#you know that tiktok trend about the Roman Empire | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wordsbyrian · 24 days

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Would you pls do a Mary earps imagine with them filming TikTok’s together and being otp x

A/n: Not exactly what you asked for but close enough i think.

TikTok is the bane of your very existence.

It’s the bane of your professional life as a chef because everytime you turn around one of your crew is using prep time to make a concoction and upload it to that godforsaken app.

And in your personal life?

Well, in your personal life, it feels like every time you blink you're being sucked into filming one of those stupid videos with your girlfriend.

The first time it happened, you were barely even sure what was going on.

The two of you had been getting ready to go on a date to a relatively nice restaurant, when she pulled up in front of her phone’s camera so she could show off what you were wearing.

That had been the beginning of the madness (as well as a very hard launch of your relationship to the public).

It didn’t really matter what you were doing, if Mary had decided that a video needed to be filmed, it’d be filmed.

A literal walk in the park. TikTok.

You driving. TikTok.

You tearing a member of the kitchen staff a new one. TikTok. (Although she’d been asked not so politely by the head chef to never do that again).

You cooking in your shared flat. TikTok.

Hell, she even made a TikTok of you sharpening your knives, a task you find completely mind numbing.

And if having your every move recorded wasn’t bad enough, she also had you joining her in filming one of the more popular trends. You mouthing along to the silly sounds that are currently popular on the app. Or worse, dancing, you hate the dancing.

Asking how often you think about the Roman Empire (only as often as you need to).

Throwing herself fully clothed into the shower and singing Taylor Swift while you were trying to brush your teeth.

Making you record a two second clip of everytime you changed clothes while on vacation.

The list is neverending.

Which is why you should be more alarmed when you see her walking into the kitchen with her phone out but you’re too focused on chopping the vegetables you’ll be using in your meal prep.

“Baby,” she says.

“Hmm?”

“Can we record a TikTok?”

“Can I keep doing what I’m doing,” you ask in return, still not looking up from the cutting board.

“You don’t need to do anything but stand there and look pretty,” Mary says as she sets her phone up next to you. “And answer questions,” she adds as an afterthought.

You roll your eyes but don’t make any additional comments as you see her hit record.

“So a ton of you have been asking in the comments how my wife manages to be a professional chef when she has so many food allergies,” Mary says, looking directly at the camera. “And I figured it was better if I just let her explain it. Babe?”

Admittedly, you hadn’t really been listening to every word that she had been saying, only really listening to every word that she had been saying, only really catching the words ‘allergies’ and ‘professional chef’, which is a topic you get asked about a lot. So you just answer without really thinking.

“My main allergies are seafood, peanuts and treenuts. And since I’m one of 2 or 3 sous on any given night, I just,” you pause, “wait, what did you just call me?”

You can feel cheeks heating up as your brain finally processes what just happened.

“What? Babe?”

Mary’s playing dumb on purpose. She knows it. You know it. And you both know that the other one knows.

“Not that, the other thing.”

“What my wife,” she asks.

A cheeky grin breaks out on Mary’s face as she watches even more color rush to your face.

For you, when she repeats it, you suddenly feel like you can barely breathe and you know that your next words come out a little choked (much to Mary’s amusement.)

“Yup, that.”

As calmly as you can manage, you put your knife down and take off your apron before walking out of the kitchen.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I have to find my wallet and keys,” you shoot back.

“Why?”

“I gotta go buy a ring before you change your mind!”

The sound of her laughter is the only thing you hear as you close the door behind you.

The video is up on that cursed app by the end of the week.

A photo of the ring on Mary’s finger goes up just a few hours before.

#woso fanfics #woso imagine #woso x reader #mary earps x reader #mary earps imagine #muwfc imagine #engwnt x reader #engwnt imagine #muwfc x reader

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d3arapril · 7 months

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modern!abby headcanons

a sfw ver because i can’t get over the fact that abby isn’t real. Goodnight

⭐️ safe for all audiences. my inbox is open! any feedback, ideas or general chat is welcome <3

abby loves loving and she loves to be loved.

she loves her friends, her family and she loves you the most. she even thinks she loves the old, kind man that ran the small bookstore she’d been visiting since she was young

having lots of people around her is super important to her, she has a big heart and even though she looks like a lion she’s really just a little baby house cat that wants to make people happy <3

she’s a bit of a people pleaser sometimes. like she goes our of her way to do things for people even if she really doesn’t want to but she’s working on it 💪🏽

loves being around you but also loves time to herself to work out, read and drool on her pillow during a particularly deep sleep without being mocked by you every morning

ABBY SLEEPS LIKE A LOG. this bitch does not move during her sleep, like you could literally scream bloody murder and she’d barely flinch. she also sleeps on her front sometimes and has her face in the pillow ??? you often wonder if she’s even alive and breathing (she is) (she has little to no trauma and jerry is alive in my world so she doesn’t get nightmares etc. i want the best for her <;3)

i think she’s very particular about looking after herself/keeping clean etc and it’s a super big thing for her. although she’s fairly masc presenting don’t be fooled, shes a lil girly girl deep deep down

her hair is long and healthy because she never uses heat and uses hair masks, she looks after her skin and uses the ordinary products (they work for her ok!), she exfoliates and shaves her legs frequently bc she feels like they look more muscular when they’re smooth and she enjoys feeling like a dolphin

she’s always got her hair in that damn braid and you try convince her to do other styles but she basically refuses

“you don’t like it?” she’s whining, faking it of course - she knows you like it. “no abs i love it, just wish you’d wear your hair down more. suits you”

“well that’s reserved for only you, babe” the soft kiss she presses to your temple and the brush of her hands against your hips makes you want to braid her hair forever until your fingers seize up

i feel like abby doesn’t have much of a dress sense lmao like girl just wears plain clothes and calls it a day. basically how she dresses in game but just less dirty and more kind of.. modern and put together. not the ugly brown boots tho ❌

she wears doc marten boots and adidas sambas. has 3 different pairs of sambas actually

prefers alcohol over drugs. she likes to get drunk in moderation and she can sink so much tequila (she blames manny and nora and says they are bad influences… abby is the one pouring the shots🙄) and she becomes a lot louder and clingy when she’s drunk and thinks she can dance. she can’t.

i kind of mentioned this in my nsfw hc’s but abby probably has an old like iphone 5c or something cos she doesn’t really care about upgrading it

girl hates video games so she probably isn’t big on tech in general. as long as she can call and text she doesn’t care too much

“you may as well just get a nokia, abby..” “what am i? a drug dealer? 🙄”

sticking to the theme, abby doesn’t really use social media that much. she refused to download tiktok because she didn’t want to fall into the trap of endless scrolling (she fell into said trap approx 20 minutes after downloading the app. now it’s “babe have you seen what i sent you yet?” every 10 minutes)

doesn’t care about/keep up with trends etc, confused when u ask her about the roman empire

“i mean, i’ve read about it? what kind of question is that??”

does have a burner instagram acc that she follows u and a few of her closest friends on (not mel)

also uses snapchat every so often to send u gym pics and u get excited thinking it’ll be a mirror pic of her flexing or something but instead it’s just an extreme close up of her sweaty ass red face with the caption ‘Help 🫠’

has an album in her photos called ‘Progress’ where she tracks her gains 🥰 its ur fav and u ask to look at the pics all the time 🥰 shes ur big muscly baby 🥰

abs can get a lil bit hot headed and irate sometimes so u argue every now and then but it’s never anything major, and she always buys u flowers and grovels until you’ve made up anyways

she usually just goes to the gym if she’s feeling some type of way and works out until she’s on the verge of passing out to make her feel better (you told her that she should deal with her anger better. she told you that she know’s what she’s doing…)

calls you babe but that’s kinda it, also likes to be called babe

likes to give u massages and run you a bath… and then gets in the bath with u and takes up basically all of the space

when u went on ur first holiday together she had to use the sicky bag on the plane bc of her fear of heights :(

she’s getting better now tho, just squeezes her eyes shut and holds your hand until the bones almost break… she then falls asleep for basically the entire flight and drools onto her neck pillow lol

refuses to watch anything but american dad at bedtime bc she really enjoys it for some reason

she looks after you with all she has and would go to the end of the earth for you if she could. there’s no one else like her

#i love her #cheers sons crying #abby anderson x reader #abby anderson fluff #abby anderson #the last of us fluff #the last of us #abby anderson smut #i know its not smut but this is like the onky way to get ur shit seen !!! SORRY YALL #abby baby #my writing

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honeygrahambitch · 8 months

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Hannibal gets pretty obsessed with TikTok for a while right after installing it, he is up to date with all the trends, drama, memes, so much that Will feels very old.

One day Will is washing the dishes when Hannibal enters the kitchen and asks a weird question.

"Will, dearest, how often do you think about the roman empire?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just how often you think about the roman empire."

"One or two times?"

"Per month?"

"Per week, obviously."

Hannibal snorts amused and then pulls himself together when he sees that Will has a serious face.

"It's all i wanted to know."

#im sorry #it's invading my feed on TikTok #hannibal #hannigram #hannibal lecter #will graham #hannibal nbc

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thatbanditqueen · 8 months

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idk if you’ve heard about that roman empire trend on twitter and tiktok but… midge and e are my roman empire😭

Oh fuck me, this just made me smile because - same!

That whole trend cracks me up, because when I met my husband he was reading this non-fiction (nonfiction?!?) book Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in a coffee shop, and he brought it there often, and I was convinced he was a pretentious asshole (and I was right, but that is also something I find attractive, at least at first...). Anyway, the idea that boys are spending their free time thinking and dreaming about conquering stuff and Julius Caesar CRACKS me up.

E and midge are my roman empire too, I spend my free time (and my work time often) daydreaming head canons, and sometimes if I don't write in my notes app, they are gone....

I just starting scribbling some thoughts for the next chapter, thinking that only a few of my friends still care about this wip, so I need to thank you for your message, it is very reaffirming to know if people are still interested? I always am shocked anyone reads my stuff or thinks about it, besides me. And the few people I badger into reading it.

I love our fandom so much, thanks for taking the time to write to me.

xoxoxxoxox

norahhhhhhh

#elvis presley #elvis fanfiction #elvis x oc #elvis presley fanfiction #the only sure thing #elvis and midge are my roman empire #bandit queen asks #xoxox

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toomuchracket · 8 months

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In my mind dword girlie is definitely a tiktok girl like grwms and all those trendy videos

omg one of my best friends and i have started doing a visible to friends only weekly report trend back and forth with each other on tiktok - feel like it would be so cute if matty and girly did something similar, given that you're actually pretty private, like friends only vids that are just little slice of life updates aimed at each other. maybe it starts as a bit of a pisstake while matty's on tour and you aren't and you're trying different ways of keeping yourself entertained; you do that "what i bring to the table" trend and it's literally you just unboxing your latest space nk order lmao, and then you do a "pretending i'm doing a vogue beauty secrets vid because i'm bored" vid where you just chat shit and do your skincare slightly exaggeratedly. and matty comments or dm's you like "i know you're taking the piss and i laughed a lot, but hearing you chat and watching you put your face on like that made me miss you a little bit less. feels like home" 😭😭 and you make a little deal that (when possible) you'll make little grwm (you do one of you styling matty's clothes that he's obsessed with lol)/spend the day with me vids to send to each other, and matty also does a photo compilation at the end of tour like "places i just visited that i'm revisiting with my girlfriend" which you find really cute. there's some less serious things too, like vids of you both lip-syncing to scenes from films and trying tiktok dances (like genuinely how fucking funny), and you ABSOLUTELY make a tiktok of you asking matty about the roman empire lmfao. and, of course, there's the odd thirst trap - a given, considering how obsessed with the other you both are lol <3

#mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #d word matty

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thirstydiglett · 8 months

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I’ve been watching these “ask your boyfriend how much they think about the Roman Empire” vids—

And I’m fucking obsessed with them. So I thought I would do it with the Straw Hats, obviously, because I am so normal and sane.

How often do the Straw Hats think about the Roman Empire?

Luffy: (scratching his head) What’s the Roman Umpire?

Zoro: (gazes out pensively to the sea) Every. Single. Day.

Nami: I don’t. And I should really start fining you berries every time you ask me these stupid questions.

Usopp: (Pacing frenetically back and forth) Well the FIRST thing you have to think about is their weaponry. But that’s not to forget their tactical strategies, or their… (you literally just have to walk away after about five minutes of this).

Sanji: How often do you think about the Roman Empire, my flower? It’s certainly something I can read up on if it interests you even in the slightest! (He has heart eyes now. Back away slowly.)

Chopper: (Smiling up at you) Maybe once a week? Their medical skills were really advanced for their time! Have you ever heard of a plant called sylphium? (Chopper no why do you know this)

Robin: (Wordlessly shows you the cover of the book she’s reading. It’s titled The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.)

Franky: This ship is actually built from an ancient Roman design! Good eye, y/n!

Brook: Not much, but I hear that during the sacking of Rome, the empire was just a skeleton of its former self!! Yohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohoh(he will continue like this unless you leave, trust me it’s for the best)

BONUS Vivi, Jimbei, and Law!

Vivi: (has ancestors who were actual Roman Emperors)

Jimbei: (laughing and patting you on the back) Y/n! Where do you keep coming up with these questions?? …In all honesty though, at least three times a day. They were pretty cool.

Law (sighing): Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to, y/n. (My dude has an entire library on the Polar Tang dedicated to the Roman Empire. He’s mentally healthy I promise)

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karizard-ao3 · 8 months

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Mikasa does the Roman Empire trend with Eren

(if you don’t know, it’s a trend going on right now where girlfriends ask their boyfriends how often do they think about the Roman Empire, the the meme is that the men apparently think about it a lot because they give answers like “every two or three days”, “once a week” - https://time.com/6314544/tiktok-roman-empire-trend/)

Thank you for explaining because I've seen references to the trend but I didn't actually know what it entailed.

M: Eren, how often do you think about the Roman Empire?

E: I'm thinking about it right now.

M: Okay, but when I didn't just ask you, how often do you think about it.

E: Uhhhhhh... Less than I think about your tits but more than I think about NFTs?

M: How often do you think about NFTs?

E: Pretty much never.

M: ... How often do you think about my tits?

E: Every few minutes at least.

M: So somewhere between never and constantly?

E: Yeah. But usually when we go out for dinner and there's Caesar salad on the menu, you know? It just reminds me.

M: (laughs) Okay.

E: Can I see your tits?

End scene.

#eremika #eren jaeger #ask me things #my asks #answered asks #mikasa ackerman #roman empire trend

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ratflame · 6 months

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Romance unlocked a new level with this all men think about the Roman Empire thing. I was on a call with one of my friends and she said I hope you know that you are my roman empire. And how do you even respond to that. This might be something that fades as pop culture linguistics change and the next tiktok trend starts, but what other phrase says I think of you everyday I think of you to the point of obsession so succinctly. If you are my roman empire I would rip out my beating heart for you. You are my roman empire, what a way to say I love you.

#linguistics #i just have brainrot from this phone call #i love her i miss her so much #and to hear she misses me to really changed my brain chemistry #like friendship is a two way street and sometimes the most sweetly said thing reminds you that you arent walking alone #words #roman empire

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staycalmandhugaclone · 4 months

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Hey! 😄 As you know I think about Doc’s Misadventures a lot (like that TikTok trend a couple months back, it’s truly my Roman Empire) and I’ve collecting songs that remind me of your series to a Spotify playlist 🫣 I hope you don’t mind it’s a bit all over the place and I’ll probably be adding new songs from time to time, but I just wanted to share it with you! Here’s the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/081ToXeeTXvy2CAoywdbEk?si=_gDCQ2kES4GXVeGtOLmuDQ 💛🫶🏼

Omg this was AMAZING!! I don't use Spotify normally (aside from podcasts), but I was so damn excited and touched, and the songs you chose are SO PERFECT!! I tend to be pretty obsessive with listening to music while I write, so this was a lovely break from my usual playlist (https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/9936d9ee-c9d2-4cb4-bddc-9675e2044120 - this is my main one, but I have more for various types of scene - emotional, sexy, whump, etc).

(also, sorry it took me forever to actually respond - I totally listened to it immediately, but, between internet issues last week and just general distractions (which may or may not include me just binge writing), I totally forgot to share this)

#actively listening to it again currently #several artists I'm just hearing for the first time because of this!#so much love!!#Also glad I'm not the only one obsessed to the point of making playlists for a damn fanfiction lmfao #music #star wars

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gregoftom · 8 months

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How you seen that Tiktok trend of asking men how often do they think about the Roman empire? It made me think immediately of Tom and Nero and Sporous haha.

LMFAOOO i haven't omg but i Love that. nero sporus is my fave fucking thing and i will never forget it, i know that's never stopped being talked about but it's just so GOOD. so delicious. so tasty.

#tomgreg #idk that trend but now i'm curious i'll try to find it...

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katyaromanoffpetrova · 3 months

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WW2 is so interesting, i had in history last school year and it was by far my Favorite, especially since its so interesting in so many ways and since i'm half roma its even more interesting, my class went to a memorial, it was sooo interesting, me and my Dad really wanna visit Auschwitz too

I must admit i barely know anything about the roman empire😭 only the tiktok trend

Ohh you're roma! Then the topic's even closer to you. The memorials are always so impressive in a bad way. You get such a weight on your chest just imagining all those people murdered for no reason. I haven't personally been to Auschwitz because I don't want to go to Poland but I imagine it must be so depressing. It's scary how all of it was only 3 generations back...

Hahahaha I had Latin and Greek in school for 6 years and so we learned all the backstories too 😂😂 Also some about the gods. It's really interesting!

#katanswers

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andromedasummer · 3 months

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i hate to be an “um ackshullay 🤓☝️”-type person, but the origin of the roman empire meme does not explicitly mention women at all. it’s a reference to a viral trend that was essentially people (usually but not always women) asking the men in their life (usually their romantic partners) how often they thought about the roman empire. the trend itself was started by a female influencer named saskia croft, and took off quickly because men thinking about the roman empire was more common than one would expect. it shifted generally to mean a thing, celebrity, or event that’s specific and/or niche that a person thinks about often. it’s also used with comparing something/someone as their personal roman empire due to its hyperspecificity (i think that’s a word lol)

even with all that, i would not be surprised if its popularity on tiktok spawned sexist variants because, well, you know how tiktok is (derogatory)

dont be sorry at all im a media student and a enthusiast of classical history so this kind of thing us RIGHT up my alley

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papirouge · 4 months

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Genuinely interested in how you define being conservative. Just because you are somewhat antiracist doesn't mean you aren't conservative? What's your struggle with conservatism?

tbh I only tolerate conservatives in my cosmetics uwu

I've witnessed too many self id conservatives be so dumb I refuse to associate myself as any of them. Many of them are racists or 'soft racists' (you know the type who pretend to care abt black peoples/lives only when it comes to own prolifers or say that wearing a mask is like slavery....but god forbid talking about slavery in any other circumstance because it was sooo long ago and we have to get over it actually 👀)

And the idea of "Conserve" things is lowkey dumb because you have to give up things to progress, stop clinging to tradition to change. A few hours ago I reblogged a tiktok featuring the origin of the "Oh Holy Night" and how South Baptists either censored or changed the song lyrics because these demons didn't want to give up on slavery. They wanted to keep things as they were and seethed about these awful abolitionists who had the audacity to see slaves/Blacks like equals...

Even today, you have Conservatives who are so dumb and can't articulate a rational and/or political response to society changes (whether they're good or bad) beside hurling "that's woke!!!!". No alternative vision for the future to put up against the Liberals beside "oh the past was better". It depends for who. I'm grateful for having access to education, having a bank account, not being treated like an animal for my skin color.....

What's funny is that looking obsessively to the past is the sign of a decaying civilization. Napoleon was fascinated by the Roman Empire...and his empire indeed crumbled. Those greek statut pfp on xitter drooling over dead architecture are a testimony of this decadence.

I think that's why Liberals are the only one able to create trends...while Conservatives are constantly dragging behind, rehashing their slogan and slang (Blue Lives Matter, #mentoo, woke, etc.). Conservatism is strikingly uncreative and I am a very creative person, I really can't stand this muribond energy.

#answered

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freedomfireflies · 8 months

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omg have u seen the “asking my bf how often he thinks about the Roman Empire” trend on TikTok???

I need to know how the different Harry’s answer when their girls ask them HAHAHHAHA

I HAVENT SEEN IT, CAN YOU SEND IT TO ME/OR EXPLAIN BC THIS SOUNDS FUNNY!!

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xtruss · 6 months

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Why Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ Went Viral, 21 Years Later

— By Victoria Bisset | November 16, 2023 | The Washington Post

Guardian Website Forced to Remove Osama Bin Laden’s anti-Semitic ‘Letter to America’! The diatribe, which aimed to rationalise 9/11 terror attacks and called for assault against ‘Americans and Jews’, has gone viral on TikTok — By Tony Diver, US Editor | 16 November 2023 | Telegraph.Co.UK. Osama bin Laden at a news conference in Khost, Afghanistan, in 1998 Credit: Mazhar Ali Khan/AP

The Guardian has Deleted Osama bin Laden’s Anti-Semitic “Letter to America” from its Website after it went viral and received praise from teenage TikTok users.

A spokesman for the newspaper said it had deleted the terrorist diatribe after it was “widely shared on social media without full context” by pro-Palestinian activists.

Bin Laden’s letter, published in 2002, explains the rationale behind the 9/11 attacks and argues that the oppression of the Palestinian territories must be “revenged” in an assault against “Americans and Jews”.

The terrorist leader said it brought him “both laughter and tears” when Americans expressed “fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine”.

The letter also contains claims that Jewish people “control [American] policies, media and economy”, that Aids is a “Satanic American Invention”, and that “the creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes”.

Letter Circulated by Pro-Palestinian TikTok Accounts

Twenty-one years later, amid debate over the US’s response to the conflict in Gaza, the letter has attracted the support of pro-Palestinian TikTok accounts.

“I need everyone to stop what they’re doing right now and go read – it’s literally two pages – go read ‘A Letter to America’. Come back here and let me know what you think. Because I feel like I’m going through an existential crisis right now, and a lot of people are. So I just need someone else to be feeling this too,” said Lynette Adkins.

Another user commented: “Just read it.. my eyes have been opened.”

A third posted: “We’ve been lied to our entire lives. I remember watching people cheer when Osama was found and killed.

“I was a child, and it confused me. It still confuses me today. The world deserves better than what this country has done to them. Change must be made.”

After the Guardian’s 2002 transcript of the letter began to attract significant web traffic, the newspaper removed it.

“The transcript published on our website in 2002 has been widely shared on social media without the full context,” a spokesman told The Telegraph.

“Therefore we have decided to take it down and direct readers to the news article that originally contextualised it instead.”

TikTok is no stranger to quirky trends — from beauty tips about calamine lotion, to obsessions with the Roman Empire. But this week much darker content is trending — a letter from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that was published more than 20 years ago, well before his death.

The long letter, published just over a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, includes bin Laden’s grievances against Western involvement in Muslim countries — a mainstay of jihadist propaganda — and criticizes America’s support of Israel and its policies in the Palestinian territories.

It also criticizes Western “lies, immorality and debauchery” — “acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling and trading with interest” — and argues that attacks against civilians and the United States are justified as a result.

Despite running thousands of words, and being written two decades ago by a terrorist leader who is no longer alive, the letter has gone viral on TikTok amid polarization over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“So I just read ‘A Letter to America’ and I will never look at life the same, I will never look at this country the same,” one TikTok user said in a video that gained 1.2 million views in less than 24 hours.

Another person said they were “trying to go back to life as normal” after “realizing everything we learned about the Middle East, 9/11, and ‘terrorism’ was a lie.” Yet another one wrote that the experience of reading the text in college “change[d] my entire perspective on the American government.”

The sudden surge of interest also led the Guardian, a British newspaper, to pull from its website a decades-old piece containing the full letter. That article, published in 2002, detailed how the letter was being shared among Islamist extremists in Britain amid government warnings that al-Qaeda attacks in the country were “inevitable.”

Perhaps unavoidably, some social media users found the removal suspicious, with one person accusing the newspaper of “actively censoring” information.

Charlie Winter, a specialist in jihadist affairs and director of research at the intelligence platform ExTrac, said in a telephone interview Thursday that he was “frankly really quite surprised at the response” to the letter, which he described as “a kind of core doctrinal text” for both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

In addition to long-standing grievances, the letter contains “blatant language that is clearly calling for acts of genocide, clearly calling for or justifying indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians, clear justifications for killing noncombatants in any nation that is democratic and is fighting against a Muslim-majority state,” he said.

“It’s not the letter that is going viral. It’s a selective reading of parts of the letter that’s going viral,” he said. “And I don’t know whether it’s because people aren’t actually reading it or, when they’re reading it, they’re reading the bits that they want to see or, you know, the bits that they want to see are sinking in.”

A spokesperson for the Guardian said in an emailed statement early Thursday that the transcript had been taken down after it was “widely shared on social media without the full context. Therefore we have decided to take it down and direct readers to the news article that originally contextualized it instead.”

The Guardian isn’t the first newspaper to print texts that have incited or justified violence: On the FBI’s recommendation in 1995, The Washington Post and the New York Times agreed to jointly publish the 35,000-word manifesto of the Unabomber in a special edition of The Post, after a threat was made to carry out more attacks if they refused.

The editors of the Guardian faced a “no-win scenario” once interest in bin Laden’s letter began to grow, Marco Bastos, a senior lecturer in Media and Communication at City, University of London, said in a telephone interview. “If they don’t take down the content, the content will be leveraged and it will be discussed, potentially shared and is going to go viral — if not out of context, then certainly outside of the scope of the original piece. If they take it down, they’re going to be accused, as they are right now, of censorship.”

Back at the time of publication, the editors “just expected that this letter would be read critically, you know, adversarially — the expectation is that you would process this within the view — or the bias, if you prefer — of the Western side of the events. And now it’s being consumed, distributed and shared to push an agenda that’s precisely the opposite of the one that it was originally intended for. Hence, of course, they’ve taken down the content.”

Journalists are well aware that their stories may take on new life long after they’ve been published, but Bastos said this is more common with human interest stories that don’t have a specific news angle.

“What is different about this case is that what is resurfacing is a content of inherent news value,” he said. “And of course, it’s super polarizing. But that speaks to another contextual variable that we have to take into account, which is the fundamental demographic shift in the U.S.,” he said, referring to how younger generations show higher levels of support for the Palestinian cause, something that took American pundits “by surprise.”

TikTok to Prohibit Videos Promoting Osama Bin Laden's 'Letter to America'! By Sheila Dang and David Shepardson | November 16, 2023 | Reuters | TikTok app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo.

Winter, the jihadist affairs specialist, noted that the text does not appear to have been pushed from extremist sources but rather seems to be spreading organically and enjoying “an uncritical resonance.”

“And that’s kind of ironic,” he added, “because one of the lines being taken in relation to it is that people who consider themselves to be critical consumers of mainstream media are consuming this very uncritically and not thinking about the context around it, not thinking about everything that happened just over a year before it was published as well, in any meaningful way.”

A TikTok spokesperson sent the following statement: “Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism. We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform. The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate. This is not unique to TikTok and has appeared across multiple platforms and the media.”

#Forever Palestine 🇵🇸 The Guardian | Anti-Semitism #Illegal Regime and Bastard Child of the US and the West Israel-Hamas War #Al Qaeda #Osama bin Laden #Letter #Victoria Bisset #The Washington Post #TikTok | Prohibition | Bin Laden | Letter to America 🇺🇸

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