Opalsong's Ekele

and i know most of yous didnt know this and thats fine! no need to apologise im not trying to make u feel bad, im just trying to navigate fandom and this website without being constantly exposed to a really awful racist slur

if u have to use that specific term, at least keep the slashes between the letters. it still sucks to see tho ngl. even better! stick to omegaverse or instead use aob (alpha-omega-beta) (imo its also nicer to pronounce; ay-oh-bee. ayo-bee)

The absolutely pervasive mentality that unwanted criticism or critique shouldn't be given and should be ignored is why fans of color don't stay in fan spaces.

And I am not going to mince words here:

A lot of you are racist. A lot of your fan works are racist.

That might have been difficult to hear. And if it was, you should probably reflect on why that was.

"Fandom etiquette" has created a space where fans of color either bite our tongues and eventually leave or say something, get dogged on, and then eventually leave.

If I say "I am uncomfortable with fandom's tendency to write trans men as feminine and submissive" I do not mean "I think every person who writes feminine submissive trans men should be chased with pitchforks". I don't even mean "any cis-person who writes feminine or submissive trans men should be chased with pitchforks". I mean "I would like writers to seriously think about why this is so common, why they write that, and if it fairly and genuinely engages with what it means to be a trans man, or if they just think it's hot when submissive people have vaginas and didn't want to write omegaverse of m/f".

Similarly, when people say "fandom is systemically less interested in black characters, less willing to give flat black characters rich fanon than flat white characters, and less interested in black characters in ships", the response is not to explain why you, personally, just happen to like popular white guy in that fanon. Your job is to look at yourself and ask if you tend to "just happen to be more interested" in the popular white guy across fandoms, be honest, and start unpacking that. Sometimes it's easier to love the flat character who's already getting 10,000 fics with headcanons and art and meta.

If somebody says "I wish there were more gluten free options at the potluck. I hate always showing up and not finding anything I can eat*", they are not asking you to throw your cake in the trash and weep. They do not want to hear your long speech about how actually this is your grandmother's recipe, and you've tried it with rice flour actually, but it just didn't work. You think about what you can do, and you listen to how they feel.

Produce = Fresh. Tasty. Nutritious. Contains some ppm of Love.

if you already have an LG monitor or TV or intend to buy one, you probably want to watch this video and keep an eye on gamers nexus for updates (or anyone else covering the LG spying situation):

posted july 16 2026

LG is doing some bad things. how bad? well. here are some very brief bullet points. I am not an expert, gamers nexus is, see the video for more information than this:

LG monitors (brand new and years old, cheap and expensive) auto-install LG's own adware-spyware called LG Monitor App onto windows 10 and 11 computers. you plug in an LG monitor for video output and this gets installed automatically. no hitting OK, no confirmation, no toggles, NOTHING.

the auto-installed LG Monitor App auto-grants itself access to your internet connection and ALL computer resources. the LG Monitor App has the ability to collect: geolocation data, device data, personal information, online activity data, contact data, and more!

...and it shows pop-up ads! because fuck you

on some affected versions of windows, auto-installed shitware like the LG Monitor App can be prevented by navigating to gpedit.msc -> computer configuration -> administrative templates -> system -> device installation -> prevent automatic download of applications associated with metadata

...but, if your LG monitor already installed the LG Monitor App, this is like closing the barn door after the horse got out. and that horse has the logs of everything you were doing on your computer! someone stop that fucking horse!!!

unrelated to the LG Monitor App, many LG TV owners are now required to tell all household members and guests that their LG TV is recording and processing ALL nearby voices. or else they may be in violation of local eavesdropping and wiretapping laws. for owning a fucking LG TV.

plus, how many businesses, workplaces, public spaces use LG TVs?

allegedly the microphone spying can be turned off by disabling microphone features, but LG has been caught disregarding opt-out settings before.

LG TVs can record everything that happens on the TV, including the video output of connected devices like phones, computers, gaming consoles, anything that happens on the TV screen.

LG was sued for their spying, and as a result of that spying suit, now shows pop-ups saying oops! they got caught spying and intend to continue spying. thanks for buying LG!

as of when the video was posted, there was no list of every spying LG monitor or TV. but this stuff is getting rolled out to more and more LG devices, including those purchased years ago.

and that is the shortest summary I can make of this situation without just summarizing more of the gamers nexus video.

⬆️posted july 23 2026

gamers nexus is fairly respected in technology journalism. they fly around the world investigating companies that fuck people over and have pressured major companies to make major changes over the years.

so for gamers nexus to say that this LG spying situation is both unprecedented in how uniquely bad it is in this era of spying, and that it gets even worse than their video where they already say to stop buying and using LG products while recanting every prior recommendation for LG products?

#my old phone looks like this on my shelf lmao #im too scared to touch it to throw it away #idk what trash this even goes into when its at this point

The pillow-shaped object here used to be the phone’s battery. It’s not a battery anymore. Now it’s a balloon full of corrosive, pyrophoric chemicals and hydrogen gas and it’s one puncture away from burning your house down. I am 100% serious. You should be scared to touch it.

But you gotta touch it, because you gotta get it out of your house before the pressure builds up to the point where the balloon pops. This isn’t going to happen soon – there is no need to panic – but it will happen eventually.

And, indeed, it doesn’t go in the ordinary trash. You put this in the ordinary trash and you’re gonna set the garbage truck on fire. Don’t do that to the garbage collectors, their job is hard enough already.

The first thing you need to do is get a fireproof container. The most common household item that qualifies as a fireproof container is a cast-iron cookpot with a cast-iron lid – often sold as a “Dutch oven.” Any other cooking container that’s unreactive, has a very high melting point, and has a lid made of the same materials will also work: enameled or stainless steel, Pyrex with glass lid, etc.

However: Do not use a pot with a PTFE-based non-stick coating. If the battery does explode, the fire will probably be hot enough to degrade a PTFE coating, producing toxic smoke. (Not that you should breathe the smoke from the battery fire either, but PTFE breakdown products are worse.) Do not use a pot made of aluminium or copper. The fire might even get hot enough to melt those.

Whatever container you use, you might have to throw away along with the phone, so don’t use your good Dutch oven for this. Go to a thrift store and buy a cheap one.

Once you have the fireproof container:

Gently pick up the phone and put it in the fireproof container. If possible, gently tape the phone to the bottom of the container to prevent it from bouncing around. Don’t put any padding in there, that’ll just make a fire worse if it does happen. Put the lid on and tape it shut.

Put a label on the container, something like “DEFECTIVE LI-ION BATTERY – FIRE HAZARD”.

It is now reasonably safe to move the container around. However, if the battery does explode, the container is very likely to leak smoke and get hot, so keep it in a well-ventilated area and away from things that will be damaged by heat. Don’t leave it exposed to the weather, either.

You need to find either a hazardous waste disposal site, or an e-waste recycler that will accept defective Li-ion batteries. I can’t help with that because I have no idea where you live.

However, your local fire department, if you have one, will probably be happy to help. Call their non-emergency number. Nothing is on fire yet, so this isn’t an emergency, but things that can easily start a fire are still within the fire department’s responsibilities. Tell them you have a phone with a bulging lithium-ion battery, you put it in a fireproof container, and you want to know how to dispose of it safely.

If the fire department tries to tell you this isn’t dangerous or it’s okay to throw it out in the regular trash (with or without fireproof container), hang up on them and write a cranky letter to your local government representatives, then keep looking for a proper disposal site.

“Don’t put any padding in there, that’ll just make a fire worse if it does happen.”

“"However: Do not use a pot with a PTFE-based non-stick coating. If the battery does explode, the fire will probably be hot enough to degrade a PTFE coating, producing toxic smoke. (Not that you should breathe the smoke from the battery fire either, but PTFE breakdown products are worse.) Do not use a pot made of aluminium or copper. The fire might even get hot enough to melt those. ”“

That’s a 98% chance of what you have right now. Most crock-pots ARE NON-STICK!

Not to mention, all you just did was make a bigger bomb. Crock-pots are going to shoot shrapnel on top of the fire because you just made a pressure bomb.

Not a single stainless steel pot you have is going to contain that. Shrapnel.

Cast Iron Pan? Congratulations, you just figured out how to make a directional charge. AKA a Claymore. Hope you didn’t just re-tile those floors or have downstairs neighbors.

A Dutch Oven? Sure, now you have a rocket. Brilliant 👏 👏 👏

Unless you live in the country, I promise you, you aren’t far enough away from people or cars to not do serious damage.

And without sand or kitty litter to muffle the blast, you’re ass is just out here fucking with shitty fireworks.

You really want to save lives, call the fire department and tell them it’s an old ACTIVELY EXPANDING lithium battery.

While you’re sitting around trying to figure out which local facility will take your new hot potato, that thing is actively choosing violence.

Because here’s the thing… let’s say you pack it into your new bologna maker.

Now what?

You gonna drive there with an actual bomb in the car?

Good luck. That’s fucking stupid.

Not even natural selection because you’re not just taking yourself off the score board but everyone around you.

Call the fire department. We have enough wildfires in the world, don’t add to the problem.

Or ya know… kill you and everyone around you.

Yuna Hollander is actually a member of the Japanese Imperial Family. For context, the Japanese Royal line is strictly male only so no women can inherit the throne and any females of the family who marry normal people, have to give up their titles. (Princess Mako famously did this in real life)

So what if Yuna was a Japanese princess?

She went to McGill as a foreign exchange student to study in a place where she could have a few years as a normal person before starting royal duties but fell for the handsome hockey player David while there. Since she is a woman, she isn't going to inherit and although she only has sisters, one of them can have a son to carry the bloodline so she decided to give up her place in the family to marry David and become a commoner.

She is perfectly happy with this outcome and makes a life for herself in Canada. She and David have Shane and although they did occasionally visit some members of her family when Shane was small so Shane could meet his granddad (who happens to be the Emperor), because she gave up her claim, Shane is also technically excluded from the throne and the visits were so low key that people outside Japan forgot she even existed.

Besides, they stopped visiting after a while because Shane's hockey career was taking off.

Unfortunately, the Japanese Imperial Family is facing a succession crisis due to the lack of males in the family line, and inside Japan, Shane is starting to look like a good candidate for the next Crown Prince.

Shane, and the wider Western World, have no idea about any of this. Ilya eventually learns and almost loses his mind.

Shane doesn't understand just how important his family is. Yuna is the oldest daughter of the Emperor but since she became a commoner to marry David, the media and people agreed to leave her alone and in Japan, that wish is respected so Yuna and Shane are not approached by the general public.

Obviously, she bought Shane to meet his family when he was a baby but with the commoner status, they couldn't take part in anything in any ceremonial capacity, so it was all just meetings in private, where everything was more normal. Still very formal but Shane, brought up in a western culture and only seeing this part of his Asian heritage, thinks its normal and he knows that his family was important but not that important.

Shane adores his grandfather and was spoilt rotten whenever he came to Japan and some people even referred to him as a Prince, but it was never taken seriously. Back in Canada, with his anglicized name and habits, it didn't even register to him that he was being treated differently. He is fluent in Japanese but since English and French are the languages of his home, he never paid attention to the honorifics being said to him when he was in Japan. It also helps that he has a Japanese name as well so many people don't connect the Japanese Royal with a white bread name like Shane. Yuna and David, while not keeping things from him, didn't advertise it as they didn't want Shane growing up with an ego or being resentful because he was not in the line to inherit.

As he grew, Shane stopped going to Japan often and although he talked to his Grandparents, aunts and cousins over the phone, he didn't see them in person anymore.

All plans to go back to Japan went out the window when he began preparing for the Prospect Cup, since he was balancing Schoolwork with the possibility of getting drafted (although he does remember one call with his grandfather who told him if Shane wanted to join the AIHL, he had contacts. It didn't occur to Shane at the time that it was odd his grandfather basically offered to get him into the Asian League)

After Shane got drafted, he did plan one trip during his rookie season but it fell apart before he could go. One of his aunts and his cousins came to Canada and America and he did plan to catch up with them but had to pull out due to being on the road for a game (He was a bit annoyed they didn't offer to change the date of their meeting, not realising that it was a state visit and those can't just be changed at random)

After that, a lot of his down time was taken up with growing his career and his friendships with Hayden and JJ (and later, with Ilya) He manages some video calls now since his grandfather is very tech savvy and his parents still go to Japan occasionally and when they do, they bring him back lavish gifts from his grandparents and aunts.

These gifts are so expensive that one time, he showed something he got to JJ and the Pikes and JJ asked if Shane was sure his grandfather wasn't in the Yakuza. It was a joke but Shane definitely put two and two together and got the completely wrong number. He remembered his grandfather's offer to get him into the AIHL and it gives Shane mixed feelings but he eventually decides plausible deniability is the best. If his family is involved in organise crime, he doesn't want to know. So he ignores it.

Things do get a little weird during the Sochi Olympics, especially when Canada vs. Japan. The Japanese players are very weird around Shane, especially when he introduces himself to them using his Japanese name (sans Title) as a gesture of good will, but Shane had chalked it up to the team being nervous to represent their country and if they insisted on bowing to him and avoiding eye contact, well, maybe his reputation as one of the best players managed to make it to Asia.

Sometimes he is approached in the streets of Montreal by Japanese tourists, but he just assumed they were fans of hockey, even if they acted confused when he offered them his autograph.

Eventually he and Ilya are outed and Shane calls his grandfather to tell him. His grandfather is upset and Shane thinks he will have to cut off contact but eventually, dear old granddad comes around (After Yuna has words with her father) What Shane doesn't know is none of his aunts had managed to produce a son meaning there is no heir for two generations and in Japan, there is a lot of talk about him. Some people want him placed back in the line of succession while others hate that he is a half white foreigner.

Even his grandfather is reassessing Shane's position in the family and him being gay is a possible problem. So his relationship with Ilya, even if he doesn't realise it, could be seen as an issue for the future. But his granddad is reasonable and doesn't want to destroy his relationship with Shane over something that might not happen. He even sends a really nice gift for the wedding.

After Shane and Ilya marry and he joins the Centaurs and they win their first Stanley Cup together, the MLH agrees to a Show Game against the AIHL. Since a Japanese team won the Asian League that year, they invited the Centaurs to Tokyo for a match between the two winning teams.

Shane hasn't seen his family in person since he was a kid, he decides he should visit while he is there. Ilya can come with him or join the rest of the Centaurs going to Disney after the game because Shane isn't certain Ilya would enjoy the formal, stuffy atmosphere he remembers from his childhood. Ilya is 1000% down to join Shane because he has also heard the Yakuza rumour from Hayden and Jackie. He is not letting Shane walk into that alone.

They travel to Japan and are surprised to learn the whole team is being housed in a grand hotel paid for by, they assume, the AIHL, and Shane and Ilya have been given the most expensive penthouse (Shane assumes they got the room because Ilya is the Captain and Shane is just there as a perc of being his husband and built in roommate)

Game day begins and the stadium is packed. It seems the whole of Tokyo came out to watch. (Shane doesn't know it but rumours the beloved Emperor's commoner grandson is playing has spread and everyone wants to see him. It's the only way they can satisfy their curiosity about him without breaching the unspoken rule to leave him alone) Shane just wants to show everyone his skills and then they can enjoy the impromptu holiday for a few days before Shane goes to visit his family.

He is surprised when it's announced to the Centaurs that the Emperor of Japan has come to watch the game.

He just about has a heart attack when he skates onto the ice and looks up to the Royal Box to see his grandfather, aunts and cousins sitting there, watching him.

And that's how Shane discovers he is a member of the oldest monarchy in existance.

Guessing this would happen, Yuna is very prepared for Shane's irate phone call and David has to talk Ilya down from a panic attack because he's been there and it's not that bad really. The in-laws are actually nice, if a little strict.

After Ilya recovers, he and the rest of the Centaurs have prime teasing material for Shane for not realising who his family is. They also have bragging rights because they have a legit Prince on their team and 'screw you, Metros, you threw away actual Royality'

Chinese dancer performs bellydance(Raqs Sharqi) in his oc assassin style (cr 舞贝勒）

#my old phone looks like this on my shelf lmao #im too scared to touch it to throw it away #idk what trash this even goes into when its at this point

The pillow-shaped object here used to be the phone’s battery. It’s not a battery anymore. Now it’s a balloon full of corrosive, pyrophoric chemicals and hydrogen gas and it’s one puncture away from burning your house down. I am 100% serious. You should be scared to touch it.

But you gotta touch it, because you gotta get it out of your house before the pressure builds up to the point where the balloon pops. This isn’t going to happen soon – there is no need to panic – but it will happen eventually.

And, indeed, it doesn’t go in the ordinary trash. You put this in the ordinary trash and you’re gonna set the garbage truck on fire. Don’t do that to the garbage collectors, their job is hard enough already.

The first thing you need to do is get a fireproof container. The most common household item that qualifies as a fireproof container is a cast-iron cookpot with a cast-iron lid – often sold as a “Dutch oven.” Any other cooking container that’s unreactive, has a very high melting point, and has a lid made of the same materials will also work: enameled or stainless steel, Pyrex with glass lid, etc.

However: Do not use a pot with a PTFE-based non-stick coating. If the battery does explode, the fire will probably be hot enough to degrade a PTFE coating, producing toxic smoke. (Not that you should breathe the smoke from the battery fire either, but PTFE breakdown products are worse.) Do not use a pot made of aluminium or copper. The fire might even get hot enough to melt those.

Whatever container you use, you might have to throw away along with the phone, so don’t use your good Dutch oven for this. Go to a thrift store and buy a cheap one.

Once you have the fireproof container:

Gently pick up the phone and put it in the fireproof container. If possible, gently tape the phone to the bottom of the container to prevent it from bouncing around. Don’t put any padding in there, that’ll just make a fire worse if it does happen. Put the lid on and tape it shut.

Put a label on the container, something like “DEFECTIVE LI-ION BATTERY – FIRE HAZARD”.

It is now reasonably safe to move the container around. However, if the battery does explode, the container is very likely to leak smoke and get hot, so keep it in a well-ventilated area and away from things that will be damaged by heat. Don’t leave it exposed to the weather, either.

You need to find either a hazardous waste disposal site, or an e-waste recycler that will accept defective Li-ion batteries. I can’t help with that because I have no idea where you live.

However, your local fire department, if you have one, will probably be happy to help. Call their non-emergency number. Nothing is on fire yet, so this isn’t an emergency, but things that can easily start a fire are still within the fire department’s responsibilities. Tell them you have a phone with a bulging lithium-ion battery, you put it in a fireproof container, and you want to know how to dispose of it safely.

If the fire department tries to tell you this isn’t dangerous or it’s okay to throw it out in the regular trash (with or without fireproof container), hang up on them and write a cranky letter to your local government representatives, then keep looking for a proper disposal site.

So I can’t brush my teeth. Like, it’s the worst kind of hell. I went to the dentist for a cleaning today and I told the hygienist this, and she was wonderfully helpful.

There are some incredibly soft toothbrushes available- namely, post-surgical brushes. Running them under hot water makes them even softer.

She told me that you don’t really need to use toothpaste- it’s mostly marketing. The foam gets to me, so that is really reassuring.

She gave me two particularly soft brushes and some xylitol gum. Trident is a market brand of xylitol gum, which helps with your teeth and can make your breath smell better.

The whole purpose of brushing is to disrupt plaque buildup. You don’t need to brush twice a day, every day with toothpaste if you brush correctly- little circles, focusing on near the gums (where most plaque builds up). So if you’re having a bad sensory day and can’t brush at all, it’s not the end of the world.

Hell, you don’t even need a toothbrush if even the post-surgical ones are too harsh. Going over your teeth with the same motions using a washcloth is enough.

She wants to find a fluoride rinse that has a taste I can stand (peppermint is the only mint I can stand) but she’s not particularly worried about it.

I go to Dr. Barr in Chicago. If you can get to the State St. Macy’s, his office is nearby. He’s very kind and patient and really understanding of my needs as an autistic person. The hygienist, I don’t know her name, announced everything she was going to do before she did it, and stopped frequently to see how I was doing.

This is really the only positive dentist I’ve ever had- past dentists have been too rough and not bothered to help find ways I can actually brush.