how do conservatives think talking to children works? if a four year old came up to me and said “i’m a cat!!” i would say “really? what makes you a cat?” and they’d say some shit like “i have claws >:)” and i’d be like “oh wow, you do have claws. but wait, i thought cats had pointed ears!” and they’d say “they DO!!!” and then i’d pull up a picture of an elf and ask “is THIS a cat?” and they’d yell “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
u wouldn’t say “fucking hell, Emily, get it together. this is the real world”
Wayne was gay. It was obvious. He was unable to stay in the closet even if he wanted to. To make matters worse, he was also Black. From a bullying standpoint, that was not a great combo. Both Black and white students made fun of him relentlessly. He was ostracized from the only community that may have given him protection. Only us theater kids stuck up for him, but not to significant effect.
Wayne was bullied so much that at one point he finally snapped and attacked his bullies with a lunch tray. I was actually seated in perfect line of sight and just sat there chewing my soggy fries in stunned silence. It didn’t even seem real as I was witnessing it. The image of him wailing on his main bully as the food on his tray flew off is permanently logged into my long term memory.
The bully he attacked had blood all over his face and went straight to the nurse. Other than superficial cuts, he was not injured.
Before the attack, Wayne went to teachers for help. He went to guidance counselors for help. He went to the principals for help.
He did all of the things you were supposed to do. No one helped him. They wagged a finger at the bullies and warned them to stop.
Wayne’s lunch tray melee was the only thing that worked. His bullies stayed far away from him. But a week later Wayne was expelled and the bullies were given no punishment.
So… no.
No one in my school talked about being trans.
Because the only way to survive being openly queer was to bash people with a lunch tray.
now this may surprise some of the audience, but the majority of humans have to survive a phase called “being a teenager” and the results are often catastrophic
Some great advice I got from a therapist when we were discussing guilt over past actions and behaviors (some paraphrased, some written down during session):
“You only ever realize you did something less than ideal once you’ve grown past it. So if you find yourself thinking, ‘Wow, I was a terrible person,’ or ‘Oh man, I did this rude awful thing,’ try reframing it as: ‘Wow, I’ve grown into a much better person now,’ or ‘Oh man, I am a much kinder and more understanding person who knows not do something like that again.’ Nobody starts out perfectly kind and reasonable, and it’s worth recognizing and celebrating when you’ve grown as a human being.”
“I’m not going to do the thing because I don’t view it as important.” ←Conscious decision made of your own free will.
“I want to do the thing because I view it as important, but trying to get myself to do the thing creates the same reaction as trying to put my hand on a hot stove would.” ← Executive dysfunction, a physical health problem that doesn’t answer to your own free will.
“Trying to get myself to do the thing creates the same reaction as trying to put my hand on a hot stove would. This must mean I don’t actually want to do the thing and I’m just tricking myself into thinking I do.” ← No, that’s still executive dysfunction, but you’re having brainworms about it.
so like. obviously it’s an immensely tragic route to take but sometimes it’s just so satisfying for a story to go “there’s no happy ending this time. resistance is futile in this scenario. the ‘good guys’ can’t win. this is a pointless last stand. so for their final act, our beloved characters are going to rock the antagonist’s shit so fucking hard it makes you stare at a wall struggling to process what just happened and how you feel about it for hours afterwards.”
i simply think that sometimes it’s the best possible narrative decision to allow characters to become supernovas, imploding on themselves but taking as much with them as possible. “you can’t save anyone” “maybe not, but i can hurt you”. fuck yes. if you can’t beat them, tear them apart.
I keep hearing people say “The internet isn’t forever my favorite shows are being taken down and there’s so much lost content from old websites”
Guys, that’s not the meaning of the phrase. It’s about internet safety.
“The internet is forever” means that if you post something, it can be copied, reposted, saved to someone else’s computer. You are no longer in control of where it goes. It does not mean the internet is an infallible archive.
Be responsible with your stuff, post only what you are ok with being out there forever and protect what you mean to keep forever.
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