wife and a mother to 1 year old, Lara Sarai.

#enyc.intro #/BIOGRAPHY #injury tw #death tw

[heavenforblog1111]

American Idiot is the title track of the album 'American Idiot' by the rock band Green Day. The album was released on 21st September 2004. In 2000, Green Day had released the album 'The Warning' which came off as a disappointment in terms of commercial success. The band then decided to take a break before they came up with the next album which was supposed to be 'Cigarettes and Valentines'. The album was discontinued when the master tapes were stolen. Instead of recreating the album again, the band decided to start from scratch and tried to produce a new album which ended up being 'American Idiot'. Rob Cavallo, the band's long time producer wasn't sure if the band could produce the album because the band members were all living their seperate lives and he wasn't sure if the chemistry was still going to be there. The truth is, when they started making American Idiot, they were each living their own separate lives, and no one was really sure how the chemistry was going to be, They all had to deal with a lot of personal stuff before they could be great again. And when they first came to me and said, 'Let's get the band back together and make the best rock record we can,' I wasn't totally sure they could do it. Rob Cavallo Song Meaning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_uujKuJMI The album tells the story of Jesus of Suburbia who is an adolescent belonging to a lower middle class American background. He is considered to be an anti hero who hates his family, friends and home. The theme of the album is rage and love as we can see in the poster depicting a heart in shape of a grenade held tightly in the hand. Jesus of Suburbia is the living embodiment of these emotions. Billie felt inspired to write the song after listening to a Lynyrd Skynyrd song being played on his car radio, while he was driving to the studio. The song was a pro redneck agenda song and this got Billie riled up. On reaching the studio, he penned down his thoughts. It was like, I'm proud to be a redneck and I was like, Oh my God, why would you be proud of something like that? This is exactly what I'm against. I looked at the guys like, 'Do you mind that I'm saying this?' And they were like, No, we agree with you. And it started the ball rolling. Billy Joe Armstrong The song American Idiot is about politics, media and represents the situation of America in 2004. Billie Joe through this song was stating his opposition to the 'Redneck Agenda'. George W. Bush had led America to a war with Iraq following the 9/11 attack. Billie Joe felt that the media had gone overboard with news and reality shows depicting violent scenes. They had all these Geraldo-like journalists in the tanks with the soldiers, getting the play-by-play. Billie Joe Armstrong The song talks about the news media being controlled and not representing the actual things occurring. Televisions showcase a reality that is fake and promises dreams that are not supposed to come true. The masses are blinded by the false propagandas of the media and form beliefs that are opposite of what goes on in reality, meanwhile promoting tension, hysteria and paranoia through their coverage. The song urges people to think in the right way and not follow agendas blindly. The song was written under George W. Bush's presidency, however Billie stated that he did not think of the song as an opposition to George W. Bush in particular. I would never think of American Idiot as being about the Bush administration specifically. It’s about the confusion of where we’re at right now. Billie Joe Armstrong The world’s in a confused state. I’m pissed off, and I’m angry, and I feel like I’m not fully represented. Mike Dirnt In the music video, the band is playing in what seems like a warehouse against a green flag with 48 stars (thought to be symbolic of the US National Flag). The green color is probably a reference to the band. Eventually the stripes of the flag melt and flow down and a green liquid is sprayed from the amplifiers.

The band later put down their instruments and leave once they are finished playing the music.

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Senator Steve Garvey?

Stephen Jay Morris

3/7/2024

©Scientific Morality

            When I watch major league basketball or baseball, it is my escapist break from subjective reality. Same goes for music or Spaghetti Westerns. However, when politics barges in, that is flagrant trespassing.

My former home state is having a senatorial race. The top contenders are Congressman Adam Schiff and former MLB star, Steve Garvey.  Steve Garvey was the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman in the 70’s. Boy, could he hit a ball! And I mean, far!  He earned the nickname, “Mr. Clean.” He was deemed an all-American Christian boy. I didn’t care. So long as he could hit that ball, I couldn’t care less if he had been recruited from state prison and called, “Dirty Steve.” Well, he later became a broadcaster and then retired.

We have two glaring problems (among many others) in electoral politics: One is gerontocracy. Some think that the older you are, the wiser! Old age is not wisdom, it is senility. The fact is that, when you are old, you tend to forget much of what you learned. Steve Garvey is 75.

Another problem is American idolatry. Celebrity worship. We’ve had a body builder, an astronaut, a B-Movie actor, football players, and military generals elected to political office. They usually run as Republicans. Shit! In 2015, this country elected a T.V. game show host and business magnate to the highest political office in the land! Some Americans think that the Republicans are the official party of the USA. So did a lot of Cuban exiles. Other Americans see the Democratic Party as the party of the downtrodden and the working class. Superficially they are. However, if you peel the onion skin back, you will find out, like the GOP, that they are in love with the rich.

So, what about the common Americans? The ones who work in factories, have small businesses; the working class? How come a plebeian never got elected to political office? This is supposed to be a representative republic. When you have a criminal trial, aren’t you supposed to be judged by a jury of your peers? Who represents the poor and the middle class? Only wealthy white guys. Why? Does it have something to do with Meritocracy? Nowhere in the constitution does it say that we are a Meritocracy. Come to think about it, there is no mention of Jesus or Christianity in there, either. And nothing says the U.S. is a capitalist country.

Some Americans think if you run America like a business, it would be a better country. Wrong! First of all, America is a nonprofit nation that gets its money from income taxes, import fees, docking fees, entrance fees to national parks, admission fees to museums, copyright fees, along with many other sources. You can’t run America like a business because this nation is in constant debt. American government could never make a profit! Neither can you run America like the military. Ask somebody who went through boot camp. If Bill Gates ran this country, this country would still be in debt! You can’t run America like a church, or like a baseball team, or like a Hollywood studio. You run it like a fucking government! We don’t want somebody with a degree in business management. We need a college grad who’s got degrees in political science and civics. Oh, and let’s not forget, Economics.

The ego of some celebrities think they can just waltz into political office, sit in a chair, and automatically run a country. Trump thought he could do it as president. But soon he realized he didn’t know shit about the intricacies of federal bureaucratic rules. So, being the dumb ass that he is, he has said in jest, “I want to be a dictator and I can run it anyway I want!” Some Americans believe that if you’re an asshole, you are strong. Let me break it to you: if you are an asshole, you aren’t strong or tough; you are just an asshole!

So, Steve Garvey, take your bat and glove and go home. We don’t need you in the White House, or any other government branch. We need you in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

#stephenjaymorris #poets on tumblr #american politics #youtube #anarchism #poets of tumblr #baby boomers #anarchopunk #anarchocommunism #anarcho punk #anarcho syndicalism #anarchofeminism #anarcho primitivism #baseball

[readaroundtheworld]

Book 1

Title: Song of Solomon

Author: Toni Morison

Country: United States

Whenever I think of Toni Morrison, I always think of my senior year English class where I read The Bluest Eye for the first time. That book opened my eyes and shattered my heart to what I, a white woman in America, had never seen through another’s eyes. The fact that systemic racism pervades and poisons so much of US culture was something I understood conceptually, but reading through the eyes of a young black girl desperately wishing to earn the love her mother so easily bestows on the little white girl she works for is nothing short of soul rending.

I think it’s vital to read from the perspectives of other walks of life from your own. This belief was only strengthened when, during the course of that aforementioned class, one of my classmates, a white boy from a middle class family, complained that this book was entirely “unrelatable” to him, and he felt he shouldn’t have to read it. I will never forget the look on the face of my teacher, a black woman, as she tried to explain the concept of empathy to him. She may as well have been talking to a brick wall.

Thinking back on that story, I thought that another Toni Morrison book would be the perfect way to kick off this challenge, as her work now represents to me that spirit of empathy that inspired the challenge in the first place.

Song of Solomon is a tragic story about a man desperately trying to trace down his roots and where he came from through oral histories of families and communities. For much of Black America, these oral histories are the only documentation they will ever have. Unfortunately, as Milkman (our protagonist) discovers, some histories are too painful to be shared by the primary source, your own family. You have to find these things out from others in the community. And what information you do receive can be entirely contradictory, or show malicious bias.

Like all of Toni Morrison’s work, the goal isn’t to have a happy ending and walk away feeling good. The goal, in my view, is to take a good hard look at the truths around you and face them head on. To find understanding for deeply flawed human beings and to learn what made them that way.

If you can’t tell, I love Toni Morrison. This was a great book to kick off my challenge and I’m so excited to share the next one!

#read around the world #toni morrison #song of solomon #reading challenge #reading #literature