#in the statistics. there is no reason for it not to be me and if not me it'd be someone else

[tobiasdrake]

This is why populism is so effective and so powerful. Democrats need to get better at having emotional conversations with voters. They need to learn how to humanize themselves and empathize with the people they're talking to.

Feelings don't care about your facts. We got killed on the economy in this election cycle because the facts said the economy was good, but people were still hurting.

"The unemployment percentages are--" I can't find a good job.

"Interest rates have been--" I can't afford bread.

The average person doesn't care what the numbers are. They don't care what the statistics say. They form their positions emotionally, not logically. They care about what they're seeing and feeling, and they need a narrative that connects to their personal life experience.

The Democrats said, "You don't know what you're talking about. The economy is fine, actually, and you're wrong. We just need to keep doing what we're doing because everything is fine."

The Republicans said, "You're right to feel that way, because the economy is broken. Your feelings are valid and you're right. And it's the immigrants' fault!"

And between the two arguments, "The facts say you're wrong" and "Let me tell you who to blame", voters elected hate. Because hate validated their feelings. Hate spoke to them on their level. Hate offered a narrative they could understand, instead of charts and 500-page statistical essays.

The facts are very important and should be used to inform positions, but they aren't persuasive. You can't convince somebody that the sky is actually green by offering them a light spectrum analysis. They're going to look at it and go, "Looks blue to me." You're wrong. You're not speaking to me on my level. I'm not voting for you.

But if someone else comes along and goes, "Yeah, sky's blue 'cause of all the chemtrails being poured into it by socialists," then they might nod along and go, "Those bastards." Because they understand that.

This person gave them a reason for why the sky's blue instead of simply telling them that it's not. A bonkers reason. Absolute dogshit. But a reason they can accept and internalize. It certainly sounds more correct than the sky being green.

"Okay, but as soon as they fact-check him, everyone will realize--"

NUH NUH NUH NUH NUH, let me stop you right there. Because they aren't going to fact-check him. If it sounds right, then it is right. That's how most people form their positions on complicated subjects they don't really understand. If they had any desire to independently research this topic for themselves, they would already know he's wrong.

This is where Democrats need to improve. The facts are on our side far more often than not. And that's great! We should be taking factually correct positions. But we need to get over our instinct to try and crush a fool in the Arena of Logic and Debate, and learn how to present ideas in common language and in a way that's empathetic to common experiences.

We need to learn how to talk to people who sincerely do not know what we are talking about.

the lesson I'm taking away from this election is not that the Democrats need to become more left wing or more right wing but moreso that they need to find a way to cater their rhetoric towards people who genuinly have no idea what is going on. the target audience for every speech and political appearance should be someone who doesn't know what the three branches of government are because they were drawing a Cool S during high school civics

[ihatethecrowdsyouknowthat]

working late - spencer reid x gn!reader

spencer really doesn't want reader to work late tonight

continuation of 'that me espresso' thanks to @multipleheartbreakhotels!!!

genre: fluff wc: 523 warnings: clingy spencer?

Spence: When can I see you? I’m off tonight. No case.

He really did want to see you. He isn’t sure what it is about you or what you’ve done to him, but he knows he’ll never get enough.

You like him. A lot. He’s drop-dead gorgeous, sweet, he doesn’t talk to you the way other guys always do. You really do want to see him tonight. The only issue is that you have to work tonight.

You: sorry!!! i’m working late tonight

The response comes far quicker than you anticipate.

Spence: Could I visit?

Technically, yes. You aren’t super fond of the idea of him coming into your work but you do want to see him.

You: how about you pick me up after?

Spence: What time?

You smile to yourself and pick out your outfit in your head.

You: 9pm

Spence: See you then.

Work takes longer than usual and you think it’s his fault. While it’s never a thrill, you don’t regularly check the time as much as you have been today. Every customer interaction is bland, each worse than the last. Leave it to Spencer Reid to affect your productivity at work. You find yourself counting down the minutes until you get to see him.

What you weren’t expecting, however, was to be sent a picture of him. You’re certainly not upset about it. Okay, maybe the photo isn’t directly of him but you can see him in it. It’s of the counter in his bathroom. A few of your things sit on top of it. Some things you must’ve left from your night together. His silhouette is visible in the mirror, telling you that he’s wearing a pale blue shirt with a navy cardigan over it. He’s wearing a matching navy tie.

Spence: Want me to bring these?

You could use that stuff but you’d like more to have an excuse to go back over to his place.

You: no, i’ll grab them next time i’m over

Spencer was not expecting that. Of course, he wants you to come to his apartment again. He just wasn’t anticipating you wanting to.

Spence: On my way now.

For some reason, every red light felt like it took ten times longer than they generally do. He knew, statistically, at this time of night, that wasn’t true, but he couldn’t deny the feeling. When he got to your workplace, he couldn’t be happier. Especially now that you’re walking towards a park together, heads covered in snow. He looks over at you.

“What do you think about coffee? It’s late but we could have decaf or, if you’d rather, tea. We could also get something to eat if you’re hungry!” Spencer rambles, his mouth moving quicker than his brain at this point.

“Mmm, coffee,” you chime in joy.

He nods. His hair falls in front of his face as he watches his steps.The idea of coffee seemed simple enough until you actually sat together. His eyes lingered on every syllable your lips formed. It was even worse when you took a sip from the to-go cup. Clearly, he’s obsessed with you, blown-out pupils tracking every last movement made by your perfect anything.

[reven1c]

A Little Death

Professor!Lee Byung Hun x Student!Reader

Summary: He wants you but is afraid for his reputation. Warnings: 18+ (minors do not interact), oral (male receiving), age gap (reader is 20, byung hun in his 40s), kinda a sad ending

A/N: I know it’s my 2nd post and i’m already writing a sad one but oh well who cares :3

——————————————————————————

You were a simple student trying to get through the classes of getting a degree in Psychology. You always loved psychology since you were 13 years old and always wanted to help people feel better about themselves or figure out something that bothered them. Until you joined college and realised that Psychology is a difficult subject, but no matter what that’s what you wanted to study.

For a weird reason in Psychology there is a subject called statistics that has to do with maths which you always hated, until your 3rd year in college, when the new professor who joined is a hot, charismatic, intelligent and a kinda cute man.

Since your first lesson with him, you have a crush on him. You always try and look at him in class, when you go home you always think of him, and those thoughts turn into dirty thoughts and many more. Your friend always teases you about it but you turn down the fact on having a crush on your professor.

Byung Hun noticed you since the first day he joined this college and he was the one who chose to teach your class. When he has the chance he tries to catch a glimpse of your beautiful face which he finds adorable. He always calls up on you, when you raise your hand, to answer his question so he can hear your voice.

One day you thought of approaching him, so when the class ended you walked towards his desk “Hi Mr Byung Hun”

“Oh hello, Y/N. Did something happen?” he asks a bit confused since no one would come up to his desk, all the students would quickly leave the class to go to their homes.

You chuckle “Oh no no everything is fine. I just don’t understand a unit and came here to ask you if you could help me” you say while smiling

Byung Hun stunned says “Of course of course what is it?”

You explain to him the unit you don’t understand and what exactly troubles you.

“Okay come here so i can explain it to you”

You stand next to him while your heart starts beating faster by the fact that you are standing so close to him. You lean a bit forward, closer to his face and he starts explaining to you.

Through the time he was explaining you weren’t even hearing him, you were observing his face and his facial futures. His beautiful eyes, his lips… especially his lips that you want to kiss so bad.

“Do you understand?” he turns his head towards you, his question waking you up from your dream.

“Uh yeah yeah now i understand” you throw a smile anxiously

You both freeze when you realise how close your faces are.

Byung Hun looks at your lips and back to your eyes “Okay Y/N if you have any other questions you can always come to me. Now you can leave” he says nervously.

You look into his eyes a couple seconds more and stand up “Uh thank you Mr Byung Hun. Have a good day” you turn and leave the class while your heart is ready to leave your chest by how fast is beating.

—

For a whole week there was a tension between the two of you. When you would leave his class, he would throw a smile at you and you always return it.

While Byung Hun was teaching, you and your friend were laughing which made him a bit angry “Y/L/N (your last name) will stay after class”

You freeze “But i didn’t do anything”

“I don’t care” and he returns to his lesson

After class ended you walked up to his desk “So what do i have to do?”

“Do some exercises on the unit you didn’t understand” he smiles sarcastically

“Oh okay” you say stunned cause you clearly didn’t understand that unit, even though he explained it to you, since you chose to day dream. You bring a chair to his desk, sit and try to do the exercises.

Byung Hun notices you struggling and chuckles “You didn’t actually understand when i explained it to you, did you?” he smirks

You look up to him and side smile “Uh well no” you shrug

He comes a bit closer to your face “And why is that?”

You freeze not knowing what to say.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” he chuckles

You look into his eyes and he smirks “Come here” he motions to his lap. Your eyes widen “Don’t be scared.” he chuckles and you stand up and sit on his lap.

He looks at you and observes your face. He pushes a strand of your hair behind your ear “Where you day dreaming about your professor?” he smirks.

You gulp and keep your mouth shut. Byung Hun laughs “Why are you not answering? You know girls who don’t answer to me, get punished” he smirks.

Your heart keeps getting faster and realise that you are getting wet by your professor.

“Will you answer me?” he says while he brought his hand behind my neck. You nod your head as an answer.

“Use your words, dear” he presses a bit on your neck “Y-yes i was day dreaming about you” you breath out air that you have been holding for a while now.

“Attagirl” he smiles “And what exactly were you day dreaming?” he looks deep into your eyes waiting for an answer.

You mumble and lower your head, not wanting him to hear cause you are kinda embarrassed. “I didn’t hear you, doll. Speak louder” he caps your chin to make you look at him “I was having dirty thoughts of you” your face getting red.

Byung Hun smirks with your truth “You were having dirty thoughts about me, your professor?” he says while caressing your arms making you get goosebumps.

“I know that’s fucked up-“ he shuts you up with a kiss. You freeze for a second and then kiss him back “It’s not fucked up, okay? More fucked up is me having those kinda thoughts about you”

You look at him stunned “You did?”, he nods, “Then i guess that’s more fucked up” and you both laugh.

“Since the moment i stepped on this college and saw you” he starts kissing your neck “I have been having these thoughts” he continues by leaving little bites behind and a whimper slips from your lips “Thinking about your face, your body, you” he smiles.

You smirk and kiss him. You caught him off guard which he just laughed off. The kiss was so passionate that made you melt. You break the kiss and slowly get off his lap and fall to your knees.

Byung Hun freezes “What are you doing?”

“I want to please my professor. Can’t i?” you smirk

He caresses your cheek with his thumb “Hmm i wouldn’t mind”

You smile and while looking at him you unzip his pants and slip a bit off his underwear. Your lips leave a lil gasp and he chuckles. You bring your hand to his dick and slowly stroke it. Byung Hun moans. You feel yourself getting more and more wet.

Without a second passing you take his dick into your mouth and at first you slowly go up and down making him moan “Oh just like that doll” and with him saying that, it made you moan on his dick.

You start going faster making Byung Hun groan and he brings his hand to grap your hair. Tears stream down your face.

“Your pretty face getting fucked looks so good. Keep going” you continue going up and down when suddenly Byung Hun stops you, having his dick down on your throat trying not to gag. You moan and he feels himself getting closer “I think i’m close”

Byung Hun fucks your face trying to get closer to his climax “Oh god Y/N you are taking my dick so good”

You let him do whatever he wants with your head and the only thing you can do is moan on his dick.

He lets a loud moan and he cums in your mouth “Ah yes” He takes your head off his dick “You better swallow it”

You swallow his cum and open your mouth to show him.

“That’s my good girl” he praises and wipes your tears off your face “I hope i didn’t hurt you” he looks at you in awe

“No Im okay don’t worry” you smile and stand up “I guess i have to go home now” you kiss him

Byung Hun groans “Okay”. You turn and look at him for the last time and leave the classroom.

—

Byung Hun since yesterday, the only thing he had in his mind was you. How good you looked getting face fucked. But in the back of his mind he thought that it was a bad idea.

On the other hand you were the happiest person. You couldn’t sleep because you were only thinking about him.

You went to college, entered the classroom and sit next to your friend with a smile on your face “Whose dick did you sucked?” she asks and you hit her while laughing.

Byung Hun enters the classroom without books “Today’s lesson won’t happen. Everyone you can go home”. When he finished talking the whole class cheered and quickly left the class. You, though, stayed behind to see him.

“Hi” you say happily

“Hello” he says without any emotion

You look at him confused “Byung Hun is everything okay?” you walk closer to him.

“No it’s not” he spits “What happened yesterday should be forgotten. This between us must stop”

You freeze when you see him getting angry and saying those things “W- What? Why?” you try not to cry.

“We shouldn’t have done what we did yesterday. It’s literally fucked up. Everything is fucked up” he walks closer to you raising his voice “If anyone learns what happened i can lose my job or even they can kick you out of this school” he stops in front of your face.

You look into his eyes with your eyes wide when a tear slips on your cheek.

Byung Hun groans “Don’t even try and cry in front of me”

“I will do whatever i want” you get angry “Then why did you let me suck your dick if we came to this point huh? WHY?!” You start crying “You should have stopped me- or no, I should have stopped myself” you back up slowly “I am so dumb for falling for you”

He walks towards you “No Y/N”. You raise a brow “No what now? You are gonna tell me you weren’t thinking right? That you are scared? That you are a pussy?” you laugh sarcastically “Oh my god i’m so dumb”

Byung Hun looks at you with pity since you caught him; that’s what he wanted to tell you but he brought it to this point “I’m sorry”

“No no i don’t want to hear it” you get your bag and turn to him for the last time “I don’t want to see you again” and turn to leave the class.

He watches you leave without stopping you.

[dykekarkat]

andreil meet cute where andrew is a wizard and has a successful curse business (nonfatal but willing to maim for the right reason/price) and someone random is like "hey i need u to curse this asshole in my statistics class for me bcus we have an exam next week and i cant take another one of his stupid cocky smirks after getting an A" so andrew is like okay sure whatever, ez peasy. except he shows up to the cursee's dorm and it's warded to hell and back? what the fuck what kind of nerd wards their college dorm room against evisceration spells AND disappears only ur left sock spells?

so andrew is obviously Very Intrigued and gives up on his plan to break in and just knocks, except the most gorgeous man he's ever seen answers the door AND he's glaring at andrew like he can kill him with his eyes (which the quality of those wards? yeah maybe he can...). anyway andrew falls in love at first sight, and his first words to neil are "what the fuck is wrong with you"

[gangstalkerbarbie]

OK topical swerve but: punk is inherently about being countercultural, which is why Soviet punks were/post-Soviet punks are a bit obsessed with fascist imagery, and also why so many punks you might politically agree with are ginormous dicks personally.

I think this is an important point to introduce into discussions of the future of a hypothetical solarpunk society — when the fighting is done (and it is fighting), when the raw glory of it fades, how is a new society going to deal with the future it builds? How is it going to be sustainable? When this isn't countercultural anymore but you've built a mainstream society that still values nonconformism for its own sake, where is that going to lead?

I think some of the most important work that can be done is the type of community building that looks forward to the point where life is liveable, and then beyond it, to the next generation. This is a point that people in activist circles often forget about because, for completely understandable reasons, most people with the time to do ecofuturist activism are childless or child free — but any society is going to contain children, you know? It has to.

Is it a sustainable world we're building if we aren't, now, thinking about being able to sustain it, in terms of cultural infrastructure for its maintenance and for the raising of healthy children? In terms of the values we want to instill? All of this is to say that it's natural for sustainable healthy communitybuilding in defiance of the state to be labeled as punk /now/, but think again about what happened to the counterculture in the Soviet Union.

That's not why it collapsed, but it devoted endless needless time to beating on its youth for wanting American jeans and shit, for wanting connection with the world, and, like, what are we doing about our equivalent of our kids wanting jeans? Not that, not like, fucking statist repression, but it often seems to me like people in these circles either are still teens, finger on the pulse of how to talk to teens because they're not in an unavoidable hierarchic position of authority over people afraid of authority yet, or have never met a teenager, ever.

I want to interject to say that mythbuilding and identity construction is integral to any society, and I worry sometimes that strongly identifying living a healthy, sustainable, governmentally unexploited life with punk, with the counterculture, might lead into a repeat of history. And then — your society crumbles, because your kids that the state knows how to get to over the internet are young and dumb and buy into ideologies that subvert you out of spite, because you encouraged them to believe that they have a right to do this.

This is why hippie communes usually last a couple generations at most. The government is not as dumb as people think, and this is why most serious activists in this vein focus on making existing, recognised communities better — but even there, there are limits to the usefulness of anger. Don't plant trees and cook meals for the homeless and elderly and agitate for rail because you hate the state — you'll run out of steam.

Do it because you love your city and you'll fight until your neighbours, in all their smallminded conservatism and traumatic relation with civics and sexism and racism and old pain, have clean water and clean air and clean food.

It takes a particular kind of person to be punk to begin with, and you actually very much don't want to cultivate this type of person in a new society, or even in an activist movement to improve an old one. When things get bad enough, and there is always a bad enough for every kind of such individual, this type of person trashes everything around them because fuck you (the new authority) and then does absolutely nothing to help. They came to the commune or the movement to make coffee with Sock and Moss and to grieve their grievances, ultimately, and to feel part of something. Eventually they either get bitter and useless or run out.

No one asked, but this is why personally I don't identify myself as solar or any punk. Punk identity is transitory and fundamentally relies on there being an enemy to rebel against. I'm not pretentious enough to call myself an activist and I don't count as white enough in the US to be taken seriously as such, but in order to be something approximating an activist, you have to think about what happens after.

We fight now, but the most a warrior generation can ultimately do for the health of the community is eventually to beat their swords mostly to ploughshares. How are we going to make sure the kids maintain what we've built, without threat of harm or coercion? What do we do for the children? Eventually angry defiance has to cool down to calm, assured disobedience that knows what it's doing, or else the movement attracts a critical mass of angry, defiant, compromising people, who can't be trusted and won't be directed and don't even know what they're fighting for. Anger makes you dumb, and we can't afford to be dumb about this now that the forces we're looking at know how to break down societies like we hope to have.

We have to work with the human nature we have, and again, I think that means minimizing adversarial framing. With adversarial framing you have sides instead of communities, and if you have sides...

All of this is to say, we have got to cultivate a hopeful, resilient, disobedient activism grounded in a mature, communitarian civics, where there are no wrong kinds of people, but there is a right civic ethic.

They're very good at this in Detroit, despite everything. I used to volunteer with a guerrilla gardening initiative run by the people who taught me this.

I keep seeing people asking ‘is solarpunk really punk?’ because it’s too happy and optimistic and stuff

and I’m picturing a perfect moment in a solarpunk community — the neighbourhood mayor standing with a shit-eating grin on her face when the cops come and cut them off from city power, and nothing turns off

[meatballlady]

I've only watched like half of the first season, but every single episode of the X Files seems to go like this:

Mulder: I've found a new case, let's go

The FBI: Why are you into this shit, Mulder?

Mulder: I bet no one thought of THIS OLD X FILE with the same evidence though!

Scully: Okay Mulder, I'll humor you, but I gotta say this seems like an open and shut case that the local cops could handle.

Mulder: Why are the local cops doing standard procedure when it's obviously aliens???

Scully: Look at this, Mulder - it's so weird, all the victims have the same mark and signs of being in zero gravity for a prolonged time. Must be a statistical anomaly.

Mulder: I think it's time for me to go check on the witnesses again.

Scully: But that's not your jurisdiction!

Mulder: I gotta find The Truth!!!! You're either with me or not!!

Witnesses: *randomly going into the woods for unknown reasons, a kid trips*

Scully: Don't worry, I'll help this kid, you go on ahead Mulder.

Mulder: *Witnesses a full on alien encounter*

Aliens: *Leave with no definitive conclusion*

Scully: Hey guys, did something happen? The kid's fine.

Mulder: It was aliens all along!

Scully, writing the report later: I can neither confirm nor deny Mulder's report of so called "aliens," but the bright lights, missing persons with the same blood type every 8 years, and local consistent reports of UFOs are circumstantial at best. I guess no one will ever know...

[diamondstripe1]

Friends and strangers alike. This system that operates America has brought on a wake-up call for so many people, and that includes me. It’s because of this system that we need change, and fast, or we will all be six feet under. And I know that all seems hopeless now, now that our fates have been sworn against us, but that's only if we let it. This, is The Declaration of We, The People.

We demand a fair country. We demand liberty and justice for not just the select few, but for all. Let the poor have their fill and eat the rich, let the women live their lives without the unwanted touch of man. Let there be room for every queer under the sun’s reflection, let the disabled live their lives without the condemnation of the abled. Let your right to live and heal be priceless without the interference of the greedy, let the bare necessities not take up the fortunes in your hands. Let humanity be a part of nature, not overpower it, let humanity be free from judgement based on the parts of them that are immutable. It’s nothing less or more than what we deserve.

Your oppressors want you dead, and that is why you need to live, if you can- live and be free. Get that botched haircut, get those piercings, give a listen to that song, give that snack a try- live while you can, because damn it, you only have one life to live, and you are not gonna live it in pain and fear. If you can't live for yourself, find someone or something to live for- a friend, a family member, an acquaintance, a pet, a lover, someone you wish was your lover, hell, an enemy if you need to. Maybe find a song to live for, a plush, a goal, a wish, a feeling. I don't care what your reason to live is, I don't care how big or small it is, I just need it to keep you alive. And if you can’t live, despite everything, the least I can ask is for you to not die for nothing.

I know you’re terrified. Terrified of the wicked people in control, terrified of your lives getting into a twist. Terrified of the torture the following years will determine. I’m scared, too, but I need you to know something- you can’t become a part of a statistic. If you’re gonna go out, don’t go out like a flickering bulb- go out like Icarus, when he collided with the sun. Go out like the Phoenix, and rise from the ashes your oppressors created. Fight with everything you can, be it through words and speeches, through marches and protests, or through the guns conservatives swear by. If you're going down, take America’s cruelty with you. Don’t wait for the world to be ready for you- make it be ready for you.

If you want to keep your peace, keep your peace. If you want to bathe in your false president’s blood, bathe in his blood. This battle for the land of the free is yours to fight, and the way you fight is yours as well. But let me tell you something- we are not gonna live on a prayer and a smile, we are gonna live by putting our bloodied foot forward. Did queer people get their right to marry and to transform by making puppy eyes at their president? Did women get their right to vote by sitting around and looking pretty? Did the colored get their right to live in equality by biting their tongue? No- they fought, every damn day of their lives. And respectfully, I ask you to fight too, however you can. If you don't know how to fight, have someone teach you- and if you can't handle that, teach yourself. But I still ask you to fight.

I know, I know all seems hopeless, that a heartless man as your president seems inescapable- but so did the divine right of kings, once upon a time. We've seen things like this a million times, even if it doesn’t look like it- when there's progress, there's pushback. People will fight with their blood, sweat, and tears, only to get cut short by those who were supposed to represent them. Well, guess what? The cut will scab over, and the battle will rage on, and the fire won’t stop burning until we get the lives we deserve. We declare that we have the right to live, and we will fight for it.

Feel what you need to, but frankly, I refuse dystopia, I refuse hate, I refuse control- and I especially refuse death. I have disobeyed worse than you- my friends do not die on my watch. They want America to be ‘great’ again? Well, we, the people, will make America free again. ----------- obviously, i know what you're probably thinking; "krista what the fuck. krista a tumblr post isn't gonna do shit" and i completely understand where you're coming from- hell, before the election, i'd agree with you!! i would love to get up on a stage and recite this word-for-word. i would also like to live to my 18th birthday first, this year.

and i know what else you're probably thinking; "lol you say that and yet nobody's gonna do shit" and what are you doing?

yeah, i am WELL aware this is very idealistic, especially for the times we're gonna be living in. all seems hopeless, i completely understand that. BUT we need to have some sort of vision for our fight to live, or we're just gonna die- if not die, then live MISERABLY.

love your people. they're all you really have, right now.

[radio-ghost-cooks]

hi tumblr, your friendly neighborhood culinary student here! the inaugruation luncheon menu is perhaps the single most politically-charged menu i've ever laid eyes on, and i want to deconstruct it. so without further ado:

a culinary student's analysis of the 2025 Inaugural Luncheon Menu

First course: Chesapeake Crab Cake with tomato tartar[e], bay sauce, pickled vegetables, romanesco, dill, and chive oil

right off the bat, we're presented with a single-option menu, which from an event planning (and thus business, which i'm majoring in) standpoint is already a horrible choice. it's also very indicative of Trump's view on choice. my way or the high way, even if its impossible for you. it's immediately alienating people with a shellfish/seafood allergy. this is going to be a common trend here. (also, note the misspelling of "tartare." tartar is a mayo-based sauce. tartare is a finely chopped vegetable dish, which the tomato element is far more likely to be.)

Second course: Greater Omaha Angus Ribeye Steak with Thumbelina carrots, broccoli rabe, carrot top herb sauce, red wine truffle jus, and potato gratin

this course is the most obvious display of values. we start with the omaha steak. statistically, men (however my professor is defining "men") are more likely to prefer steak to other meats, while women (however my professor is defining "women") are more likely to prefer lighter proteins like chicken or fish. it's very in-line with actions taken against women's rights and reproductive health, like the removal of resources.

similarly, this also declares a support of the beef livestock industry, which is the most negatively-impactful sector of the food and beverage industry on the climate. for years, there's been a push to promote alternative meats or make more plant-forward dishes to reduce the impact of beef farming. this is the exact opposite of that. the meat draws the attention in this menu.

this also excludes anyone who cannot eat red meat, or follow diets that exclude it for health, environmental, or political reasons.

then we move to the jus, which is a sauce made primarily using the juice lost in the pan during the cooking process of a meat, normally beef or veal. in this instance, it's combined with red wine and truffles, both viewed as luxurious foodstuffs by most. the dish radiates the vibe of a classic steakhouse dish. very "i'm so high-class, look at me! i'm protein-heavy and full of fancy things!" a very plain meal under a veneer of costly ingredients and percieved value.

Third course: Minnesota Apple Ice Box Terrine with sour cream ice cream and salted caramel

my immediate question, as someone who grew up in NY, is why they went with Minnesota apples as opposed to NY apples when NY is far more known for the fruit. the answer is quite simple. Trump doesn't like NY. NY voted against him, so they chose another state's apples. (this isn't to say that Minnesota apples are lesser than NY ones at all. it's simply a matter of expectation when NYC is the Big Apple and cideries litter the local landscape.)

and again we see the exclusion of those with dietary restrictions with the sour cream ice cream. good luck to anyone in attendance with a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance.

and lastly, a note on the wines. all four were from the USA. not a French or Italian or just generally foreign one in sight. two of the four were California wines, likely as a nod to his Silicon Valley friends. the other two were Virginia and New Mexico.

the menu overall reinforces what we've already seen: a highlight on the rich, the exclusion of anyone who isn't a cishet white man, and even then alienation of anyone who isn't physically flawless. this is fascism in a menu.

[shichidikai]

The poll has wrapped up with a much higher number of votes than I ever thought it would get, thank you so much to everyone who voted, reblogged, and provided input!

For those who might be interested, aside from the results above, I've tallied some statistics along with some of the most frequent comments and tags in case they're useful to anyone.

Regardless of anything else, these are just numbers at the end of the day and really still a small sampling of everyone out there who reads and loves fanfiction, and I wish every writer who sees this joy in their craft and the knowledge that your bringing something new into the world is an amazing thing, with or without people clicking little arrow and heart buttons on websites. Happy writing everyone 💖

Total votes: 2,922

804 notes at the time of this write-up (~26% of votes) 408 of which were reblogs (51%!) 302 tags + comments total (74% of reblogs)

Poll results breakdown by # of votes:

1,005 - excerpt + basic info 643 - fanart 421 - more than one/other 400 - i don't reblog fic 234 - ao3 screenshot 143 - entire work on tumblr/no external link 76 - other visual

Most common reasons given for not reblogging fic (by # of comments/tags):

108 (35.7% of tags) - i only reblog if i read and enjoyed it/reblogs signify endorsement and recommendation 42 (14% of tags) - i only reblog if it's a mutual or friend's work or i'm already familiar with the author 21 (7% of tags) - leaving tumblr to go to ao3 makes me lose the link

And a few other statistics for fun:

20 people (6.6%) said they will block on sight for putting entire fics on Tumblr if they aren't under a readmore 17 people (5.6%) mentioned and strongly endorsed AO3's native share function, particularly as being preferred to screenshots 5 people mentioned LiveJournal by name + at least 3 business/marketing majors chimed in

PEOPLE OF TUMBLR! i am crazy curious to know what makes you (or stops you from) reblogging posts from writers that advertise their fics!

fanart still gets notes, shitposts still get notes, but a writer can put up an ao3 link to some of the most amazing words you'll ever read and it'll end up with 3 reblogs and 9 likes on a very good day; therefore i am begging to know what would actually make you reblog (yes reblog specifically, because likes are wonderful but they don't spread the word!) an author's post about their fic!

little things for clarification:

* second option: does not include fanart (either author-drawn or commissoned); this would include things like moodboards, other photos or graphics, etc.

** fifth option: includes things like oneshots posted directly to tumblr, x reader posts, etc.

[bluestrawberry7]

definitive height ranking of the main ten bg3 characters

im right they told me themselves

10. last place is minthara lmao she's 5'3" (161cm) max. I love her being tiny and feral. still absolutely ripped, don't get me wrong, just... on a smaller scale. also drow are canonically the shortest elves (drizzt is 5'4"/162cm), and I know women are taller than men, so she'd still be a little under average, but its more middling in menzoberranzen. and she's still above goblins and stuff. but then she joins the party and is just towered over by all these men and surface elves and she is compensating

9. shadowheart is 5'6". she is the physical embodiment of y/n. I guess this is a little short for elves, because of the gender thing, but I just cannot see her being defined as "tall" or "short". like she's short, in comparison to the other companions, but that only emphasizes their enormity because she is so perfectly average.

8. I like wyll being 5'8"/173cm or so bc he just so thoroughly embodies short king energy. think of that marcello hernandez bit where he's like short kings put in the work, not because we wanted to, but because we had to. I'm sorry but wyll is just way too kind and good at dancing to have lived his whole life over 5'9". bro is tom holland. (his dad is comfortably over six feet. this is definitely not a source of contention)

7. astarion, I think, is canonically 5'9"/175cm, which is tall for male elves, but not by a ridiculous margin. i think it fits into him being like, default-ly desirable, where he sort of fits into a lot of different relationship molds without it looking weird, because its a whole part of his character than he's conventionally attractive. like the vampire stuff is the interesting part, but without that he looks averagely, disposably pretty, which is why so many people see right through him.

6. gale is exactly one inch taller than astarion. I like him being a kind of remus-lupin tall, where he like slouches a lot and doesn't super recognize it, which is amplified by the fact that he spent the majority of his adult life exclusively around tara and a literal goddess. he doesn't really grasp the social implications.

5. lae'zel ends up around gale-height (5'10"/178cm). I know some people swear by shortzel, but I like the idea of githyanki being gangling and alien. her in-game model doesn't look like it should be that tall, but her limbs are just a bit too long. I like her walking around camp in an uncanny valley way, where she looks so clearly 5'6" until she's standing right next to you.

4. I picture jaheira in her prime as taylor swift with elf ears. she's just under six foot, or ~181cm. its that whole thing about presidents/authority figures tending to be taller, because people like to literally look up to their leaders for some reason. she just has that confidence. she's not like outrageously tall, and she's totally comfortable with minsc etc being taller than her, but she's just. six feet tall.

3. karlach!! is 6'2"/188cm!!! (not including horns). I've seen people say she's a little more than that, but I don't think most people are grasping how tall 6'2" is, especially if you're like fully built. like, rhea ripley is 5'7". karlach is a UNIT. anything above 6'2" is reaching freak-of-nature status, where height is like. the only thing you see when you look at them.

2. speaking of freaks of nature, minsc is 6'4"/193cm, and he has been since he was like 13. he has lived his whole life being taller than 97% of people he meets. he had to be pulled aside in gym class and warned that he couldn't wrestle the other kids anymore because he might crush them. and he was heartbroken!! because he's like!! a great dane!!!! and he just wants to play!!

1. halsin is comically large. ≥6'5"/196cm. he is a statistical anomaly. i think he canonically assumes he's part orc, but I think it's funnier if he's literally just an elf. his parents are 5'6". he's never even worked out. doctors hate him.

the only race-related halsin theory i'll accept is that he's a bear who turned into a human and not the other way around

[marvelmaniac715]

Why are you still posting about Good Omens when Neil Gaiman is a sexual predator

My answer’s going to be slightly long, so I just want to preface this with this - Neil Gaiman is an awful, horrible man, and I’m horrified by his actions. I do not support or condone what he’s done, and even before this news broke, I wasn’t a ‘fan’ of Gaiman himself, due to his own works such as Stardust and Coraline directly linking to negative childhood experiences. Please understand that the only time I will ever refer to that man in a post again will be if I tag ‘fuck Neil Gaiman’ because really, fuck him, I get angry even thinking about what he did.

Yes, I do still post about Good Omens, but only because Terry Pratchett was responsible for around 75% of writing the original book, whilst Gaiman was responsible for only 25%, I’m not sure if that’s the exact statistics, but I know that Pratchett did more work for the book than Gaiman, and I like Pratchett because he wrote the book that the first play my childhood drama group did was based on. He’s the only original creator that I still respect.

For more personal reasons - I discovered Good Omens in around 2023, at a time where I was still trying to make friends at school - I met some of my best friends through discovering Good Omens, then I properly discovered Doctor Who through David Tennant, which led me to meet another really close friend and be inspired to write more fanfiction as well as post here on Tumblr. Good Omens has been too important to my life and my development in terms of socialising to just ignore. In fact, for my seventeenth birthday last year, my gifts were mostly Good Omens themed - I received the book, the script book, the tv companion, a pin badge, and stickers from Shein that I refuse to touch because they’re stolen fan art. I’m currently looking at a Good Omens signed poster - another birthday gift - thankfully not bearing the name Gaiman, and this was all before testimonies against him were released, none of us knew.

Also, the people in the Good Omens fandom are so wonderful and talented - the cosplayers, the artists, the fanfic writers, the people who make meta posts theorising about small details, their work is extraordinary and I just want to celebrate them. My Tumblr blog is half my own thoughts, and half me reblogging people who deserve all the praise in the world for their contributions to the internet; this is the show and tell website, and if I love something, I want to reblog it to show the world.

I never meant to hurt or offend anyone, so if there’s anything I can do, like making it clear that I don’t support Neil Gaiman, or putting a trigger warning on any reblogged posts, or even just apologising as profusely as I can, let me know because I’ll do anything to ensure that anyone who comes across my blog is happy (I’ve been a people-pleaser for my whole life, I don’t like upsetting people). I know this has been a bit of a ramble, I just felt that you deserve a proper and honest explanation as an answer to your completely valid question. If you want to unfollow me or block my posts, I’d completely understand, your decision would be completely warranted. Again, I’m sorry for any hurt I’ve caused, and I hope you have a good day/evening.

[ad1thi]

Justin baldoni decided to adapt It Ends With Us because he thought that stories about domestic violence, and specifically escaping and life beyond domestic violence deserved to be platformed.

Instead of being supported, he’s been mean girl’d by the cast; that’s treating the film like its this cutesy rom com : and I think this rly encapsulates everything that’s wrong with the book, and the fanbase it’s amassed

[hadesoftheladies]

”you’re biased against men!” but am I wrong?

[mr-tony-stark]

“It’s just a weird way to phrase it,” Tony said.  “Like you said.  We just met.  If I was saying it to you, I’d say ‘I didn’t lie’.  Not ‘I’ve never lied to you’.  That makes it sound like we’ve got a long history of places you could have lied and not just on this one thing.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head.  Maybe he was reading into it too much because part of him wanted these visions to be real.  He wanted there to be a version of him that did have someone that loved him the way Fancis seemed to love Anthony.

“Look,” he said. “I’m an engineer.  I work with algorithms and statistics.  And most of the time, the simplest answer is the correct one.  You’re a spy.  This is a spy facility.  Fury has already tried to use a hot spy to control me with their hotness.  I’m susceptible to hot people being hot apparently.  It wasn’t quite enough in Red’s case.  So here’s what I’m thinking.  I’m thinking you were briefed on me before I got here.  I’m thinking they did something to me and implanted some false memories that include you.  I’m thinking you know about that, because if Tony Stark thinks that he’s got some timeless, destiny bond with the hot blonde in shield that maybe he’ll be more likely to hand over things like the designs for the Iron Man armor.  That’s what I’m thinking. I’m not thinking you just made this up right now.  I think your boss told you to do this as part of your job before I got here.  The same way he made a fake internet history for Natalie Rusman that included a lingerie photoshoot.  I know Fury knows I’m bi.  I’m quite open with the fact that I hit twelve of twelve Maxim cover models in 2007 and one of those was Ben Stiller. So that’s what I’m thinking, because what’s the other explanation?  We used to be in love in the middle ages and now we’re here again getting flashbacks?  There’s no such thing as reincarnation.”

1602

Tony raced his horse to the palace and upon reaching the castle walls he yelled to the guards asking them where the new prisoner was taken.  No one seemed to know what he was talking about.  But as he kicked his horse on, a stable hand rushed out and told him he’d heard word of a plot to kidnap Francis.

He wheeled the horse around and kicked it into a gallop, charging toward the docks.

Present Day.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.  “There’s no such thing as reincarnation,” he repeated.  He looked up at Clint.  “Convince me.  Convince me that this is real.  I’m a man of reason.  Reason it out.” 

Clint pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Because you stated that I'm a spy and my job is to lie. But also as you've just pointed out we're going through something odd, despite having just met. so how would I have had time to lie?" He pointed out trying to make sense of things himself.

1602.

The horses were fast. Insanely so, that even if his hands had been unbound he knew they wouldn't have helped as much as normal. He was clinging to the animal with his muscled thighs as they rode to the dock. He could hear the port's water rushing. He hoped Anthony would hurry.. but at the same time he didn't want him hurt.

Present Day.

"So what exactly do they want from you.. besides your Tech?" He questioned trying to take his mind off the visions. He needed to concentrate.

[bu-blegh-ost]

The time has finally come, @girlsonlytreehouse !!!

Today I shall share with you the fruits of my work. But first, allow me to take you on a journey I myself have been through while counting all of this shit down.

First things first, I decided to count the rolls in the context of the characters rather than the people playing them, simply because the luck of the actual people could not be measured accurately if I only take Riptide into consideration (and also I thought it would be more fun). The guys have several different campaigns, some that I do not have access to, so I've decided to seperate all their Riptide rolls into characters they play instead, cause then we can clearly see which character is the luckiest. But ofc if you want this to be attributed differently, the data remains unchanged, so that way you all can interpret the results however you wanted and still have all the info you need on hand.

Another issue were the advantage/disadvantage rolls. When a character rolls at advantage, they roll twice and the only roll that counts is the one that was higher, while the other is discarded and the opposite goes for disadvantage. So for example if you roll at Disadvantage and you roll a nat 20 and a 2, that nat 20 technically doesn't matter. Despite that I decided to count each adv/disadv roll anyway, because despite the fact that it does not count, it was still physically ROLLED, which means it contributes to the character's overall pool of luck. I tried to separate them at first so you guys can make your own decision whether to add them or not, but in the end I decided against it cause it was insanely hard to keep up with. There were just too many and too often, which led me to believe that it was fair enough to count everything as long as they actually rolled a dice.

Which brings me to the last complication, which is of course Gillion's Prophetic Screwup. At the beginning of the campaign Gillion was able to exchange anything that he actually rolled into a nat 20, and in return the DM can change any roll he does afterwards into a nat 1. That way there was supposed to be an equal number of wild unrolled nat 20's and nat 1's to balance Gillion out back to 0, but it didn't turn out this way. In more cases than not, Grizzly would either forget or fail to find a good place to screw Gillion over, so the ability bacame much too unbalanced. So they changed it somwhere in the middle of Edison Kingdom Arc. From then on, if Gill rolled anything from 1-10 it would automatically become a nat 1, and if he rolled from 11-20, that'd be a nat 20 instead. Either way these rolls had nothing to do with luck, as he wasn't actually rolling anything, thus I decided not to count these 'artificial' nat 20's/1's. However I did keep track of them nonetheless and I'll still give you the number of those, just separately, and from then on you guys can make your own decision on whether or not you wish to count it.

OOOFFF ALRIGHT.

Without further ado, here are the nat 20's results (up to ep106):

Gillion: 52

Chip: 58

Jay: 55

Goobleck: 8

Surprised? Yeah I was as well. First things first I never expected this to be this close. And never in my right mind could I possibly predict that it would he CHIP of all people to have the highest score here. But I've seen it with my own eyes. And tell you what. Jay had this in the bag for most of the damn series. She would consistently roll good and always when you need a good roll the most. There were times when she would have such a massive lead it was unthinkable she could loose it. But then she would just kinda...stop rolling good for a bit and allow the other two to catch up. It just wasn't as visble if you don't pay much attention, but I thought it to be cute. It's as she was waiting for them <3 But she was still mostly leading. It was only the current arc that made Chip surpass her. After his terrible luck in Feywilde, he bounced back so strongly right after, that he managed to jump in front of the luck queen herself.

And now I bet you're curious about the other side of the coin. Give it up for natural 1's!:

Gillion: 55

Chip: 53

Jay: 52

Goobleck: 1

You see, I kind of expected it to be Gill, but I need you guys to know that this wasn't the case at all times. Jay? Yes. If there is one thing that's consistent is that she had the lowest amount of natural 1s at all times almost, but the person that was suffering from nat 1 curse for a long while was Chip. In the Feywilde Arc he would be so far ahead of everyone, that I was genuinely sure that there is no way anyone catches up to him. But then he popped off in the next arc with nat 20's and Gillion? Oh my gosh, Gillion didn't disappoint. I've never seen a man fail this much let me tell you XD He ended up with the least nat 20's as well, but I thought the difference would be much higher until he didn't roll 4 fucking nat 20s in ep 100 and then this double nat 20 attack roll in the Black Sea whduihdius AND HE CAUGHT UP AS WELL, more or less.

Idunno, maybe this is just how luck works, but it truly seems that the trio shares their successes and burdens almost equally. They support each other and in return fate has their backs as well. Honestly I couldn't have hoped for better results. Also can we give shout out to Goobleck, the true MVP? He's been on the show only for a while but look at this nat1 - nat20 ratio!!! Go goop man goo!!!

So now for the additional stuff that I also counted just for fun:

*Prophethic screwup nats:

Before the rules changed Gillion replaced 8 of his rolls into natural 20s, and in return Grizzly replaced 3 of his rolls into natural 1s.

After the rules changed he only got high enough number for 4 nat 20s, and a low enough number for 7 nat 1s.

So that together makes additional 12 nat 20s and 10 nat 1s from the prophetic screwup alone. I don't think they should be added, but the numbers are there so feel free to do whatever you want with them :)

Downs and death saves:

Throughout the campaign Gillion went down 14 times and rolled 8 death saves.

Chip went down 6 times and rolled 4 death saves.

Jay went down 4 times and rolled 3 death saves.

No shocker here, Gillion dies a lot XD

Knights:

In their journey Gillion knighted 4 people: Julien Booker, Clorton, Garrieth and Duke.

Corruption score:

Thus far each character has the following amount of corruption points (Black Sea):

Gillion: 0

Chip: 2

Jay: 3

Queen: 1

Gryffon: 2 (i think, unsure abt that one, may edit later XD)

Earl: 1

That is all I have for now. I may be clinically insane :)

Good day to everyone and I hope you found this data interesting. Take care <3

[werebutch]

My sex and gender class is cool and I enjoy it bcuz it’s allllllll discussion every day and even if I disagree with people I like hearing thoughts. Expands my perspective. But it kinda weirds me out because my prof keeps talking about how lesbians have it kinda easy and we’re not that oppressed or made into outcasts as much as like… bisexuals. Or something. Thinking emoji. It’s not a competition but I just think it’s kinda weird !