#i understand the material. i just don’t agree with it and never will. deal

[cats-in-the-clouds]

i keep getting stuck being forced to take classes i despise and that have no relevance to me so i’m going to go all malicious compliance on every single assignment and subtly insult the class material and/or professor

[svsss-brainrot-blog]

For a prompt: white lotus LBH and SQQ bonding over books

Luo Binghe startles as a hand comes down on his shoulder, whipping his head up to meet his Shizun’s gaze where it hides behind his fan of the day- a pale green thing with a calm mountain and bamboo theme.

Shizun hasn’t hit him in months.

Part of him is still waiting for the other boot to drop.

“This disciple apologizes to Shizun!” the boy hurries to say, scrambling to arrange himself in a proper position of humility. “He is stupid with his senses, and did not hear Shizun enter!”

“Silly child,” Shen Qingqiu chides. “It is a library. It is meant to be quiet.”

“Of course, of course! Shizun is wise,” Luo Binghe agrees, dropping his voice to a quieter register.

“What’s this?” His master asks, and Luo Binghe freezes in place.

He is lucky to be allowed in the library at all. A stupid thing like him hardly deserves even the most basic of training manuals. He is lucky Shizun’s good spirits extended to his new manual and a few reading lessons from one of the older hallmasters. He should be thankful.

No doubt he will be punished for his greediness today.

“The Histories and Recollections of Guo Enlai? This isn’t part of your class studies.”

“Forgive me!” Luo Binghe burst out, dread clawing at his ribs. “I know it’s not for classes, I just… I just-!”

He halts as the hand comes down. It will do no good. This is it- the final straw to break Shizun’s streak of benevolence. How many strikes of his palm until he calls for Ming Fan to string him up and continue?

Instead, he blinks as gentle hands ruffle his hair before pulling away.

“One can never learn too much,” Shen Qingqiu says, kneeling down at the low reading table with him. “It is important for a Qing Jing disciple to have a wide array of knowledge, that is my job to impart on you. But it is no so uncommon for one to have a specialized interest in something. This, too, is an honorable pursuit among scholars.”

“R-really?” Luo Binghe blinks up at the man, who casually flips through a few pages. “Does… does Shizun have a specialty?”

“This master is captivated by the strange flora and fauna of this world, and has read a great deal about them,” Shen Qingqiu offers. “Does the work of Guo Enlai interest Luo Binghe?”

The boy shifts on his knees slightly. “It… this stupid one finds the work to be interesting, what pieces he is able to understand.”

“Mm,” Shizun hums. “It is a bit of an advanced text. If Binghe is interested in the subject, then this master will arrange for some more intermediate reading to prepare him for the larger scales of knowledge.”

“Shizun would do that?”

“Don’t act so surprised,” Shen Qingqiu said with another pat to his hair. “It is this Master’s responsibility and honor to foster growth in his disciples. Come, tell me more of what in this study holds your interest.”

Something squirmy wiggled in his chest as he hesitantly turned back to the material he’d been attempting to study, and the pair remained there in discussion over the various texts until the dinner bell rang.

[misstycloud]

How to stop your husband from being weird: situation one- digging in the middle of the night.

One of the things that I have noticed about my dear husband, Arlo (bless his soul), is the constant digging in our backyard; he leaves in the middle of the night and when I dare glance out the window, I see him. His back is always facing towards me, so I can’t get a good look at his face. He is a very expressive person and I can tell what he thinks from simply looking at his face, hence why this is somewhat concerning.

Had I known that my dearest would wake up during ungodly hours of the night, get dressed, fetch the garden tools from the shed, and then proceed to dig a massive hole, then maybe I would have hesitated to say ‘yes’. (Do not be worried, I love my husband deeply and this was just a little joke.)

Joke aside, it is still very annoying. Does he not know this will keep me awake too? I have work to do and I can’t keep on going if my sleep is this disturbed. I would have to be some sort of abomination- a vampire perhaps?

That is not all; I find dirt particles inside our house; I clean for nothing apparently.

I have tried bringing this up(somewhat hard to ask your spouse why they are leaving you all cold and lonely in the middle of the night) with Arlo, but every time he changed the subject. The audacity! He even asks me if I’m ill and is in need of a doctor. I tell him ‘I am quite fine thank you very much!’ and remind him my eyesight is good, I’m not imagining things and I know he’s been up to something in the yard. I also know he’s not preparing to pot new plants for summer so he better not try that with me.

Last time I tried prying the answer out of him, he finally relented and gave me what I wanted.

His explanation: I have been finding a lot of roadkill and other deceased animals lately. I didn’t want you to have to see it. You know I work so many hours, I don’t have time during the day, that’s why I bury them at night. It’s horrible, but understandable since they’re rebuilding the library and trucks loaded with materials drive by often.

Whether I believe this explanation or not doesn’t matter. There is factor agreeing with his explanation and there are ones that goes agaisnt it.

Those vouching for him: it is true that trucks drive by often these days since the library really did catch on fire recently. It was an unfortunate accident casued(according to the police) by some teenagers. They played around with a lighter and things escalated beyond their control. The saddest part is that I can’t go to the library anymore, I suppose I’ll have to find new hobbies to entertain myself until the library is rebuilt and restocked with books. Another thing is that I do like animals and it definitively wouldn’t be fun to see a run-over one in real life. My husband is very caring and wouldn’t expose me to something he knows I hate, therefore it makes sense for him to bury them in secret. Besides, his job is demanding and he actually wouldn’t be able to do so in the day.

All of this form one solution that is: burying the dead animals in secret from his wife(me) during nighttime as to not disturb me or his work hours. (If we look away from the fact I wake when he does)

Factors indicating he’s lying: how come I have never found a roadkill if they are so common nowadays? It’s unusual for him to come home before me, and if he’s that busy with work, it wouldn’t make sense for him to find all of them before I’ve even caught a whiff of something foul nearby. You see what I mean? Secondly, there is not reason why he should be the one doing all this work. Surely there are professionals dealing with here things? In that case then he should call them instead and tell those truck-drivers to be more careful.

Ultimately this is very suspicious, but what else can I do? Statistically, there is a high chance(I believe?) that your husband will have at least one weird hobby. I will have to live with that and I have said to him ‘I love you more than anything and if this is something you wish to do then o won’t question you.’

He was almost in tears, it was adorable. He said, ‘Yes, my love, thank you. I also love you more than anything in this world and I would be damned if something came between us.’

Afterwards I lectured him on not bringing in dirt in the house again, though. This was his answer: of course not, my darling!

To summarise this incident: my husband still visits the outdoors at night, however not as often as before. I warned him, too, of being careful because a bunch of men have been going missing lately and I’d be devastated if his name came up on of of those reports. I shouldn’t say this- but I will- I’m kind of happy those men are gone. I recognised their names and/or faces from the papers, you see. It turns out that all of them were ones I’d met previously. I won’t bore you with the details, but they weren’t pleasant encounters.

Everyday I have checked the floor for dirt and have found none. This is very good news for my ‘cleaning-spirit’. Whenever I feel Arlo leaving the bed I have decided to relax my mind and go back to sleep again. Then, if I’m still half-awake, I will feel him laying down beside me once more and together we drift off to dreamland.

The lesson I learned from this is that you don’t have to ‘fix’ everything about your partner, and they are allowed to have their special hobbies. There is a difference if you’re being harmed in the process, though. If that’s the case then you should immediately speak up about it and you compromise. Remember, communication is key!

———

Written by: (Y/n) (L/n)

[hylemorph]

(These observations are only based on my reading of the two available scripts, since I’ve been sick recently and don’t want to be one of Orlok’s plague rats, so I’m avoiding movie theaters for the time being.)

I 100% see where the CSA/Abuse interpretation is coming from, but I feel that I’ve seen many comments from that perspective flat out deny any part of the film deals with female repression, which, based on the scripts, just isn’t true.

Mainly I’m thinking of Friedrich, the loving father of two daughters (who nonetheless repeatedly manifests for his unborn child to finally be a son, named after him), two daughters (little girls Ellen is seen playing with repeatedly—in the 2016 script she plays with them at the beach before talking to Anna) who repeatedly mention a ‘monster’ that their doting parents laugh off as childish play—a monster that is very real, to Ellen, who is initially not treated seriously either until the arrival of Von Franz. She also scandalizes Friedrich when she says she would confront Knock herself, and in general he seems bothered by her more “forward” behavior which is at odds with how ladies “should” behave.

There is also a moment from Anna in the shooting script (not sure if it’s in the film) that stuck out to me: after Ellen says “He says I am promised to him!” (something to that effect) Anna cuts in to insist “She means her husband!” No, she’s obviously talking about Orlok—so why would it have been important to write Anna saying that, if female sexuality and its suppression is not intended as a clear theme?

Also, something else that stuck out to me from the scripts is a clear written attraction to Orlok/Death/the “other side” etc. that I feel also gets explained away by that crowd as only being a product of his abuse of her, but I don’t think that’s quite correct either; I think it’s an important element of the film for her to have, at least once, felt genuine (not trauma based) attraction towards Orlok—alongside her deep love and attraction for her husband, Thomas.

These are great points, I completely agree that looking at Friedrich and Anna's behaviour is key to understanding Ellen's battle with her "gifts" and how acceptance is very conditional for her, even among her closest friends who want to help her.

I don't think that "I am promised to him" part did make it to the finished film, I'm very interested in the context surrounding that - was it when Ellen was explaining her dreams/trances to Von Franz?

I totally agree that Ellen's attraction to Orlok is real, and I don't think it's based on victimhood or a feeling that she can never escape the urge to subject herself to repeated trauma, even though Orlok represents her trauma, among many other complex feelings in her psyche. I think that sexual desire for Orlok represents a deep, primal desire to claim her own darkness and power and everything that freaks her friends out. The tagline of all the promotional material is "succumb to the darkness" and that's really the whole deal, lots of people just immediately assume that darkness is evil and pain and powerlessness.

[windvexer]

I just saw your post on banishing and manifesting and I totally agree, but I have a question. Does every spell require a ‘sacrifice’ and what actually counts? I don’t think a single book I’ve read on witchcraft has mentioned giving up something, other than maybe a small warning on unintentional effects from spell work. Are the materials used the cost? Or have I been doing things wrong because I never feed my spells right? Thanks in advance!

We're in reference to this.

We can make a pile of magical techniques which are required for spells to 'work.' Maybe this pile would include things like:

Raising energy

Intent, programming

Targeting, taglocks

Where I stand right now, I do not believe that this pile would ever include 'sacrifice.'

In common situations and everyday magic, I do not believe that 'sacrifice' is a magical mechanism that is required for a magical machine to operate, the way that we might think fuel or intent is required for a spell to operate.

Although I used flowery language to describe the 'blood' of a sacrifice feeding what is to come, I did not mean this in the same sense that we can use food offerings or energy raising to feed spells.

Instead, I currently perceive this kind of sacrifice (as described in the linked post) to be a part of the craft of the Witch that deals with fate.

I guess my best metaphor at this time is that fate working is like understanding magical laws, like the laws of physics. It's not a law because an authority decided it and is enforcing their will on you. It's a law because operating as if it's true will always get you closer to the bullseye than if you operated as if it was false.

The 'law' is this: when you banish, you leave a hole. When you conjure, that thing needs space to fit in. This is something I just personally believe to be true.

Fatewise, but not necessarily magically, when you mow down a field in your life and plow the harvest into the earth, it provides an open and fertile field for whatever you plant next.

If you want to use magic to fill up that empty space, you still need to raise energy, use intent, and so on. 'Sacrifice' is not a mechanism in these kinds of spells.

It might be better to think of sacrifice as terraforming, and spells as machines you place on the space to build your next structures.

In a more micro sense, we can say that sure, maybe the cost of materials, time, and energy you use to cast spells is a sort of sacrifice. Fatewise, this would seem to be true: you are making space for the spell to exist within your life because you are sacrificing time/focus/energy in order for that spell to have room to take root in your current timespace.

But magically, someone taking the time and energy to do a spell, yet completely skipping the steps of raising energy or powering the spell, is not 'feeding' the spell just because they took the time to perform some of the steps.

For myself, I worry about the idea of sacrifice when I want to make permanent changes. Not, "I'll feed everyone a magic cake for a good mood in the house ^-^" or "wouldn't a lot of new followers be fun this week?" But rather, "you know... time for the status quo to change. The path we're on is going to take a left turn."

[emlovslennon]

Ok so for your Paul stuff… y/n has been dating Paul since the cavern club days, now it’s set during get back, and Paul has gotten a lot more dominant….

Good LORD i have been lacking smh. But woohoo ft Paul McCartney for the first time on my account ‼️

Era: 1969

-

it’s been 8 years since you and Paul have gotten together, you guys met early 1961, back when The Beatles were still performing at the infamous Cavern Club. You showed up to every show and ultimately got the attention of the handsome bassist, after that night, you and him have been pretty much inseparable. At the beginning of your relationship, Paul was very shy, and would let you take the reigns when it came to bedroom activities. But, something changed, to say the least. As the Beatles grew bigger and more popular, the more confident Paul grew. And it wasn’t just an egocentric kinda thing, he started to really push himself when it came to sex as well. Especially now, with how stressed he is with the band seemingly falling apart, even though he doesn’t want to admit it, and obviously you don’t either. And the numerous moments in between when John hit on you when drunk and apologizing in the morning after Paul’s scolding.

“I just don’t understand it, y/n.” Paul sighed, looking at the copious amounts of song writing material on the table. You looked at him, with nothing but sympathy, you know that Paul is truly trying his best and how passionate he is about the band, it truly is exceptional.

“Paul, I promise, everything will be fine.” You say softly, bringing your hands to his shoulders and slowly massage them. You felt him groan as his head laid against your chest. This went on for a minute or so until he turned around and gave you a soft kiss, Paul was always such a passionate lover, he usually was never too rough, even though he sure tried.

“Y/n, I want to try something, I heard it helps with stress, at least, something to do with what John was rambling about earlier, but, I wanted to ask you if you want me to be… rougher, in bed.” You blushed as he explained, you’ve never done that before, but as much stress he’s been dealing with lately, you couldn’t help but not give in to what he wants.

“Of course, we can try. That’s fine with me.” You said, you smiled as Paul’s eyes grew wide and giggled, he honestly didn’t think you’d agree to it. Paul picked up bridal style and took you to the bedroom and threw you on the bed. You pulled yourself up by your elbows to see the look Paul’s eyes change, they looked darker than usual, and filled with lust. Your breath hitched as he slowly unbuttoned his vest and the white button up he had underneath. Today was a very stressful day for him, whether it be him and George bickering or John completing spacing out or having pda with Yoko.

“Strip for me, love.” He demanded. His voice deeper than usual. You immediately got on your knees on the bed and unbuttoned your blue cardigan along with your white top, along with your black, lacy bra you had been wearing. Paul seemed to be impatient as he grabbed your knees and pulled from under them so you fell on your back, as he nearly ripped off your black skirt and panties. This was definitely not the norm for him. He spent no time slipping a finger into you without warning, causing you to arch your back and moan loudly. He immediately shoved a second one in, causing you to gasp, he’s usually very slow in mid movements, but this definitely is different, he’s wasting no time. His fingers always manage to hit your sweet spot as his fingers curled. Causing your legs to shake as you continued to moan.

“Never noticed how needy you are, love. I think I’m gonna need some convincing if you want me to do more than this.” He said, kissing your forehead, although his fingers felt ethereal, you did wish he was actually inside you, especially at such a fast and deep pace he was going.

“P-Paul, please, I need you.” You moaned out shakily, a huge grin painted his face, as he slowly unbuttoned his pants in a excruciatingly slow pace, which made your thighs clench.

“Paul, come on, please I need-“ you stopped dead in your tracks as Paul shoved his entire length into you at one go, causing you to yelp out. Paul gave you no time to adjust, which he usually does, and just immediately started a hard pace.

“Come on, you asked for this, what you get for rushing me.” Paul grunted, you cried out as he hit all the right spots, you have no idea where this type of Paul has been all your life, well, the last 8 years, but you weren’t complaining. You have never felt yourself so close to the edge before, it never came this fast. You could feel the warm feeling in your stomach growing, you felt as if you were a ticking time bomb.

“P-Paul-“ you gasped

“Already? I don’t know, should I let you cum?” He says, in a very breathy tone as he lets out groan after groan. He never made you beg before.

“P-please Paul! Please let me cum, please!” You cried out, Paul spent no time rubbing your clit before you felt the feeling in your stomach snap and you let go all over him. Paul didn’t stop, though. You felt yourself started to get overstimulated, tears started to brim your eyes and the shakiness you were feeling wouldn’t subside.

“I know, I know, I’m almost there, love.” He moaned, after about three more thrusts, he came inside you with a loud groan. Which is probably the hottest thing you’ve ever heard. His long, dark brown hair disheveled, and his face was flushed. He looked so darkly beautiful. He laid next to you and kissed your face all over, no matter how rough he was, he will always be the same boy you fell in love with in Liverpool.

-

THIS WAS KINDA BAD BUT WE NEEDED PAUL CONTENT IT NEEDED TO HAPPEN

[simslegacy5083]

Today's (4/18/2025) Episode: Family Planning

When they got home from Sulani Skye let Candor know that they needed some privacy for a sensitive conversation. Candor shrugged. “No problem, I was just on my way to meet Shelly anyway. The house is all yours; I hopefully won’t be home for a quite some time.”

With the house to themselves, xe settled on the couch next to Elyse, suddenly worried about spooking her back into silence. “So… um…”

“Its OK” she told xem “I had a good talk with mom. Hearing that I won’t be able to carry our baby was devastating, but I want to figure out how we are going to start our family.”

“I’m so sorry,” Skye said “truly, but I’m more than happy to get pregnant for us instead.”

“The doctor said that you likely had some viable eggs we could use to make an embryo. The baby would still be ours biologically, I’d just be the one to carry it. That seems like the simplest solution, and we always planned to do that eventually anyway. What do you think?”

“I…” Elyse frowned as she pictured first the surgical procedure the doctor had briefly described would be needed to harvest her genetic material and then, almost as troubling, her handsome Skye’s stomach swelling grotesquely as xe grew heavy with child….

“Skye… I just…I can’t do that. I don’t want anyone operating on me.” she began “The thought of surgery, of being cut into…” she shuddered “I’d love for our child to be our biological offspring, but that’s just too much for me to handle.”

Xe forced down xir disappointment and refrained from mentioning that if Elyse had gotten pregnant, she might have needed a C-Section, which was much more invasive than egg retrieval. “I understand how much you hate doctors and hospitals.” xe agreed instead “If you don’t want to donate there’s plenty of anonymous donor samples available. Isn’t that how your grandpar got pregnant with your mom?”

Elyse nodded “It is… but Skye, watching you carry our child when I’ll never be able to…” she started to cry softly. “I know you want to have a baby; I just don’t think I can handle that right now, I’m sorry!”

Despite her tears Skye had to tamp down a flare of anger as xir wife rejected xir request to get pregnant… again.

She’s hurting. Xe rationalized, taking a deep breath to calm xir temper before answering. I guess if I went to Peppino’s clinic and they told me I couldn’t ever bear my own child it would be incredibly difficult for me to watch her carrying our baby. I’m sure when everything isn’t so fresh… anyway, we both agreed we want more than one; I know I’ll have plenty more chances and I won’t let her put me off forever.

“I see how that could be hard for you right now,” xe finally agreed “How about we ask one of our friends or relatives to be a surrogate instead?”

“Actually,” Elyse countered “I was thinking of your family, but not as surrogates. That foundation they run might be a great place to adopt a child.”

“Adoption…” Skye sat back, mulling over the idea.

Since xe and Elyse both desired to carry their baby, xe had never considered adopting, but now that she had brought it up xe could see how providing a home for a child in need could be the perfect solution for them. Even if Elyse didn’t see their surrogate, she would have to deal with the knowledge that some other sim was carrying out the task she had so desperately wanted to do herself, but any baby they adopted would already have been born.

“I think that sounds like a great idea!” xe finally agreed. “I’ll call my Uncle Hunter right away and setup a screening appointment. We’ll still have to apply and get approved but its my families foundation, so I can’t see that being a problem.”

“Great!” she smiled, putting her hand over Skye’s to stop xem from pulling out xir phone right then and there. “Before you do that though, there’s one other thing I needed to talk to you about.”

“I know I haven’t been very affectionate lately.” she began “Woohoo has never been my favorite thing and once I knew we wouldn’t even be able to get pregnant that way the thought of doing it just felt pointless and made me remember everything I’d lost. That’s not fair to you though, and I’m sorry. I’d love to make it up to you now, if you’re willing.”

Skye was momentarily torn, but finally decided that their uncle wasn’t going anywhere, whereas their wife might change her mind if xe didn’t act fast. “I’d love that” xe finally said “I’ll call the foundation right after. You know, I had a really interesting shower dream the other night…”

Elyse liked the idea of staying clean while they did the dirty, and sometime later the pair emerged, feeling quite good about the new experience. “That was nice” she said “The warm water, the soapy bubbles… I wouldn’t mind trying it again sometime.”

“Your wish is my command” Skye mocked bowed before blowing her a kiss, spinning back into xir clothes, and heading into the bedroom to call xir Uncle and begin the adoption process.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[byclairs]

Lucas's arc seemed like he deserved to be put in his place and recognize that he was wrong for believing he could hope for better? And they did not even focus in his character that much. Most people say Mike has a spectacular forced conformity storyline waiting for s5 when we had a forced conformity storyline for Lucas but it was so sloppily written. I thought the forced conformity narrative is suppposed to be written good in any case for poc too, not just for your white character that you send a message with.

it feels like the duffers just don’t care enough to convey a cohesive message for lucas’ arc and/or don’t know how because on the one hand they’ve acknowledged several times the racism he faces both on and outside the show so they can’t even play dumb and yet they then constantly downplay what he goes through and so you end up with scenes like the end of s4 where he basically learns to know his place or whatever like..lucas is not in same boat as someone like mike who’s mainly bullied for being a nerd. he’s ostracized in a way that mike and dustin will literally never understand but the show almost never makes any attempt to show how he deals with that yet it’s explicitly talked about in an official book from his perspective (and i know lucas on the line is not technically canon but it’s still tied to netflix/st and if they had someone in the writer’s room who could’ve incorporated even part of the type of material from the book into the show i think it would’ve done wonders to flesh out his story) like i’m sorry if you’re gonna acknowledge that his situation is different than the rest of the party’s then you need to put more care into following through with that because the whole “i thought i wanted to be like you—popular, normal” scene was just..it felt like they were insinuating his main reason for joining basketball was just to be cool when we know it’s a lot more complex than that; he was trying to protect not only himself but his friends too even though they don’t face the same shit he does. and possibly even enjoy something new in the process god forbid. and you would think that he was ditching his friends and other interests for the basketball team when that’s not what happened at all? like he never started acting aloof with them or ignoring them, he was still very much in hellfire and he never turned his back on them he even used his status on the team to lure them away from where eddie was hiding even though everyone was saying he killed chrissy and lucas didn’t know what was going on yet. he never let his desire to fit in turn him into someone unrecognizable who needed to be taught a lesson and that’s why it pisses me off so bad that he was made to feel this deep regret in the end as if he made some huge mistake that he learned from because in reality he’s never been anything short of a loyal friend or strayed from his morals. and to top it all off mike and dustin get off the hook without having reflect on how they hurt lucas because apparently you should never support your friends unless you fully understand and agree with the things they want 👍🏼 idk.

i also think his conflicting feelings about helping his (ex) girlfriend deal with her grief for her canonically racist brother who traumatized and literally almost killed him would’ve been really interesting and important to explore especially since that most likely relates to the reasons he started feeling like it was urgent to fit in more in the first place but. none of that because this boy’s feelings are never taken into account

i also think everyone should read all of this

[jaw-writes]

A Letter to My Coat

I write this as a letter to you, my most frequently used coat. I remember when I found you at the department store. To everyone else, you were just like any simple button up, but I could tell there was something valuable about you. Not in the monetary sense; you weren't made of interesting parts or decadent materials, but you were rich in character. There were a couple like you on the clearance rack but I knew you were the one I wanted. 

So I took you home with me and slipped you on. You were a bit too tight at first and it was a struggle to remove your tag, but my goodness was it worth it. The fabric that lines you is so soft and warm, then the outer layer, the part everyone sees, is so simple yet perfect in that simplicity. I would take you everywhere with me and I would never get comments about you being out of place. Over the years you’ve taken some damage a couple of loose threads and stains, though that’s not a complaint I think it makes you far more desirable. 

The grit contrasts with your overall plush making you even more comfortable to have on. The only problem is when you try to behave like you’re another piece of clothing, or worse something not meant to be worn. There have been a couple of instances, especially over the past few months, where you’ve tried to convince yourself you’re something you’re not. You’ll be stubbornly holding onto the coat rack. Make it hard for me to wear you, try to roll off me, and worst of all, attempt to patch yourself up when you know you can't do that without me.

Which is why I’m writing this letter that I’ll put in your pocket tomorrow. I implore you to stop this nonsense for your sake, I know we don’t always agree but this is much more damaging to you than me. I don’t understand how you don’t know your purpose after I’ve been here so long and explained it to you a plethora of times. You are my wonderful, pecan-colored, coffee-stained, patch-covered, formfitting coat. Your existence is a wonderful thing it greatly improves my life and I get frequent compliments when I wear you. I don’t know why you keep craving for something you’re incapable of having in every sense.

In all honesty, it's getting frustrating to deal with, and I fear you’ll destroy yourself if you continue. You don’t have as much autonomy as you seem to believe. All these attempts to get away from me, to ruin our symbiotic relationship will always result in you coming back. It's in the fabric of your nature to want to be worn by me, no matter your attempts to deny it. To show you how this is causing you harm, I’ll discuss the most recent incident. 

I was on one of my nighttime hunts with you accompanying me as you often do. I had just cornered my prey and prepared to strike when you intervened. As I lifted my weapon, you stiffened around the joints of my arm forcing me to stop. I ran after my target regardless, but my inability to move my arm greatly hindered me. With each step I took you’re hold got tighter. My skin grew a bluish hue the longer you held until I had no choice but to rip you in a lengthy struggle. It was one of the most painful things I’d experienced in months and what should have been an easy win was ruined.

You were completely out of line by trying to stop me. The level of entitlement you displayed is almost unbelievable. You are my coat, you are here to keep me warm and move with me. I’m wearing you, not the other way around. You’re lucky I bothered stitching you up when I got home. The only plus to that whole ordeal is that your scars are alluring. Even then, you complained about my skills in repairing you. 

“Oh God, it looks so unnatural, everyone will notice!” you whined like that wasn't my intention. You already know that I like the damage you take to be visible, and if you wanted to avoid this you shouldn't have held me back. 

I can always take you off and move onto another coat, but without me, you’re an even more useless, bruised shell. You’re not expensive, historically important, detailed, or artistic enough to stand on your own. A bland brown layer of fabric would not survive without someone to slip it over them, and while I love the imperfections you hold, most don’t. I’m fully aware that I am possessive but it’s necessary for me to be when you’re an object. 

Besides, I don’t know why after three years of taking you with me on my hunts, you’re now deciding it's something that needs to end. Just last year you’d complain about the morally dubious nature, but you wouldn’t get in my way. If there’s something I’ve done during those activities that deeply rubbed you the wrong way I’m genuinely sorry. I know that it can get quite gruesome. But if that’s the case you need to communicate what it is. Is it that I’ve gotten so messy that I can’t trust taking you to a public washer? Am I too rough when I scrub you by hand in a hurry? Something else?

I promise whatever it is I can fix it. Even if it's about you being unable to handle the violence. As I said before, I get why it's hard for you. You have to wrap yourself around me as I wrangle and put the long pigs out of their misery, but I must remind you that what I’m doing is necessary. The things I kill aren't like you or me, they’re not warm or logical. All they do is tear one another apart for the smallest differences in perception or appearance. 

Unlike me, they hate any type of flaw, doing everything they can to cover it up. Color matching each patch and stitch, desperately hoping no one will discover the damage. They are far past their expiration date, I’m doing their entire species a favor whenever I take one out of their misery. It may appear brutal, especially considering how I repurpose their hide but it's truly for the best. 

I truly love you and after all the time we’ve spent together, I’d hate to have to trash you. However, it seems like an increasingly likely possibility. So I plead with you to stop these attempts to get away, to interrupt the system that’s been working so well for us. Cause as much as I care for you, I don’t need you, but you need me. Allow these words to seep through the fibers of your fabric, and consider your next actions thoroughly. As I can destroy you just as easily as I can repair you.

Every thread that makes you can be ripped in an instant by just one of my thread cutters. The fluff that lines your insides plucked off you like the feathers of a sickly chicken. The patches I’ve attached to you, easily removable with nothing but my teeth and nails. The material that you’re made from, can be frayed, stained, and bleached one after the other within an hour. 

With that being said, I would not find pleasure in tearing you apart. I enjoy scaring you but I want it to stem from more natural causes. Torture is boring because it’s expected, the wounds you have are entrancing since I can’t predict the situation that’ll lead to them. Anyway, I’ve made my point I sincerely hope you go back to cooperating with me after this.

With Love, Your Owner

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

Perspective

Back to my musings for FF purposes.

Let's compare self-esteem to capital (emotional capital) and let's say that capital is dollars, just for the sake of this example. OK?

So if you have low self-esteem issues, you may have say $2 and if you have regular healthy self-esteem you may have around $1000, ok? Being the average: $800 to $1200, for instance.

BTW: There's no right or wrong amount of self-esteem, there's only wellness/fulfillment levels that vary throughout our lives. So what truly matters is how fulfilled we feel. If we feel quite unfulfilled that is a clear indication that our self-esteem is compromised.

Back to the example: What those $1000 may look like from the low self-esteem folk's perspective is like a fortune, but in truth, they are just $1000. Average. Now from the perspective of those who only have $2 in their pocket... is understandable that the perception is "different", those $1000 may seem like a lot. They are not. Let's not even mention those who have say $3000, which would hardly be a synonym for fortune but for those with only $2 may seem Forbes material and quite frankly, they may even envy them, which is sad, yet fathomable.

It's important not to confuse ego with self-esteem, though. Again, for someone with self-esteem issues, a person with a healthy level of self-esteem may seem flat-out egotistical. That is why toxic people tend to reject healthy people unless they can feed off of them. Because the healthy ones bring to the surface by contrast that which they deny or hate about themselves. That which they can't overcome. If they did, they would probably gravitate toward those with healthy levels of self-esteem, and not feel rejection.

It's more important to understand that none of us will always have $1000 in our pockets at all times. The logical and expected scenario is that our "emotional capital" may vary, maybe not significantly, but surely and constantly.

It's also crucial to understand that those with healthy levels of self-esteem are not necessarily trauma/trouble-free people, they're just people who in spite of their challenges, maintain a healthy self-esteem all along or most of the time, even in times of crisis. And it's OK not to be in that group at all times like I said. It's actually expected at a certain age or during certain phases, like mourning, when dealing with addiction, etc. But even in those cases, it is 100% possible to have a healthy amount of emotional capital. It's certainly not unattainable.

Last but not least, those with only $2 in their pockets may pretend to have a black CC to mask their real "emotional bankruptcy". Only those with a healthy level of "emotional capital" notice the difference between a fake black card holder and a real one, because when you are bankrupted you may feel anyone who has more than 2 dollars is rich and it’s obvious for those who don’t feel that way that you are acting “off” with ppl who just have more $ than you, whereas for you, with your $2 in your pocket, you’re acting just fine. Someone with $900 may find it laughable, but you find it fine and maybe even someone else with only $2, would totally agree with you, and also think that ppl with more money are rich. They are not, but you are bankrupted, so maybe working on your finances and getting back on your feet is a better idea than comparing yourself and others to those who have a healthy amount of capital. Then again, it's an idea that someone with only $2 may never think of, of course. But that can't be held against them, because they only have $2.

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

Extra cw for racism and ableism. It is quite bad in this chapter.

“No, I don’t, Master. I might think it of some men, but never of you. I don’t for a minute think that you would do her or any woman any wilful wrong. But you may do her great harm for all that. I want you to stop and think about it. I guess you haven’t thought. Kilmeny can’t know anything about the world or about men, and she may get to thinking too much of you. That might break her heart, because you couldn’t ever marry a dumb girl like her. So I don’t think you ought to be meeting her so often in this fashion. It isn’t right, Master. Don’t go to the orchard again.”

You know, this speech of Mrs. Williamson started off so well. Because she's right! Even in a world where Eric is a better person and doesn't have any of his issues towards women, he is at risk of harming Kilmeny. If this passage had ended, 'I know you're going to go home and marry an heiress like your father wants you to' it would be fine! But no, we veer hard back into ableism, with the clearly stated belief that Kilmeny's muteness means that of course Eric can't marry her.

And look. This was written in 1910 and possibly set earlier, since it was cobbled together from an earlier short story. Eric meeting Kilmeny alone without her guardians knowing about it could absolutely ruin her if anyone found out. That is the material harm he is doing here. But Mrs. Williamson's concern is not, 'you could lead her on and destroy her' it's 'if you do lead her on there is no way you could marry her because she's disabled.'

And Mrs. Williamson is framing this as a favor to Kilmeny's mother. Once again, Kilmeny exists only as an extension of her mother. Her own desires aren't even discounted, they are not even considered to exist.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Williamson's warning has made Eric realize that he is in love with Kilmeny. Sure. Fine. If you say so. But, unlike Mrs. Williamson, Eric does not think that Kilmeny's muteness is a reason he shouldn't marry her. What he says instead is,“If I can win Kilmeny’s love I shall ask her to be my wife." Which is possibly the most agency anyone has granted this woman to date! It's not, 'I shall ask her immediately,' it's 'if she should love me back then I shall ask her.'

Look, the bar for people granting Kilmeny agency is so low it may as well be a buried sewer pipe.

So Eric agrees to teach school in Lindsay next year so that he can stay close to Kilmeny and woo her. He is weird and gross about it, as is his wont: "It will be my sweet task to teach her what love means, and no man has ever had a lovelier, purer, pupil.”

You know, when most people say they're going to 'teach someone what love means' they generally mean it as a euphemism for sex. Please do not have sex with Kilmeny, Eric. I don't think she knows anything about contraception and how to protect herself.

Anyway, Eric goes back to Mrs. Williamson and says that he intends to marry Kilmeny if she'll have him. She thinks he is committing himself to a great folly. I don't genuinely understand why Kilmeny being mute is such a big deal to everyone. As far as disabilities go, hers is fairly mild. She has no trouble communicating with anyone. Is speech making really so required for a society wife?

He does agree to go speak to Kilmeny's guardians about it, and thank heavens for that. He even admits that he should have done it earlier, and was just so caught up in things he didn't think of it.

Mrs. Williamson then says something interesting, which is that in her opinion Kilmeny has also not told her aunt and uncle about their meetings, because if she had they would have forbidden them. According to Kilmeny her isolation was mostly her mother's doing, but very clearly Thomas and Janet agreed with it and maintained strict control over her after Margaret's death.

I do not think I like Thomas and Janet Gordon very much.

Mrs. Williamson is also racist about Neil, because of course she is. Neil is ~Foreign~, a word which in this context means Not One Of Us rather than its more conventional meaning of Born Elsewhere. Again, remember, Neil Gordon was born in Lindsay and raised by the Gordon family. He's no more Italian than the Williamsons. But his parents were Italian (and Lord knows if they were actually from Italy or if they too were born in Canada) and so he is forever tainted.

And we finish with Mrs. Williamson thinking to herself that Kilmeny must be very beautiful indeed to have so captivated Eric. Never mind if she's nice or funny or clever or anything else. Clearly she is beautiful, because that's the only thing that matters in the end.

Gods the philosophical and thematic underpinnings of this book are gross.

[freneticphoneticfanatic]

My experience with nonmonogamy has cracked my brain open in a way I don’t think I could turn away from if I wanted to. You can’t promise someone you’ll love them the same way forever, as the two of you grow and change. You can’t promise you’ll never want to pursue a connection outside of the two of you. Why should you? And if you choose to pursue a new connection as “just friends,” why should that relationship have a cap on how much you allow yourselves to deepen it? I feel like when I talk about this stuff, people’s minds go immediately to sexual intimacy, because that’s what our culture is obsessed with. But seriously, why are monogamous relationships held up on this pedestal above all our other relationships? Why is your capital-P Partner supposed to be the most important person in your life? Why do so many people expect ourselves to have just one “most-important” person in our lives?

I take issue with exclusivity, jealousy, and possessiveness. If I spend the majority of my time with one person, and one or both of us decides to start spending more of our time with other people, that ought to enrich our interactions, not take away from them. If these experiences are a net negative for a relationship, take a look at the people involved, including yourself, and their actions. In my experience, shallowness, dishonesty, cruelty, and entitlement are the issues, not un-exclusivity. If you care about someone, you should give them the respect of understanding them as wholly human… that includes respecting their right to be messy and have connections with other people.

I understand the fear that comes with letting go of exclusivity, of a traditional relationship narrative. People like security. But shouldn’t that security come from trusting your partner to be kind, dependable, and trustworthy, even when they’re not “bound” to you? To me, it’s the social equivalent of training a dog with treats vs. without. I can tell my partner I don’t want them to be intimate with other people, and if we agree on that and they’re trustworthy, they won’t do it. I see the value there. But it’s far more interesting to me and builds more trust and a stronger bond to see how my partner interacts with people they’re interested in outside of our relationship. If they treat someone else like shit, or start treating me like shit after connecting with someone else, I consider that a win because that’s clarity on their character. But if they don’t, if they still show up for me and make it known that they value me AND handle other relationships well… wow. What a beautiful thing that is, that I never would have experienced if I hadn’t given them that trust.

To briefly address the sexual aspect, SO WHAT? If the sex is positive and safe, and your partner is kind, honest, and dependable, is there any harm actually done? Or is it mainly an ego blow accompanied by insecurity—fear of a perceived threat to a relationship you value? In other words, a “you” problem that you have to decide whether or not you want to deal with. (Frankly, I think either decision is morally neutral. Just don’t be an asshole, that’s the bottom line.) If you’re going to be with someone, you should trust each other to make good decisions. And because we’re human and therefore flawed, you should also be prepared to be there to support each other if something blows up in your face.

I think the reason people act so different, “not themselves,” and irrational when it comes to capital-L Love, the reason people “struggle to differentiate” between platonic and romantic love, is because most people buy into a fucked up, broken framework for human relationships that’s fake as hell and ultimately rooted in men’s exploitation of women. That’s the standard. Marriage wasn’t even culturally associated with romance until the 18th century. And I only know that because I read a lot of feminist material. It’s not exactly common knowledge, and for good reason.

I recommend checking out Lesbian Ethics by Sarah Hoagland and A Passion For Friends by Janice Raymond. They both challenge our notions of what we consider “real” and valuable relationships. Sarah Hoagland wrote about relationships in Lesbian Ethics in a way that was eye-opening for me at the time. (I need to re-read.) I encourage everyone to let yourself and your relationships be messy. Following a script is easy but often unfulfilling. Trust yourself and your loved ones to create your own structures that work for you.

[hellsvestibule]

I’m there for romancing and humanizing the monster tropes but some tropes I still like. Largely view as horror, and I don’t reblog the “uwu (horrific thing) = love” posts bc. That’s not the intent w which I write or draw horror. My aim isn’t to conflate violence with affection but to contrast them. I’ve had enough shitty relationships in my life and known enough domestic abuse survivors where I like, I just don’t want to advertise myself this way. I like to use violence and horror and exploring the nuance of toxicity as an outlet but when I see it being normalized like it’s quirky and cute 100k post material sometimes I want to pull back and focus on things people aren’t just going to misinterpret as romantic bc they’re the horror trope of the week people on tumblr finds cute. This is also why sometimes if something I draw is particularly disturbing I don’t tag the character bc I don’t think appreciators of that character necessarily would want to see it.

It’s not to say I never play into this and am above a joking “god I wish that were Me” in response to something grusome and messed up. Or into sexualizing pretty horrifying stuff or focusing on toxic relationships having a silver lining like I’m specifically and obviously into these things. but also a lot of time I actually want the horror in my stuff to repulse you and make your skin crawl and be hard to look at or read. I Want to delve into toxicity and horror but I want it to actually feel weighty and consequential, and if not, at least the lack of weight and consequence has its own disturbing implications that nothing matters within this context (chain of occurrence is about ironic detachment from violence and horror, the hyper violence becomes so normalized that it effectively loses meaning and it’s in many ways why the characters are fucked up and can’t understand or take their own brutalization seriously)

And I just think there is a sort of. Blurry line between where I find romantic horror obnoxious and trivializing bc my brain kind of just goes. Well. like you might as well just write normal romance bc you don’t treat horror with any real sense of gravity or consequence! That’s not what horror is fucking For. But also I realize I’m not some perfect arbiter on where that line is drawn either so it’s v easy to point out where I’m a hypocrite, I get horny about the grossest shit I just like, idk, im still capable of admitting it’s gross and upsetting and not inflicting it on people who would find it unsettling as if it’s normal (it’s not! That’s the Point of horror! To be unsettling and weird!) I just feel like, I want to write and draw horror where at least you see it and get the message that it’s wrong and disturbing even if some facet of it tries to be alluring or funny or what have you. Bc violence is still. Real. It still has real world consequences.

I think part of the problem is it’s way different to share a sentiment ironically when it’s within an enclosed space, but once it reaches a certain point of being shared and agreed with you will reach people who do not have a shred of irony, decency, or ability to self reflect and it’s like no, actually, some people make me deeply uncomfortable bc I’m not sure they know what they’re writing or drawing is “bad” and I do think it matters if not in the immediate sense of having direct 1 to 1 consequences, then in some vague sense at least, I find it annoying and unpleasant to be around people who can’t Ever take disturbing things seriously and seem to think murder, domestic violence, and things like that, can’t possibly happen to/be upsetting and thus unsexy to a lot of real people. And in a sense “that would never happen to me” is spoken from a place of privilege.

It’s different when you’re dealing exclusively with horror monsters that are beyond real world parallels, it’s another thing entirely when you Are dealing with real things that still happen to real people. Brutalization of bodies, treating people as expendable meat props, again it’s not even to say you Always need a guilty self aware conscious when engaging with horror but that a refusal to engage with why these things are upsetting, often makes your “horror”. Silly at best, and obnoxious and insulting at worst.

[knuckleslove]

Hii sorry I need to rant a bit to someone about some sonic characterization discussions happening because I feel gasslit by some fans. You can ignore this if you want.

Like there are people that say that Sonic wouldn't be changed at all if Tails were to die...

Like yes sonic is someone who is very positive and doesn't let pain bring him down but he HAS emotions. And his friends are what is most important to him. He has shown in multiple times that they are his priority.

He's not gonna become a solemn guy who never smiles ever again but it would affect him. It feels like such a shallow read on his character when people think of him as just this "cool guy who only lives in the moment and is always 100% completely confident in everything he does and never falters and never shows pain etc."

He literally mourns for shadow in SA2 and chip in unleashed...

Sometimes I think some people don't want sonic to be anything but Cool guyTM while these same people keep talking about how sonic is never cocky or rude...

I feel like we are playing different games reading different comics and watching different movies...

Hmm, I’ll be honest, I really don’t tend to engage in the discourse.

I do agree with you—of course Sonic has feelings. Of course he would be affected by losing Tails. Personally, I might say, in general he values simplicity in life, but surely feels deeply about many things. He has convictions. He loves his friends.

I do think collectively we can agree to disagree about what that would actually look like in practice. Would you never notice his pain because he hides it all away? Is he truly so sage that he can deal with and release those feelings so quickly unlike anyone else? Or would that be the moment you finally see him cry?

I think it’s helpful to acknowledge that across fan spaces we do not all engage in fandom in the same way. You’ll sometimes hear this described as curative and transformative fandom. For some, fandom is about intricately knowing the source material. Perhaps about collecting and understanding it deeply in its purest form. That would be curative. For others, fandom is more something ripe to be expanded on—to be re-imagined in whatever way is pleasing to you. This is fanfiction and an art and so much more—Transformative. Neither one is right or wrong, and many if not most people probably fall somewhere in between these two ideas depending on the subject. It’s just helpful, I think, sometimes, when you engage with other fans, and run into those extreme differences of opinion, to ask yourself—are we even engaging in this the same way? Is that why we can’t see eye to eye? Does this thing perhaps just mean something very different to us?

Now of course if you engage with other fans, and encounter people who treat you and others unkindly because of those differences of opinion, the best thing you can do is just walk away. Block if you need to.

At the end of the day with these kinds of things you HAVE to choose joy for yourself.

I do understand the frustration. I’ve been there too. I’ve been that person who hates something when everyone else seems to love it, and loves something when everyone else hates it. There were times in fandom where I felt SO disappointed about all the new things that came out, or annoyed and confused about other people’s opinions about the thing I love. But, having been in fandom for a long time—in THIS specific fandom for a long, long, time, I can tell you it’s just more fun if you can learn to let that stuff go. Or at least shift your focus to the specific parts that do still bring you joy.

And I’m not saying do it now immediately overnight. I’ve had many years to come to this conclusion. And it’s also not like I don’t still have opinions. I do. Strong ones, still. But I only give time to the ones that make me happy. Or, I share the other ones with trusted friends.

If you can, seek out people who do share how you feel, and engage with them. That is where you will find friends. People who you can have these discussions with genuinely and vent too with out unkind push back. We do all need to vent some times. And on that note, if you need to vent more, send me message instead of an ask. I’m happy to listen. ♡

This probably isn’t the answer you were looking for. I really don’t mean to be lecture-y. It’s just the best, honest, advice I can pass along. Fandom should be fun and full of joy, but sometimes you do have to chose to make it that way for yourself. -Best

[cleverhottubmiracle]

10 January 2025 The Iron Snail We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The 50-Year History of Timberland Boots 50 years ago this year, Abington Shoe Company in Massachusetts took a huge risk and they used a lot of revolutionary materials in a boot. Five years after that, the boot was so successful they named their company after the boot – Timberlands. Why did this Massachusetts Boot Company, making boots for New England construction workers, become a literal memeified sensation in New York City? Why is New York City so obsessed with the Timberland boots? And that has to do with six things: two revolutionary technologies that Timberland tried and really became successful for and changed the path of boots forever, one other technology that wasn’t new but that put this boot really over the top for New Yorkers and New Englanders, and everything like that, and finally, Timberlands do two things to the wearer that are rather superficial but makes everybody kind of like the boots more. So today we’re going to explain those six things, and we’re going to talk about sizing and comfort and stuff like that, and if these boots are worth it because there’s a lot of articles saying these are trash, they’re not worth it anymore, they’re not what they used to be – all of that. So we’ll address that at the end. Let’s get into this Timberland boot review. The Iron Snail   Let’s Talk Sizing and Comfort (The Boring Stuff First) The Iron Snail Okay, let’s go. Let’s get the most boring things out of the way first: sizing and comfort. A lot of people say these aren’t comfortable boots. I guess I would agree – there’s not much padding or cushioning or anything like that. They’re very simply constructed. It’s just thick, hard rubber on the outside with a little cardboard on the inside. I still don’t mind them. They just feel like regular boots – nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Sizing: stick to your regular size. That’s what I did. If you’ve never worn boots before, go a size down from your shoe size, but I highly suggest that since these are Timberlands, you just go to the store and try them on, okay? I know it’s the internet age, but sometimes it’s nice to support your local Macy’s. The Superficial Stuff (But in a Good Way) The Iron Snail There were obviously superficial reasons why people like these boots, and by superficial, I don’t mean in a bad way, but I mean aesthetically, what did they have going for them? The first thing is that they are nubuck, which is leather with the top shaved down and softer. It feels a little fluffier, but what it also does is it looks a little newer longer than smooth leather because it’s harder to scratch and scuff and see those. So, if you’re trying to keep these boots looking new all the time, it’s much easier with nubuck than with smooth leather. The Iron Snail The other great thing these boots do is they add a solid inch, inch and a half to your height. So if you’re just, you know, creasing that six-foot line and you really want to take it, put these on. And if you’re not creasing that six-foot line, you probably want to get Timberland Pros because those add even more height – not that I have any experience trying to look taller in my life. I’m a healthy five-nine. The Iron Snail The other thing about Timberlands is how incredibly ridiculously recognizable they are. If I were standing 20 feet away from you, you probably couldn’t see my sweatshirt that well, same as my jeans, but you could tell what boots I was wearing. A History Lesson: Before Timberlands The Iron Snail In order to understand why these boots were so revolutionary, we have to go back briefly into history and see what boots we were dealing with at the time. Now, this was a technology that was invented by a military boot brand – kind of, they made most things for the military, and then it slowly caught on. Timberlands may not have been the first to do it, but they are obviously the most recognized for doing it, and I believe they’re the ones that made this what it is. The Iron Snail Either way, before this technology existed, we had wellies and rubber boots. We also had L. L. Bean boots and stuff like that with rubber bottoms. Essentially, we had rubber, which was great, but I can’t particularly picture Biggie Smalls walking around with knee-high rubber boots in Brooklyn. We did have Wellies and rubber boots in general. We also, of course, had regular leather boots. Leather is not water-impermeable, but you can wax them to make them pretty close. If you’re outside all day, they will still soak through the leather, and on top of that, they’re also stitched, so you’re putting a ton of holes in your leather anyway. Even if you use the best of the best, most watertight construction, water will still come in eventually, and they are not waterproof – they’re very water resistant. Why Haven’t Timberlands Replaced Everything? The Iron Snail Now, before we even get to the technology, the question is: well, why isn’t everybody just wearing boots made like Timberlands? Why do Wellies still exist? Why do leather boots not made like Timberlands still exist? And the answer is really polar opposite for each one of them. The reason why Wellies and stuff still exist is because they are truly watertight, water impermeable for as long as that rubber is together. Timberlands have a few snags along the way that don’t really make that happen. And then other traditionally made leather boots have something else that Timberlands don’t have, which is a longer lifespan. You can really open up different leather boots, replace a lot of the things, and rebuild them – Timberlands, not so much. So they don’t fill every gap, but they do fill a lot. The Secret Sauce: Silicone Tanning The Iron Snail The second thing that happened – with the first thing being the big revolutionary thing – but the second thing is also incredibly important for the leather industry: silicone tanning. Leather is usually tanned in two ways: Chrome tanning and vegetable tanning. Vegetable tanning is done with tree bark and stuff like that, and Chrome tanning is done with chromium salts. Chromium salts are not that good for the environment, or sometimes people’s feet, but silicone tanning is a relatively new way of tanning that is very revolutionary for the world of waterproof leather boots because silicone tanning is a way where you can infuse silicone into your leather which makes it virtually waterproof. The Iron Snail Silicone is kind of like the rubber of the plastic world, but it’s specifically not a plastic. It’s made – if you think of beach sand, that is the very beginning of silicone, which I believe is silica, and then that gets turned into silicon after it’s purified, and then it becomes silicone, and then it gets infused to boots and everything like that. I do think there is a layer of DWR on top of these boots, which is a durable, water-repellent finish. I think that’s why water just beads off of them, and it looks like there’s a force field around the boots when I walk in the water. That will 100% wear away over time, but you can replace it with sprays and stuff like that. But the silicone tanning of these boots means that there’s water repellency kind of baked into the boots that will stay virtually forever. The Game-Changer: Injection Molding and Insulation The Iron Snail And finally, before we get to the most revolutionary part of these boots, there was something else that made them incredibly helpful all year long in New York, in New England, wherever you may be, and that is 400 grams of PrimaLoft insulation – AKA something that will keep your feet warmer in the winter, possibly a little cooler in the summer depending on how hot it is. Probably not – you probably want an unlined boot at that rate. The Iron Snail But the biggest issue that plagues leather boots, in general, is their construction when we’re talking about them being waterproof because, with some of them, the leather bends out, and some of them go under, but either way, you are left with a massive gaping hole ready to suck in any fluid that it comes in contact with. So fusion is really the word. Fusion is the word of the day here because you can rubberize leather, you can do a few different things to leather, but what is hard to do is put something in there seamlessly that doesn’t chip off or come off. When we’re talking about the bottom of boots, you’re not trying to fuse something when you’re sewing it, but you’re trying to get as close to a seal as you possibly can. The Iron Snail What Timberland really took hold of was injection molding. So instead of sewing anything, we are basically like blowing and shooting rubber and everything around the bottom of the boot, and that’s as close as we can possibly get to infusing because it’s molten rubber – it just bonds with the leather super tight. It’s almost impossible to rip those two things apart. That’s why you can’t really repair these boots that often, but what that means is water can also not come into your feet and wet your socks. So that’s great – you never want to have anything inside of your feet besides blood. The New York Connection The Iron Snail Now the question arises: are these worth it? Because a lot of people are saying not anymore. That still doesn’t really fully answer the question of why these boots get so popular in New York. What was that special thing that they had? There’s something different with fresh stream water where I tested these boots and the water in New York. I would contemplate drinking stream water right now if I was really thirsty, but then there is the New York puddle, the New York water, the New York flowing water down the street. New York City, of course. The Iron Snail I live in New York City right now, and there is no feeling like walking into water past your boot line or past your shoe line and getting your socks wet. Stream water is dirty with dirt. I’m assuming there’s algae and stuff like that, maybe some bad viruses. I have no idea what New York puddle water is. So water resistance and waterproofness are incredibly important, especially if you are outside commuting, walking around, and doing other things in New York in the 80s and 90s that a lot of people did. From Construction Sites to Hip-Hop Icons The Iron Snail Now, the path that they probably took is as follows: I’m assuming they actually started off with New England construction workers. They wore them on the clock, off the clock, and they picked up momentum in New England – people really like them in the winter trudging through the snow and everything like that. New York is not that far from New England, so they probably traveled there rather quickly. Construction workers were wearing them, city people started wearing them, and then, of course, finally, the true answer: hip-hop picked them up. This wouldn’t be a complete Timberland boot review if we didn’t mention all of these momentous icons who changed the entire scene of music. They are wearing big Tim’s with the laces open and walking around with big shorts. Watch This Review Are They Still Worth It? The Iron Snail Now, the million-dollar question is: did these boots go downhill? Do they lose quality over time, and are they now remnants of what they used to be? It’s hard to find what they used to be. I will say one thing I really don’t like about these boots is that there is fake stitching on the rubber – not a fan of that. But in terms of actual quality and the use of materials, I like them. I think they’re good. They could be a little bit better for the price tag – there could be leather where there is cardboard, there could be things like that, but in terms of mass-produced brands and the value that you’re getting, I don’t think these are a worse value than Doc Martens, the base level, at all. If anything, I would say these are a better deal. I think because they do have some roots in construction, Timberlands can never totally veer away from quality in their main flagship models. Anyway, though, that is about it for my Timberland boot review. Thanks so much for reading! I will see you all very soon! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link

[norajworld]

10 January 2025 The Iron Snail We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Any products or services put forward appear in no particular order. if you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The Iron Snail The 50-Year History of Timberland Boots 50 years ago this year, Abington Shoe Company in Massachusetts took a huge risk and they used a lot of revolutionary materials in a boot. Five years after that, the boot was so successful they named their company after the boot – Timberlands. Why did this Massachusetts Boot Company, making boots for New England construction workers, become a literal memeified sensation in New York City? Why is New York City so obsessed with the Timberland boots? And that has to do with six things: two revolutionary technologies that Timberland tried and really became successful for and changed the path of boots forever, one other technology that wasn’t new but that put this boot really over the top for New Yorkers and New Englanders, and everything like that, and finally, Timberlands do two things to the wearer that are rather superficial but makes everybody kind of like the boots more. So today we’re going to explain those six things, and we’re going to talk about sizing and comfort and stuff like that, and if these boots are worth it because there’s a lot of articles saying these are trash, they’re not worth it anymore, they’re not what they used to be – all of that. So we’ll address that at the end. Let’s get into this Timberland boot review. The Iron Snail   Let’s Talk Sizing and Comfort (The Boring Stuff First) The Iron Snail Okay, let’s go. Let’s get the most boring things out of the way first: sizing and comfort. A lot of people say these aren’t comfortable boots. I guess I would agree – there’s not much padding or cushioning or anything like that. They’re very simply constructed. It’s just thick, hard rubber on the outside with a little cardboard on the inside. I still don’t mind them. They just feel like regular boots – nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Sizing: stick to your regular size. That’s what I did. If you’ve never worn boots before, go a size down from your shoe size, but I highly suggest that since these are Timberlands, you just go to the store and try them on, okay? I know it’s the internet age, but sometimes it’s nice to support your local Macy’s. The Superficial Stuff (But in a Good Way) The Iron Snail There were obviously superficial reasons why people like these boots, and by superficial, I don’t mean in a bad way, but I mean aesthetically, what did they have going for them? The first thing is that they are nubuck, which is leather with the top shaved down and softer. It feels a little fluffier, but what it also does is it looks a little newer longer than smooth leather because it’s harder to scratch and scuff and see those. So, if you’re trying to keep these boots looking new all the time, it’s much easier with nubuck than with smooth leather. The Iron Snail The other great thing these boots do is they add a solid inch, inch and a half to your height. So if you’re just, you know, creasing that six-foot line and you really want to take it, put these on. And if you’re not creasing that six-foot line, you probably want to get Timberland Pros because those add even more height – not that I have any experience trying to look taller in my life. I’m a healthy five-nine. The Iron Snail The other thing about Timberlands is how incredibly ridiculously recognizable they are. If I were standing 20 feet away from you, you probably couldn’t see my sweatshirt that well, same as my jeans, but you could tell what boots I was wearing. A History Lesson: Before Timberlands The Iron Snail In order to understand why these boots were so revolutionary, we have to go back briefly into history and see what boots we were dealing with at the time. Now, this was a technology that was invented by a military boot brand – kind of, they made most things for the military, and then it slowly caught on. Timberlands may not have been the first to do it, but they are obviously the most recognized for doing it, and I believe they’re the ones that made this what it is. The Iron Snail Either way, before this technology existed, we had wellies and rubber boots. We also had L. L. Bean boots and stuff like that with rubber bottoms. Essentially, we had rubber, which was great, but I can’t particularly picture Biggie Smalls walking around with knee-high rubber boots in Brooklyn. We did have Wellies and rubber boots in general. We also, of course, had regular leather boots. Leather is not water-impermeable, but you can wax them to make them pretty close. If you’re outside all day, they will still soak through the leather, and on top of that, they’re also stitched, so you’re putting a ton of holes in your leather anyway. Even if you use the best of the best, most watertight construction, water will still come in eventually, and they are not waterproof – they’re very water resistant. Why Haven’t Timberlands Replaced Everything? The Iron Snail Now, before we even get to the technology, the question is: well, why isn’t everybody just wearing boots made like Timberlands? Why do Wellies still exist? Why do leather boots not made like Timberlands still exist? And the answer is really polar opposite for each one of them. The reason why Wellies and stuff still exist is because they are truly watertight, water impermeable for as long as that rubber is together. Timberlands have a few snags along the way that don’t really make that happen. And then other traditionally made leather boots have something else that Timberlands don’t have, which is a longer lifespan. You can really open up different leather boots, replace a lot of the things, and rebuild them – Timberlands, not so much. So they don’t fill every gap, but they do fill a lot. The Secret Sauce: Silicone Tanning The Iron Snail The second thing that happened – with the first thing being the big revolutionary thing – but the second thing is also incredibly important for the leather industry: silicone tanning. Leather is usually tanned in two ways: Chrome tanning and vegetable tanning. Vegetable tanning is done with tree bark and stuff like that, and Chrome tanning is done with chromium salts. Chromium salts are not that good for the environment, or sometimes people’s feet, but silicone tanning is a relatively new way of tanning that is very revolutionary for the world of waterproof leather boots because silicone tanning is a way where you can infuse silicone into your leather which makes it virtually waterproof. The Iron Snail Silicone is kind of like the rubber of the plastic world, but it’s specifically not a plastic. It’s made – if you think of beach sand, that is the very beginning of silicone, which I believe is silica, and then that gets turned into silicon after it’s purified, and then it becomes silicone, and then it gets infused to boots and everything like that. I do think there is a layer of DWR on top of these boots, which is a durable, water-repellent finish. I think that’s why water just beads off of them, and it looks like there’s a force field around the boots when I walk in the water. That will 100% wear away over time, but you can replace it with sprays and stuff like that. But the silicone tanning of these boots means that there’s water repellency kind of baked into the boots that will stay virtually forever. The Game-Changer: Injection Molding and Insulation The Iron Snail And finally, before we get to the most revolutionary part of these boots, there was something else that made them incredibly helpful all year long in New York, in New England, wherever you may be, and that is 400 grams of PrimaLoft insulation – AKA something that will keep your feet warmer in the winter, possibly a little cooler in the summer depending on how hot it is. Probably not – you probably want an unlined boot at that rate. The Iron Snail But the biggest issue that plagues leather boots, in general, is their construction when we’re talking about them being waterproof because, with some of them, the leather bends out, and some of them go under, but either way, you are left with a massive gaping hole ready to suck in any fluid that it comes in contact with. So fusion is really the word. Fusion is the word of the day here because you can rubberize leather, you can do a few different things to leather, but what is hard to do is put something in there seamlessly that doesn’t chip off or come off. When we’re talking about the bottom of boots, you’re not trying to fuse something when you’re sewing it, but you’re trying to get as close to a seal as you possibly can. The Iron Snail What Timberland really took hold of was injection molding. So instead of sewing anything, we are basically like blowing and shooting rubber and everything around the bottom of the boot, and that’s as close as we can possibly get to infusing because it’s molten rubber – it just bonds with the leather super tight. It’s almost impossible to rip those two things apart. That’s why you can’t really repair these boots that often, but what that means is water can also not come into your feet and wet your socks. So that’s great – you never want to have anything inside of your feet besides blood. The New York Connection The Iron Snail Now the question arises: are these worth it? Because a lot of people are saying not anymore. That still doesn’t really fully answer the question of why these boots get so popular in New York. What was that special thing that they had? There’s something different with fresh stream water where I tested these boots and the water in New York. I would contemplate drinking stream water right now if I was really thirsty, but then there is the New York puddle, the New York water, the New York flowing water down the street. New York City, of course. The Iron Snail I live in New York City right now, and there is no feeling like walking into water past your boot line or past your shoe line and getting your socks wet. Stream water is dirty with dirt. I’m assuming there’s algae and stuff like that, maybe some bad viruses. I have no idea what New York puddle water is. So water resistance and waterproofness are incredibly important, especially if you are outside commuting, walking around, and doing other things in New York in the 80s and 90s that a lot of people did. From Construction Sites to Hip-Hop Icons The Iron Snail Now, the path that they probably took is as follows: I’m assuming they actually started off with New England construction workers. They wore them on the clock, off the clock, and they picked up momentum in New England – people really like them in the winter trudging through the snow and everything like that. New York is not that far from New England, so they probably traveled there rather quickly. Construction workers were wearing them, city people started wearing them, and then, of course, finally, the true answer: hip-hop picked them up. This wouldn’t be a complete Timberland boot review if we didn’t mention all of these momentous icons who changed the entire scene of music. They are wearing big Tim’s with the laces open and walking around with big shorts. Watch This Review Are They Still Worth It? The Iron Snail Now, the million-dollar question is: did these boots go downhill? Do they lose quality over time, and are they now remnants of what they used to be? It’s hard to find what they used to be. I will say one thing I really don’t like about these boots is that there is fake stitching on the rubber – not a fan of that. But in terms of actual quality and the use of materials, I like them. I think they’re good. They could be a little bit better for the price tag – there could be leather where there is cardboard, there could be things like that, but in terms of mass-produced brands and the value that you’re getting, I don’t think these are a worse value than Doc Martens, the base level, at all. If anything, I would say these are a better deal. I think because they do have some roots in construction, Timberlands can never totally veer away from quality in their main flagship models. Anyway, though, that is about it for my Timberland boot review. Thanks so much for reading! I will see you all very soon! This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here. The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered. Source link