#twitter will destroy you if you use more than one hashtag

[wobinbug]

Twitter's cooked, so I've come crawling here with nothing but my username in search of a new life.

Some things about myself:

I like programming, particularly web and games development

I'm currently doing a computing degree

I'm a graphic designer, but taking a break while studying

I like drawing! I hope to feel comfortable enough to post some drawings online again.

This is just a general blog where I'll post anything I find interesting, but you can generally expect:

No particular fandom focus. Lately, I'm into Bleach, Spy x Family, Mashle and The Legend of Zelda.

Basically, if you like Nintendo games, JRPGs and popular manga, we'll get along lmao

Fire Emblem is probably my most consistent interest

I'll likely post about some graphic design and development things from time to time as well

#twitter survivor #new account #multi fandom blog #spy x family #mashle #bleach #programming #nintendo #nintendo switch #legend of zelda #jrpg #gaming #developer #i don't know how many tags are acceptable #twitter will destroy you if you use more than one hashtag #about myself #musings #please say hi

[icycoldninja]

I actually didn’t expect you to do my request ( the Van Helsing one ) since I’m used to my request being ignored but I’m thankful nevertheless

Can you make a headcanon of the DMC men with a reader who is basically the daughter of Loki, the bastard offspring of the Jotunn.

She’s a deity who is forsaken by the other gods, including her father due to her grotesque form. In order to be accepted, she wears a disguise of a woman but her real form looks somewhat like this and the reason for her disguise is that she herself detest that form because that’s the reason of her father’s abandonment and she fears that anyone close to her would leave the same way he did when they found out who she truly is.

She’s a deity who guards the Norwegian forest and basically turn anyone into a “Twitter hashtag” if they do not respect nature, take more than what’s given and skim through their subconscious to find they’d done bad deed

( Her abilities and appearance based on the 2017 The Ritual’s Moder )

Bro, I'd never ignore a request, even if I had to turn it down, I'd still say something. Here you go and enjoy! 💜💜

Sparda boys + V x daughter of Loki!Reader headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Your human disguise captivated Dante; it was more beautiful than any woman he'd ever seen.

-When he saw your true nature, and how you'd been shunned for it, he immediately walked over, threw his arms around your neck, and told you he still loved you no matter what you looked like.

-He tells you that there's no need to feel ashamed of your abilities, and that your dad abandoned you cause he was a jerk, not because of anything you did. You are amazing person, with supernatural powers that you should be proud of.

-He honestly found it kinda cool that you guarded forests and destroy those who disrespect nature and commit evil deeds. It's what he would do if he were a mighty, magical deity.

-He considers moving to Norway to be closer to you, but he first has to figure out how to relocate Devil May Cry.

-Really, really, really wants to ride on your back but is worried your spine will break or will poke him in places he shouldn't be poked in.

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil was impressed when he saw your true form, as it was a testament of your POWER.

-He was astounded when you told him your father abandoned you and that you had been shamed for your true nature. Why would anyone do that? Vergil was sure you had to have been the coolest deity in heaven--there is absolutely no reason for you to resent your true self.

-He motivates you to accept who you are, but he won't stop you from using your human disguise because it is quite beautiful.

-Spends more time outdoors, specifically in the forest, because he knows you guard them.

-He has nothing to say about what you do to those who disrespect the forest or commit bad deeds because he simply doesn't care, but wonders if you would use these powers to kill demons.

-He can feel it when you scan his mind and decides to mentally tell you he loves you whenever you do.

□ Nero □

-Nero saw your human form and was enthralled; you're the hottest chick he'd ever met.

-Then he saw your true form, and was absolutely terrified, which is understandable considering his girlfriend just morphed and changed into a monster straight out of a horror movie before his eyes.

-It takes him a moment, but then he pulls himself together and reminds himself that you are still you and...hey...this whole monster thing is starting to work for him.

-He's sorry to hear how you were treated because of your lineage and abilities, and promises to not let you feel that way about yourself again.

-He is proud of you and what you do, taking the time to head to the forests to visit you whenever he can.

-He also constantly reminds you that you are worth more than the world and that you are an amazing deity whom he will always love, even if you're a scary monster.

● V ●

-V was attracted to you, though not because of your human disguise. It was because of something else.

-You just captivated him, for no discernable reason. This reason was soon unveiled when you revealed your true and terrifying self to him.

-Though some might be disgusted or even frightened, V was amazed, charmed; bewitched. He'd never seen anything like this and he loved it.

-V can't take his eyes off you, his hungry gaze searching over you, memorizing each and every detail. He's going to write so many poems about you.

-He loves you and wants you to know you were cast out for a ridiculous reason. You are incredible; you always will be, and you should be proud of who you are.

-Makes sure to tell you that every chance he gets, either through poetry, his own words, or both.

#Dmc #Dmc5 #devil may cry 5 #devil may cry #Dmc dante #Dmc vergil #Dmc Nero #Dmc v #Dmc5 dante #dmc5 vergil #Dmc5 Nero #Dmc5 v #Devil may cry vergil #Devil may cry dante #Devil may cry Nero #Devil may cry v #Devil may cry 5 dante #Devil may cry 5 nero #Devil may cry 5 v #Headcannons #dante x reader #vergil x reader #nero x reader #v x reader #dmc dante x reader #dmc vergil x reader #dmc nero x reader #dmc v x reader #dmc5 dante x reader #dmc5 v x reader

[endeavornetwork]

Random rant, but I'm just wondering why Zack Snyder's Justice League keeps being referenced in media as shorthand for a toxic male space? I dunno about you, but I wrote hashtags, watched the movie on Max, got my DVD, and stfu. All of the people I follow on Twitter and Tumblr from fandom days have moved on to other things: other fandoms, reviewing films, discussing other media.

A lot of the leaders of the DCEU/ZS fandom were women, like the women who put together and hosted JusticeCon. I don't know the demographics of the fandom, but if there are more men than women or non-binary folks, then it's not like that's unusual. Most geek fandoms have more men, like Star Wars, Marvel, and any major video game. And there are infamous contingents of those fandoms who are misogynistic and racist. But for some reason, the DCEU/ZS fandom has become shorthand for a toxic male fandom.

I remember when the movie first came out, I thought people were finally empathetic. People were saying they were glad Zack got his version out after being mistreated following a family tragedy. They said the movie was pretty good, surprisingly good. They were relieved that the fandom would stop campaigning on Twitter.

But now, it seems like that temporary good will has faded, and people are back to making fun of the fans, and by extension, the movie. Making fun of the movie is, at the least, mean. Considering the circumstances that destroyed it in the first place.

Waiting for a year when no one references the movie or its campaigners. A lot of us moved on. You can too.

#Go get obsessed with a piece of media and let it take up all your brain space #Sorry for throwing SW under the bus again #dceu #zack snyder

[zhouxiangs]

Yeah I’ve seen P’Nut getting hate for “destroying” ship :( P’Nut is literally my comfort queer person so I feel sorry for him, I don’t want to assume anything but for me they seem closer than friends 👀 but also seen gossips about P’Spy girlfriend but everyone gets them, from haters especially so I don’t want to focus on that, just SpyNut in general, if they’re closer then it’s okay (I think P’Nut is very kind and genuine person and he’s really open minded - came out about his relationship which lasted for 7 years it’s great, really love him)

yeah better not to listen to rumours imo... honestly they seem to be more than okay with people shipping them and have used hashtags etc on socials themselves, so as long as you're respectful i don't see any problem in having fun with it lol

he's great isn't he 🥹 there's a reason i like him so much. because of ✨ my brain ✨ it's rare for me to keep up with both people and fictional characters for a long time, even though i tend to like them very easily, but nut has been going strong for months (my friend has been calling him "tu frutito seco"* from pretty much the first time i mentioned him because she could tell already sdfkl)

*"your (diminutive of the literal translation of) nut" in spanish, idk it's so funny to me how his name turns so unnecessarily long 😭 but we do that a lot with translatable names (it's always affectionate, just in case lol)

i was scrolling twitter that time he replied "what do you want me to do?" to that one intl sailubpon fan if you can even call them that that was scolding him for not hiding his friendship sdjfklsf he's such an icon

#also i love his fashion and we seem to have similar taste #not that that's anything special but it's always exciting somehow lol #asks #anon #nut supanut #surprisingly i adopted a bunch of actors in the span of like three months? if that?? around 200-300 days ago #<- some of them in the span of three days

[gacorley]

Twitter is being actively destroyed.

You can’t paste or use more than one hashtag on Threads.

Bluesky is still invite only.

Mastodon is great, but the general public is scared of choosing a server.

It’s not looking great for microblogging at the moment.

[beatricmalfoy]

I am so tired of all this hate that going on in this fandom, especially towards BOC. I feel like no matter what they do or say, they will always be in the wrong and receive more and more hatred. It is simply a witch hunt at this point. If you don’t like Pond, or BOC or some actors and keep on saying how incompetent they in comparison to other companies, just move on to those companies, you don’t have to suffer with us.

Thanks to BOC we all have things and people that we love so dearly: we have Jeff’s song, we have Barcode, KinnPorsche received second chance and it was fantastic - 10 times better and healthier than the novel, we had many fantastic moments during tours, many incredible bts videos, blogs, songs and other content. We found out about 16 fantastic actors and this year was supposed to be even better, with not one or two, but four projects with our cast. So please stop with that canceling. Yes, we don’t like the situation with Build and we will not know the outcome for many months maybe, yes Pond did stupid thing (but everyone does, no one is perfect and we all make mistakes), but let’s forgive him for being emotional and move on to see a better future together.

Also, I would like thank all the blogs and accounts that continued with their content and did not make any ridiculous statements or any hateful decisions. Thank you for being safe place to hide from this mess and to being comforted with the same content as always.

If you want to spread a little bit positivity and support boc, you can use these hashtags on Twitter or anywhere else:

#SupportOurBoCBoys

#SupportBOC

To Build fans: I understand that you are hurting and you want to bring down the company with Build, but stop it. I am so sick of those videos where you make fun of how many followers are left and how tickets aren’t sold out yet. If you think that your actor is a decent person, then he wouldn’t want his fans to destroy life’s of his friends. Stop making up stories and reasons to bring down BOC. Just leave, unsubscribe and leave. Create your fandom, continue to support him, do whatever you want but don’t spread this violence more and more. If you want him to come back some day, to make him proud of you, don’t act like that. Do you think BOC or any other company would want to hire him if you keep on attacking everyone? Will you do this to his next employer also? Just stop for a second and think about the consequences of your actions and what they mean for you, Build, cast, other fans and Build’s future. Just think about it.

Thank you

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #build jakapan #pond krisda #stop hate #SupportOurBoCBoys #kinnporsche cast #Support BOC #be on cloud #kinnporche the series

[beardedmrbean]

There is public outrage in India over the depiction of a Hindu goddess that critics say disparages the religious figure.

The image appears in a poster promoting the new short film Kaali by Canadian-based Indian filmmaker Leena Manimekalai. The poster depicts Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette and holding an LGBTQ+ flag.

After filmmaker Leena Manimekalai shared the poster in a tweet Saturday, the day a museum in Toronto hosted the film’s first showing, the image of the smoking goddess sparked a furor in India with angry Hindus demanding a ban on the film and legal action against the filmmaker.

Monday, the Indian High Commission in Canada said it had received complaints from Hindu community leaders over the “disrespectful depiction of Hindu gods” in the poster, and it urged the Canadian authorities and the event organizers to withdraw all “provocative” materials related to the film.

A day later, the museum issued an apology, saying the film was no longer being shown there, and that it regretted having “inadvertently caused offense to members of the Hindu and other faith communities.”

Manimekalai wrote and directed Kaali as an academic project in her graduate study program at Toronto Metropolitan University. In the film, Manimekalai is an incarnation of the goddess Kaali. Living as a queer female filmmaker in Toronto, she attempts to find belonging in a land stolen from its rightful inhabitants— the First Nations.

As the goddess of death, time and change, the dilemma of the reincarnated goddess in the film finds a resolution only at the end, when it dawns on her that ultimately, the land can be owned by no one; the universe is in a state of constant flux. The promotional poster shows a scene in which, dressed as the goddess Kaali, Manimekalai shares a cigarette with a homeless man.

“When I embody Kaali, I am Kaali myself. My Kaali is queer. She is a free spirit. She spits at the patriarchy. She dismantles Hindutva. She destroys capitalism,” Manimekalai told VOA. “She embraces everyone with all her thousand hands.”

Death threats

Manimekalai’s tweet of the poster went viral Saturday with tens of thousands of members of the Hindu community retweeting it with a hashtag reading “Arrest Leena Manimekalai.”

Police cases were filed against her in several states for “hurting the religious sentiments” of Hindus.

One Hindu group said in a police complaint that the depiction of the goddess Kaali in the poster was “completely unacceptable to Hindus” and Manimekalai “deliberately distorted the Hindu religion and culture with malicious intent to insult Hindu religious feelings.”

Manimekalai said she and her family members received death and rape threats from more than 200,000 social media accounts. In a video that surfaced online, a Hindu priest from the north Indian temple town Ayodhya threatened: “Do you want your head to be severed from your body?”

In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Manimekalai’s native state in India, police arrested the female leader of a Hindu right-wing group for allegedly threatening her with death. The leader allegedly posted a video online in which she condemned her using strong words and threatened to kill her.

Twitter on Wednesday removed Manimekalai’s poster tweet.

Reacting to Twitter’s action, she said in a tweet, "Will @TwitterIndia withhold the tweets of the 200000 hate mongers?! These lowlife trolls tweeted and spread the very same poster that they find objectionable. Kaali cannot be lynched. Kaali cannot be raped. Kaali cannot be destroyed. She is the goddess of death."

The filmmaker said that the reaction in India against her film cannot be termed just an “outrage.”

“If a person in the street pounces upon you, it is a crime. If a person violates your body in a public place, it is sexual harassment. If a person throws acid on your face, it is an attempt of murder. If a person uses foul language against you, it is abuse. If a person goes after your family and friends and supporters and threatens them, it is violence. If all this is done by a mob, how can you call it just an 'outrage'?” she asked.

“How can I report 200000 ids? Where should I report? Who is going to take action? There is no law in India. The Constitution of the country is dead.” _________________________

Just gonna tack on this link to a related piece.

Kaali poster row: ‘Goddess Kaali is queer, free spirit that spits on patriarchy,’ says Leena Manimekalai

#nunyas news #this isn't one you hear terribly often #usually a totally different religious group doing this #I was almost with her till that last thing there #she should be free to say what she wants to say #but that's just poking the bear at this point

[eartharoundsun]

Feminist – The Master of Social Media Presentation: Twitter – “Be Strong and Straightforward”, Facebook – “Everything must be in Moderation”, and Tumblr – “Just be Yourself”!

“You’d better manage yourself online!”

“Be careful with what you say on social media!”

“Your careless online image will destroy you! Pay attention to what you post!”

Hurt… but it sounds so familiar, right? Too often, we – under the female gender – always being criticized as irresponsible social media users and are required to control our online image better (Dobson & Ringrose 2016). But is that the reality? Think again! Girls are truly the social media game controller! Understanding the unique “vibe and behavior” of each platform, females know how to pick up different identities that work best for them on specific digital media. By analyzing “digital characteristics” on three platforms: Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, are you ready to be surprised by how “tricky” a girl could be to use social media in multiple ways to participate in feminist activism? Okay, let’s dive in…

Twitter – “Be Strong and Straightforward”

Has anyone ever imagined a platform that is open for hot debates, controversial discussions, and well, curse words of course? Twitter gets your back! This is a micro-blogging platform that allows users to create brief bursts of text (known as “tweets”) of under 280 characters and is commonly organized around themed “hashtags” to facilitate communication between users (Keller 2019, p.5). Knowing the Twitter nature of prioritizing fast-moving content (both original and retweet), girls frequently develop hashtags to widely raise awareness of feminist issues like sexual abuse, racism, etc. on this platform (Keller et al. 2018, Loza 2014, Thrift 2014). #Metoo was one of the greatest feminist movements on Twitter since this hashtag has been used over 19 million times. On average, more than 55,000 tweets sharing personal stories and statements using the #Metoo hashtag were shared daily (Anderson & Toor 2020). Downright and straightforward are what women show off through this platform

Facebook – “Everything must be in Moderation”

Because of the “authentic identity” requirements and “imagined audience” concerns, honestly, this social media is far from an ideal platform for girls to fight for themselves!  With large profits coming from selling user databases to advertisers (Bivens 2015), individuals are required to create a “real self” by filling in first and last names when creating a Facebook profile. However, this could be triggering the spread of feminist activities, especially among teenage girls due to the fear of becoming the haters’ “targeted goal” in real life if they know too much about their personal information and identity. Moreover, Facebook's “friend circle” is also a huge concern. Since most of the “friends” users have are real ones – parents, siblings, etc., so of course, no one wants to freak out their grandma by reporting personal statements of being sexually racist! “Plus point”, because Facebook prohibits controversial debate about sexism, girls instead need to replace with “repost” less debatable content like comic feminist memes or sexist advertisements (Keller 2019, p.7). Moderation, conservative, and careful will be what I will describe feminist activities on Facebook

Tumblr – “Just be Yourself”

Is it too much to dream about a vibrant “individual-centered” long-post blogging platform where everyone is supported to be themselves, freely sharing whatever they want, build their own kingdom, and simply, just be as crazy and creative as they want without the pressure of being judged and criticized? Not anymore! Tumblr is here! With no personal profiles or “friend network” requirements, anonymity is Tumblr's biggest strength making girls insanely jump into this “heaven” to practice feminism (Keller 2019, p.7). With the nature of “nobody knows who anybody is” and “keep going without knowing what you are going to find”, Tumblr is like a perfect “black hole” where females can comfortably express their true feelings and personal issues (Keller 2019, p.8). Deep and authentic are what women normally show on Tumblr

Okay, let's just sum up a bit what our girls are doing online!

Even though we still need to face the sad reality that a “risk-free” digital platform will never have existed and feminist teenage girls and women – particularly those of queer, poor, color, or disabled – are now facing a higher risk of being social media targeted “hate speech (Keller 2019, p.9), just don’t be afraid! The period when women patiently tolerated defamation is over and feminism is growing stronger than ever before!

In the final words, I just wanna send a big heart to every female in this world and a quick reminder that you guys are smarter and stronger than you think! Together, let’s create a better place!

Reference

Anderson, M., & Toor, S 2020, ‘How social media users have discussed sexual harassment since #MeToo went viral’, Swinburne Library, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/11/how-social-media-users-have-discussed-sexual-harassment-since-metoo-went-viral/

Dobson, A. S., & Ringrose, J 2016, ‘Sex education: Pedagogies of sex, gender, and shame in the schoolyards of tagged and exposed’, Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, 16, 8–21

Jessalynn, K 2019, “Oh, She’s a Tumblr Feminist”: Exploring the Platform Vernacular of Girls’ Social Media Feminisms, Social Media + Society, Volume 5 issue:3, p.5-9

Keller, J., Mendes, K., & Ringrose, J 2018, ‘Speaking “Unspeakable” things: Documenting digital responses to rape culture’, Journal of Gender Studies, 27(1), 22–36

Loza, S 2014, ‘Hashtag feminism, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, and the other #FemFuture’, Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media and Technology, 5, https://adanewme- dia.org/2014/07/issue5-loza/

Thrift, S 2014, ‘YesAllWomen as feminist meme event’, Feminist Media Studies, 14, 1090–1092

#mda20009 #feminism #girl power

[mariacallous]

(JTA) — Former U.S. president Donald Trump launched his latest broadside against liberal Jews — while wishing them a happy Rosh Hashanah.

“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives!” read the text of the image Trump posted Sunday night, near the end of the holiday marking the Jewish new year. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistakes and make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”

The image also included a portrait of Trump, the frontrunner for next year’s Republican presidential nomination, against the backdrop of an American flag.

That picture was followed by a list of five actions the former president took that were celebrated by many of his Jewish supporters. Those included moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; and signing an executive order that expanded the government’s ability to investigate campus antisemitism complaints, among others.

“Wake Up Sheep. What Natzi / Anti Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel?” read the text of the image, which included a number of factual and spelling errors.

It was unclear who created the image — which Trump shared without adding a caption of his own. The post concluded with a heart emoji and the apparently sardonic message, “Clearly, one of the greatest Anti Semites of our time! #Trump2020 #JEXIT.” The second hashtag refers to a campaign to persuade Jewish voters to leave the Democratic party.

Sunday’s post is not the first time Trump has suggested that liberal-leaning Jews — who make up a majority of American Jewry — are working against the country’s interests.

As president in 2019, during a meeting with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, Trump told reporters, “I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

Last October, Trump posted on Truth Social that Evangelicals were more appreciative of what he has done in Israel than “people of the Jewish faith.” He added, “Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!”

And in December, he took aim at “Jewish leaders” following criticism of a dinner he hosted with the Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and Kanye West, who had posted a stream of antisemitic comments.

“How quickly Jewish Leaders forgot that I was the best, by far, President for Israel,” Trump said then in an official 2024 campaign statement. “They should be ashamed of themselves. This lack of loyalty to their greatest friends and allies is why large numbers in Congress, and so many others, have stopped giving support to Israel.”

On Monday, the American Jewish Committee condemned Trump’s statement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Claiming that American Jews who did not vote for Mr. Trump voted to destroy America and Israel is deeply offensive and divisive,” the group wrote, urging political candidates to refrain from using incendiary rhetoric.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, also condemned Trump’s comments on Monday, accusing Trump of advancing an antisemitic stereotype that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States.

“It is dangerous and wrong to suggest an entire segment of the Jewish population voted to destroy America and Israel,” Greenblatt said. “Whether or not it’s intentional, President Trump is playing into conspiracy theories about dual loyalty here.”

Greenblatt added that although his organization supported many of the policies listed in the image Trump shared, “ADL doesn’t believe that our community needs to be lectured about how to vote.”

[mimieowza]

Critical Digital Natives

MIL practices are an important part of almost everyone's day-to-day lives, there are 5 major forms of social media that may influence a person's digital footprint. So, how does each practice influence your digital footprint? The singular most prominent way to impact your digital footprint is by engaging with Social Media as a whole, as it’s by far the most popular way of sharing information online. It can reveal almost everything about you, the most you use it the more accurate the information. No matter the type of content you provide, whether it be videos, posts, or stories, it will collect that information, saying an awful lot about who you are and will heavily influence how others online will perceive you as a whole.

Blogging, this form of media allows a user to express their opinions on whatever topic or trend is either floating around or piques their interest, social media allows them to share it with the world and depending on a user's sources and knowledge of a topic, it will showcase one's intellectual ability, skills with researching and communication, and interests. It can also, in some cases, establish them as somewhat of an authoritarian figure within communities should they receive enough positive feedback.

Online forums and discussion boards leave a digital footprint awfully similar to blogging, but they also show how you engage with others in a more discussion type of setting, rather than a more story format like blogging.

E-commerce, this form of media really will say a lot about a person depending on their information given, purchases, habits, reviews, and frequency. It can impact you both negatively, or positively depending on those as well as show how well you handle impulse control.

Literature. Depending on either the types of literature a person publishes, shares, or consumes themselves online can impact your digital footprint. Again, this can be both a negative or positive outcome depending on what a user indulges themselves in. Producing well-written, researched, engaging content can truly boost your reputation within communities, doing the opposite will obviously have more negative outcomes.

It’s much better to use these tools to create a positive name for yourself online, as sometimes it can stem into real life, especially in more recent years. Some may believe any attention is good attention, which is far from a good mindset to have while approaching subjects like this as it can truly mess with people's lives, sometimes destroying them, only for a brief moment of attention which ultimately isn’t worth it, however, it fuels their ego briefly before they inevitably suffer the consequences of their actions.

However, it’s uncertain if any form of media needs to be modified, it’s all within the user's choice on what information is given and how they are perceived online. They have full control, the media isn’t to blame for what a user puts out for everyone to see. Following that, the media can be blamed for breaches of security via hackers or leaks in their systems, all forms of media should prioritize the safety and privacy of its users which many media, unfortunately, struggle with. Otherwise, for the user, it’s best to prioritize more productive forms of media if they desire to make somewhat of a name for themselves, primarily social media which has a very wide range of what you can produce as content. Anything from humor, gaming, and educational content, there's truly no limit to it.

If a user wishes to reach a wider variety of people, it’s good to gain communication skills and knowledge of how to reach the target audience generally via hashtags or community posts. Using apps like that of Tiktok, YouTube or Twitter are the most popular ways to reach an audience, by observing some of the larger creators on these forms of media along with other blogs, or more news-like, informative media is an amazing way to strengthen your digital literacy skills and gain many new skills for the online world. Having knowledge of how it all works is beneficial for your reputation as a user and potential influence, or authority figure within communities as mentioned earlier.

[graph100]

Thoughts on Social Networks (the Future) (Manifesto?)

i think one of my big goals for programming would be to create functional social networks. ive already taught myself the groundwork for a making a basic messageboard a la pre-4-chan sites in japan.

unrelated to my programming skill, i feel like we should bring back forums, but still keep the rapid nature that i like about twitter.

i love that on smth like twitter i can just say my thoughts into the void an someone might enjoy them. i also like the old internet style of forums and i 1000% apriciate those who answer my obscure forums, especially those on the casio calculator forums so i could learn how to program my casio calculator, but thats a story for a different time

maybe for this new twitter x forum design strategy we could rewrite the hyper-contained nature of forum threads and topics and make them more fluid, maybe containing them to topics via hashtags. ofc things like html tag-esc styles to posts, i especially like the way discord does it, however i use *(insert thing here)* to emphasize things, and italicising it is not what i mean, so that could be improved upon.

also the character count can be limited because yea. like does anyone really like that? its either a non existant problem or something to break your pace while writing something big and important, in an almost innapropriate-for-the-situation manner.

I also feel like message boards and oekaki boards should be brought back, i think they could be very fun, but we (the designers/creators of the sites) would need to be careful to avoid a situation to the tschernobyl-nuclear-reaction-site-ish nature of 4chan and whatever happened to 8chan (i think) that got it to be destroyed because of hyper-harmful political effects (if i remember correctly)

for a long time now ive also envisioned a social network that revolves around music, almost like an imageboard but with mp3 files.

[unfortunately for audiophiles] mp3 files would be the best option considering theyre much less limited than midi, but arent as heavy as wav or flacc files. maybe ogg files would be a better choice considering their universal nature, but does every browser support it?

also being able to comment and like posts would be mandatory, and maybe an in-browser lightweight audio file editor could be added for things like sneak peeks or possibly to create a culture of remixes like nightcore, chopping up songs, slowed versions, fast versions, a=432 versions, extended mixes, etc.

also, my most favorite idea for music yet, GIF ALBUM COVERS! i dont care how you pronounce it (seriously why is this still a thing), but i feel like it would be super cool to have gif album covers. some problems for looking in the future would be the limited color nature of some gif formats, and loading times, but regardless its still a cool idea. think of the possibilities! ofc theres basic things like simple moving images or short animations or color changes, but you could also have different versions of album covers because one image just doesnt do the trick, you could have album covers that change the language for more international understanding, you could have animations that sync to the beat of the song, the possibilities are endless

although, there is one end. file sizes for both covers and songs alike would be needed. maybe some of the remixes i suggested earlier could have a json file that adds those changes instead of an entirely new mp3 file, similar to sheet music, although there would need to be a quick way to create those effects on the fly. I also really dont want to end up in the pitfall that most modern websites end up in, where they sacrifice efficient web browsing for instead taking your personal information in inneficient javascript and making it take a whole half-hour to scroll through a simple webpage. i know that in earlier internet days, when gifs were all the rage, webpages would get really slow from all of the animations that were playing, and this is still an issue till this day

anyways that concules my ted talk

#web #web 2.0 #social media #social networks #message boards #forums #music #music culture #web developement #gifs

[daddys-littlegoddess]

PSA on Britney Spears and the #FreeBritney movement for anyone that needs or wants more information on what is going on with her. It’s a fucking rabbit hole, so buckle up.

A little backstory first. Britney was a child star starting at the age of 4 years old on Broadway, and then worked her way to the Mickey Mouse Club, and eventually the solo career we know today. Her career has been on autopilot her entire life. If you look back at her music, she’s been telling everyone for years she’s too controlled and treated as a product if you listen to the lyrics of most of her hits. Examples include: Lucky, Overprotected, My Perogative, Circus, Piece of Me and Gimme More. Her music videos, social media posts, tour props and photoshoots regularly show her in a cage or in chains. If anyone has ever seen videos of her when she was younger, you’d know her REAL singing voice is very similar to Christina Aguilera’s. Her record label didn’t like it, as they were both on the Mickey Mouse Club and about to release their debut albums at the same time. So they had her voice retrained to sing in the baby voice we all know today because they believed it to be more iconic and would create a brand and career for her instead of her real voice. It’s unhealthy, and it’s been destroying her voice over the years, thus why she is known for lip syncing. She wanted to make an acoustic type pop album in 2006 titled Original Doll and reinvent herself using her real voice. The album was shelved and cancelled once her label realized she would be singing in her real voice. She isn’t allowed to sing live because she will either fail terribly, or she’ll have to sing in her deep voice that she isn’t known for. Her entire career she has been treated like a product meant to sell.

Now, for the real tea.

Everyone remembers the 2007 meltdown. Everyone. Leading up the meltdown Britney was going thru a public divorce, had two children under the age of 2 at the time and was VERY much the focus of the public. We all saw her on every magazine cover. We all also saw the photo of her with one of her kids on her lap while driving. Go on YouTube once and look up ‘Britney Spears paparazzi’. You’ll watch her be chased and followed by hundreds of them, even trying to get into a public restroom to photograph her, videotaping her in tears asking them to leave her alone, and even filming her thru the windows of an ambulance while she was naked being taken away for her final mental health hold.

After the public meltdown, shaving her head, locking herself in her home with her children, speaking in a british accent on regular basis, wearing the imfamous pink wig everywhere, and shopping naked, she was hospitalized twice. After the hospitalization, her father petitioned the courts to be a TEMPORARY conservator to her until she was mentally stable and for only one years time. 2 months after her hospitalization she did a guest appearance on How I Met Your Mother. 6 months after her hospitalization, she drops the Womanizer video and starts to promote her new album Circus with its worldwide tour that grossed $131.8 million. If she’s so unwell, why did she start working right away?

Her father after one year petitioned the courts for the conservatorship to become permanent due to her ALLEGEDLY having EARLY ONSET DEMENTIA in her TWENTIES. It passed and has been that way ever since. For 12 years to be exact.

Now for everyone that doesn’t understand what that means let me break it down for you.

Britney Spears is a now 38 year old woman who is not allowed to do the following without her fathers permission or he can legally lock her up in a mental health facility:

• drive a car

• vote

• get married

• have children

• spend HER OWN MONEY

• see how her money is being spent

• see her children (she has 30% custody of both of her boys due to her dad assaulting one of her sons)

• leave her home

• hire her own lawyer

• have any control over her career

• speak about the conservatorship publicly

• do interviews that aren’t scripted and all final cuts are approved by her father as well

• use a cell phone without being monitored

• use social media unmonitored

• contact ANYONE without being monitored or having them extremely vetted. (Iggy Azalea allegedly had her house searched for drugs top to bottom when they collaborated on a song together)

• go shopping

• go for a walk

• get Starbucks

A conservatorship is meant for people with mental health issues or decaying health. Most likely grandparents or people with actual dementia etc. They are meant for people who literally cannot take care of themselves. If she is so unwell that she isn’t mentally capable of doing anything for herself, why is she still working? Since the conservatorship began 12 years ago she has:

• released 4 albums

• done 3 worldwide tours

• did a FOUR-year Vegas residency

• was a full time judge on X-Factor

• released multiple perfumes and a lingerie line

• made $138 MILLION DOLLARS or so A YEAR

In January of last year, Britney was placed in a mental health facility for 3 months after being seen driving her car to In-N-Out with her boyfriend without permission and for refusing to take the sedating medications her father has doctors prescribing her to keep her under control. She testified to a judge in documents that she was held there against her will by her father. After it was leaked to the press that she was there against her will, the Free Britney movement picked up speed causing a judge to open an investigation into the impact and legality her conservatorship has on her life. Britney’s mother Lynn was also liking and commenting on Free Britney posts saying she agrees that Britney is trapped by her father. Britney’s team had Twitter disable the Free Britney hashtag, and regularly threatens any celebrity that speaks out using the hashtag with a lawsuit if they don’t remove their support for the movement. She was seen shortly after leaving a hotel thru the front door (99% of celebrities park underground to avoid paparazzi unless they WANT to be photographed) stumbling while carrying her shoes, and out of it. Her team used that moment to justify to the public that she needs this conservatorship. She is not allowed to have any say in the hiring or firing of anyone on her team. Every year she pays $1.1 million dollars in fees for the conservatorship to continue, including paying her father a solid $100k+ salary and paying a lawyer she isn’t allowed to choose. She is allowed an allowance of around $1,500 a week for bills, shopping and essentials. Her net worth is $250 million.

So, when everyone sees her on Instagram walking up and down her hallways like it’s a fashion show. That’s all she is allowed to do. She has NEVER had control over her life. I don’t care if you personally like her or her music, NO ONE DESERVES THIS. All this woman wants is to see her children, make the music she wants to make, and go get a frappuccino in her car. She is a light of sunshine in this world, and we must protect her at all costs. So please, do not make fun of her, support the Free Britney movement, and send good vibes her way. She has a court date this month to review the conservatorship and decide if it is abusive or will continue to be in place. There are so many details to this that i left out that would make this post entirely much longer than it is, but a simple search will show you what else is out there. Spread this far and wide. ❤️ Free Britney

#free britney

[taleasnewastime]

#SaveOurCommunityCentre

Summary: The place you love most in the world is going to be destroyed, knocked down in favour of an expensive housing complex. You’re trying everything you can to stop the project, but it doesn’t seem enough. While you’re trying to juggle that, the company have assigned a community liaison to the project and though he keeps coming along to the site, helping out, giving advice, being friendly, you can’t help but not trust him.

Pairing: Namjoon x reader

Genre: enemies to lovers; angst; fluff

Word count: 15.2k

Warnings: Talk of a deprived area, arguing, swearing, tbh I don’t think there are many warnings for this but if you spot something I’ve missed feel free to let me know and I’ll add it.

Authors Note: Why are summaries and endings so hard to write? Anyway, happy hump day. I hope you’re having a nice week so far!

“It’s a good turn out.”

“Good turn out? Y/N, you’re joking right? You told me you expected five people to turn up.”

“Yeah … well … that’s because only five people said they’d come. Well, seven did, but I really wasn’t holding out hope on Mike and Tala.”

“Y/N,” Alex turns to you, eyes wide from looking around the room. “I don’t think you get my point. The room is full. I think I can see Margret handing out extra chairs. Everyone is here.”

“Yeah, like I said, it’s a good turn out.”

He shakes his head, incredulous. You can see out of the corner of your eye that he’s gone back to looking around the room, raises his hand in greeting occasionally. But your eyes are fixed firmly on the podium in front of you, on the long empty table with five empty chairs.

Alex is right, of course, the amount of people currently in the room is far higher than you thought it would be. You just can’t seem to gain any joy from that information at the moment.

The nerves in you swirl and bubble so much that you think you may be sick any moment. This is such a big moment, something you have been thinking of for weeks if not months. This is it. If it goes terribly then you can’t help but think that it will all be over. All that hard work for nothing.

“It’s good Y/N,” Alex says from beside you, probably gathering all the thoughts going around your head. His voice is full of the hope you wish you felt. “They have to listen to us now. They have to take our opinions on board. It will look bad on them now if they don’t, with this many people threatening to take a stand.”

You nod along to his words, but you don’t really believe them. Sure, more people will be a benefit, but there is no legal obligation for them to do what you say today. They’re only doing this meeting because of all the pressure you’ve put on them. They think this might appease you, quieten you down, get you off their backs. You don’t truly believe that this will actually change their plans, but it’s a start at least.

“It’s an ongoing battle,” Alex says, his hand reaching out to squeeze yours. “But it’s still one we can change the tide on.”

You nod again, this time a bit more confidently.

He’s right. When you first heard that Seven Living had bought the land where your community garden is with plans to build a luxury apartment block, you were livid. Thought that they couldn’t do that, that the council wouldn’t have sold the land that so many people use and benefit from. But you soon realised that it wasn’t a mistake, the signs that had been plastered everywhere were right. Your community garden and centre were going to be demolished in favour of a multi-million pound complex for the rich.

You’d lobbied, complained to your MP, your mayor, neither of which seemed to take any responsibility on the matter (typical). You’d written to Seven Living, had received a generic response. You couldn’t take responsibility for getting the community together to petition against the sale, that was all Alex, but you have been using all your free time to do anything you can think of to stop the build.

Letters, emails, calls, Facebook groups, twitter hashtags, posters around the local area; everything seemed to fall on death ears. Sure, you had support from those that used the garden, there was outrage at the juxtaposition of a community garden for anyone in the community to use, most of those struggling to live off what they had, being sold to a company so they could sell flats to millionaires. Even if you weren’t angry at the fact that they were destroying the garden, you’d be angry at the mere prejudice.

Weeks went by of campaigning where seemingly nothing happened, and then you had a breakthrough. Your local paper picked up the story. It was only half a page spread in the herald, a small picture of you and some others stood in front of the gates of the gardens and a story on the matter. You gave an interview talking about the disparity of the council selling the land without talking to the community first, how money is being poured out of local services and yet the council will happily sell land to millionaires. You spoke about how post offices, pubs, small local shops are all closing because they can’t afford to stay open, how the community is always outraged but the council do nothing and now this. It was only a small story in the local paper but it got #saveourcommunitycentre trending, a national paper putting an even smaller snippet in their paper. A success and one that forced Seven Living to take more notice.

They put out a statement about how they hope to build a community area, one that would be open to everyone still. It didn’t feel like enough, felt like a copout. And then you received an invite to this, a chat with the local community, a chance to talk to Seven Living and a way for the business to involve the local community in their plans.

It felt like bullshit. It probably was bullshit. A way for them to tick boxes and say they did take onboard any complaints. It was all for better marketing. But it was also a way for you to actually talk to whoever was in charge, to try and get your points across, and you weren’t about to snub that.

You are nervous to meet whoever it is behind the build, over all your time protesting it you hadn’t learned the names. You knew the CEO of the company was a man called Greg Hunter, but you have no idea if he’ll be here today. Surely a meeting with the community was below him.

You glance down at your watch. A minute past the starting time, you’d have expected them to be early or at least on time, but it seems they don’t even care enough to give a good impression. Only a minute late, but the fact still irks you.

As if your thoughts have summoned them, the doors in the back of the hall open. A hush falls over the room in a wave. You don’t look back, can’t bring yourself to see what they look like before necessary.

Alex’s hand moves on top of yours, gives it a reassuring squeeze and then doesn’t move away as the footsteps get closer.

“Apologies for being late,” a deep voice says to the crowd, it sounds way too upbeat for the tension that has fallen over the room.

They finally come into view. A procession of tall, suited men, all carrying bags of some description. They look like a cliché. They look exactly how you imagined.

“We’re so happy so many of you chose to come out and speak with us,” the voice you heard from early carries on, a man that looks to be in his forties, perfectly styled hair, gleaming white teeth, an expensive looking watch on his wrist. While he looks out beaming at the crowd the other men shuffle around in their bags pulling out papers. “We really hope this will be an informative session for both you and us.”

Your eyes drift away from the man speaking to take in the others. They look intimidating. They look like smart, successful business men, people who have achieved more in life than you ever will. The nerves in your belly bubble away at the prospect of standing up against these people. It was one thing to do it to a faceless company, but wholly different to do it to these men.

“Now, I’ve prepared a short presentation to talk through. But I’d firstly like to introduce everyone on the panel,” he twists to his right, holding his hand out to point at the men as he says their names and titles. “We have Richard Armitage, head of build, he’ll be able to help answer any of the more technical questions anyone has. Next we have John Bytheway, the head surveyor for the build.” Both men are around 40, white and with greying hair, both of them smile and nod when introduced.

“Now, I’m Max Lloyd, I’m Project Manager for the build so have an overall view of the build but with none of the knowledge,” he laughs but he’s the only one. He turns to his left, where three men are left. “Now, we have Jamie Swift, he’s a representative from the council so will be able to answer any question and help in that aspect. Next to him is David Guest, our architect for the build.”

You look at the last man before he’s even been introduced and your eyes widen. He’s younger by the rest by a long while, you’d guess he’s more your age than any of the men he’s sat with. Still, he wears just as smart clothes, thick black rimmed glasses on his face. While all the other men look cold and unapproachable there’s something about this man that feels more friendly, maybe it’s the soft smile or wide eyes, but there’s an almost innocence to him.

“And finally, we have possibly one of the most important men on the panel, at least for everyone in this room. Kim Namjoon is the community liaison, that means outside of this meeting he is your go to man and I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of him in your area.”

Namjoon smiles, two deep dimples developing in his cheeks. It seems so against everything you’ve built up in your mind that someone doing this to your community garden could look like. But then you guess just because the company is evil, doesn’t mean the people working there inherently are.

Questions won’t come until the end though, instead you have to sit through a boring and meaningless presentation. A preprepared slideshow pops up and the man in the middle of the table starts to drone on about things you already know. He does it a condescending manner, his voice has a unique quality where it sounds like he doesn’t realise it but is still talking in a way that shows exactly what he thinks of everyone sat in this room.

Pictures flash up of artists impressions of what the site will look like. A massive, glass fronted skyscraper of a building. Smiling, happy people milling around. A café with the windows open and people sat outside at their table. Trees, full of leaves and tall as if having been there for years, bright flowers at their base.

They paint a picturesque scene. You can tell they’ve done this a lot, have drawn people in with their promises and ideals. But you also know what the project won’t do, where the holes will be that people will fall through. This is only benefitting a few and none of them are the ones that need it.

The presentation rolls to an end, silence follows it, no applause, no congratulations, just a couple of coughs and the shuffles of people adjusting in their chairs.

“Well, as you can tell it’s a very exciting project that is expected to bring a lot of money into the area. We are also excited to get your feedback and thoughts on all of this. We want this to be a project that has the community at the heart of it so are keen to get as many of your ideas imbedded in the scheme as possible.”

He pauses, beaming at the crowd he lost a long time ago. He doesn’t seem to care, has been trained well enough that he can hold the smile despite it all. For that alone, you congratulate him.

“Which leads me to the questions section for tonight,” there’s a murmur around the room at that and the man has to pick up his voice to be heard. “Now, we will take as many as we can in the time we have left. Namjoon,” he looks to his left to the younger man on the end. “Do you want to lead this section?”

“Yes,” the man, Namjoon, says as he stands up. “Hello, I’m Namjoon, as Max said I’m the community liaison for this project. My details should be on all of the information leaflets, and I’ll be hanging around at the end for tea if anyone would like to discuss anything. But, uh, for now I guess we should take questions.”

There’s a pause, a beat of silence where the men staring at you wait and the audience do nothing. You think you see a flash of relief cross one of the men's faces just before the first hand is raised. And then it’s like a wave, like with that one person everyone else feels brave enough to raise their own arm. Not everyone does, possibly not even half the room, but the hands are scattered around so that when you twist to look you can see what the men see. It almost looks like a wall of fingers.

It starts pleasant enough. Questions about start dates, end dates, what economic benefit they predict for local business. But it quickly turns. Questions directed more on how they will compensate the people losing out on their community space, how they’ll stop the building being an eyesore, what they’ll do about increased traffic. And then not even questions, statements and accusations on how people believe these men, their company, to be taking money away from us, taking space away only to benefit themselves.

The tension in the room rises. Where it could once be described as nice, or possible amicable, it’s now obvious what the community feels towards the project. If these men were expecting enthusiasm and smiles, they’ve quickly been corrected.

Through it all, Namjoon keeps a smile. You watch the men closely and he is the only one that doesn’t give snappy responses, that actually seems to listen. You guess it is his job and he seems to be doing it well, giving answers politicians would be proud of, not quite agreeing or disagreeing, evading the answer but getting close enough to make it seem like it’s been answered.

“Ok, I think we have time for one more question,” Namjoon smiles at the room, looking around at the few hands that remaining hands before settling on you. “Yes …"

You provide your name in the gap and you swear you see a hint of something cross his face. Maybe he recognises your name from when you’ve spoken to the papers. Maybe he realises how much involvement you’ve had in campaigning against this project. Maybe he’s regretting asking you to give your question.

Either way he nods his head, the only indication you get to ask your question.

“You were talking about wanting to involve the community in this project, I just wonder how you’re hoping to do that?”

“Well, we of course hope to do more evenings like this, I believe it’s been really positive and helpful for both you and us,” there’s a small pause as if he’s expecting something, a round of applause, possibly a few noises of agreement, but he gets nothing so carries on. “We want to continue to hear your thoughts and ideas about the project so we can involve you as much as possible, which is why you will find my number at -”

“You want to hear our thoughts,” you raise your voice to cut him off, his eyes going from addressing the room to looking firmly at you. “But I guess I’m asking how you’re planning on implementing our ideas.”

“Well, of course I can’t promise we will implement everything, but we want to do as much as we can to -”

“You realise you’re building over our community centre, right?” You cut him off again.

“Yes,” he says the word firmly yet there’s a hint of a question there.

“You’re taking our space and making a profit off it. You’ll excuse me if I don’t believe that you actually want to involve our ideas, merely make us feel that way as a ticking exercise.”

There’re murmurs behind you and though you can't hear what’s being said, you can feel the room swinging in your favour. You’re speaking what everyone’s feeling.

“This isn’t a ticking exercise,” Namjoon carries on, addressing the room again as if sensing the same as you that he’s losing the room. “We want to incorporate as many of your ideas as possible. This was your home and space before we came along, and we want to keep that.”

“So how much space will be dedicated to us?” You ask, though you’ve asked far more than anyone else has tonight, have been given more time to speak, but no one attempting to stop you.

“I’m sorry?”

“How much space on the site? We won’t be able to go into the buildings I presume? So how much space does that leave? And how much of that will be for us?”

“Well, yes,” he’s starting to lose his composure, not much, but the slight stumble of his words is more than he’s done before. You can almost see him fighting to not look at the men sat next to him for help. “I can’t give you those facts now, but -”

“So what’s the point of this meeting?” You raise an eyebrow in question.

“To discuss the project with you. To let you know our plans so we can get feedback.”

“And yet you don’t have all the facts to hand?”

There’s a beat where your sentence hangs in the air, where you can see Namjoon reaching for an appropriate answer. Just as he looks ready to answer, you start to talk.

“Do you think this is a joke? We’re here because we care about the community centre, because we don’t want you to build your building and knock down everything we’ve created. But all I've heard tonight are excuses and non-answers and that you’ll get back to us. But you’ve never said when you’ll get back to us.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. Like I’ve said, we hope to hold more -”

“You hope isn’t good enough,” you cut him off again, unable to listen to him as the anger rises in you. “You’re not listening to us. You’re not trying to help us. You’re just taking everything we have and everything that -”

“Right,” a booming voice is now the one to cut you off followed by a loud clap and a scraping of a chair.

It’s not Namjoon, he’s stood there, eyes wide and still unsure what to say. Your eyes fly to the noise, eyes skim the line of men until they meet the man who did the presentation, Max. His hands are clasped together as he pushes his way to his feet.

“That’s time I’m afraid folks,” there’s a large fake smile on his face as he looks around the room, everywhere but you.

There’s a silence after you’ve been cut off, a tightness to the air as if it’s going to snap in half any second. Your chest is rising up and down as if you’ve just sprinted when really it’s because of the blood boiling anger coursing through you.

You’re aware of all the eyes on you. The men all sat facing you, half the room behind you looking at you, the other half at the panel of men.

The silence only lasts a couple of seconds but it seems to stretch on for eternity before it’s broken once again by the man that did the presentation, Max. The smile has been slapped back onto his face as if it never left.

“Right,” he claps his hands together again and it seems to break a spell, murmurs starting back up behind you. “We’d love as many of you to stay for tea and coffee as possible so we can carry on some of those interesting conversations,” he carries on, not looking at you but clearly directing the words straight at you. It doesn’t help your mood. “But for those who can’t stay, we’d like to say thank you for coming and we look forward to seeing you in the future.”

With the end of his speech the other men start to stand up which in turns seems to give permission for everyone else in the room to stand. The noise increases as people begin to chat, chairs scrap along the floor, all of it white noise as you stay sitting.

How can they think they’ll get away with this? How can they come in with smiles on their faces and talk about destroying something that’s so precious to this community? How can they think it’s ok to treat you all as if you’re uneducated fools? As if they can pull the wool over your eyes.

You’re trying to calm down, but only seem to be working yourself up more. Your thoughts are running away with you. It’s not like you expected this to be a positive meeting from your perspective, not like you expected them to walk in and announce a cancellation to the build. But this, their rudeness, their authoritarian manner; you hadn’t been expecting that.

A hand is placed on top of yours, the small squeeze enough to drag you to the present. You look up as if only just seeing the room, are met with Alex’ kind eyes and another squeeze of your hand.

“They won’t get away with it,” he says, his voice gentle yet firm. “We’ll stop them before they can take it away from us.”

You nod, a small gesture that seems to grow the more the words sink in. It’s like a rallying call that rings round your head, reminds you of your mission and what you have to do. This isn’t the end, merely a bump in the road, a reminder of how hard this will be.

“Let’s go get a tea,” he says when he’s happy you’re back to yourself.

You follow him to the back of the room, receive a few smiles and pats on the back, but you don’t stop to talk to anyone. The anger is seeping out of you, in its place is shock and a small amount of defeat.

You lean against one of the plastic tables as Alex joins the small crowd waiting for tea and coffee, pull your phone out and open up Twitter. It’s become a habit of yours to check the page you set up, see if there are any new posts using the hashtag you started. #SaveOurCommunityCentre didn’t really blow up but it has a bigger following than you expected, a couple of thousand tweets, enough to get the local papers to do a small column and possibly enough to make the company do the talk today.

You scroll through the tag, most of it people here tonight, some stories about peoples experiences at the centre. All of it nice, but none of it new. Still, you continue to mindlessly scroll as if you’ll come across some gold.

“Y/N?”

Your head whips up at your name, blank expression on your face before you see who stands in front of you. The man from earlier, Namjoon, is stood smiling down at you. While his dimples deepen your frown does.

“It is Y/N, right?”

“Yeah,” you say reluctantly and can almost see him sigh with relief.

“Namjoon,” he says putting his hand out for you to shake.

“Yeah, I know,” you take his hand, again reluctantly, doing two swift up and downs before letting him go. You’re about to ignore him, go back to scrolling through your phone, but then he starts to talk.

“You gave a very passionate speech just now.”

You can’t tell if he’s mocking you or not. Just in case you mumble a thanks, a word that he nods his head at.

“Anyway, I believe you’re the woman to talk to,” he says and when you raise an eyebrow in question you can almost see him scrambling to get his point out. “To talk to about visiting the community centre.”

“I don’t own the place.”

“But you know it well, if I wanted a tour of sorts.”

“I’m sure anyone here would happily take you around the site,” you say not believing your own words, you’re sure that a lot of people would run him off the site should he chose to turn up.

“Except you?”

You bite the inside of your cheeks to stop from responding. You want to respond that of course you wouldn’t want to show him around the site. That you don’t want to show him the place you love that he is only going to knock down like it doesn’t matter at all.

“It’s a public space, no one is stopping you,” you say instead.

He hums, a flat noise you are sure means he hasn’t got the answer he wants and is searching for a different angle.

“Why do you want a tour?” You ask, seeming to catch him off guard is the second his eyes widen is anything to go off.

“I think it would be useful.”

“Why?”

“I – we meant what we said, we want to incorporate you in this project. Going to the centre, talking to people who use it, seeing how it’s used; don’t you think that will help?”

“Possibly,” you mumble.

“I –”

“Here’s your tea,” whatever Namjoon was going to say is cut off by Alex arriving, handing you said tea.

“Thanks,” you mutter, taking the warm cup off him and focusing on the brown liquid. But you’re still aware of the way Alex looks from you to who you’re stood with. Can almost see the shock that you were talking with Namjoon.

“What were we talking about?” Alex asks, voice sceptical and wary now where it wasn’t before.

“About me visiting the community centre,” Namjoon says before you can cut him off. “I was asking Y/N here if she would mind showing me around.”

You look up, see the hopeful smile on Namjoon’s face as he looks between you and Alex. Then look to Alex whose face is unreadable.

You expect him to have an answer similar to yours. You expect him to be blunt and slightly rude like you’ve been. You expect him to tell him to get lost. What you don’t expect is what comes out of his mouth.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

“You do?” Both you and Namjoon say in unison, your tone full of betrayal, Namjoon’s full of hope.

“Yeah, why not?” Alex choses to answer you.

“Because –” you glance at Namjoon, wondering whether to continue with him listening. “Because we don’t need people poking their noses around.”

“I thought you said it was open to anyone,” Namjoon jumps in.

“It might be good,” Alex says, ignoring Namjoon.

“I don’t see how,” you grumble.

“I’ll explain later,” he says as if talking to a small child, the fact only irritating you more. “Y/N would love to show you around.”

Namjoon doesn’t look as sure anymore. You have made it clear how much you don’t want to do it.

“I don’t want to force you, if you –”

“It’s fine,” you cut him off, try to settle into a relaxed tone to show that you don’t mind. “I don’t mind.”

“Ok,” he says, still sounding unsure.

“Next week suit you?”

“Urm, yeah, Wednesday morning?”

“I’ll be there.”

He nods, gives a time that you agree to and then awkwardly walks away. He looks like he wants to stay and say more but can tell he’s not welcomed.

You know why Alex said you should show him around and you know that he’s right, but that doesn’t mean that you are looking forward to seeing him again. It might be good though, maybe he has some sway in this project, can get things to change or stop. You doubt it, but he’s still connected to people and you still need to try.

It’s not cold, in fact the sun is shining on you, and you’ve forgone any form of jacket, but as you stand at the entrance to the community garden you’re shivering. Or at least if someone were to look at you, they might interpret your movements for a shiver. Leg bobbing, whole body moving with the sensation, fingers fiddling and hands rubbing together.

You’re looking at the small dirt carpark, hardly space for more than five cars and even though there’s always space, you still made sure to let everyone know that the space closest to where you’re stood is to be left free today. It’s where you’re currently looking, the small dips that fill up with water in winter completely dry now, the wooden fence you remember helping to put up when someone drove into the old one, chalk left on the wood from when the children were playing the other day.

No one seemed too bothered when you told them Namjoon would be coming today, in fact many of them frowned at you and made comments of displeasure. You don’t blame them, it was essentially the same reaction you had. But you had reminded them that this might be important, that him seeing what you were doing here might help. You’re unsure how exactly, just have to go with it and hopefully find out. Anyway, as you said to him, this is a public space, you can’t stop him from looking around, so you may as well escort him while he does it.

But so many people didn’t want him to come, like the sight will be tainted with his mere presence. Part of you agrees, you weren’t exactly welcoming of his suggestion to come here today. It’s like he’s the enemy, like this is your secret and if he sees it, it might give him ideas that will only help his project to destroy this place.

Not his project, the company he works for. And a good thing he’s coming today. You have to remind yourself of both points.

You’re so focused on waiting for a car to pull in, imagining a big black shiny car you’d never be able to afford, that you hardly take note of the person on the bike. That is until it comes to a stop in front of you and the person unclips their helmet.

You have to do a second take. He’s come on a bike, not in a big expensive car. He’s also not in the smart suit you expected, one similar to the tie and blazer he wore at the community meeting. No, instead he’s in a fleece, white top on show, chino style trousers, and boots. Does he think you’re going trekking? Or maybe he’s expecting a lot of mud or dirt or general disarray.

“Hello,” he beams at you as he comes to a stop, dipping into a small bow before his hand sticks out for you to take. “Thanks again for showing me around today.”

You’ve already done introductions at the community meetings, have already shaken his hand, but you still take the hand more because it would be rude not to than because you want to. His hand envelopes yours in warmth, and he gives a hard but steady shake before letting go. You’d expect nothing else from the businessman.

His eyes start to wonder around your background as if trying to take in as much of the site as he can. His bike still in his grasp. You can almost see the measuring tapes he’s mentally placing in areas, the plans he’s making, the things he’s so easily demolishing.

“You cycled,” a dumb observation, one that has him looking back at you and you can’t help the next words that fall out of your mouth. “There is parking here. You didn’t have to worry about that.”

“As I can see,” he says easily as if you haven’t just been rude to him. “But I don’t drive so I didn’t have to worry for that reason.”

“Don’t drive?”

“Well, can’t drive,” he says with a small laugh, still unbothered. “I did assume that there would be somewhere I could lock my bike up though. I hope that wasn’t too bold of me?”

You flush, he’s calling you out and doing it so calmly and professionally. You turn away from him so that he has no chance to see your reaction and point in the direction of the bike racks. You stand watching as he locks his bike up and then comes back to you, smile still on his face.

“Right,” you have to snap yourself out of it, remind yourself who he is and why he’s here. “Well, shall we get on with it?”

It’s a rhetorical question, one you don’t wait for the answer to. Spinning you head under the small arch that reads Deansgate Community Centre. Bright colours, flowers and insects dotted on the frame. Another thing that only has a limited time before it’s demolished.

You swallow down those thoughts. It’s no use thinking like that, only causes to make you more upset.

Your strides are short, not really sure exactly what it is that Namjoon wants to see. You give a few cursory glances over your shoulder to check he’s still with you and he’s always only a few steps behind, his face neutral but his eyes seeming to be wide with wonder. It’s a place you come nearly every day, even if just for half an hour after work, so when you look to see what he’s staring at you struggle to see the wonder. Sure, you love this place but it’s become something so ordinary to your life you don’t even think twice. The raised flower and veg patched, the few green houses in the distance, the circular brick building in the centre of it all. Some areas have been left to grow a bit wilder, one of these areas has climbing frames and slides, the children finding joy it the wilderness. There are more uniformed areas, neat rows of carrots and runner beans climbing up wooden stakes.

It’s an allotment come community centre. A space for everyone in the area to come to experience the outdoors in the crammed city. Somewhere for children to occupy their brains, to not fall into the rising gang culture. A place for families to grow their own food, to reconnect to nature but also to get much needed food that they may not be able to afford otherwise. It supports people that have fallen through the cracks in society.

You end up walking all the way to the entrance of the community centre before stopping. You still haven’t said a single word, everything you had prepared to show him today gone out the window as soon as you saw him.

You take a breath, swallow and prepare to get back on track. He’s here for a reason and you’re showing him around for a reason.

“So this is the community centre,” you state, pointing a useless hand at the building. “You probably noticed the children’s play area we walked past and there’s a grow your own area over there. We can go see that if you want?”

You look at him but he’s not looking at you, seeming to still be trying to take everything in.

“It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this in the city.”

His words make a lump rise in your throat. Is he being serious? You can tell he is by the tone of his voice, but does he not realise what he’s saying, who he’s talking to? Because it is amazing, it is a unique space in this built-up city, a little oasis. And he’s going to build over it.

He seems to realise what he’s done, his eyes landing on your for seemingly the first time since he arrived. You can almost see the guilt there, a pink dusting his cheeks in a response that seems to human.

“I mean, it’s so special, and I can see why you love it. I think it would be great to still incorporate the space into our build. You know, the park and maybe garden space on the roof. It’s a reason I wanted to come today, to work with you to try and keep as much of this space as possible. We don’t want to make it feel like we’re forcing you out.”

He’s rambling, giving you practiced lines you’ve heard him speak what feels like a hundred times before. They all wash over you, do nothing to comfort you. You don’t want them to give some small patch of land to you so that they can tick a box to say they made the existing community happy. It wouldn’t make you happy, it wouldn’t be the same, it would only last so long before the new residence would complain about people using their space.

You level him a look before twisting away and start walking to the green houses.

“I’ll show you the veg patches,” you say not even caring if he hears you.

There are some noises of footsteps making you aware that he’s following you. But then they speed up into a small jog so that he’s now walking beside you.

“So, what do you do?” You can see him looking down at you from the corner of your eye, can sense the smile on his lips as he attempts small talk, but you keep your gaze on the greenhouses, your lips in the hard solid line. “I just mean, I’m assuming this isn’t your job.”

You’re still annoyed, don’t really want to engage him in conversation, but it would be rude to ignore him and you have to remind yourself yet again that the whole point of this visit is to try and show him how amazing this place is. You need to be nice to him to try and get him on your side.

“I work in admin in the NHS.”

“Wow. Doing incredible work in the day and then dedicating your spare time to your community?”

“I’m not a doctor or nurse, it’s hardly incredible work.”

“Yeah, but you’re still helping to keep such an important thing running.”

You shrug as if it’s nothing, but the compliment still settles somewhere in you, warming you up.

“I’d have thought you’d be pro-private health care.”

He laughs at that, a genuine noise that seems to twinkle like the wind chimes in the trees. It makes you feel bad for making the remark even though he seems to take no offense.

“You really don’t have much of an opinion of me,” again, he says the words as if doesn’t care, as if he’s only getting joy from this. “I’m not, by the way. In favour of private heath care that is. I think the NHS is one of the only good things this country has.”

You flush, the fact he’s being so sweet at the fact you’ve been so rude to him makes you feel embarrassed. This isn’t you. You’re not rude or unkind or someone who makes jabs at someone you don’t even know. You’re stressed and worried and Namjoon is your outlet. He’s the thing closest to what you hate, the embodiment of everything that’s trying to destroy your world.

But that doesn’t mean you should be rude to him. Aren’t you just stooping down to his level by acting like this?

You stop where you are, Namjoon taking a few more steps before stopping too, having to turn to look back at you so now he’s stood in front of you. You take a breath before talking.

“I’m sorry,” you say with the shake of your head. “I’m being incredibly rude. Can you just forget all of that and we can start again?”

There’s a small smile blooming on his face as he looks at you. The dimples in his cheeks appearing in such a devastating way. You want to look away from the attention he’s placing on you but force yourself to keep looking at him.

“Of course,” he says easily. “But just know I took no offence. I know how hard this must be, I don’t mind if you need to scream and shout at me.”

You give him a small smile. Closed lipped and not quite reaching your eyes, but it’s the first nice thing you’ve directed at him.

“Thanks,” the word is harder than it should be to say and you immediately look away from him in fear he’ll read more into the response than he should. “Well, shall we carry on?”

You nod in the direction of where you were heading before you stopped. This time you don’t assumed his response, you flick your eyes to him and watch as he nods with a smile.

You show him round and he follows in near silence as you explain the different areas. The small green houses and veg patches, the pizza stove that you all built together, the outdoor seating area, the flower patches and grass area with goal post. He asks a few questions while going around, but otherwise just drinks everything in, content to just listen.

You talk about how the site helps support the community with a space to come and be together while also helping provide fresh food to people who need it. The educational side of making sure children learn about the outdoors, how the local primary school come for forestry school once a week and look after the wild meadow area by the small park as well as have a small veg patch dedicated to them.

You end up at the hub of the community centre, a small, slightly run-down building in the centre of it all. The brick walls are covered in old paintings done by children over the years, faded and warn away over time, a basketball hoop and netball hoop attached to the side of the building. Inside is a large hall space, a small kitchen and couple of toilets.

You again explain how the space can be hired out for parties or gatherings, but is mainly used for group activities, exercise classes for the elderly on Sunday mornings, evening classes or groups use it on weekday evenings, and there are always things running for the children in the area to come to, to encourage them here rather than be left bored on the street where they could do anything. It brings in a small amount of money for the council, hardly enough to manage the upkeep of the sight, probably a reason why they’re so willing to sell it. It always comes back to money rather than the good it might be doing for people.

Namjoon’s takes it all in, looking around with wide eyes but a blank expression. You wonder what he’s thinking. Whether he’s silently judging the damp patches on the walls, the buckets in the corners ready to catch any drips should it start to rain, the walls in desperate need to a fresh lick of paint, the warn away floors. You love this place, it’s like a second home to you, and yet as you look around you can’t help but see it how Namjoon might, the place is literally falling down around you.

“There’s one last place left to see,” you attempt to say as chirpy as possible.

You take a breath as you head across the room to one of the doors at the back. You’re not entirely sure why you’re showing him the small room, it’s not like he needs to see it. But you open the door regardless, step inside to allow him to take in the small space.

“It’s where we do the admin for the place,” you explain. “The office, of sorts.”

He steps in next to you, the room barely wide enough for the two of you to stand comfortably side by side. You move to the other side of the loaded desk, while his eyes sweep around in the same way he’s been doing all day, silently taking it in.

His eyes finally land on the desk between you and when you look down you realise he can so plainly read everything there. All the research and data on trying to stop the build he’s involved in.

“So that’s it,” you distract, getting him to draw his eyes back to you, but you know he’s seen enough to know what it is. “What do you think?”

He pauses, seems to be searching for words and you wonder if it’s him trying to find a way to not be too offensive, to say what he thinks but in a nice way.

“It’s more than I imagined it would be,” he finally says and you’re taken aback. “I can see why you feel so passionately about it.”

“Oh.” You’re so ready to go on the defence that it’s the only word you manage to get out.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about. I have to report back about this to the board next week.”

“And what are you going to say?” The words scramble out of you.

“Everything you’ve said and shown me.”

You nod even though you’re not sure what that means. Is that a good thing or bad thing? You try to think back and work out if you said anything damming. But he had implied that he was impressed and liked what he saw today. It might be too much to think that he’ll help, but it’s at least something.

“What is all of this?”

While you’ve been thinking over everything he’s gone back to looking down at the desk. His fingers reach out and gently push a piece of paper to the side, reading and taking it all in.

“Just stuff on the build,” you say sheepishly, you should have thought to clear all of this away before he came.

He glances up at you and you’re not sure what his wide eyes mean. Worried about how much you’re looking into everything? Or shocked that you would be doing everything in your power to stop it? Maybe he’s underestimated you and your so called passion for the centre.

“All of this?”

“It’s not too much. I’d like to do more, but it’s just me, so it’s just this.”

“You’ve done all this yourself?” There’s disbelief in his tone as his eyes scan the stacks of paper on your desk.

“We can’t afford a lawyer. We’ve had some money donated, but not enough and I can’t ask people for any. People here can barely afford day to day life let alone this.”

His eyes are searching your face, a small crease in between his brows as if you’re a tough puzzle he’s trying to solve. It’s kind of unnerving, you turn your head so he has to study your profile, it feels less intimidating, like he can’t get the full picture of what you’re thinking this way.

“I’ve read up what I can when I can, but I swear they make these things sound so complicated just so people like me won’t question it. I mean look at it,” you hold up the tome off thee building plans for the site as if he has never seen it before when in reality he probably helped write sections. “It’s not exactly a light read.”

You can feel his eyes still on you and you give a nervous laugh to fill the silence, shuffle a few papers around to do something.

“You need to be looking deeper into the effects of the build on the environment if you want it to be stopped,” he says.

“What?” You turn, wide eyed to look at him, expecting him to make a sarcastic comment or change the subject or just completely ignore you, not this.

He shakes his head, a small smile appearing as if your reaction is amusing.

“I mean, you can talk about the negatives on the community, the money you may lose, the land you might lose, but that’s never going to be enough to stop it. Not legally,” he’s still smiling at your confused expression and you wonder if he’s doing this because he enjoys messing with you, because surely he’s not doing it because he cares or wants to help. “You need to look at how the project could affect human lives negatively. I don’t know, how it might increase air pollution, greater dust particles because of construction, leaks into the groundwater, that sort of thing.”

He shrugs as if it’s nothing, as if he’s just riffing ideas and not providing you with information you may not have known or thought of on your own.

“It possibly won’t help, all these things are generally in the plans from the start, but it’s worth a look,” he carries on. “Or you’ll just have to hope they find Roman settlements when they start digging,” he says the last bit with a laugh as if it’s a good joke, but when you don’t react, he carries on explaining. “You know, because they can’t legally build over anything archaeological that relates to humans. It won’t stop the build forever, but they will have to pay for the archaeological dig and recovery, and it may give you more time to come up with something else to fully stop it.”

You’re pretty sure your mouth is wide open given the look Namjoon is throwing your way, like he’s unsure you’re still mentally ok. You don’t care, you’re so thrown by what he’s just said, all the information he’s thrown at you, that you just don’t care.

“Anyway, just some thoughts,” the smile falls off his face and now it’s him that’s looking around awkwardly, trying to busy his hands as if to avoid your gaze.

“What?” You say again, the word getting Namjoon to look back at you, eyebrow raised. The effect is enough for you to mentally shake your brain and get more coherent words out. “I don’t get it. Aren’t you the enemy? I mean, why are you telling me all this, surely you want this build to go ahead, surely you don’t want me to stop it?”

The small smile returns now coupled with a glint in his eye so you know he’s amused by this.

“It’s my job, not particularly my personal opinion. I’m paid to do it and it’s not necessarily enough for me to think everything the company does is amazing,” he says. “And I think what you’re doing is admirable, not a lot of people would do all this for a community garden.”

“You say that like it’s not worth it.”

“I’m saying it because I think it’s nice that you care enough.”

“And it’s not just me doing all this,” you carry on as if hasn’t said anything.

“I’m sure,” he’s still smiling at you even as your voice turns snappy and the words begin to tumble out of you.

“A lot of people care.”

“I never said they didn’t.”

“They just don’t have as much time as I do. They have families and people to look –”

“Y/N,” he cuts you off, his voice raising a decibel to get you to listen. “Just take the compliment.”

You flush, pause before nodding your head, unable to utter the words thank you to him. You look back down at the papers, shuffle a few around again.

“How do you manage it?”

You glance over your shoulder at him, unable to fully look at him but needing to gage what he’s to get at with those words. Of course it’s not a dig, even though that’s immediately where your thoughts went, he’s asking because he seems genuinely curious. His eyes are still trying to take in the mountains of papers on your desk and you can’t tell if the expression on his face is because he’s impressed or because he hadn’t realised quite how serious you were about this.

“You said you’re doing this alone. I’m just wondering how you manage it all?"

You shrug, something you’re not sure he catches as he’s still not looking at you.

“Because I have to,” your voice is soft as you say it, matter of fact.

“This place really means so much?” He looks at you a small crease between his eyebrows.

You huff at laugh at that, shake your head a little. He’s not understood and even now with all this advice, the help as if he’s on your side, he still doesn’t get it.

“It’s not just for me,” you say. “It’s for Katlin who’s a single mum and struggles to balance work and her two kids but the community centre provides friends and a rest bite, it’s for Jan whose husband died last year and she’s now all alone, her children old and living halfway across the country, it’s for Mobeen who might have joined a gang if it wasn’t for the activities we run here. It’s for John who works on minimum wage, who has to pay child support and at the end of his pay check can barely afford food but he can come here and get food for free. It’s for a lot more people than just me.”

There’s silence when you finish, you could go on and on listing the people this place helps but you don’t. It looks like your message has stuck anyway, Namjoon has listened to everything you have to say and is absorbing that information. What he’ll do with it, you have no idea.

“Listen, we’re having a thing next weekend, nothing big, just the kids are going to make pizzas with the veg we grow here and everyone’s invited to come and eat it. Why don’t you come?”

He looks surprised even though he’s been going on and on about wanting to hear from the community. Well, isn’t this the prime invitation to do just that? Still, his less than enthusiastic reaction has you doubting yourself.

“If you’re busy that’s fine. And I guess it is the weekend, you probably want to relax and not work.”

“No, no,” the words come out rushed and he takes a small step towards you so his hips are pushed up against the table. “I’d love that.”

“Ok,” you say, finding yourself unable to hold back a small smile that curves its way onto your lips at his reaction. “I guess I’ll give you one of the leaflets.”

His eyes are flicking between yours, worry still on his face. With the small step he took towards you and even with the table between you, it now feels like he’s towering over you, your neck craned back so you can look up into his eyes. It should be unnerving, but for some reason it’s not.

“Or, uh, you could text me the details?” He’s gone sheepish, awkward as he struggles to keep eye contact with you. The whole thing only makes your smile widen and Namjoon’s cheeks to tinge with pink. “It might be useful to have your number, you know, in case I need to ask you any questions.”

“Any questions, of course” you smile, nodding your head lightly.

“About the project.”

“Yep.”

“Or if you have any questions about anything, you can ask me,” he sweeps a hand at the papers on your desk.

“Ok.”

“If you want any help, it might just be helpful.”

“And I never disagreed,” you say slipping your phone out your pocket so you can get his number.

“Right,” he says and when you glance up at him his face is now more red than pink.

He recites the digits of his number as you type them into a new contact. You struggle to know what to list his name as, in the end settling simply for Namjoon.

“I’ll text you then,” you say as you slip your phone away.

“Ok,” he replies.

You both stand staring at each other, neither of you quite sure what to do now. You’re the first to break it.

“I’ll show you out.”

“Oh no, it’s alright,” he says eyes darting from you to the door and back again. “I think I remember the way.”

You smile, give a small nod, but still he doesn’t go. An awkwardness seeps into the silence and you start to wonder if he’s going to stand there all day before he starts to move.

“Right, well, thanks for today. I guess I’ll see you at the pizza party.”

You think you catch him wincing at his own words and the fact makes you smile. You can barely say goodbye to him before he’s turning and waving over his shoulder as he disappears from site.

You end up texting Namjoon the date and time of the event on the weekend almost immediately. He replies a simple see you there. And though it’s a simple line, nothing special, something in you still flutters. You put it down to the fact that this isn’t something you should be doing, like a forbidden activity, texting the enemy.

But that thought doesn’t stop you from researching everything he told you and it also doesn’t stop you from messaging more questions.

They were good tips, legally companies have to ensure that the build and subsequent build won’t cause any environmental harm to the area, or if it does what they will do to mitigate against it. But like Namjoon said, most of this has already been accounted for in the tome that is their paperwork. It’s a company that have built hundreds of buildings like these before, they’ll know the law inside out, they won’t let things like this slip through. But that doesn’t mean they’ve covered everything. Even if Namjoon’s initial ideas lead to dead ends, they blossom more ideas in your mind to go after.

The messages to Namjoon start innocent enough. You were so nervous to send the first one you spent ten minutes editing the single line of text and then a further twenty minutes debating whether to send it at all before doing it.

When he replied it was like a flood gate opened. You no longer had as many nerves to contact him, didn’t worry so much about asking any stupid questions given he seemed happy enough to answer them.

And while you asked questions relating to the project, help on things that you weren’t sure about that he might know, he always answered with more reassurance than knowledge. He was never condescending, never acting like he was the smart one and not you, never jumped on your ideas and acted like they were his from the start. All things you would have thought he’d do from the start.

And in between the questions on the project were a scattering of more personal questions. Comments on how each other’s days went. Questions from Namjoon asking how best to cook broad beans as he noticed them growing in the community gardens and thought you might know.

It was nice. But also dangerous. You were opening up to him and while it seemed easy to do to a screen that replied with such nice comments, you had to remind yourself of who it was behind the screen. Just because he seemed nice didn’t mean you should let down your professionalism around him.

But he was making it very hard.

He appears ladened with bags, his loose grey top with small damp patches as if he’s carried the bags for miles and has sweated under the midday sun. You rush over to take bits off him and though he doesn’t seem keen to hand anything over, he eventually lets you take a couple of bags.

“What is all of this?” You ask as you make your way over to the tables.

“My mum taught me never to turn up to a party empty handed.”

You put the bags down, peak in to see bottles of fizzy drinks, packets of crisps and nibbles. You look over to him to see him already unpacking things, unaware of your shock.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.”

He shrugs. “I wanted to.”

Your thoughts automatically go to this being some sort of bribe, a way to butter you all up, paint him as the nice guy. But you push those thoughts from your mind. Maybe he is just nice. What’s a few bottles of Fanta going to do to appease anyone? He just genuinely wanted to bring stuff with him.

You’re still unpacking things when the kids notice all the extra food and start to come over. They at least have the good manners to not help themselves, big eyes looking up at you and Namjoon in silent question.

“Don’t worry about me, help yourselves,” Namjoon says and the kids need no more conformation, small hands quickly grabbing crips and bottles of drink.

“You might want to grab what you want before it all goes,” you chuckle.

“It’s alright,” he says, leaning down to help pour some drinks.

You get pulled away from him, both of you dragged in opposite directions to do different things. And while you’re glad that Namjoon seems to at least be eating and chatting to people, rather than working, whenever you look back at him, you still worry what people might be saying to him. You hadn’t planned on being separated, especially so early and for basically the whole time, you thought you might be able to chat with him, help him appease anyone with difficult questions. But he seems fine, relaxed and happy.

You see each other in passing more than anything, only get to exchange the odd word with him. And while you’re semi disappointed, you figure he probably doesn’t care, he’s here to talk to the community not to you.

You’re talking to Mary, one of the old ladies that visits, has for nearing forty years now, as everyone is starting to pack up and leave. You can’t help but keep shooting looks at Namjoon, watch as he helps clear up, tries to take as many things in his arms so no one else has to carry anything. You’re only half listening to Mary when you feel a squeeze of your arm, turning back to her with shame written in your face. She’s not looking at you though, her eyes where yours were, on Namjoon.

“He’s very handsome,” you flush at the implication.

“Yeah, I guess he is,” you mumble the words as if hoping she won’t hear.

“And he’s been so great today,” she carries on. “Don’t worry what anyone else says, you know people like to gossip and associate him with all the bad that’s happening here.”

You nod, head turning back to Namjoon, watch as he picks up more plates, the few people around him laughing as he tries to juggle it all. You had heard people asking why he was here and you’re sure he had a lot of less than favourable questions thrown at him. And yet he’s still here, and he’s still managing to make people smile.

“He’s a good one,” Mary says gently as you both continue to look at Namjoon.

You can’t help but think that you’re one of those people, putting the weight of the project on his back, piling all the blame on him.

Namjoon must sense eyes on him as he looks over in your direction and when his eyes meet yours a wide smile spreads across his face. Your heart pangs at all that warmth directed at you and Mary’s words ring in your ears, he’s a good one. You’re not sure why the words and her approval of him means so much to you.

“I’ve been thinking,” you start slowly, the nerves evident in your tone. Namjoon waits, eyes firmly on you to show he’s listening. “I mean, I’m always thinking of things to help the community centre, but I’ve had an idea.”

“Go on,” he encourages.

You’re not sure why you’re so nervous to tell him, but you find it hard to keep his eye contact, your fingers subconsciously fiddling with each other. You don’t need his approval or praise, but still find yourself seeking it. You’re not sure what you’ll do if he shoots down this idea and the fact has your heart pounding in anticipation.

It’s been a few weeks and slowly but surely you have gotten to know Namjoon. There’s still a professional barrier between the two of you, some hidden thing that is that he’s working on a project that is to do with your community centre. It would be morally ambiguous for you to describe him as a friend, to hang out outside of whatever this is.

But he’s visited the community centre more than you’d imagine was normal. He still texts you ‘out of hours’. He helps you out and helps out around the community centre from time to time. And though he says it’s because he likes being here, is trying to help establish a good relationship with everyone, to bridge the gap between the centre and the company, you still question it. It’s not that he can’t enjoy being here if those are his true intentions, it’s more that there’s a small part of you that has grown to hope for a little more.

So here you stand, about to ask for his advice again. Open up about how to save the centre as if he isn’t on the team to destroy it.

“It probably won’t work,” you set yourself up to fail, lay the groundwork for disappointment so then the fall won’t be so bad.

“I’m sure it will.”

“You don’t even know what it is.”

“Then tell me.”

“I haven’t run it past anyone else yet. I haven’t even really done that much research into it. I was just interested to hear what you thought.”

“Ok,” there’s a small smile ok the edges of his lips as he watches you ramble.

You take a deep breath, you’re mad for doing this, aren’t sure why you ever thought it would be a good idea. But you’ve brought it up now, he won’t let you not tell him and really, you wouldn’t have brought it up if you didn’t want to tell him. You look down at your fingers plucking at a loose string on your sleeve’s hem as you start to talk.

“I thought that I could register the place as a charity.”

You pause, don’t look up to see Namjoon’s reaction but the fact you don’t hear one is enough for you to fear the worst.

“It probably wouldn’t work. These things probably take ages and with the site is already being planned to be destroyed it’s probably too late. They might not even accept the application or whatever it is you have to do. We can just pretend I never said anything.”

“No, no, no,” the slight panic in Namjoon’s tone has you looking up at him, his hands raised, his eyes wide. “I think it’s a great idea.”

Your eyes flick all over his face, trying to find any hint of a lie, but fail. He really thinks that? You’ve been so unsure since you thought of it that you struggle with the vote of confidence.

“I think you should do it. And I think that even if you can’t somehow secure this site to be attached to it, you’d be able to get funding to find somewhere else,” he’s smiling now, while you’re still looking at him in shock. “You’ve said it a hundred times; the community need this, they need you and they need help. Isn’t that exactly what that would secure for them?”

“I’m not sure they really need me,” you flush.

“You’d be great at it too,” he says as if you haven’t said anything. “And it would be what everyone here needs. What they already have, but you could make it so much more.”

He sounds so passionate. It’s hard to associate him with the evil company planning to knock everything down. The more and more you get to know him, the less you associate him with his job. He sounds so genuine and excited that you don’t even care.

You don’t need Namjoon to verify that it’s a good idea, but it still warms you to hear.

You love coming here at this time. The sun starting to peak its head, lighting the sky with vivid oranges and pinks. Rays shining down on different areas of the community centre. It makes the area look eternal.

But it also causes a pang in your heart. Makes you realise that it won’t be here forever.

You’ve always come here early, but recently you’ve been doing it more and more. A time where you can take it all in alone. Appreciate the site and all its corners without anyone else around. A time for just you and the centre.

You can almost hear the squeals of the children as they get pushed too high on the swings. The laughter of the adults as they sit around with a drink and food. The chatter of people kneeling amongst the veg. The soft thumping of the basketballs on the tarmac. This place, so full of love, with only a limited time left.

“You’re here early.”

You whip your head around at the noise, are met with a face you would never have thought you’d see here at this time.

Namjoon. Stood in the loose top and straight cut jeans you’ve grown so accustomed to seeing him wear. His hair slightly ruffled, un-styled at this early hour.

“What are you doing here?”

He smiles at you in that easy manner, his dimples deepening in his cheeks as he looks around at the dimly lit garden.

“I couldn’t sleep and I thought where else is better to come then here? It is a community site, right? Open to all?”

He’s doing that thing he always does, teasing you in such a kind manner, not in the rude way you always do it. And maybe it’s the early hour or the fact it’s just the two of you, or maybe just the fact you feel tired of all of this, feel so sad in this soon to be graveyard, but you end up melting. Shoulders sagging under the weight you’ve been carrying for so long, eyes closing in a long blink, when they open he’s looking over at you, a small amount of concern evident in his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Everything ok?”

“Do you enjoy your job?” You ignore his question and ask your own. You’ve obviously thrown him, he’s unable to answer and you go on to clarify yourself. “I guess I just wonder why you do it? Like, is it amazing pay, or do you think you’re good at it, or I don’t know?”

There’s another long silence and when it becomes clear Namjoon’s not going to answer you run a hand down your face, shaking your head slightly to try and gain some sense.

“Sorry, that was really inappropriate.”

“No, it’s alright,” he says. “I guess I’m just not sure. I mean, it’s a job, it pays the bills. Does anyone really enjoy their job?”

“I guess.”

Silence falls over the two of you as you stare out at the wild flowers and like you always seem to find when around Namjoon, you start to wonder what he’s thinking.

You didn’t mean any offense with your question, you are just genuinely intrigued. Because knowing him, even as little as you do, the high-up corporate job he has just doesn’t feel like him. It’s not like you doubt he’s any good at it, it just seems so opposed to all his morals. The man who offers you help and support with your ideas. The man who brings bags of snacks and drinks to something he wouldn’t be overly welcomed at. The man who cycles everywhere. The man who loves plants. The man who comes here early in the morning when he can’t sleep.

Yeah, the two don’t add up in your mind the longer you think about it.

“Do you fancy a tea?” You finally break the silence and Namjoon’s head slowly turns back to look at you.

“Ah, I’d love one but I honestly only came here for a quick five minutes. I need to head back and get ready for work.”

“Of course,” you say thinking you should probably do the same.

“Maybe another day?”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” you reply genuinely.

He turns and starts to head towards the exit and you find yourself falling into step with him, both of you silently leaving together.

“How is everything going? At work?”

“Ah,” he says, the noise not very encouraging. “Got a big meeting coming this week actually.”

“About here?”

“Yeah,” he says and you catch him looking at you from the corner of your eye. You know you shouldn’t ask about it but find you can’t stop yourself.

“What about? I mean, big meeting, is something happening?”

“I can’t really say.”

“Right,” you reply, not wanting to put him in the middle of anything, but also itching to ask and know more.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Just an information gathering session.”

“Information gathering?” You repeat, surely it’s late in the game to be gathering information? Shouldn’t they be more setting into motion plans to build.

“It’s nothing, seriously.”

“Ok,” you say, less than convinced, but you’ve reached the exit both of you coming to a natural stop.

“I’ll text you about that tea,” he says with a smile and you can see him trying to soothe whatever he thinks he’s disrupted over.

“Yeah,” is all you reply before he’s saying goodbye and disappearing.

He said don’t worry. You should trust him, but you can’t help but think that he meant the opposite. Before you head home you head to the small office in the community centre to pick up some of your papers. You should be doing more.

You’ve text Namjoon several times now and all of them have gone unanswered. It’s been over a week since you saw him at sun rise in the community gardens, and though that’s not long, it still concerns you.

You continue to do research into setting up a charity, there’s so much paperwork and hoops to jump through. It’s good, it shouldn’t be easy, but you can almost hear the clock ticking down as you try to get through it all. You never feel like you’re doing enough, but now, with Namjoon’s silence you can’t help but feel that even more.

And then it happens, all your worst fears wrapped up into a single sheet of paper, packaged to you in an envelope. It’s addressed to the community centre, not you, but as you tear it open you can’t help but feel the dread seeping in, it’s like you know what it’s going to say before you read it.

Black on white. And so few lines of text. It couldn’t be clearer. A threat, or more a warning from the company. They know what you’re doing, they know your plans and they’re telling you to stop now before they have to step in and do something. Legal action. Court. Things that cost money that neither you nor the centre have to fight back with.

Tears silently fall down your cheeks. You knew it was coming, if anything pride swells in you at the thought that you had gotten close enough to something that would make them threaten so much. But you also know you could have gotten further, they shouldn’t know this, they shouldn’t know you’re attempting to turn this place into a charity.

But they do, and you know exactly how, and you’ve never felt more stupid in your life.

You trusted him with information. You let him into your life. You thought he was starting to get it, was beginning to see what you see in this place, was starting to see the potential.

He was the one who had said how good the charity idea was. He was the one who helped you. He was the one who said you shouldn’t do it all alone.

And yet Namjoon is the one who sold you out.

He must have come that morning as a last look, a last goodbye. He must have known what he was going to do as he spoke to you about how beautiful everything looked. It makes you sick to think that you trusted him, that you thought he was listening to your ideas and giving you advice because he cared, not because he was silently taking notes to take back to his bosses.

You take a shaky breath, fold the paper back up and place it in its envelope and bury it beneath piles of paper, as if hiding it away will take the problem away. You wipe away the tears that have managed to escape you. You pull yourself together. If this is what he does then he’s not worth your tears or sadness.

You feel like you’re hiding out, probably because you are. Bunkered up in your small office, locked away from the world. That is apart from Alex who stands next to you.

You know he’s worried, a lot of people probably are and if you gave them the chance to see you, they’d probably say as much. But you’ve only seen Alex, only allowed him in this safe space you’ve created. He knows enough; what Namjoon did, how he’s betrayed your trust, how you in turn have betrayed everyone else, why you’re locking yourself away.

“Why don’t you take a break?” It’s possibly the fifth time he’s said words to that effect in the last hour.

“I just want to look up this one thing.”

“You’ve been saying that for the past half an hour. Can’t you just take a five-minute break to eat? Julies brought some cakes along.”

“I just really need to finish this.”

There’s a small huff, loud enough to let you know you were meant to hear and you can almost see the eye roll that has surely accompanied it. Still, you don’t look at him, still focused on your work.

“What if I bring one here?” He carries on regardless and you have to admire his determination. “Then maybe I can help?”

It’s another line he’s been repeating and another line you keep ignoring.

“Seriously, no one is expecting you to carry the weight of all of this. We want to help.”

You close your eyes. He’s right, you know he is. But you can’t get it out of your head that it’s you that’s made this situation worse and therefore it should be you that tries to make up for it.

But the way in which Alex speaks, the tone he uses like he’s desperate, like he wants to help, you realise he’s right. Though you may have taken on so much, this isn’t just about you, this is a community centre, it serves so many people, is loved by so many people outside of you. You’re not sure where you got blinded by it, but you need to try and realise that.

“I know,” you say with a sigh, finally looking up at him. “I’m sorry.”

He gives you a small smile, his eyes still sad as he looks down at you. You probably look a mess, hair unbrushed, tired eyes, papers scattered in a mess that reflects your mind. He’s right, you need a break if nothing else.

“You mentioned cake?”

He opens his mouth to reply but a knock on the door interrupts him.

His smile turns into a frown and you’re sure his thoughts are reflecting yours; who’s that? It doesn’t take long for the question to be answered, another knock and then a well-known voice.

“Y/N?”

Namjoon.

Alex’s frown turns back into worry as he looks at you. And you don’t know what to do with yourself. You’ve spent so much time trying to avoid Namjoon that you’ve never actually thought about what you’d do or say when you see him.

Alex doesn’t say anything, just gives you a look as if to say, I’ve got this, and is then turning and heading to the door. Your heart thumps in your chest as Alex opens the door, but he manages to only open it far enough to slip through and then closes it behind him again. The door, closer to air than wood, means you can hear everything despite not seeing anything.

“Oh,” the disappointment is evident in Namjoon’s tone, hoping for you but getting Alex.

“Is Y/N here?” Namjoon recover’s quickly, his tone back to the Namjoon you remember.

There’s a silence and you’re not sure whether Alex isn’t saying anything on purpose or whether he’s saying the words too quietly for you to hear.

“I know she’s in there. Just let me see her.”

“Just leave Namjoon.”

Your heart is pounding, adrenaline rushing through your body at the thought that he’s the other side of that door, at the fact you can hear his voice.

“I want to see her,” Namjoon says.

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

“She’s not answering her phone, she’s not reading my messages, what else am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe get the hint?”

“I don’t know what you think I’ve done, but I haven’t done anything wrong.”

You’re not sure whether to be angry or let your heart break at the tone he uses. He sounds confused, like he genuinely doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve you ignoring him.

You can still hear Alex and Namjoon arguing, he’s not going to give up easily and you know if you don’t see him now, you’re just extending the inevitable. You’ll have to see him eventually.

With a deep breath you stand up and go to the door.

Alex’s back is nearly touching the door, so when you open it you nearly walk straight into him. He’s blocking most of your view, but over his shoulder you can see Namjoon, can see the way his eyes widen as they look at you and then look to Alex as if in a satisfied told you so way. You can almost feel the way Alex gets ready to bite back.

“It’s ok,” you say gently, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder as if it’ll help settle him down. He throws a look at you over his shoulder. “It’s alright, I can deal with this.”

There’s a few more seconds of silence as you and Alex have a silent conversation, you trying to tell him he should leave, him looking like he’s not sure that’s a good idea. In the end he looks back at Namjoon, clearly annoyed.

“I’ll be right outside.”

Namjoon nods at him in understanding, the acknowledgement enough for Alex to walk away.

It’s just you and Namjoon. Nowhere to run. You have to face this front on.

“Do you want a tea? Apparently, Julie brought cakes if –”

“Cut the bullshit Y/N,” you tense at the words and when Namjoon carries on his words are softer. “Why have you been ignoring me?”

Right to it then. You bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. He’s really going to play dumb about all of this?

“You sold me out.”

If he’s going to get straight to the point, then so will you. The fact he doesn’t react or recoil from your words seems to prove everything in your mind.

“I didn’t sell you out,” he’s shaking his head.

“Do you want me to phrase it differently? You told them everything.”

“I didn’t –”

“I trusted you, isn’t that stupid?”

“Will you –”

“And you just chucked it all back in my face, everything I told you.”

“If you let me –”

“Were you laughing behind my back the whole time? Were you –”

“I quit.”

Silence. Those two words doing everything he wanted, you’re finally listening. Trying to comprehend what he’s going on about, but you’re silent at least.

“I never sold you out, or whatever it is you think I’ve done. I quit. Well, I handed my notice in but they agreed I could leave with immediate effect given my ties.”

“What are you talking about?”

A smile creeps onto his face, something that is more familiar to the man you know. It’s barely there, but it’s there nonetheless.

“I quit my job.”

Your mind is whirling. While Namjoon’s smile only grows, you only become more confused. Nothing is adding up, everything you thought had happened is false.

“I’ve been trying to message you to tell you, but you’ve been ignoring me.”

“Because you told them about the charity.”

“What?” He says it as a laugh, his smile seemingly too big to disappear. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you just went. And then I got a letter from the company. And I hadn’t heard from you. And I just thought –”

He doesn’t seem annoyed even after you’ve admitted all your assumptions.

“But you didn’t?” You ask as if to double check you’re right.

“I didn’t.”

“And you quit?”

“I quit.”

“But why?”

He pauses, the first time he’s seemed unsure during this whole exchange. His eyes search your face as if to make sure that it’s a good idea to admit this. He obviously decides it’s ok because he starts to talk.

“I’ve never particularly hated my job. Even when I came here I didn’t hate it, but I think you made me realise that I didn’t love it, that there’s things in life that are more important and that I’d much rather be doing. Like this,” he throws his hands wide. “You do so much good here. Are so passionate about it. You’ll make an amazing CEO of a charity. And I don’t know, I was kind of hoping I could help.”

You don’t know whether to laugh or cry so instead you just stare open mouthed at him.

“You quit your job because you wanted to help?”

He lets out an awkward laugh. “When you put it like that it sounds stupid,” he says but you still don’t get it, you’ve only repeated the words he’s said. “I want to work for you. Or the charity when it’s finally up and running. I want to help set it up and run it and lobby and get money and just whatever you need.”

“You want me to give you a job?”

“When the charity is up and running.”

“But that could be months away. That could never happen. Namjoon, you can’t just quit your job, I can’t pay you.”

“I’m not expecting you to,” he answers easily, as if he has this all planned out, he probably has, he has just quit his job you hope he’s at least thought about it first. “I can get something to tie me over before everything’s up and running and you can afford to pay me. But until then I’ll work for free. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

“I can’t – I don’t understand.”

“I just realised that you’re right,” he carries on in that easy manner as if you’re not confused, as if it’s all so simple. “I don’t enjoy my job and this place brings me so much joy and I thought why should I waste away somewhere doing something I don’t like when I could be doing something I enjoy and puts some good into the world.”

“And you’re just expecting me to give you the job?”

It’s the first time the smile has faltered on his face. It dips ever so slightly and you can see his mind trying to work out how this isn’t part of his plan and what he needs to do to amend it.

You laugh before he can open his mouth.

“I’m joking,” you smile. “I’d love you to work here. I just don’t want to make any promises.”

“I’m not expecting any,” Namjoon says before taking a small step forward. “But you’ll make this work. I know it might not be smooth sailing, but I know you’ll do it.”

That weight weighing down on your shoulders again. The pressure of messing something up that means so much to so many. But you won’t be alone, at least Namjoon is offering for you to share the load.

“Ok,” you say, the smile spreading and growing on Namjoons face. “I guess it might be good to have a hand. You’ve done a lot already so I guess you can stick around to help some more.”

He lets out a huff of a laugh, eyes squinting into crescents of joy, head shaking side to side.

“As long as it’s clear this is all still you.”

“So if it goes wrong you can dip and run?” You laugh.

“No,” he says and your laugh dies in your throat at his tone and the way he’s looking at you. “Because this is all you. Your idea. Your brain. Your love. I’m just coming along for the ride.”

Your eyes dance across his face. How can he be so perfect? Kind and soft and yet so beautiful. It’s too much, like a cruel joke.

“I had another request.”

You raise an eyebrow, your silent answer to say he can carry on.

“Now I’m no longer working at Seven Living,” he starts. “I was wondering if I could take you on a date.”

“A date?” Your voice squeaks.

Now it’s Namjoon’s turn to raise his eyebrow, a way of showing that he doesn’t buy your surprise, that you should have seen this coming.

“You think it’s ok to date if we’re working together?”

He shrugs, an easy gesture. “People who work together date all the time, I don’t see a problem with it.”

You think it through. It’s not a hard decision, doesn’t take you too long.

“Ok, you can take me on a date.”

You hardly see the beam that takes over his face, the deep dimples you’ve grown so found of, because he steps forward into you, dips down and presses his lips to yours. You let out a small squeak of surprise, tense in surprise. But it’s only for a second, Namjoon’s lips moving against yours makes you melt, relax into it, relax into him.

“Sorry,” he says, pulling away only enough to look at you. “I got over excited, I should have waited.”

“It’s ok,” you smile up at him, can’t help but glance down at those pink lips you kind of want to lean back into.

“I’ll make sure to take you somewhere nice to make up for it.”

You don’t bother telling him that he has nothing to apologise for.

#btscreatorscorner #Namjoon fanfic #Namjoon x reader #Namjoon imagine #Namjoon fluff #Namjoon fan fiction #Namjoon fic #namjoon scenario #rm fanfic #RM x you #RM fluff #Namjoon angst

[humanuser0613]

Let's Discuss:

Jikookers - Are We Conspiracy Theorists Too?

I read this article and just wanted to discuss the topic in a very open and straightforward manner.

LET'S GET IT! 🤸🏻‍♀️

(also, grab a seat cause it's long)

Short answer: we're not immune to crackpot theories, but jikookers are not, for the most part, conspiracy theorists.

Example of a "crazy" theory: JK posted this pic on Twitter because the Brazilian model proposed to Jimin online.

JK posted or he asked Tae to post again (as Tae had already posted earlier) the picture and this is assumed because Jimin didn't use his hashtag.

And why is this theory crazy?

1) We don't know who posted the picture - it could have been JM, but he just forgot his hashtag

2) Can anyone confirm that the guys even saw the news of the model asking JM to marry her? Can anyone confirm that if one of them saw the news that it was relayed to JK?

3) So we also ultimately don't know why the pictures were posted other than it's typically what the members do for ARMY from time to time. Which isn't out of the norm for them.

And why isn't this theory a conspiracy theory?

Read on to find out 👇👇👇

What's the basic of a conspiracy theory and how come jikookers don't fit?

A conspiracy theory is how an event, sometimes large, sometimes small, gets explained. There are usually sinister forces at work to cover up the true explanation, which isn't the explanation that's already been given. Hence the reason it is a conspiracy.

👇👇👇👇👇👇

The definition of conspiracy being about secret plotting by a group to do some deed, likely illegal or unethical.

👇👇👇👇👇👇

And a theory is how you explain the world around you. Usually you use facts to create a theory. And you use your 5 senses to observe those facts so they're based in reality.

In the instance of conspiracy theorists, they use the absence of facts as their proof and make up explanations to disregard or explain away actual facts. It is based more on emotions than on observable facts. 🚨 It's used to confirm already existing worldviews instead of adjusting worldviews to facts and reality. 🚨

(well known conspiracy theories - the government killed JFK, destroyed the World Trade Center Towers, & faked the moon landing, the earth is flat, Trump won the 2020 election)

And jikookers???

(😐 I'm getting there! Stay with me. 🥰)

We have theories that end up being right later on.

Examples:

1) JM retrieving JK from Hobi's bday vlive and lots of people joked or theorized it's because he needed to get into his hotel room or wanted to go to bed and needed (?) JK for that. Turns out JK had the room key.

Theory: JM needed JK (probably to get into the room)

Facts: JM and JK are often seen together & members talk about them being together a lot and during the vlive JK and JM mentioned being together where JM talked about napping and JK confirmed JM needed to set an alarm, JK talked about his hotel room size and JM didn't, JK had slippers and JM didn't and hotels set up the number of slippers in a room for each guest registered to the room

How: Eyes and ears used, historical data as well

2) Jimin being unable to complete his story during the Dynamite #1bb/JK bday vlive

Theory: Jimin had something else to say, but did it have to do with JK?

(and if people were saying that he wasn't allowed to finish talking...then who was it that was stopping him and why - that's where conspiracies start - as opposed to 7 men talking over each other and quickly moving to different topics because they're on a tight schedule)

Facts: Jimin was trying to say something else and this was later shown to be true during the press conference when he was able to say that he was with JK for his birthday and during this announcement

How: eyes and ears

3) Jimin flew from France to South Korea and spent time with JK on his birthday and posted the picture with some supposed birthday presents - this became a theory because Jimin had posted a video earlier of himself in France and many in the fandom doubted he was actually there for JK's birthday

Theory: Jimin spent time with JK on his birthday, and got the cake (the globe was a whole different issue because a fake account was created to purposely mislead the fandom, and jikookers, about how it was obtained; hence why older jikookers are extremely wary of twitter accounts providing info without evidence to back it up)

Facts: Jimin posted the picture, used his hashtag, later on he held a vlive on his birthday and talked about how he flew back to South Korea and went to see JK directly

Note: the cake theory remains unverified, and while Jimin has been known to prepare the cakes for the members in the past, the time constraints are obvious thus making it unlikely.

How: eyes... literally just accepted the info presented to us, and then ears when explained what happened a month later

Unverified Theories (non-exhaustive)

(Because even jikookers have a few of those)

1) The Matching Rings

Theory: Jikook bought matching rings. Bvlgari is thrown around. They're married!

What happened?: Jikook showed off these rings during 4th muster on their ring fingers. And I say showed off because there was literally no need for this move...

They were spotted in a store in Japan and some people got the backwards Bvlgari ad on the window mixed up with a store name somehow...🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Bottom line: the rings are matching, they were showed off in front of ARMY and no, they're not Bvlgari. Based on available evidence we don't know where they're from. And they weren't bought by any fansites/fans and given to jikook. We don't know with certainty what they symbolize for jikook either. We have South Korean cultural cues that couples often get matching rings, but we also know that group members wear matching jewelry and clothes.

2) Valentine's Day post

Theory: Jikook are boyfriends because they posted on Valentine's Day wearing matching jackets.

Bottom line: This is part of couple culture in South Korea. But the 'boyfriends' part is unconfirmed.

3) Namchin

Theory: jikook basically confirmed their boyfriend status at MMA 2018 with their Gucci clothes and hot looks and the lip reading k-ARMY did

Bottom line: lip reading isn't always accurate, but JK did flash a finger heart to JM and JM did blow JK a kiss and they were photographed leaning into each other when they sat near each other...and the conversation they had might have appeared intense and interesting to onlookers with JM pointing to himself and then JK thus indicating something between them, the whispering in JM's ear that JK did and then JK helping JM to sit down at one point... 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

4) They were separated at the airport (ignore the analysis, just watch the video and draw your own conclusions)

Theory: They weren't allowed to quarantine together upon return to South Korea from the LA PTD concerts

Bottom line: They aren't blood family, aren't married so they faced restrictions. The assumption was made that they were forced apart because Jimin was grabbed at the airport and directed to a different car, but the fact that a different car was there should be proof that the plan was always for them to travel separately. My new theory is just that Jimin forgot. Possibly he was tired. 🤷‍♀️

5) GCF Tokyo is Jimin's birthday present

Theory: JK posted on Twitter for jimin's birthday and said "it's not over yet" and then took him to Tokyo

Bottom line: JK paid for the trip, his Twitter post seemingly indicated there was more to come, and there's video documentation that they went to Tokyo, discussed it often in interviews, and a Twitter post where Jimin stated he wasn't expecting the video. Jimin also had two mini videos he created too.

Now more important than what we observe are the narratives crafted around the observations for the purposes of this blog.

🤡 That's where the sticking point is between what is a conspiracy and what isn't. 🤡

NARRATIVES

Jikooker narratives:

1) They're boyfriends

2) They can't come out officially in South Korea

3) They show us what they're comfortable showing us of their relationship and use plausible deniability to push boundaries (including skinship)

4) They engage in South Korean couple culture with consistency over a long period of time

5) They interact normally and have always been comfortable/close with each other

6) They display body language of a (long term) couple

7) They get hate for the things that would get hyped up between other pairs

8) There's content that is shown to exist that we don't get to see (sounds contradictory, but it's not...🤔...but it is probably worth a different post because BH does have some involvement here 🙃 this one is long enough)

9) Watch original content and listen to the members

10) Don't trust rumors without evidence

🚨 What's noticeably absent is the narrative that they're being forced apart; that they're puppets being controlled by a bigger and more powerful entity than themselves; that they can't tell us what they want to and are forced to lie or use secret codes/gestures to communicate with a select few 'special' people their misery or love for each other. 🚨

Does that mean they don't have their own inside communications? 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Now in all fairness....👁️👄👁️

Here's a few theories that have circumstantial evidence, been analyzed a lot, and have been used in the jikooker community, but they may or may not have anything to do with jikook together as opposed to them individually:

1) 13

2) 1:23

3) vlives where they may or may not have been together 👀👀

4) Jimin is ARMY (something he's stated before)

5) The members teasing JK using JM (probably worth another post 😔✊)

6) Using Twitter posts to talk to each other or even supporting ARMY as is the belief after "kiss mark" trended in SK just before NJ's bday (this is the one time I kinda believe they acknowledged something about themselves to ARMY)

Even with these theories we still don't have any sort of secret cabal doing their level best to keep the truth under wraps and presenting a fictitious version of events to distract everyone else but the chosen few that see through their lies. Jikook are still in control of their own actions and responses. And jikookers are just observing and occasionally making connections to other historical data they've provided.

To sum up: jikook are the agents of the information they show or withhold in content. There's no evil 3rd party promoting a deceptive truth to hide the real truth about jikook. The information obtained from the members is the information used to come to the basis of the belief that jikookers hold that they are dating or are more than likely dating.

Jikookers aren't conspiracy theorists (but it doesn't mean we can't be delulu 🤸‍♀️). There's also no need for jikookers to spread hate to any of the members. They're all friends. They can navigate and set their own boundaries in their relationships. And frankly, our brains aren't wired to see anyone as an obstacle between jikook....our "reality" or "worldview" doesn't need those mental contortions to continue to make sense to us. They aren't trained to see anything as a threat to a relationship that we don't always see, but what we do see of it, it is calm, loving, fun, they take care of each other's emotional needs and they're still always together behind the scenes. They've provided enough for us to generally trust we'll eventually always see them jikooking happily, even during times where we aren't seeing them be active in real time. Besides, we're more likely to think South Korea needs to come into the 21st century and protect the human rights of all their citizens.

Are there jikookers who could be conspiracy theorists? I do suppose it's possible. The world is large and everyone is different, with different capabilities and backgrounds. They would have been radicalized/broken down by something or someone else though before becoming a jikooker. Conspiracy thinking requires a bit of indoctrination to learn how to turn the rational parts of the brain off and disconnect the ability to take in new information and adjust opinions and also the regulation of appropriate emotions to stimuli.

So I'll caution jikookers to watch that the community doesn't become an echo chamber, that if people are struggling with regulating their thoughts and emotions around jikook and BTS that they're encouraged to take a break from it and gain some outside perspectives (just like people in cults need to completely disconnect in order to deprogram their brains), and that original information continues to be what is used to distinguish fact from fiction.

Happy Jikooking! 💜

(I'll just post this and make edits as discussion progresses or I think of other things)

#jikook #jm #jk #jimin #jungkook #jikookers #a discussion #let's talk #chime in #mingguk #kookmin

[sonicvillainsfanfilm]

“ Genies, Monsters, Robots- he's fought 'em all! But can he beat a slew of villains ( & one corrupted Catgirl ) brought together by the last of the Phantom Ruby? ”

WELCOME TO THE NEW & IMPROVED “ SONIC VILLAINS “ TUMBLR PAGE!!!

For newcomers-- WELCOME TO SONIC VILLAINS! A fanfilm by @miitoons​ with aim to celebrate the Sonic franchise's long history with an action-packed multiversal adventure! Using the last of the reality-breaking Phantom Ruby gem, Dr. Eggman gathers Villains from across the Sonic multiverse to destroy Sonic once & for all! 

This film initially started production in 2018, & since then, we’ve been sharing art, animation previews, behind the scenes videos, Casting Calls & in-character Q&A events as we journey through the process of developing this ode to the franchise’s insane history! We hope you’ll join us if ya haven’t already! 

Since our Villains Q&A, the community surrounding our film has started their own fan initiative known as Sonic Villains: Multiverse ( Created & started by the artist cheesywheesy121 ) ! Fans of our film can draw their OCs in the style of our promo art via the two “ Hero “ & “ Villain “ background templates! ( Using the hashtag #SonicVillainsMultiverse )

Currently, as we continue or development on the film, we’ve got loads of exciting things planned for our channels, including an in-character sequel to our Villains Q&A event featuring the film’s protagonists & side characters! More info on that & when it starts soon! 

We’re ALSO always on the lookout for additional help on our film! Artists, Writers & animators alike can send us examples of their work via our messages & recruitment posts ( like this one, technically ) as their submission. If your work feels in line with the story we’re trying to tell, we’ll be more than happy to have you! 

We look forward to sharing more with you all via this new blog very soon! Be sure to check out the rest of our YouTube channel, main website ( www.miitoons.com/sonicvillains ) & even our Twitter page @SonicVIllains for further updates!

#sonic #sonic.exe #sonic villains #sonic the hedgehog #archie sonic #aosth #sonic underground #sonic x #sonic ova #sonic boom #sonic adventure #sonic cd #sonic satam #sonic movie #sonic the comic #fleetway super sonic #super sonic #fanfilm #animation #character animation

[elonaackerman]

Is Erehisu dead ?

The answer is no.

/!\138 spoilers coming/!\

First I want to cheer you up guys. There is a lot of harassment going on on Twitter, from toxic Eremika shippers mostly, and I don’t want anyone of you to feel depressed because of it. I think that EH not happening in the chapter surprised Eremika (toxic) shippers and that they feel relieved, that’s why they are attacking us now. Every peaceful eremika shipper who wants to express his opinion on this post can do it, that’s why I put the eremika hashtag, and also to ask you guys to not be harassing EH shippers, on twitter especially. That’s not how the fandom should be. I will block anyone who threatens me.

In this review I will show how Eremika isn’t canon in my opinion. I actually don’t understand why people are saying it is when in fact the chapter just shows the impossibility and tragedy of Eremika and the way it’s just « a long dream »...I however understand that it’s an enjoyable content for Eremika shippers, but from Mikasa’s perspective only.

1) Mikasa’s dream

« If Mikasa said that she loved Eren, they would have eloped, running away from the world together. Eremika is canon. »

Let’s analyze this part. First, Mikasa has her ancient haircut, same for Eren. They are living in a house which insanely looks like Mikasa’s parents house, the one where her relationship with Eren is born. This is just an image of what Mikasa desires, something stuck in the past she can never gain or regain.

But what is the most shocking is Eren’s words: this is not the true Eren, the same boy who seeked freedom and stood up desperately against a titan when he could have accepted Mikasa’s confession.

This is not the man who pursued giant goals and who couldn’t stand not being free. The Eren from the dream says « I put Historia through hell », saying he couldn’t choose between genocide and breeding like livestock, and ran away instead. Do I need to explain that it’s just a fantasized Eren ? Eren « keeps moving forward », mostly for his people, he doesn’t run away in the woods to go fishing. It’s so wrong to think a simple confession could change all of his character. That’s the Eren Mikasa dreams off, not the one that actually exists. It’s a dream where Eren didn’t choose Historia. When, in fact, he absolutely did.

Chapter one is the mirror of this chapter, Mikasa and Eren are changing up roles, which means the reality is the complete contrary of Mikasa’s dream: Eren made his choice, and he didn’t put Historia through hell. He fought and didn’t run away from the world problems, like every attack titan did before him, and proposed to a certain someone to run away: Historia. However, Historia was the trigger, she just conforted him into the prospects he already had, erehisu doesn’t go against Eren’s character and development like the dream does. Historia and him could have run away like he asked her to, in order to save her, but Eren still would have applied his plan.

(Look at Eren’s determination in those panels, especially when Historia accepts her fate: it’s impossible that he would have turned his back on all of this matters so easily)

2) They kissed it’s canon.

Kissing a corpse is not canon, it doesn’t show any reciprocity: I mean Eren didn’t even have hands he couldn’t have rejected her. Plus, it was a goodbye kiss, expressing Mikasa’s feelings only, Eren was already dead. She said goodbye to him, she needed it. Because like she says she can’t give up on his feelings for him and she doesn’t want their last exchange to be the one they had around the table. However, Mikasa is more than those feelings, that’s why she kills Eren, helped by Levi, but expresses them honestly for the first time during Eren’s last moments. It just showed that in this world, the only Eren Mikasa can kiss is dead. It’s pure tragedy. This relationship is impossible and Mikasa needs to free herself from it.

3) But it’s an alternate reality

No, it’s a reality Mikasa created, her and only her, like she already did in the OVA, not accepting Eren’s death. It’s an illusion. I’ve hesitated about that but the previous analysis + the titan marks appearing on Eren’s face when he told Mikasa to accept his death and to be free, finished to convince me. The marks suddenly appearing without any reason show the brutal return of Mikasa to reality. She wakes up.

However it’s legitimate to ask ourselves why this « reality » appeared in Eren’s dream in chapter one. I think that the answer is the smiling Ymir behind Eren’s head and Mikasa. Ymir was satisfied, as if something she was waiting for happened. In fact, if the shifters can exchange memories, if Ymir decided to send that fake reality to Eren from Mikasa’s spirit in the purpose to get him to do what she wanted him to do, then it’s perfectly understandable. « You will die no matter what, but if you die by running away, then everything, your home, your friends, will be destroyed by the Mahrs ». Maybe that’s why Eren doesn’t hesitate to die at any moment and is « a suicidal idiot ».

It would also explain why Eren is so attached to freedom since he is born: because Ymir subconsciously influenced him by showing him what would happen if he acted like a normal person and ran away from the world problems. Maybe the Eren from the dream is the one that never was obsessed by freedom, an Eren we never knew in SNK, the one that never received Ymir’s message and yes, that Eren could have loved Mikasa and could have ran away with her. Maybe this is Eren from a past reality. But it’s surely not the real Eren, the hunter/free one, who received the attack titan, who was so obsessed by freedom and his own plan that he ordered his father to kill the Reiss family. That’s what caused him to get turned into a titan himself by Grisha, it shows that the two realities can’t coexist, otherwise Eren would not have become a titan, Historia would not be queen and everything, they wouldn’t even have discovered the truth about the world, and obviously, Eren and Mikasa wouldn’t have been in that situation from the dream if all of that didn’t happen.

That’s because that two separated Erens and realities mix into Mikasa’s dream, that it collapses. Because from the start, they never were the same. All the SNK story is linked to the Eren Jäger we know, he created it. The story of the other eren would have been the one of an ignorant and normal human.

#erehisu #aot 138 #aot spoilers #eremika #eren #eren x historia #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin