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I tried tik tok, and I could never really get into it. Red Note feels like if Tik Tok and Instagram had a prettier, smarter baby.

I've really been enjoying it for all the reasons mentioned above. I have connected with photographers, artists and cat people... and I LOVE it! I'm also taking a trip to Taiwan this fall too so the extra Manadarin exposure and tutorials have been great.

Y'all

Im not on tiktok and never have been, but I downloaded RedNote just to see what is up, and I am witnessing something truly amazing

The Chinese user community is giving the American tiktok refugees an overwhelmingly warm welcome, meanwhile the American users seem to have collectively agreed that not only will they not let the app be taken over with English and they will provide Mandarin subtitles for everything, they are LEARNING MANDARIN. Ive scrolled through so many videos of Americans offering greetings in Mandarin to try to acclimate to the new environment and be respectful, and speakers of both languages are posting lots of tutorials on language basics and internet slang in Mandarin

My God, there is an AMAZING outpouring of curiosity and delight among everyone to learn about each others cultures and daily lives. People are posting videos of landscapes, cities, towns, and natural areas in USA and China, posting recipes and traditional foods, vlogs of everyday life, and reaching out to find people with similar hobbies.

And it's not just young people! There are loads of videos from middle-aged American guys who have come to post about fishing or motorcycles and are now happily chatting with Chinese users sharing the same interests using Google translate

One American guy who was like. in his 60's had a comment on one of his videos that was like "Red Neck?" and he replied "Yes!" and I just about fucking lost it

Also the Chinese users love, and I mean LOVE, Luigi Mangione. He is apparently broadly adored in China. There is SO much fanart and SO many edits.

There are many threads initiating Chinese users to ask questions of American users about the USA, and vice versa, and everyone on both sides is clearing up a lot of misconceptions. Some of the questions I saw a lot from Chinese users were: "Is it true that American parents kick you out of the house as soon as you turn 18" (not often, but sometimes) "Do you all really wear shoes in bed" (NO!!! Apparently a lot of characters in American sitcoms are shown lying in bed with shoes on which I never noticed before!) and "are there really guns everywhere" (yes).

For the most part Chinese content creators seem just overwhelmed by the sudden influx of hundreds of followers that are super enthusiastic about what they're doing. A lot of them have made posts about how initially they thought the uptick in follower count was some kind of error, or that there was some kind of joke or prank, but then they realized the interest and enthusiasm was genuine and now they're welcoming all the newcomers.

I found several posts by Chinese users saying that this felt like a really profound historical moment, where these previously separated worlds are suddenly smashing together and suddenly there is freedom to learn about each other's cultures and connect. One of them said something along the lines of "This is a 21st century Tower of Babel and even though I'm an atheist I hope God lets this tower stand." OUGH MY HEART.

The app itself works a little bit like a video-based version of Pinterest. It's not really my thing so I probably won't be on there long term but it's been amazing to see what's happening.

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how does being punched in the face feel like

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kid, when life gets you down you got three choices

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"I've sent word to your people" HOW

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Arthur knows he will die tonight.

It's his secret. The prophecy had been foretold to him when he was six. He knew the year, the moon circle, how the sun would stand in the sky.

'On the day of Beltane, when you're 22 and the moon is but a speck in the sky...

Your heart will stop.'

It's why he's never worried whenever he'd been warned of danger because this day, this night, has been present in his mind for 16 years. And tonight is the night.

Except...

"MERLIN, NO!!!"

His servant had jumped between him and the crossbow. And now he's on the ground, lying in Arthur's arms, bleeding out and dying.

'No no no!!!!'

Something went wrong. This was not meant to happen!!!! This was meant to be Arthur's moment!!!! And yet here he lies, dead in his arms.

'My heart' Arthur thinks wildly and his eyes widen.

'Oh!'

...

And then Merlin wakes up because he's immortal and Arthur actually has a heart attack, but he survives.

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Absolutely! I dislike a lot of things and make frequent use of filters and the back button in order to avoid my squicks and dislikes. But I keep what those are to myself because I don't want people raining on my parade, and I definitely don't want to BE the rain for somebody else.

I'm a fandom oldie and a strong proponent of "ship and let ship", and I defend everyone else's right to ship what they love... But I think that gives people the idea that I like, automatically love every single ship??? Or every single trope?

I don't though!

There are a lot of fandom tropes that are on my "absolutely fuck no" list. There are a lot of irk kinks that are also on my "nope absolutely not" list, too. Personally, this is healthy. I'm able to look at something and go "Yep, I hate it, but it's not harming anyone, so continue to do as you please."

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me when the disability disables me: oh what the fuck? this sucks. what the hell man!

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The 'hyperspecific situations' polls are really once again highlighting that native English speakers tend to forget that 'foreign' doesn't mean 'non-English' or 'non-American'

"Did you watch a foreign language movie in the past three days?" Yeah I watched the foreign movie "The Martian" with foreign actor Matt Damon

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Correcting a Chinese kid's English homework that another American got wrong on a Chinese app named after Mao Zedong's Little Red Book as part of a mass online temper tantrum to help save TikTok was not on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are.

This might actually be the political fuck-up of the century. Our politicians are all 900 year old crypt keepers who probably turn off their computers by unplugging them from the wall. Were there a single synapse in their decrepit domes focused on something besides their next payday, they might have thought twice about challenging Millennials and Zoomers on the internet. I repeat, ON THE INTERNET. Oh to have the confidence of an octogenarian born into generational wealth.

Something I need people to understand is the "security threat" doesn't just stop at data. The mere act of normal Chinese and American citizens interacting scares the shit out of governments on both sides. I'm already seeing videos from folks here in the US talking about how shocked they were at the grocery hauls in China, and how much they could get with very little. Chinese people are watching Americans absolutely dog walk their own government and talk it for filth. People are having fun.

All rich people had to do was remember the deal. Americans are terrible people. If they had just paid folks enough to buy a house, an electric car, and a vacation once a year they'd sit in front of the TV in a docile fugue state while the wealthy shoved their boots up the ass of the global south. Now who knows what's going to happen. I just know it's a testament to how done with Mark Zuckerberg's ass people are that they're rather learn Mandarin than go back to Facebook.

I think 2025 is about to be a ride.

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Loki.

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let's get this straight: he isn't

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"I will watch you grow into the King that Camelot deserves. It is as it should be."

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CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS UNDERRATED TRIO??

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People who celebrate the killing of Brian Thompson are being labeled as terrorists.

It's considered okay to advocate for the death penalty.

It's considered okay to support the police and military, who kill people on a regular basis.

It's considered okay to support corporate actions that kill people.

It's considered okay to support Nazis.

It's considered okay to compare LGBT people to pedophiles and simultaneously advocate for killing pedophiles.

It's considered okay to celebrate the killing of protesters.

It's considered okay to say that a rape victim deserved it.

It's considered okay to advocate for violence against children.

But when the violence is directed at a CEO, advocating for it is considered terrorism.

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Everyone should read their own fanfics recreationally tbh this shit fucking rules. It's like the author knows exactly what I like.

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Color me shocked...

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No matter what a post on tumblr tries to tell you, your moral and ethical stances will never be determined by what you reblog and what you scroll past. Don’t let manipulation tactics force you into doing anything you don’t want to do.