#not what everyone else on tumblr is doing

[thisweknow]

I very much understand your frustration with the "you! are! valid!" Tumblr culture from the mid-2010s, that was something that honestly made me feel so isolated as a teenager. I hated hearing "it gets better!" and watching my life fall further and further apart with everyone telling me that it would all be fine one day. It felt hypocritical. It WAS hypocritical—to tell me my feelings and my experiences were valid and then to just absolutely steamroll me when I expressed my frustrations and fears.

I started to favor the phrase "everything changes" around the time I turned 16. I liked the idea of neutrality, it was something I'd seen as a suggestion relating to body positivity, which I struggle(d) with greatly. The basic premise was that if you couldn't say anything positive, try saying something neutral. Everything changes is neutral. It's not saying it'll get better necessarily, but not that it would be worse, either. It felt like the closest to a truth I could have. What I was dealing with in any given moment wouldn't last forever. Everything changes, my circumstances today are entirely different than my circumstances tomorrow, even if it doesn't always feel like it.

I've let that phrase carry me for years. In the bad moments I remind myself that everything changes, and the world parts that suck won't suck so immediately forever. In the good moments I remind myself that everything changes, and I should hold on to those and savor them for what they are, even if they're peppered in with the worst moments.

It's not to say that I don't remember the bad moments now—I very much do. I can remember a lot of the trauma of my childhood and if I let myself sit with it for too long I can feel what it was like to sit awake at 3 AM sobbing in my room wishing that I was no longer here. I don't think I will ever truly forget that. I can say that those parts aren't the part on my mind anymore. When I look back at my life I tend to look with rose colored glasses at the parts that were good. The moments I spent with my friends, the nights I'd sneak out to ride my bike in the peace and silence of the small town I lived in, the rehearsals for plays that I dreaded going to but loved being in, the way my dog would curl up at my feet and sleep there all night when I was sad—the list goes on. The bad parts are still very much remembered and acknowledged, but the good parts are the ones I think about and the ones I miss.

I know that I struggled for a long time with feeling guilty about having moments I looked back on that I didn't hate. This was especially true after leaving an abusive relationship. I knew the person I had left had been abusive and had done horrible things to me, that I had sustained damages that I wasn't sure I could recover from. Yet I still had moments I looked back on fondly. Moments where I had genuinely cared for my abuser, moments of sweetness and moments of joy, moments of calm and peace that I hadn't had with anyone else. I felt like looking at those moments somewhat fondly cheapened my experiences, as if it was somehow an admission of fraud to acknowledge that even the worst thing that had ever happened to me had its silver linings. It took years of therapy and dedicated self work to finally understand that abuse doesn't happen in a vacuum and that it's okay to miss those good moments, however many there might be, even when we know the overall situation was awful.

It's okay to savor the good things when they come your way. A journal entry from when I was about 17 sums it up really well: I don't want to be happy all of the time. If I was happy all of the time I wouldn't really feel happy anymore, would I? It would just be my normal, my neutral. I want to feel positive at least 75% of the time, that's my goal. I want to feel sad sometimes, too. I want to feel angry and hurt, I want to feel excited and happy and in love, too. I want to experience every emotion life has to offer, even the sucky ones. I don't think I would appreciate happiness if I didn't experience everything else, yknow?

btw you will miss this in 5 or 10 years. memory will smooth these circumstances down like a river stone, and you will find yourself longing for a shade of light or a moment of this particular innocence. you don't know about what happens next, and one day that will be the most alluring thing of all. don't leave it all for nostalgia. have a nice night now, whatever night it happens to be.

[mesetacadre]

can you expand more on what you mean by "mythical self-started indie artist business"? do you mean it is mythically "self-started" because people are relying on shady print-on-demand companies, or something further? thank you

There is a mythology around the independent artist who runs a Etsy shop with a patreon and a Ko-Fi that constantly prevents most tumblr users from ever breaking out of that "protect small businesses" mentality, which inexplicably is also not that scarcely linked to the punk subculture. defense of intellectual property is usually drawn from this, as well as forming part of the rhetorical repertoire of the self styled expert-in-revolutions liberal, who's very concerned about the ignorant rabble/communists, in their moralist violent revenge, being unable to distinguish between the Big Forbes Capitalist and poor little corner store jakey who has never done anything wrong.

Despite most artists being either workers who do art when they can, or what we'd classify as artisans, people who own their own means of production and don't employ anyone (hence living off of their own labor), the petit-bourgeois aspirations of a few artists are what's prevalent or more visible on tumblr, becoming the rallying cry of either the type of liberal whose idea of communism is a Huey Long-esque "everyone a small business owner", or the type of liberal whose idea of a revolution is a mix between the Les Miserables musical and Rogue One, meaning everyone dies.

This is quite a silly example, but I think the reaction's to @catgirlstalin's (very silly) poll about jobs in a socialist state were still indicative of this IMO. so many people got mad "artist" wasn't mentioned explicitly and was instead relegated to the "something else" option. Some people got weirdly aggressive over this, and I think it's because artists are extremely coddled here and given disproportionate importance. A few even got to say that art is the meaning of society as a whole. Anyway I'm ranting now, hope this answered your question!

[ghostmoon1]

You know what, to start the year off, Imma make this lil appreciation post.

Now it's only been like, less than a year since I joined Tumblr about, I've been writing and drawing for years before this point, but the community here, especially the CoD community which I am mainly apart of just made me feel amazing. Everyone I've met here are some of the nicest people.

I have gotten my old hobbies back, giving me reason to write and draw again which have majorly helped with my own mental health, and now I just wanted to give the amazing people a shout out to start the year off, to hopefully make peoples days, and to just let them know that I appreciate yall!

In no specific order :3 and if you don't wanna be pinged again by me, please let me know and I won't!! No harm done, I hope this is okay :) and this is prob gonna be cringe or smt.. all sappy but like.Yeah here yall are lmao-

Putting them under the cut as there are a few :3

@gomzdrawfr - You've been a massive influence since I joined the CoD community, I adored your art from the very start, and your just such a sweet and kind person, one that I'm so thankful to have met, and so proud to be able to call you my friend. You're the first proper friend I've made here, and I can't tell you how much our talks make me smile every single time. And I'm also so thankful for the community you have sorta helped me get into, you've helped me feel comfortable interacting with more people here :3

@shadeops21 - You were honestly the person that got me to join Tumblr! I was looking for something to try and make my own Konig cosplay (that's been given up on bc motivation and Tik Tok just. yeahhh) and I found you, and all your amazing work! I basically made my account to see if you'd make any more, cause I just love what you do so much, it's got to be so helpful for so many people!!

@sleepyconfusedpotato - After Shadeops, you were the very second person I found here! And oh my gosh how much I obsessed (and still do) over your art, especially Jade. You inspired me to write my first ever fic on here, actually, where I made my first CoD oc ship with Soap, your art and what you do honestly helped me feel comfortable making something like that for myself, cause some of the toxic people on Tik Tok made me uneasy and unsure about that lol- And now, I finally have an OC I'm working in depth on, and you're my biggest reason to thank for that.

@soaps-mohawk - Your writing has inspired me so much, and I couldn't thank you enough for making your wonderful fic. I may not be like, a OG, but I've been there since around chapter 20 I think? I could be wrong, but half way through sorta. You are the biggest reason I started writing again here, you just create masterpieces. And this is the first time I've ever been hooked into a fic so much, and what got me into liking the Omegaverse (you hooked me and I can't let go of it now...) Thank you for taking your time with your writing, and thank you for all the inspiration you have given me.

@on-a-lucky-tide - Oh my gosh how much you have yanked me into the Nikprice community. I adore every single one of your writing pieces, and honestly, you are another who has helped inspire me to write more. All your writing is so filled with emotion and love, I want to be able to do that as well. Your a wonderful person, I've seen you interact with this community and everyone, and I just adore you as a person and all the hard work you put time and effort into creating.

@rainyrambles-overcod - I adore your oc's and rambles so much!! And I couldn't tell you how happy it makes me to have a friend that is okay with the tag games, I never know who to tag for those sorta things, but I actually feel okay tagging you and they are so fun and always brighten my mood :3 Keep creating, I can't wait to see what else you come up with. Thank you for all the tag games and fun!!

@nekrosmos - Yet another that has helped drag me into the Nikprice community or cult ig that too. Your art is absolutely amazing, I truly want to be able to draw like you do. Just everything about your art has me in awe, the emotion, the style, the love everything. Seeing your art brings me so much happiness! Oh and your writing is BEAUTIFUL. That also brings me joy to take a little time out of my day to sit and read the time and effort you put into everything, and how kind of a person you are. I always hope you'll keep creating, and always remember how much joy you bring both myself and others.

@daredaredoodles - I know we don't interact a whole lot, but you honestly mean a lot to me still. You were my first ever mutual on this site, and I will be forever grateful for this. Personally its anxiety that stops me from barging into peoples Dm's and talking, but yeah. Thank you for that, even if it is only a small thing.

@cricricorner - you were my first follower, and I still see you in my notifications from time to time, which always brings me joy! It's wonderful to see your followers still interact with your content, and I couldn't say how grateful I am. I couldn't tell you how happy I was to gain my first follower here, so thank you for taking your time to read my writing and see my art.

@daydreamsareallineed - You were pretty much the first person to show so much interest in my main fic!! And oh my gosh I couldn't ever tell you how much joy it brought me to read your comments, to have someone so interested in my writing, that personally I didn't even think was that good. I haven't given up completely on the fic dw, I'll hopefully update it soon! Motivation just go brrr. Thank you so much for all your support, it means the world to me.

And another shoutout to everyone who supports me, who follows me, and to every single one of you that like and reblog my content. I look through every single note I receive, I assure you none of you are left out.

And my final shoutout to everyone that creates on this site. The community here is like nothing I've ever experienced before. I adore scrolling through everyone's art, it all makes my day. I've never felt so comfortable and unjudged before. Thank you to everyone who contributes to this, you all make my day <3

This turned out a lot longer than I meant it to be- but I just wanted to share how I felt with this new year. I'm sorry if you'd rather not be pinged-

But have a lovely day :3 I love you all!!

[yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit]

Tbh 'get in touch with your appreciation for solitude' is fucking right. All friends and family I even had left ran out of patience for "can we find a safe way to include me" before even trying. I go out for doctor's appointments all masked up and equally masked for groceries. I only go out for groceries because I have so many allergies and sensitivities that letting someone else pick out products for me doesn't work, and as a disabled person I can't have a credit card, so delivery services don't quite work for everything. I'm currently fighting with a prepaid card company that might be ripping me off for 507$.

I've been trying to solve the problem of "how do I re-socialize myself safely" since the pandemic started because I could already tell the end wasn't in sight, I already had pretty much no friends left, and I didn't want to wait until I was desperately lonely and already depressed and neurotic about it...

And to be honest I never really figured anything out.

I've joined discord servers before but it largely isn't for me. I just don't have the social energy to hang out with a large group of strangers with no known shared interests for the sake of spending social energy alone because I feel like I should. I end up lurking with no interest in the conversations until I just start ignoring another server.

I keep telling myself that after the next health episode clears up and after I get my apartment organized I'll get back to trying to figure out what a social life looks like for me... But since the end of 2019 when this started... It just hasn't felt like that pressing of an issue compared to everything else. Even before covid I have been having to mass cut people out of my life because already having had limited ways of meeting people had already left me surrounded with a social circle full of people who were abusive or would side against me if they were told someone else was being abusive.

As it turns out, for me, largely socializing was way more stress and obligation than it was actually worth. I already wasn't getting anything out of socializing as an adult, and now even trying runs the risk of getting infected with something that could kill me.

I keep having thoughts about how to meet people online that actually have lots to talk about, with me specifically, and I still talk to a couple online friends from the before times, but largely my biggest social outlet is just being on tumblr. I'm not engaged with anything emotionally enough right now to be engaged with another person talking about it. I lack the emotional energy to invest in anything but recovery right now. Also I find most groups repellent.

I tried those aps that claimed to be for making friends and forbid hooking up, but everyone just uses them to hook up. I tried discord servers for people over 30 just wanting to make friends, its all full of openly sexual flirtation and they boot you if you don't talk enough. Most the interest groups I tried to join feel like being in a room of chattering kids.

I'm not a 'groups' kind of person, I'm a 1 on 1 quiet gathering at most kind of person, a write letters or stay up till 3 am chatting at a coffee shop kind of person and I do not know how to translate that to meeting people online. I don't even know how to reach past hookup culture enough to convince anyone not to try talking to me just because they are looking for people they can eventually meet and hook up with.

You got to a server for people over 25 [25-40] that forbids sexual advances and you get paired up with someone who acts 14, actively flirts and then loses interest when you don't flirt back and are actually over 30 like the age range of the server states you are expected to be.

You go on whisper, an anonymous local confession app, and everyone stops talking to you once they realize you are serious about not wanting to hook up and not being interested in buying drugs. They laugh at you for pointing out it isn't a dating app, and tell you to try acebook. Then you are asexual on ace-book and get told "yeah but this is largely for asexuals who are looking for sex anyway"...

I have stalkers so there's lost of local aps I just can't use because they want a valid photo and my real legal identity. Besides that, people meeting on local aps generally have the expectation of meeting up eventually, and not like, wanting to be close so you can drop things off for each other or play mailbox tag for fun. Mostly they expect sex is the only real reason you'd want to meet people close by.

If I ever do have a dating life again, it will be strictly in text, but then I have to contend with "how do I verify this person is actually over 30"? and I just don't think I have the energy or resources to field that.

I'll join this server. I've joined others, I can outline the problem and why the current solutions aren't working for me personally, but I don't have a great suggestion for how to fix any of it yet.

At least I've always liked spending time alone, so I have that going for me. Can't imagine how anyone who isn't the most extreme introvert is coping with this.

I just want to ask covid safe nation... HOW are you dealing with the loneliness? Everyone wants to dine in and drink, or if they have a non-food indoor event, no one is masking. I haven't made new friends in years because no one will make it safe to hang out. What do y'all do???

It's mostly online for me. I have a couple friends who will do things like listen to records while I mask and run the central air with windows wide open, but most of my former friends have abandoned me too, and it hurts a lot because not even two years ago, they were praising me for taking good care of my elderly parents who I refuse to pass covid to. I think the best thing to do is get in touch with solitude. If you're looking for like-minded online community, I run a discord covid-safe folks can join and chat about anything you can think of. We do game nights sometimes (I wanna get back on that horse, but it's been a busy time in my life lol. Might be a week or two before I can commit to running that again.)

[bunnakit]

coming outta left field and talking about something that has nothing to do with me bc i don't have anything better to do with my time right now.

that whole fandom discourse was whack and i'm sorry @lurkingshan and @waitmyturtles had to deal with that. there's def been plenty of posts i haven't liked or haven't agreed with in fandom and you shrimply just have to scroll! there's no need to make a response unless you're coming from a genuine place and can have a respectful discussion. if you're coming from an emotional place you just have to say "people like different things" and move on.

i personally am not mutuals with shan because we have a lot of different opinions about things - this is not a dig at shan, she doesn't follow me either prob for the same reason! i think she articulates her posts incredibly well and comes from a very genuine place. i don't know turtles that well bc i haven't been in the space much these days but based on what i've seen she seems much the same.

media analysis is and should be vast and varied, that's what makes it fun, and not everyone is going to share your opinion and people will always interpret things differently based on past experiences, differences in knowledge, etc. they aren't evil for that.

this is what i think is one of the most important things from shan's post -

You don't owe anyone your presence here, and you don't have to express opinions on everything or respond to tags or asks if you don't have anything to say. Sometimes you might just want to take a break from posting, some things in the discourse might just flow right on by you, sometimes you will not have a firm opinion on a debate. You can post as much or as little as you want. You can suddenly decide you don't want to talk about a show anymore. You can not log into your tumblr for days or weeks at a time. Do you, boo!

to add to this, and i know this won't be a very well received statement, if you're finding yourself having these big emotional responses just because someone didn't like your fav it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your priorities in fandom. as someone that took a break from fandom and dramas in general i highly recommend taking a second and finding your peace again. humans are emotional by design, it's what makes us great, but if you're getting violently wound up about someone else's opinion of a fictional piece of media created for entertainment purposes i think it's time to take a deep breath.

fictional media is art and people can and should always have different opinions about art. yes, even art featuring your favs.

i left the fandom for a long time because Last Twilight deeply hurt my feelings as a disabled person with an incurable disease - but that's on me. i'm sure many people found the message an uplifting one of hope (as i believe it was intended to be.) my personal experiences caused me to have a different take on it - but again that is because of my personal experiences and does not make my opinion of it right or wrong, it simply is.

tldr: i think it's important to remember that there are no correct opinions in fandom; if there were they wouldn't be opinions but irrefutable facts. you need to get used to seeing opinions and reads that differ from your own and embrace the art of filtering unless you feel capable of having a calm and respectful discussion.

i wanted to share my thoughts as someone completely unassociated with shan and turtles from a place of complete neutrality. if you're going to have a discussion have a discussion, if you're just gonna rag on someone because they didn't mindlessly jerk off your fav keep it to your group chat or something, don't be a tar pit.

this being said, get used to seeing things even if you try to filter! it's not perfect, i've filtered out spare me your mercy bc i haven't seen it yet and want to form my own opinions but things have absolutely come across my radar (either in my own tags, clicking links, etc.) it happens, don't be weird about it.

[robinofgothamcity]

“Now you, you've been movin' on. Let me know, can I come along?”

Character: Jason Todd-Red Hood / DC Comics

Authors note: I assure you, this does not follow the Titans universe bc I know a lot of you guys aren’t too hot on that version but I did use the gif for an example bc that was one of the only gifs that came up for his character??? Idk, tumblr on a tablet is annoying imo. Anywayyyy, not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes!

Halloween, what felt like everyone’s favorite time of the year. One of the only times of the year where you could deal with the music that was playing in the store and actually liked seeing the decor and everyone’s set up on their apartments or houses. Your place was no different as you had decked out your apartment with traditional Halloween decorations and even small candles and lights.

But with Halloween in the air, that meant that crime in Gotham tended to skyrocket throughout the weeks and although that wouldn’t usually bother you, you knew that it meant that you’d be going out more often at night to deal with the bullshit that Gotham villains brought in.

You were in your living room, scrolling through your phone while you waited for your patrol time to start when you heard something in your room small to the ground and shatter across the floor. You sighed knowing Jason must’ve arrived and unlike a normal person who would go through a door, you knew he had decided to go through your window.

“Good evening Jason, to what do I owe you the pleasure?” You asked, not even bothering to look behind you. You could hear him chuckle as he slapped him ask down on the kitchen table, “wanted to see how the date went with the moron of a person you’ve been seeing.”

You felt your eye twitch in annoyance as you knew you should’ve figured that’s where he was going with this conversation.

“Jason, he’s not a moron, there’s more to him than you see,” you replied as you tried to not meet his eye. “Like what? The fact that he’s mooching off of you since he has yet to pay for a date? Or is it the fact that he’s been calling you only at night for a date? Like what kind of person doesn’t want to take someone out for a date in the morning? Sounds a bit complicated, doesn’t it?”

“First of all Jay, if you’re going to crash at my place, do not put your dirty and bloodied up clothes on my couch,” you stated as you kicked his shoes off of them, “secondly, you don’t understand. He’s going through a rough time right now.”

Jason couldn’t help but laugh as he shook his head at you.

“Sweetheart, that’s the same excuse you’ve been using since the two of you started ‘dating’ if that’s what you want to call it,” Jason replied as you felt your comm device go off. You immediately snatched it from your belt as you read that your partner for the night was a no show. You growled knowing that Bruce was definitely going to leave you the entirety of downtown Gotham for yourself, “Jason…” you said as he immediately shook his head no, “absolutely not. I just finished a job with Roy, find someone else.”

You immediately went on your knees, practically begging him, “please, I swear I’ll buy you dinner for the entire week, just please patrol with me for the night, I’m begging,” you knew it wouldn’t take much convincing as he had already let out a sigh of disappointment, “I could kill you, you know that?” You let out a squeal of happiness as you went to your room to take out your things for your patrol.

“If I run into Bruce or any of the rest of them, I get to double up on my end of the bargain,” you immediately screamed in agreement as you put your phone on the counter of your desk and grabbed your comm link, quickly attaching it to your suit before walking out to your living room again, “I’ll even buy you dinner tonight if that helps.”

-

The night was filled with kids already out causing mess on the streets and college students dressed up for Halloween parties. You looked at them with a small smile on your face as you reminisced on your own days of going out on a drunken bender with your college friends.

“Don’t tell me that you were like this?” You laughed as you agreed, “used to get so plastered that I would end up on a frat couch with six other girls and not remember a single thing of what happened that night. It got so bad that I almost fell asleep against a lamp post, in Gotham of all places.”

Jason smacked you on the back of the head in disappointment as you giggled to yourself.

“Listen, you won’t understand unless you’ve been in college,” you replied as Jason rolled his eyes, “don’t count on it sweetheart.”

The two of you walked along the silent neighborhoods as all you could hear was loud music blaring, kids playing ding-dong ditch, and even a few parents going on late night dates.

“Wait, are you ( superhero name), you’re like one of the coolest superheroes in Gotham!” You heard someone say behind you. You looked to see a boy, no older than 20 with a childish grin on his face, “can I get a photo with you? Please?” He asked. You noticed that Jason was long gone, now standing on top of a building, refusing to allow Bruce to realize that he was in town.

The boy quickly opened his camera as you gave a smile to the camera quickly. The boy turned off his phone but before he could put it in his pocket, you saw the screensaver on his lock screen, “is that your family?” You asked, gulping down a lump in your throat. He nodded excitedly as he took phone back out and showed you.

The man standing behind the boy was none other than the guy you had been seeing, “cute family,” you mustered up as you gave a boy a pat on the shoulder, “but I have to continue. Nice meeting you!” You stated as you grabbed your grappling hook and fished your way up the building to where Jason was standing.

He could instantly tell that there was something wrong. You weren’t as happy as you were before you took the picture and he couldn’t figure out where the interaction had gone wrong.

“What happened?” He asked, tapping his foot impatiently. You gave stared at him before falling to the ground, butt first with your head between your knees, “the boy’s dad!” You managed to say with as much breath as you could, “what about him?” Jason asked as you looked up at him with tears staining your eyes, “the boys dad was the guy I was seeing! He’s married, he showed me the family picture that was saved as his lock screen.”

Jason’s eyes widened as he put the dots together. He knew that stupid guy was hiding something but he would’ve never thought that the guy was married or even married with kids. He just thought that the guy was cheating on his girlfriend and you were none the wiser. He could tell that you were upset as you had yet to look up at him.

“If you’re going to play the ‘I told you so’ card, please let me wallow in my own sorrows before you do it,” you whispered as you looked at your knees as though they were the most fascinating things in the world, “you really didn’t know he was with someone?” You immediately smacked him on the shoulder, “I’m not a homewrecker Jay, I might be oblivious to things when it comes romance but I’m not a fucking idiot who’ll ruin someone’s marriage.”

Jason sat down next to you as you put your head on his shoulder, trying to contain your hiccups but failing to do so, “every guy I meet is the same. They either want to hide something, strictly want sex, and nothing more than that. I’m so stupid, you fucking idiot!” you screamed, hitting your legs in anger. Jason grabbed your had, trying to stop you from doing it again, “you’re not stupid, it’s those apps that you’re on that are stupid. I never heard anything good come from it.”

“Well what am I supposed to do? Meet some guy at a bar and be like ‘hey! I’m ( your name ) I’m a superhero with supernatural powers! We should date!’ Because that actually sounds like a nightmare,” You spat back. Jason could tell you were genuinely upset as he tried to calm you down, “well, go on a date with someone in the league that way I know who to beat,” you let out a chuckle in response.

You tried to dry your tears as you wiped them onto your suit, “who? Roy? Dick? Jonathan Crane?” Jason sighed in slight anger, “all of those options sound stupid if you ask me,” you started laughing once again as you realized that he was implying both his adopted brother and his partner were idiots, “forget it, let’s go, I want to show you something,” you gave him a look of confusion as he grabbed you by the hand and hauled you up.

“Where are you taking me?” You asked in confusion, “don’t worry about it sweetheart, just go back to your place and I’ll meet you there. Just wear something else than what you have on,” he stated before jumping down from the building and walking away.

You had no idea what he was implying but a part of you hoped that this meant he was taking you on a date of some kind. It wasn’t very often Jason adventured into dating someone but you figured maybe he was finally done with your complaining and was doing something about it.

[swee7dream]

dreamies as manhwa characters 𓍯𓂃𓏧♡

genres miscellaneous + headcanons triggers one mention of gagging (?) just to be safe . note purely for myself . i have no one to talk to about my 300+ reading list of shoujo manga/manhwa so you all get this .

mark lee (ᓀ‸ᓂ)

saebom from no office romance !

is it really mark lee-coded if it’s not (childhood) friends-to-lovers? exactly.

saebom and mark are walking green flags full of reasonable expectations, goofy mannerisms, and encouraging words even if it will not result in the best outcome for them personally

everyone loves them, it’s impossible to hate them!

even when their jokes are pity laugh-worthy with their loud barfing sounds and accidentally guilt-tripping gags

they mess up as all humans do but they always do their best to fix it as soon as possible to minimize damage.

they’re considerate of others but also (rightfully) proud of their work and aren’t shy to display it when the time is right. hashtag stream fraktsiya

huang renjun ૮ ˙Ⱉ˙ ა

cheol from after school lessons for unripe apples !

obviously i’m not thinking physically when i consider them similar.

but on the inside. on the inside… they are one.

they aren’t too open about their feelings. sometimes it feels like they don’t understand them themselves. and so they have a thin veil of mystique around them

it’s just nerves

they’re both just nervous guys who feel the need to protect everything at all times while also trying to hold back because, why should they? that’s not their job. they’re not getting paid for this.

but it’s just such an innate action on their part they just can’t help themselves !

they are responsible individuals who are just chaos magnets.

lee jeno ૮ .◜◡◝ა

zachary from a marriage of convenience !

men of little words. men of… easily misunderstandable words.

we’re not going to go into zachary’s story because if you haven’t read marriage of convenience i am on my knees begging you to

it’s easy to write them off as tsuns, especially with the way jeno treats jisung, but they’re NOT

they are such big lovers they will move heaven and earth for their loved ones and still be understanding if you ask for something else or more, even

they are well aware of their grand accomplishments, but also keep their eye fixed on their loved ones’ expectations, always making room for improvement

also… great physiques GUYS WHO SAID THAT TUMBLR BLOG SWEE7DREAM GOT HACKED GET THE NEWS REPORTERS

lee donghyuck ʕ˙Ⱉ˙‧:ʔ

kevin from spirit fingers !

specifically, more last arc kevin.

they’re silly, they’re clingy, they love their partner !!!!!!

the banter is always next level with them yet so are the dramatics and sulking.

their confidence is just attractive whether its romantic, platonic, whatever !

they know that no matter what they wear or if they have makeup on or not, their pretty privilege will cancel out the fact that there’s toilet paper clinging to the bottom of their shoes

their positivity is like a purifying beam to the people around them. their kind words and actions are done with the purpose to uplift the people around them.

you can’t have a low self-esteem around them, they are professional cheerleaders! hypemen! supporters!

how could you not love them?

na jaemin ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭

camute from the crow’s prince !

i was originally gonna put tamaki from ohshc but that’s like saying the sky is blue. we all know that, why beat a dead horse?

so, camute it is !

first of all, blond. they both eat up the hair color. blueprinted, invented, copywritten !

that aside, they are so open in communication it’s like you just got hit in the eyeball with a neobong with how much of a green flag they both are.

they won’t make you say anything you don’t want to say in the moment, but will make sure to get the point across that they expect to have a conversation about the subject in the near future because YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM.

they’re also highly protective to the point it’s SILLAY. they’re a sulky kind of jealous not a ‘i will lock you up in a basement in an abandoned mansion on the top of a remote mountain for making eye contact with Frank From Work’ kind of jealous

jaemin on bbl… ‘my bag is heavy :(’ ‘oh ur gonna help me? WRONG ANSWER. NEVER TRUST ANY MAN.’

so true king 💯

zhong chenle (ᯟ︿ᯏ)

kahir from i’m the tyrant’s secretary !

‘you love me? duh, of course you do.’

very positive self-perception. nothing can tear this man down. except you, even though he’ll act otherwise.

has a different standard than everyone else from clothes and technology to relationships. to them, it’s easy to act as if money is no object, instead placing more effort into the people that they care about.

their thoughtful gifts are sometimes extravagant to the eyes of anyone aside from themselves, but they really have a different standard of what is considered acceptable, especially if it is something that is going to belong to their loved ones.

don’t you realize how their gifts are also a reflection of themselves? how could they gift anything less than perfect????

quick to cut out anyone that could even be THOUGHT of as a bad influence around their people, and they’ve already warned and cut ties with the person for the simple claim of Bad Vibes (they’re right most of the time it’s actually creepy)

park jisung (∩˃o˂∩)

nadrika from i have fallen into a reverse harem game !

they’re just so soggy wet dog coded

jisung is a five-time loser of the modern public ridicule that is awsaz. you can tell him to do anything and he will, red-faced and sighing the entire time, but he’ll do it

there is just something so ‘aww :(’ about him that makes the people around him go ‘I WILL PROTECT YOU’ at their 5’11 height

they’re either in their own little world, thinking about what life would be like if they lived in saturn rather than earth, or staring at you like painted each star that dots the night sky as you speak

they do not think twice before sacrificing their pride and reputation for the sake of their loved ones (even if it is not asked of them), too shy to ask for but also too obvious to hide the fact they are expecting praise and affection in return

soggy wet dogs that are like 300 pounds but still want to be treated like lap dogs

[mochimochimona]

Rewatching Arcane Only For Viktor and Jayce, analyzing for storytelling purposes as an artist* -S1 EP:4 or Viktors staring is sus

I loved that scene, where Jayce firstly implies Viktor to keep sitting so he doesn't need to crawl up and also for taking the blame completly.

A little disclaimer here because it might be confusing why I am doing this analyzis (?)...sss english is not my native language sorry - so I am an artist and Arcane is a huge inspiration for me and I wondered what the animators did to imply Jayce and Viktor being really close to each other, even having feelings for each other. And I do get the impression Viktor always had feelings for Jayce because he acts different in a lot of interactions with him. Body language is also an implication, so I will take a closer look on that as well. So I am going through scenes of them together and asking myself what makes me think they wanted to imply something more than lab partners, what makes me think that and HOW I would have done it differently to AVOID that. Also I want to know if I misinterpreted Jayce's behavior and read too much into it. So, here we go. It's actually part #3 already, I will put a post on tumblr with all of my guesses later. If you wanna share your thoughts, please do so!

Knowing what will happen and how sick Viktor gets, seeing it (really, seeing it because I can pay attention) and Jayce not noticing because he is so caught up in playing political figure hurts. Really hurts. And also I am sure now that Mel used Jayce most of the time to get what she wants (not in an evil way, honestly, she does take a liking to him later one, but I will say not as much as we get the feeling Jayce and Viktor care for each other) and she makes advances to Jayce, using his insecurity and jearning for acknoledgment.

I mean how can Jayce not tell that Viktor is immensly sick? I mean those two were working their asses of in the lab I get that, but I think it started right then and there that Jayce lost their dream, really, and the fact that Viktor is his best buddie (or whatever) and it got worse after he holds the speech.

And Viktor is clearly more devastated, which might even shocked Jayce too, than Jayce was, I mean the reaction:

Jayce really was surprised Viktor was so desperate. Viktor knew he was gonna die sooner or later so I think he thought with studying hextech he might find a cure for himself in the process. He didn't touch him, though, so Viktor wasn't shy, just shocked.

This scene made me laugh and choke, I have flashbacks of Jayce being in the Future but instead of seeing Mel and Viktor through the fire, we see him. Interesting choice to make the appearance of Jayce like that. Is that...is that foreshadowing again???? This makes my brain hurt.

Why am I doing this to myself again?

LOOK HOW HE LOOKS. WHY IS NO ONE ADRESSING THIS. Why am I doing this to myself, SEND HELP? Viktor was confidently asking "where have you been, they asked me to do the speech (or whatever)" but when Jayce touched him, said they were partners, he got a bit shy and even stuttered a bit. Okay so IF you are fine with your homie....anyway, the next thing:

"Not in front of" - there is a pause, his look:

"...all of them" and then THE STARE. Why would you do that? I am an artist myself and when it comes to visual storytelling, I am always asking myself what I want to tell people with frames and panels (if you make comics), so I am really wondering from a storytelling point of view: what did they wanted to make a point about? Apart from highlighting Viktor in this situation, to imply that he isn't comfortable in speaking to others okay. But his pause. Looking at Jayce...?

Because clearly Viktor is staring. Honestly, if they didn't want to make it read as longing, or something similiar/else, you would have took a different shot after he told "not for all of them", because if you did that, you wouldn't imply that he would have done it maybe in front of everyone, but not with Jayce staying there because it made him nervous being in front of him. ALSO really important thing I noticed here: when he interacts with Jayce in close proximity and out of context of research, he gets shy but he usually is a confident person.

And again, you could have approached Viktor not wanting to perform in front of a huge audience differently, if your only goal was to make that clear. Ya know, him being touched by Jayce on the shoulder, saying "You are my partner" and keeping a wide shot, making him gesticulate that he isn't comfortable, "in front of all those people" (he would do it in front of Jayce though). DOES ANYONE GETS WHAT I MEAN?

Still staring, or paying a lot of close attention to your lab partner.

And then he says "you - pause", AGAIN WITH THE CLOSE SHOT. I HOPE for the love of god that some people from the Studio will be at the Art Department in Berlin because I really want to ask about this. And I hope I won't get spooked so I ask lol. Because that's really what is interesting about this.

And then comes a really interesting thing, I guess. Sky approaches and she looks at Viktor. A short, acknowledging look from Viktor and he gets back to Jayce. So I was wondering why they made the shot like that again and showing she has interest in Viktor, but Viktor is just respectful.

And right back to Jayce but the next shot is a perfect masterpiece, I laughed so hard.

Replacing Vikor with the mug, where Jayces "Man of Progress" can be seen is, again, peak foreshadowing and storytelling. Again, you could have showed it differently, but every scene has a message and wants to convey something, so this is an important shot. Man, these guys from Fortiche are madmen. Stopping here or the post will get too long.

[cr4zytogetherr]

V2 of my analysis of the Mileven/Byler ship war across all popular social media (complete)

Tiktok: Neutral good. Surprisingly peaceful, mostly just pretty edits. Little fighting even though Bylers and Milevens are almost evenly distributed there, mostly because people go on there to make or watch edits of their ship and not much else, and most Milevens active on there are pretty young so there’s no point in arguing. Lots of “I ship x but I respect z!”.

Reddit: Neutral evil. The homophobic one. Milevens rule here and anything Byler in the ST subreddit gets downvoted and shut down. 

Instagram: True neutral. Who even is on there but 11 year old fans?

Tumblr: Chaotic good. The gay one. Bylers rule and not even the Mileven tag has much Mileven content because it’s flooded by Bylers who are 24/7 hungry for content.

Twitter: Chaotic evil. Evenly distributed like Tiktok but no peace. Everyone fights all the time and attacks the opposite ship. Constant drama and EVERYONE is hungry for content. 

Threads: Chaotic neutral. Less chaotic than Twitter and also not many people use it but it's very alike Twitter therefore lots of debate. But it does no harm since it doesn't reach that big of an audience

Pinterest: Lawful good. Peaceful as always. Very little to no fighting at all just pretty pictures and love and aesthetics and you can search up and save whatever you want. 

Discord: Lawful evil. Pretty organized in servers so the ship war itself is reduced but idk what creepy shit goes on those servers and I do not want to know (a lot like AO3 where you just search up what you want so no fighting but probably a lot of the stuff in there is weird like teen pregnancy).

Youtube: Lawful neutral. Where the smart analysts, film nerds and people with most media literacy are at, meaning Bylers rule the posts, because analyzing Mileven beyond a superficial level would lead to nothing good for them. Lots of commenters/watchers are Milevens/anti Bylers but they’re usually very young or don’t make videos because again they usually have no analysis capacity. Literally search up “why Mileven is endgame” in YT and you’ll get 10 videos analyzing why it’s not. Mostly gay with a bit of hate. 

[desultory-suggestions]

"It gets better for everyone!" is a insultingly naïve mindset born from luck and having correct circumstances. It factually does not magically ""get better"" for everyone, but people like you get LUCKY and deem that its that way for everyone else, without reflecting that in another life it could have just as easily been different. Are you really going to tell people who have no support system, are in poverty "don't worry because it's JUST your depression making you sad silly!!!". I work with people everyday who have no family, no friends, and can't even begin to dig themselves out of that hole, but I'll make sure to pass on that a 20 year old tumblr user said to "decorate their bedroom" and it'd set them on the fast track to getting better :).

Hello,

I hear what you are saying, and it is clear from your words that you like so many of us have and continue to deal with the incredibly real systemic, chronic, or inherent issues that can make like so exhausting. Most mail like this is sent in the heat of emotional pressure and pain, and I hope whatever it is you are feeling now can be addressed in a meaningful way that supports you.

I thought about giving an answer to this, but it seems obvious to me (and I'd hope to anyone who follows me) that this just doesn't make sense to argue. This blog has never advocated that mental illness or suffering are "silly" or easily fixable, and I have talked candidly and often about how systemic oppression is causing so much of the suffering we are told is all in our heads. I have even talked candidly about how my upbringing, adverse experiences, and struggles with discrimination have effected me.

While many can benefit from the kind of content I share (which is less dense than it used to be, fair!) many will not. Even those who do benefit will still need meaningful help addressing real issues like housing, food, safety, community, etc. Those of us who are able to stop and enjoy a simpler positive post are privileged to do so, and we shouldn't forget that. It doesn't mean we cannot enjoy, support, create, or rely on this kind of content. We all respond to different things, and I know first hand this blog has helped many people. However, we must be conscious of how we can take action to support those around us who need it the most, who are struggling with being unhoused, unfed, unwelcome, unloved.

I am sorry that whatever post you saw sparked so much frustration for you, but I think you already know that not everything is for everyone. Some people are helped by the "little things" and that is wonderful. Of course it never has and never will mean we should ignore the big ones.

Best,

Evan

[adoreangelia]

All Summer ── . ꪆৎ

pairing: weirdo!pouge!reader x rafe cameron

warnings: none ?

summary: after leading y/n on and ghosting her. Rafe decides to go for her again. This time he’s serious, or is he?

a/n: This my first real writing since i’ve been on tumblr and it’s highkey bad. I look forward to growing with my writing and community. anyway, keep in mind what I said about writing! Also i tried to not use y/n sm ik some people don’t like that so yeah. Try to not criticize me too much (I might cry) enjoy 🤗.

It was the first bonfire of summer. Everyone circled around the warm lit fire as it crackled. Blowing in the breezy summer wind. Red cups and cans of beer everyone held in their hands as laughter filled the air. It was peaceful finally seeing the kooks and pouges finally get along (somewhat).

Not you though, you liked being alone. Seeing everyone toghether made you happy. Taking a sip of the canned beer that rested in your hand.

when a hand come to your shoulder. your body tensing for a moment before seeing the familiar face of sarah cameron.

“Why don’t you come over there with us, it’s really not that bad once you warm up to it!” Sarah cameron encourages— she’s been trying to get you to gather around like everyone else.

“You know I don’t do crowds, and besides-” you begin before being interrupted.

“Hey y/n…” a raspy voice comes up from behind. you turn around to see rafe cameron. His hair grown out buzz cut— eyes hanging low, dressed in a navy blue polo shirt and khaki shorts.

When sarah and you became friends she’d invite you over, practically begging you to cover for her and topper. while they ran off doing only God knows what. rafe would come in sarah room acting as if he had lost something previously.

Some how a conversation would spark between the two of you— him always initiating the conversation first of course.

Eventually he’d stopped coming in there when you were alone. you just figured sarah found out and told him to stop or maybe he just stopped because he wasn’t interested anymore.

anyway, over you just stopped coming after that. partly because it hurt your feeling how he’d just led you on— plus you were getting tired of sarah only inviting you over when she needed a “cover”.

“fuck off rafe, she doesn’t wanna talk to you.” sarah scoffs rolling her as at her at older boy.

“no- no, it’s okay, seriously.” you give a soft reassuring smile placing a hand on her forearm.

“whatever you say— i’m gonna go find top look for me whenever you two are done, kay?” she mumbles, you give a small nod in response.

before rafe speaks he watches his sister walk away, making sure she’s far enough to not hear you both.

“She don’t seem to thrilled about this does she?” he sighs. “How you been doll? I haven’t seen you around tanny hill in a while.” he questions leaning in closer to you leaning on the tree beside you two.

“I’ve been good, just got tired of having to cover for sarah all the time.” you rub him off— not wanting to bad mouth his own sister in front of him. but most of all not talk to him.

Though it was the truth. In reality you hated covering for sarah everytime you went over to her house. The only good thing about going over to tanny hill was rafe— after he stopped coming to see you. so you started dodging sarah whenever she was even close to asking you to come over.

“yea, guess that shit would get annoying over time.” he agrees. “sorry for kinda just “ghosting” you like that, got caught up in my head n’shit-”

“I don’t need an explanation, it’s whatever i guess..” you didn’t want his pity— it was his choice to just lead you on like. getting your hopes up as if something would happen between you two.

“But it wasn’t like that, I just had to get m’shit together come on doll you’n know that.” His hand reaches out pushing a strand of hair from your face.

rafe steps closer— closing the gap between you both as he brings his lips to your ear whispering something into it.

“just give me a chance, you know i got you all day”

“I-I don’t know, I mean what about sarah— and our friendship I don’t want anything to happen between us. Even though she gets on my nerves at times I love her and-” you ramble, trying to talking your way out of the situation.

“you don’t gotta tell sarah shit…” his tone is stern but not aggressive, he pauses in his word before continuing.

“look all i’m sayin’ is— you don’t gotta to tell her every fuckin’ detail about your life y/n.” He suggest.

“she’s your best friend n’shit but come on, you gotta life to live too.”

“please doll, just one chance.” His pale blue eyes bore into yours, almost as if they’re begging.

I mean come on, how can you say no to a face like that?

a/n: okay this ending is kinda lazy lol, but I can give you guys a part two if wanted.

[a-clown-with-wings]

Well, I do have my favorite errors of hygiene and mischief, I love them, no matter what design you give them. I just see them and I immediately start fawning over them. They are adorable.

LMAO HYGIENE!!!

Misspelling aside, thank you so much!! I’m glad that you and everyone else enjoy the goobers that I have manifested onto tumblr!!!,,,

Your guy’s support has been very reassuring and inspiring for me and I appreciate everything you guys have said!! Your words live in my head as decorative posters that I’ll look at forever!!

(Silly doodle. I love pants + skirt combo. So silly)

[h3r4life]

STOP. STOP RIGHT THERE. What are you even doing? Wasting your time scrolling, hoping that one more method will magically unlock the universe for you. Get off Tumblr. Put down the guides and the endless advice that just keeps coming at you like a fire hose. Because here’s the thing, you don’t need any of that. You don’t need one more “hack” or “secret” to shift. You are the secret. YOU are the one who holds the power, the knowledge, the potential. You just have to tap into it.

It’s easy to get caught up in the noise, to think that everyone else knows something you don’t. But listen to me, YOU already know. You already have what it takes. The power to shift is in you, not in some random method that someone on the internet is trying to sell you. You’ve been searching for that magic key for so long because you’ve been doubting yourself. You’ve been doubting that you have what it takes to step into that reality you’ve been dreaming of. But here’s the cold, hard truth: you’re holding the key right now, and you’re the one who can unlock it.

Stop letting fear dictate your life. Stop holding yourself back. Stop doubting your abilities, your worth, and your dreams. When you look in the mirror, you’re not just seeing a reflection of your face, you’re looking at the creator of your reality and experiences. You have the power to change, to shift, to manifest anything you want. There is no limit, no rule that says you can’t live the life you’ve always imagined. The only thing holding you back is you, and I’m done watching you sit there like you’re powerless.

Enough with the self-sabotage. Enough with saying “I can’t” or “I’ll never be able to.” You’ve been using these excuses to keep yourself small, to keep yourself safe, but look where it’s getting you. NOWHERE. And you know it. You’re stuck in this loop, chasing advice like it’s going to make the difference, but the difference isn’t out there. It’s in here. Inside you.

If you really want to shift, if you really want to experience that world you’ve been envisioning, stop waiting for it to just fall into your lap. You’ve got to be relentless. You’ve got to be the one to believe, even when it seems like no one else does. You’ve got to be the one to trust yourself when everything around you says it’s impossible. You’re limitless, so start acting like it. The excuses? Gone. The doubts? Gone. The fear? GONE.

You’re not here to play small. You weren’t born to sit around and wait for someone to hand you the life you deserve. You’ve got the power to experience it, and if you’re not using it, you’re wasting your potential. Get up. Stand tall. Believe in yourself and make this happen, because YOU are the only thing standing in your way.

So stop scrolling. Stop looking for the magic method. You ARE the method. You’re the key, the answer, the creator. Everything you need is already inside you. Now stop holding yourself back and shift. Your time is now. No more excuses. No more doubting. Let your mind free. You are limitless. Now go.

[newwavesylviaplath]

i also want everyone to picture this. me in my bed, the lights off and everyone else asleep. i go to instagram to curate the perfect post. it takes me roughly forty five minutes to put it out into the world (hot girls get it). i hit upload and think to myself "ah yes! finally time to browse tumblr for a while before i head to bed" i open this app and what do i see? a comment on one of my posts confirming my worst fear. i rush back to instagram and click on the daily mail's account. i'm greeted by an unpleasant sight. my heart races as i switch back onto tumblr to air my grievances.

[nadianova]

Hey, girl who has sex to your game here(Big fan). Unrelated but where should I go that isn't Tumblr. I kid you not it is my only social media not counting messaging apps or YouTube. I saw your post about the moldy strawberries and realized the only reason I'm still on this hellsite is because everything else is either too straight , too fascist or both for me to exist on.

thanks for making my games cum. idk im the most active on bluesky its whatever but its obviously better than twitter. all sites become better when you treat your account more like temporary squattingi in a billionaires house intead of majking your home nest. regardless i thinki everyone would be better off spending more time creating art istead and thats the main reason im even be on social media in the first place since i wanna share what i do

[unopenablebox]

i can't actually bring myself to name the post i was originally thinking about for various reasons, some cowardly and some reasonably intellectually honest. so instead i'm going to air a bunch of uncoordinated grievances culled from a wide variety of sources

unfortunately i have spent several years being driven insane by random one off tumblr comments about science that i took incredibly personally and now i have a million deranged complaints about how no one is nice enough to me about my job

like. idk. it would be nice if people were willing to extend the benefit of the doubt for ideas like: maybe scientists also know that measurements we use are proxies for the underlying thing, and that might have something to do with why we often try to have three or four different ways of checking for what we hope is the same phenomenon. but ultimately we do just have to try to use the tools that currently exist to look at the world and report honestly on what we think it looks like. "can you believe scientists think x is the only thing that would show whether something is y" look we're just trying to figure something out that we can get to work repeatedly so that literally anyone else can actually check our work. and that's actually very hard to do. ofc these concepts are themselves culturally and historically contingent and a lot of other factors go into the formulation of what an experiment is or how things get solidified as canonical methods etc. but i don't think "we would like to do things that have a hope of being consistently doable so that things can be compared to each other, and people can meaningfully describe things to each other and be understood, and that shapes what experiments we in practice do" is some kind of deeply suspect motivation on either a personal or institutional level and it would be nice if people acknowledged that that is often a driver for what actually is done. sometimes you do what's possible and describable.

or. idk. this one is also kind of about my own interpersonal experience and not a tumblr post, though still kind of about tumblr posts. but like. scientists absolutely make what are essentially personal judgments based on aesthetics or sensibilities about what to study. because there's so much fucking stuff. and it can't all be "what kills the most people" or "what has money available", not least because some of us can't actually keep going day to day on the basis of either of those, but also because even within those the universe is full of stuff. and 1. yes, in fact this means expanding the set of people making those judgments and what kinds of experiences shaped their sensibilities is very valuable, as one of several arguments for improving diversity in science but also 2. we're not, like, automatons gleefully doing Soulless Nonsense while cackling about how we're keeping everyone from learning about the true beauty of the world that real people care about. we're real people also. (it's also, incidentally, not a sick burn to explain to us that we were using human judgment and impulses while we were studying science. we have all lived inside our own brains while doing this and also attended so many seminars where someone helpfully explained it like it was new information.)

like, personally, i think it's really exciting when proteins can consistently arrange themselves on only one side of a cell. because it looks really cool and it's exciting to think about and doesn't obviously fall out of what we already know proteins do. this isn't, like, a sign of a fundamentally corrupt and cold nature that doesn't understand the world's beauty. no one is ever going to pay me lots of money in exchange for my thrilling new results about cell shapes i just think they're really beautiful and interesting. but i resent having to piously announce that i'm really interested in the World's True Beauty and Animals and the Mystical Wonders of Nature in order to communicate this point. i intrinsically value and care about what proteins do and that's the framework i'm operating in and that's the kind of thing that motivates a lot of people in science and it's simply not reasonable to act like that's some kind of evil alien motivation unmoored from the true human impulse. like i actually am mostly doing this because i also really like that kinesin animation where it walks on a microtubule. i just got really into it.

on a separate point, i know that reading scientific papers is hard and a trained skill, and contextualizing them is really annoying, but unfortunately we are just going to have to maintain a saintlike state of mild skepticism about strong claims made in university press releases that are then breathlessly repeated on tumblr. nothing to be done about that right now they'll just say whatever unfortunately. i promise to continue writing bitchy four-paragraph posts about their conceptual limits if and when i happen to notice one i know enough about to evaluate and then also have time to do it