#i guess this is a conservation blog now

[fluffysminion]

Love-in-a-mist is a flower with a wonderful name that has a long history of being grown in British gardens. Hailing from Southern Europe it’s not miles off being native (which is a fuzzy concept in Britain for reasons I’ll eventually get around to writing about) and it self seeds in a small area which makes it a great low maintanance plant to grow. Plants like this are good for wildlife gardens in the UK precisely because of this self seeding behaviour - they are annuals that you do not need to buy each year, and have the ability to move around to find their ideal conditions without the risk of them spreading everywhere and taking over. One of the most delightful things about a garden is how they change over time, and there is something I find especially wonderful about putting together a stable community of plants, each with different nutrient needs and prefered microclimate, and watching them move about in a slow motion dance - each one changing the conditions just enough that one of their neighbours takes that spot next year, and they move into the space left by another plant.

[girlwiththegreenhat]

Why the fuck are people on Twitter upset about nonbinary robots. Transformers are aliens, why would they follow another species gender binary based on reproduction when they don't even reproduce sexually. If anything, ALL the robots should use they/them.

[nikiiwi]

what's rainbow capitalism going to look like this year?

[canisonicscrewyou]

It’s not something that really bothers me anymore but thinking once more about how Wow some of(a lot of) the people I chose to surround myself with in high school and early college,,,, like. Extremely not good to me. And other people. But the more I reflect on like. Discovering that I’m autistic and feeling truly like myself for perhaps the first time ever… I deserved better. I also GOT better, both in the sense of the people in my life now and also got better mentally. But sometimes there’s a part of your brain that probably never will get over the “wow you really were just fucking MEAN to me. and still called me one of your best friends.” anger that comes along with the healing+moving on. We love the anger that springs from being protective towards your younger self.

[miradelletarot]

Ughh this is gonna be a messy post, but I want to say some things that are on my heart rn.

First of all, this blog will always and forever support LGBTQIA+. No intentional erasure of any kind will happen here. I just want to make that clear.

All my life (despite a very Conservative, bigoted and r*cist upbringing with silent gen and boomer parents,) I have always fought to love everyone. To treat everyone the way I wanted to be treated. With love and respect.

I spent my whole life with a binary mindset, trying to understand and learn about all the different pronouns and identities. I still have a lot to learn and understand. I'm getting there. (And I hope you'll be patient with me as I continue to grow).

Now, here I sit, months after discovering my own demisexuality... And I'm straight. Talk about feeling like a round peg trying to fit thru a square hole. My identity means so much to me right now because it's belonged to everyone else for all these years. I was brainwashed into believing I had no autonomy. I'm finally in a place where I can reclaim what's been taken from me. (I won't go into how Christianity hurt me...but let's just say, I have a lot of trauma bc of my old faith that ties into a lot of this. I'd need to make an hr long video just to unpack it all.)

What's great is that I have been met with nothing less than love, respect, and kindness, welcomed with open arms without terms and conditions from this community. On and off Tumblr. More than I've experienced in any community ever. Even more so than the witchy/pagan community.

I guess I just want to say that I love y'all. A whole fucking lot. Thank you for making me feel seen. Thank you for your love.

And I hope it's ok to say this but... I'm excited as hell to celebrate this year's Pride month, no longer just as an ally...but as a part of the Ace community.

Thanks for giving this odd, funky-shaped peg a place to call home.

Happy Pride. 🏳️‍🌈

[aingeal98]

Steph for the ask game?

three facts about them from my personal headcanons

-The first woman Steph was ever attracted to was Zatanna. She didn't realise this until later on when she was dating Cass and it clicked that it hadn't just been platonic girl crush appreciation

-She did actually die. The body they put in the ground was actually Steph. Due to reality warping from various villains she ended up in Africa with Leslie who admitted that she hadn't actually let Steph die but tried everything and saw her bleed out regardless. They were both highly confused how she was alive again and they never did fully confirm why.

-She has all the autopsy scars and long lasting damage from Black Mask's torture. She used to play the piano but when she came back her fingers didn't stretch the way they used to and the first time she tried it gave her a panic attack.

a reason they suck

They were created and written by Chuck Dixon, which often meant being a part of his shitty conservative propaganda. She was more of a victim than a perpetrator most of the time, but I'd love to have modern Steph reflect on that and be like "Damn that internalized misogyny was kicking my ass sometimes huh."

a reason they are great

What if the entire narrative was stacked against you, what if your writers and editors looked down on you for being a teenage girl and treated you as nothing more than a pawn in their shitty sexist manpain stories. And what if you survived and triumphed and became loved enough to carve your own narrative. What if people have come and gone from the "family" that once excluded you maliciously but you're still here and kicking, a core part of it now. They put you in the Robin uniform as a consolation prize before killing you but you're still here and you're clawing your part in that history with everything you've got. For everyone that'll say Damian is the fourth Robin there's someone who'll reply "Actually that was Stephanie Brown."

a reason I relate to them

Being an isolated teenage girl who feels a deep anger at the injustice of the world and doesn't quite have anywhere to fit in or fully vent that anger? I was literally two bad days away from going out on the street to fight crime when I was a teen. I tend to relate to Cass more because the specific mentality and issues she have resonate strongly, but Steph also has plenty of material for me to dig into.

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Stephcass. It's gotta be stephcass. I could give a million reasons but I've yelled about this so much on my blog already. They bounce off each other so well, they've got the backstory and angst and complex dynamic while also being funny and cute together. The accidental romantic narrative they created is so damn good it barely needs anything to canonize it at this point.

five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

A proper go at being Robin. An apology from Bruce. A discussion with Tim about what they did wrong and an apology too. A long talk with Cass after she came back from the dead with (you guessed it) an apology from Cass. Getting to talk to preboot Jason about what it means to be a sacrificial lamb to give Batman manpain and hype Tim up as the perfect Robin.

five people that character never fell in love with and why

-Dean. Even if she hadn't gotten pregnant it would have never worked out. He was simply too old and for all Steph hates herself she would have realized it eventually

-Detective Gage, for exactly the same reasons as Dean.

-Jason. He died before she came along and by the time he came back it would never cross either of their minds to be anything but purely platonic. They can bond but neither of them appeal to the other romantically.

-Kyle Mizoguchi. He's sweet and they could be something but unfortunately she's in love with Cass at this point. Like the entirety of Batgirls is just Steph and Cass being in love and not realizing it. Kyle had the wrong timing.

-Dick Grayson. The hypothetical age difference isn't a problem for Steph. But obviously, it's an issue for Dick. If she were ever to fall in love with him in an alternate universe and confess he'd be highly alarmed to find out why she thought things were possible between them. It might actually be nice for Steph to get an understanding ear and a shoulder to cry on, someone to tell her that it's not her fault and those men were wrong, but that's all. For one thing Dick is not a scumbag who creeps on young girls and for another thing that's his little brother's ex. In no universe could this ever be more than a one sided crush.

[fantomette22]

Can we talk about how The Doll basically fits the image of a conservative view of women?

No

Ok more seriously I’m actually polite so i’m actually going to answer a bit more below :

If you’re one of my followers or i follow you or we like each other stuff posts I’m actually willing to listen to your points in dm if you wish. We can talk about it more it can be interesting!

Or idk write something about it in your own blog. But i will probably not read it because i don’t like those kind of essay (i made the effort to read some in their entirety before! I don’t like it and it exhaust me).

Also i made those if you are interested.

And there a bit. And if you know my blog just look around.

I prefer to think of it that way and you know i don’t magically put it out of my hat either. There’s back up to those.

Also the doll literally have almost up to the knee boots?! (Same as Maria) Literally like if today a girl with a dress/ skirt wear basket or doc martens but ok. There’s women with more traditional attire. (Also if you think xix/19th century accurate clothes in a xix fantasy setting are conservative euh ok i guess). And she’s not fully human my poor girl act like a robot discovering emotions for the first time give her a break.

Instead of bothering someone with a very different view as you please, go hype yourself up about how much you’re smart in analyzing things and see historical/ cultural references in a fantasy world like it’s 100% accurate there, with people who think the same! I can recommand a few blogs if you want! (In dm) they block me and i block some but i’m sure you might actually enjoy their stuff more.

Now you literally ask me this 2mins after i reblog some gehrmaria drawing. Like what i am supposed to think about it. If you don’t like that (and I can completely understand)/ or if you're are not aware i like this, you can literally mask/block the tag in tumblr parameters.

But if you’re just some random stalker that is just here for trouble and bother people?

Please leave me alone thank you. Or "fuck off" if in other terms it’s more understandable.

Cordially,

[menalez]

Sorry i just want to put it out there... toppdyke moved to youtbe. She ended up in with some ... Interesting... women (GC not feminist) and they've only just found out her tumblry past and I think it's about to be another huge shitshow. I'd been wondering if this would happen eventually after I realised VF555 is toppdyke a few months ago and ! It's happening!

crazy reading accusations that toppdyke/vf555 was in some kind of threesome with a slightly twisted female and astf's boyfriend ngl and crazy that toppdyke admitted the boyfriend was there but she did not have sexual contact with him (but I guess he was at the very least watching?!?? which,,, idk i think thats fucked up. some straight man should not be watching women having sex considering how men are about lesbian sex. but two radfems being involved in that is even wilder to me)

but also I knew about the ASTF situation as it was unfolding long ago bc toppdyke told me & asked me to keep it a secret back then (ig its no longer a secret) and its funny hearing how ASTF is like changing up the story now. she was thirsting after toppdyke while her boyfriend was in jail and I Guess they actually dated for a bit (even tho when toppdyke n i were talking, she was clearly conflicted n not willing to be some 2nd choice of some woman with a boyfriend again. so i guess sth happened to change her feelings there) after toppdyke n i lost touch. ASTF seemed to be misleading TD and it seemed like they were not a good fit whatsoever & last I heard from TD, they had become enemies again. i guess they then became lovers after that then became enemies a 3rd time and now ASTF is posting my very old posts on TD to get her cancelled? fhdshfd

in regards to ASTF's claims which involved my old post, for the record: TD/VF555 was not run off of radblr for having been with significantly younger women. i was one of the few people who actually seemed to take issue with that on here. her blog kept getting termed and then a straight conservative "radfem" on here "exposed" TD for "being a fauxbian" by pointing to some old account on a site called shybi from over 15 or so years ago. TD got termed again and when she remade she kept things lowkey.... until getting termed again. eventually she moved onto youtube bc she was tired of being termed ig, but she was never actually chased off of here. im sure ASTF knows the real story and is purposely twisting things to make it seem more ~scandalous~ tho

[wildpeachfarm]

this is meant lighthearted : instead of “all men are trash, women do no wrong” a secret third thing “PEOPLE suck in general”

as someone who grew up with an absent father who tried to make life difficult for my mother once she took him to court for child support for me and my siblings - ing…I grew up with a not nice view of older men BUT my grandpa was a big big influence in not making men a negative experience for us.

the recent shift of the last 4-5 years has been worrying. I used to liked jkr and could emphasize where she was coming from originally. but it was scary to see the gradual descent into where she is now and the stuff she is saying. Bc she is so far removed from what she originally stood for. It can happen to anyone, I even get worried if I’m on that slope sometimes. This whole situation had me second guessing myself bc I gave gnf time and believed in him. I had a moment when a few female creators made remarks (not from mc community) and I checked myself bc I was scared I was falling into the conservative rhetoric to blame women and protect men. Then I saw others who had more information and actually looked into it and also found this blog where the nuances were being discussed and let out a breath of relief that I was just using my critical thinking skills lmao

There are so many men out there who just aren’t given a chance bc society is set up for them to fall into a certain role. And I think a lot of men are trying to break that role and stereotypes. I became a dream fan bc I saw him doing this, saw a gamerboy in 2020 who was passionate and excelled at the game but didn’t fall into the toxicity of the space, actively fought against it.

and women should not be encouraged to drag men through hell bc they feel empowered by the rhetoric of recent years. women can and are just as selfish and shitty people as men. Sometimes they are worse

we’ve gone so far off center, we’ve essentially gone from one extreme to another. Which I learned two years ago was called terfs 😂 the movement needs to go back to its previous meaning. Feminism is not solely female empowerment it is the deconstructing of the patriarchal roles and belief that push men and women into boxes. Feminism, as I was taught over a decade ago, was the fight for women and MEN to be equal and have the same rights and opportunities. We can uplift women without putting down men. if this feminist movement doesn’t correct itself, it will allow more men like andrew tate to grow and influence young men.

The lack of female representation in the sphere cannot be corrected by women. It just can’t. Men need to be part of the change bc if the environment is not corrected, women cannot succeed and thrive. They can become successful but the hate and obstacles directed towards them is crazy. This is in general not just for streaming.

It can’t just be women solidarity, men need to learn and actively engage in calling out misogynist behavior. Women need to talk with their males friends and call them out when they say or act in disgusting ways. Women need to hold women accountable as well! It is unfair and unattainable to put female equality solely in the hands of women. We need to All work together.

Puffy is so good at this when she streams, especially on the smp. Hell, she even created a whole villain arc to call out the people telling her to “be a therapist to Tommy, omg your like dreams mom”. Puffy is awesome 🥹

men =/ bad

women =/ good

PREACH ANON

this breaks it all down so well and i really sympathize with you about having a poor view of some men in your life and trying to not let that influence your views but also not go so far off the other end that you end up blindly defending them without critical thinking.

Really important discussions and introspection about how your thought processes work that I think everyone should have at least once when situations like this come up

[monstersinthecosmos]

I'm so glad you're back!! I was so panicked when I saw your blog was gone, because you are truly one of the absolute stars of VC fandom!!

I joined VCblr a few months ago because I have been obsessed with Marius since I was 13, like my Marius obsession literally changed my life in multiple ways and I saw VC was becoming popular again so I wanted to join in! but like one of my first posts got these comments from people I'd never even spoken to before about how I was disrespecting Marius and his fans, and to be a little dramatic the way some of these comments were written, I felt like some of them seemed to actually really hate me personally. It just killed my desire to write fic or meta anymore so I just deleted my tumblr and now I just have an empty one so I can lurk on people. Like I have really limited time and energy for fandom, and I don't want to spend it writing stuff that people just hate seeing and making them feel bad, and then feeling bad myself for liking the stuff I like.

Anyway, I found your blog a little while ago and I am OBSESSED with your creativity and your perspective on like everything, so I'm sorry to be a weird rambling anon but basically I'm just trying to say your blog has made a difference to how I feel about my own freaky way of loving Marius and I just love your openness and acceptance and your ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS A++ MARIUS TAKES and you genuinely have improved my VC experience 100% and I'm glad you haven't been erased from existence.

ugh see this is what I mean dude!! I'm so sorry to hear you had that experience!!!!!! Please talk to me off anon any time, I'd love to see your posts if you wanna come back and share again!

I BRING THIS UP NOW AND THEN so I'm sorry if I'm like a rambling old man telling the same story 400 times, but, now and then I think it bears repeating. But like, when I was 13, a boy at my school bashed my head open on a locker (I had to go to the hospital and get my head stapled shut) and he punched me in the face so hard that I have permanent ligament damage in my jaw. And it was because I was like, a baby bat and I was into numetal and Wicca and I was like the only kid in my small town school who didn't go to church. The day it happened I was wearing a Korn shirt!!! And I had blue hair! And I'd been like very intensely bullied my whole time in middle school, and the adults in my life NEVER protected me. This was RIGHT after Columbine and people were still buying into the propaganda that the killers were bullied goth kids and not fucking neo-nazis, so like, the entire time I was getting violently harassed, every day!, no one protected ME because they thought I would turn out to be the violent one. And yet, I was being put on hit lists. I had a gun pointed at me. A boy one time stole my Wicca book out of my backpack and read it to the class to make fun of me, but *I'm* the one who got in trouble for it because they thought I wanted to cast spells & curses on my classmates. The boy who assaulted me was a KNOWN problem in our school, and I wasn't even the first girl he hurt! MEANWHILE I still got a week of detention for having my head bashed open because they said I started the fight. ((This is up for debate: Yes I actually did throw the first punch LMFAO but he HAD been teasing me incessantly for like ever so like come the fuck on. I deserved that one.))

idk why I was just born like, without any shame or something, I guess it's innate, the rebel streak, I can't explain, but none of this really hurt my feelings? Every time people would make fun of me I was thinking "Yeah but I love Korn and they're so COOL and if you're making fun of me that means you're NOT cool and I don't really value anything you have to say????" And that really sustained me through all of this.

So yatta yatta terfs & conservatives poisoned the fandom well on Tumblr and I always think that it's not so different -- being picked on because you like something weird & offputting or whatever, and being treated like a threat or a danger when you're the one who's vulnerable to harassment and violence. In the digital space on Tumblr it's going to be about like kinky stuff and villainfucking and IRL it was because I was the only goth at my school and I liked horror films. It's the same shit, being harassed because of the fiction you like and the media you consume. And on Tumblr it's people being absolute fucking dickheads and IRL it was me being put in the hospital because a guy put his fucking hands on me, he was that upset that I was into cool shit.

And just. Yknow. It does suck when you want fandom to be a chillout space and you get your feelings hurt. It fucking SUCKS when people show up here specifically to be unkind to others, like I can't think of a less productive use of time. But part of me always thinks "I didn't get my head stapled shut for some grassless little fucking weasel on tunglr dot com to shame me over vampire porn" lmao.

(As an aside if you ever want to look into other examples of people being IRL fucked over over STUFF THEY LIKE, google the West Memphis Three ((innocent metalheads who did 20 years on death row because people thought the weird metal boys MUST be murderers)) or the FBI trying to file Juggalos as a GANG which means anyone who had an ICP phase and got a Hatchetman tattoo as an 18 year old is now in jeopardy of losing their fucking children for affiliating with a gang, okay. And this isn't even to scratch the surface of the way people treat hip hop and way it's mired in racism. Censorship and thought policing are always going to come down to Christofascism and white supremacy, but I digress.)

So blah blah all that to say, I'm not going anywhere and it pisses me the fuck off that people can't keep this bullshit to their private group chats. I have NO idea what anyone gains by acting like this in public.

Like, yeah yeah, fandom is silly, whatever, but hobbies are legit! And we deserve a space to unwind that isn't ruined by capitalism and bigotry and just, some little space to land. ESPECIALLY when, let's be real!, it's very very very common for fandom folks to be neurodivergent. I mean why else would we be so obsessed and blorbo-sick lol. So like, it just feels extra fucking shitty of people to be rude to fans like that, to make you feel shame for the thing that excites you.

Fandoms SELF GENERATE. Someone has to be here posting shit and we have to interact with it and create community. And genuinely if all you can contribute is your horseshit attitude, you can go fuck yourself!!! And I can't begin to tell you how much it breaks my heart when I see this infighting in one fandom, because like, being a Marius fan - BELIEVE ME - when I tell you I've done my time as persona non grata, the antis have fucking come for me LMFAO, I'm on the blocklists, I've been accused of absolutely heinous bullshit for liking a stupid fake vampire character. Like, listen!

I've had my head bashed open on a locker for liking numetal! You're not going to chase me off Tumblr!!!!!!

Anyway this got away from me, idk what I'm trying to say, I'm saying that I'm so sorry you had a bad experience and I hope you come back some time! And I encourage everyone to block & curate your space as needed to make for a happy escape zone. EVEN BLOCKING ME, I KNOW I GET ON PEOPLES NERVES SOMETIMES. And my content isn't for everyone! It's fine! Stay safe please, and I love you, and I have your fucking back dude!!!

AND EVERYONE ELSE JUST, HOLY SHIT BE NICE TO PEOPLE. IT COSTS $0 TO BE FUCKING NICE TO PEOPLE. IF YOU'RE NOT BEING CREATIVE YOU'RE BEING DESTRUCTIVE!

[sirfrogsworth]

I have two best friends.

Which is not an apt description.

Best friends is too small a term to describe what they are to me.

Chosen family. Ride or die. People I would drop everything for if they needed me. People I would protect with my last breath. People who know embarrassing details they will take to the grave.

Now that my mom and dad are gone, they are my lifelong companions. I trust them with my life.

I talk about Katrina all the time. But I tend to keep my friendship with Delling a little more private. I don't love either of them any more or less. There is no ranking system for my besties. But Katrina and I are basically like an old school comedy duo, so we have a lot more shenanigans to share. Shenanigans are easy content for a blog.

Delling is disabled like me. We have a lot of the same consequences from our health issues. Extreme fatigue most of all. Delling was unable to get disability benefits though, so they have to work a 9 to 5 job. And it exhausts them to the limit. They often will work and go straight to bed. If it were possible, I would talk to Delling every single day like I do with Katrina, but circumstances don't always allow for that.

So we have less shenanigans, but the same amount of love.

I'm also a little more protective of Delling at the moment. They are trans and for some reason a large portion of the "very online" people have decided to hate my best friend. And sometimes I worry about drawing attention towards Delling from the few trolls who still hate follow me.

Delling is almost always in my thoughts when I write about trans issues or argue with transphobes on Twitter. But I refuse to invoke "I HAVE A TRANS FRIEND" most of the time. For one, I don't advocate for trans people just because I have a trans friend. Though it does make the emotions I feel very intense sometimes. A lot of tears and anger. But I also don't want to sound like those conservatives who justify everything they say because they have a friend from a marginalized group.

There are certainly times people will be like, "Why would you mutilate someone and cut off healthy breasts??" and I wanna be like "Delling is much happier without boobies and I can see a huge difference since their surgery and you don't know what the fuck you are talking about with that mutilation nonsense. FIGHT ME!"

But I don't think I need to announce my bestie's private top surgery details just to win an argument on Twitter.

I'm just really happy for them and I am glad it helped. They struggled to get the surgery for so long and fought like hell to make it happen. People acting like it is this horrible thing make me so angry. When it finally happened it was... a relief. A weight lifted off their shoulders... err... chest.

After my dad died, Katrina was unable to get away from Florida to help me out. She was dealing with her disabled dog, Lucy, and her end-of-life care. That just isn't something you can ask someone else to look after for a few days. So Delling got permission to do remote work and drove down from the top of the country to help me. They came on the weekend of my dad's service and stayed a few days after to help me get the house sorted.

I'm honestly not sure I could have made it through that experience on my own. During the service, Delling just clung to my side as I tried to act normal when long-lost relatives offered similar grief platitudes over and over. And I kept introducing Delling and saying they were from the wrong state for some reason. I do actually know where Delling lives, but I guess my brain was not functioning in that situation.

Delling also helped me finish my eulogy literally hours before I gave it. And they helped me print out a bunch of photos of my dad that almost no one looked at. I'm so glad we spent all morning frantically doing that. *sigh* Though I'm hoping the photos will come in handy when I do an online memorial for my parents, so it was not all for naught.

There was a moment when a certain someone gave an impromptu speech at the end of the service about how she let my dad see his granddaughter for a couple of hours a year ago and how special that was, and Delling tightly squeezed my hand to help channel away my anger.

Ya know, those totally normal *yearly* visits all grandpas get to have.

Sometimes friends just know, ya know?

Delling and I also revamped the kitchen for my needs, which I have already turned into absolute chaos. And we had a fun shopping trip to Sam's where I bought tender beef jerky that was the toughest to chew jerky I've ever experienced. I guess the "tender" on the label was sarcastic.

All I know is that casually shopping with my friend was this beautiful bonding adventure where we just got to hang out and be together. It's weird the experiences that stick with you. Trying to pick out wholesale sushi with my bestie will be a treasured memory for the rest of my days. And I think that is kinda perfect in its simplicity.

There are not enough thank yous in the world for what Delling did for me. I wish they could have stayed a few months instead of a few days. I miss having them here in person. But they had a foster bunny to take care of and a job and a family. So I had to give Delling back to the top of the country.

I just wanted to write this in appreciation of my other best bestie. I love them more than anything. And I can't tell you all how special it feels to have someone who will drop everything, drive across the country (through tornado weather, no less), and keep you company during a very lonely time.

[ms-boogie-man]

As to the Second Amendment and the statement Shall not be infringed; The Second Amendment has to do with a well-armed Militia. The Framers wanted to make that point because it was different times back then. The Interpretation among the Supreme Court was that it was then a right for an individual to possess a gun or guns for self-protection. A forgone conclusion among gun owners. Yes. It is however upon those Courts to decide what our rights are as far as Castle Law or marching around the block with a long gun just to show you have big balls. We do indeed have a right to carry a side arm with a permit. We don't have a right to shoot someone if they are using their First Amendment right to protest. I digress. When reading the Amendments to the Constitution one should not skip the 12th Amendment. I'm guessing that one isn't as important as keeping one's firearms with you Trumpers. The Republican Party claims to be the party of Law Enforcement and the Party that sticks to the Constitution. Oh. Read the 14th Amendment while you're at it. Now that I've made my point here. Have a nice day.

What you just said was one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul

Nice straw-man… there are no conservatives shooting protesters exercising their 1A right unless maybe those protesters have gone well beyond the point of protest and become violent and threatening of other's safety… and there has been plenty of that from the left over the last 7 years. Too, you ignore lefties who have shot people who exercised their 1A right to free speech and said thingys the left does not agree with… and that is no straw-man, Homey

As for your comment re: what times we are living in…

… we are in exactly the same times our founding father were in before and during the writing of 2A, you just do not know it; hopped up on arrogant virtue as you are

Furthermore, I have read the entirety of our Constitution, as well as the rest of our founding documents, letters and notes between some of the founding fathers, and,

I am fairly well versed in many areas of US law, such as for instance our CFR (Code of Federal Regulation), I have read the width and breadth of EOs signed off on by both President Donald J Trump and 'resident Biden

It is very clear you do not understand our Constitution, the entire uniqueness and advantages of it over what the rest of the world lives under, nor the times people lived in back then, or the times we live in now

Too, bother me again with your soy-poison and I will Block you

*I do not approach the Ask tab, but if I did, it would not be on anon

Angie/Maddie🦇❥🇺🇸

*To my followers, it is starting up… again. These commie a-holes will soon gang up on my blog, flagging it to get it Terminated… again We are planning a mailing list. It will be on a server these mongrels cannot touch. I will pass along the web address shortly

[cheerfullycatholic]

Hi — sorry to dump this on you, but I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this. I’ve been away from the church for a few months now, and have struggled to come back because in all honesty, I’ve never felt like I fit. I feel like there’s this certain mould young Catholics have to fit (extremely devout, extremely conservative, very openly Catholic). My faith has always been a very private part of my life; I don’t feel a need to flaunt it to others. But I feel like that lack of zeal makes me an outcast among other young Catholics. I’ve tried youth groups and things, but never really fit it. I’ve seen some downright horrible opinions from other Catholics online, and it makes me wonder if I’m really Catholic at all if I don’t share those opinions.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love the Church and its beliefs, but have had a lot of negative experiences with people in the Church, and don’t really feel like I belong.

Thank you for listening. I’ve always enjoyed your blog, and would appreciate prayers.

I've felt that way, too. I thought for so long that there was only one way to be Catholic, but I realized within the last year or so that there's more options than people talk about. You don't have to be extremely conservative to be Catholic, you don't have to be very outwardly expressive. Living a quiet life, focusing more on prayer than evangelism, isn't contrary to the Church. Religious brothers and sisters have been doing it for years, and you don't even have to be a religious brother or sister to do it. Your life can be as private as you want, though I do think it's important to make sure that your desire for privacy doesn't stem from something like shame or fear of judgement. Those things are scary, but we shouldn't fear being Catholic.

I wish that people in the Church were more open to accepting everyone and every way that a person can live their life while still being a devout, practicing Catholic, but unfortunately right now some of these people treat it like a club that you can only fully enter if you do say and believe certain things, when those things aren't necessary to be Catholic or don't even align with Catholic teaching (I see the problem the most with politics, like being judged for not supporting certain candidates or not hating someone who's done bad things). It's silly and it's wrong. But it's important to remember that we're not Catholic for the people in the Church, we're Catholic for Jesus. Just because people may misrepresent him and make you feel unwelcome, doesn't mean you don't have a place here

And yes, of course I'll pray 🖤

[asmallorb]

Regarding the 2024 Election: Do not despair.

I left Tumblr for Cara a while back but I'm here again to make myself heard on the matter. This is a post I've been wanting to make to my US friends for a while, and certain events have spurred things forward. Do not despair. Always remember the future is unwritten. No matter what your friends or family say, no matter how much media pressures you that things are a certain way, no matter what polls say - your vote is not and never will be pointless. Both here in the UK and France there was a lot of uncertainty around whether the conservative parties would take the vote. But voter turn out proved them wrong. In an example closer to home for you; Oklahoma County came very close to flipping in 2020 as Biden and was only 3,326 votes shy. So yes, even if you are in a state where the rural mentality is dominant, that still shouldn't discourage you from making your own voice heard. Can you imagine if everyone who didn't bother to vote turned up and made the difference? Your vote matters. Period. So please, if you haven't registered to vote in the upcoming elections. Do so. ANYONE who says that your vote doesn't matter in the state that you're in, or discourages you from voting for whatever reason - doesn't want you to vote. If you feel like your vote doesn't matter, vote anyway. If you expect protesters to be around polls ready to intimidate you, go with friends, family or vote over post. In the US record numbers of younger voters have already signed up to vote, go be one of them.

I would also strongly advise adding some palate cleansers to your news feed. Because here's a hard truth that few are willing to accept - there is good in this world. There are good people doing amazing things and making real tangible progress that you are benefitting from right now and don't even know about. People think that negativity = being realistic and that gives them a free pass to not participate in making a better future, when in fact the opposite is true. While I myself am a firm believer of preparing for the worst, it's important to have room in your mind for hoping for the best as well. Because if you just roll over and accept the worst outcome, guess what, it will happen because you let it happen. I highly recommend Fix the News. https://fixthenews.com/ and the blog @reasonsforhope.

One last thing:

Don't let perfect be the enemy of done.

Yes, the democrats are not perfect. And should be called out by the people they're supposed to serve when they fail.

But struggling over if they're the perfect candidate is not going to help in this situation.

Vote, donate, talk to friends and family.

And most of all: do not let yourself regret not participating when you had the chance.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Hey, I just came across your blog and get the feeling that you're involved in the environmental and education sector. It's something I've been wanting to get into, but there's so much out there that I don't know where to start. Do you have any good resources on career paths and short/MSc courses?

I am! It's a big ole' sector, that is true; from our course we've had people head off into fields as disparate as land management, flood defence, sustainable fashion, environmental law, recycling firms, research science, environmental engineering, government work, sustainability advisory for companies, environmental activism, wildlife conservation, renewable energies... the list goes on.

If you feel comfortable shooting me a private message off anon and telling me the sort of things you've done so far (undergrad degree topic, for example) and roughly where you are in the world, I can probably be more specific. But my generic advice is that for the best shot you need two things, to whit:

A qualification to at least undergrad level in an environment-related subject

At least a year's experience (but volunteering while you study is 100% valid and volunteering opportunities are plentiful)

So an MSc could work very well for point one. If you have a specific idea about which way to run you can pick a course that will let you specialise; for example, University of South Wales offers one in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology. If you're wanting a broader course that will give you the foundation you need while keeping you more employable to a wider variety of fields, on the other hand, UWTSD have Environmental Conservation and Management. I think both of those can be done part time over two years, too - the UWTSD one definitely can, so if you're working at the same time (or even just... want a more leisurely pace), that makes things easier.

For point two, you really can find volunteering opportunities very easily. Pick a few in different fields and have fun.

ALSO, if you're UK based, I can tell you right now that we are in desperate need of botanists and bat workers. For botany, practice is key, but ecology firms across the land will run little evening courses to teach you ID for certain plant families, like grasses or winter trees or what have you.

For bat work, you attend an ecology firm's evening class on how to survey bats, then you go with them as a volunteer surveyor to start working towards 100 hours of bat surveys. After a while, especially if you're also working towards an official MSc, they will take you on as a seasonal ecologist (April-September), which is paid work. Once you have 100 hours under your belt, you can get your bat license. This makes you VERY MUCH more likely to then get a Junior Ecologist job somewhere. Particularly considering that ecology firms love offering graduate schemes.

Oh, and GIS. Your MSc will teach you it, if you go down that route, but if you don't, download QGIS and follow some of the many tutorials online - it's all free, but it's vital these days across the sector. Well; unless you go into law or fashion, I guess.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

[writing-for-life]

The podcast isn’t completely paywalled and Tortoise Media isn’t owned by Boris Johnson (please people, check your sources!)

Ok, this is the last I’ll say about this:

PLEASE don’t reblog everything unchecked. PLEASE do your own research before you reblog stuff unquestioned. Don’t rely on other people’s often questionable “summaries”. The unsubstantiated crap I’ve seen on here today is honestly starting to get embarrassing, and people reblog it without as much as checking if it’s true. I’ve listened to the thing in its entirety, and I still don’t blog about it and won’t. My guess is that the majority of people who reblog haven’t listened at all and just rely on what other people write. That’s how you create echo chambers that align with your own bias, and that’s also how you spread misinformation. And we have plenty of that by now.

The latest thing I’ve read is that Boris Johnson (former UK PM) owns Tortoise Media. No, he doesn’t (in fact, they’ve dragged him several times. The fact that his sister, who he doesn’t get along with btw, was involved in this particular report doesn’t change that one bit. She used to be Conservative, then changed to the LibDems and is now Independent. Her other views are a different topic). And it’s all very easy to find out and takes barely a minute.

The person who spreads that misinformation also writes that the “Conservative Party is further to the right than the Tories”. Dude, the Tories and the Conservatives are the SAME PARTY! 🤦🏻‍♀️ And people reblog it and vehemently agree. I’m sometimes just despairing on here.

Btw, the podcast is not paywalled (I read this constantly on here). It’s only behind a paywall on Tortoise’s own page, but you can freely listen to it on e.g. Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms. With free transcripts to read. There:

Peddling of misinformation helps no one.