#made them the cops right? and they got pissed that they weren't given any political power but like u get so much fucking power as the polic

[opens-up-4-nobody]

God. The thing abt the uchiha is that. Yes. It was fucked up that no one trusted them and they got pushed further and further from the village center. However. They were also a clan of ninja cops with fucked up magical eyes that they supercharge by getting horrifically traumatized. So like. I also would not fucking trust them.

#like maybe its just that ive been too influenced my senju propaganda but i just think the uchiha as a clan kinda fucking suck #at least by the time we get to sasuke's dad leading things. they seemed fine when madara joined with the village #so its just that the resentment at feeling pushed out has risin by then. and maybe im not remembering things right but like Tobirama #made them the cops right? and they got pissed that they weren't given any political power but like u get so much fucking power as the polic #? and also it just seems like the worst fucking idea to put that all on one clan. like THE WORST job u could give to 1 clan of fucked up #eyeball freaks. and i can never tell if they r legitimately being prejudiced against but like they kida have good reason not to trust them #bc they were legit gonna overthrow the government. so like where did it start? i just kinda feel like they think theyre entitled to power #but r also intentionally standoffish to outsiders. but again maybe im just biased bc i dont like Sasukes dad and the nameless uchiha so muc #ugh. its too messy and its all built on the back of what may or may not have been a slight against them. and the rift just kept getting #wider. i mean knowing Tobirama it was probably a slight... but idk im not power hungry enough to understand y they got so mad abt it #konoha. the village in which everyone sucks and the children suffer. #naruto ramblings #naruto

[spongki]

why do i give valuable time to people who i'd much rather kick in the eye?

I know. That's not the correct lyric. Combining them together somewhat makes more sense in this context, though. For instance, have you ever found yourself acquainted with the most unbearable people you know? If not, then go you. There were some mean fucking people to me in high school. They weren't exactly my bullies, and I've done enough ruminating to conclude that no, it is not just me in denial of being victimized that you're hearing. I mean, it wasn't heavy enough to traumatize me for the rest of my life but maybe just enough to make me open up a conversation about the minute choices I make in my life, particularly the kind of people I let inside of it. I once went out to the mall in eighth grade with these really pretty girls from another school whom I met from a boy from another class. This is confusing and wordy and there isn't really any other way to go about it when you're telling stories that occurred in high school, you just end up sounding exactly the way you did when you were an obnoxious teen spilling banal school drama to your peers. I was a social butterfly, that's what I really meant to say. I wasn't popular, but I knew a lot of people. Including this one girl in my class who told me I should stop taking pictures with other people and pretending they're my friends when I posted a photo of me hanging out with those pretty girls on Facebook. God. That was the funniest, most insulting thing anyone has ever said to me. Perhaps the only thing that ever made me go, "Damn." I've never been so humored and galled at the same time. I kind of respect her for that.

hey i know those girls from yfc (Youth for Christ)

there's no way ur friends with them lolol

She commented that on my post for everyone to see. Damn. Does it help to explain that Dubai's also an extremely small world where everyone knows someone that even if you put aside my character I'd still be bound to cross paths with pretty, popular people anyway? Yet she chose to be an ass about it. And the year after. And the year after that. I had mutual friends with her so I still hung out with this girl. I attended parties, got wasted, even went as far to sharing my cigarettes—even when I'm known to be stingy about them—with this girl. Yet I couldn't stand this girl. Insufferable, this girl. Worse part is, she wasn't the only one. There were some mean fucking people to me in high school.

The thing about movies and tv is that they show a clear polarity between popular vs unpopular, bully vs bullied, etcetera. Sometimes I wish it was that defined, then maybe I wouldn't have that weird gray area of people who get on my fucking nerves but try to be civil towards because they've somehow infiltrated my life and I don't quite know how to get rid of them. Some movies and tv do get it right, though. I'm currently watching Santa Clarita Diet (2017) and it made me think about what it means to be "nice" and how far niceness goes. When in doubt, eat them. I believe Hannibal (2013) taught that as well. I guess it also shows us how well you can get away with a crime and not raise suspicions when you're a white, upper middle class couple who works as "real-a-tors".

I always think about this cop's painting of her neighbor (Timothy Olyphant)'s "nervous smile". That grimace is too familiar. This would make more sense if given a broader context of the show, but let's just say this: maybe the days of politeness and courtesy are over. Maybe it's about time we start biting people's faces off when they piss us off.

There's so much that needs to be said about civility and other pains of adulthood that come from being subject to normativity and I'm not here to make a thesis on that because there are loads of people who have done that before me. I'm just here to express my frustration. I, however, want to address younger people and say that there will be adults who'll tell you that you'll eventually grow tired of others' heckling and that you'll learn to let it pass, forgive, and suck it up like a real adult because that's the way you'll gain inner peace. But I say it's perfectly permissible, if you feel like it, to flip them the bird and it will give you peace. It's not mutually exclusive.

#rants #santa clarita diet #joel hammond #sheila hammond #timothy olyphant #the smiths #happy leo season #well that explains my need to rant #about being too nice #and not being hard-hitting enough #rianecdotes

[46inpm]

MLQC Housemates with MC Having Toxic!Father

AU: MC's Dad from the game is her stepfather who later became her adoptive dad so toxic!father is her birth father (I won't disrespect game PaPa) Game Dad is PaPa and Toxic!Father is Dad

TW: Angst, Toxicity, Blood, Asshole Parent

Victor - Red, Lucien - Purple, Gavin - Blue, Kiro - Orange, Shaw - Green, MC (You) - Pink

They were under the impression that your birth dad was the one you took over the company for

They were surprised to find out he was your stepfather that became your adoptive father after your mom passed away but they could tell you saw him as your true father

The few things you mentioned about your birth dad was he's alive, present in your life, and you send him money

"I wonder why Miss Chips doesn't say much about him."

"Probably just aren't as close."

When you told them your dad was coming to visit for a few days and probably staying over the boys were happy to show their hospitality considering this was your dad

They wanted to impress the love of their lives' father

Victor was pissed when he found out the guess room was being used as storage

Mainly Kiro, Shaw, and you had to clean and donate stuff under Victor's supervision since it was mainly your stuff you guys lost your dessert privileges for awhile

Everyone was so busy cleaning the house that they realized later that throughout the process you never spoke highly of your dad and seemed nervous

"I just been busy that's all. I'm totally fine!"

When they first met the guy he seemed to be an okay man, Kiro and you gave him a tour of the house, that's when Kiro realized such awkward tension you kept giving out as you and your dad talked but don't worry Kiro's an amazing talker!

All the boys came home and met your dad they chatted in the living room with a movie playing as the dinner feast was being prepared

You told Victor you would finish the rest of the meal preparation by yourself, he denied but gave in when you smiled at him that you wanted some alone time

The dad seemed to be okay who was tough man inside and out that had a lot of stories to tell and seemed to care about his daughter

Things began going downhill from there

You called everyone to eat and they sat down to enjoy the food as they talked about their day and get to know your dad

They would talk and that's when your dad's behavior became noticeable

He seemed to be "Mr. Know It All" when tried to tell Victor and Gavin on HOW TO DO THEIR OWN JOBS but also passive aggressive comments of him looking down on Kiro's idol profession

Victor made this guy freakin steak and this is how he is repaid by being told how to do his job from a guy who just watches videos on financial

Kiro and you are trying your best to shift the topic and keep the peace

Deeper into dinner your dad begins making jokes throughout about you being about your weight, the way you dress, how you use people

He antagonizes you and your parents a lot

"Hope this one has been growing vertically not horizontally."

"Getting another bite already. What's up, fatty?"

"My daughter doesn't care about me. She just uses me."

That was only a few out of the jokes he told and don't forget the inappropriate ones

Who cares if their jokes if they're antagonizing to someone and just plain mean and also your dad is the biggest one here who's eating the most

Trust me no one is laughing at them and you're trying to play it off but they can tell how hurt you are (can't take a hint that no one likes the "jokes")

"The puddings ready. You can have some right now."

"It's okay. I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to bed now."

You are really hurting inside as you try walking away fast enough not be seen crying and not even hungry to eat pudding

Everyone is left there eating with this asshole, they just want to get this dinner over with

Gavin hates him more than anybody as not only the way he talks to you but how he's reminded of his own dad

When Shaw makes the same body "joke" to your dad, they have never seen a man get so aggressive so fast before

Once your dad is fed up with Shaw and goes storms off to the guest room is when they clean up fast to go check up on you

"Thanks for ending that dinner, Shaw. If you didn't get him mad, I would have."

"I don't care who he is. Glad that the asshole is gone."

"I can see why Miss Chips doesn't really interact with him much. Why doesn't she say something about it to him?"

"Many children with parents like that feel trapped due to feeling of being indebted to them. She could be acting that way in order to not escalate the situation."

"As much as we don't like the man, we have to be polite for the few days he will be here."

They all go to your room to see you laying down as you blow your runny nose in the dark

Kiro immediately jumps in bed to give you the biggest hug while the others soothe you until you're ready to talk

You mention how he's like this with the antagonizing, rude jokes, and his temper and it being the reason your mom divorced him

Everyones face scrunched with anger as you weren't looking at the thought that this was going on this entire time

For the next few days luckily you've been busy with work to be around him, he was also busy with seeing friends but it still didn't stop his behavior and jokes when no one was around

As much as you wanted to run away from the conversations you couldn't because you were scared of what would happen

It was until one day when Shaw came home before anyone else to hear really loud screaming from a man, he was about to rush to see what was happening until you walked past him

"Welcome home. I'm a-almost done... finishing lunch. Do you want to help out?"

He's never seen you like this with deep red eyes, cheeks tear stained, legs heavily shaking, and snot dripping down

You walked to the kitchen with Shaw trying to convince you to slow down as you weren't in the right state to be cooking

Shaw has never been in a situation like this before so he didn't know what exactly to do, he made the mistake to take his eyes off you to try and call one of the guys

The moment you yelped in pain he immediately dropped the phone, you had tried to cut something but your hands were shaking so much and eyes blurring with tears that you cut your hand pretty badly

Shaw hugged your shaking body tightly as you covered your mouth from sobbing, outside began to pour with rain with heavy thunder

"P-please don't tell my-my dad. Please don't tell him!"

You were carried to the closest bedroom and the farthest from the guest room (Gavin's), Shaw made sure to lock the door

Kiro then Gavin then Lucien came home one by one and immediately panic as they saw a cutting board along with a knife stained with a lot of blood

Shaw ushered everyone into the bedroom and have Lucien properly put what little gauze they had over your deep wound already cleaned with alcohol

Lucien: Please, buy more gauze when you get home. We need it immediately. We're all in Gavin's room.🦋

Victor: What happened? Hardly ever text each other. Almost home, I'll make a quick stop.🕰

When Victor immediately enter Gavin's room, Lucien practically yanked the gauze from his hands to wrap around your hand, it dripping with blood, Gavin wiping away your tears, and Kiro staring at his IPad screen with AirPods in

"What happened?"

"My-My dad got really mad when I-I told him I really didn't like his remarks. That I felt I w-was stepping on eggshells with him-him. He got really mad that I was being se-sensitive and ungrateful, I wasn't try-ing to."

The way you chocked out an explanation as tears poured from your eyes as your hands shook in fear and pain

Victor asked Shaw and Kiro to step outside the door for a moment, he wanted a better explanation

"I came home and heard full on screaming from her dad that I wasn't even close to where they were. That was only the end of the screaming I came home to. MC tried acting as if she was okay and went to continue making lunch. I took my eyes off her for a moment that she cut herself when her hands were shaking. She begged me not to tell that asshole."

"I have security camera footage of the screaming. It's...It's really bad. Miss Chips said that she really didn't want him in her life but was scared this would happen. She said this is common with him."

Kiro's IPad showed the whole incident how you expressing your hurt and discomfort caused your dad to go screaming at you at the top of his lungs as you stood there apologizing and shaking in fear

"FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU!!!"

"I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT!!"

The three's blood ran cold at listening to him screaming with you crying in the background

Everyone laid in bed with you as you rant your feelings, past traumas and they're shocked at the things they're hearing

"He once banged on my d-door with all his strength because...because he-he didn't like that I would close the door."

After you confirmed you no longer want your birth dad in your life and fell asleep, the five men stormed over to the guest room where your dad was

Gavin cop knocked banged on the door and believe me how furious they were to see your dad

Victor gave the most intimidating voice he's ever given full of assertion and anger when telling birth dad he needs to pack up because he is no longer welcome in this house or near you

They couldn't believe this man when he threw a tantrum saying it was just an argument...excuse me argument

"Arguments are a disagreement between two individuals. Not one screaming at the other as the individual stands there in fear."

This guy was really not leaving and even trying to get pass them to get to you

Before Gavin or anyone were on the brink of committing assault charge, Kiro used his evol which shocked them as Kiro hardly ever uses his

"I command you. All within my range of control belongs to me. You will now leave this house and never return. Do not contact any of us. You will also cut off all ties with your daughter, forget her contact info and address."

The man immediately packed up all his things in a hurry as he was under Kiro's evol, they could see in his eyes of him forgetting your info and the location of the house

Victor called an Uber to drive the man to be dropped off in the city, as the car drove away they knew you were finally free from the man

During the rain this man should be careful with lightning strikes as it doesn't choose it's victim...or does it?

You could finally feel at peace when deleting his info from your phone and you no longer sent him money

#mlqc #mr love queens choice #mlqc gavin #mlqc victor #mlqc kiro #mlqc lucien #mlqc shaw #mlqc headcanon #mlqc headcanons #mr love queens choice headcanon #headcanon #reverse harem #housemates au #mlqc angst #angst

[xtruss]

A Muslim Writer on Finding Her Voice in Post-9/11, Post-Trump America

— By Aisha Sultan | 09/01/21 | Newsweek.

A new generation of Muslim Americans is making its mark. Spencer Platt/Getty

Like most Americans old enough to remember, I know exactly where I was and what I was doing on September 11, 2001 when the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City. I was showering when I heard my husband yelling for me. Dripping wet and wrapped in a towel, I watched in shock, along with tens of millions of others, as the Twin Towers fell, killing thousands of people inside.

Emotions from that day feel so much closer than two decades ago.

My stomach turned in revulsion. My body tightened with fear for my relatives who worked there. Dread settled like a heavy rock on my chest. Like other Americans, I wondered, who was attacking us. But as a Muslim, I had other questions too: Did the attackers claim to be Muslims? And, if so, what would happen to the rest of us?

I quickly got dressed and headed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where I worked as an education reporter. I talked to stunned school officials and students while still trying to process what was happening.

That evening, I checked in with my family in Texas. My brother, then in middle school, had been in class when his teacher broke the news. He became nervous and, in the teacher's eyes at least, asked too many questions. "Is this World War III? Did they bomb downtown? Are they going to bomb our town next?" The teacher told him to shut up and leave her classroom, that she couldn't bear to look at his face.

Riz Ahmed attends the "Mogul Mowgli" press conference during the 70th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Grand Hyatt Hotel on February 21, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Ahmed recently criticized “dehumanizing and demonizing portrayals of Muslims" in films. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

My mother's co-workers at the department store where she had worked for years suddenly refused to speak to her. Cops escorted my hijab-wearing cousin off her college campus because it was no longer deemed safe for her to be there.

In the immediate aftermath of that day's horror, my grief and anger as an American was so compounded with my fear and anxiety as a Muslim that it compelled me to do something unthinkable for me: I poured my heart out to the readers of the Sunday paper.

Back then, it was unusual for a news reporter to pen a personal response to a national tragedy. This was long before social media made us all performative, confessional animals. I needed my neighbors in the Midwest to know that while Muslim Americans shared their grief and anger, we also feared whether our country would turn on us.

I ended that column with the questions my college-aged sister had asked me: "Will the government come after us like they did with the Japanese? Will other Americans stand up for us?"

I told my readers the same thing I told her: I don't know.

I wasn't sure what to expect but dozens and dozens of readers responded to her question with expressions of support: Yes, we will stand up for you, you and your family are one of us, they said, in one way or another, in message after message. There were just two negative, Islamophobic emails in the bunch.

Such an overwhelmingly positive response seems inconceivable now, given how polarized our discourse is now and how normalized hate speech has become—an irony, when you consider how heightened anti-Muslim sentiment was at the time.

Key moments after 9/11 also feel unimaginable now. Back then, a Republican president, George W. Bush, visited the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. days after the attack to tell the American people that the attacks violated the tenets of Islam—"Islam is peace," he famously said—and to defend Muslims as equal citizens worthy of respect and protection. Our last Republican president, by contrast, touted a "Muslim ban" across the country. Even my state, Missouri, now bright partisan red, was a swing state back in 2001, where Democrats sometimes voted for Republicans and vice versa.

Coming together after tragedy: U.S. Muslims sing "God Bless America" at an interfaith memorial service in Pasadena, California for 9/11 victims two days after the attacks. Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty

It was against this backdrop that I felt moved to share my vulnerability with readers who may never have met a Muslim before.

Their responses reassured and comforted me, but the expressions of support didn't always—or even mostly—translate into action on a national scale. Instead, the Muslim community bore the brunt of the fallout of 9/11 for years. The government targeted Muslim communities with surveillance, questioning and confinement. It seemed law enforcement and the media used the label of "terrorism" for heinous crimes only if the perpetrator was Muslim. The number of anti-Muslim hate crime incidents reported to the FBI rose from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001— and those are just the official numbers. Countless incidents are never reported to the FBI.

Yet, in those ensuing years, creative work by Muslims also bubbled up in the country. A trio of Muslim comedians—Preacher Moss, Azhar Usman and Azeem Muhammad—launched the "Allah Made Me Funny" comedy tour in 2003. Writer Laila Lalami's debut novel, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, was published in 2005. Actor Aasif Mandvi began appearing on The Daily Show in 2006. G.Willow Wilson published her first graphic novel, Cairo, in 2007.

People who had lived as Muslims in America prior to 9/11 became American Muslims, more engaged in its civic, cultural and political institutions. Muslims creatives were reclaiming the narrative and telling our own stories instead of responding to the false dichotomy of victim or villain told about us.

I was among them. Seven years after the attacks, I began lobbying my editors for a features column, a departure from a decade of straight news reporting. I had become a mother with two small children. I was trying to make sense of the confusion and isolation that parenting provokes. My first column in 2008 described a bleak winter day when I was sleep-deprived and frustrated and feeling slightly suffocated by the tight bonds of motherhood.

The author: St. Louis Post-Dispatch syndicated columnist Aisha Sultan. Elizabeth Wisemen

Again, readers in the heartland responded with overwhelming support and commiseration. I wasn't making any overtly political arguments. As readers got to know me, they appreciated the commonalities in our parenting experiences despite our differences. I wasn't trying to be an ambassador or spokeswoman for my faith or an ethnic community. I was sharing my observations and struggles as a suburban, middle class American mom who happened to be Muslim and of Pakistani descent.

An older, childless white man who lives in a conservative exurban county wrote to say I was the only Muslim he knew besides the attackers on 9/11. He said he had changed his perspective on Muslims in America after reading my column for years. We weren't just a faceless enemy to him anymore. He saw me as a person, my humanity very real to him.

We've stayed in touch for more than a decade.

Over time more Americans have become like that reader, increasingly comfortable with the idea and presence of Muslims—as neighbors and even family members. Yet simultaneously, the conservative right turned Islam into an effective political weapon and used it to bludgeon Muslims who have sought greater representation and political power.

These opposing forces once again became evident in the correspondence I got from readers, The tone and tenor changed notably in the summer of 2016 as the political rhetoric of the presidential campaign came to a boiling point. Public writers have always had our share of angry critics. But the criticism I received turned increasingly vitriolic, with a deep undercurrent of anger. People who disagreed with what I'd written weren't merely looking to dissent but to silence me.

Increasingly, pushback was laced with profanity, racial slurs and calls to go back to where I came from. Anonymous writers called me a 'raghead c*nt' and others told me to "get out of America, you towel head bigot b*tch." One reader mailed a handwritten letter after I wrote about talking to my children about the killing of Travyon Martin, the Black teenager fatally shot by a white member of a neighborhood watch patrol in Florida. She said she would make a point of cutting out my column photo from the paper every weekend so she could put it in the toilet and piss on it.

After the 2016 election, the heightened anxiety about personal safety I'd felt right after 9/11 returned, even stronger and lasted for years. It's not hard to understand why. During the period between 2015 and 2016, the number of assaults against Muslims rose significantly, surpassing the aftermath of 9/11, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of hate crimes statistics from the FBI. Over the following years, disinformation and conspiracies began taking hold in America at a level I'd never seen before. White rage was palpable online and eventually, on the streets.

The memories and feelings associated with the events of 9/11 continue to play a role in attitudes toward the American Muslim community in some quarters. Here, the annual 'Tribute in Light' memorial in lower Manhattan near One World Trade Center. Spencer Platt/Getty

And yet during this period, Muslims in America continued to create art and cultural capital at an unprecedented level. Playwright Ayad Akhtar produced his Pultizer-winning play Disgraced. Hasan Minhaj reclaimed the title Patriot Act, launching a show that became a cultural touchpoint for a generation of American Muslims too young to know firsthand how that legislation was wielded against the Muslim community. Ramy Youssef won a Golden Globe, Mahershala Ali won two Oscars and Lena Khan is directing Hollywood films. Models, pundits and Olympic athletes came into the spotlight while wearing a hijab.

At some point, I too decided that whatever the costs of speaking out, far greater was the cost of silence. If someone was going to attack me for speaking out against white supremacists, that was a risk I was willing to take. I couldn't back down from writing about controversial issues that I knew would provoke an angry backlash, even when it felt reader abuse could possibly escalate to violence.

What I've observed and experienced over the past 20 years, as a columnist and as a Muslim, perhaps boils down to this: As the politics of exclusion grow more strident, parts of the culture embrace inclusivity. Each force is a reaction to the other.

Certainly this has happened in my own relationship with readers. Even as the negative emails ramped up in intensity and bile, I still have far more readers who send words of kindness and encouragement than hatred. Many reveal their own secrets and most vulnerable stories.

My goal when I began writing a column was to give a voice to parents struggling to raise kids in this digital, social media saturated age. I hope I've done that but along the way something else important happened: I found my own voice too.

My youngest sister, who was in college when I wrote my first personal story in the aftermath of 9/11, decided to attend law school after she graduated. She eventually ran for state judge in the 113th District in Houston and was elected in 2018 as part of the record-setting number of Muslims who won public office that year.

With the benefit of two decades of hindsight and the insights I've gained from my interaction with readers over the years, I realize I could have given her a better answer when she turned to me as a frightened college student in 2001. I could have reassured her: Yes, there will be other Americans who will stand up for us.

More importantly, we will learn to stand up for ourselves.

— Aisha Sultan is a syndicated columnist based at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.