#ZILCH. ZERO. NADA. BEING FUCKING O

[love-byers]

the bridgerton hive mind on tiktok is going to make me buy a gun like i can't take it anymore

so much of the hate i see towards s3 is based off of shit that's completely and entirely made up. you could say anything and i mean ANYTHING with conviction and people on tiktok would believe you

just saw a tiktok mad that they replaced the wanna be yours string cover with imagine dragons and everyone is agreeing in the comments. WANNA BE YOURS BEING IN THE SHOW WAS FUCKING MADE UP. SOMEONE MADE A FAKE LIST OF SONGS IN PT 2 AND EVERYONE FUCKING BELIEVED IT. and to make it WORSE the top comment is someone saying wanna be yours is in a deleted polin sex scene that has a whole petition to be released. i'm losing my damn mind.

i'm not even sure the "deleted polin sex scenes" are real like who on the show said that....all i've seen is people shouting it from the rooftops and everyone whole heartedly believing it.

then there's everyone saying polin had barely any scenes and had the least screen time which is another flat out LIE

it's not even just with bridgerton. this year it seems like every show that comes out will be picked apart and hated. percy jackson was hated, avatar was hated, house of the dragon s2 is already hated and it has 1 ep out, and of course bridgerton. like i saw someone on tiktok post the toph casting call netflix put out encouraging visually impaired people to audition and someone commented "i thought toph wasnt going to be blind?" they think that because of a fake tweet someone made of netflix saying toph wasnt going to be blind. it had hundreds of thousands of likes and comments of people BELIEVING IT AND MONTHS LATER S T I L L BELIEVING

ABSOLUTELY ZERO CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS FUCKING Z E R O ZILCH NADA

[theothersarshi]

when jkr's identity is intrinsically tied to hp because she made it so, you do have to grow up and think about how your supposed comfort zone is validating the damage to trans people

if you keep going back while knowing that, it just shows where you stand on those issues.

I was wondering when I'd get one of these asks. I don't blame you for saying or for feeling the way you do, btw. I'm happy to talk.

1. Harry Potter spoke to LGBTQ+ kids and you can't change that

Because you literally can't change the past.

I understand that Harry Potter is a sore point for very many people - and do you know what? I think it's a very sore point precisely because those books spoke to so many and offered a comfort zone to a lot of marginalized kids.

Harry Potter lived in a cupboard under the stairs, with a family that hated him and told him he was dirty and polluted just because he was what he was. But what he was was wonderful, not horrible.

Of course that resonated with a lot of LGBTQ+ (or divergent or abused) kids! And of course JKR's face-heel turn straight into hell felt like betrayal!

But I also think that "mixed feelings" isn't an unusual reaction to this. I also think "I like the fandom and hate the author" is a quite normal reaction.

Here's one reason I reblogged this post:

I have a bunch of new and comfort fics queued up for my top surgery recovery.

The person who wrote that stance is trans.

You say, nonnie:

you do have to grow up and think about how your supposed comfort zone is validating the damage to trans people

Why "supposed"? And why "zone"? They're comfort reads.

You know, I'm not the greatest trans ally in the world, but I believe trans people are people. And that means they get to have comfort reads just like everyone else. If those comfort reads are fanfics about some kid who was told to pretend he doesn't exist, and that he's tainted, and he should hide away forever, but then he comes out of the closet and lives a pretty cool life... well, I kind of get it.

Also, I don't see how whatever the poster (or anyone else reading fanfic) is reading is validating the damage to trans people. I think it's an association of taintedness, a potential trigger of bad feelings for people who might see it - and that's about it.

2. Harry Potter hatred feels performative to me

Another reason I reblogged this post is this:

Email warner brothers abt their new theme park, or better yet, the media that legitimizes and platforms her, or better yet, actually pivot to activism /for/ trans people.

I've often felt that the anti-HP hatred feels performative. "You like(d) Harry Potter? Oh no! You are terrible!"

Not engaging with HP content is far removed from actually helping anyone. Hunting down random HP fans to tell them they're being insensitive doesn't help too much.

I get that some people get knee-jerk reactions about Harry Potter. It's why I don't talk about that series much anymore - especially on Tumblr. It's out of some sort of vague respect for the room I'm in.

However, how I feel about HP fanfic in my heart is something that... Sorry, I have a Romanian phrase in mind right now, I'll reproduce it literally: JK Rowling pisses in an arch on my feelings about the topic. As in, she gives no fucks. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Getting me personally to feel differently about HP is a battle for my soul that's helping nobody.

Also, you're living in a bubble where you assume that the people around you care a lot about their trans ally identity, and are willing to change a heckuva lot about themselves really quickly in order to remain true to that identity.

I don't deny that this might be the case in some Tumblr/fandom circles. However, outside of this bubble, people aren't as married to the idea of being trans allies, and you can't force them to do things based on that.

3. You can't simply replace Harry Potter with something else

Another reason I reblogged that post:

I have a bunch of new and comfort fics queued up for my top surgery recovery. If one more person tells me to just decide to like earthsea instead I will metaphorically kms in front of them.

Mood. SO much mood.

And it's not just about Harry Potter, you know? You can't replace something a person loves with something similar, because it's palpably not the same thing. There's no universal solution for what that person would love next.

Finding a new fandom and new comfort reads is hard, and it depends a lot on what speaks to people. Sometimes you can switch easily, at other times nothing is ever quite the same again. This new shirt isn't a perfect replacement for your favorite shirt. This new show isn't identical to your old show. This new book isn't like the old book.

"Love this instead" is wrong - and it can be disrespectful. The person might eventually find something else to love, but "Don't read Harry Potter, read Earthsea" sounds exactly like the "We have X at home" meme.

4. The HP fandom isn't mindlessly following Rowling

It's funny, but I learned about all sorts of things from the HP fandom as it criticized Rowling.

Yes, it's worth explaining that Rowling has turned into a bigot who's harming real people and (to use that Romanian phrase again) who's pissing in an arch on women, men, autistic folk and so on in her fight against trans people. It's worth saying "Don't support her with money".

On the other hand, the series she wrote was flawed in all sorts of ways that fandom discussed in great depth and complexity. I feel very grateful to the Jewish community for explaining the goblin issues. I feel grateful to fandom for pointing out the social problems. I'm happy the whole "happy slave" thing was explained re: house elves. I feel grateful to everyone who went deep into this series and discussed issues at length.

Harry Potter is a deeply flawed series. It always has been. But it's flawed in ways that are in tune with how society perceives things. So an analysis of what the book is made of was also an analysis of our assumptions of the world, of larger problematic tropes and so on.

Those discussions happened, and they sure as fuck weren't brought on by Rowling, but by all the fans. Who are still around. JK Rowling was absolutely in the wrong there, too - but the fandom itself? Well, the fandom had a lot to offer that wasn't as wrong as JK Rowling.

You can take the world's best book and have shit discourse about it. Or a very flawed book and have great conversations about it.

(I'd say the fandom was less wrong about some things, but... ffs. Sometimes the Less Wrong fandom was Way More Wrong.)

5. JK Rowling's shitty, shitty takes

This has nothing to do with anything, but my fucking god. I need to rant.

Even trans issues aside, JK Rowling's tendency to retcon things and make claims unsupported by the text is so. Fucking. Dumb. "Book 5 is filled with raging hormones!" Where? I've never seen less horny teenagers. "Dumbledore is gay!" Really? Funny, how you never mentioned it before this interview. "Hermione could be black, you don't know!" Oh, for pete's sake. "You shouldn't pick on people for being fat!" Says the creator of Dudley Dursley and others.

I'd be embarrassed if I were her. But she has no ability to be embarrassed.

6. I know I haven't persuaded you

And that's fine. You can still go hate Harry Potter. You can even think I'm horrible for refusing to let go of the fandom. (Which I do, although at this point I'm barely reading fic anymore.)

But in my turn, I'm going to think that indiscriminately telling people things like how they're validating damage against trans people for reading their little fanfics is also pretty insensitive and out of touch. And it's also useless, because, as that poster said, it'd be more helpful if she were dropped by the people giving JKR an actual platform and money. I know I haven't for years.

[ura-writes]

Trampolinist - Part Two

Part summary: You encounter a few strange teenagers, discover blown-up ruins, and find out about who caused them.

Warnings: mild anxiety, thoughts of murder, blood, threats, lots of swears

A/N - I got a good few requests asking for a taglist for Trampolinist, so here it is! Just ask and you shall be added!

@lemonmochitea

@dad-ee-drea

@victoria-a567

Also, this is non-canon compliant, but only by a bit. I may change a few small details.

Hope y’all enjoy!

(Also, if you can find the movie reference I put in here, then kudos to you!)

——

A lingering curiosity sits in the back of your head for the rest of the week, not quelled by any amount of Bedwars or Skywars, which leave you exhausted in the evenings.

Even your dreams hold inquisitiveness.

How lovely.

Eventually you have to go back to your home world to check on your animals, repair your tools and the like. It’s tedious work, but nothing you can’t handle.

Boredom eventually sets in.

It’s unnerving. You never get bored of combat, of competition between your fellow players and teammates, but here you are, eyeing the list of servers on your grid.

Only two people are on the server at the moment, their names not available for whatever reason. You’d prefer to pop on when there were no people online, mostly to scope out the server, but you’ll take only having to deal with two people.

Hopefully they’re adults and not kids that recently learned to use portals.

You stick your pointer finger out, curl it like you’re dragging it down a wall; a ripple starts where your finger lands, slowly following its path downwards. It rips a hole through the fabric of woven servers, creating a direct link to the Dream SMP. You just hope that no one attempts to close the portal, as opening one in the first place takes a good deal of energy and effort.

A sight of spruce trees and misplaced dirt greets your vision through the rip in reality.

An odd spawnpoint, but whatever. You’re not one to judge.

In the corner of your eye, where chat normally sits, a message pops up.

TommyInnit: who the fcuck

TommyInnit: what

TommyInnit: NEWY PERFHSAON

Ranboo: ah yes, perfhsaon

TommyInnit: shut the fuck n up

You chuckle at the messages rapidly crowding the chat, watching them fade idly while trying to find a way out of the really weird spawnpoint, which is, for some reason, walled off by a combination of dirt, wood and stone haphazardly placed down, as if in a hurry.

Your efforts do not go unrewarded as you spot a section of the wall that sits lower than the rest, low enough to climb over if you try hard enough.

Perfect.

Feet hit the ground rapidly as you get a running start towards the wall, scrambling upward after you jump. You fall almost immediately off the other side.

“Ouch.”

“That looked like that hurt.”

You glance upward to meet heterochromic eyes, red and green contrasting with the curious face split in half by its black and white sides. A tail flicks behind the person as their crown slips a bit down their head.

“Wh—the fuck?”

The figure laughs at your reaction, offering a gloved hand out to help you off the ground. Hesitantly, you accept, being pulled up easily, and that’s when you realize that he’s a lot taller than you thought.

“Jesus, you’re tall,” you comment idly, brushing yourself off. “Thanks, by the way.”

“No problem. I’m Ranboo.”

You introduce yourself with your tag, which elicits a hum of recognition from him, much to your pleasant shock and surprise.

“You’re the person that Dream invited, aren’t you?”

“In the flesh.”

He laughs at your quip at him, smiling with sharp fangs exposed to the midday sunlight. No point in judging a person on their (potentially, anyway) monstrous features.

“Well, you probably need a tour—“

He’s quickly interrupted by a loud “hey!”

“Oh great,” you mutter, crossing your arms. Ranboo looks a bit sheepish at your cocked eyebrow and slightly irritated expression, scratching his bi-colored hair.

“That’s Tommy. He’s uh… well, Tommy.”

A teenager wearing a red and white shirt and jeans with battered sneakers comes sprinting out of the nearby forest, coming to a halt just in front of you.

“New person!”

“Yeah, and what are you, the gremlin that got fed after midnight?”

The kid sputters out a few protests against being called a gremlin, sprinkling a good few swears in his jumbled sentences that mostly consist of rambles.

When Tommy gets his bearings, he eyes your tag, squinting at it suspiciously before his eyes widen in recognition.

“You’re the bastard that beat the shit out of me in Bedwars! Get ove’ here—“

One of Ranboo’s arms shoots out to grab the lanky teenager with ease to stop his potential assault on you. You just brush your nails off on your shirt.

“Oi! Lemme a’em!”

“No, Tommy, remember what Tubbo said?” Ranboo lectures, tail flicking in annoyance, eyes trained on him. “Remember?”

“You’re one to talk about rememberin’.”

Ranboo cocks an eyebrow.

“No punchin’ people we don’t know unless they’ve hurt us…” Tommy grumbles. “Can ya lemme go now?”

Ranboo agrees, letting go of his shirt and summoning a journal and quill to write something down in, muttering that he’s almost out of ink.

“Anyway, how about that tour now?”

You smile at him.

Maybe you’ll like this place.

——

“...and this is L’Manburg… or what’s left of it, anyway. It’s still being rebuilt.”

“How’d it get destroyed?” you ask him. “It takes a lot of TNT, Withers and dedication to destroy a city this big.”

I should know.

Tommy eyes Ranboo.

“Hey, it’s your city. I’m not explaining it,” Ranboo defends against the wordless accusation. Tommy exhales with a groan and begins his explanation.

“Wil-Wilbur, my brother, went a bit insane a few months back, blew it all up with Technoblade’s help. Wil’s… well, he’s dead.” Tommy sounds indifferent about the death, much to your surprise.

You nod absentmindedly, setting your eyes on a slightly obscured poster that flaps in the wind. When you get close enough to pin it down it reads:

Wanted: Dead or Alive. High Treason, Inciting Violence, Unlawful Use of Explosives, Extreme Terrorism.

Reward: See Authorities

Below that is a well-painted picture of a man you somewhat recognize, wearing a red cape, a crown, full enchanted Netherite armor and carrying an axe that seems to shimmer in the light.

Technoblade. You’ve had a few run-ins with him playing Bedwars and Skywars, even teaming up with him a few times. He always seemed nice enough, and certainly a damn good sword fighter. He always knew when to run and when to stand and fight, when to attack and when to defend.

“What did he do?”

Ranboo starts to speak, but Tommy interrupts him.

“Blew the rest o’ this place up. Bastard ran after that.” Tommy all but spits the words out of his mouth, like they’re acid or venom. “Fookin’ coward.”

Well, I wouldn’t call ‘knowing when to run’ cowardice, but we’ll pretend I agree, child.

“No one knows where he is now,” Ranboo adds. “Except Phil, of course. But he’s pretty much silent about it. Won’t give up a word of information.”

Shouldn’t be that hard to find one man, you muse to yourself. Bet I could.

“Well, I’ll let you know if I find anything out,” you lie with a smile plastered on your lips. “Y’know, as a sort of gift to you as the newest member of the server.”

Hah, as if.

“We’ll hold you to that.”

You nod and say your goodbyes, walking towards the central nether portal while keeping an eye out for an ender chest so you can get some of your stuff. You know the admin will take your elytra away if it so much as comes into contact with the server’s air, so you decide not to risk it.

Spotting one, you make a small noise of triumph and dart over there, grabbing the shulker with your stuff in it, transferring it to your inventory with a practiced ease.

Armor adorns your figure, enchanted Netherite striking an imposing silhouette against the blackstone beneath your feet. You twirl your sword with a grin.

Now to find Technoblade.

——

Turns out, finding a piglin hybrid is not easy.

You scoured the Nether for any sign of him, any trace of fabric, of a broken pickaxe, hell even a piece of iron he may have held. The ability you hold as a Jumper not only allows you to jump servers, but also allows you to find people if you have something of theirs.

Nothing. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Nil. Absolutely jack shit.

How can one man be so difficult to track down?

Just as you’re about to give up, a barrage of curses at the tip of your tongue, a glint of iron catches your eye.

Odd.

Hopping over a cluster of Netherrack and scaring off a few baby Striders, you see a small circle of iron sitting in a pile of red dust, looking dented and beat up.

You huff and brush the dust off of it, titling your head to the side when it reveals itself.

A compass, pointing in one direction, working even in the Nether.

Standing up, you pocket it and head to the nearest portal, jumping through to the other side only to grab the compass out of your pocket as you walk to who-knows-where. It still points in the same direction as before, only moving when you do.

An irregularity in the metal against your hand inspires you to flip the compass over to look at the back.

What lies there makes you smirk.

Technoblade’s cabin. Phil’s compass.

This might be easier than you initially thought.

:)

[palominocorn]

[coffee emoji] and the educational industrial complex? ;3

(coming to you as one of those weeded out of the biomed field by calculus and not chem, but who probably would've been whacked one day due to not being able to Simple Math lmfao)

(deep breath)

(ten minutes screaming into the void)

OKAY.

TRIGGER WARNING: CAPS LOCK.

THIS FUCKING. CAPITALIST NIGHTMARE HELLSCAPE DYSTOPIA FASCISM WE LIVE IN.

WHERE EVERYTHING FUNDAMENTALLY GOES BACK TO MAKING RICH PEOPLE RICHER.

EVEN EDUCATION IS GATED BEHIND M O N E Y !

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MY FATHER PAID TO GET A BACHELOR'S, MASTER'S, AND PHD FROM THE TOP UNIVERSITY IN [~EVIL COMMUNIST COUNTRY~]?

ZERO.

ZILCH.

NADA.

NOTHING.

WHICH WAS GOOD FOR HIM BECAUSE MY GRANDPARENTS HAD ALMOST NO MONEY.

SO A SMART BUT POOR KID WAS ABLE TO GET A GREAT EDUCATION AND DO ROCKET SCIENCE.

WHAT'S THE TOP SCIENCE SCHOOL IN THE US? MIT? THAT'S $60K/YEAR JUST FOR TUITION.

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN AFFORD THAT?

NOT MOST OF US.

BECAUSE IT'S PULLING MONEY OUT OF PEOPLE'S POCKETS. AND PUTTING IT INTO RICH PEOPLE'S POCKETS.

"OH BUT GET STUDENT LOANS!"

YEAH THAT'S JUST A SCAM.

INTEREST RATES. MAN. INTEREST RATES.

STEP 1: GRADUATE WITH $100K LOANS.

STEP 2: WORK FOR FIVE YEARS. PAY OFF $30K.

STEP 3: HAVE $120K IN DEBT SOMEHOW?

THE WHOLE THING. IS A SCAM.

TO GET MONEY OUT OF YOU.

AND ALSO TO KEEP POOR PEOPLE OUT OF COLLEGE.

AND THEN SINCE A BUNCH OF JOBS NEED DEGREES. KEEP POOR PEOPLE OUT OF WELL-PAYING JOBS.

AND THEREFORE KEEP THEM POOR.

CAPITALISM Y'ALL.

OH AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT.

LET'S TALK "WEED OUT CLASSES".

NOT ALL OF WHICH ARE ACTUALLY NECESSARY FOR THE DEGREE AND MOST OF THE JOBS THAT REQUIRE IT.

AND MOST OF WHICH ARE TAUGHT POORLY BY PROFESSORS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO TEACH.

DO I ACTUALLY NEED TO KNOW FOUR HUNDRED DIFFERENT ORGANIC CHEMISTRY REACTIONS FOR MY JOB MAKING HIV MEDICINE?

N O !

I NEED. TWO.

BOTH OF WHICH MY MANAGER COULD HAVE TAUGHT ME ON DAY 1 OF THE JOB.

ALL OF MY USEFUL SKILLS? LEARNED ON THE JOB.

BUT TRAINING A YOUNG THANG LIKE 2012-ME IS LESS PROFITABLE AND EASILY EXPLOITABLE.

THAN MAKING ME GO TO COLLEGE AND POSSIBLY INCUR LOTS OF DEBT.

SO THE WHOLE THING.

LITERALLY.

MAKES YOU NOT ONLY POORER.

BUT ALSO MORE DEPENDENT ON YOUR JOB.

BECAUSE YOU NEED THE PAYCHECK TO PAY OFF YOUR LOANS AND ALSO YOU NEED THE JOB TO GET SKILLS FOR A JOB.

(void shuffles away from me in fear)

[mayalaen]

alphabet about

Tagged by @alwaysmercurial. Thank you!

RULES: copy this post into a new text post, remove my answers and put in yours, and when you are done tag up to 10 people.

A - AGE: 37

B - BIGGEST FEAR: That I’ll lose the ability to manage my psychosis. Other things are scary and cause hardship, but at the core I can handle those if my brain isn’t completely fucked.

C - CURRENT TIME: 11:35am

D - DRINK YOU LAST HAD: water

E - EVERY DAY STARTS WITH: waking my dog up with gentle pats

F - FAVORITE SONG: Nothing to Gein by Mudvayne

G - GHOSTS, ARE THEY REAL: I don’t think so, but if I was presented with good evidence, I’d change my mind.

H - HOMETOWN: Buffalo, New York

I - IN LOVE WITH: nobody

J - JEALOUS OF: I really can’t think of anyone or anything that I’m jealous of.

K - KILLED SOMEONE: ...indirectly, yeah. We’ll just leave it at that.

L - LAST TIME YOU CRIED: I normally don’t cry much, but I’ve been emotional the last two days and cried a few tears at a song last night.

M - MIDDLE NAME: Louise

N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 0, zero, zip, nada, zilch, NONE AND IT’S AWESOME

O - ONE WISH: People could just be more accepting and less animalistic in their thinking.

P - PERSON YOU LAST CALLED/TEXTED: last called my uncle (shop stuff), last texted mom

Q- QUESTION YOU’RE ALWAYS ASKED: Do tattoos hurt?

R - REASON TO SMILE: The writing is flowing a little better lately :)

S - SONG LAST SANG: Starboy by The Weeknd in the van on the way to the shop this morning.

T - TIME YOU WOKE UP: 8:30am

U - UNDERWEAR COLOR: black

V - VACATION DESTINATION: I haven’t been on a vacation in years. I’m not the vacationing type, so I can’t even think of anywhere I would want to go.

W - WORST HABIT: Putting a wall up between me and humans. My communication skills suck, but I also don’t let people in and I let those around me think it’s because my communication skills are worse than they are. And I don’t even know why I do it.

X - X-RAYS YOU’VE HAD: Mostly my chest/lungs. I’ve been sick SO MANY times, especially when I was a kid, and is usually went into my lungs with bronchitis and a couple times pneumonia. I’ve had dentist x-rays and one x-ray of my neck after a car accident. Never broken any bones :)

Y - YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: Pizza. It’s the perfect food. Although pasta comes very close to being my favorite too.

Z - ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

Tagging: @kay-marie19 @deadmockingbirds1 @pherryt @pod7et @samanddeaninpanties @royalrowena @formidablepassion @dreamsfromthebunker @notastupidape @claraynot

No obligation to play! And if anybody else wants to play, consider yourself tagged by me :)

[zombinary]

killing everyone. what the fuck is up with minecraft