#Thought-provoking Discussions

[personalgrowthoasis]

Why I'd Like To Do This Activity

Hey, it's Vladimir! Curious about my dream activity? It's all about the universe's mysteries! Check out my latest blog to discover yours too. Don't miss it!

Hey folks, it’s Vladimir! Today, let’s talk about something that tickles our imaginations: the activities we most desire to do. If you’ve been following my posts, you’ll know that I dabble in a plethora of interests—gaming, Muay Thai, philosophy, and more. However, if I had to pick one activity that I would most like to do, it would undoubtedly be contributing to advancements in science,…

[la-pheacienne]

I am going to be a killjoy and choose violence again but I did not like the spectacle of Marie Antoinette holding her decapitated head in her arms in the olympics, at all. I don't give a shit about Marie Antoinette the person, she was a traitor in the context of a war and she would rather betray France than give away her privileges. This is what happens to traitors in that context and she absolutely had it coming. I won't shed one tear for her, sorry if that bothers people.

However. The executions of the Terror are not something to make a spectacle of, they are not something to mock. They were an inevitability, a historical necessity yes, but they are not an esthetic, nor a pop culture reference. They were inevitable, even necessary because of the revolutionary context, because it was the people of France who demanded those executions, and when I say the people of France I mean the working class, the peasants, the sans culottes, people who lived in extreme poverty and misery. This was not just a civil war, this was a class war. Centuries of class inequality, oppression, hunger, injustice, needed a release and that release was inevitable, but the factors that led to it, the structural inequality, the privilege, the injustice, they are still relevant today. Those people, the people of France, did not ask for the king and queen's head so that, two centuries later, the political and economical elites of this world can sit comfortably in the seat they paid hundreds or even thousands of euros for, and mock and have fun watching Antoinette's decapitated head in a spectacle that cost around 300 millions, the same political and economical elites that are right now funding genocides, that are right now maximising their profit off the Olympics, that are right now destroying the welfare system and impoverishing the people of France, who are unemployed, homeless, and stuck in ghettos. But it's alright I guess, because we have democracy now so these people can still watch the spectacle in their TV (if they have a TV) from their 9 square meter apartment in Sarcelles or Seine-Saint-Denis that takes 80% of their salary. If they have an apartment. They must feel really lucky they don't have a king or queen anymore and all their problems are solved. What a fine mockery. I don't think the Jacobins would be impressed with this turn of events, I don't think that's why the french revolution happened because the french revolution is not an esthetic and the social struggles that led to it are still here, very much present.

I would advise people to leave Antoinette's head alone because she's dead and has been dead for 250 years. There are a lot of heads that are far too comfortable in their class privilege, right now, in 2024.

[alicenpai]

i kind of want to get back into drawing fma......... every october i see the fanart and it blasts me back to when i was 11 and discovering fma for the first time, it shattered my worldview..

[vaaaaaiolet]

reading ancient mesopotamian smut for a grade. living life on the edge

[pengucolas]

I APPRECIATE PEOPLE LIKING EMIL BUT IDK WHATS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[charbroiledchicken]

monster in the closet - flash fiction by charbroiledchicken

My brother used to tell me a monster hid in my locked cupboard.

Right at the back.

Cushioned and cosy halfway between the ugly sweaters Nana gave me and Narnia.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, it knocks on my door.

Once. Twice. A dagger scratching tallies into the wood. Counting.

Knock back, my Mamma used to whisper, smoothing down my fringe with those slightly icy hands. I used to love those hands. Now they remind me of corpses. Monsters. Knock back, make loud noises, scare them. Before bed, I would roar into the smooth wood until my little voice grew hoarse.

But now I’m older, but only in numbers. My fingers spindly and voice gravely like Mamma. And for the first time, I open the cupboard, brush past the sweaters, and grip empty air where the back should be.

There, a little kid was sleeping in their bed.

[pinestripe37]

I was curious, out of all the false religions that exist, which one would you say is the worst?

Like, let's say that Scientology is pretty bad. A science fiction writer who said he wanted to get rich by starting his own religion suddenly writes a book about alien ghosts getting blown up in volcanos, and some people are dumb enough to believe this. And it's basically a pyramid scheme with extra steps run by crazy Hollywood celebrities.

But like, is that actually the WORST one? Personally, I would vote for a made up religion that basically exists here on Tumblr called "Queerstake". First, you need to be gullible enough to believe that a known scam artist used his allegedly magic rock to translate an Egyptian manuscript into an entire book that bears no resemblance to the original manuscript. Then you have to overlook that the same scam artist also had 30+ wives. Next you have to overlook that the successor of said scam artist was a racist. And assuming you manage the mental gymnastics to get past all of that, then one day you decide that you are actually super-duper extra gay, and you start a whole new mental gymnastic routine to rewrite the racist scam artist religion to remove the parts about homosexuality being a sin. And naturally Tumblr is the only place where people are pathetic enough to do this! 🤣

Like, take for example this r4cs0 blogger and his lemuel-apologist side blog. This guy says he is going to organize a queer jump humping orgy to protest capitalism!

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~ Lord Jesus; John 14:6

There are many wrong ways and only one Right Way.

And while it's true that false ways hold various sins, various degrees of harmful ideology- in the end what is the same among all false beliefs is that these people don't know the Savior.

People who follow false ways are lost, hurting, and in need of prayer. We're not commanded to make fun of those struggling but to have compassion and keep sharing the Gospel in hope that souls will come home to the Life that is found in the True Lord alone.

All falsehood is ultimately rooted in absence of Truth- Truth either not being embraced or not understood.

I believe that the worst lie is simply the absence of faith in the Truth, who is Jesus.

God has been teaching me to leave judgement to Him -for He is the Righteous Judge- and focus on compassion.

I'm not called to compare the wrong ways but to keep embracing and following the True Way and praying for the lost to come home to Him and receive the graciously offered Life.

[girlboss-enthusiast]

@labsbian gave me permission to post this publicly, and a couple other people have asked similar things. It's related to this post about not identifying as a radical feminist anymore. For anyone reading this, please keep in mind that I'm autistic and have brain fog, and ask for clarification instead of assuming bad faith. My thoughts on this are evolving as we discuss it, too.

First off, I do consider myself aligned with radical feminism. I may not call myself a radical feminist because I truly don't think I adhere to enough of the basic tenets to call myself one, but In conversation, I'll say something like "I'm pretty much a radfem," or "I agree with radical feminists on this topic." I'm not rejecting the concept of or affiliation with radical feminism; my post relates more to online communities like radblr than irl activism, where mostly no one cares about your specific label so long as you're helping (at least in my experience).

Now, there are two separate answers for me to give here. The first is about my personal beliefs and where they do and don't clash with radical feminism. The second is a broader reflection on radical feminism as a viable political movement. I'm going to address the second part first. This gets very long, as a warning!

I've done a lot of reading on radical feminism and spoken to many women who are dedicated radical feminists, and in my opinion, female separatism is the ultimate goal of radical feminism. It's the most thorough way of challenging patriarchy at its root. If you (general you) are a radfem who disagrees with this, I get it; everyone will have a slightly different interpretation of what radical feminism is. But IMO, if you look at the stats and theory, and believe that the personal is political, separatism is the most logical conclusion to patriarchy.

But the problem is that many (most?) women aren't going to become separatists. Lots of them are going to be super resistant just to interrogating how misogyny infiltrates their personal lives, even as they acknowledge structural sexism - either because they don't want to really think about the horror of it, or they dislike the concept of the personal being political, or they just don't think it's that deep. Some women will interrogate the misogyny in their lives and choose to have relationships with men, either romantically or platonically. Is it the wisest choice? Often not. Is it going to be the most common one? Yeah, I think so. (For transparency, that is the choice I've made, and yes, I've thought about it a lot.) Ultimately, I think that the choice to keep males in your life is not compatible with radical feminism.

There is a gap between radfem theory and practice, and the opinions and beliefs of many women. I truly cannot see a widespread 6B4T movement happening in the USA in my lifetime. (I'm focusing on the US bc that's where I live, and I don't know enough about other places' feminism to make sweeping statements.) I think it's vitally important to bridge that gap. Yet it seems like most radfems online see the gap as insurmountable, or not worth focusing on. I really, really disagree with that. I think it's counterproductive to the advancement of women's rights and status in the world. That doesn't mean I think the "more radical" feminist goals on the radfem side of the gap aren't worth pursuing and supporting. I just don't think they're going to cause material change for the majority of women, not yet. I personally would prefer to put my energies toward working with libfems, choicefems, normie women, and male allies to reduce harm toward all women and find compromises between radfem beliefs and their beliefs. It seems to me that the goal of radical feminism is less about outreach and more about making strong communities of politically involved, likeminded women. There is a need for both subcategories of feminists and room for both of us in the broader feminist movement.

I want to emphasize that this relates mostly to online communities. IRL relationships or close online ones allow for much more nuance than radblr or its Twitter equivalent. So honestly, maybe this take is just terminally online! I do spend more time here and less time touching grass than I would prefer due to my disability. I've also been talking with some women who strongly believe that someone in my position should still call herself a radical feminist, precisely so there is variation in the movement that can be more accepting and...idk, open-minded. I'm letting that thought percolate right now.

As for my personal beliefs and radical feminism, I can actually summarize those in bullet points, as opposed to the rest of this post lol.

Radical feminists tend to ignore the nuance of gender and sex dysphoria, writing it off as reactions to misogyny which can be fixed, or just straight-up privilege. I'm skeptical on that. I think it's more complex. Some women might find some level of transition to be the most practical solution. Sex dysphoria may have a neurological, endocrinological, or neurodevelopmental component that genuinely requires medical intervention. We just don't have enough research to know. I think people need to do what gets them through the day, and if presenting as the other sex (without denying your own female sex) is what that is....then so be it. The important thing is to figure out what is best for you, and that's a process for sure.

I 100% agree with radical feminists on the sex industry and the beauty industry. However, I do have sympathy for people of both sexes who genuinely never thought about the inhumanity of the sex industry; it seems so obvious to me now, but I totally bought the "sex work is work" line for a while and I know other radfems who did too. I also understand why quitting porn can be difficult because orgasms are a powerful conditioning tool, and when you subconsciously associate orgasms with porn, it can be hard to override that association. I have zero sympathy and complete contempt for people who are educated on the crimes of the sex industry and just carry on with their lives, though. Or for men who quit porn ~for themselves~ after they learned about the hell women, children, and some men go through.

I think men can be allies and can be educated on radical feminism. I do not think men are hopeless or inherently destructive. Male socialization is destructive, yes. Far too many men in general are destructive. Individual men can be fine. I guess that's #notallmen but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And as I said above, I think radical feminism is fundamentally not flexible enough to be practical on a broad scale. That's truly my biggest issue.

Happy to elaborate further if anyone is interested.

[comikadraws]

Okay, so I just saw a post about the lack of major character deaths in Naruto and I felt like I had to throw in my own two cents. I agree that the war arc in Naruto was poorly written and did not convey the true brutality and horror it realistically should have. It's not even realistic for the story as the allied shinobi forces had a >50% casualty rate compared to the main cast's ~10%. However, I feel like I need to defend Kishimoto a little (a rare one for me, lol).

There are actually good reasons for the low casualty rate:

The tone of the story. Naruto, being a shonen, is fairly lighthearted in terms of tone, targeting an audience that should not be exposed to the true horrors of war in the first place. There might also be other factors playing into this (including fanservice and stubborn editors).

Death is a narrative device. It has to be handled with care and precision. Too few deaths will trivialize the conflict. Too many deaths will trivialize death itself. It's the "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic" quote.

Tying into the previous point, Kishimoto is actually extremely good at crafting death scenes. Major character deaths usually fit into a greater narrative or effectively conclude a character's arc. There is only so much you can do with a death scene and only so many characters whose death would logically have impact on the story.

High death rates for the sake of death rates wouldn't have worked for Kishimoto's story and it is also not necessarily a good argument for a character's death. That's one of the reasons why the fandom became so enraged at Neji's death. That's why there is no "Top 10 anime deaths" list that is complete without Naruto.

[saltpepperbeard]

(different anon!) oh my gosh i'm so sorry people are already discoursing about the panel and fandom's response...personally i think in a world where fictional queer sexuality is so often the source of shame and a thing to hide, it'd be monumental for stede's perception of himself changing ("becoming a man") because he accepts himself and is proud of queer sex and sexuality. it's so shallow to assume that in this Very Specific Context saying stede having sex will make him a man must mean we all also think that applies to literally every single other context...ESPECIALLY because one of the most prevalent themes in OFMD is the notion that everyone's own idea of becoming a man or what makes them a man is going to be different. so terribly sorry for rambling in your inbox it just infuriates me to see people being deliberately obtuse in order to find something to be upset about. also i'm ace if that changes the perception of what i'm saying here

No no please, don't apologize at all! You articulated and encapsulated exactly what I was trying to say. So like-

[bookwyrminspiration]

hello, it is i, culture anon

so i said that i couldn't find the post where you sort of talked about the elves being all basically white culturally despite looking for it, but later that day after sending the ask i found it *facepalm*

it's the prentice post in your pinned post or here's a link: https://www.tumblr.com/bookwyrminspiration/649904488057044992/share-le-thoughts-on-prentice

found it completely on accident after sending that ask lmfao sorry for annoying you again but here you go. here's the post that inspired that very long ask lol

Not annoying me at all! It's quite helpful to have my own words in front of me so I know better where you're coming from--and a jarring reminder of my incredibly neglected pinned post/masterlists...

Thank you for the link! And for the discussion topic :)

[daydreamerdrew]

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #268 and #272

[rosymiel]

I remember you use to do a lot of rendering so I’m curious if you like gameplay better than renders? Or vice versa? Anyways, I’m really enjoying your gp! ❤️

i've actually found myself thinking about this lately. i still love rendering and editing, but i think i just haven't been very inspired to make renders and feel very self-critical (more so than usual lately). i have some ideas for witchy edits, so maybe i'll do some of those when i feel more motivated! gameplay has been super fun because the majority of my blog's existence has been dedicated to edits, and that was what i used ts4 primarily for, so it's been nice to actually get to know the game more. i'm really glad that you enjoy my gameplay posts!! 💞

[marwahstudios]

Empowering Youth Against Cyber Bullying and Harassment: A Thought-Provoking Panel Discussion at AAFT

Noida: The International Chamber of Media and Entertainment Industry (ICMEI), in association with the Hopebelt and WHT Now Foundations, recently conducted a powerful and impactful panel discussion on “Anti-Cyber Bullying and Harassment” at the Asian Academy of Film & Television (AAFT) campus. The event aimed to raise awareness and equip students with tools to tackle cyberbullying and online harassment, growing issues that significantly affect the youth.

Dr. Sandeep Marwah, President of Marwah Studios, initiated the discussion with a thought-provoking statement on the dual nature of technological advances. “Every discovery and invention has two sides of the coin. While these advancements have brought incredible convenience to our lives, they also come with certain side effects. The internet and social media are no exception, creating both opportunities and vulnerabilities,” he said.

The panel featured esteemed speakers from various fields, each contributing a unique perspective to the discussion:Ruhi Rohini Hak, Founder of Hopebelt, highlighted real-life cases of cyber harassment and its grave consequences, including the tragic impact on young lives. She emphasized the importance of being resilient and overcoming such online challenges.

Neeti Goel, Founder of WHT Now Foundation, discussed the foundation’s initiatives to remove harmful elements from society, focusing on spreading awareness and combating harassment in various forms.

Trupti Bhoir, a renowned film actor and director, spoke about the importance of self-esteem and self-confidence. She urged students to remain vigilant and cautious about their own actions online, emphasizing personal responsibility as a key defense.

Dr. Nivedita Shreyas, Co-Founder of WHT Now Foundation, elaborated on the role of the call counseling center run by the foundation. She shared how the center offers youth support in challenging times, reinforcing that help is available for those who need it.

Akshat Khetan, Founder of AU Corporate Legal Advisor Service Limited, provided a legal perspective, explaining the legal recourse available for victims of cyber harassment. His insights bolstered students’ confidence in standing up against online abuse.

Phylicia Singh, a national youth leader associated with the foundation, encouraged students to share their experiences and stand united against harassment, inspiring others to come forward and break the silence.

Following the panel discussion, an interactive Q&A session allowed students to engage directly with the panelists, raising pertinent questions and deepening their understanding of these issues. The event concluded with Dr. Sandeep Marwah presenting each dignitary with lifetime membership in the International Film and Television Club of AAFT, honoring their contributions to this important cause.

[princesssarcastia]

your reminder in these heated times that my blog is for me, and what i post on it here is for me, and you my beloved—beloved—followers are incidental to this project. i'm not here to convince anyone of my point of view. i'm not here to convince YOU of my point of view. i'm here to organize my own thoughts using my perspective and the perspectives of other people. if i woke up tomorrow and discovered i had no followers at all, I would continue on as I have been.

always happy to strike up conversations, and make connections, and share sorrow and joy! but my blog is not a vehicle of persuasion. it's just for me. if you find that compelling or interesting or fun, by all means come along for the ride! glad to have you. but that's not what this is for.

[90smisaki]

What is the charge?