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#as a specific subreddit seems to think anyways…
cryptcatz · 1 year
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tbh sometimes i consider being a youtuber who makes primarily disability related content but then i remember how disabled youtubers/etc. get treated and am like actually nevermind <3
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winterpinetrees · 10 months
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At the start, I didn’t think much about the Reddit strike. I use Reddit often, but it wasn’t hard for me to just…not use it for a few days. “Yay, let’s strike! Anyway.”
But now, it’s really hitting me just how horrifying all of this is. Three times today I’ve tried to find an answer to some obscure question, found an answer on Reddit, and then been blocked from it because the subreddit was privated. Say what you want about Reddit being an unreliable source, but so much gathered knowledge is currently locked away, and it will be lost forever if Reddit collapses because of the changes. I keep thinking back to last year’s r/place. How beautiful that collaboration was. I even used it in class to try and justify the internet to a teacher, and she found it profoundly meaningful. And now this hub of culture that seemed so permanent last week feels like it’s on borrowed time. All of this history is both frozen in time and on thin ice. There’s nothing to replace it right now. Definitely not tumblr, with its search functions that feel downright malicious.
Maybe I’m just new, but I don’t think community can live on here like it does on Reddit. It can live, but it’s doomed to be nomadic. Posts cycle around for years but you’d struggle to find a specific one without using google. Here, we’re always going to be wanderers, shouting into the void, walking the same familiar tags. Hold onto your mutuals, because they’re all you have. But Reddit is both community and archive. You can find people there, find things, find decade old posts. There’s problems of course, but I think the toxicity is worth it for everything else that it offers. There’s wisdom on Reddit. We will lose so much if we lose it.
To the Reddit refugees. You probably won’t see this post, but if you do, welcome. It’s a mess here, but you can find some things if you’re patient.
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swampgallows · 6 months
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do you have advice on how to find a mask for someone who legit, for real has difficulty breathing through one? i get badly congested because of the build up of humidity/moisture (plus a deviated septum), so then i have to remove the mask to blow my nose every 10 seconds which obvi defeats the purpose. i've tried to do research but i'm having trouble finding answers to this specific query. since you seem knowledgeable i would really appreciate any pointers if you have them. thank you.
hi! first of all thank you so much for wanting to mask despite the difficulties. second, i want to mention that im not a science or medical-type person of any kind, just a high-risk civilian trying to stay alive through the ongoing pandemic.
with the widespread non-industrial use of respirators in dealing with covid, there are manufacturers that have been looking for more comfortable, casual options while still offering adequate filtration. however many of these kinds of masks are either quite expensive, perpetually hard to acquire/sold out, or aren't fully NIOSH-approved (or equivalent standard). so my recommendations will be for only NIOSH-approved headstrap N95s.
since you have a structural condition (deviated septum), finding a breathable mask that fits your face without agitating your sinuses is essential. you'll want to be sure it's large enough that it's not pinching or putting too much pressure on your nose bridge. some users in the Masks4All subreddit have said saline rinses and BreatheRight strips can alleviate congestion issues, along with the right kind of mask. exploring a variety of mask shapes may help you!
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finding a well-fitting respirator is difficult because there is no "one size fits all", but the 3M Aura 9205+ comes close! it's available in many areas and fits a wide range of faces. this is the mask i use. the "tri-fold" shape allows me to talk or laugh without compromising the seal or brushing against my face, compared to a typical "cup" shape N95. they also come individually wrapped, so it's easy to keep one in your car or bag, or distribute to others.
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according to many who are "still coviding", the most breathable masks are the "duckbill" shape like the Gerson 3230+. I personally haven't tried them myself as I'm put off by the shape, but many duckbill wearers say that they easily overcome this "flinch" once they feel how comfortable it is, and that it's their go-to mask for extended wear or strenuous activities like the gym.
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a more standard shape said to be close to the comfort of the duckbill is the 3M 9105 VFlex. It still has a larger silhouette than the Aura, but the duckbill look is less pronounced. "bi-fold" mask shapes like the BNX N95 can also put less pressure on your nose and allow more breathing room while keeping a slimmer profile.
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you can also try something like the Readimask, a strapless mask that adheres to your face with medical adhesive (think like a band-aid). these can be a little more expensive, but you can order a free sample pack for sizing purposes (free plus shipping, mine was only $5 in the US) and see if it works for you.
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if you feel that the humidity/moisture is more of an issue than your septum, you may also want to look into valved masks, but be warned: masks with an exhaust valve only protect the wearer, and not the people around you. reserve these only for situations where you will be one-way masking. particles cannot enter through the valve, but particles you exhale exit into the ambient air. however, if you are in a situation where you find you are the only person masking and everyone else is breathing unfiltered air anyway, a mask with an exhaust valve is fine. reusable elastomeric respirators often have exhaust valves, but there are disposable versions too, like the 3M Aura 9211+ above.
"mask nerd" Aaron Collins has a full demonstration and overview of many of these masks in his most recent video. He also discusses earloop masks if you prefer those:
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you can also view AccuMed's Mask Testing Data and sort by lowest to highest breathability (lower numbers indicate the pressure drop = better breathing). This doesn't have every mask on the market (for instance, it's missing the VFlex), but it does have many common brands/models. Aaron Collins also made his own spreadsheet of over 200 masks he fit-tested himself.
i hope this gives you a launchpad to find something that works for you!
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transmutationisms · 4 months
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have you heard about HOCD (homosexual obsessive disorder)? i discovered this recently (which is not in the DSM "yet" but many therapists will still "diagnose" it). i'm perplexed, it seems like a way to add "homosexuality" back into the DSM without officially doing so. i've been trying to read up on it and it feels like it might just be... repressed homosexuality? internalized homophobia? there's a whole subreddit for it that mostly consists of "i looked at a guy today, could i be gay?!" and the responses like "don't worry brother, you're straight, just believe in yourself." (also, the description of HOCD seems to erase a lot of sexualities between gay and straight? and also how people tend to think a lot about their sexuality anyway?) what do you think, is this fake, insidious, or what
yep some patients and practitioners do refer to 'subtypes' of ocd, where this (or the broader 'sexual orientation ocd') are one such label. i don't actually know of any sustained effort to add these sub-labels to the dsm and i wouldn't expect to see such a thing unless and until someone starts marketing specific drugs or therapeutic modalities matched to particular 'subtypes'---dsm labels being insurance company billing codes
anyway i agree this label is ripe for use by people who simply want to discourage gay people existing (there is a corresponding and equally insidious 'gender identification' subtype these days as well) but fundamentally i do think this comes back to the idea that sexuality is some kind of discoverable, essential quality buried deep inside each of us, rather than a particular social-scientific taxonomical scheme attempting to capture and classify some of our extremely complex and personal thoughts and behaviours. i don't think it's actually very helpful to tell anyone with any kind of 'sexual orientation ocd' that what they need is, like, a qualified professional who can examine them mentally and root out the traces of Unwanted Fake Sexuality Thoughts, whether this goes in the direction of fearing you're gay or fearing you're straight or anything else.
i've always said it's fine to use a sexuality label if it feels right for you, no scrupulosity test required; similarly, i just don't think it's feasible to sit there all day trying to sort out which desires are real or fake. you can just act on them, or not, and it doesn't actually mean your soul has moved into some alternate categorical state either way lol. like i really just don't find it useful or accurate in general, the idea that there's some deeper, pre-social level of ourselves that we can or should discover. it's all contextual, gay desires equally to straight ones. basically you can do what you want forever and you actually don't have to torment yourself over how it reflects onto any mythologised notion of a stable or unitary Self. i think this is a much more incisive way of stopping the obsessional cycle of any ocd presentation than getting strategies for how to verify to yourself that you 'really are' xyz forever and endlessly 👍
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truessences · 22 days
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Was on Reddit in the Stranger Things subreddit and someone asked who the most intelligent member of the party is. Here was my answer.
I think Mike is the smartest of the kids, Dustin has an overall knowledge base of nerdy stuff but I feel like Mike, also has that but tends to think quick on his feet, is creative, brave, observant(sometimes) and strategic. A lot of big plans have happened because of him spearheading them.
S1- everything he did for El and being able to explain to everyone about the upside down after learning about parallel worlds from his teacher
S2- causing a diversion for El and Hopper to get in and close the gate. True sight and that Will was a spy.
S3- being the only one really who was trying to keep El from over doing it and also immediately coming to El’s aid in the sauna sequence. Plus that was also his plan.
S4- figuring out the pen and thinking to go see Suzie.
I also might be biased as he’s my fave and I think people are way too hard on him but I think my examples help lol.
I’ve always felt like they all had their specialties anyway or what I think they’d be good in and a lot of it overlaps obviously.
AND THEN, I talked about how he is also extremely self-sacrificing and some extra stuff because as always, I feel like people are way too hard on him.
Exactly! He’s also so self sacrificing! People say he hasn’t been the same since S1 and I agree in a sense but not about his character but that’s really on the writers.
S1- telling Brenner that he’d have to kill him (us) to get El. Willing to throw himself off the cliff for Dustin, trying to stand up to the bullies for Will.
S2- running to the soldiers to tell them it’s a trap when he could have easily died. The plan to go into the tunnels which led to him getting attacked lol.
S3- trying to fight Mind Flayed possessed Billy TWICE. Because Billy on his own is scary but a possessed one?? Come on now lol. People really say they hate S3 Mike and I will never understand why lol. My boy was so brave. The other stuff is because of Hopper and I’ll forever die on that hill.
S4- he didn’t get as much to do in terms of forward action but immediately running out to El in the desert when there’s no way he could have known that it was safe for him to do so.
He very much clearly is the leader and the heart of the group. I feel like people say otherwise just because they don’t like him and outside of “oh he’s just a boring character” I don’t personally think he’s done anything to be unlikable, I feel like there are reasons for a lot of his moody (outside of teenager) behavior. He doesn’t get any slack from the fandom and at times his own friends (Max and Will at times and even Lucas). He’s the only one who didn’t get the chance to really talk about his feelings UNTIL S4.
And then someone responded that he was being a jackass in S3, which is why a lot of fans seemed to dislike him and I'm like no, sorry that doesn't make sense to me. Hopper is literally an adult and threatened Mike at least 3 times in their conversation. Like you don't *have* to like anyone but I feel like the reasons that are given for Mike specifically don't make sense to me. As I said in the post, everyone has their moments of being assholes but Mike is the ONLY one who doesn't get a pass. I feel like Lucas was treated pretty badly in S1 but that's gone down thank goodness but Mike still gets shit and to me it's unfounded.
Like don't piss me off lol
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*looks at you like a kid in bed awaiting a bedtime story* what was reddit like…?
Ahh my old home... It was beautiful... Well actually not really it kinda sucked but it was home. After a long day of hard work I would kick back and relax by immediately getting into arguments with conservatives about whether or not I deserve to exist, spending all night moderating every new post made to r/familyguyporn (erm... You broke rule #274, how dare you, permabanned for life), and visiting 30 different subreddits only to see the same unfunny joke recycled and reposted for the thousandth time!
Haha but seriously though it wasn't all bad I actually really enjoyed my time there. If Reddit ever becomes not stupid again there's really great communities on there and it provides a much more structured and useful method of interacting with interests you like. There are some great communities that I honestly can't find comparable groups to on Tumblr that I wish I didn't have to continue using Reddit or a discord server to keep in touch with.
If you guys ever want to see what's up with Reddit I'd highly recommend r/196 (currently not allowing posts but maybe someday, also it's just fun to look through the old posts) and its little sister subreddits r/691 and r/19684 because they have a similar Tumblr (queer, lefty, shitposty) vibe, it's where most of the Reddit refugees on here came from initially. Also r/Tumblr and r/curatedTumblr (both private right now), because it's just reposts of Tumblr screenshots so the people there would probably be more accepting of you little tumbleweeds. r/wunkus (silly cats and stuff, I love that sub so much, criminally underrated). r/vexillologycirclejerk and r/mapporncirclejerk (private) are some of my favorite communities and I'm sad there's not a similar big community here. They're pretty left wing and focus on shitposting and jokes about flags and maps, they're very funny but some of the jokes get old quick. As well as literally any community you can think of! I swear, no matter how niche your interest is, there's probably a subreddit for it. And if there isn't, you can make it!
I'd avoid major shitposting subs, as that seems to be where the 'edgy teenage suburban white boy with unlimited internet access' archetype tends to congregate. I'd also avoid sorting by controversial in the comments when LGBT people get brought up on mainstream subs. Reddit takes itself a lot more seriously than Tumblr does and people will not be afraid to argue with you. A lot. Also you get punished with downvotes if people don't like what you say.
Anyways that was a lot. I hope Reddit stops being dumb because it's honestly hard to replace and it's such a great place to find things and people that you're interested in. Not to mention if you have a very specific question about basically anything, Reddit will literally save your life. I like Tumblr a lot, but Reddit will always be near and dear to my heart.
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darkcircles4lyfe · 2 years
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reddit users often have awful opinions, but every so often i do enjoy going on the bnha subreddit and seeing what people have to say about the newest chapter. sometimes it's funny even if most of the people there annoy me lol idk. but anyway, something very curious that i'm seeing about the comments regarding the ch 359 leaks is people acknowledging that the original text seems to directly say bakugou is not just "close" to deku but "the closest" to him (obviously not an Exact exact translation but that seems to be the intention) while also being quick to denounce any potential romantic meaning to that lol. now, bkdk doesn't Have to be fully romantic for me to appreciate their relationship (i really appreciated ur queerplatonic post about them btw) but it is very funny to see people rushing to go "but friends can be this close it doesn't mean it's anything romantic!" before anyone even suggests that it could be. all it took was someone asking for clarification on what the proper translation is, with no mention of shipping or romance, for nearly every reply to bring romance up. it just feels like they're basically admitting that they themselves see a statement like that and naturally take it to mean something romantic, and are desperate to prove otherwise. it's very... interesting to say the least hehe.
I also think it’s really interesting to see their genuine point of view sometimes. This right here is getting right to the heart of the societal connotations of different kinds of relationships. They’re quick to attach “friend” to it because that puts Izuku and Katsuki in a neat little box that’s safe from their ship. Romantic relationships are generally ranked highest for most people (this is not a good thing nor how it should be imo, but that’s another story) so when you translate Shigaraki’s comment as “closest friend” it still leaves room for someone else to be even closer. “Friend” brings them down a notch since romantic partners are automatically closer than friends. When you translate it as “closest person” or “closest relationship” not only is it more accurate to the original Japanese which uses a term with no specific platonic or romantic connotation, it implies that Izuku and Katsuki are so close to the point of usurping the throne of romance. It implies that this isn’t some cliche story where the girl can suddenly waltz in and become more important to the main character than the guy he had more chemistry and emotional connection with the whole time.
The fact is, though Izuku and Katsuki are currently more friendly with each other than they have ever been, “friend” is not and never has been a word big enough to describe their deeply complex relationship. I have always loved this about them. Shigaraki calling them friends would seem trite and it would lack all of the emotional weight that’s sure to be reflected in future chapters.
This ask was sent before fanscans came out but I’m ranting about that too. If Caleb also calls them friends in officials it will be because of the fact that “closest friend” does not mean the same thing as “closest person,” and because he and others expect—not understand, expect—that title of closest person to belong to Ochako. Not because that’s what Horikoshi actually meant.
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On every social media I’ve ever been on, all of them have their rules and content policies enforced arbitrarily. 
YouTube ensures its rules are as vague as possible so it can do whatever it wants without anyone claiming they’re breaking their own rules. Reddit only enforces sitewide rules when certain subreddits are giving the site a bad name. From what I’ve seen of Tumblr so far they’re just blatantly hypocritical with what they allow. And Twitter... do I even need to explain that one? 
But I think this is really a testament to how rules are enforced in general. Not just on social media but everywhere. Real world laws can be vague and leave room for interpretation. Some laws are just straight up ignored by everyone and nobody cares enough to enforce them, some laws aren’t even written but just social norms that’re expected anyway. Cops are biased, judges are biased, everyone’s biased. 
As an autistic person, I used to follow rules to a tee. And as a kid my understanding of rules was basically just “follow them or get in trouble”. I needed the rules to be very specific so I could clearly understand what to and not to do. But then one day at school, I got in trouble for something that I didn’t realize was against the rules. And that’s because it wasn’t actually written anywhere, but one that allistic people had just expected me to magically know about. 
Maybe to some people what I’m saying may seem obvious. But as an autistic person it took me a long time to realize this. I always liked it when instructions could be perfectly laid out and everything would work exactly as it says it works. That’s one reason why I’ve always liked video games, things make more sense in video games, they tell you the rules and things work how they’re supposed to work. Real life has no rules. It’s strange, complex, and nonsensical. Part of me wishes I could live in a video game, where things make sense. But at the same time, I find it kind of cool that real life doesn’t make any sense.
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reides · 6 months
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yesterday i managed to hatch a shiny horsea in my copy of emerald version!!!!!! this shiny is one that means a WHOLE LOT to me for so many reasons and i am absolutely gonna start up what will hopefully be a saga of posts related to him.
the gist of it is that this little one is, first and foremost, a nod to my beloved dnd oc, reides. secondly, he is gonna be my first earnest attempt at the ribbon master challenge!
the ribbon master challenge is a really fun - yet really difficult! - challenge which consists of trying to get as many marks/ribbons on one pokemon as possible (basically, from their origin generation to the current one). there are many resources related to this challenge, my favorite one being athis' ribbon handbook. you can see a lot of people talking about this challenge on the pokemon ribbons subreddit as well as in random places online (like this post right here LMAO). there are also quite a few videos about ribbon master challenge attempts on youtube, too; again, my personal favorite one is the story of toast the scizor.
anyway, i talked about potentially attempting the challenge back when i successfully manipulated gen4's rng for a shiny of my fav mythical pokemon, manaphy - which i also named reides, as i associate manaphy with him. i eventually strayed from that idea, however, because i really, really want my first ribbon master to have the gen3 ribbons; most importantly, the hoenn contest ones. (this is 100% just a personal thing - ribbon masters that are from gen4 onwards are obviously still incredibly awesome and i still wanna try the challenge out on my beloved manaphy at some point. i just have a lot of nostalgia associated with gen3's ribbons so i want my first attempt at the challenge to include the grind for them.) that being said, i didn't want to stray from the initial concept of putting it on a pokemon that i associate with reides, so…
that's where this horsea comes into the picture!
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i've associated reides with the whole horsea line for a loooong time - longer than i've associated him with manaphy, tbh! i even have a post mentioning that i hatched eggs for a shiny one - also named reides - in ultra sun. i struggled a lot with if i wanted to evolve that horsea fully or not, ultimately deciding to keep him as a baby. but i always wanted to catch another one which i'd evolve fully. i mean... look at this thang.
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shiny kingdra absolutely rules, and the royal theme that it has going on is, again, very much up reides' alley. it seemed like my procrastination re: actually hunting for that second shiny horsea actually paid off, in this case, because i realized it'd be sick if my ribbon master was a shiny kingdra. that way, my other shiny horsea can remain as a unique hunt, too.
beyond my shiny requirement, i wanted the horsea to be male, like reides, and for him to have a nature that suited reides' personality. since i already have a brave manaphy, i was torn between quirky or bold for him, but i ultimately decided on bold. so... a shiny, bold, male horsea was the goal. this isn't an impossible shiny hunt by any means, but... well... <3 let's just say i wasn't in the mood to phase on tons and tons of different shiny horseas that didn't meet my somewhat-specific criteria. frankly speaking, it would sour the entire experience for me. add emerald's wacky rng to the picture and it just... wasn't fun to even think about. so i figured that i'd take yet another page from my manaphy's book and that i'd rng manipulate for my ideal horsea. furthermore, i decided that i'd try to hatch my horsea in a cool spot - hence the 'seafloor cavern' met data. (sadly, since i'm transferring him up through the generations, this data will eventually get replaced with a blanket 'hoenn region' line - but i still wanted to do it!!!)
once i had a general Plan of Action, it was time to execute it. a few weeks ago, i made a post about learning how to rng manip in gen3. in that post, i showed you guys my shiny treecko, ivy, and vaguely mentioned in the tags that having the means of shiny hunting in emerald opened up a lot of ribbon master challenges... but i didn't mention my true goal of learning the inner workings of gen3; namely, reides. LMAO. by shiny hunting for that treecko, i was able to deduce my tid and sid combo, which would aid me in my future rng-based shiny hunts in that particular game file.
i then had to play through the entirety of emerald's plot. at first, i dreaded this, since i wanted to grab my horsea asap and get right into the challenge - but it was a TON of fun! i kept practicing different rng hunts and ended up getting four more rng-based shinies in addition to my shiny starter and reides. plus it was just plain nice to re-visit gen3's storyline after all these years. once i got the super rod in mossdeep city (since horsea is a super rod-specific encounter) and my seventh badge (since i needed to be able to use dive so that i could get to the seafloor cavern), i caught a male horsea and a female horsea, popped 'em in the daycare, and - through MUCH trial and error which could, in itself, end up as a huge post - managed to hatch this perfect little horsea.
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given all of the setup that went into getting reides, i knew that i wanted him to be on my very first team that beat the hall of fame. it was only fair, considering that the team pretty much existed because of him! and, while this post is focused on reides, trust & believe that i still developed a TON of fondness for the rest of my lovely storyline team! i couldn't have possibly gotten reides his first ribbon without the help of ivy the sceptile, popsicle the cradily, metal the aggron, chimney the camerupt, and miku the flygon!
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next on the emerald agenda is ev training reides. i am going to be training him alongside a latios named albatross, a beldum named origin, and a bagon whose name is currently pending as i try to think of something! i've never ev trained in a gen3 game before, so... fingers crossed that it goes well and that i can keep count of the encounters without fuckin up! ;LDFSGKD;FKG i'm ev training so that i can get the effort ribbon on reides but ALSO so that we are at full power for taking on emerald's battle tower afterwards. i'm SUPER nervous about doing this, as i have never attempted the battle tower before, but i'm hoping that it'll go okay!
in addition to aaaaall of this chaos going on in emerald version, i dusted off my good ol' wii and started a replay of an INCREDIBLEEEE game called pokemon colosseum, since i'll need to send reides over there eventually to get a ribbon for clearing 100 battles in a row over on mt battle. (luckily, i still have the necessary hardware from my childhood for doing that.) mt battle is going to be seeing a lot of me, as i'll also need to grind for pokecoupons there so that i can buy special berries which will help him in becoming a contest pro back over in hoenn. colosseum's plot also gave me the chance to soft-reset for a bold-natured suicune that will probably get ev trained too, and who will likely join reides in all of his future battle tower endeavors. i named that suicune after reides' in-universe god, 'persana.'
so... yeah! the setup for this challenge alone has been A Lot but i can honestly say that i've been having so much fun with it. i feel like i'm interacting with like... every single aspect of gen3 at the moment. it's totally revitalized my love for pokemon as a whole and i'm really hoping that i can stick to it and complete the challenge in its entirety!
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gothicprep · 4 months
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was killing some time and stumbled onto a subreddit for teachers, and someone opened up a thread about why some school districts don't teach to kill a mockingbird anymore, and why it's being replaced with more contemporary books that the OP isn't as satisfied with teaching. the example she brings up is "dear justyce" by nic stone, which is a contemporary novel that came out in 2020. and basically her question is, if the intention is to teach a book that deals with racism in america, why not go for something by toni morrison instead? the answers broadly split into two general categories: that white conservative parents are throwing a hissy fit because they don't want anything to do with their kids being taught a novel about 20th century american racism nevermind they were probably taught tkam themselves. the others are saying that it's white savior trash, and some people are echoing that and being like "look at all those people who are calling it white savior trash"
i think it's probably fair to guess that the exact answer is going to vary a lot depending on the school district that's opting out, but these explanations seem a bit too culture war-y, which makes me a bit suspicious about how accurate they are. the triggered conservative parent would probably have more of an ax to grind with something like dear justyce, and the white savior thing doesn't answer her question about why something like "beloved" isn't chosen instead. they're kind of non-answers. and stuff like this basically relates back to why i think viewing everything through the lens of political polarization is such a neurotoxican.
because i'm not an english teacher and don't have insider insight, i can only speculate, but i think what's actually going on here (at least on a macro sense, not related to regional specific school board scraps) boils down to competing theories about what the purpose of an english class should be. it's been a long time since i was in middle and high school, but i remember our reading assignments being basically supplemental material to our history lessons. and from multiple vantage points too – we were assigned tkam and huck finn, but also a raisin in the sun and their eyes were watching god. and even though i didn't ~love~ everything we had to read, i definitely feel like i retained a lot more than i would have otherwise from both classes because the material was working in tandem. history sticks a bit better when you also have some context of the type an era is producing. at least it did for me.
but around the time i left, i remember there was a bit of debate popping up in the culture around whether an english class should be something like that, something that was hyper-focused on literary devices and analysis, or something that was more designed around contemporary YA type books in order to encourage teenagers to develop a relationship with reading.
i'm not so naive to think that none of the changes in curricula are completely separate to the politics, i think it's probably more that the attitude of what these sorts of classes is moving away from "we're learning about mccarthyism in history. we're being taught the crucible in english" or "you can pass this class by plagiarizing sparknotes" models to the "hopefully the kids don't find their assigned reading to be a total slog" one in the last decade and change.
that's my best guess, anyway. surprised i didn't see anyone raise this point.
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mageofminge · 1 year
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weezer's gay allegations: a rant
i was browsing through the weezer subreddit the other day and noticed the 'is brian gay?' post got deleted. from what i get most of these silly posts would get kept so idk why this one specifically got deleted. im not sure ab how much brian interacts with his fans (given his vibe id think itd be almost him looking him and his bandmates up to see what ppl are saying ab him, esp since i heard people had been told to delete posts that had memes ab him being a nonce (which is honestly fair enough bc that could be on the border of spreading misinformation/slander) but idrk). either way, it seems like either brian, someone close to brian, or someone high up on the official weezer fanclub/'fandom' really does not like the gay allegations surrounding him.
if that is the case tho, i am kinda torn on how to approach this.
on one hand, as a weezer fan with a queer identity, even though i know that all of the members are probably cishet, it is still fun to joke about these things. or even just speculation, though logically i know it is likely to be false, its still comforting for me to already see this male figure i look up to, and then to further serve as inspiration to myself, somewhat project my queerness onto him. furthermore, to me at least, his actual sexuality (ignoring my projecting) does not play a role in how i perceive him. to me all of these gay allegations are just harmless jokes, i don't really take them seriously, especially since that's his private life and stuff.
on the other hand though, regardless of what his sexuality actually is, those allegations could have quite dodgy implications, considering there are people in the world, and heck even in a fanbase as queer and nd as weezer, who aren't very accepting of queerness. the way I see it is, if the gay allegations spiral out of control there are two possible outcomes:
brian is not gay, or queer in any way. regardless, he continues to be harassed about his sexuality by people who don't believe him. he will never beat the gay allegations. people will always be constantly doubting him regarding his identity, and i can imagine that would cause a lot of stress. or it could be...
brian is gay (or at least some variant of queer) and is outed against his will.
neither of these options are particularly pleasant. the key thing tho is those outcomes rest on the condition that the gay allegations do get out of control. firstly i just want everyone to kind of realise that public figures, just like everybody else are entitled to privacy, especially regarding their sexuality. secondly, while i think that simply making gay allegation jokes isn't necessarily inherently harmful, esp in the context of queer people looking up to public figures, we should still all be well aware that it is just a joke and nothing more. it would also be nice if some of the other members who are the target of these allegations had a sense of humour and played along with the jokes. i mean, this is something rivers already kinda does with his zesty bit, and i fucking love it - i think its hilarious and i also appreciate how hes able to interact with fans and also 'make fun' of himself without being too self-conscious. and it would be rlly cool if we could have a similar level of fan interaction (within appropriate boundaries) from other members too.
anyways idk if that made a lick of sense but yeah, what are y'alls thoughts on this.
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nothorses · 2 years
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i'm not sure if i'm being baader-meinhoffed, or if this is really a thing. it may be a combination of both.
but i have noticed that recently, more and more trans male spaces have started discussing transandrophobia (not necessarily using the term, but still the same concepts), and it was a few months after i found you. /r/ftm, /r/asktransgender, and other trans subreddits have been discussing it more and more.
i want to say thank you for what you have contributed, and that if it ever feels like you're screaming into a void, you're not. people have been taking notice and the things you're discussing have become a lot more in the consciousness of the trans community, at least online.
the transandrophobia discussion, discussion of how trans men are impacted by society, and even discussion on how men are treated by radfems have been picked up and are becoming a lot more mainstream. the transmasculine community is identifying with what you're saying, and is now much more openly talking about it, and i want to say that at least part of that is on you.
i'm thankful, and i think you should be proud.
I definitely can't take credit for that; I started talking about it because I saw others before me talking about it, and I know people have been trying to have these conversations for years prior to that. This is something we, as a community, have accomplished together- not something to be credited to the one (1) white trans man people seem to think is a representation of the entire transmasc community.
That said, I know I have one of if not the largest followings on this site out of all the transmascs talking about this, and I know I hold a lot of sway, and I'm really grateful to all of the folks who've picked up my posts, built on them, and spread them around; and to the many, many others who've made their own posts, and brought these things into the meatspace to share as well! I do take pride in the growth of this community and conversation, I just want to emphasize that pride in myself, specifically, is for the words I've written and ideas I've had. The growth of those things beyond me and outside of me is not mine to take credit for (though it's definitely exciting!!)
(Also, I have met multiple transmascs irl now who have heard of and internalized a lot of this without ever having talked to me before, and that's really cool to me!! The tides are turning, and it's exciting and uplifting and incredibly inspiring.)
Anyway- thank you!! I really do appreciate the kindness!!
I only qualify all this to combat some of the pedestal-ing, and to try to encourage folks to engage with transmascs that aren't me; particularly transmascs of color, who've had their voices erased repeatedly by all sides of this discussion.
If you want to thank me, go follow some folks on that linked rec list!
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markadoo · 8 months
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We all know what a “gonewild” subreddit is, and some have even heard of the “ur”-gone wild subreddit, known simply as r/gonewild. But lately, I’ve had the sneaking suspicion that even this might have a yet further namesake. But I know next-to-nothing about it. 
At first I thought it might have been some kind of pornographic news show feature that they used to fill time on air before they started reading tweets. But the chance memory of a Rhett and Link lyric threw that theory on its head. 
The song “Squirrel Rights” is about two squirrels confronting you for filming them without consent. The line in question is:
If you don't cease and desist, a suit will be filed/Especially if we end up in the next Squirrels Gone Wild
Surprisingly, “Squirrels Gone Wild” follows the name format of subreddits like r/altgonewild or r/gaymersgonewild, rather than that of the plain r/gonewild. I can think of two ways to explain this. 
There were actually many pre-reddit Gone Wilds. There was an Alt Gone Wild, a Gaymers Gone Wild, etc., and these are what got adapted into subreddits first. Later, a “neutral” gonewild subreddit was created, and called simply r/gonewild. 
There was only one pre-reddit Gone Wild, but it wasn’t called “Gone Wild”. It was called something like “People Gone Wild”, and this is the name Rhett and Link are parodying. For an unaccountable reason, the subreddit named after it dropped the first word. The memory of there having been a first word may have inspired the naming of some of the spinoffs. 
I have no way of deciding between these two theories. 
Moving past the name, let’s take a look at what it might have actually been like. 
Logically extending the premise of the song from squirrels to people would seem to imply that the original Gone Wild consisted of photographs or videos of unsuspecting people in public spaces, rather like r/creepshots. But not only would that raise the question of why gonewild subreddits only accept consensual pictures, it would also seem to contradict the titular concept of “going wild”
To go wild, at least as it is understood on the gone wild subreddits, connotes abandoning one’s shame, specifically the shame that attaches to one’s most eroticized bodily regions, whereas the subjects of an r/creepshots-type exhibition, being unaware, do no such abandonment. So maybe we probably shouldn’t take the reference so literally. It’s still possible that Gone Wild consisted, like the subreddits, of audience-submitted photos. 
There is one thing I think we can learn from the song. There’s another word in the lyrics that stands out. “Next”. 
This implies that Gone Wild was released in installments. Perhaps a TV show or a magazine, but not something as frequent as a news show segment. 
Anyway, that’s all the evidence I could find. Our reconstruction is extremely hazy. If anyone is privy to a potential piece of evidence on this topic, please send it to me and I may revisit. 
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recovering-redditor · 8 months
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the tags on the post abput plato makse me think u know a lot about ancient greece and im just sayin tht if you wanna say more about ancient greece i can guarantee at least 2 notes on every post about greece
no pressure ofc i just like knowledge and you seem smart
Thank you so much! For reference, I have a bachelor’s in World History, so I know a little bit about plenty of things, especially research, but I don’t think I could really claim expertise in anything. Couple of notes for Ancient/Classical Greece, though, since you did ask:
Yeah, we don’t have a lot of (any? I don’t think) surviving literature from contemporary Spartans about life in Sparta. The stuff we do have is, for example, Herodotus and Thucydides writing history books and including anecdotes and brief descriptions of things that maybe existed. So we maybe know the rough outline of their legal system, but not necessarily how reliable that factoid about the black broth is.
Athens can fucking suck my dick and balls. We DO have records from contemporary Athenians about living in Athens, not just books but plays, which frequently kind of read like when a fanfic author pretty clearly wants to make a point. Anyone wanting to make a point about democracy should examine their feelings about the good ol U.S. of A.’s treatment of its allies, then read up on the Delian League. Additionally, if we’re grading womens’ rights on a curve because this is Greece, Athenian authors specifically described Sparta as a place where women were more liberated.
To Point 1: is this actually true? Who the fuck knows. Again, we have nothing from Sparta, and complete knowledge of the writings from 0 authors - it’s been a couple thousand years, stuff gets lost.
Contemporary source: Brill’s New Jacoby, an online repository where we track and catalogue every time an author mentions another author, and what we can conclude they probably wrote about. Classicists are like librarians, in that they have spent a long time learning the perfect way to do their niche extremely well. I sometimes wish I was at their level, it’s ridiculous.
For general reading: r/askhistorians, one of the best damn things on Reddit. Maybe my favorite, actually - it’s a heavily moderated question-and-answer subreddit, run by actual historians who actually know their shit.
Wow, this really got away from me. Anyway, that’s a quick rundown of most of the useful information I have. I don’t have sources for any of it, this is mostly information I vaguely remember from a 200-level class from a few years ago. Don’t treat it as gospel, but do me a favor and take the Athenians off of their pedestal.
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thealexchen · 2 years
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If I have to be honest, Life is Strange True Colors fandom is the least toxic fandom of them all. Everyday, I keep seeing the same arguments from the LisSubreddit and Listwt, usually by the same group of people (whom I won't name - chances are, they might be on tumblr too and could be reading this too). Such as ship wars, which are the best endings, and let alone same insults everyday like "max flopfield" or listwt starting shit and being triggered over petty reasons or over nothing. But this is what happens when you're in the small fandom dedicating to Life is Strange, I know we're all desperate for new contents. So am I, but why use the same takes that'll cause unintentional or unnecessary drama for the sake of something new? I miss the old days when we're only writing fanfictions, drawing fanarts, or coming up with ADORKABLE headcanons :(
I get what you mean, and you’re right. The lack of new content means that old discussion (more like argument topics) get rehashed over and over. Social media like Twitter and Reddit tend to create their own echo chamber as the loudest voices drown out more nuanced takes and those people become too discouraged to continue (I unsubscribed from the LiS subreddit ages ago and I never go on Twitter). But nostalgia can be deceiving; the fanbase was more active in 2015 so there was more fanfiction and fanart, but on the flip side the ship wars were at their worst and LiS1 was the subject of awful online vitriol just because the protagonist was a teen girl. I still remember the downright nasty Pricefield vs. Amberprice ship wars in 2017 and the relentless hate (and racist reactions, but I won’t go there rn) that LiS2 got in 2018. Nowadays it’s like LiS2 never existed and it bums me out, even if my feelings on the game have soured since 2018.
But I’m gonna change the subject, because I was so interested in your wording “the true colors fandom,” because I think that’s a larger issue within LiS: the internal divisions within the series and the separate “mini fandoms” for each game. It’s sadly true that fans of LiS1 are rarely also fans of 2 because there’s so little overlap. This series has has a weird trajectory from the beginning, because it’s clear that LiS1 was always meant to be a small standalone story that achieved runaway success and spawned a prequel by another studio, and then DN suddenly had to figure out how to turn LiS into an anthology series. But the very specific, unique, and unprecedented (for its time) style and cultural impact that LiS1 had simply cannot be replicated twice. As it stands, the dead parents, queer characters, supernatural elements, and indie soundtrack simply aren’t enough to keep these games feeling cohesive and like they are set in the same universe. And as such, they never attract the same fans back to the next game. Not to mention the spin-off content has been kind of lukewarm: I stopped reading the comics and it seems like everyone does not want the TV adaptation to happen.
Adding onto this, discussions about TC fizzled out disappointingly fast because it’s a shorter game with a safer, more conventional plot. The characters and main ships are the least problematic than they’ve ever been, the game is almost squeaky clean with its political correctness, and the choices are never controversial. The thing is, that leaves almost no room for discussion. I think Alex’s parents had a lot of potential for their choices and how they affected their children, for example, but they’re barely in the game. TC kind of reminds me of Tell Me Why, actually: a very safe, careful, small game that was meaningful in the moment but one that people move on from quickly.
Anyway, thanks for sending this message, it’s nice to have a LiS-related ask again.
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sandshadow9 · 2 years
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Can you elaborate on what aspects of the WoF worldbuilding you find to be underbaked? I'm interested in your point of view(and it's been a while since I've reread them so my memory isn't the freshest lol)
Thanks for ask @aspirationatwork! To prevent this from getting too long I’ll use bullet points and try to briefly describe my thoughts on the topic. OK here we go
- The animus magic system: Its origins are a mystery, it’s limitations (if any) are vague and undefined, and its inheritance is random. Someone else (maybe on the subreddit?) pointed out that Tui had to get rid of animus magic since she had basically written herself into a corner and made it too overpowered which I think is a valid point but I’m not happy about it.
- NightWing powers: Now I enjoy mind reading/prophecy powers a lot, but these powers stick out like a sore thumb compared to the abilities of the other tribes and we never really find out how the NightWings got them.
- The aging system: Need I say more?
- The naming system: Also very creative for Tui to give the humans the same naming system.
-Size of fruits and non-dragon animals: Just overall proportions of dragons vs the environment that seems to change every so often as fits the scene.  
- MudWing breeding night: Of all the scraps of MudWing lore Tui could have given us, this is what she came up with. 
- The Scorching: the biggest event in dragon history was left vague for a very long time, and then once an explanation was offered it was lame and only provided half the answers. It might have explained why the dragons conquered the continent but not really why they then differentiated into different Tribes.
- Inconsistent characterization and character arcs: While it maybe doesn’t fall into the “world building” category, character arcs are definitely an important part of story crafting, and I don’t think I need to provide specific examples. Every WOF fan has their own.
-Overall dragon culture and society: This is probably a personal bias, but the way the different dragon tribes live and work and rule are kind of brushed over in a lot of ways. I’m not expecting Lord of the Rings level detailed world-building here, but there are certain things that just don’t hold up when you think too deeply on them. Stuff like the IceWing Circles or how currency works (is it a bartering system? Do they use coins and gold?) or how the postal system works. 
Others can feel free to add other stuff or disagree, these are just what come to mind for me. But I do want to explain that I don’t say this to be hateful of the WOF books as that would be immensely hypocritical of me, a person who actively creates fan content for the series. Some part of me loves this series obviously, or else I wouldn’t have the passion to write for it, but it's the same love for it that makes all these things stick out to me. 
I also want to take this chance to explain a comment I made in my previous post: that it is very telling that Tui was given the suggestion to write a book about dragons rather than her coming up with the idea from scratch. Anyone who has created their own original story or even an AU has probably felt the universal experience of feeling overwhelmed with the details of how the world works and the characters they are writing about. This comes from a place of love and passion for what’s being created - and I just don’t think Tui has that love for WOF. 
I am sure she had a fun time writing it, or I hope she did, but I just don’t feel the love in the story. The characters are wishy washy since she doesn’t really love them. The world building is shaky because she probably hasn’t spent years daydreaming about it and turning it over in her head.
Anyway, this post is getting long enough. I’d like to know how others feel about this, but these are just my thoughts :3
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