they told me all of my cages were mental

since everybody’s talking about south korea’s mandatory military service because of BTS, now seems like a great time to say that forced conscription is always morally wrong, and 90% of the world’s imprisoned conscientious objectors are south korean men who refused to join the military. despite the UN, human rights groups, and the south korean general public saying a mandatory draft with no alternatives is unethical, the current far-right administration and their new incel president have said they will be making LESS exemptions in the future because of declining birth rates. 

the choices for south korean men are literally: join the military for 18 months, flee the country before they’re age 24-ish (they don’t let men who haven’t served yet leave the country once they’re around that age, because of the possibility of them fleeing), or go to prison for 3+ years, where they’re given prison labor so it’s like they’re “serving” south korea anyway. the south korean government also keeps a public database of draft dodgers, assumedly so they can be publicly shamed for the rest of their lives (and it affects future employment, of course).

currently the only exemptions are for “cultural merit” (olympic athletes, asian game winners, classical musicians and dancers, etc, hence why people thought BTS would fit in this category because it’s all about who brings prestige to south korea internationally, and BTS literally accounts for 1% of south korea’s entire annual GDP), mentally and physically disabled men, certain STEM programs where they can work as engineers instead of serving, firefighters, and some extreme examples like “this guy is the only doctor in a small town” or “this guy’s wife just died and there’s nobody else available to raise their young kids” — and it’s a big open secret that the sons of wealthy businessmen and chaebols mysteriously always get exempted for one reason or another, of course.

the cultural merit exemption rule was written back in the 1960s, before kpop and kdramas and all that ever existed, so in the last decade or so, a lot of people have been calling for an expansion of who gets exempted and how that rule’s defined, while others say giving celebrities special treatment is unfair. i don’t know if i even have an opinion on this because i’m so anti-military i’m just like.. exempt every man, dissolve the military, fuck it all — but: in the past, enlisted celebrities like kpop idols and actors have faced such extreme levels of bullying, sexual harassment (including other soldiers taking pictures of them in the public showers to sell online), and more, to the extent that just a few months ago, shinee’s taemin was transferred to a public service role because of how much the harassment and bullying he was facing was affecting his mental health.

the south korean military is literally known for its bullying, hazing, violent homophobia, corruption and favoritism with superior officers, high suicide rates, and more — but i digress. fuck the military and fuck the south korean government :) not for BTS, but for every south korean man forced to serve a country that does not give a fuck about them

#Hm had heard somewhere that they enlisted because of propaganda boost but given the outome maybe not true #I’d be surprised as well if they chose this because it’d be less demanding than their current management’s expectation which is what others speculated

hi! both of these theories are wrong, so i’ll break them down:

the south korean government has been debating whether or not to exempt BTS for the last three years or so, due to the huge amount of money they bring into the country in terms of tourism, goods, etc. some people thought they should be exempted completely, some thought they shouldn’t get any special treatment, and others thought they could have some kind of special circumstance, like how soccer player son heung-min only had to do basic training for three weeks instead of the full 18 months.

earlier this year, south korea elected a new far-right president, yoon suk-yeol, who ran on a platform of appealing to incels, saying feminism is corrupting and evil, the #MeToo movement hurts poor innocent men, there should be a 120 hour work week, etc. before this year, south korea had president moon jae-in, who was sort of a left leaning moderate (think biden and obama type politics) and specifically made a lot of strides in women’s rights in korea.

BTS was given a special Order Of Cultural Merit from president moon a few years ago, and they worked with him several times during their UN work, including being interviewed with him and more — and they were also given an exemption where they could delay their military service by two years (age 30 instead of age 28) while the debates continued. when president yoon was elected this year, however, BTS suddenly stopped being involved with south korean politics, other than smaller things like still being the face of seoul’s tourism ads and helping the city of busan with their world expo bid.

the government announced earlier this year that they were still, after all this time, debating whether or not to exempt BTS — and they said a few weeks ago that they would finally decide and make an announcement at the end of october. since president yoon’s administration took over, the conversation around BTS’s potential exemption shifted to essentially “how about we make BTS enlist normally, but we’ll also make them keep performing, and it’s illegal to make money while in the south korean military, so all the money from these performances will go to president yoon :)” which as you can imagine is not exactly the greatest, considering BTS has always leaned pretty left in their politics (one member has even talked about being pro-palestine, he said he wrote an anti-capitalism song after reading das kapital, he recently got put on a blacklist made by korean incels because he’s ~too feminist~…….. so i can’t  imagine he’d be particularly happy doing campaign events for the incel guy)

so with the new administration, BTS’s choices were:

and that’s why BTS suddenly announced the other day that they’re not waiting for the government to decide anything and that they’re joining the military normally, and that they won’t be a full group again until 2025, three years from now (aka two separate blocks of 18 months). the oldest members are going soon, and then the younger members will go once they’re out — all so they can avoid being president yoon’s little propaganda puppets.

given the fact that this has been the response to BTS’s enlistment announcement in the korean government and media—

—and everyone’s talking about how this is BTS’s giant middle finger to the yoon administration  + how this is making the south korean general public REALLY criticize the yoon administration for how they handled this, i don’t think it had anything to do with a “propaganda boost.”

with the second point, with you mentioning how some people are saying that enlisting in the military would be “less demanding than their current management’s expectations” — i’ve been pretty invested in this whole news event, and i can honestly say this is the very first time i’ve seen THAT particular idea. i did see a couple armys talking about how they hope the military is a ~nice little break from fame~ so like.. what is it with people assuming the military is going to be a fun little vacation???

i know it’s a popular conspiracy theory with westerners to read “kpop is an evil industry that exploits idols and treats them like slaves” in some article written by a white american and then just run with it and specifically assume every single company operates the exact same way, but BTS are some of the highest paid korean entertainers of all time, the members renegotiated their contracts years ago to be highly beneficial for them and since then have produced content at a much slower rate while being paid much more (all while talking about mental health awareness, mentioning that their company encourages them all to have therapists, specifically talking about how kpop is such a demanding industry and how they’re challenging that, etc), all the members are currently major shareholders in HYBE entertainment and therefore have significantly more control over the company as a whole than most singers across any entertainment industry on earth, they all talk constantly about the creative control they have over their own music and concepts, etc.

i’m not saying there aren’t some extremely exploitive kpop companies out there — certain companies in the industry (cough, SM entertainment) have been sued by former idols over a dozen times for mistreatment and are known for having “slave contracts,” while other companies have never been sued and are known for paying much more and treating their idols much better. basically, i’m saying that BTS are big boys and they’re doing just fine making millions of dollars at the company they partially own. like, it’s still a job, they still work very hard, and it’s still a company in a very capitalist industry, but like…. the south korean military is known for being so extreme that over 60% of military deaths are from suicide, and “it has been confirmed that severe beatings, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and sexual violence have significant effects on the suicidal impulses” of these men, who are all there without choice.

so…………………….. idk about y’all, but personally i’d rather have a job where i’m paid 10+ million dollars a year to sing and dance than be forced to join a military that’s known for bullying, beatings, and suicide

not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing (so devoted the lines blur)

Bro what

I am average American man, I give up dreams of astronaut and work fifteen hours in hog farm to buy one hamburger restaurant

hate when you find a lake or creek or island with a cool name on google maps and you look up the story behind the name and it’s something like “Man-Eating Megascorpion Island was named by the explorer who discovered it in 1832, after his aunt, Susan Man-Eating Megascorpion”

@jung-koook

~ THEY'RE DATING ~ RELATIONSHIP PROMPTS

requested by: anonymous

Feel free to use and reblog!

In Bed Together - Otp Prompts

The Poterchata [Ukrainian mythology]

Small, supernatural flames or lights that float over swamps and marshes are a commonly reoccurring theme in myths and beliefs from around the world. Today, such sightings are usually attributed to swamp gases but in the past they were often thought to be ghosts, spirits or undead souls.

The Poterchata are one version of that story, they originate from Ukrainian legends. These ghosts are the souls of unbaptized children (usually under 8), which also includes babies who died during childbirth. Unable to pass on to the afterlife, they were doomed to wander the Earth.

These are dangerous spirits and would manifest as floating lights to lead curious or lost travellers into the water, where they would drown. They could also be heard laughing and crying in deep forests. There are also accounts of Poterchata tickling a victim to death, or just trying to scare travellers in the dark. But they were not entirely evil, as these spirits could be saved.

They fly around at night, and are considered related to the Ukrainian Mavka, spirits of young girls who were associated with water. They inhabit lakes and rivers.

In one version, the Poterchata take the form of birds, and they remain like that for 7 years after the death of their human body. In Podolsk (Ukraine) and Belarus, they turn into mermaids (note the recurring association with water or water spirits). In this form, they still resembled children, but had a blueish skin. In literature and fiction, Poterchata were sometimes depicted as corporeal, humanoid creatures with monstrous characteristics like fangs and claws.

It is considered polite and customary to give a piece of cloth to these spirits if you happened to encounter one. This is related to an Ukrainian custom where the godparents of a newly born child gift a towel to the parents, to wrap and hold the baby. One should also leave a small crucifix for the spirit.

In some versions, the spirits are nameless because a child only ‘officially’ receives their name when they are baptized. Hence, they were buried in a nameless grave, and it is said that you could hear wailing or crying if you held your ear next to their gravestone. I am uncertain what time period or region this statement comes from.

Hanna Barvinok, (the pseudonym of) a 19th century Ukrainian writer and folklorist, wrote in her story about mermaids that unbaptized children were often buried underneath the house of their parents. Sometimes you could hear their voice, complaining that their mother buried them. It was also common to bury the child close to the fireplace, as the fireplace of the house was a culturally important spot where the spirits of the family’s ancestors were thought to dwell. The reasoning here is by burying the infant here, it would be left in the care of its ancestors, who would protect it against evil spirits. In some places in Russia, unbaptized children and infants would be buried underneath a tree instead.

Sources: Романова, O. M., 2018, ДИТЯЧИЙ ОБРАЗ ЛІСОВОЇ ДЕМОНОЛОГІЇ В ТРАДИЦІЙНИХ ВІРУВАННЯХ. ПОТЕРЧАТА, in: ІСТОРИЧНІ НАУКИ, 23, p76-81 (The child’s image of forest demonology in traditional reliabilities: Poterchata, in: Historical Sciences) Fody, G. D., 1963, A survey of the mythology of Kievan Rus’ and its survivals in the folklore of the eastern Slavs, thesis submitted to the faculty of graduate studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts, University of Alberta. Riazantseva, T., 2020, Slavic folktale characters in Serhiy Oksenyk’s fantasy trilogy: walking, flying, floating, САВРЕМЕНА СРПСКА ФОЛКЛОРИСТИКА, C.381-388. (image source 1: Daria Zhuk on Artstation) (image source 2: Olha Nazarets on Artstation)

Serious explanation here: she's teaching them the instinct of being alert around enclosure openings! For example, if these were wild cats living in a bush, they'd run the risk of a larger predator running up to the opening and grabbing one of them. The mother cat is also only bapping them lightly without claws, so those slaps are more of an annoyance meant to get the kittens' attention, and to teach them to keep their eyes out for potential threats.

지민 (Jimin) ‘FACE 2023. 3. 24. 1PM (KST) | 12AM (ET)

tv host: do we have any questions from the fans?

someone in the crowd: I WOULD TAKE A BULLET FOR YOU, NEIL

neil: you would have been mad useful to me a few years ago

Posts that Tumblr will blaze:

• Blatant NSFW that breaks community guidelines

• Christian proselytizing

• Vent posts

Posts that Tumblr won't blaze:

• Spoilers for a shitty game that lines a transphobe's pockets

“Be gay do crime!!” “Eat the rich!!”

And you can’t even boycott the most famous TERF in the UK

ur favourite ao3 author definitely has to go back and reread their own stuff cuz they forgot major plot points in their own writing btw it's just a fact