apologeticallyassertive

[apologeticallyassertive]

Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke, the youngest MP in Aotearoa, starts a haka to protest the first vote on a bill reinterpreting the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi

[apologeticallyassertive]

by Vladimir Ryabkov

[apologeticallyassertive]

[apologeticallyassertive]

Why are British teenage girls so unhappy? Here’s the answer (Caitlin Moran, The Times, Sep 13 2024)

"The report, by the Children’s Society, found that British 15-year-old girls are the most unhappy in Europe.

British girls aged 10-15 are “significantly less happy” with their life, appearance, family and school than the average boy — and their happiness is still declining.

Boys’ life satisfaction, meanwhile, remains broadly stable. (…)

But I still didn’t have an “aha!” moment about why this so disproportionately affects girls until… I talked to some teenage girls.

It was at a party, and I went to vape with them on the patio. Because I take my nicotine like children do.

“Duh — it’s the boys,” one said when I brought it up, as all the others agreed.

“The boys?” I asked.

My last book, What About Men?, had been all about how much boys struggle these days: their loneliness; their suicide rates. I’d spent the past year feeling very sympathetic towards boys.

“Yeah, well, who do you think they’re taking out their unhappiness on? It’s us,” another girl said.

“One boy at school used to draw a picture every day of how ugly I was,” a third girl said. “Every day for two years.”

“They’ve all got ‘Rate The Girls’ polls on their WhatsApps,” the first said. “They mark you down for weight gain, haircuts, what you say.”

“But then, if you’re hot, it’s just as bad, in a different way, because they’ll be talking about how they want to f*** you.”

The girls discussed coping techniques. Bad news: none of them worked.

“The only way you can stop them is if you become ‘one of the boys’ and hang out with them. But then,” the second girl said with a sigh, “all the other girls call you a slut. Because you’ve gone over to the boys’ side.”

“Surely it’s not all the boys?” I said. “There must be some nice boys?”

“Oh, yeah,” one girl said. “But they keep their heads down. Because… well, look.”

She showed me the Instagram account of her friend. Under every picture she posted of herself — smiling in a new dress; with her dog — dozens of anonymous accounts had replied with the most rank abuse.

“Fat.” “Slut.” “You gonna try and kill yourself again, for attention?”

“They’re all boys from her school,” she said. “And look, this one boy tried to defend her.”

I saw a series of messages from a brave teenage boy, posting things like, “You’re all big men, leaving these replies under anonymous accounts.”

As I could see, this boy immediately became a target too. Mainly accusations that he was “white knighting” this girl: “You wanna f*** her, bro?”

“So,” I asked, “you don’t think it’s social media pressure to be beautiful, or the economy, that’s making girls so sad?”

“Well, yeah, them too,” the first girl said. “But, Monday-Friday, 9-3, I’m not on social media. I’m not… in the economy. I’m just with these boys. And no one talks about how horrible they are.”

I thought about another recent report, showing a 30 per cent ideological gap between Gen Z men, who are increasingly conservative, and Gen Z women, who are increasingly progressive.

I thought about Andrew Tate, who has nine million mostly young male followers — and faces human trafficking charges, which he denies.

And I thought: maybe these girls are on to something. Maybe more people need to vape with teenage girls and ask them for the school gossip."

[apologeticallyassertive]

[apologeticallyassertive]

Or would they squeeze her into a perfunctory line in a thousand-page story, as a throwaway reference to the tragic life of Elrond Peredhel? When they write the histories of the Third Age, would they take her long, loving, beloved life, and shove it into three weeks in a cave on Caradhras?

Would that be her fate?

Four-thousand-year-old Celebrìan, the earwig-squasher, the snort-laugher, the breadcrumb-leaver, the beating heart of the valley, who lived as well as she could, until she couldn't. Brave, kind, beloved. A single footnote long.

A South Asian inspired take on the wonderful Celebrìan, gorgeous scars and all, who has a very special place in my heart and frankly is someone I Can Never Be Normal About. Art my own, words from my fic.

[apologeticallyassertive]

Some witches skating

[apologeticallyassertive]

when will we talk about the willful helplessness epidemic on here. So many people on this god forsaken website demand to have any and all things that exist outside their personal experiences directly, personally pre-chewed and spoonfed to them. And when you do, they'll then ask for you to swallow for them, too, because, you see, in THEIR experience..,

[apologeticallyassertive]

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (2018), dir. Arwen Curry

[apologeticallyassertive]

I hate us

[apologeticallyassertive]

oh someone at the guardian has lost the will to live

[apologeticallyassertive]

HAPPY FOUR YEARS OF GAY PEOPLE BEING REAL

[apologeticallyassertive]

the good life (post-war)

[apologeticallyassertive]

“I’m…” Harry could hardly speak. “I’m scared, Sirius.”

“I know, Harry, but I’m here. You’re safe with me.”

Harry sagged against the embrace. And as he let Sirius hold him and promise him that no one could harm him now, a childish part of Harry could almost believe that as long as he was in Sirius’s arms, Voldemort could never find him and hurt him again.

Text by @arliedraws https://www.tumblr.com/arliedraws/761829185536819200/well-look-at-who-filled-their-own-prompt-again?source=share Where I live it is exactly 3rd of November midnight now, sooooo: Happy Birthday Sirius 🥳 I thought I give him a little treat. He can finally hug Harry now 🥰 Just finished this painting in time. I am completely exhausted now, I have been painting this whole week.

So this is the full version of the Sirius portrait recently. No one guessed the scene correctly, but that’s fine, I already expected that. I was just so curious about your thoughts on his expression :)

[apologeticallyassertive]

With the knowledge that Vulcan has regularly high winds & subsequent sandstorms I propose a type of guy: midwestern dads watching tornadoes but for Vulcans. Somebody's uncle Sovar standing outside with his hands on his hips watching a massive cloud roll closer. Unconcerned because this happens, like, every couple of weeks. He's like "this one is large, is it not" yes it is go back inside Sovar