headspace-hotel:

thesixthstar:

annabelle–cane:

I think a lot of people spent their childhoods being very deliberately forced out of their comfort zones by parents / teachers / whomever in a way that was just deeply unpleasant and degrading and so, when they reach young adulthood and are finally allowed real control over their lives, become set on only doing things they know they’re comfortable with forever. that’s a really important thing to be able to do, especially if you’re so used to having your boundaries routinely ignored that you aren’t even certain what you like vs what you can bear, so I absolutely see why a person would have a negative reaction to being told that discomfort is good: it can very easily sound like being told that all that work they’ve been doing to prioritze their needs for the first time ever is Bad and Selfish, actually. and to that I will say two things:

one: as long as you aren’t hurting or, like, being a dick to anyone, just staying in your comfort zone isn’t an immoral action. if you just want to read one type of book (or just fanfiction), or just eat one type of food, or just watch one type of movie, or not go to new types of social events, you aren’t being a bad person for that, and if people say that, they are soundly wrong and just trying to get a self-righteousness kick.

two: trying new things because you want to expand yourself feels a hell of a lot different than trying new things because you’re being forced to. you’ll feel better about trying new foods if you know you have a back up familiar one in case you can’t stomach the new one, it’s easier to read new books if you can experiment with audio versions or reading it in little five-page chunks by yourself, you can breathe a lot easier going somewhere new if you aren’t chained there for three hours because your parent is your ride home, etc.

tl;dr: new things are good. I get why you might not want to try new things, and that’s fine, but it’s also more comfortable to try new things as an adult with your own agency so, yeah, what have you got to lose by trying a weird old art film?

It’s really important to recognize that the negative reaction you might have to being forced into something new might make your reaction much worse than if you had the no-pressure option to explore it on your own. I always try new foods when no one is around, or only some few close friends I trust on that level, because I feel judged for being a picky eater - even if people aren’t *actually* judging me, I feel judged anyways and the pressure makes the whole experience unpleasant and I’m less likely to enjoy the food

It’s also important to recognize that sometimes, newness, in and of itself, can trigger a disgust reaction. For this reason, when i’m genuinely trying some new food/drink, I take a small bite/sip or two to get over the initial “this is new and new is bad ew ew ew” reaction, and then take the next bite/sip to actually evaluate how I feel about the flavor/texture/etc. Even when i don’t end up liking the food, this often takes a food I’d be super grossed out by and moves it closer to the “eh i simply don’t like it” category.

huge part of being autistic (and why that is Literally Traumatizing) is that your comfort levels and sensory experiences are so out of touch with everyone else’s that you’re just routinely subjected to awful, terrifying, torturous stuff as a kid and you are told “no one likes this, everyone is scared sometimes, but you just have to do it”

because the adults in your life think you’re experiencing a normal, bearable level of discomfort? because that’s what they themselves would experience, in your situation?

And you have never experienced being another person, so you think you are experiencing a normal, bearable level of discomfort, and just over-reacting to it.

The part that really digs itself into your psyche is the certainty that you can’t expect the world to be kind to you. That suffering so much is just and even necessary. The feeling that the whole world will see you in excruciating distress and think it’s unnecessary to help you, just, scars some deep primal part of your brain

beemovieerotica:

it really is insidious how terfs will point to scars and very recent surgery photos in a way that berrays that they have never had to undergo major medical intervention or witness it on the people they love. like I’ve seen them getting utterly grossed out posting barf emojis over photos of thighs and forearms where skin gets removed and grafted elsewhere for things like bottom surgery. and I don’t think they’re even aware that…that’s what skin grafts are? for skin cancer, for burns, for corrosion–you take it from somewhere else and put it where it’s needed. but they will literally just post and look at these photos of the donor area in complete isolation, they’ll see the missing scarred skin and be completely revolted by it, when you could fully and without their knowledge swap it for any picture from a different surgery and they could be saying this shit about a cancer patient. do they get that their revulsion for scarred and post-surgery bodies isn’t some perfectly neat thing they can assign to that recipient versus this one, and when they say shit like “zipper tits” there’s cis women with mastectomy scars who hear that? do they know how dehumanizing that is? have they ever even spoken to someone who isn’t able bodied and perfectly, blissfully healthy?

thatsoup:

Oh damn I can see how someone could get a cylinder stuck in one of these

chaumas:

chaumas:

chaumas:

chaumas:

chaumas:

chaumas:

chaumas:

villain going to the goon shelter to pick out a new henchman

this energetic and diabolical boy was rescued from a goon hoarding situation… he loves pulling levers, gloating, and turning cranks with great abandon. prefers to be the only goon. needs an active lair with plenty of enrichment.

now this fella comes with some baggage. his previous villain was going to have put down when he refused to perform unsedated human vivisection as a form of torture. one of our agents intercepted the execution and brought him to the goon shelter. would thrive in an environment of G or PG-rated villainry.

on the other hand, if you’re looking for something a little more… advanced… then this fine lady over here would make a great challenge for an experienced villain able to set firm boundaries. she will NOT be released to first-time villains; proof of prior henchpeople must be demonstrated before adoption approval. high prey drive. under no circumstances should she be left alone with children or small animals. must sign waiver releasing the goon shelter from responsibility if her behavior is deemed excessively depraved.

These two are pair-bonded and may only be adopted together. Up for anything, they are fiercely loyal to their employer provided their needs are met and they are permitted to hold hands. They look alarmingly similar to one another but it is undeterminable whether they are close blood relatives or lovers who choose to dress and style themselves in identical ways. Habit of finishing each other’s sentences with rhyming couplets; we have not attempted to train this out of them. Will answer to whatever names or titles you give them so long as they are complimentary and/or rhyme.

Will you help this goon find his forevil lair? He’s been returned to the goon shelter six times now but we refuse to give up on him. A vile little rat of a man, he’d be the perfect accomplice to someone willing to overlook his unfortunate heterosexuality. If gay-coding is not your style and you don’t expect it from a henchman, please consider giving this little guy a good home in your dastardly schemes.

This guy is not your typical goon. He was rescued from a high-kill shelter after being deemed unfit for henching. His deep baritone voice, his darkly handsome good looks, and his flair for the dramatic have made prospective employers pass over him time and time again, making him the longest resident of the goon shelter. But don’t judge a book by its cover—while his appearance and demeanor suggest “villain”, his real passion is taking orders and faithfully serving a master. If you’re secure in your villainry and not prone to jealousy, he may just be what it takes to turn your base into a lair.

lh-moth:

lillivati:

oak23:

Gratitude - Tidying Up With Marie Kondo (2019)

I know people make a lot of fun of Marie Kondo, but I felt like her book was the first organizational guide I’ve ever read that acknowledged people having an emotional attachment to possessions as natural and healthy, instead of telling you you’re an awful person for feeling sad over objects.

[Image description. Seven screenshots of Marie Kondo standing by a bed with a pile of clothes pulled from a closet and talking. The subtitles read, “[In Japanese] Many people may feel guilty when letting go of items. By expressing gratitude towards the items you let go, it will lessen the feeling of guilt. For example, outs important to express gratitude towards clothes you never wore. This is because the shirt taught you that you do not like to wear shirts like this.” End description.]

bookishgraywolf:

kwermaid28:

aerialsquid:

thecryptkeeper:

(credit: facetiousbitch on tik tok)

Oh

My

People out here using their talents for pure evil

[Video description: a person embroidering a QR code on the back pocket of a pair of jeans. They scan the code and it opens YouTube to the music video of Never Gonna Give You Up, by Rick Astley. /End description.]

transxfiles:

[ID: A series of 6 images. Most are screenshots from the Lord of the Rings films and feature Gandalf.

Image 1: A close-up of Gandalf the Grey’s face. He’s in a dimly lit place and his eyes are wide. He says, “I’m so nervous.”

Image 2: Dolly Parton stands against a black background. She smiles and says, “It’s gonna be okay, don’t worry.”

Image 3: An establishing shot of the location of Rivendell, an elf city from the Lord of the Rings. It is a brightly lit town with large naturalistic architecture built into the side of a mountain, surrounded by trees.

Image 4: Gandalf the White lays against a white background. He’s waking up and looks groggy. He says, “Wait, where is Dolly Parton?”

Image 5: Elrond, an elf from the Lord of the Rings, leans over. The image is hazy. He says, “Who do you think gave you the big naturals?”

Image 6: Gandalf the White looks into the distance in shock. /End ID]

gatheringbones:

[“The doctor’s sentences were primarily interrogatory, and Mary Roberts and other patients had little institutional power in these exchanges. She could not command, advise, promise, swear, congratulate, thank, or excuse. The doctor next asked questions related to her “general mental attitude.”

[Has anything strange happened to you?

No sir, not much.

Ever hear voices talking to you?

I have always heard them.

How old were you when you first heard them?

When I was about 6 years old.

Whose voice was it?

I couldn’t tell.

What did the voice say?

It sounded like my dead brothers and sisters’ voices.

What did those voices say to you?

They didn’t sound very plain; just a kind of mumbling voice.]

Perhaps these voices were “mumbling,” but perhaps Mary Roberts at this point was exercising a bit of the rhetorical power allowed her. She could not refuse outright, but she could indirectly assert her voices’ mumbling unintelligibility within the framework of the doctor’s questions. The doctor asserted these to be auditory hallucinations, which would be convenient when it came time to diagnose her. The doctor asked next:

[Do you see strange things?

I don’t now but I have seen them.

What kind of strange things have you seen?

Anything that people see. Dogs and people with their heads off and people laughing and hollering and making a strange noise. You can see that any time.]

Dr. Cranston pressed his point, giving the patient a chance to recant:

[When you see those things, do you think they are real things?

No sir.

You just imagine you see them, don’t you?]

But then Mary Roberts seems to have decided to stick to her guns and not allow Dr. Cranston to bully her. In so doing, she moved the discussion up a notch into the metaphysical,taking Dr. Cranston to school. She explained to Cranston: They are real things, but they are not living things. Mary is challenging Cranston on what philosophers call “epistemology,” or how we know things, and “metaphysics,” the question of what is real. But Mary was not in control of the terms of debate or her circumstances. But if this were a debate, by my way of thinking Mrs. Roberts would have won it here.

The doctor pressed again, seeking to clarify the difference between imagining and physiologically hearing:

[Do you really hear those voices, or do you just imagine that you hear them?

I think they are actual voices.

Have you heard any lately?

Yes sir. ….

Do those voices tell you what to do?

Yes sir….

Do you have to obey them?

No sir.

Do those voices control your life?

No sir.]

Roberts asserted that she does not lose her autonomy to her voices, and they were not malevolent. She took Dr. Cranston to school again:

[Whose voices do you think they are?

I think they are my dead people’s voices. My dead sisters and brothers.

Do you think it is possible to hear the voice of a dead person?

Yes sir.

How can you hear them if they are dead?

I can see them too. That’s not strange about hearing a dead person’s voice. A lot of people die and then come back and talk. ….

Have you ever done anything that you just had a feeling that you can to do and couldn’t help it?

No sir. I can’t do any harm.

Why can’t you do any harm?

Because I can’t.”]

mab segrest, from administrations of lunacy: a story of racism and psychiatry at the milledgeville asylum

umbrageliker:

researchers at MIT have proven their hypothesis that “eyeballin’ it” is the most accurate form of measurement

biglawbear:

riseofthecommonwoodpile:

riseofthecommonwoodpile:

smartphone storage plateauing in favor of just storing everything in the cloud is such dogshit. i should be able to have like a fucking terabyte of data on my phone at this point. i hate the fucking cloud

this is gonna make me sound very Old Man Yells At Cloud but i just hate how many things in my life assume i will always have access to a quick, reliable internet connection and almost cease to function without it. Obviously certain things Have To Have An Internet Connection, but i want to be able to listen to music if my service is bad. i want to still watch movies if Netflix is down. i want to have a working map when i can’t get a cell signal. nearly every tech product these days bears the fingerprint of the extremely internet-rich places they are developed, high rent offices in Seattle, San Francisco, etc.. I think often the idea of the internet not being available is so remote to them it doesn’t even factor in to development. i remember when the Xbox One was debuted and Microsoft was almost mockingly like “if you don’t have reliable fast internet, then don’t bother buying this”, and there was such backlash they completely went back on so much of that. But now that attitude is just the tech norm.

It also takes those things out of your control and gives it to someone else who can cut your access if you don’t pay them or if they just feel like it

txttletale:

if there’s one long-term called shot i feel comfortable making it’s that in a century or so the DSM will be regarded with the same seriousness as the four humours

boyboobs:

having your own apartment is awesome you have so many things you can do. for example you can go to the bedroom and the bathroom and the kitchen. another example can be the front door or maybe your balcony if you have one

damicantcope:

a sleepy trans person in their bed with their blanket and maybe even a plushie

himbofisher:

creep-u:

girl i am not looking at your tits i prommy i just hate eye contact

“my eyes are up here” believe me, i know

processedlives:

“It is a well-documented fact that by the age of 5 monolingual White children will have heard 30 million fewer words in languages other than English than bilingual children of color. In addition, they will have had a complete lack of exposure to the richness of non-standardized varieties of English that characterize the homes of many children of color. This language gap increases the longer these children are in school. The question is what causes this language gap and what can be done to address it? The major cause of this language gap is the failure of monolingual White communities to successfully assimilate into the multilingual and multidialectal mainstream. The continued existence of White ethnic enclaves persists despite concerted efforts to integrate White communities into the multiracial mainstream since the 1960s. In these linguistically isolated enclaves it is possible to go for days without interacting with anybody who does not speak Standardized American English providing little incentive for their inhabitants to adapt to the multilingual and multidialectal nature of US society. This linguistic isolation has a detrimental effect on the cognitive development of monolingual White children. This is because linguistically isolated households lack the rich translanguaging practices that are found in bilingual households and the elaborate style-shifting that occurs in bidialectal households. This leaves monolingual White children without a strong metalinguistic basis for language learning. As a result, many of these monolingual White children lack the school-readiness skills needed for foreign language learning and graduate from school having mastered nothing but Standardized American English leaving them ill-equipped to engage in intercultural communication.”

—

What if we talked about monolingual White children the way we talk about low-income children of color?

Excerpt from a satirical blog post from The Educational Linguist that makes a good point about which language skills we value as a society and the problems with talking about a “language gap”. 

(via lingrix)