#moderator to a conversation if you will

[seltzher-bottel]

Plutocrat <3

Anyways lore drop for my own character lol

[bacchuschucklefuck]

the never stop blowing up vhs is where cute twinks go to get harmed

[catadrome]

tried something clever today and got uno reversed. let this be a lesson to you: never try anything clever!

[aleatoryw]

both keto (high fat no carbs) and low-fat high carb diets are nonsensical to me because clearly carbs and fats were meant to be enjoyed together. pasta with creamy sauce. bread slathered in butter or peanut butter. cookies. this is a no brainer.

[gothra]

Unsurprisingly, ideological polarization is bad for healthy conversation about nuanced issues. As it turns out, telling people that “if you believe in Concept A, you’re always and 100% X, and if you are X, you want me and people in my community to die” tends to make it difficult for people to speak up if they believe something, valid, yet hopelessly adjacent to “Concept A” and then, when they don’t speak up, no one ever solves anything. All that’s successfully happened is sending everyone on either side of that issue back into their hidey-holes, rightfully convinced that the other side is their enemy.

Literally, the only thing we can do to escape this level of reactionary behavior is to listen to what other people say, even if we disagree with them and even if we know they’re totally 100% wrong and stupid and evil, and come from a place not borne of moral righteousness, but of genuine curiosity and the hope that a conversation can scratch an itch or draw in some perspective. You should want to see in color, not just your black and white.

[seaofreverie]

We should normalize bringing these sort of "small talk ideas" cards to meetings with other people so that it's possible to avoid the awkwardness of not knowing what to talk about to kick things off or if it's considered normal to talk about this specific thing and AUGHGHFCG all this stuff.

[aroceu]

one thing i learned from having ocd is that we can ease the suffering in our lives a bit more if we free ourselves from imposing rules onto ourselves and also onto others. obviously there's nothing wrong with having standards & personal boundaries but we reduce our own freedom (as well as others') when we have a set of guidelines dictating how people "ought to" think or behave or be. there are people and opinions and viewpoints i would rather not engage with but i will never go into the effort of trying to either control or destroy the feelings or thoughts or behavior or experiences of anyone (including my own) just to conform to my personal standards. i mean i suppose this is why i have avoidance issues lol but the point i'm really trying to make is that there is a huge difference between acceptance and complacency and that's that complacency abides by and conforms to rules while acceptance is a radical eradication of those rules

[thedreadvampy]

sorry I'm on one now. Narnia is one of my Big Rant triggers.

but like. I would be lying if I said I didn't love Narnia

(everything except the Horse and His Boy, which a) even as a tiny kid made me uncomfortable with how fucking racist it is (literally there is ONE. ONE. character of colour who isn't evil, selfish, greedy and violent. even when you're 5 and white and don't really understand racism it's like. sorry there are just no nice people in this whole country? and every Narnian is lovely?) and b) is just fucking DULL partly bc of the 2 dimensional racist caricatures populating the world)

but I can't pretend for a second that it isn't specifically built around a Christian theology that's explicitly racist, hierarchical, supremacist, colonialist and The Bits I Like Least Of Anglicanism

and my FAVOURITE books in the series (except the Silver Chair which tbh is WAY less theological and way more mythology-nerd) are the first and last, which are by far the most explicitly Christian. even more so than TLTWATW.

and I can just about stand by the Magician's Nephew bc it's mostly just a mix of Christian creation myth and CS Lewis's sci fi interests in the esoteric and multiverses and it honestly feels fine. but my all time favourite most iconic Narnia book is The Last Battle and I just. cannot. justify it for a second from a political or philosophical standpoint.

it's got it all bc it's the book where Lewis is like ok hold up let me lay out explicitly what my theology is. and what he thinks it's important to say is:

Almost all Muslims are bad and evil

They worship Satan by doing Bad Evil Deeds to please him

There are a couple of Good Muslims who do good deeds. they need to be brought to the light, understand that the voice calling them to do good deeds is the Christian god, and they too can achieve the kingdom of heaven

Some people will use Christianity as a mask for exploitation and mistreatment. They are bad and their faith is false (ok fine)

...and they're doing that because they're CONSPIRING WITH THE EVIL MUSLIMS TO OPPRESS GOOD CHRISTIANS

...and THAT'S THE ONLY REASON ANYONE WOULD TELL YOU THAT GOD AND ALLAH ARE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME GOD. because they're either conning you or because they've been misled and can't really think for themselves.

DID I MENTION. THAT MUSLIMS ARE EVIL AND TRYING TO BRING DOWN CHRISTIANS.

and other than the GOD AREN'T MUSLIMS JUST THE WORST of it all, he also goes back over to more fully explain several points he's made throughout the series, such as:

white Christian public school kids are the god ordained leaders of the world and attempts to think otherwise are heretical

god places people where they need to be to serve his purpose

free will is largely an illusion - your only choice is faith or chaos, and as a godly person your actions are preordained

the problem is though. he's kind of a really good character writer? and in The Last Battle he pulls out most of his best classics (hi Reepicheep! hi Frank! hi Jill!) and gives us a whole wealth of really fun new characters (Tirian and Jewel, Emeth, Puzzle, Shift, Griffle and Ginger are all just SO FUN) and it's such a solid adventure. for me it's hands down the most FUN Narnia to read and an effective and affecting end to the series.

but like. god its unjustifiably fucked philosophy is baked into every single character and event. it's so hard to ignore. it's my favourite book in the series. it's the book that makes me angriest. it's everything right with Narnia and everything wrong with Narnia. I like it cause it asks me to engage critically with Lewis' philosophy and I hate it cause it requires me to engage critically with Lewis' philosophy.

in conclusion, Narnia is a land of contrasts. also occasionally brownface.

[wewontbesleeping]

one of my biggest pet peeves is the people who will comment things like "leftover wine??? what's that????" on videos. girl we're not all alcoholics.

[unopenablebox]

poor 🌸 is so constantly bedeviled by the fact that we have identical wardrobes

[yourworldiseternallycomplete]

actually not a bit i love talking about suicide i think its so important to talk about suicide

[authoralexharvey]

Ngl the reason I don't join more writeblr discords is—well, firstly, I'm already in enough of them—but more importantly, because people get inflated egos over being mods way, way too often. And for no real good reason, either, given they're shit moderators. And I don't have enough energy in me to constantly parse out whether a mod is on an ego trip anymore tbh.

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Hi! A question For the Hilda Fandom

If Hilda's Dad is Fae, Would that mean Hilda would have some Fae Magic? What would Fae Magic even be in the Hilda World?

Hi! Considering Hilda’s worldbuilding in based on Scandinavian folklore, I think it’s safe to say that if that theory were true, then it would all resemble Nordic folk beliefs a lot. The fae-related headcanon I see the most in the fandom is Hilda as a changeling, which (as I understand it) means that she was 100% fae and left at Johanna’s for any reason rather than Jo having a baby with a faerie.

In either case, knowing how Luke Pearson works I��d expect her to have/not have magic according to whichever is most common in Nordic folklore. With I’m not at all well read enough to tell you about 😅

[peigslayers]

.

[dreamlanddeluxe]

lbp is like. iunno it holds a rlly special place in my heart & i remember being really young and not having the coordination to swing from thing to thing on the first level and being SO scared of the haunted castle,, idk do u know if there’s any way to emulate it i feel so bad asking but 😭 bro i miss it soo much im so happy someone gets it!! i’d love to see ur collection sometime :) you’re free to come in my inbox any time and tell me any lbp facts Please

SO SORRY I FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS umm I think I remember someone I follow posting about emulating the game but I don’t remember who I’m sorry, but I believe there is a way if any of my followers know feel free to say something! And yeah I remember playing one of the first levels in the garden area when I was little and not understanding where I needed to throw those sponge ball things and I ended up beating it by accident after I just stared flinging them everywhere and ended up putting them where they were supposed to by doing that lol. I’d be happy to show you my collection also ^_^ I’m in the middle of moving stuff right now so I don’t have all my items on hand but when I do I’ll definitely show it off, it’s been a while since I took a pic of my updated collection anyways, and I’ll definitely share some facts with you when I can!

[sturionic]

Activism is not cold-calling.

Activism is not cold-calling, and this is critically important to understand.

I'm seeing a lot of posts on here about 'building bridges' and 'finding community,' and then (extremely valid) response posts saying "BUT HOW??" And I'm going to explain something that can be very counter-intuitive: there is strategy involved in community.

As a longtime volunteer labour organizer, I’ve taken and taught many trainings on the strategy of talking. Something that surprises a lot of people is the very first thing you do in a union campaign. You sit down with your organizing committee, take out pen and paper, and literally map it out. You draw a physical map of the workplace: where are the entrances, exits, break rooms, supervisor offices. Essentially, ‘where is it safe to have a union conversation.’ Then you draw another physical chart of your coworkers. You sort out who is union-friendly, openly hostile to unions, or somewhere in the middle, and then you plan out very deliberately and carefully who talks to whom and in what order.

Consider: If Vocally Leftist Jane walks up to Conservative David and says "hey what do you think about unions," David is going to shut down immediately. He's not inclined to listen to Jane. But if Jane talks to Moderate Jason and brings him into the fold, then Jason is a far more effective strategic choice to talk to David, and David may actually hear him out without an instant reaction.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: If Conservative David turns out to be Alt-Right David, and could be dangerous to follow organizers, we write him off. We are not trying to reach Alt-Right David. We are trying to reach Conservative David, who may actually be persuaded to find solidarity with other employees as fellow workers. Jason is a safe scout to find out which one he is. It does no one any good if Leftist Jane (or even Moderate Jane who is a visible minority) talks to Alt-Right David and puts herself on his radar. Not only has she done nothing to convince Alt-Right David to join a union - she's probably actively turned him against the idea - but now she's also in danger and the entire campaign is at risk. NOBODY WANTS THIS. Jane was NOT a hero for doing this. The organizing committee was foolish and enacted a terrible strategy to everyone's detriment.

Where you can make a difference is with people who will listen to you. You having a conversation with your well-meaning but clueless Centrist Democrat Auntie, and maybe gently helping her understand some things the media has been glossing over, is way more strategically useful than you marching up to MAGA Neighbour You've Met Once and trying to "build community" or "understand" them. They don't care. They're impervious, dangerous, and cruel. But maybe your beloved auntie will think about what you said, and then talk to her friend Anna who IDs as "fiscally conservative" but didn't vote because she can't bring herself to get on board with Trump. Then perhaps Anna talks to her brother Nic who has MAGA leanings but isn't all the way there yet. Proto-MAGA Nic would not have listened to you, nor would he have listened to Centrist Democrat Auntie, but he might absorb some of what his sister is saying.

This is not a cop-out or an echo chamber. This is you spending your time and energy strategically and safely. You are not a useful activist to anyone if you’re dead. Anyone who is telling you to hurl yourself directly at MAGA assholes like cannon fodder has no understanding of the strategy behind community building, and you should feel comfortable writing them off.

Last point: If you are tired, emotionally devastated, and/or in danger: take a break. This post is for people who would feel better jumping into action, not for people who are too overwhelmed to even think about it right now. You are worth so much even if you’re not actively Doing Activism, and your rest is worth more than “a break period so you can recharge and Do More Activism.” We all deserve the individual dignity of being worthy of comfort, rest & safety just on the basis of being human, outside of whatever we're doing for others' benefit. To deny ourselves that dignity is to devalue ourselves, and that’s the absolute last thing any of us should be doing right now.