#I know there are people who will strongly disagree w me on this

[fawnshy]

file that under reasons I wish quick chat was not a thing in cc, I guess. there's definitely a risk that people would be jerks with party chat enabled, but giving dudebros with anger issues access to a button they can press to easily spam the chat rather than meticulously typing out their grievances in the middle of a high-stakes match just makes flaming your party so much easier

I've played thousands upon thousands of matches of Frontlines and the amount of times I've seen flaming absolutely pales in comparison to the flaming I witness even in casual CC matches. quick chat is so nice in theory but in practice it allows people to harass their party members with a literal press of a button

not to mention it makes the whole experience feel so impersonal and just less fun!! if I can't enjoy some goofing and gaffing in party chat when there's a calm moment then what's the point :(

[homophyte]

im ngl the way some ppl on this site talk abt christianity is really baffling

[genderkoolaid]

sorry completely missed the "think misogyny isn't real" WILD you think i'm deceptive while clearly knowing jack shit about this topic?

transandrophobia was not coined for any reason other than to discuss transandrophobia. people call us conspiracy theorists for using a word to describe our experiences and then they keep ascribing motives to us that make no goddamn sense to justify why they dislike us using this word (and "they" is, very often, transmascs white knighting for transfems, who also very often specifically complain about the word we use). the discussion around transandrophobia is not actually centered around transfems no matter how much people insist that it is

literally never seen anyone argue transmisogyny isnt an intersection of transphobia and misogyny. if you're talking about the transunitist use of transmisogyny, its true that its different from serano's, but not because its not an intersection of transphobia and misogyny. transunity very much affirms that transmisogyny involves transphobia and misogyny, as does every form of transphobia, it just uses transmisogyny as a term to describe transfem-targeted transphobia since thats a popular usage of it anyways. which is why

it makes no goddamn sense to claim we don't believe misogyny exists unless you think that we're basically cis MRAs but trans, since transunity has misogyny as a fundamental part of all transphobia and transmascs are constantly talking about how misogyny affects us and how people very specifically DON'T want us to say that we are affected by misogyny. do you actually know anything about my beliefs or do you just get all this info from the callout grapevine because im pretty sure i talk a fucking lot about misogyny

wild how you bring up that most people think oppression is just being called slurs on the streets, because thats something i have seen "transandrophobia truthers" literally call out (specifically in terms of how people think that, because a trans man could hypothetically pass as a cis man, that must mean we arent oppressed, as if transphobia is based entirely around how strangers on the street see you and not about things like medical transphobia or interpersonal transphobia or legal transphobia or the risk of being outed etc etc)

its honestly wild, when you sit with it, that people are trying to beat and criminalize trans people out of existence. and folks are genuinely like wait a minute everyone!!! we need to debate the exact right word for when people want trans men dead. IF it even happens🙄. like if ur in a fight do u stop to look around for a specific model of knife with the perfect weight and shape thats appropriately sharpened or do you grab whatevers available and get to work

[itaehynz]

three’s a choi charm! ♡

PAIRING: choi line x fem!reader.

GENRE: socmed + written

CONTENTS: summer romance, choi line are cousins, taehyun and hueka are y/n’s bestfriends + others, multiple endings, written chaps, slice of life, fluff, angst, comedy, nonidol!au, reader is mingyu’s younger sister, jungkook is choi line’s older cousin, what would this be w/o profanity, . . .

SUMMARY: school’s out and it’s time for summer! also known as the ‘hottest season of the year’ so in hopes of finding a hot, potential soulmate, you go on tinder and match with three people! who shall you end up with in the end?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: a new smau!!!! woohoo!!!! choi line falling in love w/ reader & doing everything to get them, whew. there’s going to be endings where you end up with each member so don’t worry about that! i hope you all enjoy this one :D

STATUS . . . on hold! (taglist: open!)

SCHEDULE . . . mondays, wednesdays, fridays @ 1:30pm est!

FEAT . . . rest of TXT, LE SSERAFIM’s Yunjin, ITZY’s Ryujin, ATEEZ’s Wooyoung, ENHYPEN‘s Heeseung, BTS’ Jungkook, SVT’s Mingyu!

PROFILES: lost causes | got dat dawg in me ⁉️ | older bros

01. like a virgin | 02. omega gyat ohio rizz | 03. under no circumstances whatsoever. | 04. are you fucking kidding | 05. who is this | 06. it’s like a man and a woman had a baby! | 07. the ‘L word’ | 08. do they know? | 09. kiss me plz | 10. i STRONGLY disagree | 11. you’re so not omega for that | 12. let’s run away (with rizz) | 13. yucky day | 14. she ain’t my baby | 15. you apologize? | 16. cute dimpled man | 17. who’s fault is that | 18. talk later? | 19. wildflower | 20. love is in the air | 21. so close yet so far | 22. driving me mad | 23. i don’t care anymore | 24. where are they? | 25. falling in love | 26. i really need your help | 27. gone | 28. it’s you, again. | 29. we’re getting the band back together! | 30. let’s try this again. | 31. coming soon.

yj’s ending. | sb’s ending. | bg’s ending.

TAGLIST: @https-yeonjun, @sugaringgcaramel, @boba-beom, @ur-mother-realnotclickbait, @yawn-zi, @txtbrainrot, @soobsfairy444, @wonunuwoo, @coconutjjun, @headlockimnida, @dinosluver, @gwookie, @yourenzoo, @bunnyeonny, @eclipse-777, @lun4kazumii, @h00nerz, @soobjvn, @bam2gyuuuu, @gardnhee, @sugawara-levi, @miekesmellark, send an ask or shoot me a dm to be added! ^^ (bold — can’t be tagged)

© iTAEHYNZ.

[catnippackets]

as someone who’s coming to terms w their own aroace identity, what does queerplatonic mean to you? you have a handful of characters in those relationships, so i just assume you understand the concept since you write it. sorry if this sounds strange, english is not my first language! 🧡💛🤍🩵💙

this doesn't sound strange at all! your english is great :)

well first off, from what I've learned over the years, everybody has their own little definition of what queerplatonic means to them, so my explanation of what it means to me might not be the same as what it means to other people. it's sort of a nebulous concept that can mean whatever you want it to mean, kinda like how nonbinary can mean whatever you want it to mean and just because you strongly disagree with how someone else is using it doesn't mean either of you are wrong

I also wanna say that I've written a few qprs in my day and they're all different! there is no single consistent portrayal of what I think a queerplatonic relationship is, bc each qpr I write will look slightly different and involve different things. but at the base of it all, to me, a qpr is a relationship that isn't romantic but that is still more intimate than a platonic friendship would be. usually I say that to mean physical intimacy, like cuddling or whatnot, but it includes emotional intimacy as well. I also like to imagine it as sort of the aroace version of being in a relationship, but you DON'T have to be aro or ace to be in a qpr, anyone can have one if that's what your feelings are

sometimes I like to imagine a qpr as sort of the halfway point between platonic and romantic; you're not in love but maybe you snuggle or even occasionally kiss like you are, but there is no romance there, you're just close in a special way that you aren't with your friends. sometimes qprs will even involve sex, and from an outsider perspective, look like you're just in regular love. sometimes qprs barely look intimate at all and from an outside perspective, you just look like regular friends. all of these examples are still qprs! because it all depends on how the people involved are labelling it, and different people have different standards for their own attraction. if someone regularly kisses and cuddles with all their platonic friends and that's normal for them, then a queerplatonic relationship might look really different for them, but for me, if I had a friend who I felt comfortable kissing and cuddling with, that would DEFINITELY be a qpr for me bc I would never even dream of doing that with a platonic friend. but also I wouldn't label it as a qpr either, even though it would technically be one by definition, because I wouldn't be comfortable being in a relationship if it had a label and I would prefer to just be somebody's person and know that we've committed to each other without being "partners" or whatnot. I know that's probably kind of confusing but I can't think of any other way to explain it haha

basically at the end of the day if you feel like your feelings of attraction can't be defined as strictly platonic or romantic but they're still definitely there, that would make them queerplatonic, but of course you don't have to use any labels at all if you don't want to. I hope that was helpful in some way lol

[wearethewinx]

I SAID I wanted to talk about Aisha:

It's been theorized that Aisha doesn't want to be a princess. I strongly disagree. She takes her role as the princess of Andros extremely seriously, and imo she clearly WANTS to be a good ruler. Yes, she snuck out to dance sometimes and refused her arranged marriage, but that NEVER stopped her from doing her Princess Duties, and she doesn't have baggage around the decorum of her station. She deploys it effortlessly when beneficial and takes it off just as easily. She drops everything at a moment's notice to return to Andros at the slightest sign of trouble to Be Their Princess

She is DEVOTED and LOYAL. Like, maybe the most of all the winx? She knew Flora for like, a week, and that was enough friendship currency for her to BREAK INTO HELIA'S ROOM AND PAW THROUGH HIS SHIT. Yeah Stella committed identity fraud for Bloom on day 1, but that's Stella. Aisha is responsible! Considers her actions carefully! EXCEPT when a friend needs a favor

That devotion includes her parents. Aisha's respect for her mother is paramount, even after the betrothal fiasco, and that's not just a passive thing. She proudly says "source: my mother told me and she's NEVER wrong" in class. I really wish we got to see more of Aisha's relationship with her parents

She knows a lot about poetry and speaks many languages. Again, I just wish we saw more of this

Basically homeschooled

Her royal education doesn't seem to include magic? Which is SUPER interesting to me. Every other princess we meet except Diaspro is canonically some kind of magic student, but Aisha seems self-taught. While every other princess in the magic dimension is learning to be a fairy or sorceress, the princess of Andros is learning diplomacy, fencing, languages, poetry, dancing, etiquette. That says a lot about Androssi royalty!

She's gentle

GENUINELY KIND OF A MAN HATER

I feel like Aisha is often flattened as 'the strong one' (and I do have personal beef w/ how people incorporate that into her design- she's sporty, not a bodybuilder. Dancing, motorcycling, and surfing are not activities that lend themselves to big bulky biceps!!) and I really think that's a boring disservice to her. IMO she's the sort of person who would really appreciate and treasure little friendship tokens, and spend a lot of time just. Trying to do nice things for the winx, and solve their problems. She treasures quiet time spent together.

Helia loving her (despite Aisha thinking he's a loser) because she knows a lot of philosophy and has a good command over her Vibes. Her and Brandon Doing Sports together bc the other Winx aren't interested and the other specialists annoy her too much, and them becoming catty frenemies. Aisha knowing about the history of Domino and the legend of the Dragon Fire, and bonding with Bloom over it. Bloom drawing a picture of the Winx together and Aisha keeping it forever. Aisha still being scared of the dark and Stella giving her a magical light. Musa helping Aisha plan something special to celebrate the Day of the Rose. Tecna Musa and Aisha bonding over the difficulty they have being openly emotional. Flora and Aisha fretting over eachother's well-being and bonding over their shared sense of responsibility to their families

[wildbwills]

so like @cherie-luvv mentioned wanting to make a post about ship opinions and I want to do that too! So we can do it together :3

Uhhh I don’t really feel too strongly about any of the ships but I have vague opinions so here they are, if you disagree that’s fine!

Thomas/Teresa: would have been better as siblings. Makes vague sense I guess, what she did was not forgivable so…. Thomas u can do better.

Thomas/Brenda: Better than him and Teresa, I like their movie dynamic way more than their book dynamic. Also they work well as partners (romance is not always necessary :)

Thomas/Newt: they have a lot of meaningful moments and a good bond w/ each other. My favorite ship in the whole series I think.

Newt/Minho: Not really something I considered before joining the fandom but pre-Thomas’s arrival yeah totally this makes sense they have a great dynamic.

Thomas/Minho: not for me but like…i understand….i see it.

Newt/Minho/Thomas: uhhh. I get it I guess but I feel like their combined dynamic leans a lot more towards roommates? I don’t know I guess I don’t really see it because most of the time all three of them don’t interact as a three person group.

Teresa/Brenda: Nah. Like I get it, but they never interact and when they do it’s so stiff and their ideals clash so much that I feel like it’s so improbable. (Out of canon is fair game though)

Alby/Newt: Not so much as Newt/Minho but I see it I guess. Very ‘old couple who argues a lot’ vibe

anything with Ben: I don’t think we got to know him well enough to like REALLY ship him with anyone but I’m not opposed to it

anything with Gally: there’s people who are all for these and good for you guys! I need to re-read TDC because my main memory of him is mean Glade Gally. I did really like him when he came back (if I remember right) and he deserves someone :3

uhhhh

Sonya/Harriet: yes.

IF I MISSED SOME SORRY IM NOT REALLY INTO SHIPS SO THESE ARE JUST THE ONES IVE SEEN MENTIONED OKAY BYE.

[murfpersonalblog]

"I wonder if Lestat ever considered taking his 'I don’t care about humanity' & human rules far enough to choose not to attend the racist opera house with Louis playing his valet & instead strolling in there together. Same thing with the bus. Would he have rather had his family sit upfront with him? Why did he decide to sit in the back of the theater with Louis & Claudia? Is it because it was dark? Why did he conform to the human societal rules even though he knew Louis found it humiliating?"

-- @mytwistedexperience

I really liked this comment posted here, and wanted to reply to it directly, but figured my inevitably long-winded response would work better in a separate post. Cuz the short/long answer is White Privilege.

I've ranted a few times about Lestat's toxic positivity and color-blindness--

--cuz Lestat grossly underestimated how effective systemic racism was, and overestimated his power as one (1) single French White vampire in the face of the American superstructure/superpower.

Lestat could use the Spell Gift to freeze time & cheat at cards & win piles of money; read minds to seduce/control people; use the Cloud Gift & superspeed to travel; use telekinesis to close the gates on the priest he killed in Ep1 & open the door for Antoinette in Ep7; use the Fire Gift in Ep1 screwing with the street-lighter dude; use the Mind Gift to command a whole platoon of soldiers (which gave him a literal aneurysm). But he's not omnipotent. The problem with AR vampires is that they are very PHYSICAL--although undead, they aren't spirits/ghosts or shapeshifting creatures like AR's Azriel/Lasher/Amel/Goblin/Gremt--or even Dracula--who can move in and out of physical material. AR vamps can't become mist or turn into wolves/bats or any of the OP powers Dracula has (and even he was defeated by a ragtag bunch of humans). AR's vamps are still subject to the laws & forces of earth--the world--and by extension, SOCIETY.

People have accused black!Louis of being "arrogant," but I strongly disagree--Louis was proud. Lestat, however, was wildly arrogant, looking down on "this primitive country"/human society as something beneath him; that vampirism was something that superseded everything in existence; thinking he was akin to God and that he could make everyone bend to his will--including Louis.

"I wonder if Lestat ever considered taking his 'I don’t care about humanity' & human rules far enough to choose not to attend the racist opera house with Louis playing his valet & instead strolling in there together."

Eff no. Lestat dragged Louis to the opera cuz LESTAT wanted to go to the opera. He went on & on about Don Pasquale--DELIBERATELY talking over visibly distraught Louis; bulldozing over his feelings to force Louis out of his funk, while Louis was looking like WTF--

Lestat was like come hell or high water--i.e.: Louis almost eating his nephew, or racists at the door not wanting black!Louis to go in--we are GOING to the opera tonight so help me god! 😤 Granted, YES, the date had been planned in good faith--"I've been neglectful of our romance;" and YES, we know Louis LOVES opera--but it was also classic lovebomber!Lestat behavior, to thrust things at Louis & expect him to take it and smile; inconsiderate AF; or rather, considerate only so far as considering how effective his chess moves & manipulations would be.

However, Lestat's self aware enough (even in his white privilege) to know his limits: we see him use the Mind Gift on the soldiers in Ep3, WAY less people than everyone in the Opera House (or even the pub w/ the police chief & Tom in Ep5). Les wasn't strong/skilled enough in his powers in Ep2 (1912-17) to make everyone NOT notice black!Lou walking/sitting beside him. There'd've been a riot--those white folk would've acted a fool & thrown BOTH of them out b4 the opera even started, defeating the point of their date.

"Why did he conform to the human societal rules even though he knew Louis found it humiliating?"

Les felt it more important to see some stupid opera (which turned out to be TRASH cuz of the Tenor, LOL), than to have white people respect his black husband (a la "IF disrespect was done to you..." in the same episode 😒); or to bother finding something they could enjoy TOGETHER, w/out Lou being dehumanized in the process. But that's the whole point of vampirism: It's a dehumanizing process, "companion in the Dark Gift, finally." Lestat wanted Louis to stop acting like a human & start acting like a vampire--a white man, a god/monster, etc. And Lestat's PETTY AF, enough to be like: Ok Louis, if you insist on us both participating in this charade, then suffer the consequences of playing nice w/ people who hate you; take my effing gloves & walk 3 paces behind me, valet! Lestat KNEW it hurt Louis to be treated that way. Slap his face and kiss it after:

See the little micro-expressions on Samstat's face, when he double-takes? He sits in blissful white privilege, b4 remembering: Oh right! My black husband's just been mistreated by white society AND ME; lemme butter him up by making it all about ME again, trauma-dumping a whole monologue on how lonely I've been on him. 🥺

Works every time. 😉👍

Lestat, an idiot, thought all black!Louis needed to do was act like Lestat a white man, and all his problems would be solved. By embracing his vampire powers, he could go & do what he wanted. But we see in Ep3 precisely what would've happened if Louis decided to REALLY be Lestat's "companion in the Dark Gift, finally." Killing the racist Alderman was just one domino in a string of factors that sparked the race riots, but Louis blamed himself anyways, quick to shoulder the guilt for things beyond his control, and LEFT Lestat.

Louis wants to be a "good" Negro, not rock the boat (even if inside Pyromaniac du Lac's boiling mad). Lou'd rather have racists learn to respect him & treat him equally, not go kill all of them, ruling over a pile of corpses. He's not the type to insist on walking side-by-side w/ Les into the Opera House, or sit beside him on the bus. Lou's passive/submissive, he's not an activist. When he "acts out," as Armand called it, it just leads to chaos--riots, the "Great Conversion/flying vampire apocalypse," the Theatre burned down. Lou's a hermit crab in his shell--he shuts down, hides away, full of regret & "self-loathing." He can't be devil-may-care Les & eff-the-police Claudia; that's NOT the type of person he is, or who Les wanted him to be--eff that sword-cane; every time Lou used it he was MISERABLE!

Bull-frikkin-sh!te. 😠

Lestat's selfish, arrogant, cocksure, and toxic AF. And Louis was unequipped to handle him (cuz they're UNEQUAL), loving Les despite all his faults, to the point of LITERAL self-destruction. Rolin & Sam have said many times that Les had yet to be HUMBLED. The world/reality only hit him in Ep7 that the very things he underestimated would be his undoing--Claudia got the jump on him back in Ep6's chess game, and offed him through poisoning Tom (another person Les didn't expect to hurt him). (We'd see this over & over again in the books, as Les got his arse handed to him by people he'd looked down on, from Armand in TVL, to some rando old AF human Raglan James in TotBT, to Rhoshamandes in the PL Trilogy.)

Most importantly, Louis has significant power over Lestat, too. The crazy part's that Les SAW Lou coming inEp7--he KNEW Lou was a garbage liar & was plotting w/ Claudia; he's too obvious--and STILL underestimated Lou. He LET Louis get away with crap, cuz he thought it was harmless, or just not worth confronting Louis about--biding his time & waiting. That's what Les had done for YEARS, with everything from Louis' vegetarianism, to running the Azalea's sinking ship, to sitting at the back of the bus.

"Same thing with the bus. Would he have rather had his family sit upfront with him? Why did he decide to sit in the back of the theater with Louis & Claudia? Is it because it was dark?"

Eff that bus. Lestat would've rather have had Louis (& Claudia) strong enough to use THE CLOUD GIFT. Buses are for weak AF humans who can't take to the air like strong vampires can, and FLY.

Les said in TVL that he held back with Louis, and kept from showing him even half of what vampires could REALLY do--which is why Louis was STUNNED to see the Theatre & Armand & Santiago (a vampire YOUNGER than Louis!) in action.

Poor baby bird had no idea. Cuz Louis had been trying so hard & so long to be human, not vampire--he'd stunted his own growth, which is why both Lestat & Claudia looked at him like he was crazy. "A fish that doesn't swim; a bird that doesn't fly. You're going to STRUGGLE." And the scary fact was that Lestat would struggle, too, pretending to be human and not a monster to accommodate Louis: "I'm trying to restrain myself!" 💀

[heystephen]

is it weird that I’m still a follower and fan of you even though you have an opinion I really disagree with? (It’s about Taylor blocking other artists on the charts w/ variants) I wouldn’t argue with you about it and it doesn’t make me think negatively of you, but I know some people who would be weirded out by me not unfollowing you about an opinion I strongly, but amicably, disagree with. Idk I might just be being weird here 😭😭

i don’t think it’s weird, i mean there are blogs i follow that i disagree w/ some opinions they have. but unless it’s a rly big moral principle type opinion im not rly that picky ab who stays on my dash 🤷🏻‍♀️

besides as far as opinions like taylor blocking ppl on the charts, i tend to see those things as Just My Opinion and not rly something i expect or insist ppl agree w/ me on! i follow a lot of ppl who see it differently than i do and it doesn’t bother me

[mikelogan]

hello. i really enjoy your content, but i have to say i'm kinda disappointed on you still being a ts fan. this woman knows what disney does and yet she still gave them the rights, meaning she either doesn't care or actively supports the genocide. or maybe she decided to turn her morals off because money is more important. not to mention how she consistently associates herself with questionable people and how a person literally died in one of her shows on brazil and she gave zero fucks. this woman is not a good person and there are no excuses to being her fan anymore.

no, i fully understand what you're saying and where you're coming from. over the last like. idk year and a half? ive been pretty vocal about my disappointment, distaste, and disagreement with a multitude of the choices she's made lately. i 100% agree that her silence on the subject of palestinian genocide (as well as many other human rights/social causes) is at best a sign of apathy and at worst a sign of support. especially when miss americana was all about her wanting to be more outspoken and be an activist. that all feels so incredibly performative now -- and has for a while. a lot of things that she's said and done since midnights, which is when i became more active in the tumblr swiftie community, have left a bad taste in my mouth for her as a person.

like i said, i genuinely agree with what you're saying. the only thing i take issue with is that she didn't care that a fan died at her show. she donated money to the fan's family and took time to meet them. regardless of my many issues with her, i do think she can be an empathetic person and i don't think that she just straight up didn't care that someone died before her show. it's one of those things (of which there are many) where we'll never know her true thoughts bc she doesn't talk about things. which is frustrating in itself.

now that's not the point of your message, so feel free to write that off as a digression. i strongly disagree with her making yet another version of the eras tour movie and hosting it on disney+. I'm personally boycotting disney+ and have been for a while. I don't even intend on watching the new version and like the vast majority of everything I gif, that shit is pirated -- that's how I watched the original release of the movie. obviously my consumption/boycotting is just one person compared to blondie, who has influence over millions, who could make real change if she spoke out against genocide.

at this point, im not supporting her financially either apart from listening to her music. which i love. im sorry, but I do. if I didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation. i think her constant churning out different exclusive versions of the same albums are a transparent money grab and maybe an effort to set more records as far as sales or streams or however that all works. and I'm not just saying that bc I literally couldn't even afford to buy a digital copy of an album right now.

so yeah. I appreciate that you enjoy my content and thank you for saying so, but if you need to unfollow or block, i understand. I've definitely toned down/completely stopped sharing posts about her as a person bc I'd much rather focus on just the music. and maybe that makes me a bad person for continuing to listen to and enjoy her music. im not saying i necessarily feel good about it, but i think the fact of the matter is that a lot of the celebrities, actors, musicians, etc. we like or whose content we enjoy hold views we disagree with and have different values or priorities. nuance exists. right now, im someone who is vocal about the palestinian genocide and I try to share resources/posts about it when they come across my dash and im also someone who is a fan of Taylor's music.

Idk, I hope what I'm saying makes sense at least on some level. I've done my best to word things coherently, but brain fog fucks w me a lot. and like. it's probably whatever, but I do plan on changing my url after ttpd releases. That probably upsets you more and I can see how people might think im a hypocrite or something and yeah, I get it. Idk, I just want to enjoy someone's music without endorsing them as a person, but that's extra difficult when the person in question is the biggest singer in the industry. but you'll never see me making excuses for her on things like this or the m*tty situation or numerous other things she's said and done that gross me out. im not so far up her ass that I think she's perfect or that I feel the need to defend her at every turn. like I said, nuance. anyway, if you feel the need to respond, i welcome you to do so as long as we both remain respectful, which I think we've done. this is a difficult topic, but that doesn't mean we can't discuss it. I appreciate your point of view and I'm sorry that I've disappointed you!

[ohgodimafraud]

hey, thank you so much for engaging with sickromancer’s totally weird responses to the “drama”/“discourse” about… uh… vulnerable chronically ill people daring to discuss traumatic experiences during a pandemic! I really liked their writing, but a while back they posted this, so… not shocking that they don’t actually know the difference between Hot Fantasy Contagion and Hot IRL Indifference

https://www.tumblr.com/sickromancer/748033970277580800/as-being-a-contagion-lover-who-is-a-germaphobe-irl?source=share

listen im not into cancel culture or whatever. i think i'd like to clarify my thoughts one more time tho.

if i disagree with something strongly enough ill say it. i think taking care to keep others and yourself safe is important and ik how serious it is now. covid can disable healthy people and with each reinfection that risk increases. thats not me fear mongering, thats ive read this and have had it 3 times and each time has been worse. it's a real gamble bc you dont know how your body will react to it. theres one client i have who is immunocompromised and every time i enter the home i wear a mask and they wear a mask and there are air filters on and genuinely it's the only place ive felt consistently safe in the past year outside of my own home.

we're all shaped by our own experiences and i sympathize w her situation like my family friends grew up with a parent with extreme untreated ocd and theyd be hours late to everything if like the toilet paper touched the wall wrong and theyd have their own special gym equipment and all of the kids turned out different. one of them became like an anti vax incel alt right guy. i had issues w my parents growing up that im working thru and like i def am more prone to anger than the average person. taking your trauma out on other ppl isn’t okay either though

if youre sharing food or drink w friends, both of u have consented and great. partner to partner = consent. not being worried about germs is a privilege though and not being able to understand that is whats like confusing to me esp after 2020. it's not that disabled people have an irrational fear of germs it's like...survival, genuinely. and even if people do have a legit phobia why are we shaming them

also to clarify, i am not disabled unless u count asthma/probable copd (but literally i can do all my tasks so i do not) and have had so much carelessness at work including a horrible absence policy and have loved ones who are disabled. live your best lives, i think if you're sick you should try not to get random people sick on purpose and thats really my main piece idc about consensual situations or any type of fantasy.

[misfitwashere]

Friends,

I’m glad Democrats are finally hitting back at Trump. Enough with the “high road.” 

They’re calling him “weird.”

They’re mocking him. “Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial,” Hillary Clinton sneered at the Democratic convention. “When he woke up, he’d made his own kind of history — the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.” 

Barack Obama noted Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes.”

Michelle Obama asked, “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” 

Trump hates to be laughed at. He cannot abide ridicule. So, keep it up. 

But in addition to the mockery, we must not forget Trump’s treachery.  

The values a president enunciates and demonstrates ricochet through society, strengthening or undermining the common good.  

George Washington biographer Douglas Southall Freeman noted that by June 1775, when Congress appointed him to command the nation’s army, Washington had already “become a moral rallying post.” 

In the 2016 presidential campaign, 240 years later, candidate Donald Trump’s moral squalor was on full display. When accused of failing to pay his income taxes, he responded, “That makes me smart.” 

He thereby signaled to millions of Americans that paying taxes in full is not an obligation of citizenship.

Trump also boasted about giving money to politicians so they would do whatever he wanted. “When they call, I give. And you know what, when I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me.” 

In other words, it’s perfectly okay for business leaders to pay off politicians, regardless of the effect on our democracy.

After Trump launched an attack on NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem, Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors, explained that the players were trying to protect a core American value. “They’re protesting excessive police violence and racial inequality,” said Kerr. “Those are really good things to fight against. And they’re doing it in a nonviolent way. Which is everything that Martin Luther King preached, right?”

Before Trump, the peaceful transfer of power was assumed to be a central feature of American democracy. 

As Harvard political scientist Archon Fung has noted, when losing candidates congratulate winners and deliver gracious concession speeches, they demonstrate their commitment to the democratic system over the result they fought to achieve — an important means of reaffirming the common good.

Think of Al Gore’s gracious concession speech to George W. Bush in 2000, after five weeks of a bitterly contested election and just one day after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bush:

“I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country …. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it …. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”

Consider what might have occurred had Gore bitterly accused Bush of winning fraudulently and blamed the five Republican appointees on the Supreme Court for siding with Bush for partisan reasons. Or if, during his campaign, Bush had promised to put Gore in jail for various alleged improprieties, and then, after he won, accused Gore of spying on him during the campaign and trying to use the FBI and CIA to bring his downfall.

These statements — close to ones Trump actually made — might have imperiled the political stability of the nation. 

Instead, Gore made the same moral choice his predecessors made at the end of every previous American presidential election, and for the same reason: He understood that the peaceful transition of power confirmed the nation’s commitment to the Constitution, which was far more important than his own loss. 

Trump has had no such qualms. When he lost, he embarked on a coup against the United States and instigated an assault on the U.S. Capitol, resulting in five deaths.

At this moment, Trump and his lackeys are installing loyalists in state and county election offices to deny certification to the Harris-Walz ticket and other Democrats down the ballot.

The essence of Trump’s failure as president — and the fundamental reason he doesn’t merit a second term — is not that he has behaved in childish and vindictive ways or is “weird.” 

It is that he sacrificed — and continues to sacrifice — the processes and institutions that undergird America to achieve his own selfish aims. 

He abused the trust we place in a president to preserve and protect the nation’s capacity for self-government.

Trump is a traitor. 

He and the Republican Party — now a personality cult based on Trump’s Big Lie — violate everything America stands for.

We cannot and must not forget his treachery and the GOP’s complicity. It is a despicable blot on America.

[sydmarch]

there's this attitude on here i'm so fucking sick of where people who consider themselves progressives will be like "oh yeah of course it's fine if you don't want to have kids. but everyone has to LIKE kids anyone who doesn't think babies are cute or feel some nurturing instinct over them is some inherently evil emotionless freak who's just waiting to abuse children" like shut the FUCK upppppp no one has to like kids no one HAS to like anything. i've never in my life seen a baby that i thought was cute & the only emotion they elicit is "oh those thangs are dirty & loud so i'll be leaving now". the way people equate people who just genuinely dislike kids with child abusers is so FUCKING stupid

i mean like someone who doesn't like dogs, thinks they're loud & gross or whatever, they might get people being like "whaaaat but they're so cute wym you don't like them??" but i never see anyone assume the dog hater is just inherently an animal abuser who is a danger to all dogs by nature of their dislike of them. someone who hates dogs is in all likelihood just never going to have one, stop coming around your place after you adopt one, & not work as something like a walker or groomer. same thing applies for the vast majority of people who don't like kids! the most i ever "interact" with one is when someone brings one on the train near me & i get up and go somewhere else if they're being annoying lmao. the absolute reach of it all. if you really think the reason people abuse (kids, animals, women, etc) is simply because they don't like (kids, animals, women, etc) you are so fucking stupid and you have rocks for brains. you don't know ANYTHING about abuse.

all these people on tumblr who act like this is a place where you go to get away from overbearing societal norms or whatever & then come on here & just water down "everyone should have/wants to have kids really" to "ok not everyone wants kids, but everyone wants to at least be the Cool Uncle to their friends kids" or whatever the fuck. the idea of everyone wanting kids has indoctrinated you so thoroughly that you don't even realize it. plus "some bloggers who don't think kids are cute" is SO LAUGHABLY far down the list of things that are actually a real threat to children it's beyond stupid that this is something i consistently see people bringing up. reeks of the same type of bullshit attitude of like "oh you're low empathy? you must be a psychopath who wants to hurt people & you're just a threat waiting to happen". everyone loves to have a target who they deem as 'acceptable' ig, even 'be gay do crimes' 'fuck gender norms' ass bloggers.

anyway if you read all this & disagree w me strongly enough that you still think its cool to reblog shit like "if you don't like babies you should kill yourself" fuck off forever and block me right now i'm so serious. don't come in my replies or askbox to debate me on this shit i'm not trying to start a discussion or whatever i'm just annoyed that i keep seeing this kind of garbage on my dash. if you argue with me i'm not engaging, i'm blocking you thanks.

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 15: Ottery St Mary

Okay, so I know this episode is controversial.

I think we all agree it's a classic. But I'm told that for some people, it's just too mean to Arthur for people to like it. I get this point of view, but I disagree.

But we'll get to that soon.

First of all, this episode is full of so many epic, classic Cabin Pressure moments that you kind of HAVE to like it. Yellow car? That magnificent post-credits song? 100 otters? (And re that last one, for those who haven't seen this, if you want to see what's effectively a pre-draft of the script...) And that doesn't even get to the Carolyn/Herc plotline, which is awesome on its own.

I'll talk about that one first, actually, because it continues on something that my bandaged finger yesterday prevented me from elaborating on- the Carolyn/Herc relationship beginning. I know very few people in real life in relationships that are the kind of adversarial ones that you can get in sitcoms, and I think that S4 will do a lot to make their relationship a bit more realistic, but it really doesn't matter because a) the dialogue is funny and b) the actors are really able to convey how much fun the characters are having arguing. Is that going to sustain a healthy relationship? Nah. Is it going to get the two of them interested enough to become (as Carolyn will put it later) "sparring partners"? Of course. Later we'll see them acquire a bit more of the balance and mutual vulnerability that will allow them to live a normal day together, but for now this is super fun.

(I also thought it was interesting how back in Newcastle, the two of them were much more mutually collegial, even if they were arguing a lot- and this episode they were way more adversarial. At first I was kind of like "wait... isn't this backward?" but really, when you think about it, Carolyn's kind of testing Herc here, and Herc is showing that not only does he pass but he's enjoying himself. So this is bringing their relationship forward and proving that they're more comfortable with each other.)

As far as the piano-shoving plot- okay, so I actually think it's kind of genius. Because it SEEMS like it's more of a Limerick, with the random different things all coming together, but I think it's actually more of an Ipswich. It's beautifully plotted, if a bit simpler of a plot than some other episodes. Listening to it, it's just so enjoyable to hear the plot unfold... especially because the plot IS so simple, or at least deceptively so. You barely even notice that it's happening until it does.

For another past-episode callback, remember all the fuss I was making about Cremona vs Douz? How the crazy plot needs to measure up to the crazy villain? So I think it actually works great here. There isn't actually an outside villain here- each of them is the architect of their crazy sitcom hijinks, each in his own way. Martin creates the situation and does basically nothing to help, and Douglas and Arthur each make stupid mistakes that hold them all back. And the nice thing about them themselves being the villains is that it means that, because they're crazy sitcom characters, no plot resolution is too crazy. If Douglas and Arthur end up dragging a piano through Ottery St Mary, then that's totally the sort of thing that might happen to them!

But it goes further than that. They're all the "villains" from a purely plot perspective- but there's another dimension, which is theme. And thematically, Douglas is the villain, and Arthur is the hero. Because the thing is, Martin and Douglas are, as people note, pretty mean to Arthur here- but they're not actually meaner here than they are at other times. They just do it more often, and Arthur reacts a bit more strongly. And it's Douglas who really is awful to Arthur about the keys and to a lesser degree the address- the typical sarcasm but even more biting and nasty, and to an Arthur who seems really upset.

The interesting thing is that there are a bunch of episodes where Arthur comes out looking kind of dumb. (Like, the moral of Ipswich is basically "any company with an Arthur in it is too doomed to receive a legal permit to operate"...) From that perspective, the show has been pretty hard on him the whole time. And I'm not sure there's an episode where Martin comes out of the thing winning until... Vaduz? Maybe? But even Douglas's big taken-down-a-peg episode, Johannesburg, ends with him getting one over on Martin. His whole function is to end the episode saving the day. This, however, is the first episode* where Douglas is unequivocally the clot by the end... and Arthur gets a chance to be the one to tell him so.

Like, that's art. When Douglas finally gets taken down a peg- and stays there!!- it's Arthur, who they've been having a lot of fun insulting (and who takes it like a champ), who gets to get his own back. He doesn't get to bounce back- he just has to take it, knowing that he was an asshole even if he's too embarrassed to admit it.

So that's why I can't really hate the episode for how mean it is to Arthur- first of all because the show kind of always was, and secondly because, well, hearing Arthur call him a clot is like poetry.

Next up... one of my absolute faves... PARIS!

*As I think about this, I realize that Fitton is an exception- but I'm going to let my argument stand as technically that happens outside the bounds of the aircraft and the airline, even if the repercussions, to a degree, show up in the airline in Gdansk and Limerick.

[wildernessuntothemselves]

“the mundane-ness of her relationship with yeonjun. it's not this crazy love story that is full of passion and overflowing with love. it's a regular relationship between two people trying to make it work.”

You really portrayed it well.. and I absolutely hate it. I mean you did a great job and the story will go where the story goes but oh my god in real life I truly can’t stand those types of relationships. I’ve tried in the past and really felt w oc this chapter and it’s just. So terrible aaaa!! I never ever want to date in that way again. For me It’s all or nothing (aka keita or nothing). I’m sure it can lead to some sort of happiness, to just be with someone nice who you’re somewhat attracted to but… I’d rather have the sun than the candle fr. I’ll Icarus my way to keita fr (as in the actual keita or a guy I potentially could like as much as him) I never want a oc x yeonjun relationship ever again. and I really hope oc doesn’t end up with him. Even more so now that I’ve seen how it is between them, even the sweet moments. It really disgusts me (it’s totally fair for others to do have that type of relationship and enjoy it but thinking of myself in that situation disgusts me) godddd. And like what hyewka said about it feeling like a loss… ugh. You did really well writing the chapter which is why I hate it so much !!!! You really portrayed oc’s emotions well and aaaa yuck yuck terrible. The only thing that could still convince me at this point is a sub yeonjun scene but I doubt it. Gyu foreverrrrrr

I strongly disagree. I believe most relationships are like oc and yeonjun and that is good. You don’t go into a relationship madly in love with someone unless you're like oc and secretly in love with your friend. Most relationships start with people just liking each other and getting to know each other and the relationship building from them. The only problem with oc and jun's relationship is oc's feelings for gyu. Also a slow relationship like that let's you work through your feelings and decide what you're comfortable with and what you're not. Relationships that are intense from the start tend to crash and burn.

Btw idk if you're kidding or not but in case you're serious, you shouldn't fixate of that keita guy too much. It will ruin your chances of having meaningful relationships irl. Like i adore gyu but I know he's just an idol at the end of the day.

[scourgefrontiers]

i dont wanna say much more on the subject of that "modern christians would hate actual jesus" post i made but ive gotten a couple replies saying im wrong for saying jesus would follow/support any political movement and id like to clarify something

i never said he'd follow/support a political movement. i said he'd support the lgbtq+, which is not a political movement. its a group of people who have been burned and shunned by society at large and are banning together to support each other. jesus, as i know him, and hopefully as you know him, was Very Known for hanging out with ppl who society did not want, like that was a big thing he did. THATS what i meant by that. he'd 100% support lgbtq+ people because we're society's rejects. being lgbtq+ is not political, its just our reality.

also i stated he'd be anti-capitalist and someone disagreed w that too and im just like. he flipped tables bc ppl were tryna sell things in his house of prayer. he didnt hate anybody but he strongly disliked the corrupt rich. idk that sounds pretty anti-capitalist to me. do i think he'd use that label? no, i dont think he'd use any labels really! but his actions say more than labels would imo.

so yeah. call me cringe all ya want. i have read the bible, i grew up in a deep southern christian environment, and my wife went to a lutheran school and was required the read the bible multiple times and she also backs me up on my statements, which i still stand by. modern christians would hate the real jesus, and i firmly believe that <3