#I’m going crazy media literacy is dead

[mayorbeaver]

STOP TRYING TO MAKE QUINN AND ETHAN HATE THEIR MOTHER

[0-therw-0-rldly]

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not really a shipper. I just enjoy canon couples on TV Series/films.

Terms I’d like B*ddies to remove from their vocabulary because they don’t know how to use them correctly:

Media literacy: For a group that uses this term a lot you sure do misinterpret everything in this show.

Queerbaiting: Going to expand on this one. A show that’s already been pre established for having queer characters simply cannot queerbait.

Ship baiting: While sometimes you can argue that they could be doing that, that’s only if you look at the show in a very biased manner. You might think this is the case but the general audience doesn’t think the way you do.

Ship war: This isn’t a one tree hill situation where there was Team Brooke Vs. Team Peyton where the middle guy (Lucas Scott) had canonically been with both women. This is people not understanding fanon vs. canon and not being able to just watch the show. It’s like playing quarterback on Madden and thinking you could be better than Patrick Mahomes.

Plot device: everything’s a plot device. Move tf on.

Predator: You sound like crazy MAGA supporters calling everything regarding the LGBTQIA+ community as predatory. Sit down.

Co-parenting: I know this is a big one and discourse was brought up during the hiatus. Oliver and Ryan have loosely mentioned this years ago but it was never to be taken this seriously. Do y’all even know what co-parenting is or are you that big of a donut? Buck is someone who loves his best friend deeply and by extension, his kid too. Him taking care of him frequently does not make him a co-parent. Maybe he is a parental or uncle figure, but he isn’t a co-parent. Also, I swear y’all need to learn how a will works. He is a GODPARENT, not a GUARDIAN. Stfu.

Hag: This especially applies to women, but to say that someone 25-30+ is a hag for still being in fandoms or enjoying tv shows/films is inherently misogynistic. Men are never held to this much criticism for enjoying fictional media, but women aren’t allowed to?

Queer Coding: people of the same sex “looking at each other”, hugging, or having intimate moments all together doesn’t make them queer coded. It could mean that they just love each other that deeply platonically. While representation is amazing and just because you interpret a character as queer coded (just like my ship baiting comment) doesn’t mean others interpret it that way as well. In addition, network TV has stipulations, and also actors are allowed to decline storylines. Ryan has mentioned his character is heterosexual an abundance of times which means (at least for now) that he isn’t willing to go for this storyline.

Dead naming: Y’all construing the fact that Buck wants people like coworkers and some of his former love interests, to saying Evan is his dead name is inherently transphobic because do you even understand what a dead name is? Evan Buckley is shown as being fine with being called Evan by both Tommy and his sister. I’m pretty sure some of his love interests have called him Evan as well.

Fetishizing: You guys saw two hot guys who “looked at each other” and for 6 seasons have wanted nothing but to see those two make out with each other. Those of us who enjoy Tevan saw Buck giddy at the thought of Tommy and have wanted domestic fluff for them since.

Anything to do with racism, homophobia, and misogyny: I’ve seen the way you guys have conveniently weaponized Henren and by extension Aisha/Tracie when you didn’t get the Ryan/Oliver interview, don’t try to act like you’re morally superior. Not to mention wanting a canonically gay man to die in a show and not even holding those who use your ship name to write CSA fics accountable because you’re petty and want to throw hissy fits. Anyone looking at your comments as an outsider would think you’re homophobes and yes queer people can be homophobic.

I do hope you can expand your vocabulary. 🤍

[unsaltedtoast]

Just saw a tiktok of a straight girl complaining that she wasn’t turned on during saltburn and that it disappointed her? Why is media literacy dead on that app?

Rant incoming

IMO, part of the point of the bath scene (her main complaint) is that it’s supposed to make you a bit comfortable, it’s supposed to completely break a boundary.

Viewers are already on edge, given that Oliver watches Felix through a door, at an angle that appeared INCREDIBLY exposed, almost as if Felix could turn around at any second and catch Oliver. That scene gets you in a vulnerable position already (on edge) and then instead of doing the two expected things- moving on and getting Oliver to go to his own room, or Felix noticing and reacting to him- he isn’t caught.

He doesn’t go to bed.

He goes FURTHER. He pushes FURTHER.

So, it’s normal however you react. Thats the beauty of being human, some people like that stuff, but it’s just as normal to feel disgusted or strangely empty after that scene.

Now, I’m a lesbian, so I don’t take in media in the same way as she does, I imagine. From her perspective, I imagine she went in expecting two (or more) attractive men being seductive, and was disappointed by the fact that Oliver’s sexuality was very deranged and obsessive, that Felix’s sexuality was very much in the dark, given Oliver’s perspective of the women he slept with. I can imagine that it’s disappointing and I can’t fully understand that, but it’s unfair to judge the film on whether or not you find it personally hot.

I think people are forgetting the actual point of the film and are just seeing it as ‘I didn’t find it hot so bad rating’. I think the unconventional love, sexuality and attraction is the WHOLE POINT of the film. It makes it. I think you should find Oliver cringe, even if you like his character or plot etc. I think he kind of takes parts of people that are relatable or attractive and then twists it. So by completely disregarding the entire thing because you didn’t find it personally attractive, you miss out on the point.

Main point because I went off track a bit there…

Essentially, I think you’re supposed to be unsettled by the bath scene particularly, to some level.

The whole film follows Felix in tiny moments, washing six months of homoerotic friendship with a romantic filter, idealising his and Oliver’s relationship as the most important, beautiful thing to ever be born from Oxford.

And I think you forget for a minute that these moments are SMALL. In Oliver’s head, they’re not, so to us, they also appear big and cute, but they’re barely even present if you really think about it (in a romantic/sexual way, not platonic). Then suddenly Oliver is watching him masturbate, drinking the water, licking the drain. It’s all suddenly *too* much, overwhelmingly obsessive, completely reminding the viewers that Oliver is the narrator, the protagonist, the one painting this beautiful image. Reminding the audience that this relationship is nowhere near this point yet is the reason for that scene to some level; it physically forces you to reconsider who is the ‘good guy’, if Oliver should do this, if he is anywhere close to being able to get away with this. I think you suddenly look back and think ??? Felix would think this is crazy ???

It’s crazy, because I argue the bath scene isn’t even the moment this theme is introduced. The film sets this up SO EARLY. DID YOU MISS THE SCENE WHERE FELIX IS UNDRESSING WITH A GIRL AND OLIVER STANDS OUTSIDE OF HIS WINDOW WATCHING HIM??? That’s foreshadowing: he doesn’t understand the boundary here, he’s incredibly jealous of Felix’s sexual life without him so he places himself in his life, even if Felix doesn’t know. Thats the point. It’s just shoved in the middle of a montage of these perfect moments between the two so you see it and think OLIVER STOP BEING WEIRD!!!

Anyways. TikTok please engage in critical thinking before posting challenge xoxo

[monobmp]

No I completely understand… there’s a lot that could be done with canon that could be really interesting… and I know exactly what ur talking about when it comes to the awkward social interaction margarita LIKE ITS SO PAINFUL IN A GOOD WAY sinks my teeth into them and shakes them around. I think why Bill is so out of pocket with the kids is that they don’t have as much uhh how do u say it.. like they’re kids and no one outside of the know would believe them.. but also like they don’t have the adult brains that go “I’m just gonna ditch this and run as far away as possible” if that makes sense??? Like an adult typically has much more resources. I think Bill was also just genuinely invested in keeping up appearances at first and see how far he could sink his claws into Ford… I always thought that Bill would have a very far removed POV on human socialization and use it like a reference guide on how and what buttons to push, which is really fun bc my major uses a similar perspective to examine human social behaviors

Also I understand the Ford dislike bc I’ve been down bad for him since middle school but dear god he’s an asshole basically for the entirety of the show. Legitimately the only person he’s consistently nice to is Mabel, which to me is interesting when you put that next to his interactions w/ Dipper before weirdmageddon. I suppose it clarifies that he doesn’t really have any disdain for people who aren’t like him, just some really outdated beliefs. But it’s ok I can fix him

There is!!! It's just I'm not really much of a writer though, unfortunately, I love consuming the content, but it's hard to think of suitable content yourself 😔 it's tough 😭😭😭

And YEAH that honestly makes sense. It's giving "I'm the creature your parents warn you about if you don't brush your teeth before going to bed" but no physical harm, maybe just trauma though.

And Bill keeping up the "muse" appearance 💕💕💕💕💕 I still find it crazy Ford calls him "My Muse" and had all that Bill memorabilia 😭 ALSO I really like the idea of him using memories as a reference guide for human socialization, even if he doesn't fully get it. I love it a lot actually, I love learning an outsiders perspective on understanding human mannerisms and dissecting the deeper meaning of it. Like sure he's a little freak in a human POV that aligns dead rats into Ford's name for his birthday, but that means a lot to Bill in his own way, right? Smiles

I DON'T HATE FORD ANYMORE, I'm no longer a young idiot that didn't have the concept of media literacy and can understand more on why Ford was so mean </3 but also he was like, gone from human civilization for 30+ years and was being chased by a triangle for that entire time. Just give grandpa some time to get adjusted again 😊

[vlyteng]

Blogging is Dead?

Get this, I used to blog. Sounds crazy I know! As a teen, I had lots of ideas and thoughts that had nowhere to go, so I turned to blogging. I wrote about my thoughts and opinions on different topics ranging from the latest TV show I watched to self-written, sad sappy poetry. Blogging gave me a safe, healthy platform to put these thoughts into. However, people’s first response whenever I mention that I used to blog will be - is blogging even still relevant? You might think I’m being biassed but yes, I do think blogging is still relevant. And truthfully, I think it will be here to stay for a long time, maybe not the way you think it will though.

The word ‘blog’ is actually derived from its original name ‘weblog’ (Duermyer 2022). The definition of blogs are online writing spaces that can be edited immediately and published publicly through web browsers (Zhang 2019, cited in Miftachudin 2017, p. 102). They allow a range of personal expressions and interactions as it allows individuals to access each other’s blogs (Oravec 2002, p. 617). Bloggers can share their personal experiences, hobbies (even niche ones) and their day-to-day life. Content such as photography, fashion, films, politics, food and other topics are regularly published and discussed on blogs. Blogging also has psychological benefits. Numerous studies have also shown that writing a personal diary or other forms of expressive writing can help them relieve social distress and feel better. Blogging originally served as an opportunity for people to keep diaries in the form of entries but it has subsequently been incorporated into the websites of numerous businesses (Duermyer 2022).

When blog sites like Blogspot and WordPress started to take off and gained popularity, Tumblr took blogging to a new level by implementing more advanced features such as gifs, audios and videos to make blogging more interesting. This allowed people to be more creative with their writing by incorporating visual aids as well. Hence, Tumblr has been used by many across the globe to share everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.

Despite the strong foundations of blogs, the internet has eventually been taken over by social media. Applications such as Twitter, Facebook and even TikTok also allow blogging of some sort but in a slightly different form. Even those murder documentaries on YouTube! Yeah, that is a form of blogging too! These apps have caused us to develop shorter attention spans, therefore we tend to drift towards visual content rather than written content, leading to a decrease in personal blogging. However, not only has blogging helped many people make close friends online and still remains a safe place for self expression for many, it has also advanced into a very diverse range of written, visual and auditory content. 

Blogging is not dead and it never will be. It has simply evolved, and it is now more prominent in our daily lives than ever before. 

References

American Psychological Association 2012, Blogging May Help Teens Dealing with Social Distress, American Psychological Association, viewed 11 May 2023, <https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/01/blogging-teens>.

Duermyer, R 2022, What Is Blogging?, The Balance, viewed 11 May 2023, <https://www.thebalancemoney.com/blogging-what-is-it-1794405>.

Miftachudin, M 2017, ‘Students’ Perceptions of the Use of Blogs in English Language Learning’, Register journal, vol. 10, no. 1, IAIN Salatiga, p. 102.

Oravec, JA 2002, ‘Bookmarking the World: Weblog Applications in Education’, Journal of adolescent & adult literacy, vol. 45, no. 1, p. 617, <file:///C:/Users/leeye/Downloads/Bookmarking_the_world_Weblog_.pdf>.

[myauralove-blog]

Me.

1. Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid- No money, no responsibilities, not having a heart lol 2. What was your favorite musical group when you were a kid? Spice Gallsss 3. When was the first time that you had alcohol? year 10, 15 years old 4. What is your worst dating experience? hahahah year 8, RB. or JW 5. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?  punched a police officer in front of 200 people and got held in a cell for 6 hours.. 6. Name one thing that not many people know about you. I’m actually very clever literacy wise. I love to read! I would love to be a writer/editor/journo 7. What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death? Kindness. That I changed someones life for the better. 8. Do you have any phobias? Spiders >:( 9. Name three countries you would like to visit. Italy, UK, Asia 10. If your house was on fire and you could grab only 3 things before leaving, what would they be? My dog! Photos, Phone 11. Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets? yesyesyesyes  12. Do you believe in the paranormal? yes shut up  now im scared 13. What would be your dream job? Getting paid to travel/vlog, writer, english teacher

14. If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be? lifetime supply of money, to have children, to have my family safe and happy forever

15. If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? hahaha umm? Zoe? Love that name

16. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Hawaii 17. If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left. Spend time with each of the people I love most, laugh alot and take loads of pictures 18. What crazy activities do you dream of trying someday? none :/ Is travelling classified as crazy activities?

19. If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go? My mum/sister

20. Any tattoos or pierced body parts? 2, 5 21. What’s your favorite color? Green 22. What is your favorite flower? Sunflower 23. What is on your bedside table? dont have one 24. What was your best Halloween costume for Halloween? cat lol 25. If you could be any cartoon character, who would you be? none? 26. Are you a morning or night person? both 27. Name a singer whose voice you can’t stand. Mariah Carey 28. If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do? I wouldnt 29. What do you remember about your high school formal? bad bad memories. ditching all of my mates at the after party to chase a boy to his ex’s house and then walking home alone with a bottle of vodka, getting allllll the way home and smashing the bottle....... 30. What’s your favorite holiday? Christmas! 31. Have you ever been mentioned in a newspaper? Yes 32. Have you ever gone skinny dipping or streaking? no 33. What body part do you get caught staring at? face, bum lol 34. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic? both 35. What is your most treasured possession? photos, jewellery 36. Adult Beverage of choice? cocktails! 37. What is your favorite food? Pasta 38. Can you fake any accents? indian, british, new Zealander 39. What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? eyes, smile 40. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? anal hahhahahhahhahah  41. If you had to live under the sea what kind of an animal would you be? seal 42. Most hated chore on the household chore list? dishes 43. In life who has had the most influence on you? mum, dad, sister 44. What do you like best about yourself? eye colours, wrists hahahha, personality 45. If you could be one kind of beer which one would you be and why? yuck none 46. What extremely difficult life situation have you overcome and how did you do it? heartache, being ripped off 10k, being bullied by friends, anxiety, moving to alice springs, being undermined at work, living with a bipolar person and being away from my family. lol i didnt overcome it 47. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you? omg getting my period during sex with my crush hahahhaha he was disgusted 48. If you could choose, how would you want to die? old age in my sleep please 49. If you could change the world what would you do? create awareness for womans rights, stop child abuse, stop violence against men and women, get rid of guns, world peace! 50. Name 1 thing you love about being an adult - noone having control of my money but its also very very bad 51. Which would you rather have, $50,000 or true love? the money for sure aahahha 52. Do you believe everything happens for a reason? yess 53. What song always makes you happy when you hear it? ilysb lany, anything by blackbear 54. Who’s the funniest person you know? mum/sister 55. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? mum 56. How big is your bed?  queen 57. What is the wallpaper on your cellphone? sunset 58. What’s the first thing you thought about this morning? work ugh 59. Are you afraid of the dark? kinda 60. 3 things you cannot live without? social media, money and family 61. Favorite song? ilysb lany, flex your way out, anything by ruth b, 62. Are you a giver or a taker? both 63. Virgin or not? nah 64. Are you very sarcastic? super 65. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? no lol what a rebel 66. Which you favorite icecream flavor? choc mint or rum raisen 67. What was the last drink you drank? orange cordial 68. Do you prefer hugs or kisses? both are nice 69. Have you ever gone cow-tipping? what 70. Do you like to sing in the shower? somedays 71. What’s your favorite midnight snack? anything food is my life lol 72. Whats your favorite movie? life as a house, the choice, the best of me 73. Have you ever gambled at a casino? badly but yes 74. Have you thrown up in a car? hahahah yuh 75. Do you scream on roller coasters? very loudly 76. When did you go to your first funeral? 2010 77. Where did you go on your first airplane ride? cairns, 2 yrs old 78. Whats your favorite season? winter 79. Who was your imaginary friend? fairies named magenta, indigo and sapphire 80. Date someone older or younger? either but only 3 years max 81. If you don’t know the words to a song do you improvise? hahaha yep 82. What turns you on about the opposite sex? half smiles, confidence but not too cocky, good kisser, smells good, neck kisses, when they tuck your hair behind you ear, when they are a combo of sexy and cute, sense of humour!!!!! rough but in a way where they know what they’re going with the flow not where they’re straight out shoving their dick in your throat.. 83. What turns you off about the opposite sex? bad smell, hair pulling, vile dirty talk, overly cocky, treats you like meat, forces it, no intimacy, no foreplay 84. What scares you the most and why? not being able to have kids, losing family, having nothing to show for my hard work, never succeeding in my dreams 85. What do you do in your free time? read, watch tv or youtube, listen to music, social media, babysit, spend time with friends or dad, drink 86. Name 8 things in life you find most beautiful? nature, genuine kind beautiful people, genuine happy souls, love, art (music, paintings, movies, books), being gifted with family, animals, big 100% real, cheesy smiles,  87. Tell me about something you really regret? 10k to my ex. moving back to alice 88. Tell me about your favorite book, magazine or comic? you by caroline kepnes. go read it 89. Something or someone you miss the most from childhood? having brothers who were just children not adults, being free, making memories with my sister everyday 90. Your best friend dies, what would you do? considering thats my sister id die 91. What is your zodiac sign? aries 92. Name a couple of T.V. shows you watch a lot? friends, neighbours, ex on the beach, the middle, modern fam WAITING FOR RIVERDALE TO COME BACK SO I WATCH EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING ATM 93. Name a movie or movies you can watch over and over? best of me, rom coms. sad movies, anything adam sandler, old classic 90′s disneys movies, christmas holiday movies 94. Would you ever go skinny dipping? yes 95. Have you been told you can sing well more than once? like never 96. What is the strangest dream you’ve ever had? so so so many 97. What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh? at work with the kids, today with dad at the star track angry small man 98. What is your happiest childhood memory? alligator in our backyard (imaginary) at dixon road with Eb. Think i was 4 or so? Playing pirate boats with blake and zane at mimosa, I was 7 or so, dads old house and all the cool computer games we used to have 99. If you could take a one month trip anywhere and money was not a consideration, where would you go? Europe!!!! 100. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be? no swearing, no moving towns

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Saturday, March 18, 2017

The Edge of Winter

(Post-Obama Era)

Stephen Jay Morris

©Scientific Morality

 Now, here we are at a curious time in American history. Americans are transfixed by electronic devices and the babble of electronic media.  You see a family waiting to be served at a restaurant that is not engaged in lighthearted confabulation with one another, but rather, each of them staring at their handheld computer devices, engrossed. This is an Orwellian wet dream. Imagine what this sorry scene would do to the art of social engineering.  Multitudes who are hypnotically controlled yet don’t even know it.  The electronics manufacturers know this; the 1% knows this even more.

What titans of brainwashing also know that opprobrious operatives, who are paid to indoctrinate the masses, discredit people such as me who try to expose this scheme as conspiracy nuts?  Excuse me?  Conspiracy nut?  Paranoid? Take a look around!  What the fuck, chuck!?  I’ve seen people walk into lampposts because they were looking at nude pictures of Marines on their not-so-Smart phones!  Conversely, people are not likewise engrossed, reading their copy of the King James Bible before falling into a sinkhole.  As Luddite as that seems, at least it would be an improvement on literacy.  I don’t carry around a mini computer (CIA take note), since doing that is like walking around with a computer chip in your brain—the authorities know where you are at all times.  The selling point of your phone serving as a tracking device is so that, should you ever get lost in the wilderness, you can be located.  Whoop-Dee Doo!  In that case, here is some sound advice...don’t get lost in the wilderness! If your plane crashes into the ocean and you are adept enough to swim to an island, do you really think your Android phone would work?  How would you recharge your battery?  Maybe if you have a Samsung phone, you could start a campfire to keep warm.  I’m not anti-technology; I’m simply saying that you should keep your priorities straight.  Critical thinking is not negativity.  Critical thinking will shelter you from getting swindled or being misled.

Commercial media are bifurcated.  There are liberal corporatists who are mawkish over brainwashing the masses.  The Disney Corporation, for example, has that kissy, kissy, bourgeois liberalism. However, they believe in the same old slave plantation setup, where the owners wallow in wealth and the workers get token competitive wages a bit higher than the workers harvesting fruit in the hot, central California sun.  Then there are the Conservative rich pigs, such as the Koch brothers, who offer workers low wages that, should they choose to reject them, all you poor motherfuckers can just starve to death!  To me, Liberal Oligarchs and Conservative Oligarchs are almost identical; with the exception that the Liberal Oligarchs throw the peasants a confection of sugarcoated shit.  There is a not so funny, rhetorical question that comes from some conservative moron. It goes like this:  “If a cop came to your house and said, ‘Pay your taxes to the government or we will shoot you dead,’ what would you say or do?” Well, my answer is:  “I don’t have any money, the corporations took it all. Go shoot them!”  I’m sorry if I sound scurrilous.  I’m just being emphatic and honest.

What we’ve got now, in the USA, are demimondes to the ruling class who are subinfeudated.  They preach to you about self-reliance and individual liberty, while they lie about the so-called left, claiming that the latter wants people to be dependent upon the welfare state.  Actually, it is the General Welfare State.  It’s in the fucking Constitution; look it up!  I’m so sick of these opprobrious propagandists on right wing radio, and these Pollyanna Liberals making Public Service Announcements on corporate television.

So here is the thing…

Many Justice warriors and Ult Left activists are incorrect about the Trump administration.  President Trump will not usher in Fascism.  Trump is not a Fascist; he is a Narcissistic con man. However.  The true Fascists see him as a useful idiot and will continue to see how far they can use him.  All the while during which he thinks he is using them!  The Trump train will eventually derail.  If in the event he gets impeached, or he’s arrested for exposing himself in public, we will be stuck with something even worse: Pence!  This clown is a Theocratic mental case.  He is a Usufruct for the Evangelical right.  Not only he is a Usufruct, but he is also a devotee of those fundamentalist demons.  Not to mention he is a fucking Dominionist!  You think the Islamic Jihads are crazy, with their 72 virgins bullshit!  Read what the Dominionists believe.  It is fantasyland for the insane!  

Oh, one more thing:  This dog shit about the so-called left being in bed with Islamic fanatics.  You tell that to the widows of the Soviet soldiers who died in Afghanistan, fighting against the Mujahideen Islamic rabid dog!  Guess who led the Mujahideen?  Bin Laden, to whom the CIA gave loads of money!

The next four years is going to be all right.