#and not to mention the risk of other people's lives

[lobautumny]

Not to mention shit like the speakers that are installed in a bunch of public spaces that play extremely loud sounds at a very high pitch that are specifically designed to not be audible to adults but to be extremely uncomfortable for children, to dissuade "dangerous antisocial behaviors" like... loitering. The horror.

A bunch of shitty adults act like it's remotely surprising that kids don't go outside and hang out with their friends anymore when, like, how and when and where are they supposed to do that? This toy knows your ass is too lazy to drive your kids anywhere that isn't on the way to somewhere that you wanted to go anyways more than once per month, and nearly a century of constant "you can't trust your neighbors" propaganda (red scare, gang fearmongering, muslim fearmongering, drug fearmongering, etc.) has left a ton of adults terrified of every unattended child they see outside, as well as being increasingly unwilling to let their own kids out of their sight for anything other than going to school. Also, when a given kid does have the means to hang out with friends on a regular basis, where do they have that they can go other than each other's houses? God knows that for the last several decades, the economy's been too shit for average working-class parents to give their kids an allowance, everything is extremely expensive, and there's never been less options for places kids can simply exist and hang out at outside.

Of fucking course kids are sitting inside on they phone all the damn time. They don't have anything else to do. Adults drove them away from everything else they could be doing because allowing children to exist anywhere is just too much of a hassle for anyone to bother dealing with. I mean, fuck, kids (especially non-white kids) can't even fucking play with toys outside anymore without running the risk of a cop shooting them in the head because they thought the bright orange Nerf blaster was a real gun (treated as a simple mistake, the cop gets suspended for a couple months and then gets to return to the force like nothing happened).

The fact of the matter is that the world in which we currently live fucking hates children. Children aren't treated as people. They're treated as political pawns, scapegoats, or property at best, and active threats at worst. Their suffering doesn't matter until they die, but then when they die, it's always "a freak tragedy that we simply could not have anticipated and cannot do anything to prevent future instances of." It's all reduced to abstract numbers that adults can shake their heads at, pretend to feel bad for a while, and then proceed to do fucking nothing about while another school gets shot up every week, and we all pretend it's normal because nobody wants to fucking address the fact that the way we treat children is beyond disgusting and unhealthy. We talk all the time about the online child grooming epidemic, cleverly point out how social media algorithms massively contribute to the problem and the platforms themselves knowingly do nothing about it, and then we all collectively shrug and look the other way. "Not my problem to deal with," everyone collectively says in unison. "It's not my kid," they say, until it is their kid, at which point it's yet another fucking "freak tragedy that could not have been prevented," and so it goes.

But god forbid a kid says they're queer and receives anything other than brutal punishment and bullying for it. Then, suddenly, by magic, everyone is an activist, everyone is a fucking expert on the online grooming problem as though they aren't so tech-illiterate that they're falling for AI boomerslop on Facebook, and everyone has a PhD in biology, and everyone has Opinions and is calling up their local legislators asking for quick, decisive action to be taken against this new social contagion corrupting our youth and for kids to be ripped away from their supportive parents and put into abusive foster programs. This toy knows that it has long since left the scope of the original point, but it's just so fucking angry. Ever since it was in middle school, it's known more people who were abused as kids or otherwise have extremely strenuous relationships with the adults in their lives than people who had what most people would try to convince you was a "normal" childhood in which they developed remotely positive relationships with the adults around them and were not abused and did not develop immense trauma as the direct result of shitty actions taken by malicious, stupid, or neglectful adults in their lives.

Children deserve far better than the world we have forced them to live in.

"kids these days don't loiter or act rebellious enough any more" kids just existing in public are more criminalized and surveilled than ever. almost every western country is running a panic about youth crime and how random teens standing awkwardly are a threat to civilization, and pushing for much more punitive laws. tons of states and powerful lobbies are pushing "parental right laws" that restrict the civil rights of minors even more. policing is first and foremost targeting youths, especially from low income and majority immigrant neighbourhoods. if a kid mildly steps out of line or says something awkward online or in a public space half a dozen people can whip up their phone and start mass harassment campaigns. and tech companies are now restricting access to the internet, the last way many teens can talk to each other freely and reach out to people outside family and school.

anyhow i think people really need to start giving kids at least a tiny bit more grace instead of making smug posts about how uncool they are compared to your youth days, you fucking twats

[angelfishe]

# 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃

Genshin man x reader

Character : alhaitham, diluc, zhongli, ayato.

You love them with your heart but why would he love you when he's surrounded with more beautiful and talented people more than you, maybe leaving would be a good option you wouldn't burden them as well they could move on into a much better option than you. Disappearing from their life completely

Warning : The reader has an inferiority complex, as well mention of suicide and self harming.

ALHAITHAM

Among the seas of students of the akedemiya there are always ones that shine brighter than the others and alhaitham is no exception, one of the most shining stars that would live brighter than the others. While you are by far a regular spantammad student the only difference is that both of you and him are childhood friends.

Unfortunately for you to fail to see the worth for yourself in his life, he would live a much better life without you interrupting his journeys. So when you hear that there's gonna be an expedition towards outside of sumeru you take it, planning on staying out of his life as much as long as possible even meaning being away from your homeland.

You prevent him from knowing about the expedition, knowing that he would try to convince you to quit it as well making him stress about you leaving making sure you would go unnoticed. Soon he realizes every time you visit your house it becomes less crowded and stuff is neatly packed in a box. He started to be suspicious of what was going on.

So when you invite him towards the bar to hang out, he had a bad feeling this would be the last time seeing you. But he pushed it aside because you're here right now not knowing that the goodbye you wave to each other was the last one. Your presence disappears and when he visits your place it is dead silent not a single thing of your stuff.

DILUC

Coming from a lesser noble clan on mondstat your duty was to be served to someone as wife or decorations. And diluc was the one you were destined to be with on the paper agreement with the previous lord of dawn winery.

It's confusing honestly out of all the options of the daughter of another noble family they chose to be his betrothed. You and him would have play dates together to make you two grow closer but sometimes these playdates would include other noble children like jean from the gundihir clan another noble clan as the ragdnivir. To be honest you understand why he would choose jean in the future she's beautiful I mean if you were in his position you would choose Jean.

Unknowningly diluc was the one that chose you when he took a look at the picture of future spouse for him and when he took a glimpse at your portrait it was love first sight you were the one he dreamed to be with and grow a family. Unfortunately you are unable to see that just like a butterfly is unable to see their own beauty.

When he was at snezhnaya you took this opportunity to finally leave for good packing up your stuff without telling anyone even your parents, so when he returned you were nowhere to be found everyone couldn't find you, you were gone. You believe he would be better without you but in truth he was miserable The world was dark and grey and you were the color and now you're gone and he will use anything to find you.

ZHONGLI

Being a minor goddess that joined alliance with him, you didn't expect he would go infatuated with you. He would willingly risk his life for you rescuing you from a monster that was threatening to kill you and when you saw how injured he was after the fight you realized you were a burden to him.

You fully know your weak compared to the other adepti or gods, your domain is small similar to harvia your best friend and you see your fate will happen similar to her being too weak and your people or your close will kill you if you keep being like this. Seeing you as a weakness for rex lapis and if you die his weakness will die. His people and the other need him more than you.

One day, you hear that a new monster has been rampaging and you believe this would be a good way to finally rid of yourself so people won't question your intention. You grab your weapon and ready to the battlefield, when rex lapis got word he arrived you were unfortunately dead watching your body being devoured by the beast.

From that day he blamed himself for your demise as well asking why would recklessly charge yourself to battle after knowing your weakness, in modern liyue he felt a sense of familiarity and saw you walking maybe it's not too late to love you this time he shows you how much he loves you.

AYATO

You couldn't blame him for hiding you from the world knowing a relationship with a master and a servant would be heavily forbidden by the public as well being one of his weaknesses, he needs to appear untouchable in front of the public as well as his enemies to protect you and the clan.

In close door he loves you and showers you with gifts and affection while on the outside he treats you as if you were just a normal servant under his orders another disposable chest piece.

When you were poison, hes eyes would instantly went towards your form but unable to reach you because people were dragging you away and he need to show face of a composed person but how can he act when the love of his eyes was dying in the other room.

One day a resignation letter appeared at his office when he was not at home and thoma informed him you left a day before leaving a letter telling him to move on and love another person and not you. He track your footprints and found you at sumeru studying there as a new student and new alias he ready a ship because he's gonna need explanation from you what you mean move on. Come back to his arms please if you won't he's gonna die without your touch

[whatcannotbesaid-shallbewept]

So What Makes Chappell Roan so great anyway?

This post is way too long. BUT. If you are interested in how Chappell fits into the current pop landscape, why she’s unique, and why she got so big then read on.

Personally - I think if pop music is going to continue then it NEEDS to follow Chappell Roan’s example.

As a popstar she stands out from her contemporaries in a way that isn’t talked out enough. If the world doesn’t end in the next ten years, I feel like we’ll be looking back at Chappell Roan as a gamechanger for changing the pop landscape. 

Let’s put things into context. Before going to gay clubs and writing pop music, Chappell was closer to an Adele-wannabe than the next Lady Gaga. 

In old videos from the 2010s Chappell distances herself from the “pop” label. Her republican family wanted her to use her voice to go into country or christian music. 

Becoming a popstar - a Katy perry maximalist popstar at that! - was not only a deliberate choice from what she used to be, but a risk for her. The oldest songs on her album are still piano ballads for that reason. 

If you look at her career momentum you can already tell she’s coming at this from a much different angle from everyone else.

Back in the rock era, people heard “Live Forever” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in tiny venues before they even knew anything about Oasis or Nirvana. The bands got big because of the strength of those songs - 

Success doesn't work like that in the pop landscape though.

Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Tate Mcrae, Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles, Camilla Cabello, Renee Rapp didn’t get big off the strength of their songs. You can argue they have good songs, sure - but that’s not how the order they got famous in. Their names were known before they had songs out. They then had songs people liked, but they were famous first. 

Would Selena Gomez really have gotten so famous if she started out by just touring a lot as a no-namer and hoping people liked her songs enough to buy them?

But Chappell got big the old way! She performed live in obscurity for years, working and learning how to hype up a crowd. Go watch her perform Naked In Manhattan to a crowd of 50 people. She custom-made songs to sound better live. The thing that finally pushed her into the mainstream was giving a great performance at Coachella.

People just liked her music enough to keep seeing her live, despite her not being famous. 

She has a much different background than any pop star working today, and because of that she just brings a lot of different things to the table. She’s not only not a traditional popstar - she’s openly explicitly gay, her drag aesthetic isn’t to shock it’s out of a genuine love for that style - she doesn’t sound like a traditional popstar. 

First of all - her voice! Which honestly needs to be talked about way more, because WOW. Way more expressive and powerful than what’s expected from pop music. I think Olivia has a great voice too, but Chappell just makes way more interesting choices with her vocal performances. It’s really no contest.

 Listen to how hurt she sounds in Casual, how angry she is in Good Luck Babe or how scared she is in Pink Pony Club. See how different she sounds from Ultra Graphic Modern Girl, California and Guilty Pleasure. Like yeah, obviously this woman started out singing low-key piano ballads where she had to work to actually distinguish her voice instead of letting it drown under production. 

She also just has way different influences than the other main pop girls. 

We currently are living in the era where every new popstar really, really wants to be Taylor Swift. Olivia is Taylor all over, Gracie Abrams is very much positioning herself as a Taylor Swift type figure, and Sabrina is extremely influenced by her. 

However Chappell (And Billie actually) are really uninterested in Taylor. 

Chappell lists her influences as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Kate Bush. Billie always mentions alt-icons like Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey. Both are actually pretty influenced by Lana. And it shows when you compare their music -

Olivia does some interesting stuff with her sound - the riot grrl nods are very fun imo - same for Sabrina (Go listen to Juno and Espresso!). But they are a lot less adventurous than Billie and Chappell sound-wise. Like Taylor they just prefer to stick to something so they can put the lyrics onto. Like Taylor their lyrics are self-referential and outwardly trying to signal to the audience what they’re about. 

For Billie and Chappell the production is just as important as the rest of the song. Which puts them more in the lane of alt artists like Caroline Polachek, lana del rey or Charli XCX. It makes Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess/Hit Me Hard And Soft way leagues more interesting to listen to than Tortured Poets Department or The Secret Of Us. 

I already knew about Chappell from the lesbian twitter circles I was on. But like… that wasn’t necessarily unique to her. We were also hyping up quite a few gay girl obscure singers. Fletcher, XANA, Renee Rapp all had their moments where we thought they could be a big thing. Especially Fletcher. Chappell Roan actually started out opening for Fletcher. Which is crazy, since you guys probably haven’t even heard of her. 

If we’re being serious, there have been lesbians making pop music before the Beatles (Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield). In the modern age, there are multiple lesbians winning grammys, some are on the charts, and there are plenty of famous bisexual woman making music. Chappell is not a gamechanger for being openly queer.

But when we talk about Pop music, Chappell Roan stands out because she's owning it, in a similar way that Lil Nas X did. Making it extremely explicit in almost every one of her songs, and making her queerness is a huge part of over the top pop persona. 

Lil Nas X isn’t all that relevant anymore but he was breaking boundaries that haven’t been touched since Madonna for a while there. Chappell Roan definitely feels like a continuation of that.

She’s also just very good at articulating the queer experience? 

Obviously she has the “men can’t give me orgasms” songs, but Pink Pony Club might be the archetypal example here. Leaving your shitty hometown to be gay in the big city is a topic that has been done before - but Chappell sounds so vulnerable when she sings it.

She doesn’t pose being herself in that song as a choice - but something done out of necessity. And like Queer Euphoria of being free for the first time, you hear it! There’s so much optimism and heartbreak in that song. All the best Chappell songs have both of those in them.

Naked In Manhattan is joyful and euphoric for the most part - but in the subtext its way more complicated. She’s way more into this girl and vice versa, and how apprehensive, and again, vulnerable she sounds on some of lines kinda hurts your soul.

Kaleidoscope is mostly a sad song about falling in love with your best friend but how hopeful and pleading she is in the chorus just makes the entire song.

Unlike say Olivia, she writes her pop songs to have emotional plot twists Guilty pleasure and Feminonmenon start out as sad ballads and break out into explosive energetic pop songs. Bridges in Red wine supernova or Good Luck Babe hit like a sledgehammer. 

Oh yeah. Good Luck Babe. She can work in the industry for another ten years but I still think “You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling” will go down as her best lyric. 

As a woman who repressed herself for years and grew up in a homophobic environment… It shows in the way she writes. She knew from experience what “you’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling” meant. 

But even down to the way that she describes love, you can tell its actually very different than her popstar colleagues. Love is a Chappell Roan song is an immovable force that can’t be tamed or controlled. In the narratives she sings about, it’s hindering her, making things more complicated, breaking her heart when it isn’t breaking her partners.

 

In typical pop-punk fashion ;ove in an Olivia Rodrigo song is a condition. Illogical, embarrassing but ultimately something to get over (Stranger) or to avoid (Bad Idea right, get him back). It gets rough out there, but love can very much be won in a Olivia song. 

Love in a Sabrina song is a game. Or perhaps more like a battle? Sabrina is locked in regardless. Almost every love song Sabrina writes is about her plans or how she wants things to go just as much as it's about what’s actually happening. The way her relationships affect her ego and people's perception of her is one of the big challenges she goes through in her discography .

Most of the time she fails! The balancing game between having someone and her ego gets tipped in the wrong direction. She’s with guys just for the sake of saying she’s with someone. It ends poorly. Sabrina’s songs are full of expectations in a way. This is probably why straight women relate to her so much.

Love in a Chappell Roan song is an eldritch monster.  It can’t be controlled or stopped. All you can do is obey or suffer through it. She sounds so angry in the good luck babe bridge because she knows you can’t control love. 

You’d have to stop the WORLD just to stop the feeling. 

[rococofemme]

𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 treat [ I ]

𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩!𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘹 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘮𝘦!𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

triggers: uses body parts as metaphors + similes , homophobic society, mentions of bloodshed + war

bones of men left to die crunch beneath abby's leather boot, a sound she'd grown to love, almost like the sweet hum of a violin or piano. it was borderline sadistic, the odd satisfaction she got from it, but it was evidence of a job well done, a reminder that she could've been the fateful 'man' to end up in such a state, consumed by dirt and left to rot among pretty pink peonies. the fields were often used as a place of mourning, people would plant seeds near bones and hope to sprout beautiful trees or plants- disappointed to find the same spot dead as ever when they returned to track its' progress. she'd vowed herself to make it past training, make it past the violence and death that surrounded, she would save you from that kingdom, even if it was the last thing she'd ever do.

🍰

sugary bubbles fizz in clear glasses of peach wine, red raspberries bathing and floating along the surface of the alcohol- perfuming the air with the sweet, almost youthful scent of sickeningly honeyed fragrance. it was enough to make an old man's teeth rot at one sip. you sat on the velvet couch by the bow window, eating the cake that sat on the stool beside you- served on a silver platter. buttercream on your fingertips. the scene could be considered erotic to some, the plump of the red cherry and each miniscule concave on the strawberries surface filled by a yellowish seed resembled teeth tearing into meat, perhaps even a vampire's fang impaling the skin of an innocent's neck, cherry coloured blood seeping down the wound like the bursting juice of a succulent fruit you wipe your mouth with a gloved hand, the satin material picks up the crumbs of red velvet cake, cream cheese smears your nose and likely clogs your pores but you couldn't bring it in yourself to care. a letter on the windowsill sits there too, and a singular strand of lavender woven between the browning paper- the edges frayed from old age, opened but forgotten and left to the side, much like a heart. a metaphor live in the flesh. a woman walks through the room, her shadow is tall and dark along the walls that run high, leaving the pretty woman nothing but a dreary shadow with claws for hands and an ugly stretched figure, she was combing gel through her frufru hair and trying to perfect the classy curl atop her forehead, poking and prodding. "i just cannot seem to get it right today. my hair wants to make a fuss the day the knights return from their trip to the midlands. heavens know how many possible suitors lurk among that handsome crowd!" she practically sings, her dress was a powdery blue, with frilled organza tulle along the bodice, hips and the general figure of the dress accentuated by a wide crinoline. her blonde hair looks sticky to the touch, glossy with flaxseed, she could pass as a glazed donut to any man hungry enough. good enough to bite through, sugary sweet to the point eating it could be a risk. she'd searched through the large wardrobes in the room, shoving pastel heels your way, demanding answers until she settled on blue buckled flats. "it surely cannot be that important, charlotte. you will find quickly that most of these 'suitors' are traumatised men, who would want to be with to someone like that forever?" you mutter, helping charlotte lace her corset, the scent of pastries still lingered in the air, you'd turned your head to find that the maidens had refilled the platters, trays of palmier sprinkled in powdered sugar, meringue and many others left identified, buried underneath the mountain of saccharine treats. "it is a dire situation! if i do not find a prince, marry and continue my family's lineage, what else would my purpose be? don't be nonsensical." charlotte giggles, it fades out into white noise when she notices you not laughing- popping a meringue into her mouth, glancing at you sideways. "what kind of person doesn't like meringues? everybody loves them- apart from you." she quips, nudging you with her elbow, her curl had unravelled by then, the sticky string of hair simply choosing to stick up like a crude finger. "it is not what my heart desires, nor my stomach. meringues are not for me." brushing off conversations was easy with charlotte, she forgot things easily- played the part of a 'dumb blonde' to a tee. admiring the lacing of her corset, she envelopes you in a bone-crushing hug, one that could easily make eyes pop out like squeaky toys and send your stomach shooting up from your throat, it was almost fascinating how acts of love and kindness could be mistaken for something downright macabre- or perhaps it was only you that thought this way.

by the time charlotte had left, the raspberries had pruned like skin left in a bathtub too long, wrinkled over every crevice and practically waiting to burst open, filled with the candied peach wine. it melted like honey on the tip of your tongue, it had bled red in the contents of the drink, leaving the glass rim stained with a rubicund colour, much like a flushed face, if it had grapes within it you were sure you'd be able to see a beady pair of eyes staring back at you from the drink.

⚢

the women of the palace looked much like little cakes, arranged by the king to look like an assortment of the sweetest little macarons, his own personal composition, whilst the knights looked like bleak wet rags, somber was the furrow in their brows and guarded was their body language. the person with blonde hair had caught your attention instantly, a sharp jawline and arch of the nose, piercing blue eyes, unlike the other guard, they had a human-like emotion on their face, relief. relief having made it through those sleepless nights on rocky pebbles or sticks that poked and scratched like little fingers through the dirt, relief having been released from the warzone that they'd made of the midlands, which was now reduced to an eerily silent graveyard- too much bloodshed to look back on. you caught eyes with the person from across the room, biting into a red grape, a vermilion liquid spurting out from it, staining the white lace tablecloth. it looked too much like a mini bloodstain for people to be comfortable with, especially to the knights, far too familiar with the sight of spilled ichor.

[petit-papillion]

Strength is acknowledging you cannot safely continue.

True courage is allowing your driver to retire from the race when he feels ill.

I saw plenty of heroes in Sunday's race: Logan Sargeant, James Vowles, the Williams mechanics who helped Logan out of his car and blocked this view from the prying cameras, the Aston Martin mechanic who realized Lance Stroll needed the cooling blower more than the precious car.

I don't need to see my favorite drivers and their colleagues drive in such dangerous and extreme conditions that they throw up for 2 laps, are unable to handle the g-forces, struggle with blurry vision while driving over 300kph, cannot get out of their car on their own, etc.

I'm not watching F1 to see a driver get killed on track a day after another driver was killed in qualifying (Senna).

I'm not watching F1 to see a driver so upset about another driver getting killed on track in qualifying that he decides to not race at all and retire from racing earlier than planned (Stewart).

I'm not watching F1 to see a driver engulfed by a fireball and come out of it with 3rd degree burns that leave his face forever disfigured (Lauda).

There is no shame, no weakness in saying conditions are unsafe to drive in, and refuse to drive, as Niki Lauda did in Fuji in 1976, stating:

"My life means more to me than the championship."

[bittsandpieces]

I recently bought some hot content from a sex worker, and they got me to pay through their brother's PayPal account and I was of course not thinking about the potential faucest implications that at all, not one bit.

im gonna be honest anon, that makes me WILDLY uncomfortable. privacy in sex work is extremely important for safety reasons and I would NEVER have publicized my legal name or the names of my family members when I was actively selling. even being as stingy as I was about personal information, I had someone track me down and attempt to kidnap me. I can't imagine giving people access to my family's names, knowing how batshit crazy some of my followers were. if I were you I'd warn that sex worker to be more careful and find another way to accept payment

[shanedoesdoodles]

Trying very very very very hard not to go all doomer over the election results

[teenagefeeling]

if u needed another reason to use an adblocker on youtube: i just opened it on my tv and immediately got a 30 second unskippable piece of political propaganda claiming that hamas is a terrorist organization (in that exact language)

[cryingyetcourageous]

I ship Blorbo and Shmeck. I ship your Raivis and Heta Raivis. I ship it all.

[[ First of all, how dare you

Second of all, Raivis dating his canon self would be some top-tier reverse-psychology self-healing lmao. All the traits he's most insecure about are exacerbated in his canon reflection, but that includes his insecurity, so he has to reassure him that it's okay. He's a nurturing person, so his instinct is to help, comfort, and take care of this other-him. But... if it's okay for him to be how he is in an exaggerated form... then it's?? even more okay??? for himself? He's fine? He doesn't have to be embarrassed by this or apologetic about that?

[musical-chick-13]

Maybe I’ve just been Thinking Too Much About the Concept of Justice due to...currently watching....something (Idon’twannatalkaboutit)..........but GENUINELY the way most of y’all talk about the death penalty and about ANYONE who decides to go through law school for ANY reason is terrifying.

[luckyladylily]

So a few months ago there was the discourse about would you rather meet a man or a bear in the woods. I didn't want to touch it while the discourse was hot and everyone dug in hard because those are not good conditions for nuance, but I waited until today, June 1st, for a specific reason.

I'm not going to take a position in the bear vs man debate because I don't think it matters. What is really being asked here is how afraid are you of men? Specifically, unexpected men who are, perhaps, strange.

People have a lot of very real fear of men that comes from a lot of very real places. Back when I was first transitioning in 2015 and 2016, I decided to start presenting as a woman in public even though I did not pass in the slightest.

I live in a red state. I knew other trans women who had been attacked by men, raped by men. I knew I was taking a risk by putting myself out there. I was the only visibly trans person in the area of campus I frequented, and people made sure I never forgot that. Most were harmless enough and the worst I got from them was curious stares. Others were more aggressive, even the occasional threat. I had to avoid public bathrooms, of course, and always be aware of my surroundings.

I know how frightening it is to be alone at night while a pair of men are following behind you and not knowing if they are just going in the same direction or if they want to start something - made all the worse for the constant low level threat I had been living under for over a year by just being visibly trans in a place where many are openly hostile to queer people. You have to remember, this was at the height of the first wave of bathroom law discussions, a lot of people were very angry about trans women in particular. My daily life was terrifying at times. I was never the subject of direct violence, but I knew trans women who had been.

I want you to keep all that in mind.

So man or bear is really the question "how afraid of men are you?", and the question that logically follows is "What if there was a strange man at night in a deserted parking lot?" or "What if you were alone in an elevator with a man?" or "What if you met a strange man in the woman's bathroom?"

My state recently passed an anti trans bathroom bill. The rhetoric they used was about protecting women and children from "strange men", aka trans women.

Conservatives hijack fear for their bigoted agenda.

When I first started presenting as a woman the campus apartment complex was designed for young families. The buildings were in a large square with playgrounds in the center, and there were often children playing. I quickly noticed that when I took my daughter out to play, often several children would immediately stop what they were doing and run back inside. It didn't take me long to confirm that the parents were so afraid of "the strange man who wears skirts" that their children were under strict instructions to literally run away as soon as they saw me.

"How afraid are you of a strange man being near your children?"

I mentioned above that I had to avoid public bathrooms. This was not because of men. It was because of women who were so afraid of random men that they might get violent or call someone like the police to be violent for them if I ever accidentally presented myself in a way that could be interpreted as threatening, when my mere presence could be seen as a threat. If I was in the library studying and I realized that it was just me and one other woman I would get up and leave because she might decide that stranger danger was happening.

Your fear is real. Your fear might even come from lived experiences. None of that prevents the fact that your fear can be violent. Women's fear of men is one of the driving forces of transmisogyny because it is so easy to hijack. And it isn't just trans women. Other trans people experience this, and other queer people too. Racial minorities, homeless people, neurodivergent people, disabled people.

When you uncritically engage with questions like man or bear, when you uncritically validate a culture of reactive fear, you are paving the way for conservatives and bigots to push their agenda. And that is why I waited until pride month. You cannot engage and contribute to the culture of reactive fear without contributing to queerphobia of all varieties. The sensationalist culture of reactive fear is a serious queer issue, and everyone just forgot that for a week as they argued over man or bear. I'm not saying that "man" is the right answer. I am saying that uncritically engaging with such obvious click bait trading on reactive fear is a problem. Everyone fucked up.

It is not a moral failing to experience fear, but it is a moral responsibility to keep a handle on that fear and know how it might harm others.

[dreamyeyes26]

I hate the toxic environment of surgical rotations they are all egotistical stuck ups who brings you down for the most minuscule things, they say it is how it is supposed to be to keep things in order but if that is that then it is not my cup of tea, i understand the need to be professionals and i know if you are too lax in a work environment than people will not listen to you and it would be costly for both patients and the education, but i still don’t agree with the need to be sulky all the time to look serious and criticize everything just bc you have been working there six months more than the next person. I did more than any normal person would who was there to just observe and I still feel like being monitored all the time and i also got warned for the most stupid things in the last month. It is honestly so upsetting and tiring to be on alert all the time just so they don’t talk badly behind your back and it does not create a bad impression, bc then whatever you do you will be wrong and lazy. I think it is also a cultural thing where if you don’t assert superiority then people don’t take their responsibilities seriously and the work is done lousily, which is so wrong bc you should do the job, which is basically saving lives, for your own moral and ethic values in light of knowledge and if you don’t know sth you should be able to ask without hesitation. Ugh, thank god it is over this friday bc i cannot breathe here.

[readwritealldayallnight]

Simon’s never given much thought to babies before.

When he was younger, enough time was spent scorning his father and the childhood he was depriving him of, that any thoughts of becoming a dad himself one day were nonexistent. As far as he was concerned, he was essentially already a stand in parent to his younger brother.

As he grew older and enlisted, his life becoming one that consisted of nothing more than violence and destruction and terror, he thought the odds of him surviving into his 30’s were so slim that he need never bother worrying about having a ‘next of kin’.

That was until, he met you, of course.

Because now that Simon Riley has you in his life, he’s not quite so pessimistic about his existence the way he once was, doesn’t picture a foreboding dark cloud when he considers what his future could be. What a future with you could be.

Still, as much time as the two of you spend actually engaging in the baby making process, Simon really only considers babies as being something that other people have, not him.

Not with his line of work, not with the risks that come alongside the territory, not when he already can barely stand to leave you for deployment, let alone leave you behind with a child on top of everything.

No, Simon is perfectly content with his life where babies are just another anomale.

But then, your best friend announces she’s pregnant. And the sight of you holding a positive pregnancy test in your hands, changes something within him.

Suddenly, Simon is noticing chubby, drooling little infants everywhere he goes.

Fat babies shoved into the uncomfortable looking seats of grocery carts pass by him in the shops, crying babies strapped to their mums on the tube, sleeping babies being pushed around in their prams without a care in the world. Even on base, he notices more people talking about their children, showing off picture of their offspring.

He’s looking at you a little different as well. His gaze on you will darken as you and your friend chat about baby names, casually mentioning the ones that you like for yourself. His grip will tighten around the shopping cart when you wave to passing babies, making them giggle. He’s surprised at the way his cock twitches when you pretend to hold a breast pump up to your own chest, wrapping the baby shower gift you’d gotten her.

It only takes so long for you to notice the change in him as well.

You’ll be strolling through the park on a chilly morning when a young family goes by, Simon muttering something about how the little bald headed infant ‘should have a hat on for fuck’s sake, cold out ‘ere’. You’ll be in the shops, when suddenly Simon returns holding a pair of teeny tiny baby shoes in his hand, appearing comically small in his large calloused palms, wondering if maybe your friend would like them. You’re sitting outside a cafe while a pair of chubby cheeked babies are sat in their strollers staring at Simon as if their lives depended on it. You’re giggling to yourself, watching your boyfriend stare right back at these little girls, when the 6’4” tank of a man slowly lifts a gloved hand and waves at them, earning a pair of gummy smiles in return.

The most evident change in Simon however, is in bed.

Almost overnight, he goes from never having considered children, to suddenly dedicating every effort to getting you pregnant by the end of the year, month, week.

[deservedgrace]

"we're not like other churches, we don't get caught up in earthly things like doctrine or rigid rules, we're focused on our relationship with jesus 🥰" <- is exactly like other churches

non-denominational churches are the "i'm not like other girls" of churches

[sidereous]

Another note about The Speaker and his immortality:

It's common knowledge. He'll even directly tell you. But he won't say how. The most anyone's been able to get out of him is that it wasn't entirely intentional- but since he's still around he tries to make the most of it.

But life on Venus is very difficult. So it's a bit of a different matter when grieving parents demand he bring back their child that was killed in a storm. Or when someone just coming into adulthood contracts an illness that will slowly but surely kill them- growing frightened and angry so they ask him what it would take for them to be like him.

And every time he refuses.

For every person that sees him as an eccentric but loving great-uncle, for everyone that sees him as a figurehead, there are just as many that think he is a dangerous charlatan at best

[kira-akira]

What I Want You To Know About Long COVID

Well lads, I've been suffering from Long COVID for over a year now. My life is at a complete standstill. I'm 25 years old and I'm too sick to go back to school, I can't work, I had to move back in with my parents and I'm still stuck here.

Here are just a few things I wish people knew about Long COVID, including things I didn't know myself until I got it.

COVID destroys your immune system. Yes, even if you don't have Long COVID. Are you getting sick more often now? When you get sick, does it last longer? There are many studies showing that COVID causes t cell depletion, even in mild COVID cases! T cells are how your body remembers how to fight off infections you've had before so losing those cells? Bad news.

Your initial infection can be mild and you can still get Long COVID. Right from Yale Medicine, "Most people with Long COVID had mild acute COVID." (This is also a good link for a basic Long COVID overview).

There can be a gap of time between when you "get better" from the initial COVID infection to the onset of Long COVID symptoms. Some people get sick with an initial COVID infection and never get better. Some get better and then weeks or months later start developing Long COVID symptoms. Long COVID symptoms can even fluctuate over time, can go away for months and then suddenly come back.

So many people have Long COVID and don't realize it. Do you feel more tired lately but no matter how much you sleep, nothing helps? Is it harder to concentrate at work or school? Can you just not think like you used to? You could have Long COVID and not even know it. Even mild post-COVID symptoms are still Long COVID.

COVID can do anything to your body. Long COVID has over 200 recognized symptoms and can affect basically any part or system of your body. There is no one mechanism or cause of Long COVID which unfortunately also means there's no one cure either.

The effects of COVID are cumulative. Each COVID reinfection increases your chances of developing Long COVID. COVID is also affecting your body in other ways, yes, even if you're otherwise young and healthy! "Repeat COVID-19 infections increase risk of organ failure, death".

Once you have Long COVID, repeat COVID infections will make your symptoms worse. "80% [of Long COVID patients] saw their symptoms worsen [from reinfection]. In 60% of people who were in recovery or remission from Long COVID, reinfection caused a recurrence of Long COVID."

There is a lot more I want to say about Long COVID but I want to keep this post at least somewhat manageable to read. Like how when COVID is contracted during pregnancy, those COVID-exposed fetuses have a 6.3-fold increased risk of motor developmental delays, or that another study found 50% of babies exposed to COVID in utero had developmental delays.

You need to keep caring about COVID, for others around you and also for yourself even if you're "healthy". Everyone is at risk. And don't forget 40-60% of COVID infections are asymptomatic, which is why masking even if you feel fine is crucial. The only way right now to not get Long COVID is to not get COVID in the first place. It's not too late, if you've stopped masking it's never too late to start again! I know it's easy to get distracted by things in your life that seem more real than the possibility of getting sick some time in the future, and the peer pressure to not mask can be intense. But it only feels less real or less important until your entire life is having Long COVID. Trust me.

I know this is a complicated issue, many people can't afford to stay home when sick even if they want to because of their jobs, there are disgusting policies trying to ban wearing masks, but please if you can. Keep masking. Masking works, masking saves lives.

This post got a bit longer than I wanted so below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of my Long COVID symptoms and some of my experiences as one of the "healthy young people" who got "unlucky". cw brief mention of suicidal ideation.

Welcome to the Thunderdome that is my body with Long COVID. Keep in mind these are just my experiences and symptoms, Long COVID can cause any range of symptoms at varying severities.

Dysautonomia: Exercise intolerance, Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), fatigue, and heat intolerance. What do those things mean? Here's some specific examples. Absolutely terrible circulation I am so cold all the time but also, if I get a little too warm I will pass out. Eating hot food makes my heart rate spike, I sweat, my body feels heavy. Blood pooling and pins and needles in my feet when I walk. Don't even think about exercising past walking, it's impossible. I used to work out an hour a day 4 times a week and now walking up one flight of stairs makes my heart pound and I can't breathe. Can't take even just warm showers anymore or I will pass out. Heat rashes from being in the sun for 10 minutes.

Digestive issues: Honestly too many to name but: constant bloating, extreme nausea, constipation, slow motility, lack of appetite, just so much cramping and pain. I lost 18 pounds from Long COVID, as someone who was already considered underweight their entire life, and almost had to get a shunt put into my chest to deliver nutrients because I was nearly completely unable to eat. For the first 6 months of Long COVID, if I could manage 600 calories a day, that was a good day.

Histamine intolerance: Oh boy. My worst symptoms, I don't even know where to start with it. If you know Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) it's very similar. I can only eat 19 foods. If i eat a single bite of something not on that list, it's 48 hours of absolute hell. Coughing, migraines, itchy eyes, such extreme nausea I cannot even describe it, panic/feeling of doom, racing heart rate, derealization, rash, uncontrollable muscle tremors. I only learned about histamine intolerance 5 months into having Long COVID so before that, I was experiencing these symptoms nearly every single day. Terrifying isn't even a strong enough word to describe how it felt to experience all this and have no idea what it was, how to stop it, or if it would ever stop. Really dark times.

Neurological issues: More of that derealization. Inability to concentrate. Anxiety. OCD-like symptoms such as thoughts getting "stuck" in my head, repeating 24/7 completely unable to stop them, genuinely felt like my brain had cracked open and I had lost my mind. Constant dizziness like I'm on a boat.

Sleep issues: I sleep like garbage. I have insomnia, I wake up dozens of times every night and every single time I sleep I have intensely vivid dreams. I can't sleep longer than 7 hours total no matter how exhausted I am. It is exhausting. I'm exhausted, I'm so so tired.

And finally. Just. Really intense suicidal ideation. My body, my health, my entire life has been stolen from me because someone else decided my life was worth less to them than wearing a mask or staying home if they feel sick. Before I got Long COVID, I was preparing to go to South Korea to teach English, then on to a PhD in neurolinguistics, I was supposed to meet my long distance partner and had already booked plane tickets when I got sick. All of that has been destroyed.

Most of us with Long COVID are stuck in a cycle of being extremely sick, then if you're lucky you'll slowly get better over months, just to get reinfected and go right back where you started or worse. Honestly, I'm not scared of dying from COVID. I'm scared of living for a long time, suffering from Long COVID the entire time. This isn't living.

I don't know how to end this now. I'm still fighting, I'm trying experimental treatments, I'm not giving up yet. I hope everyone reading this stays healthy and well.