#before your argument starts

[goldkirk]

I don’t know how to explain any more clearly that it doesn’t MATTER if it seems legitimate to you. You have got to fact check every single headline and post and claim on the left just like you need to do on the right.

The left is NOT immune to misinformation and rushed reporting. And the more emotionally polarizing or shocking the talking points, sound bytes, and headlines are, the worse it is and more frequently it happens.

Learn to verify through multiple independent sources. If you can’t do that, you can’t trust it.

If you have to wait extra hours for the real information to come through vetted channels—NOT just one individual somewhere everyone links to, and not just one single media source either, EVEN if it’s a major news network—thats just how it has to be. What news outside of genuine local disasters near you TRULY needs your outrage and post-sharing in the next hour specifically?

Misinformation works best by not seeming like misinformation and by fitting in with the rest of what you already expect to see. It doesn’t help anyone to not be able to recognize and avoid the stuff.

[plasticbag23457]

🎶One way ticket to manipulation station🎶

[tenwhiteandalusians]

so no one was going to tell me if i got literally one episode further tenax drops that he’s the one who saved scorpus from his mom’s pimp AND that he’s intimately familiar with scorpus’ dick when he was younger. guys. guys.

[admiral-arelami]

Canonically Bad Thrawn

Why are some people so obsessed with whether Thrawn is "good" or "bad"? This isn't middle school, where everything must be either/or, black or white, yes or no. These are false dichotomies. Not every work of literature exists to teach readers a "moral lesson." Good fiction rarely deals in moral absolutes. Nor, in fact, does real life. Readers are interested in morally dubious characters for a host of reasons, most of which have little or nothing to do with their real-life beliefs or actions. Hate to break it to you, but a hot, blue, *fictional* alien isn't the one responsible for the resurgence of real-life fascism. Thrawn isn't going to turn your impressionable teenager into a fascist or neo-Nazi. Most people who like Thrawn aren't fascists or neo-Nazis. Nor, I suspect, is Timothy Zahn a member of some secret fascist cult, promulgating conspiracy theories while he awaits the Apocalypse in his fortified bunker.

[ssruis]

My personal take on the tsukasa + toya dynamic is that like. Tsukasa helped toya a lot by giving him the familial warmth & unwavering support that he was not getting from his own family & encouraged toya to do what HE wanted to do with his own life instead of following what his dad wanted when he didn’t enjoy it, as well as kinda being toya’s only source of normalcy and activities outside of the piano as a kid. It’s not a stretch to say that Tsukasa changed Toya’s life for the better (causing him to meet Akito, discover what he’s actually passionate about, meet VBS, actually communicate with and stand up to his dad) and saved him from a future he would hate, it’s literally stated by Toya. Multiple times. & tsukasa still continues to be a huge supporter of toya and does his best to care for him. This stuff is made obvious over and over again -

(Tsukasa’s Kamiyama festival card story)

(Kamiyama festival)

- but toya also helped tsukasa a lot when they were kids too, even if it’s a bit less obvious (only stated outright in one card story iirc). Toya mentions not actually seeing Saki a lot when he was younger, as she was in and out of the hospital

(NGUC)

So it was typically just him and Tsukasa. Tsukasa’s entire dream in life was sparked by seeing how happy a play made saki, and his strange (said fondly) personality in the present day is because he was constantly trying to make her happy with shows/acting when they were kids. Realized it cheered saki up when he put on the Future World Star personality -> constantly acting/emulating the actors he saw on stage or on tv to make saki (and later toya) happy at a formative age -> it gets baked into his personality -> now it’s not even an act it’s just how he is. It’s incurable. (Not a bad thing, just something that explains why he’s such a freak)

A large part of tsukasa’s identity is also being a big brother, which is made really difficult when you’re separated from your little sister constantly, she’s often suffering and miserable, and there’s nothing you can do to help her. As he mentions frequently, her happiness is a priority for him (sorry you’re gonna have to trust me on that one if you for some reason doubt that. Image limit. You understand. One example of many is in one of Saki’s birthday cards.)

And as hard as it was for Tsukasa to be powerless in that situation, it was way harder for Saki, because she was the one in pain/seriously ill/hospitalized throughout a large portion of her childhood. She mentions that she forced herself not to cry in front Tsukasa as a kid so he wouldn’t be upset (doll festival), and while it was happy tears in that situation it’s a safe bet that she tried to do it with any negative emotions too - but she was also suffering & acting happy all the time in that situation would be impossible for an adult, let alone a small child.

(Toya’s doll festival card story)

Tsukasa couldn’t help Saki, but he could help Toya, and through that he was able to help himself/feel a little better. He could cheer Saki up, but that was about the extent of what he could do - he couldn’t stay in the hospital with her or ease her pain or take away her illness. Toya needed a friend/older brother figure/escape from his dad, which Tsukasa actually could provide. I feel like there was definitely some transference there where Tsukasa (unconsciously) just took all the big brotherisms he couldn’t do with Saki and redirected them towards Toya. Which, again, isn’t a bad thing, because he *was* helping toya through this, they formed a genuine strong bond, and it helped him deal with his emotions. + saki got a bonus brother to play with when she was home.

I think people want to water their relationship down to just “haha tsukasa adopts people as his siblings” which isn’t even true* and ignores the very specific set of circumstances that led to Tsukasa considering Toya his younger brother, and the circumstances that led to Toya seeing Tsukasa as an older brother figure, as well as the fact that they’ve known each other for like a decade at this point AND the fact that their parents are close friends.

Their relationship is so strong because it is built off of them both helping each other, not because Tsukasa randomly saw a sad kid and went “you’re my brother now.” Which is also why I’m not a fan of [x random character] is a tenma.** Plus, does saki’s relationship with that character not also matter? Toya’s relationship with Saki is a pretty big part of why he’s considered a part of the family***, even if he’s not as close to her as he is to tsukasa.

*In Tsukasa’s head a star is a good big brother and given that both of those things are deeply entrenched in his personality, he mother hens his friends & does his best to act like a responsible and reliable person towards everyone. As I’ve mentioned before, Wxs KAITO is a reflection of Tsukasa’s ideal self (reliable big brother/leader figure) - nobody says KAITO is adopting siblings left and right (wrt the other vocaloids/wxs). Notably, irrc, wxs KAITO & normal KAITO both desire to be seen as a reliable big brother figure by others, but as a general thing and not a “this guy is literally my brother” thing. Tsukasa is the same situation. He likes to provide a good example for his juniors because that’s what he believes a star should do, which is also why he gets so irritated about Rui “tarnishing his reputation” whenever they get in trouble, and what prompted him to join the disciplinary committee in his third year after hearing underclassmen be like wow the 1-2 oddball finish are so wacky & crazy. Acting like a big brother =/= literally adopting people as siblings.

** you do you though if you enjoy those head canons more power to you. It’s just not my thing (known canon purist).

*** give me like 10 minutes I have stuff to say about that as well that will have to go in a reblog. Image limit strikes again.

[hanzajesthanza]

hold up actually. wait a second. i always loved this passage and even referenced it recently on here, but...

it occurred to me (a straight hair-haver) that... while this routine to brush through your hair thoroughly at night would be a good care habit for someone with straight hair, wouldn't it be a bad idea for someone with naturally curly hair to do this? wouldn't brushing her hair dry with a comb (she later puts away the comb in a box), nightly, mess up her hair?

[her-canine-teeth]

bad astrology by flower face

[lestbian]

i used to play this fun game called "lets see how much racism i can put up with before i get the fuck out" and it was terrible for my mental health. and clearly ive learned nothing because here i am sitting as a white boy tries to tell me what racism is

[breelandwalker]

Your post about unwarded homes made me remember when I was watching this tv show (documentary?) about amish hauntings and one of the episodes was about a young girl being gifted a doll with a face by her non-amish friend and AS SOON AS she brought it into the house her family was absolutely plagued with demons from that day on...and I walked away from the episode going okay, why isn't everyone else fighing demons and evil spirits every day if it only took two minutes of doll exposure to completely demonify this amish household!!!!!

Oh boy, I have SEEN those shows. They're complete bunk. It's all entirely based on morality tales from Amish communities, which promise dire consequences for minor infractions to community rules. Like not even religious laws or actual safety guidelines. Just traditional community rules. Such as the rules about faces on dolls.

The same goes for like 90% of the "true" accounts of ghost encounters, paranormal activity, demonic attacks, and so forth you see on television. Sure, there are people who experience things, but the sensational tales you see in ghost shows are nearly always produced by a team of writers and "recounted" by actors.

And the stuff that IS based on true experiences? So much of it is just people scaring themselves based on past trauma, religious paranoia, mental health issues, or just plain ignorance. And by ignorance, I mean the people who freak out over noises in the woods as if there's nothing living there that could ever possibly step on a twig, or the ones who blame evil spirits for a house that feels "heavy" or "hostile" when they're constantly arguing with their family and not bothering to communicate or attempt to resolve conflicts.

But to your point, that's exactly what I was talking about. Why would that particular paranormal consequence happen ONLY to an Amish person? Same thing for witches. If the rules about intrusion by evil spirits or ghosts or demons or whatever are supposed to be constant for everyone, why is it only certain persons and households that are affected?

And no, it's not because witches are inherently more "in tune the the spirit world." Plenty of witches don't even bother with it. The only thing that is likely to summon ghosts and demons into your home is....actively and deliberately summoning ghosts and demons into your home. And even that isn't a guarantee.

("Oh but I started hearing weird noises in my house after I started practicing witchcraft!"

Yeah, because you were EXPECTING SOMETHING TO HAPPEN. Those noises were very likely there before, you just didn't think anything of them until there was a possible paranormal explanation.)

Personal pet peeve, can you tell? 😂

[lostryu]

i don’t trust people who say “stop worrying about [issue] there are bigger things to worry about!”

A.) i can multitask

B.) why do you have an opinion? go worry about the heat death of the universe. seems like that’s the biggest issue there is

[chirpsythismorning]

I haven't been active in the byler fandom, why would redditors be mad at the play being canon?

Most, not all, but most active reddit users on the ST sub have been bombarded with byler evidence for the last year. So to remain sane through it all, they have resorted to insisting that almost every detail fans come across and try to share on the sub, are just mere coincidences.

This is because they've realized that if they are considering other really minor details meaning something bigger, that means they might have to start considering the possibility that the details pointing to byler are also intentional. This is how they cope.

You would think after saying 'it's just a coincidence' for the hundredth time, they might be starting to rethink their position on things, but the reality of the situation just isn't setting in I guess (aka they don't want it to happen so they are refusing to let themselves truly consider it until they have no choice).

The reason I still partake in the reddit sub, despite losing braincells over half the takes on there, is bc there are still a handful of users that are really smart and do great analysis on the supernatural side of the show, in particular things I have no knowledge on at all and would greatly benefit from looking at to expand my understanding of things and different perspectives.

The really smart ones that exist are usually indifferent to the romantic arcs in the show, although they do have a milkvan bias bc the straight bait is straight baiting. And so these are the few posts theorizing, that consider the details meaning something more, that just so happen to get support from the hardcore milkvans on there. And it's bc as long as it's coming from someone who doesn't think byler is going to happen, they will listen.

I will say the one thing that is sort of obnoxious about all of this is that regular fans without any ship bias, will pop on there semi-regularly with a post, accompanied by basic common sense questions like, 'wait this makes no sense...' or 'why did they do this this way?' in many cases, with the confusion surrounding the build up of Mike and El and Will's role in all that. These people aren't milkvans or bylers, they are just fans picking up on obvious subtext and they are looking for insight about it from fans. And every time they get bombarded with condescending and bitter milkvans that are having to defend mike and el's honor, and s4 really made this a full time job for them lmao. That sort of resentment has manifested into hating anything and everything that considers deeper meaning in relation to Will and Mike, but especially in Will's case. Because that's the thing, they have to deny any importance of Will's role bc Will being important fucking terrifies them. It means that everything could be important basically. It's their worst nightmare and they will hound you for even speculating something. It's insufferable to watch unfold honestly.

I say all of this bc it's important in the context of the play, given that there are a lot of theories out there swirly around, theories that mostly reside on Tumblr. Many of those theories are viewed by redditors as being crack theories that have no evidence supporting them (bc they come from bylers), like the weirdness around Alice not being in the play (and potentially connecting to Karen), or the fact that they insisted the silhouette of Henry's actor right before the cast announcement couldn't be him bc he was too old to be Henry (umm time shenanigans, duh), or that the truth about Brenner's involvement runs a lot deeper than everyone assumes.

And so naturally, leading up to the play, a lot of active (very vocal) redditors in both the main sub and the Hawkins AV Club sub, have commented on posts related to the play, trying so hard to convince others (themselves) that this play is not canon and we shouldn't waste our time with it because it wont matter in the context of everything going on in the literal show. They go as far as to insist it's not canon, even though it already was said to be canon.

And now with this post, they are again having to face the reality this show is a lot deeper than they have had to insist it to is combat byler speculation. All byler evidence is seen as reaching to them. And they'll do everything they can to insist anything bylers are speculating is delusional, which includes theories surrounding the play. All of that denial has led us to this moment, which will only hurt their ego as time goes on and they are being hit with sign after sign after sign... that it might just be that deep.

[nostalgia-tblr]

started reading about the shakespeare authorship thing and the first argument from a literary person to say Willy S couldn't have written them is "he didn't go to university," at which point i went "oh wow i didn't realise THIS was the level of 'evidence' people meant"

[cleverpaws]

one of these days i will drop an essay abt how there's actually no objectively correct characterization of any gen1 characters because they are, when in their most un-filtered state, supposed to be the streamers that play them, and to assume we know basically anything about who those people are is to miss the point of the social experiments entirely. and none of you are ready

[martyrbat]

if i learnt anything about books published before the later 80s its that people loved casually day drinking at any given moment then wondering why they keep making REALLY bad decisions or acting irrationally

[gen-is-gone]

I can't go five minutes in DW fandom without people being just atrociously mean about things that I love with the blissful unawareness of majority mainstream opinion holders that the people they're being mean about are like. In the space with them. And this in a space full of ardent fans of arguably some of the most esoteric obscure side stuff that everyone else disdains or doesn't even know. And I'm having fun for the most part but also like. It's just exhausting, constantly goddamn exhausting.

[hitsuyou-fukaketsu]

oohhh royal knight in training subaru and prince hokke oohhghh