#because i also don't think there's anything wrong with poking fun at people sometimes and i think the most valuable thing a person can do--

[spushii]

i just think at the end of the day you can be as bitchy and petty and gatekeepy as you want on the internet about what should and shouldnt constitute a Battle Jacket, but when you see someone at the grocery store wearing an old vest with some safety pins in it and an iron-on patch and some patches sewn on they obviously drew themselves with fabric marker, you're gonna smile at them at tell them it looks sick, because it looks sick

[uss-genderprise]

okay the new episode has people poking my sleeping special interest like a bear and it was about time to wake it from hibernation anyway so here are some fun facts about welsh fairies

it's spelled fairy. it's always spelled fairy. not faerie, faery, fae, or fey. fairy. please. or tylwyth teg if you want to be proper about it

fairies are not inherently malevolent. they work by their own rules that sometimes don't make sense to humans but there are rules, if you pay attention.

yes fairies will punish you for doing something they don't want you to do

they will also reward you for doing things they do want you to do

fairy rings are circles of green grass. they sometimes how up as a different shade of green than the grass around it and are generally markers of where fairies dance, as well as portals to the fairy realm. mushrooms aren't really a thing for that in welsh folklore.

string and bones and flowers are man-made and possibly supposed to bind or protect against fairies (though i haven't seen anything quite like what we see in the episode described in any of my sources) but generally breaking one of those doesn't immediately anger fairies, just lets them in to affect whoever put the ward up in the first place. that's not called a fairy circle.

changelings exist in welsh folklore. have fun with your theories.

fairies will generally let you leave the fairy world if you ask nicely. yes even if you've eaten the food and drank the drinks

however time moves differently so when you come back you might be super old and/or turn to dust the moment someone touches you

dancing is a different thing tho. they don't exactly want you to stay dancing with them until you die of exhaustion but like that's on you my dude get your friends to help you

if you broke fairy rules like kicking them out of their meadow to build a castle they will count eight* generations** and come back to turn that castle into a lake and drown everyone inside. you have been warned (repeatedly. usually by old ladies and/or bards and/or birds or sometimes just. A Voice™)

* the number of generations can and does vary but in welsh folklore it's generally 8 that's an important number, not 3 or 7.

** also the way generations are counted is. weird. idk if it's that i'm bad at math or bad at welsh or that the book i read explaining this is over 100 years old but i don't think i fully got how many generations this actually is.

oh and they only wait if you beg enough otherwise they kill you now

so basically. no getting trapped in the fairy world as punishment. they just kill you

personally i think the closest thing in welsh folklore to that old woman is a weird lady but even that isn't a great fit

yeah fairies bend time and space to always be far away from you if they want to but that's generally because they're trying to avoid you not following you at a distance

i am fully aware rtd probably couldn't care less about any of this. he definitely didn't do the work that i did to learn all this and incorporating this into your theories is probably shooting yourself in the foot as far as actually being correct goes. HOWEVER i do think it's more interesting and fun this way :) theories are gonna be wrong anyway might as well respect the culture that's inspiring them while we're at it yeah?

i will cite my sources if anyone asks but i doubt many people care to read hundreds of pages of edwardian non fiction novels just to fact check me. trust me on this guys

[bearieio]

ellie w. hcs :3

bc im seeing them everywhere and i need to put in my 2¢. thank you. (also not proofread :P)

⋆ biggest hayley kiyoko fan for like 3 years (the intro to ‘girls like girls’ was her ringtone when she was 14). would beg joel to take her to random record stores that they passed by just to see if they had any hayley kiyoko cds.

⋆ because of joel, she listens to a lot of 70s-90s dad rock. 

⋆ can’t drive for shit. like literally she’s not allowed to drive without her glasses

⋆ she needs glasses btw. she doesn’t wear them because she’s already too much of a loser. but when she does where them, you tease her endlessly about them. 

⋆ can and will sleep on the floor whenever prompted. no blankets, no pillows needed. just her and the floor.

⋆ isn’t allowed to drink any sort of energy drinks on account of a previous incident that had to do with about 3 cans of redbull and 2 large cans of the ‘Java Monster.’

⋆ isn’t allowed to own small pets (like gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, etc.) because she’d definitely forget about them. 

⋆ owns big dogs. great danes, newfoundlands, irish wolfhounds, mastiffs, st bernards, YOU NAME IT, SHE HAS IT (or has had it)

⋆ when she’s older, i feel like she’d be like one of those white people who has 192793999 dogs for no reason 

⋆ since her mannerisms are so much like joels, you guys argue playfully all the time about how things should be done, often bringing others into it too. 

“jesse, tell her!” he flips her phone screen around to reveal a very tired jesse, “it’s 1AM, ellie-“ 

“TELL HER!” 

⋆ i feel like at random times, she’ll just grab your boob(s). i don’t know why and you’ve never said anything about it, so she hasn’t stopped…… very handsy….

⋆ audibly goes “honk honk!” almost every time she gives ‘em a squeeze.

⋆ she’s a really sloppy kisser. not like boy-sloppy, but like the hot, messy, girl sloppy bc that sounds better and honestly i think her kisses would be the best.

⋆ she was one of those kids who’d eat dirt and find bugs all the time

because of this, she’s the designated bug killer/bug-getter-outter…. idk

⋆ she’s the worst drunk you know.

like literally sssoooooooooo messy oh my god. but you love her nonetheless :)

she’s soo clingy, and, touchy (like more than usual), but also much more emotional and sensitive than usual when she’s drunk or when she’s sick.

⋆ ellie tends to be quite difficult when she’s sick. BUT! you make it work bc you love her and she loves you :>

when you bring ellie her favorite drink from her favorite coffee shop, you literally have to fight her to be able to get out the front door. when you get up to serve her lunch, you’ve got to peel her off of you because she refuses to let you leave her side. when you go and get the medicine she says she doesn’t need…. you guessed it, she fights for you to stay in bed next to her.

“babe, what if i die right here, when you leave- like- BABE PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME-“ she bewails, crossing her arms and huffing at the sight of you leaving her.

⋆ when you catch her playing her guitar, she sometimes gets all shy and plays the wrong chords n stuff. 

“don’t LOOK! >:(” she says, gripping the body of her guitar, glaring in your direction.

“oh!- okay” you say, throwing your hands up in a playful manner, giggling. 

⋆ but the times where she’s not shy about playing in front of you, she’ll ask you if you want to play.

“do you uh- maybe wanna play? i could teach you” she suggests, gesturing toward the stringed instrument.

but then after, she’d tease you about your finger placement :(

“i said the fourth fret, girl, not the second, or, the third!” she says, in between laughs.

“well fourth from the top or the bottom?!” you scoffed, looking at her, still puzzled.

she knows your trying your best but it’s still fun to poke at you when she can >:)

constructive criticism is appreciated !!!

[springsaladgaming]

🤍 WHITE HEART — what are three of your oc’s neutral/questionable traits?,💔 BROKEN HEART — what are three of your oc’s negative traits?, 🧡 ORANGE HEART — does your oc tend to prioritize family or friends? <- all of the ros, please!

ooo, a triple threat!

Alex - 🤍- Frequent lying (usually white lies). Fake it 'til they make it attitude. Not good at regulating their alcohol intake. 💔- Low self-esteem. Occasional flippancy about serious situations. Generally not caring about the well-being of other people unless it's someone in their direct relationship circle. 🧡- Alex has people that they hang out with on a casual basis, but not many friends that they are especially close to besides the MC. In this regard, MC is more like family to them than a friend, and they prioritize family more.

Ansel - 🤍- Avid coffee drinker. His motives are often unclear. Good at masking sadness. 💔- He sometimes has the tendency to poke fun at other people's insecurities. He can be vindictive. He can also hold quite a grudge. 🧡- Friends. Some of Ansel's family weren't great to him, and the rest are dead.

Teagan - 🤍- Tends to be extremely honest. Bottles up his problems. Pretty impulsive. 💔- Has a short temper. Can be pretty rude. Is a social smoker? (Maybe most people wouldn't really consider this a negative trait? I dunno.) 🧡- Friends. He left his family behind and doesn't plan on ever seeing them again.

Cherry - 🤍- She ignores problems if she thinks she can't do anything about them. She is afraid of being alone. She often appears as pretty mellow or blasé. 💔- She too can be pretty rude. She spies on people's emotions a lot (on purpose). She's generally pessimistic. 🧡- For the most part she prioritizes friends, but her dad is a special case and will always come first.

Lucia - 🤍- She probably works out a little too much sometimes. She is scared of rejection more than anything else on the planet. She's pretty confrontational. 💔- Outbursts of anger from her tend to resemble a toddler throwing a tantrum. She's really pushy. Sometimes she doesn't know how to stop. 🧡- Firmly in the middle. She loves her family, especially her immediate family, but they don't live in Hansboro, so right now her friends typically come first.

Rene - 🤍- Struggles with routine. Is a nervous nail-chewer. Can be a bit emotional. 💔- I don't know if it's because he hasn't been in too many of the written parts of the story yet (not at all in the rewrite) or because it's just how I designed him, but most of Rene's "flaws" seem to be more neutral that negative. I can't think of what to put here for him. 🧡- Family. The whole reason he's in Hansboro is for his sister.

??? - 🤍- Very good at masking. Can be a little emotionally detached. Usually very money-minded. 💔- Tends to see people who aren't with her as obstacles standing in her way. Picks the wrong choice in the Trolley Problem all the time, so to speak. Willfully blind to the misfortunes of others. 🧡- Family. Or, at least, one family member in particular.

thanks for the ask! 🧡

[bropunzeling]

11, 22, 37!

11 Three tropes that are fine but overrated

oh gosh hmm. some of these are gonna come across as hypocritical lmao and also insert a healthy dose of "for me specifically" but: (1) i think soulbond/soulmark tropes can be done well, but mid executions of the trope focus a lot on ~finding~ the person rather than interrogating what it means to have bonds or marks or things of that nature, and leave a lot of interesting nuances about choice and free will and conflict between romantic relationships and other things you might want (career, friendship, autonomy, etc) on the table. i wish more takes on the trope let it be messy! (2) hurt/comfort done well is really fun but when people are just like. aggressively making their little guy sad and pathetic and a poor little meow meow whose never done anything wrong it gets grating. i love a sad guy but i prefer when they're sad because of shit they did to themselves instead of external factors. (3) curtain fic/established relationship stuff can be fun sometimes but like. there still needs to be a smidgen of conflict or growth or change or a shift for me to be interested. there has to be a point imo! even when i write my silly self-indulgent post-fic time stamps its important to me that there's a point to it beyond just "im love them" (though im DO love them)

22 What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

i think the thing is, there can always be a new dimension to how these two idiots fall in love!!! every story is an opportunity to get at some new nugget of like, how people are, or what it is to be vulnerable and open and willing to risk heartache. with two different people you have so many opportunities to look at different shades and facets of their character. especially with rpf where real life events can shape characterization in real time. The Trade opened up a whole new dimension of matthew that creates new angles to investigate matthew&leon and what it means to fall in love with someone thousands of miles away and who you see even less (or, someday, for my break up/make up agenda)! jamie getting dealt to philly opens up new ways to poke at the jamie/trevor relationship by adding distance and tragedy and the potential of falling for other people! even picking a new trope or time period is just so fun for being like, now how would they be under THESE circumstances? also like, i LOVE flip-flopping who gets to be down bad immediately and who is oblivious because it's not only a fun creative challenge but also just opens up new worlds. idk! there's so many possibilities and so many facets to explore and to me that's delightful.

37 Do you research before writing or while you write? Is it fun or boring for you?

id say i do some up front, just to nail down the broad beats of the story and to minimize how much reworking i have to do later on (or for period type fics, to make sure that i dont introduce plot points that simply cant have happened in that time frame!), and some i do as i go -- for example, for a while there i just HAD the battles of alberta in 21-22 down pat because i was using them so often to shape story beats, but the games in between i had to look up as i went. i also am constantly pulling from new articles or features that offer new bits of characterization i want to use. tbh with the current wip i DO feel very wobbly because i don't have my normal anchors of the schedule/have to make things up, which is simultaneously freeing and hard because it's so much easier for me to write about sports games that really happened than the fake ones im constructing for the narratives 😂. but yeah id say mostly i research as i go!

[poisonedpowder]

MEET THE MUN

tagged by: @gntlets (thank you <33) Tagging: anyone that sees it and wants to give it a go! <3

name ? Greenlee

pronouns ? she / her

preferred comms ? I prefer discord (poisonedpowder ; add me if we're mutuals <33) just because messaging is easier on there but I'm totally cool with tumblr ims, too! I will say I do only have my discord for this account on my laptop (yes, I have a separate discord for this lmao) so if it feels like it takes me a bit to get to your messages, I promise I am not ignoring you, I just am probably not at my laptop sjjssjsjs. Feel free to hit me up on there and don't be afraid to message again if you feel like I missed it or you just wanna poke me sjsjs I enjoy random messages < 3

name of muse ? Jinx

experience in rp ? About a decade--- but admittedly, it has mostly been on and off. My most consistent time rping was in the naru/o side of the tumblr rp community as Ino (murasakiirohana). Most of my rping has been on tumblr overall.

best experience ? Just meeting people and having fun making jokes or breaking each other's hearts with angsty ideas. I'm very good at the latter lmao. I like when there is a good mix of solid writing but also not taking it too seriously so whenever I meet people that have the same energy, it is a great experience <3 I also just love reading the in-depth analysis that people bring to their muses because it shows all the love they have for them that sometimes canon just does not.

pet peeves / dealbreakers ? callout posts. I have never entertained them and I never will. If you have beef with someone or just generally a bad experience with them, settle it amongst yourselves or block them. It doesn't need to be a group affair. I also just don't like it when rping is taken too seriously. It's supposed to be fun so I shouldn't feel like I am walking on eggshells, ya know?

fluff, angst, or smut ? When I first started rping, I was into fluff, but man have I leaned into the angst of it all. I get mad at canon for ruining my faves' lives and then I proceed to double down like the hypocrite that I am.

Some of my favorite testimonials from my friend about my angst issues:

So, overall, angst is my go to but I do love me some fluff. Heaven knows Jinx could use some, she barely gets any chance to feel loved without it going horribly wrong. As for smut--- I don't really do any of that, not my sort of thing. I wouldn't mind romantic threads, but I can't say I've ever shipped successfully lmao. Just never works out.

tl;dr: angst is my bread and butter

plot or memes ? Both! I think that using memes can be a good way to get ideas going and then it can lead to plotting. Memes are also just good to get interactions going. I do love plotting things out, too. So, yeah, both works!

long or short replies ? I'm fine with either but probably lean towards longer threads? It just gives us more to work with. Short replies are good for quick little rps and interactions though and they can be really fun sjsjs

best time to write ? Night. It's just the best time for me 'cause I'm not being bugged to do anything and I can vibe with my music which really helps my inspo for my muse.

are you like your muse ? Well, up until act 3 of s2, we both had having really long hair in common but the series decided to take that away from me hmpH. Other than that, maybe in some ways but certainly not others lmao

[mysticarts]

Charater Dumping

soo, to get my nerves off of the whole LMK competition, I decided to draw a rp Oc, and now I wanna Charater dump on you guys-

Meet: Queen Beeulzeebub (Or known as Madam Bee)

Now, you're probably asking: isn't Beeulzeebub a Seven deadly Sin?

YES, YES IT IS. This rp's plot this charater is in is when the Seven deadly sins get tired of working, and choose their children or people in their respective rings to take their place.

Beeulzeebub was the first person to pitch this idea, and the first one to confidently find a replacement for herself. Out of all of the sins, Beeulzeebub is probably the Kindest one.

Now, making a design for a literal Sin of Gluttony is rather difficult, until you remember Gluttony is the overindulgence of things. (If you don't know what overindulgence means, just think if you already ate a lot of food and then say: one more won't be bad.....)

Most people make Beeulzeebub designs off of bees due to the name and sometimes make the characters chubby since when it comes to Gluttony, people immediately think food. Now, none of these ideas are wrong. What I notice is that people don't really expand on the actual meaning of overindulgence

Overindulgence can apply to anything if you think about it. It can apply to loving someone toxic, you keep on telling someone your gonna break it off, but you always come back. It can apply to good things like kindness like when someone keeps on being rude or degrading against you and you just say: I'll keep being kind so I can either get a reaction, or I can them.

Now, when it comes to villans, most can represent Gluttony due to their hunger for power or knowledge. These both can be overindulgence. This is what I wanted to add to my charater.

Beeulzeebub usually does the most paperwork of ALL of the rings, as she reassures everyone that her Taking more paperwork is okay as a sign of indulgence. Beeulzeebub also regularly searches for knowledge and power. Again, a sign of indulgence.

Because of this, Instead of making Beeulzeebub more Bee like or chubby, I made her design cluttered while keeping bee themes.

Personality

When Beeulzeebub was a teenager, To say she was the life of the party was a understament, she'd make the best drinks, the best food, always play the best songs, she was the ultimate party host.

However, despite the fun persona Beeulzeebub had, she had her own insecurities and was extremely loyal to others who have shown loyalty to her.

When she's older, her party persona is gone as it's replaced by stress and despair, Beeulzeebub tries to make spare time to pamper herself, signing hair appointments, going shopping, but it never really worked.

Relationships

Out of the Seven deadly sins, Gluttony may be the one everyone atleast respects. But that is mainly because Beeulzeebub is the main and best cook out of all of them.

Many of them poke fun about her body, always going to her if some of the food have gone missing. Gluttony however, usually ignores the comments, because she knows they won't cross the line considering she's the main reason why some of the other rings are still up.

The only person who really treats Beeulzeebub Kindly is Pride and Lust. Lust more than Pride however, as Pride really takes advantage of Beeulzeebub's kindness (and her romantic feelings) and usually treats her like a servant while Lust treats her like a regular person would.

Anway, if you want any questions about this charater specifically, don't be afraid to ask questions!

[tricksterringmaster]

For the character ask game!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Severus, Lily, and Sirius for: 23, 24, 35, and 47!

Thank you for participating!

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

Tbh, I don't really use scented candles, so it will be all my imagination and a little googling 😂

Severus: I can imagine him smelling like leather and wood, but not in a fresh way, more like a little bitter one. Like an old study room.

Lily: I think out of three of them she's the only one to have some kind of sweet smell. I found one candle that smells like milk & honey online and I have no idea how it would smell in reality, but sounds warm and fitting.

Sirius: It's not really a scented candle, but I have this reed diffuser that smells like tobacco & bergamot, it's pleasant but a little pungent, in my head it suits him as a character who is good but rough around the edges.

24. Most annoying habit

Severus: I love the idea that he pulls his sleeves when he's nervous, but it's the habit most annoying to himself because he has to deal with consequences of it, lol. For people around him it's his talent of collecting books around him like they are on magnets and putting them in weird places. In more emotional sense - his habit of finding someone's sore spot and poking it when he's annoyed, thus escalating the situation or, well, creating the situation.

Lily: Her being quite nagging at times and it's being hard for her to admit that she's the one who is wrong. And also she quite often chooses to ignore problems than dealing with them, until they get out of hand and it becomes hard to do anything, and it applies both to relationships and little casual things like, idk, not fixing the faucet until the whole bathroom gets covered in water.

Sirius: Having ideas he doesn't think through enough, which sometimes work incredibly, but sometimes just doesn't. These things like telling Severus how to get to Remus, running into Gryffindor's dorms with a knife and etc. He's impulsive and it gets him in trouble. Also stopping to care about himself when he gets into his depressive moods, but it's less annoying, more like worrying to others.

35. Their idea of a perfect day

Severus: When he was a teen, these were summer days spent with Lily, when he could run away from his depressive household and go around all town with her and this town somehow seemed less poor and dirty. When he became an adult, a quiet day of reading and brewing with no annyoing children or immediate dangers around, a moment to imagine that nothing around exists and there is no need to be constantly alert.

Lily: As a teen, I'm sure, she loved these summer days when she could freely spend them with her best friend without fear of judgement from her classmates and when on those days he felt less dark and moody. And after the perfect day was when her family could spend it, forgetting how dangerous the world became and just being an ordinary family with James catching Harry on the broom, them saving the cat from being chased and having these hectic but fun moments.

Sirius: As a teen he surely liked days spent with Marauders doing their mischief and feeling so innovative and smart and fun about their adventures and pranks. Then he loved spending days at Potters', because they were his closest people and he loved James, Lily and Harry and ached to see them more often. After Azkaban it's a day when he gets to do something useful and there are a lot of people around so he feels alive again and that the place he takes in this world doesn't seem just temporarily rented.

47. Their dream job

Severus: I believe he'd want to be a scholar with enough freedom to indulge himself in different branches of magic without too many restrictions. He'd probably off himself accidentally at some point like Luna's mom but at least he'd have fun.

Lily: I really like the @rubusart's idea of Lily being a Potions Professor at Hogwarts, and I can see her wanting it. It's something she's good at at a place she loves with people she likes and I personally see her as someone who loves children but has enough backbone to not allow them to lose their minds in class.

Sirius: I really love the idea of Sirius somehow working with animals (because he's just canonically so good with them), he'd be a great magizoologist, and it's a pretty active job, he'd have freedom to see the world or work as a Professor at Hogwarts or maybe both depending on what he craves at any specific moment, I think he's a person who has enough money and needs enough freedom to have such options and change his particular occupation from time to time even if in generally the same direction.

[joons]

rewriting barbie (2023) from scratch, here we go.

the movie cribs mostly from toy story 4 (toys experience midlife crises when kids aren't playing with them), but i would have built it around toy story 2's themes of legacy and mint-in-box status. the barbies in barbieland are all confined to the roles given to them by mattel. she is dr. barbie because she has the doctor outfit. she is stereotypical barbie because she doesn't do anything beyond look pretty and cute. ken is beach ken because he's got sun-bleached hair. this is how adults look at barbies. this is how a toy collector looks at barbies.

maybe this barbieland is the visual representation of america ferrera's barbie collection, a very regimented, very beautiful, very adult way of recapturing her childhood. the barbies never leave their box. the ones that don't have boxes are placed very precisely on shelves, held up by stands with spotlights on them.

sasha does not relate to this at all. she has the same critiques of barbie as a status symbol and impossible standard for women that she has in the film.

but there's another, younger character, maybe a girl that sasha - like skipper! - is babysitting. she plays with barbies the way weird barbie is played with. when she gets into gloria's barbie stash, she starts seeing them as their own people who are not defined by the outfits they wear. this barbie is a machiavellian criminal who is trying to recruit other barbies to break into a bank. this barbie is more comfortable hanging out with the kens because she is bullied by the other barbies. this barbie is a shapeshifter who turns into a barbie horse or a barbie dog as the girl replaces her with another figurine.

things immediately start going wrong for the barbies in barbieland. this isn't correct! this is weird! weird barbie laughs and tells them how they can find out what's going wrong by entering the real world.

as barbie and ken find their way into the real world, sasha discovers what the girl is doing to her mom's collection. at first, she's afraid of gloria punishing her because she knows how much this means to her mom. but as she watches, she sees a funny way of reclaiming barbie for herself and poking the whole concept of barbie in the eye, and maybe her mom is lame for not seeing this. she starts to play with the girl too. now the barbies are fomenting class consciousness and talking about how the kens are repressing them. the barbies are talking about how degrading it is that they can't be weird or ugly or mean. the barbies start understanding the patriarchy.

"the patriarchy?" the girl says. "is that like how men are always riding horses? or how men are on all the money?"

sasha blinks. "yeah, sure."

"well, i like horses," the girl says. "that sounds fun. my kens are going to go to war with the barbies now."

"no!" sasha says. "the patriarchy isn't that simple ... it's ... the kens don't KNOW they're doing it, exactly. it's because they don't consider the barbies as real people. they don't think of them as people who can BE mean or ugly or weird."

"my barbies are already mean and ugly and weird. that's how i like them. i want the kens to be mean and ugly and weird too!"

"oh, it's on," says sasha. they play-act feminist theory and counterarguments through the lens of a generational gap, where the girl's innocent imagination sometimes sees how sasha's anger can also limit the way she sees barbie. barbie and ken can truly be anything. maybe we have to hold onto that part of ourselves even as we learn more about how women are limited in the real world, because how else are we going to make those stories real?

barbie and ken find gloria, and she talks about how much she loves barbie, but how much she'd like to see herself in them again, someone who is struggling to understand her daughter. the barbies in her collection are just something she dreams of being. they are not who she is. she is old and doesn't feel very pretty or accomplished. she is just trying to get by.

barbie sees her as beautiful, despite the fact that this barbie is connected to gloria's emotions and is starting to feel less than too.

ken is becoming connected to the girl playing with gloria's ken at home. he is beginning to see that he can be more too. the world seems designed for kens in a way he's never experienced before. he has to go tell the other kens about horses and money and the godfather! ("who showed this 6-year-old girl the godfather?" sasha wonders.)

probably ken and barbie don't make it back to barbieland, but the audience sees everything that's happening there, the way it starts to become an allegory for the gender wars, a fight for meaning and nuance in a world that makes kens and barbies exactly what they're made for and nothing else. but what WERE they made for? is this really what mattel or ruth handler wanted?

as barbie, ken, gloria, sasha, and the 6-year-old girl talk it out, they realize that they are all right, in a way. we do need aspirational figures to inspire us, but sometimes we need to see ourselves too. we don't need to accept how barbies are meant to be played with as the only option. we do have to accept help from other women who have longer histories with barbie and can see how she both frustrates and inspires our conception of ourselves. we do have to see ourselves through the eyes of our inner child who's a little bit weird and doesn't accept any limitations on themselves at all. we have to learn confidence in ourselves from young women, teenage women, angry women, sad women, mom women, older women, women who want to be more or less than what they've been told they have to be.

because the movie is so discursive without grounding it in the experience of human women, women with very different approaches to femininity and barbie as a tool, it comes off as didactic and uncritical of its own point-of-view, which is actually quite limiting in how it imagines barbies liberating themselves; by being told how impossible it is to be a woman, they accept that limitation and operate through stereotypes to fight the patriarchy, pretending to be stupid and playing with kens' egos and dating around in order to pit the kens against each other. in the context of the film, there is no sense that this ... isn't what women are really like, or that we really ought to be able to imagine more for ourselves than that, regardless of how "powerful" we think the patriarchy is. but if that aspect of the film had been grounded in a child's understanding of the anger she was hearing from older women, then we could easily see the flaws in that kind of response, while understanding why some women might really do that.

develop the human characters as people with widely diverse understandings of who they are in relation to society and in relation to dolls, give them each a way of seeing themselves and their struggles in the dolls, and understand why each of them would buy a doll or at least use the dolls to understand each other better, and the whole movie is much smarter, warmer, and more human. a barbie movie that's truly for everyone.

[tklyhcs]

ooh if you're alright to write some more Hearsteel things, how do you think tickle fights with the boys go? like, who usually starts them, who taps out first, who gets ganged up on, who ends up winning? (you don't have to answer all or any of those, just some prompts/ideas!)

OUGH YES PLS thank you for giving me a chance to blab wahgsh

hmmm kayn seems like a type to start it every time when he's fighting ez over something dumb. or fighting k'sante over the car keys. kayn and ez both try to fight that man over the car keys actually. based on that video riot games posted on twitter it was like "he's a 10 but never lets anyone else drive" or something.

kayn is willing to fight at the drop of a hat and sometimes ez wants to drive and then looks at kayn to start the fight for him he's like 😢🥺 and kayn is like perfect. time to induce civil unrest within the band. he swears he doesn't get swayed by ez's puppy dog eyes but that may be part of it!!

sett also likes to start them, even though he does NOT perform well. he be poking phel or yone just to LOSE smh. phel because he doesn't laugh too often and yone when he's doing better in a video game. yone is canonly better than him and he's a lil bastard and is like what i'm not doing anything i would never stoop so low ((gaslighting)) and i bet if they're playing co-op with people online they get called out for throwing LMFAO they get in trouble with other gamers for fooling around. while k'sante usually calls for yone, yone calls for k'sante the same and sett is like ok now this is no longer fair (it is fair he just says anyone going after him is cheating and unwarranted). yone can finally game in peace.

as for who taps out first mayhaps phel! oughgh it'd be so cute if he signs when he's had enough and needs a breather but i can guarantee he's back in the game pretty fast. like he needs a moment but then a bit later he's RIGHT BACK to acting like a dick lol he taps out but decides his ler meter isn't done yet and he's back in that fight asap!

kayn takes too long to tap out for someone who "hates it" it's so obvious but it might embarrass him too much if someone mentions it so they don't wah it's cute.. they're afraid he might decide to prove them wrong by starving himself of attention and decide he doesn't wanna play. also side note here i'm not always aware of how rhaast works in their universe but just imagine it is still the situation of having another entity cause imagine him calling it childish and kayn being like cool. bet. and leaving rhaast to front and rhaast is like WHOAA HOLD ON WAIT WAIT AAAA I TAKE IT BACK HOLD ON

for who gets teamed up on probably yone. because the team loves bothering him when he's doing work or bullying him for acting like he's above it! tapping away at his laptop focusing on nothing else and being snippy when anyone bothers him.. walk your fingers across his back and shoulders and suddenly he's keysmashing by accident. they politely wait for him to periodically save his work. then they grab him. he's very fun to tickle out of an attitude. you can see the crease between his eyebrows smooth out to accompany his new smile!

and for winning. no one ever wins this is a group-wide loss. LOL immeasurable casualties on all fronts. absolutely everyone is wasted by the end. dare i say ez would CLAIM that he's sure he won and everyone becomes hellbent on making sure he knows that he DIDN'T. the competitive spirit they all have is something for sure.

AA TY.. i could talk forever!! wonderful prompts thanky u ✌✌✌✨✨

[writerfae]

Okay, I don't think this one will actually help, but do I understand correctly that Callan is technically Cyrus' boss?🤣 Because, I can see Callan being professional with him, meanwhile he spent the morning listening to Aiden rant about him

What is Callan afraid of?

I know he likes to stress bake in the modern au(me too, man) but what are his hobbies in the fae realm?

This isn't a question but I know he loves flower crowns and that is just the cutest thing ever😭

What was it like when he finally introduced Henry to Rhys because I know that in his character spotlight he said something about Rhys scaring him away 🤣

I know somewhere it says that hes one of the youngest kings in history, and i know the rulers have meetings sometimes with each other so how does everyone else feel about Callan being so young?

What was it like when Henry asked for his hand in marriage?

What was their wedding like?

For now this is all i have but I'll send more if I think of anything! Good luck with gathering enough facts!

Also, I think if i could talk to one of your ocs I'd talk to Callan. Idk what we'd talk about, but I feel like it'd be a very nice conversation!

Also, also: Hugs Callan really tightly: I love you!

First off, thank you so much for your questions! I really appreciate it!

And yes, technically Callan is the boss of Cyrus. So is Henry, since he’s officially leader of the royal guard xD

Callan is afraid of losing the people he loves (Henry especially) and of failing as a king. Also of sickness. Those are his deepest fears.

Sadly, Cal doesn’t have much time for hobbies, but when he can make some time, he likes poetry, reading and botany.

Rhys did not scare Henry away, that much is clear xD he did embarrass Callan a bit though and pokes fun at them for being love birds. But their meeting went well and Rhys likes him (he passed Rhys’ test you could say), so it’s all good xD

Callan is indeed one of the youngest kings in fae history. For fae standards he’s barely even a grown up (or well, he is now but he wasn’t when he took the throne).

So of course the other rulers thought he was too young and naive to be a king. The queen of the Aspen Court (Rhys’ mother) believed in him though and defended him in front of the others. And soon Callan proofs her right and the others wrong, because he’s doing a good job ^^

Henry asked for Callan’s father’s blessing before proposing to Callan. He was afraid that he wasn’t good enough, but the king reassured him that as long as he loves Callan, that was more than enough. So then Henry proposed and Callan instantly turned into a crying mess because he has dreamed of this and now it’s finally happening!

Their wedding was a typical fae wedding, of course it was a huge thing cause that’s a ROYAL fae wedding. That’s THE event. After they made it through the official part and enjoyed their feast a bit however, the two snuck away for some alone time, they needed that xD

Callan is a good choice for having a conversation with, it would certainly be a nice chat. Also you can gush over Henry together!

Thanks again for the questions!!

[essayofthoughts]

Same for you: 12, 19, 23 owo

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Ripley.

Like. If we're going for the villain pick, Ripley. I don't think you should think she's a good person - she's not - or that she's nice a woobie or something. She's fucking awful! But she's also awful in a really human, engaging way and I find her so fun to poke. I think a lot of people kind of forget the pure banality of evil, the way these people can have really simple, dull motivations - Ripley wants power and knowledge and she doesn't care how she gets it. Everyone is just a tool or a stepping stone in the goal of that.

And she's canonically a foil to Percy, so that makes her REALLY USEFUL in analysing him - and him in analysing her! - so for all of those people who like a bit of dark!Percy like... Ripley! She is right there!

And she's such a bitch. She refuses to swear despite being someone who tortures people, she's clever enough to replicate guns from second and third hand reports, she's always looking to her own advantage - and she's just. Awful! She's exactly the kind of person who looked at the structural inequality of the Dwendalian Empire and decided to do the amoral shit others got away with because of wealth and when she got arrested for it assumed it was purely because of class differences and not because she's just the Worst.

And the thing is these days there's so much moralising! Oh the villain must be woobified, oh they never did anything wrong at all ever (MCU Loki, Kylo Ren, even the Betrayer Gods in CR!) and frankly fuck that.

Ripley did do shit wrong and that's why I find her engaging. She wilfully tortured people despite it being useless for information gathering! She made guns and spread them around purely to fuck with Percy! She's an awful human being and sometimes it's really fun to look at that in the distance. Over there. Way over there. Down the barrel of a sniper rifle.

Yeah.

If we're doing non-villain, minor-character fic... it's Desmond, it's fucking Desmond, I know he's not really "Unpopular" so much as "ignored" but I don't care! I will fight you all on this hill, that Desmond Otham is so revealing as to Percy's own perception of his own guilt and failure to his family ("I want you to spend the rest of your life making up for the things you allowed to happen" says Percy and WHAT THINGS Percival! This lad is a carriageboy! He's about the same age you were when the massacre happened! What the fuck do you expect him to blame himself for!? Now you blaming yourself on the other hand...)

Plus I just think he's neat! I think he's a great example of someone with a lasting consequence from Percy's reckless actions - one of those people Percy mentions who may not see them as heroes for reasons that are completely justified. And if he is the courier or returns to Whitestone and takes up another job - he's got that reminder the rest of his life. Even away from Vox Machina, he has his maimed hand.

I think he's really cool, fuck everyone who disagrees.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

N/A, I think? There's nothing I like that I'm mad, ashamed or horrified over that I can think of. I like the things I like and I know why I do so I've largely resolved any conflicts I'd have of that kind. I've definitely figured some things out writing fic that kinda annoy me (i.e. I can write smut pretty easily when there's trauma and mental fuckery involved but not like... on it's own) but that's fanfic more than dealing with fandom as a whole or the canon itself.

So uh. N/A!

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

Again, I think N/A? I don't generally ship things, not to like... shipwar, this is my OTP or else kind of deal. I think that kind of thing is actually really unhealthy and often hoping for that ship can cause people to disconnect from the canon itself in order to back up their warped reading of the text, plus it just sets people up for disappointment! I'm a big believer in creating ships purely for the "I guess this could be neat!" kind of thing, and I don't generally get into it more than that.

Perc'ahlia is the exception, but that wasn't unwilling. They gave me too many fantastic squishy feelings and thinky thoughts, I didn't even hesitate.

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

[zvdvdlvr]

⭐ -> star! ships. send your sexuality, gender, and a description of yourself and what fandoms you're in. ( as long as i'm in said fandom lol ) ill ship you with 1 or 2 characters!

i have long wavy black hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. i like spring a lot! especially because flowers start blooming around that time and i think flowers are lovely. i also really like to doodle. it’s fun, it’s quick, and  it’s relaxing!! but art in general is one of my passions. also music is almost always playing in the background whenever i do things.  and i really love rom coms and romance novels!! idc if it’s really cheesy, i just think it’s cute! i definitely believe in true love, even if i don’t think i might be able to meet mine. my favorite color is maroon! i’m also a virgo and i value my grades a lot and that can spiral in the wrong direction at times. i’m also short, 5”1 to be exact, and people tell me that i have small hands. i love high fives though, so i get that comment quite a lot. my love language is either touch or words of affirmation. i’m leaning towards words of affirmation but touch does help keep me grounded. i occasionally wear rings but i always my earrings and this one necklace. and i’d like to think that i’m a nice person! i really like to explain things to people if they don’t understand a topic and i’m pretty good at it too. i have really high expectations for myself and sometimes if i don’t meet that expectation i breakdown. i tend to cry easily, it’s not okay and is something that i’m working on. i’m bisexual and i’m in harry potter, marvel, and outer banks! it’s fine if you can’t do this and i’m sorry for writing so much! 

ily jules! congratulations on the milestone and take care xx

Hello angel :)) ily more, and you take care as well. i hope you enjoy!!

From the Harry Potter Universe, I ship you with...

James Potter!

(depending on your image of James <3)

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 would totally poke a little fun at your height, but he's made it clear he finds it endearing and he doesn't wish to upset you if he says something mean. Whenever he sees flowers, he thinks of you! While in school, James would always admire any and all nature forms with 'i know yasmine would adore this <333". Absolutely 100% will do/help you with homework, depending on the subject; James feels bad whenever he sees you cry, and he'll do anything to keep you from crying if he can help it :((( <333. Praises and gives you feedback about everything (they don't call him James motormouth Potter for nothing smh). Loved holding your hand because of how small they are and its a way for him to calm down. Will drop everything to make sure you're okay, it doesn't matter where you both are at. Loves when you ask for his input on jewelry and will spoil you rotten 🥰

(i'm only on season one of obx, so im so sorry if this is bad!)

From the Outer Banks universe, I ship you with:

Kai Cerrara!

Ok but 𝐊𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 would probably love doing your hair because "it's literally so pretty, shut up!" Dancing to music on the beach or in a boat is a must, Kie definately tells you something like "ur legally required to sing cheesy love songs with me while we shimmy and dance around falling further in love with each other" idk I wasn't there 🤷. Kiara lovesss when you give her your random doodles/sketches :'( and would never throw them away. Asks you questions about things you like and know a lot about so she can hear your pretty voice explain things to her <3. I HAVE A BLURB IDEA: snuggling with Kie and her resting on your shoulder while you both read a romance novel or smth 😕❤️❤️ Would also get matching sets of like earrings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. Loves complimenting you :)

From the MCU, i ship you with...

Yelena Belova!

𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚, for one, adores any and all piercings you have- specifically ear piercings. I feel like Yelena also would love braiding your hair and matching outfits and jewelry with you. Watching romance/comedy movies are a must, since Yelena missed out on... a lot when she was brainwashed. Loveloveloves any and all affection you show her, and would be someone to give you random high fives whenever you do something you're proud of. Yelena would often buy small plants (pink polka dot, succulents, anything really) she thinks you'd like (but small enough to be kept out of Fanny's reach). If you both were bored one day and you were laying on the couch, Fanny asleep on your lap. "Wanna watch a movie, detka?" Yelena asked, flopping on your opposite. Immediately a large smile spread across Yelena's face at the speed of which yasmine's stetchbook and pencil were discarded and replaced with the remote. "You choose," Yelena requested, pulling the shared fluffy maroon blanket up to her neck.

Please keep in mind this is only my second ship, so I apologize if this is bad!! ❤️

[beantothemax]

Artur wandered around the tents as he pondered what spell one might use to kill those pesky floating eyeballs. What kind of weak point did they have? Usually when fighting a person, one would-

Someone was crying. Arthur's ears perked up at the sound. He wandered around the tents till he found Lute's buttoned shut. She sat in it, sobbing as though it was her first time since infancy.

Immediately he opened the tent and poked his head inside.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Lute looked up and was silent in an instant.

"I'm fine, leave me alone," she demanded.

"Clearly you're not, please just tell me what's wrong," he said.

"No, you're part of the problem," she muttered.

Well, that was an odd response. As far as Artur knew, he'd done nothing to hurt Lute, at least not on purpose. What could he possibly have said or done that made her so upset?

"Can I know what it is? I want to apologize but I can't if I don't know what it is."

Lute rubbed her eyes and finally looked at him. But only for a moment. She looked back at the ground and toyed with the hem of her dress.

"I sometimes say things and you guys say it's mean and that I should apologize, but you never say why it's mean and you always get upset when I ask why," she explained, "I can't tell when I say mean things, because my brain works differently from others, but no one believes me."

Artur thought for a moment. Those things actually affected her? She always seemed so... Unfeeling. She hardly reacted when she was insulted or when she was injured. And this was just a small thing, he didn't say things like that often... At least, he couldn't think of examples off the top of his head.

But it made sense. Being in such a confusing situation where someone was also upset with you couldn't be fun.

"I'm sorry, Lute. I'll try remember that next time and I promise I'll be more patient with you," he said.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Lute moved to Artur's side. She hugged him tight. Of course he hugged her back, but he was still surprised. Lute never spoke of how she felt. Not when she was injured, not when she was mad. And she certainly never hugged him.

Artur had known Lute for years and she was finally willing to open her heart to him. Knowing that pleased him more than anything else. He cared deeply about her and now, he could actually help.

"Thank you for telling me how you feel," he whispered.

"Hmph," was Lute's only reply.

She hugged him as tight as he could. Such a friend was rare and should be treasured. It would be a shame to let go of him.

PIE MY HEART IS GOING TO MELT AAAGAGHABSBDGXGXGCGBBDBCJSJSKCN ghhhghhhg….. waahhh…. aheem heem,,,,,,,

tbis is me drinking this fic if it was milk and I was a cat (ideal reality) because HHABGHDNDB

lute talkin about how she does care about the things others say, and how it’s upsetting when people don’t explain things to her…that whole part hurt a lil.

characters hugging is my favorite thing ever and!!!! lute actually showing her trust in Artur!!!!!!! through doing that!!!!!!! exploding!!!!!

I love this a lot!!!!!!!!!! im literally bouncing as I type this because !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they!!!!!!

[lazzarella]

It's now been six months since I started my journey into Asian BL series*, and there's nothing I like more than making lists and procrastinating (with a dash of navel gazing), so I'm here to ramble a bit haha (okay this got really long 😅)

*I did realise later that I had watched the movie cut of Wish You some time back, but I'm not counting it :P

I posted an overall top 10 when I hit 40, I think, but here's my updated version:

1. My Personal Weatherman and Moonlight Chicken tied for first place :P

2. KinnPorsche

3. Cherry Magic (Thailand)

4. Wandee Goodday

5. Boys Be Brave!

6. Old Fashion Cupcake

7. A Tale Of Thousand Stars

8. Cherry Magic (Japan)

9. We Are

10. Only Friends and Jack O' Frost tied for 10th place because I can't decide

Now for the navel gazing:

So, I had heard of some of these shows for a while, but I was dumb and couldn't figure out how to watch them XD then, someone on Reddit asked for recs for gay period dramas, and another person recommended I Feel You Linger in the Air to them (I still haven't finished this) and that sent me down a rabbit hole, which eventually led to me watching Moonlight Chicken at the end of January. I was super anxious and depressed at the time (compared to my usual levels of depression and anxiety) and it was exactly the balm I needed! And then I proceeded to watch 49 more shows in the following six months lmao

Also, as much as I sometimes love a sad love story, I was getting frustrated that so many queer romance movies were ending with the main couple apart—maybe everyone wants to make their own version of Weekend, I don’t know haha (Sidenote: I swear there were more HEA in 90s/00s queer films but maybe that was selection bias) Like, don't get me wrong, they're basically all made by queer creators, and I don't want to police what they make (I have a whole rant about this, but I'll save it for another day...or my drafts lol) But as a rom-com lover I was getting bored of watching the same 10 movies/shows over and over for my HEA lmao so, delving into Asian BL series where the majority seem to have happy endings??? Omg, it's been HEAVEN!

As far as adjusting, there wasn't really much to do. I only note this, because a few people I've chatted to elsewhere seemed to treat it like I was delving into completely new territory or something??

Anything that isn't just your standard rom-com or romance trope, I was probably familiar with due to many years in transformative fandom. And the things I wasn't familiar with were mostly cultural things (which I'm still learning about) or different stylistic choices (like the sound effects, which I love). The fandom culture, though, has been a little more of an adjustment, especially the fan service and fixed couples (I think this is a super cute idea, tbh—it feels like watching the gay Fred and Ginger or Myrna Loy and William Powell et al, you know? By the by, Loy and Powell made 13 films together!)

I think overall I'm more drawn to Thai series, but the Japanese ones, when they hit emotionally, they hit like nothing else. Like nothing I've ever watched really. I think it's the way they do longing and yearning combined with feelings of low self worth that's just sooooooo good and delicious to me. But, yeah, there's something about the Thai series that I'm really drawn to! I've started watching more Thai movies in general and listening to Thai music and, I don't know, I enjoy it all. I still need to delve into Taiwan and other countries, though

I've had so much fun with the series I've watched and learning little bits of different cultures and I'm excited to keep going and make my way through my intimidatingly long watchlist lol It's been hard not to let other people's opinions get me down, though—I've felt less embarrassed about enjoying rom coms on Letterboxd than I have since poking my head into BL spaces, but... I don't think I'll dwell on that XD

Anyway, here are all of the series I've watched ranked by country under the cut(an idea I borrowed from @/dramalets)

Thailand (average rating: 8.4)

1. Moonlight Chicken

2. KinnPorsche

3. Cherry Magic

4. Wandee Goodday

5. A Tale of Thousand Stars

6. Only Friends

7. We Are

8. Cupid's Last Wish

9. Manner of Death

10. Laws of Attraction

11. Vice Versa

12. Last Twilight

13. Enchanté

14. A Boss and a Babe

15. Lovely Writer

16. The Sign

17. Hidden Agenda

18. Bad Buddy

19. Not Me

20. Theory of Love

21. To Be Continued

22. Sky In Your Heart

Japan (average rating: 8.2)

(Using the English titles)

1. My Personal Weatherman

2. Old Fashion Cupcake

3. What Did You Eat Yesterday?

4. Jack O' Frost

5. Cherry Magic etc

6. My Beautiful Man

7. Love is Better the Second Time Around

8. Ossan's Love

9. Perfect Propose

10. My Love Mix-Up

11. Candy Color Paradox

12. I Cannot Reach You

13. Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss

South Korea (average rating: 7.6)

1. Boys Be Brave

2. Blueming

3. Semantic Error

4. Love for Love's Sake

5. Choco Milk Shake

6. The New Employee

7. Love Tractor

8. Our Dating Sim

9. Bon Appetit

10. Roommates of Poongduck 304

11. The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

12. Love Class

13. Cherry Blossoms After Winter

14. Kissable Lips

And I'm currently watching:

Love Sea; Meet You at the Blossom; Only Boo!; The Trainee; This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans

[thepowerisyouth]

EDIT-AS-I-GO-ALONG-JUSTIFY-ALL-MY-ACTIONS-POst

First started February 10th, 2024 in the middle of the night of course. Although I am 22 years old so I should really be saying-- "it all began 22 years ago when I was born"

Sometimes I write rants that are way too long, and I dont feel like editing or deleting it in full, I'm just going to call this what it is:

A very long diary entry I can come back to later. Its got some good stuff I wont lie to myself. But its also probably incomprehensible at times so ignore it as anything but a very rough rant for now

I also plan to invite new-to-the-site people to read my blog (no doubt being exposed to the horrors within my own blog and past). I'm talking bout people who have probably never typed in the letter T, U, M, B, L, R in a row ever once, and boy howdy are they in for the time of their fucking life

For anyone who is reading this right now, and is worried that they might find something truly scarring to their good christian sensibilities on this site, then I heavily recommend using tags, and content filters before delving further down in the dnd dungeon of my blog, or especially the higher level dungeons on the rest of the site for the first time, where the algorithm will absolutely assume you are ready for the same things the rest of the demographic here wants to see.

(Its a lotta porn. Okay? I'm talking about different unique genres of drawn, or whatever medium of porn mainly. Thats scary to a new person)

So grandma-- buckle up. Jesus take the wheel. Have faith in me & humanity. Its going to be a ride to get there but I truly believe you are capable of it

The whole philosophy I'm preaching is about expanding horizons in a respectful way, so please do so.

With that in mind, in order to prepare any newbies to this site in an engaging and fun way, I had to poke fun in what might be taken in a bad way at the site. I dont mean that. I love this site. I liken my words of preparation to what you might say before bringing your transphobic family into your home full of very queer friends

If you really wanna get mad at me, please do, I love hearing dissenting opinions.-- "Life is full of contractions" as they say.-- But please do so in truly, humanizing, empathically good faith. On every. Single. Post you see. Not just mine of course. Theres a lot more to be said on methodology of public discourse that is a huge part of my philosophy so this post really delves into this

Last thing for now before this post gets even more nitty-gritty:

This is really important, but only for any person who at any point doesn't understand something I'm talking about, and is discouraged by that fact to continue reading up on this philosophy. Don't let that discourage you. I made a perfect science ACT score way back when, and it was all thanks to (and literally nothing else) the simple, but persistent learning skill which is: ignore everything you dont know for now. If you start to notice it happens more than once on something you don't deem irrelevant, than ask questions, but often times people get bogged down by big words, but really do get the gist of an argument. And thats more than enough understanding for a first read. Learning takes many attempts. People learn different materials at different rates and thats a fact

Disclaimer 1: I think the other things counted as number ones but I'm starting here with the numbering

Disclaimer 2: I'm wrong. A lot. I talk with varying degrees of confidence because all language capable humans in existence do that, but literally quantum mechanics--the core principles of our universe as we understand them today-- teaches us that everything acts with a bit of a standard error. Theres no coincidence in the universe why statistics is a field of study.

My standard error is +/-50% on being 50% correct. My point is dont @ me for using an incorrect degree of confidence, because as a trained financial analyst I can attest they are all fucking wrong all the time just like me. However, none of them are wrong about most of the things they say, they simply draw the wrong conclusions most of the time

However, if you believe that the ideals which I, and others like me, are preaching are true than you should in good-faith contribute to making this philosophy more refined, not just be a toxic asshole on the internet. I think most sensible people are past that by now, come on.

I think the last thing I can think to say on this specific point about being wrong (there will always be more to say later), is that a lot of us are inclined, in this world, to only trust things when we've really tested & read into every possible source. And that's for every right reason in the world. But there is no denying that there is gate keeping to science. Huge barriers to entry. Exponentially balooning costs to scientific study. Not to mention just like.. paywalls on every site nowadays. Everyone.

I believe that in this year-of-our-lord-mr-krabs 2024 we need to turn back to philosophy to understand all of our problems, more specifically all of our greviences with capitalism. With the important caveat that we do, in fact, have probably thousands or millions or billions more questions answered than our favorite old philosophers. Fuck yes thats exciting! Because that only makes philosophy today work even better. I think it will help us answer trillions more

Disclaimer 3: I also justify myself. A lot. I'm doing it right now. And now. Every word.

This is an edit at the top after reading over disclaimer 3 once: I think I'm defining justification the same way a scientist thinks of evidence. Also context. It really is just all the same thing. I just needed to add that because I wasnt clear about my definition below

I think as time goes on, people will probably justify themselves more, and more, and more, but while also finding ways to better communicate those justifications in a quicker, more efficient way. Like how encryption and decryption science is a super cool and fast growing study. Kinda cool and star trek if you really think about it far enough

The reason I justify justifying myself is that we have, in fact, learned to encrypt and decrypt many things through our own brains and language. If I say a word that someone else knows, than I save time by not having to jump into every possible nook-and-cranny of explaination. This bit of framing about language being an efficiency/encryption/decryption thing will come back a lot in my writings

I read that over, and told myself: "okay bennet I think you lost the point there" so I need to circle back and say that when we speak we are trying--- desperately -- to find a way to decrypt the crazy encryption that is our thoughts. And because trial and error is effective, we often just jump to saying a bunch of things that have worked in the past, in the hope that the listener will respond with the rewarding joy of 2 people in understanding. A puzzle solved, if you will.

For example, if you engage with my post and I perceive that engagement to be positive, than I will probably, uncontrollabley get a rush of dopamine that cocaine only wishes it could give. You know this is true, because you've felt it too

Disclaimer 3a - mistakes are really cool. I finally know why the Japanese have that thing where they highlight mistakes in a piece. Its about making. It. Memorable. I have a great story example on a post here, but I think most people can agree with my position that its easier to remember when you are wrong-- than right.

What that means-- this is super duper uber wuper sluper important. Things that are memorable are part of the decryption key to language. There is a way that we are all figuring out how to communicate where we utilize what some percieve as mistakes to draw in attention, then listener either remembers the key or has to find it, then both move forward, happy having solved the issue of decrypting a bunch of literally just electricity and sound waves coming from a very real human in front of you. How cool is it that we can apply the framework of humans as puzzle solvers to better communicate our crazy thoughts?

To wrap that up-- this doesnt include all forms of language, of course. But I think its a humanist framework for understanding how we can be more effective communicators.

I read over that whole 3a thing and I already had plenty of questions and dissents for myself. Going to just add for now that if we extend our definition of the word mistake, to include ANYTHING that catches the attention more than expected, than yes, this framework makes more sense.

The next time I read that over I thought I could add that people are drawn by knowledge. Something which isnt new to us just isnt interesting. We know this already, but I'm connecting it to this point.

3b - the fact that I bring up humanist arguments for encouraging memory promoting activities brings to mind that it IS HEALTHY FOR US AND HELPS US AVOID NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS

Disclaimer 4: Like most people on this site, most people who arent depressed (I call tired depressed I was told I'm bipolar its what I do), and honestly all leaders, influencers, artists, actors, scientists, innovators, most entrepreneurs---- yatta yatta yatta everyone okay. Bascially, arguments sake, I mean every human being on the planet. I am capable of great, sometimes too great, emotion. If I wasnt Id be dead. If that emotion seems overwhelming, or too much, then please just take a break, or take a step back and try and reframe everything I'm saying as a deperate plea for help from a very young (I was born in 2001), very hungry, person. More on this later

Disclaimer 5: I'm ex mormon. I come from Texas. I use a LOT of religious sounding talk. There is good reason for that and there's good reason I'm giving this it's own disclaimer. Theology & philosophy go hand-in-hand and theres a quadrillion combinations of words I could barf up from the deepest pits of my mind to discuss.

In the interest of keeping the top of this disclaimer an actual one I'm going to stop for now by saying I think I'm correct in using this language so liberally, for now, because it really does work as a way to connect with people who are used to hearing that language. Most #religiouslytraumatized people I know do the same, and Ive yet to find a good reason to stop. But if someone does get triggered from my religious verbiage at all, please let me know. I'm sure theres a way we can work it out that will make both of us feel better. Probably would just be me watching my damn satanist mouth or something