#genuinely fucking stupid

[iwontheidgafwar]

Fifteen Years From Now

Fifteen years from now, I wonder if we will look back and remember how cruel we became during this time. Fifteen days ago I had a conversation with a cousin of mine about the time we find ourselves in. He is a nut-job. Centrist rambler who would not shut up about dopamine cycles and how he had cut out sugar... all while finishing five pieces of nicotine gum. He has a funny man-way of being right. In pretending I'm dumb by intentionally misunderstanding me, he was better able to label me an idiot. Same thing my dad does. It is a fruitful weapon.

I think a lot of our cruelty comes from these dopamine cycles that are a byproduct of the capitalist hell we live in. He agreed with me on this. Maybe that says something about the point I made. Anyways, I made the point that we are essentially mind-fucked beyond belief, in the sense that we believe the state we live in is the only state there is to live in. Specifically, Americans believe this—that capitalism is the only true form of society.

In consumerist America, buying is equated to living. Experience is buying. You share beautiful experiences over the third shitty t-shirt you bought off of the backs of exploited children. Quickly, too. All in an instant. Earn, buy buy buy, grieve, earn... So that you can buy again. I buy these clothes, therefore I am. I buy this book to read, to have, therefore I am. I buy, therefore, I am. Our phones are just another gear in the production of a material self that will cease to exist, along with your favorite vinyl and the ironic sweater you "had to buy" at the thrift store.

Our phones are capital in a sense. My time is money, attention and content are products, and this exchange seems to contribute to our faulty sense of self in the same way products do. I receive this acclaim, therefore I am. I view this type of content, therefore I am. I jack off to this type of porn, therefore I am. This subsection of people hates me (and I hate them), therefore I am; but, I won't always be.

We will never except this though. Who would? So, in place of our fear of death, we turn to "living." Reactionary beliefs. Hatred. Obsession. Irony.

Irony is the cruelest thing of all. It is the monolithic testament to our minds melting away to consumerism. It says "I am so afraid of death, I would rather not live so I wouldn't miss it." Irony is fear. Irony is a bid for acclaim. Irony helps you spiral further into the nothing burger of material possession. And it is too fun. It is too easy. It makes you feel smart, does it not? To be in on the winning side of the joke, holding all the cards in a game of cards where the cards are nothing and nothing can be won and you aren't actually ever playing. You're being played.

It's not like I am not ironic all the time. I am. And I hate it. Throw my phone into the river. Throw everything that fuels this fear of life away and embrace living. I think we will look back in fifteen years and remember this period as everyone being cruel; because, in a sense, we are still primal beings compared to what we could be. Everyone talks about being addicted to dopamine, but no one talks enough about its implications in our social landscape. As primal, consumerist beings (not really our fault...) we eat up and shit out anything that stimulates us. Eat up infamy, shit out regret. Eat up righteousness, shit out regret. Everything is single-use nowadays, and so we treat each other in the same way. The immense cruelty we see as a byproduct will pass when we are no longer exploited. I'll check back in fifteen years.

30/10/24

[lotus-pear]

he's so crazy we can't take him anywhere 😭🤣

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

genuinely is my brain erasing itself or is google/tumblr censoring that post about notre dame and old growth forests.

[sixteenthtry]

This is God btw I looked it up.

[theoneofwhomisblue]

Rule mind virus

[silvermoon424]

https://x.com/SkylerforNY/status/1868725620777345519

^^^ I hate billionaires so damn much.

We DESPERATELY need to start educating Americans on the difference between for-profit businesses and government public services, I'm so fucking serious. The government should not be run like a business!!!

It's actually vile how the USPS- one of the few government services that's actually good- is constantly under attack by Republicans and their billionaire overlords and mouthbreathing conservative voters justify it because "well, the USPS loses a lot of money." You know what burns tons of money for a way worse outcome than the USPS? The fucking US military, but you never catch these bootlickers arguing that we should drop fewer bombs on brown people overseas.

[bookinit02]

i really do think there’s a huge disconnect on here w/ people who have never used tiktok as to what it actually is and who actually uses it. the number of people i’ve seen call it a “teen dancing app” is actually insane. it has not been a teen dancing app since i was in high school, around 2016 - 2020. the main communities i saw on a daily basis were 1) black history/anti-racism educators, 2) high school & college teachers sharing in-classroom strategies and frustrations with the education system, 3) local/state political leaders giving real-time updates on behind-the-scenes government decisions, & 4) community activism & leadership. like tiktok is an adult platform. almost every person i interacted with was my age or older. and yes it completely depends on your fyp and how you interact with the app, yes there’s still teenagers and dance videos and literally anything else you can think of. but these communities of adults aren’t insubstantial at all, they have literally millions of interactions on a daily basis. there’s about a million other types of communities that i could name just off the top of my head, because the range of users was SO diverse and thriving. it’s a long-distance community tool, just like any other social media—and honestly much better than any other social media, because it relies primarily on the kindness of strangers. i saw at least 5-10 videos today of queer people in rural areas panicking because they don’t have any access to queer community on any other platform or in real life. and before i end this i do want to say i think tiktok is coming back, i think this is a highly orchestrated political move, etc., but i do know it won’t ever be exactly the same. people are panicking about free speech violations because tiktok was a place where people fucking SPEAK. i have never seen mass mobilization and communication in this same way for as long as i’ve been alive. it is the people’s app, not just a silly teenage thing. if you’re not on tiktok and never have been, please stop talking about it like you know anything at all😭

[not-equippedforthis]

forever mourning how granada holmes never adapted the three garridebs. diabolical. unbelievable, even. 'if you had killed watson you would not have made it out of this room alive' but in brett's frightfully intense and low, biting, hissing voice. the violent, wild stare versus the gentle hand on watson's knee. all of that precarious control getting flung out the window. the humanity of it. gritting my teeth can you fucking imagine.

[catboy-morro]

ive always found it crazy how they call what kai does courage

[mossy-aro]

sorry but i am SO deeply tired of the 'aphobia isnt real' arguments because they are literally always being conducted in such bad faith. NO there is not specific societal or legal discrimation against aces and aros BECAUSE we are asexual and or aromantic. you cannot hold specifically bigoted beliefs towards a group you do not even know exist. there ARE, however, underlying and deeply pervasive systems and beliefs that actively erase, dehumanise and make life tangibly more difficult for aro and ace people on a social, economic and legal basis. most of this is due to hyperinvisibility, the medicalisation of any nonnormative + misunderstood orientations, the elevation of romance + romantic structures as the most important aspects of interpersonal relationships in society, as well as the nuclear atomisation of the family. among other things. like. amatonormativity has never been ABOUT aromantic people specfically oh my GOD. its simply the underlying social belief that everyone is expected to be in monogamous romantic relationships and that those relationships are expected to the default centre of one's life. its something that affects EVERYONE! but within that it affects aromantic people in a specific and heightened way because of our inability to participate in it in a societally acceptable way. like these are not 'aromantic' or 'asexual' or 'polyamorous' issues specifically. these are theories and terms that originated within feminist + queer sociology studies! its all part of the wider underlying social fabric! aspec people are simply pointing out that we are often affected by these things in unique and often unseen ways.

the idea that we believe people actively 'hate' us for being asexual or aromantic is completely ridiculous. most people i know do not even know the definition of those words! so how could they hate me for it. they could however, for example, hold the pervasive + societally unchallenged belief that not experiencing sexual or romantic attraction is a medical issue or something concerningly abnormal in a human being + something i should get fixed. and its not uncommon that when you DO explain that its simply your orientation to them, they continue to medicalise it and see it as some sort of issue. genuinely so deeply tired of having to explain this to people time and time again when they only want to cherry pick the most ridiculous arguments to respond to and then act as if that's a majority held opinion in the aspec community. like i actually think we are aware of how society views us we're not fucking deluded and stupid. we don't have victim complexes we are just pointing out facts that yall are so desperate to ignore. UGHHHHH

[iwontheidgafwar]

Epidemiology, Coca-Cola, and a Monolith of Black Bricks

The horror of Coca-Cola adverts are their simplicity. Usually, they fly under two words and shapes: but always, always two colors. Coca-Cola does not need a billboard in Times Square. Their advertisements are in your fridge, on the rack behind the cash register, and in your heart. This is because, quite literally, Coca-Cola adverts intentionally pervade every aspect of your life. Whether it be in your favourite tv-shows, or the writing on the cups of the happy couples in the ad before the film starts at the theatre, Coca-Cola’s pervading simplicity has infected every part of your daily life.

The life of a disease mainly moves through three steps: exposure, symptoms, and infection. Exposure is phase one; in this stage, the disease is introduced to the host. It latches on to the host in some fashion, until the disease dies. Metaphorically speaking, this disease can take many shapes: bacteria, prions, and products. Products latch much like diseases. And much like the living organism, products prioritize survival.

Red and white may seem like an odd choice for a carbonated beverage, as those colours do not aid themselves to the feeling of refreshment. Rather, red and white leans more “medicinal” than anything else. One may look at the history of Coke to find that answer, but why does medicine use these two colours? Their power. The colour red is abrasive to the eyes.Complimented by the bright white, it’s memorable. The harmony in the two colours is what makes it pleasing to look at. While both are hard to look at on their own, they pair well together while still standing out. This is why these colours are used on flags, by medics, and by Coke; in pairing, they amplifyeach other’s qualities. The ads for Coke are subtle (few shapes, few words, two colours), but everywhere.

The seed that will blossom in the developing mind is planted early into our childhood. Quite literally, we are socialized as children to believe in the legitimacy of Coke. When we’re young, we don’t realize our favourite movie star is drinking Coke in the dinner scene. When we’re young, we don’t realize what the advertisements down the side of our plastic cupsreally mean. When we’re young, we don’t realize that most every vending machine and scoreboard are plastered with the same colours over and over. We don’t realize it until we are speaking with our family, and your father calls for you to bring him a Coke, as you pass him the soda he really wants. In this case, our labelling of any product as “Coke” is a recognition of the monolithic behaviour of the company.

This leads to the symptoms of the disease. As we grow into conscious beings, we are now able to articulate coherent thoughts through our speech. We use “Coke” in conversation as a general term, as it has been formed in our mind that “Coke” is a general part of life. In this ad, they recognize how little it takes to notice the Coke brand. The simple shape of the bottle is enough to elicit a response from the viewer. For they are not trying to get you to buy, but rather, remember Coke. To pass it on as an idea. The symptoms do not have to be strong for a disease to infect others.

When we infect others, it is never intentional. This is where the subtlety truly plays out. Monolithically, in the ad, “Coca-Cola” stands out. Not a slogan. Never a phrase. Just two words imprinted on us. The idea here being that infecting other people, children, and other societies with this disease is much easier due to the disgusting simplicity of it all. It’s Coke. Or Coca-Cola. It’s a brown drink in a can—or that signature, classy glass bottle. It sponsors your school. It travels along your culture into your hands. Then, into your mouth. Then, onto others. Through social structures, those that are repeatable, we continuously, imperialistically drive Coke further and further upwards. We have no power against it, it happens because that’s how infection works.​Infecting people with disease is not one lump sum of transmission; rather, infection occurs much like pollination. When we reproduce the idea of Coke, it is not noticeable. It takes time. Little defects, en masse, will affect massively. One bee does not pollenate every flower, its contribution more like a brick upon the tower. A million bees pollenate all the time, creating this castle of birth. This advertisement is just like that tower, except, this tower is a dead-end.

In the same way penicillin and LSD work, Coca-Cola is a disease that is extraordinary in keeping its hosts alive. Fungi are amazing at the final stage of the disease’s life: survival. Think of Coke ads you see, much like this one. Cans of Coke lie out on a dock. Friends laugh as they swim up to the dock, grab a drink, and jump back into the beautiful lake beneath their feet. In advertisements such as these, Coke doesn’t necessarily advertise a product, they advertise a lifestyle. In the ad seen in this paper, it is much the same, as the ad does not urge the viewer to buy Coke products, but rather slyly states “you will never forget I’m here.” Coke in this ad is doing much the same. 

Looking at Coke as a Fungi, it is clear to see how it bends the mind of its consumers. Much like the Sword of Damocles, over the consumer’s head the is an ever-present threat held by a single thread. That thread is the visibility of Coke’s advertising. If Coke ads were to disappear, choice as an ideal would be completely forgotten in our society. If Coke no longer advertised, it would be to say, “we are so here, we could never go away.” Coke coddles us in the idea that they need to run ads, but very easily, Coke ads could disappear completely, and nothing would change. This idea drives consumers to stay in this fantasy; fantasizing, we like to point out obvious product placements, or to obsess over the grotesque block on the scoreboard. In the same sense, Coke as a product remains in our head. Coke uses us to drive ourselves towards their products, much like Fungi ravage the brain into killing its own species off.

6/11/24

[bedforddanes75]

im not american but some of you guys are just fucking stupid ong what do you MEAN youre not gna vote because you disagree with like one part of what youre voting for. like okay me when im fucking thick

[cosmicdenro]

i hope they die

[sharkylad]

Thinking about the fact that Mabel and Dipper didn't know they had two great uncles.

Yeah they are 12 and at 12 I had a shotty understanding of my family tree- But really? Nobody brought up their great uncle? Stanley? Especially since they'll be staying with his twin brother, Stanford?

Shermie never went to Stan's fake funeral, which to me means the twos relationship was strained on some level. If Shermie is older that means his view of Stan was poisoned in some way, that even as kids they weren't close. If the Shermie is younger then he never even got to meet Stan and all he knew about him was how he failed his family. Hell, people probably barely mentioned Stanley TO Shermie.

The fact that Stan had become a black stain upon the Pines family name makes me so vividly upset. Stanley faked his death and the family just- seemingly decided to strike him from the record. To pretend he didn't existed to spare themselves the sadness and shame.

Stanford and Shermie Pines. The only children worth mentioning of Filbrick and Caryn Pines.

It was never Stanford that was lost to the world. It was Stanley, ever since he had to leave New Jersy- it was always him that had to be struck from the record. Change his name, change his state, change his affiliations, destroy the remains of ghost that was Stanley Pines. Kill him so the family doesn't bring him up, doesn't ask questions, stops asking "Stanford" about his twin.

I just keep thinking about the fact that since the day he made one single mistake all the way up until Ford walks out of that machine- Stanley Pines was killed and did not exist. And Stan himself had no one to blame, he had to play the part in his own demise- He is the only one who ever knew Stanley was alive and has been for decades.

He lives in the multitudes of every personality he's ever taken, all in the hope that he himself can stop being Stanley Pines.

[inkskinned]

one of the things about being an educator is that you hear what parents want their kids to be able to do a lot. they want their kid to be an astronaut or a ballerina or a politician. they want them to get off that damn phone. be better about socializing. stop spending so much time indoors. learn to control their own temper. to just "fucking listen", which means to be obedient.

one of the things i learned in my pedagogy classes is that it's almost always easier to roleplay how you want someone to act. it's almost always easier to explain why a rule exists, rather than simply setting the rule and demanding adherence.

i want my kids to be kind. i want them to ask me what book they should read next, and i want to read that book with them so we can discuss it. i want my kid to be able to tell me hey that hurt my feelings without worrying i'll punish them. i want my kid to be proud of small things and come running up to me to tell me about them. i want them to say "nah, i get why this rule exists, but i get to hate it" and know that i don't need them to be grateful-for-the-roof-overhead while washing the dishes. i want them to teach me things. i want them to say - this isn't safe. i'm calling my mom and getting out of this. i want them to hear me apologize when i do fuck up; and i want them to want to come home.

the other day a parent was telling me she didn't understand why her kid "just got so angry." this woman had flown off the handle at me.

my dad - traditional catholic that he is - resents my sentiment of "gentle parenting". he says they'll grow up spoiled, horrible, pretentious. granola, he spits.

i am going to be kind to them. i am going to set the example, i think. and whatever they choose become in the meantime - i'm going to love them for it.

[banditblvd]

William and the will o’ wisps make me incredibly happy

He’s like a tired cat owner