#but also very offhand
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seven sentence saturday sunday
(many thanks to bestie @femme--de--lettres for the tag <3)
Sirius insisted there was a crack on the bathroom ceiling that, if he turned his head just so, looked like the scar on James’ knee. Remus tilted his head to the left and squinted, and then to the right. Nothing. “What is he on about?” he muttered, and took another drag. It could be that his memory was hazy — everything was a little hazy, what with the smoke — but he recalled that James’ knee-scar had looked more like the Andes, if you crossed your eyes a bit. Not like the mountains themselves, obviously (that would be ridiculous) but like one of those little topography maps, where ranges looked like crooked, bumpy lines. He couldn't remember how James had gotten it.
Just Remus over here in his having-a-perfectly-normal-moment-on-the-bathroom-floor era lol.
#there are so many better sets of sentences in this work#however#this is the only one that was seven.#the rest NEEDED more.#they could not be contained#me and the dialogue lmao#every time either of them brings up james it's like. slightly sad#but also very offhand#like talking about the weather and then#single instrusive thought about how much james loved the rain#and then back to the weather#they both loved him so much#ltl#seven sentence sunday#hp#lp writes#actually#i will be getting to write more this week i hope#what else to do on a plane?#just write probably.
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hi motorcity fandom is this anything
i was not expecting the cartoon about teens with cars to genuinely change how i view the world
#princeposting#motorcity#shitpost#like i made an offhand joke to myself when watching episode one that was like “lol these two are just my brain at all times” in reference#to chuck and mike and then that made me think like. huh why am i like that#also completely unironically that scene in Vendetta where texas is like#you cant change the past mike alll you can do is focus on what you#can do now man literally changed my fucking life#like obviously ive heard that from other people but hearing something you need to learn from characters you're really hyperfixated on is a#very strange experience that i hope everyone can experience#anyway this show is very good cant wait to finish it#also the context of this shitpost is that now whenever i need to get through something my thoughts of “but you have to do it” are filtered#through my brain doing a mike chilton impression#and for some reason it actually works#anyway (again) watch motorcity#idk if itll change your outlook though i think im just autistic and strange in the brain
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I’ll make you get canceled and called part of a harassment campaign for not being friends with a guy who kind of sucks
#things that are happening to my friend Luna#she doesn’t like a guy who told people to die of cancer so apparently she’s toxic according to twitter white knights for mr cancer#she didn’t even like call him names she just said ‘hey being toxic is kinda cringe’#and people are soool mad and rlly condescending#because one offhand post that wasn’t very serious= bullying I guess#HEY WAIT IT’S LIKE THE EXPLODING HAMMERS SITUATION (but not as bad obviously)#I also think that Mr cancer might be a racist but I’m not sure
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Some sad kinda fucked Ifrit thoughts because I woke up and they came
Cw; Substance Abuse, Sex as a coping mechanism, and just kinda general sads.
Nothing graphic said but still putting those ^
Ifrit
Big, Strong, oh so stupid Ifrit.
That's what was thought of him. A muscle head who fucked hard, partied hard, and got fucked up without a care.
An easy fuck and go without connections, without having to stick around after sorta thing
That isn't who he was though.
This was all learned behavior because it's what got him the attention he craved, any sense of being useful, cared about even if it was only because his body was useful
He loved and hated every single second of every single hookup, high, and any other thing that got him out of his head
If he wasn't happy he wasn't useful, if he didn't stay the persona they all knew he wouldn't be liked, if she showed just how broken inside he truly was he'd lose everything and everyone he had, no matter how superficial he needed the attention
It didn't matter if it was a vicious cycle of regrets, and horrible sleepless night, bad highs and.. thoughts he shouldn't have. Couldn't have
It was all he had now
His pack was broken.
His pack hated him after he left.
He never bothered to try and reconnect, why would he.
Aether, Mountain, and Dew stayed with the band, Zephyr never spoke to him, Mist was long gone to be with the lake.
He couldn't bother any of them with this.
With him.
He left the pack, he left the band, that was his choice. He left the only people who cared about him and for what? To go and be whatever he was now?
Yes.
Even when he knew he could possibly rekindle something he didn't. Shoved those feelings down and shoved more substance down his throat.
He didn't deserve it.
Didn't deserve to have that happiness.
That comfort.
Ifrit used to be the most caring, lovable golden retriever there was.
Always following someone's trail, loving on them, and doing every favor he could
His pack loved him
He loved his pack
Now a days he's nothing more then an old dog owned by a family long since grown.
One that's waiting for the first excuse to be put down despite all the love it has left to give.
He thinks it's what he deserves.
A life of misery, and pain without comfort.
He watches his old pack in longing, the only happiness coming from seeing how happy and healthy they are
He'd do anything for them even now
He's so happy to see them thrive and love each other
Even if it also breaks his heart.
#He doesnt know how Zeph looks on longing for his mate to come home to him.#He doesn't know how much Aether wants to reach out but doesn't know how that won't send Ifrit farther into the deep end#He doesn't know that after the transition Dew wanted nothing more then for the fire ghoul to help him. comfort him. teach him#Dews been too afraid to ever speak up to him. After a offhanded comment a very fucked up Ifrit made when he smelled the ghouls scent#He couldn't bring himself to thinking he was hated#He doesn't know that the teas and medicines he finds in his medicine cabinet that help a suspicious amount with the exact hangovers#and issues hes been having were Mountain sneeking them in for him. A silent way to care without upsetting him#He doesn't know that the occasional rocks and shells he finds were small trinkets from Mist#He doesn't know that hes still very very loved by his pack#---#cw substance use#tw substance abuse#These are juet some disjointed Ifrit thoughts#I kinda want to put the tags into the post itself but idk#Too late now#Ifrit has been on my mind so much lately#I think in my lore he does eventually get help and get back into the Pack#Aether and Ifrit are mated in my mind#but also Ifrit and Zeph are#idk it's a lot of thoughts I dont know if I could ever put onto paper#ifrit ghost#ifrit ghoul#dewfrit#aether ghoul#aether ghost#water dew#dewdrop ghost#dewdrop ghoul#dewdrop
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I think that comparisons between access to prescribed stimulants and medications like insulin are categorically inappropriate, and I will personally hand to anyone a card to mock people making that comparison. However, today I called Walgreens to ask whether they'd gotten Adderall in (because I called last Wednesday and they were out of stock, and I know from having experienced this multiple times over multiple months that they get new shipments on Wednesdays) and the woman on the phone told me they were out of the generic (which my prescriber only began prescribing because the name brand was out of stock) and that the name brand would be $326 unconvered, but that my insurance would cover a 5 mg dose, which, due to the laws around schedule 1 substances, means I would have to call my prescriber to have them resend the Rx to the phamracy, but this time for 3x daily 5 mg capsules. And I just said thank you and hung up but inside I was like ma'am, I know it isn't your fault but this is actually exactly what one would cook up if the intention was to torture a person via the process of accessing their stimulant prescription.
#and the first step of getting the rx sent in a new form would be typing in the name of my current prescriber#which i literally do not know offhand because i have been being shuffled between various PAs or whatever for over a year since my og dr left#which has been fully fine because the Adderall man does not need to know my business and the only times theyve poked at my personal life ive#been like excuse me...i am here for stimulant and we do not need to discuss that but thank you very much#so it is fine except when i need the providers name to start a like 4 step process#which also involves me calling walgreens specifically to fill the rz#bc they cannot fill the rx without the patient calling directly first for schedule 1 substances#as in yes the prescriber can send the rx and they can have it in stock and they will not fill it until the patient calls to fill it
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I have seen the newest fhjy Aelwyn Abernant gifset multiple times in the last week and I had planned to watch it eventually but like...... is that really what's gonna get me into this series. Is that really what it takes. What the fuck level of targeted advertising is THIS.
#you come to me. two weeks before the 5 year anniversary of cr 2x57 in love and war.#and you tell me the elven eldest child with villain decay is now a CAT PERSON?#what the fuck am i supposed to do with this.#to be clear there are specific major plots that I'm interested in. this is not like. just for this reason.#i just haven't gotten around to it and i am feeling very called out for my tastes.#also don't fucking @ me about knowing the date of 57 offhand okay it's actually cuz of quarantine/2020 essek prompt week lmao#but fr as a person who's gonna have to sit my sister down and go 'it's really hurtful that you assume bad intentions of me all the time'#the abernant sisters are in fact like. ouch.#i didn't even mention cuz it feels too obvious but THEY'RE EVEN WIZARDS. good lord. attacked.
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2024 reads / storygraph
Dear Wendy
YA contemporary
two first year students who become friends, bonding over their shared aroace identity and starting a club for aspec students
while unknowingly engaging in a petty war with their anonymous relationship advice instagrams
friendship, navigating potential futures and entering adult life, and exploring QPOC experiences
#dear wendy#aroaesside 2024 reads#aroace books#aromantic books#asexual books#this is so good! I loved it a lot!#It’s fun. has relatable characters#and goes into depth about varying aroace experiences.#I love how it portrayed the developing friendship and excitement over making an aroace friend / friendcrush vibes#The rivalry is petty. but also very conscious of the fact that it’s petty and not like…. drawn out with the finding out and betrayal etc.#I loved all the references to other aspec books#and also the stuffed animal on the cover….ajhgf help#it definitely feels a bit like a debut in the way it’s written but that’s okay#there is an offhand reference to sex-positive vs sex-negative (it should be favorable vs averse)#and a little too much t***** s**** but whatever I loved it otherwise
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hiding the evidence (badly)
#kuwagami#kuwana jin#yagami takayuki#lost judgment#judgment#takayuki yagami#jin kuwana#kaito masaharu#masaharu kaito#jichanart#jichan'shandslipped#full disclosure: four-white-trees made an offhanded joke about yagami wearing a turtleneck to hide hickeys#and thus making it extremely obvious they're there#and i was like. oh. canon. also i'm drawing that.#so he gets credit for the joke#anyway kuwana does this on purpose <3 obviously#he looks like such a shithead here and i'm very proud of it#alleged kuwana fan and yet i barely draw him vaping. fixing that right fucking now#everyone knows where you were last night yagami. we all do.#imagine yagami insisting that he just felt like wearing something different for a change and nobody believing him
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Truth is...
T / Spoilers for FMA:B + Cr1 up to episode 72 / 2.7k / Canon-typical violence, Ripley being a bitch
Colonel Vex'ahlia Vessar, the Sewing Life Alchemist, is intended to fill the role of fifth sacrifice. Her cooperation is required, and will be ensured by any means necessary. Fullmetal Alchemist AU.
Featuring incredible art by @aq2003!!! Look at how snazzy they look in this AU! Before I fuck them up.
For @percahliaweek Day 6: Yours / Later
--
Like eyelids snapping shut, the portal closes with a schick. It’s just the Colonel, her King and Knight left on the board. Given the smile on display, and the swords and arms caging them in, this feels like checkmate. Trinket growls, shrinking back from the blades.
“Oh, don’t worry,” says the doctor, calmly scratching out an array on the floor. She had not even glanced up as the pupil swallowed the young alchemist whole. The grasping hands, the light, the peeling - “They all scream when pulled through the gate - that’s normal. As a sacrifice, I’m sure he will be treated delicately where he’s going.”
Percival is too well-bred to bare his teeth - but his jaw twitches at scream. Scream, he’d never admitted to Vex’ahlia. Screamed, she knows he’d screamed, based on the sutures and branding and scalpel-clean lines she’d seen.
To the Colonel she is only the one-handed woman, chalk in place of one mechanical finger. Perhaps her Lieutenant had told her the name, once, twice - but the blood roaring in her veins drowns it out.
Of course he offers it, then, in lockstep with her thoughts: “Anna,” says Percival, carefully detached. He throws his voice clear of the sword at his throat. “Your issue is with me, not the Colonel. I’ve deciphered my family’s notes -” Vex'ahlia’s heart stops for a terrible second, redoubles its effort at the gleam of interest in cold eyes “- and will tell you everything I know.”
Anna - Ripley, that’s what it was - finishes off the alchemical array with a pale, surgical line (exactly like Percival’s scars).
There’s a moment where she rolls the thought around in her head. Not chewing it as Percival might - prodding it with a scalpel, making it jump. The next, Vex’ahlia sees her dismiss it, file it away for later.
“Adorable, Lieutenant de Rolo. Perhaps later, if the Colonel cooperates.”
[Keep reading on AO3!]
#critical role#cr fanfic#campaign 1#fullmetal alchemist#fmab#perc'ahlia#percahlia#percahliaweek#percival de rolo#vex'ahlia#anna ripley#also ft. offhand mention of Wrath!Sylas and Envy!Delilah and can i say. hot.#but Vex and Percy in the military garb. with Vex's alchemy and Percy's guns. Also Very Hot#cr1 spoilers
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i love seeing all the ways I've influenced people over the time I've known them
#like an offhand comment to a friend of mine changed the entire course of their education and where they might do their Master's degree#or another friend has become way more invested in accessibility partly because i haven't shut up about elevators in several years#it's really interesting to me watching people's development over time be directly influenced by me in ways#it's also neat knowing that all of these wonderful people have changed my life too#i wouldn't have half the opportunities I have now without them#some nice thoughts for the evening ig#(it's 2am. i am procrastinating)#(very much love my friends and my community though. I'm very lucky)
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ngl it sort of pisses me off the way adults regard Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen at times. Which could be a very interesting and poignant point in a good way if well written, but as it is it becomes mainly just frustrating and sad in a negative way.
Nanami saying Gojo never cared about anything or anyone other than himself crashes interestingly with Kusakabe saying the whole situation was just all his fault because he refused to kill Itadori. The students are very aware of those aspects of Gojo's personality, but overall they seem to regard him with way more kindness and fondness even when at their rudest, not truly coinciding with either Nanami's or Kusakabe's views.
#Kusakabe's words are harsh and negative but there's some true and some logic to them#but in beholding the entire story and the whole context‚ especially with the flashbacks in mind‚ in getting to know the sweet kid Yuuji is‚#the reader is made to find Kusakabe's words a bit outrageous and cruel and Gojo's position becomes the obvious one like Nanami's was#Like Kusakabe's is too in a way since he too says no matter what it's always the adults' fault whatever the cause was#And following the story we see Gojo cared a lot about those kids and them keeping their youthful cheerfulness if in his very flippant way#That's basically his main constant thread. We see it at the very beginning in what he did for Yuta and how Yuta is so fond of him#We see him at the very end in a way too with the letters he left#And his entire motivation was changing the very messed up society to avoid the kids going through what he and his friends went through#and to prevent them from being lonely the way he felt he was. Ontologically alienated. Entirely othered#And of course it's in part him keeping people away like Shoko. Or even Yuta (though here again it's at the core of his action his attempt#at protecting the kids and trying to prevent them from growing too fast)#And of course this is motivated by his own experiences and in that sense not entirely a selfless act#But those things still don't negate that his goal was for the future kids to be... in a better situation than what he and his friends lived#So Nanami's words are very cruel and... blind. Of course it's possible that Gojo's way of approaching the problem is still something#Nanami would regard as selfish (but it could be argued that so is Nanami's)‚ or that Gojo's perception of Nanami's way of thinking#about him would be this negative. But what we see through the story absolutely contradict Nanami's words in that airport#And though both Nanami's words and Kusakabe's are negative in regards to Gojo‚ they in a way contradict each other#The kids' words and way of seeing Gojo is most of the time more... accurate? If also diverse among them#They see him like an idiot. They trust him. They think he's childish and annoying. They love him#They find him flippant. They know he cares about them. In a way they see both what Kusakabe and Nanami say about him#The negative. And the ultimate positive aspect at the core of it all. That Gojo did care and that Gojo did take care#and that Gojo risked and sacrificed a lot for them and that Gojo was doing this in great part because of his own past#Yuta perhaps is the one who sees it best but it's so interesting too the dynamic Maki‚ Yuuji and Megumi have with Gojo‚ his acts and antics#And this whole thing‚ this frivolous and even... cruel way most adults seem to regard Gojo and how it clashes with the kids' deep feelings#about him (beyond the initial 'he's an untrustworthy idiot' though those as well!') is super interesting and super sad and super juicy#OR IT COULD BE bc in the end all that happens is that Nanami says that and Gojo pouts comically or that Kusakabe makes that offhand comment#as if it held no weight‚ as if Yuji weren't present and had never agonised over it‚ as if Gojo hadn't lost his life trying to save the kid#And yes he risked more than his life but he was trying to save a kid bc another kid (bc Megumi!) asked. But maybe it didn't matter if no one#asked. He saved Yuta too. Of course he would have risked it all. In his mix of selfishness and selflessness. Everything is so juicy#yet the writing feels so dry and lame. There's no pondering. There's talk of guilt and grief without any true sense of grieving or loss
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i love your art style so much, it's rad as hell. how long have you been drawing? :o
you mean the goofy little sketches i do from time to time? if so, that's really kind of you to say!!! that said, i wouldn't necessarily say they're the peak of my drawing abilities though, since i just draw with a mouse.
i use to draw a lot when i was growing up, though after getting Gmod for the first time, and subsequently SFM, i moved over into those programs to make my art, and kinda stopped drawing from that point.
i don't normally draw a whole lot these days, but when it comes to how i draw the stuff above, really i just find the messiness of using a mouse to draw really goofy, that and it's kinda nice to draw stuff without it needing to be perfect. it's just silly lines.
but regardless, thank you for the kind words, im glad you like my silly stuff
#ask#now if you meant the sketch of Boe that i use for my icon and a few other goofy posts i made? that was drawn by my friend Kikkini#(Kikkinimomini on Twitter)#i think he has a tumblr account too but i don't remember his handle offhand...#that sketch of Boe was one of the first ones he sent me. regarding a skeleton OC.#i really feel he struck a really good balance between ominous and kinda goofy with the sketch#that and the inclusion of the mohawk being pink really sold it for me#i would like to try and create how i actually imagine Boes world in Limbo and Hell some day#which. is very similar to Gorillaz' Phase 2 era and old ''find the hidden object games'' like Mystery Case Files Ravenhearst#in which its just like. full of junk and polution and whatnot#though with Limbo specifically. i imagine blue/purple clouded night skies over roaming empty grassy fields with nothing in the horizon#and Boes house being in the center of it all. with a long empty road in front of it#i think of Boes house as like. similar to the Ravenhearst manor or the iSpy spooky mansion#old fashioned house with a lot of junk inside#i also kinda think about Pajama Sam's colour palette in the land of darkness a lot regarding limbo and hell#the purples and dark blues of the night sky. the reds and oranges of the lava caves.#id kinda want to make what i imagine in the Source engine. but i already have trouble starting stuff in Hammer as it is#maybe some day i'll commit to it and design what i want. but ough.....#anyway thank you for the kind words anon!!!
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PART 26
of the dfk audiobook translation
@cnka
Martina: „I need to tell you something. I’m not a doctor’s daughter. I don’t have a phone because I don’t have money. And my clothes are second-hand. Not vintage.“ Jo: „Why didn’t you say anything? I told you about my mother too.“ Matze: „You know, Martina, I think that you don’t have to act like you’re rich. You’re still you!“ Martina: „I know. But I just wanted to be someone else.“ Matze: „Uli shouldn’t climb up there either.“ Martina: „And you don’t have to do boxing if you don’t want to.“ Matze: „And you, Jo, don’t have to be so cool all the time.“ Jo: (laughs) „I am cool! And you, Matze, are way more clever than you always think.“ Matze: „Really?“ Jo: „Yeah!“ Martina: (giggles happily) Matze, genuinely: „Thanks!“
Narrator (audiobook): But their good mood abruptly vanishes when they meet Ruda and her gang down in town.
Martina: „Oh no.“ Jo: „Not good!“ Matze: „Externs.“ Jo: „Technically it’s our territory…“ Martina: „We’re outnumbered.“ Matze: „We can’t just run away!“ Martina: „I don’t know!“ Jo: „Whatever. We stick together here.“ Matze: „For Uli.“ Martina: „For Uli.“ Jo: „Yeah. For Uli.“
Narrator (audiobook): The three gather all their courage and approach the Externs - they’re prepared for the worst. As always, Ruda takes the word.
Ruda: „Uh. So. Well- We didn’t want it to come to this. We’re sorry.“ Sebi: „It just went way too far, that Internals-Externs thing.“ Martina: „Yeah. We all really overdid it.“
Narrator (Nichtraucher): And now? On this day, they didn’t have an answer. So Martina focused on studying for the admission test with the help of Justus Bökh.
SCENE CHANGE
[Note: the red text on that picture says "Matze - losing is not an option - Papa"]
Matze: „Hello, Papa? I won’t go to the boxing camp this year.“
Narrator (Nichtraucher): Matze prepared his holidays.
Matze: „I’ll stay here with Uli!“
SCENE CHANGE
Uli: „Mama!“
Narrator (Nichtraucher): Uli was brought new laundry and the school books for next year.
SCENE CHANGE
Narrator (Nichtraucher): The handsome Theodor felt the pressure to be solely responsible for the entertainment at the closing celebration.
SCENE CHANGE
Jo: „For you.“
Narrator (audiobook): Martina can’t believe that Jo is gifting her the phone.
Martina: „What?“ Jo: „I'm getting a new one anyway.��
Martina: „Jo, that- I can’t accept that!“ Jo: „How else am I gonna call you in the holidays?“
They hug.
SCENE CHANGE
Martina studies in the light of her flashlight while Jo sleeps.
Narrator (Nichtraucher): And apart from this nice gesture from Jo, not least because of the amount of school material, everything seemed to be heading towards a closing celebration without a play for Martina. To which Martina, Jo, Matze and Uli had still invited me though.
SCENE CHANGE
The doors to the assembly hall open. Kids run in first, followed by their parents and the older kids.
Narrator (audiobook): It’s finally time. The day of the closing celebration has come. Parents, siblings, teachers and the students rush into the assembly hall in crowds.
#das fliegende klassenzimmer#dfk 2023 audiobook translation#das fliegende klassenzimmer 2023#dfk#that scene at the start felt very soulless and cliche#if i had written that movie i would have given proper room to actually show those insecurities#martina never pretended to be rich??#matze being insecure about his intelligence was mentioned offhand in one sentence#and jos weakness is that she’s too cool??#jo „die coole“ trotz#jos weakness is that she’s too caught up in this rivalry. and she’s stubborn. she doesn’t listen to other people enough#martinas weakness is that she just goes along with things#and doesnt correct them or stand up for herself sometimes#also that she takes too much responsibility for everyone else#matze’s weakness is the thing with his dad. that was really really not given enough room#you could explore how maybe he doesn’t really know what his actual interests are because his father always shaped him in his own image#mine#i do not remember when i actually wrote those tags but yeah that was the basis from which my dfk 2023 rewrite stems#and i didnt even get into how extraordinarily stupid the way they resolved that internals-externs conflict was#so incredibly stupid
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Kinda lukewarm take but most Scathach fans don't even care about Scathach as a character they will just jack off to any purple-haired red-eyed woman in a sexy outfit. And I know this because how else would Skadi get that popular?
#it sounds pretentious to say 'you don't care about her personality' i know#but seriously fate added lore to her story#and then didn't really do anything with it beyond window dressing for her to be OP#which is fine and i don't actually mind this#but then she doesn't really live up to the lore when it clashes too badly with her having to pose sexily. does that make sense?#she's a god-slaying immortal who defies death itself but also is kind of terrible dealing with people#and chaldea kind of forces her to just interact normally with others#she is attached to cu chulainn because he's the only one left from her past who isn't dead#i mean he IS dead. but even a semblance of him is better than nothing right?#she flip-flops between suicidal and thrill-seeking or sometimes both at once#because she is severely depressed. she doesn't get joy out of killing or fighting anymore#she's also an atrocious teacher who doesn't care if her methods kill her students#and that's *lightly* touched on in grail front but only as an offhand joke at the very start
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I'm reading a book about asexuality rn and the author talked about how it's a very "white" orientation, both in the people who've found their way to it and the online jokes and such.
Well, I know a Black ace, so I asked her if her experiences had been the same (they were. Almost every point she brought up was something the book had talked about which I think is a good sign). It was a really interesting conversation and I'm glad she felt comfortable to have with me
But...
She said that because White Culture is the big overarching thing, she thinks some white people will be Something Else just to avoid it. I'm not even sure I disagree about that.
The problem is that she said "don't be offended" first which makes me feel like I'm one of the white people she's talking about. Chances are, I'm just stressed and also not confident, but I'm still thinking about it.
#There's no way I can ask her#that'd be so weird#like “hey that offhand comment? It wasn't about me right? You think my gender is real right?”#no thanks#anyway that's my ace discourse#ALSO I'M NOT SAYING THIS IS A BLACK WOMAN BEING MEAN TO ME#SHE WAS NOT MEAN#if anything she was very nice and considerate#I'm just anxiety ridden lately
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I think people need to accept that there's more than one way to be human. That may sound really obvious, but I'm not talking about identities, or opinions, or looks. What I'm saying is that not everybody wants to do a silly little dance. At all. Ever. It doesn't have anything to do with embarrassment or shyness or ability. Some people just don't want to.
I've been going to this dog training school with my new puppy recently, and one of the things they're having us do is train our dogs to stay put in a sit while we do a silly little dance next to them. I know this exercise is meant to be approachable to standard beginner trainers, but I can't even begin to describe how anxious I was when the trainer told us to do this. I remembered years of getting in trouble at summer camps for not participating in icebreakers and name games, being called a spoilsport in school, being called cold and distant as a teenager, and even been made fun of in a mean-spirited way and getting trouble in college for opting out of "group bonding activities". I refused to do the silly little dance. Instead, I've distracted my dog by shaking and dropping objects, stepping over her, sitting down, doing pushups, whatever. To my surprise, the trainer complimented me on my choice, and I could finally breathe.
It's not that I can't dance— I've trained as a dancer for years. It's not that I don't like being silly, or that I don't want to look stupid. I make myself look stupid on purpose on a regular basis because it's fun, and I love a good joke. It's just that there has to be consent for this to be fun. I don't need to loosen up and enjoy myself. I won't enjoy myself, because I don't want to do the silly little dance. I never want to do the silly little dance (not alone, not in a group). I don't want to be loud and yell, I don't want to do a call and response game, I don't want to mirror your body movements, I don't want to play zip zap zop, and I don't want to introduce myself with an animal that shares the same letter as my first name. It's not that I'm shy or quiet or even introverted— I just don't want to do it. I don't connect that way. It's not fun for me, it's miserable.
There is nothing wrong with any of this. I do not deserve to face any kind of repercussions for not wanting to do the dance. I'm not less fun because of it. I want to play tug of war with you— hand me the end of the rope. Sit down and let's tell a story. Let's make dumb jokes about street names and let the energy bounce off of each other and crackle. If our group plays mafia, no one will ever know I'm the killer. Come walk with me through the woods, and let's look for bugs under rocks and logs. We can eat lunch on the ground and poke at the moss.
I've spent so long thinking something was wrong or broken with me because I didn't want to do the silly little dance. I like dignity. I like elegance. It's not that I'm pretentious, it's that I like being ridiculous on and within my terms only.
Honestly, I was worried that, when I decided to get a dog, I wouldn't be the right kind of person to train one. I mean, have you seen how people act around dogs? I was worried that my lack of external bouncy enthusiasm, and profound disdain of doing squeaky voices, would make my training and my relationship with my dog fail. I thought I wasn't the right person for a dog, because I'm not even really the right person for a person. Turns out, I don't need any of that. Every now and then, because she's a puppy, people come up to Evie in their standard "dog-mode". Whenever they start doing... whatever it is people think they're doing with dogs... Evie pauses and looks up at me. I swear she's asking me what the hell is wrong with them. And, well, all I can do is sigh and shrug. She waits patiently for them to stop with their bouncing and squealing, and then cheerfully greets them when they're done. It doesn't seem like my dog wants to do the silly little dance either.
#dog training#self discovery#humans#this has genuinely been a lifelong and very difficult thing for me to deal with#because people just don't cut me any slack so much of the time#but apparently one offhand remark from a dog trainer and a very judgmental poodle puppy later...#and I at least get to rethink it#because it is actually fine#and I should be allowed to have my stupid little boundary#it's a big deal to me and I should get to keep it#and so I will#one notable exception to the no silly little dances rule:#if I am holding an object that's actively on fire and it would be objectively funny to do a small jig#and no one is asking me to or expecting me to do it#yeah okay#but y'see how that's also very much on my terms and related to my own sense of humor and fun?#that's the difference
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