#it makes me think of middle school is actually good ways

[inbabylontheywept]

Hi there! I just read through a few of your long form posts -- the one about the boss and the glue traps and the lizards, the one about the friend and the radishes and the cop, and the one about the breakup and the car and the neighbor's car and your dad -- and I'm just really blown away by your writing. And I'm just curious, are they actual experiences or are they fiction? They read like actual experiences, and the writing is so naturalistic and...idk, low key sweet, stream of consciousness without the major sidetracking that often happens in stream of consciousness writing and also more...more poetical in a way, I guess. I don't know. Are you published or wanting to? I mean I couldn't help with that or anything but if you've got a book out I'd love to read it.

Patrick McManus was kind of THE legendary writer to my family. When my dad was a kid, he'd sit on the porch the door that the monthly copy of Outdoor Life was going to arrive, and as soon as he got it, he'd run in with it and take it to his dad, who would gather all his kids around and read the stories out loud.

My dad loved it because his dad would make a whole performance out of the readings: He'd do voices, pantomimes, dramatic sound effects, the works. The stories are amazing, but the out-of-character behavior from his dad was half the selling point. Grandpa Hank was, to his core, a good man. But he was gruff, and socially, pretty stiff, and he didn't often show emotion. I think my dad said he saw him tear up one time growing up, and it was when he got dropped off at the MTC. My mom was married to my dad for three years before Grandpa Hank was comfortable enough to sit down in their house, and he liked her. That's just how he was.

(You just praised me for not getting sidetracked, but I'm letting myself wander down those memories a bit. He died last year. I miss him terribly.)

Anyway: Those stories were how I first started learning how to spin a yarn. I got older and I got more influence than just cowboys and Westerns, but the soul of my style is still just The American Tall Tale.

Which is to say that they're not outright fabrications. When I say that I cut all the worms up in my backyard and had a panic attack and hid in a tree until my mom got me, that happened. But I only remember the vaguest outlines of the words that were said. When there's a line in that story about my mom telling me that she's sure the worms will forgive me because they got six hearts to love and no bones to pick, that's not how she talks. That's how I talk.

Other stories, they're far less fuzzy than that, but I can still point out things I don't know. Wrestling story was from middle school, and a lot of those "crisp details" are just me painting by vibe. I've had some people that did wrestling through highschool point out things like refs not actually counting to three, or how double-legs are not actually super effective for tall wrestlers. I don't actually know how much the woman I wrestled weighed, nor do I remember how much I weighed, except that I was more than two weight classes smaller than her. Car incident, I got broke up with, went to her parents door, waited on the lawn, and was given some olives to go with a wireless phone. But exact wording of a lot of the people involved fails me. As a rule, the weirder an event is, the more likely I am to be distinctly remembering it and not just filling in the background. Except for dialogue, which often turns out weird because when I have to make up things for other characters to say, it carries too much of my own speaking style in it, and that's always been weird.

There are even points where things do come right off the rails. In the stories about J post, J himself became a sort of mythic figure after he moved, and lot of the stories about him, I don't even know I'm remembering them first hand or second hand from a story someone else shared with me.

I know it would be easier to just go, yeah, they're true, or no, they're not, but I did a weird thing and mixed them up and now even I'm a little confused.

Regarding publishing: I'm not published, and the thought of trying to get published scares the shit out of me. I

I don't know. If anyone has advice, I'd be interested.

[thegardengnostic]

my brain fighting for which special interests to like more right now is so crazyyyyyy hehe

[bitchthefuck1]

you know what, I actually will talk about this because it's bothering me. The issue with focussing so heavily on syd and carmy's potential for a romantic relationship isn't that there's something inherently unintellectual about romance or whatever, it's that a lot of people seem incapable of doing that without immediately flattening the story and ignoring or intentionally misreading any and all nuance for the sake of that romance. Every scene suddenly becomes about how it impacts their relationship, every analysis is done through a romantic lens, every frame or line of dialogue becomes about finding some easter egg or hint that "proves" these people should start dating. Their dynamic is absolutely a fundamental part of this show, but if you can only see it as a will-they-won't-they, you miss so much of what the story is actually trying to say with these two.

There are good versions of this story where their relationship is romantic and there are good versions of this story where it isn't, but as soon as you decide them being together is "the point," you lose the ability to actually judge the story for what it is, not what you want it to be.

[icewindandboringhorror]

It's always interesting to hear about people's weird/unexpected "alternate life paths". Like, something that you could have done with your life, a job you almost took, a school you almost went to, etc - that was still actually realistic enough that it could have happened, but NOW it seems to not suit your current personality.

Like for example, I currently hate advertising (how manipulative it is, brands trying to be 'relatable', social media amplifying it to an obnoxious extreme, etc.) so much that even seeing a little ad before a youtube video is grating to even witness, but there was a point in time where I was genuinely seriously considering going into marketing/making commercials as a career lol. Or like, I have a relative who was very inclined to be a pastor when they were younger, even though today they're a super strong atheist, etc. etc.

[titsthedamnseason]

i actually feel like crying. it should be illegal to drift apart from your friends

[skrunksthatwunk]

sometimes you need to go back and listen to the music you liked when you were 13 because it's good for you. and no im not talking about like emo nostalgia in this case we have enough posts about that. im talking about dad rock. actually im just talking about barenaked ladies

[somedudewithantlers]

ya girl Steve is not doing all that great in college work life

[golden--doodler]

So I messaged @drawthethingdoppelganger today and it ended up being so long and fun to write that I want to share it (I modified it a bit, but it's mostly the same as when I sent it):

Also shame on everyone who keeps vitriolically hating on Jimmy Jr.! He's a middle schooler, come on. Sure, "V For Valentine-Detta" was not a great episode for him, but that doesn't make him an awful, toxic person who's manipulating Tina.

It's super frustrating how people keep saying things like this to justify why Tina should 100% be with Zeke or Josh instead. Sure, I ship Tina and Josh the most, but that doesn't mean Tina and Jimmy Jr.'s relationship is toxic, especially considering how young they are. Also, let's not forget that Tina's not totally innocent either, she's done her fair share of (lovingly) being mean to J Ju. Like when she got high on caffeine in "The Unnatural" and made fun of his lisp. That exchange sends me every time.

Anyway, he's just a dumb teenager who has commitment issues! I genuinely believe he will mature as he and Tina grow older, no matter what their relationship status eventually turns out to be. It just makes me upset when people are so mean to him, it reminds me of the few people who are super mean to Gene.

Gene is also a dumb middle schooler (said with love) and sure, he's not perfect, but isn't that what makes him a lovely, compelling character? He has flaws. The only episodes I don't really enjoy him in are "Beefsquatch" and "Mommy Boy". That is it. And even in those episodes, he learns his lesson and comes around in the end, so they're not completely devoid of value either. He is actually so sweet that he doesn't even want to prank anyone on April Fool's Day! And let's not forget how in "It Snakes A Village", he quickly pushed through his fear of snakes to save Tina and Louise's lives! He's clearly still scared of them after that episode because of that one episode where he gets terrified of Steve in Nat's limo, so he did all of this for his sisters. I mean 🥺

Still crying that someone on Reddit said he should be killed off because he's annoying and doesn't add anything, like no! 😭 Does that person understand how strange and empty the show would feel without my precious baby boy? He may be the Middle Child, but he's so crucial to the show and its humor! He basically invented it from episode one, I'm telling ya. Like his cute lil' burger suit and his weird sound effects machine thingy? Yes. There would be something missing and everyone would feel it.

I adore the rest of the Belchers too, I really do, but no one has ever said that any of the others should be killed off? Because that's such a ridiculous notion?? I can't think of any characters in the show I would even think this about because I love all of them so much, every one of those side characters has a special place in my heart too.

One example I can think of where the show would feel so empty without Gene was that one scene (I can't remember which episode) where Tina tried to be like Gene and tell a joke, and then Gene said the same joke a second later, and Bob actually said, "It was funnier when Gene said it." It's unexplainable, but it's true. Somehow it was funnier when Gene said the joke! I love you so much, Tina girl, but Bob is right. He just fills a certain niche for the show, like Jimmy Jr. does. I feel as if we're in the same boat @drawthething so much because I think Jimmy Jr. might be the one character some people are as mean to as Gene? Like, come on! They're our precious dumb middle school boys (who are definitely LGBTQ+) and their flaws make them such fun characters to follow. They're not perfect, but that's what kind of makes them perfect.

[pickapea]

my absolutely biggest online pet peeve is US centric people projecting their rich sorority girl bully stereotype of nurses onto everyone else, as if nurses aren't working class and mostly immigrants of colour everywhere else. and when did it become cool to hate on underpaid and exploited workers anyway

[cartoon-skeleton]

I’m applying to be a substitute teacher LMAO

[themyscirah]

This is technically a Diana's age poll but I framed it partially around Julia's rescue because that's the event I need to contextualize and whether or not Diana is a thing yet is p important for my purposes. I would keep the Pérez run and postcrisis continuity in mind when answering this bc that's when this is relevant but I'd keep in mind that even though Diana is very young there (like early 20s) we don't know I don't think if she ages differently as a child (esp as a themysciran AND being made from clay) and in some versions she is older than she looks and was made earlier

Edit: I accidentally logic-ed this out in the tags lol 🤦‍♀️but feel free to still vote however you want. Going to publish this anyway bc I think I made some good points later in my tags

[graveyardmouth]

its that time of the night

[mouseplaid]

wanted to rewatch spooksville bc i was feeling nostalgic and the only version on youtube is the spanish dub but im understanding a lot more than i expected so :) hehe

[polaroidcats]

today was one of those days where everything is just.. too much.

maybe it's the heat, maybe it's because my grandma was a bit more tired and confused than usual today, maybe it's because talking to a friend made me realise how incredibly boring and uneventful my summer is because i'm not going on any vacations and don't have exciting plans, but i'm in such a feeling-sorry-for-myself kinda mood and i hate it.

[steviescrystals]

i will never shut up about how much i hate the college system in the us and the way it’s all about money because i genuinely love learning and i miss being in school so fucking bad but i simply cannot afford the education i want

[usercelestial]

btw if you've ever sent me a message saying it's okay to time off of fandom bullshit and wishing me good things and peace of mind and ive never responded, it's because every time i look at them i get emotional and start crying so hard i can't see my keyboard