#'NATURALLY END UP WORKING TOGETHER'

[riacte]

watch rens finale for him bekng sweet about false

🥺🥺 hi anon thanks for dropping by! i genuinely haven't been watching any hc content post grand prix (for... coping reasons) and especially not ren (bc i don't want to cry) but i'm gonna look... armed with my tissues and my emotional support hcvh unedited run...

#ask box #answered #sorry for being so dramatic about hc9 ending. ive been through this four times this is the first time im actually dramatic about it #also btw i saw this ask and was like ooh gonna answer but then. absolutely unhinged discord call for 2 hours #save me hcvh save me #not to be parasocial but ren has the special ability of making me tear up sometimes #like ill be giggling at his jokes and then sniffling one story later #ok i screamed in my room at 2am #i screamed a little #im #i #HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP #AFTER THI #CRYING. VOMITTINg #SOBBING #JESUS CHRISTTTTTT #OH MY GODDDD REN HAVE YOU BEEN ON. TUMBLR #'NATURALLY END UP WORKING TOGETHER'

[faunandfloraas]

i do find the difference between jpop/kpop showcasing people who didn't necessarily have the most raw talent to begin with openly working hard to become better singers or dancers vs the western, and specifically US obsession with acting like the only real talents are the ones who were "born" with it from day dot interesting.

#this isnt a Ooh western music bad post either by the way #i do just find the way over time its gone from ever really showing any of the hard work a person put in to just pretending it was 100% #natural is very interesting #bc No... even the people with natural talent have to nurture it #whereas seeing someone who was kinda terrible to begin and actively showing them improve and being like This was bc they practiced is nice #although that def seems less of a thing as kpop gets bigger and bigger #ive seen some terrible vids of idols and its like no you put in the money to train them properly good lord #its the same way i always find the obsession with bands in the west forming “naturally” rather than being put together funny #like I get it bc some lil high school friends makin a group and becoming big is very fun and cool #but so often those groups implode and ended up hating each other #a group of musicians getting together bc they're musicians doesn't inherently make them less interesting as a group that formed on their ow

[icewindandboringhorror]

More misc. daily life pictures and such

#image commentary in tags once again since they don't allow captions anymore and I feel weird using the alt text for that -- #1 & 2 - Very bright pretty looking sky ! #2. HUGE icicle that looked like you could kill someone with it or something.. Pulled from near a gutter on the side of a building #3. & 4 & 5 - various images from a silly party I had where I pretended to be some elf king turning like 204 years old lol (also not like #a REAL party. Only my roommates were there really and we're all in the same household bubble. #just to clarify. I would never dare have a large party anyway given #my hermitous nature but on top of that.. didn't want there to be some implication that I'm having a Party while covid is still ongoing lol. #NEVER.. But I do love dressing up as some fantasy character so much.. The only thing that could ever bring a true hermit wizard #to engage with others socially is the prospect of connecting it somehow to fantasy worlds and costumes lol. One must simply dress up #as a silly 200 year old man from time to time and pretend you've never seen a balloon before in your life. etc. #6. bapy boye... feets #7. The main food that I made for the elderly elf man 'party'. which was a Deconstructed Beef Wellington (kind of as ajoke since I watch s #o many silly cooking competition shows and they always make stuff 'deconstructed' at the last minute when under time limits or whatever.) #I've wanted to make beef wellington a few times but Ithink to do it well I'd need like..an actual kitchen and a lot of time and #an oven that fully works to bake things and etc. etc. So I thought this would be an easier method. A thick steak cut round to kind of mimi #c the round tenderloin or whatever it is in a wellington. instead of the puff pastry being wrapped around - I just did star shaped cut outs #of pastry and baked them and put them on top (to go with the star theme). instead of mushroom duxelles being wrapped around in pastry #its in a little circle under the steak. and instead of mustard being brushed onto the meat I made a mustard gravy sauce type of thing #Then of course asparagus on the side.. my favorite... Though I know some wellington #also has a layer of prosciutto I think. or I saw one person use crepes. I didn't feel it was necessary to incorporate that too lol #8. bapy son helping me do a giant puzzle that took me hours and I had no idea it was actually that large of a puzzle #until I started putting it together and for some reason it made me stressed by the end instead of relaxed lol.. puzzle fatigue #photo diary

[invertedspoon]

i love having the ability to write anything i want and the only one in my campaign who plays genshin because im making my guy's backstory so kavetham coded it's crazy

#guess which one he is as a wee teenager #i've got it all #he's a warlock so naturally he's got a patron (mehrak) #he's got the dead father #the prestigious school #guy he gets weirdly and quickly attached to #they bond over an initial group project pairing #they start doing everything together n share a dorm #said guy is more book-sciency smart #while main guy works really really hard #he realizes maybe he'd been working too hard #other guy starts getting too invested in his work #they end up fighting (breaking up) over a big final project #cant wait for my dm to read my doc and have my guy's ex bf show up later (its never gonna happen) #anyway i am so sleepy and my shoulder hurtss #dnd #d&d #dnd oc #genshin impact #kavetham #haikaveh #im so normal about them #you can trust me with two characters who have severe weird bonds to each other that are tainted #so sleepy posting #sleepy posting

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

#im posting this very late because i was sort of weary of how it came out and ended up messing w it until it was like 4am oops. #and i have plans tmrw so... oh well! i did my best and ill put it out while i can! #and i tried to make the scene match barnard's colors lol #finn's ocs #finn's art #i know i said id do more sillay stuff with the simpler screentone only style but i had a couple more of these in me #and this is the first piece im making thats like an actual part of the story too rather than just setting stuff for fun #i wanna write something to go with it too but for now ill just sort of briefly explain the context in the tags here: #barnard has a pretty bad case of OCD and his compulsions have made it difficult to make friends in the past #he was never outright bullied or anything but people just didnt really have the patience to deal with it #he has compulsions that include stuff like walking through doors until it feels right and needing things to be perfectly aligned #which in group settings has lead to people having to wait for him to finish his rituals and join them #they might find it tolerable at first but eventually they grow impatient and hes just... not invited to stuff anymore #but juno is a newer member of the guild who ends up frequenting the same library. hes also kinda a little weird #and they dont become fast friends or anything but just sort of naturally spend time in the same place #though they never plan meetups they eventually fall into a routine. around the same time theyd just both be at the library #and read next to each other. and maybe talk a bit. and eventually they end up walking back to the guildhall together #since theyre going to the same place after all. and juno always waits for barnard outside the door #eventually barnard asks if this bothers him. juno kinda just tells him 'of course it does' without any malice or anything. just a statement #barnard is surprised and apologizes and juno says not to. but the next day juno doesnt show up at the usual time. #barnard assumes hes committed somekinda more by bringing it up. he ends up staying there late reading to get his mind off it & not ruminate #but when he leaves juno is in fact still waiting for him down the hall (see pic) having collected a bunch of books literally abt ocd #he fell asleep bc barnard stayed later than expected. and hes an eepy guy generally. and also one very bad at expressing himself #but now barnard gets that juno's 'of course it [bothers me]' had the implication of 'but its worth it' which no friend has previously done. #and from the interaction juno was also able to understand that this isn't something barnard just does for the hell of it so. he studies. #and checks a bunch of stuff out because he thinks it could help his friend too (theres ocd workbooks and such- i remember working w them) #and thats the point where they became more ''friends'' than ''pleasant library acquaintances'' #from there on they also do get into juno's problems. whole other bag of worms. but this specific scene is more about bernard from his pov #sorry about when i said briefly explain. i lied </3 #but compared to the whole sequence im picturing its brief so shhh

[tenowls]

sadly between rehearsals and bad weather I never got to visit the other islands - it was so fun but I do regret that not getting to explore further! I didn't say this enough in my reblog but holy CRAP, one glimpse of your art took me back 20 years - that's extraordinary! you captured that luminous atmosphere so perfectly, I'm genuinely blown away. I lived in Tokyo for years and the glow of light in the windows in the first picture is ❤️ I'm so happy you shared these - thank you very much!

ouuugh i hope u do get the chance to visit the others in the future, they’re also just as amazing!! we actually got so lucky w the weather, it started raining just as we left inujima hfjhk!! and also !!!!!! TY AAAAA THIS IS SO SWEET n makes me so happy to hear!!!!!! <333 it was a v special trip for me so i tried my best to capture the experience, im rly glad it connected :’)))

#asks #allmyfansquees #we were surprised at how much we ended up enjoying inujima especially #it’s kinda underrated compared to the other 2 and i think most ppl skip it bc it’s a bit harder to get to #but the seirensho museum and the art projects are so so good #it was just so bonkers overall RAHH ive never seen so much amazing art and architecture and nature all together #im going back to japan later this yr n hoping to see sanaa’s 21st century museum in kanazawa this time >:3 #also it was rly funny when we left inujima it was raining rly heavily and the ferry was super bumpy #my friend took a video of the crashing waves outside #which i only saw after bc i was napping for the whole ride FJKFKFK #<- catches a ferry to work everyday

[munamania]

ok im a really chill and normal person and i get over things and am well adjusted but take a walk with me here. just give me my time to complain when im not in the absolute fucking trenches. and yes i believe i suffered more than those in trench warfare. it was literally a lesbian situationship with a bistraight girl come on. just. magenta choppy shag with the roots coming in. camo cargo pants black t shirt with red lettering and striped long sleeve (sign someone likes music. confirmed). lip ring big black stud earrings and nails. red docs. i think lesbians should be allowed to kill one dyke baiter in their lifetime idc

#and now we're gonna get into some quiet parts and youre just gonna let me have this #i. am so sick. first of all it was kinda funny how people ik ended up sorta surrounding her. felt good. but like we've shared a space #together since everything. i can like be in her presence it's seriously fine. that said. i do sometimes miss her #i say this after going through the really hating her guts period bc of her evil evil evil ways. and feeling like she's lame as hell bc she #s. but i mean it's me talking i have my problems too. i Hate the way we always so naturally act in sync. and i hate that we've both picked #each others' brains for hours so it's like. i knew you once and now we can't even look each other in the eye and that just really sucks #and i feel like. not that i strictly believe in these things. but we were sort of twin flames. i largely suffered for like. basically #falling in love w her. and i know i didn't leave as much of a mark. but i still hope it sucked a little for her #and i'll admit i think it'd be some sort of miracle if we could ever talk civilly. unfortunately we work in two ways #literally behaving in Ways and borderline fucking or not speaking. so. here we are #and i already humiliatingly tried to extend an olive branch this summer so im not gonna be fucking stupid. yk #but GOD how annoying. i did talk to situationship today and we were relatively normal so at least that's not deathly awkward #it's still. definitely um. stiff. but not terrible #i need to get to the club. pretend theres a cig emoji im on desktop rn #sorry for this. #film girl saga

[uefb]

Falling in love, again, with more OCs 🤷🏼

Yesterday my wife saw the color-coded post-it note tabs in one of my Fantastic Beast companion books and was like, “Can you make your next hyperfixation or special interest housekeeping?” and at first I almost walloped her, because rude, and then she quickly explained, “I’m just saying, in a perfect world where we could funnel your ridiculous ability to obtain and organize massive amounts of information into exactly what we needed, our house would be immaculate” and I was like “yes ma’am, and unfortunately they’re disorders for a reason”

We both had a good laugh. I then posted a fic I’d been working on, confident I’d be able to switch my brain back to another longtime interest (my research) after getting the current FB plot bunny out of my head…

And yet, less than 24 hours later, I’ve started another one. This is exhausting. Make it stop lmao. But 1969 Newt & his 18-year-old son are extremely humorous to me, so whatever

#brb locking my phone & signing out of google so I can continue to not fail out of school #lmao #I’m so close to this phd but the process is excruciating simply horrific #uefb rambles #my stuff #fic: incomplete understanding #newt scamander #oc ch: janus herschel goldstein scamander #fantastic beasts fanfic #this is just the autistic Scamander duo really #the whole premise of this fic is a bit of projection #as I am a person with interest in animals & nature who ended up studying and working with humans their whole life - bc they’re confounding #Janus develops a special interest in anthropology and human relationships as a kid #and he sort of develops that into a career — he’s a master at finding the patterns in human behavior & body language #whereas newts strength is doing that with creatures #they sort of end up travelling together a bit during his teen years & young adulthood — Newt studies creatures- Jan studies people & politic #I imagine they’d team up eventually & this is the first time I imagine it really explicitly happening #newts hitting a wall with a training program at a dragon reserve #he can’t connect to the handlers - can’t make his words match the things his body is doing - can’t figure out #how to explain it - because he’s never actually observed himself & what makes his own body language around dragons different than others #Janus sees something Newt can’t — sees the disconnect between the words and what he’s actually doing - sees what the handlers are missing #so they start a study together & come up with a solution #which is really just pretty precious if you ask me #not that you did #my god that was a long ramble #uefb rambles in the tags

[absensia-archived]

I’ll be working on refining and solidifying charlotte’s canon timeline when I come back as well as writing up her handful of verses!  As per usual,  her verses are very much meant to serve entirely different canons and narratives that simply cannot mesh with her canon lore and timeline,  and I don’t think I’ll be writing her in different parts of the timeline even once it’s set out,   ie.  having distinct verses for her within the established timeline and “writing backwards” in time,  so to speak.  plots and dynamics,  however,  can certainly have their roots in any part of the timeline, but mainly,  charlotte exists in a perpetually developing present,  as always.  

#This is something I should've done sometime last year or a year and a half ago. #It's the natural culmination of half a decade's worth of writing and character building! And I'm really excited actually to go through #everything I've put together and out there for Char since I started brainstorming about her and seeing what I can actually bring together #to make a proper timeline. #Of course - given the nature of her character and story - it's not all going to be laid out in exact and concrete terms #There will be gaps and deliberate inconsistencies and strange overlaps and inexplicable events. #But by the end I hope to have something that can be referred to reliably to better understand Charlotte as she is /presently./ #As well as what she is / what she DOES / and what we have to play with in terms of plotting and storytelling <3 #No really I am excited to do this for her - especially because now that I'm thinking about it #Charlotte has gotten up to SO MUCH in the 15-20~ years she's been around like! Damn Char...take a vacation every now and then yeah? #Like sure she doesn't really have a choice but to work all the time and she does have a good time doing it almost always but work is work. #Honestly she has no idea what she'd even want to do if given the chance to break from her obligations as a void vessel; #If she had time TRULY to herself. She'd blank so hard on ideas so hard. #( Mainly because it is sort of impossible and inconceivable ). #Anyways! Still not writing until... at least 2nd week of February... or maybe longer. But I am available for plotting/chats as always <3

[nicknellie]

🔥

Thank you!!! I’ve chosen “favourite angst quote from a WIP” despite the fact that I have hardly any WIPs on the go lmao and it’s gonna be quite a long quote…

Increasingly, she found herself thinking back to when Julie had been briefly expelled from the music programme and the night she had spent awake in her bedroom, downing soda after soda, planning what she would say to Julie and lamenting what she might lose. She had been convinced that Julie quitting music would lead to the end of their friendship, but nowadays she was more worried that their downfall would be Julie’s success. They hadn’t met up in weeks, they hardly spoke to each other, and Flynn was spending more time at the Molina household than Julie was, just hanging out with Ray and Carlos, trying to feel close to her best friend in any way she could.

Of course, none of that meant she wasn’t happy for Julie or that she didn’t understand why any of this was happening. She got it all perfectly. Julie was finally proving to the world that she was a force to be reckoned with, a talent beyond all comprehension, just like Flynn had always known she was. And that all happened to come with fully booked schedules that would, typically, never line up with Flynn’s. She was happy for Julie, and she knew it was no one’s fault that they spoke less, but that didn’t make the distance hurt any less.

The only real difference between them, she supposed, was that Julie still had the boys, but all of a sudden, Flynn didn’t have anyone at all.

I’ll explain the premise of the fic in the tags because I honestly still love it and now that I’ve read through it again I want to revisit it lol

writer ask game!!!

#basically it’s like a Flynn-centric season 2 type thing #the idea was that jatp got approached by Andi Parker straight after the Orpheus performance and she officially became their manager #so Julie isn’t in school much and she’s not at home much either and pretty much all her time is taken up with the band and rehearsing #so Flynn naturally becomes quite lonely. because even though they still speak whenever they can things still really aren’t the same #so gradually by a series of lucky events Flynn starts hanging out with Carrie more. two very lonely girls coming together and working past— #— their hatred of each other. the catalyst would be them noticing differences in Nick’s behaviour and reluctantly teaming up to work it out #Carrie would ask Flynn about the phantoms because she’s always been suspicious of them obviously and when they reach a high enough level— #— of trust Flynn would tell her everything. #it would include flarrie slowburn. platonic julynn angst with a happy ending. the takedown of Caleb by everyone’s favourite lesbians. #it would be great and now I wanna keep working on it djfnjfnfjggnj #ANYWAY thank you!!!! #ask games #asks #em answers #flynn-flynnagan #jatp #julie molina #flynn taylor #julie and the phantoms #*ORPHEUM stfu autocorrect

[akkivee]

i think i can logic why sasara and gentaro were placed together (two faced storytellers) and gentaro and jiro have parallels between them (younger brothers who had taken to copying their older brother) but i’m still not quite seeing the sasara/jiro connection 🤔

#this is vee speaking #slowly analysing the mixed up divisions lol #by nature i’m worried for all of them lol #some of them i can suss out why they were placed together easily (ichiro’s team ramuda’s team) #but other’s i’m scratching my head a little (samatoki’s team mainly but i’ve got ideas) #like i wanna say sasara and jiro have put in the work to keep their family together but that’s not necessarily true for jiro #they’re people people??? but that comes with caveats on sasara’s end #hmmmmm they both did start doing shady stuff to impress/stick by someone 🤔 #like maybe copying albeit in varying forms is the angle with sasara’s team 🤔🤔🤔

[cactusdodes]

.

#back on the L thing bc i can't fucking shut up about her #i do actually think she caught feelings too.. like it's one of those gut feelings/intuition but one where you just know it's true #but we were supposed to stay casual since she was moving anyway so there was no point in starting anything serious #so she tried to keep her distance when we weren't on dates but then when we were together she was so sweet and we just fit together so well #and it was so natural and easy and nice and it just worked #and then when she found out she'd have to move way sooner than expected #and we hadn't known that the last time we'd been together and then she was gonna have to be gone in a week and a half #and with us not meeting up again there would be no official goodbye and less pain in the moment #idk i could be wrong but i really don't think i am #idk i just miss her and i miss how easy and smooth everything was with her #and i really miss kissing her #like A was great and i liked kissing them because well.. making out is making out. it's pretty much always going to be fun #but it was so much more natural and smooth and right with L #and I literally could've just kissed her for hours on end and been perfectly content #madi says shit #and like i know in the past i've said that i know L didn't have feelings for me but i've been telling myself that bc it would be easier for #me to try and move on if i knew she never had feelings for me #so i've been trying to convince myself she didn't #blake says shit

[ferociouslycreativemystery]

Me: I'm fine about my autism now btw, like I've come to terms with my fixated interests, limited tolerances and social inabilities. The alienation it brings is not ideal but it's just a reality I've gotta deal with now that I know it's just a part of who I am. I mean, it's not like an awkward conversation is gonna ruin anyone's life, is it? We'll both move on from it eventually. This is fine!

Also me: physically unable to watch beyond the first word of the first question of The Assembly because oh my god what if someone says something awkward or controversial or someone can't make themselves understood people are gonna get mad and scream about it online and I will freeze up and be stuck in the backlash forever I don't know how to handle conflict AT ALL let's just hide in the corner behind the sofa instead wait what if I became a hermit actually yeah yeah yeah that sounds good let's do that

#unresolved trauma? never even heard of her haha 😅 #maddie debrief #that 2-minute intro/taster did nothing to calm me down either btw #I'm never comfortable around the types of shows where 'difference' becomes the core conceit of the premise #oh. so you've created a format dependent on making a socially alienated group face the social rules that made them alien in the first place #and then deriving your conflict from the 'natural contradiction' between the two? #sounds like the exact kind of conflict-seeking environment where I can let my normal guard down enough to meaningfully challenge #my deeply rooted feeling that people generally find me cumbersome to be around and mostly just tolerate my presence out of necessity #lovely that #(like i say I haven't seen the show #so idk if it is actually like that or if it's just the promo material stirring shit up as per usual #but as of rn I do not feel welcome in this room) #why does the 'we're not so different after all' always have to come at the climax and never the midpoint of the story? #why can we never find more than personal gratification in that realisation? #why do we always focus on the difficulty of coming to the realisation rather than the conflict of putting the realisation into *practice*? #I know why #it is because the human imagination is far more limited than we like to believe #and we find it hard to even *imagine* a world that we haven't seen functioning for ourselves yet #let alone find a purpose in *acting* on the idea #(especially if we ourselves currently feel dependent on the status quo for our personal welfare #which is why shows made to depend on 'difference = conflict' make my blood run cold) #so if we have to see to believe - how many cases of real world functioning equity does the average person understand? #very few. so let's instead lazily invert the state of power in an existing dynamic that people are familiar with #thereby reaffirming its false dichotomy through perpetuating what is essentially the same old conflict #while claiming to subvert it when in fact all we have done is reverse the dominance while keeping everyone locked in their roles #can someone just put some thought into how we might create a format that aims to loosen up the underlying skewed power dyanmic #so that everyone has to work together to prevent the elevation of a single way of being over all others #because that just becomes suffocating to *everyone* in the end #and that can still *acknowledge difference* but not as a source of conflict - rather as a source of collective strength? #but the story of changing one perspective will always be easier to both tell and enjoy than the one about building something new

[cookinguptales]

So I’ve been enjoying the Disney vs. DeSantis memes as much as anyone, but like. I do feel like a lot of people who had normal childhoods are missing some context to all this.

I was raised in the Bible Belt in a fairly fundie environment. My parents were reasonably cool about some things, compared to the rest of my family, but they certainly had their issues. But they did let me watch Disney movies, which turned out to be a point of major contention between them and my other relatives.

See, I think some people think this weird fight between Disney and fundies is new. It is very not new. I know that Disney’s attempts at inclusion in their media have been the source of a lot of mockery, but what a lot of people don’t understand is that as far as actual company policy goes, Disney has actually been an industry leader for queer rights. They’ve had policies assuring equal healthcare and partner benefits for queer employees since the early 90s.

I’m not sure how many people reading this right now remember the early 90s, but that was very much not industry standard. It was a big deal when Disney announced that non-married queer partners would be getting the same benefits as the married heterosexual ones.

Like — it went further than just saying that any unmarried partners would be eligible for spousal benefits. It straight-up said that non-same-sex partners would still need to be married to receive spousal benefits, but because same-sex partners couldn’t do that, proof that they lived together as an established couple would be enough.

In other words, it put long-term same-sex partners on a higher level than opposite-sex partners who just weren’t married yet. It put them on the exact same level as heterosexual married partners.

They weren’t the first company ever to do this, but they were super early. And they were certainly the first mainstream “family-friendly” company to do it.

Conservatives lost their damn minds.

Protests, boycotts, sermons, the whole nine yards. I can’t tell you how many books about the evils of Disney my grandmother tried to get my parents to read when I was a kid.

When we later moved to Florida, I realized just how many queer people work at Disney — because historically speaking, it’s been a company that has guaranteed them safety, non-discrimination, and equal rights. That’s when I became aware of their unofficial “Gay Days” and how Christians would show up from all over the country to protest them every year. Apparently my grandmother had been upset about these days for years, but my parents had just kind of ignored her.

Out of curiosity, I ended up reading one of the books my grandmother kept leaving at our house. And friends — it’s amazing how similar that (terrible, poorly written) rhetoric was to what people are saying these days. Disney hires gay pedophiles who want to abuse your children. Disney is trying to normalize Satanism in our beautiful, Christian America. 

Just tons of conspiracy theories in there that ranged from “a few bad things happened that weren’t actually Disney’s fault, but they did happen” to “Pocahontas is an evil movie, not because it distorts history and misrepresents indigenous life, but because it might teach children respect for nature. Which, as we all know, would cause them all to become Wiccans who believe in climate change.”

Like — please, take it from someone who knows. This weird fight between fundies and Disney is not new. This is not Disney’s first (gay) rodeo. These people have always believed that Disney is full of evil gays who are trying to groom and sexually abuse children.

The main difference now is that these beliefs are becoming mainstream. It’s not just conservative pastors who are talking about this. It’s not just church groups showing up to boycott Gay Day. Disney is starting to (reluctantly) say the quiet part out loud, and so are the Republicans. Disney is publicly supporting queer rights and announcing company-supported queer events and the Republican Party is publicly calling them pedophiles and enacting politically driven revenge.

This is important, because while this fight has always been important in the history of queer rights, it is now being magnified. The precedent that a fight like this could set is staggering. For better or for worse, we live in a corporation-driven country. I don’t like it any more than you do, and I’m not about to defend most of Disney’s business practices. But we do live in a nation where rights are largely tied to corporate approval, and the fact that we might be entering an age where even the most powerful corporations in the country are being banned from speaking out in favor of rights for marginalized people… that’s genuinely scary.

Like… I’ll just ask you this. Where do you think we’d be now, in 2023, if Disney had been prevented from promising its employees equal benefits in 1994? That was almost thirty years ago, and look how far things have come. When I looked up news articles for this post from that era, even then journalists, activists, and fundie church leaders were all talking about how a company of Disney’s prominence throwing their weight behind this movement could lead to the normalization of equal protections in this country.

The idea of it scared and thrilled people in equal parts even then. It still scares and thrills them now.

I keep seeing people say “I need them both to lose!” and I get it, I do. Disney has for sure done a lot of shit over the years. But I am begging you as a queer exvangelical to understand that no. You need Disney to win. You need Disney to wipe the fucking floor with these people.

Right now, this isn’t just a fight between a giant corporation and Ron DeSantis. This is a fight about the right of corporations to support marginalized groups. It’s a fight that ensures that companies like Disney still can offer benefits that a discriminatory government does not provide. It ensures that businesses much smaller than Disney can support activism.

Hell, it ensures that you can support activism.

The fight between weird Christian conspiracy theorists and Disney is not new, because the fight to prevent any tiny victory for marginalized groups is not new. The fight against the normalization of othered groups is not new.

That’s what they’re most afraid of. That each incremental victory will start to make marginalized groups feel safer, that each incremental victory will start to turn the tide of public opinion, that each incremental victory will eventually lead to sweeping law reform.

They’re afraid that they won’t be able to legally discriminate against us anymore.

So guys! Please. This fight, while hilarious, is also so fucking important. I am begging you to understand how old this fight is. These people always play the long game. They did it with Roe and they’re doing it with Disney.

We have! To keep! Pushing back!

#disney #ron desantis #gay rights #lgbt #queer #lgbt history #queer history #homophobia #florida #us politics #religious fundamentalism #christianity #long post #god that should cover all the pertinent tags and content warnings phew

[thebigqueer]

okay nevermind i had a great time so glad everything worked out

#i was so scared wed have nothing to say #but we actually talked :) #cuz like shes a friend of a friend so it feels lowkey forced but not in a 'our friend forced us together' just like. #we cant be natural about talking cuz we literally dont know each other #but it ended up feeling supperrrr natural #and she was like 'we should go out next firday' and oh man the decisions #cuz if i go out next friday i wont be able to do work but on the other hand #she wants to go out partying w me so like how can i say noooooo #sunny rambles

[reasonsforhope]

"With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures — and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.

In the face of a rapidly heating planet, the City of Eternal Spring — nicknamed so thanks to its year-round temperate climate — has found a way to keep its cool.

Previously, Medellín had undergone years of rapid urban expansion, which led to a severe urban heat island effect — raising temperatures in the city to significantly higher than in the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Roads and other concrete infrastructure absorb and maintain the sun’s heat for much longer than green infrastructure.

“Medellín grew at the expense of green spaces and vegetation,” says Pilar Vargas, a forest engineer working for City Hall. “We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change.”

Efforts began in 2016 under Medellín’s then mayor, Federico Gutiérrez (who, after completing one term in 2019, was re-elected at the end of 2023). The city launched a new approach to its urban development — one that focused on people and plants.

The $16.3 million initiative led to the creation of 30 Green Corridors along the city’s roads and waterways, improving or producing more than 70 hectares of green space, which includes 20 kilometers of shaded routes with cycle lanes and pedestrian paths.

These plant and tree-filled spaces — which connect all sorts of green areas such as the curb strips, squares, parks, vertical gardens, sidewalks, and even some of the seven hills that surround the city — produce fresh, cooling air in the face of urban heat. The corridors are also designed to mimic a natural forest with levels of low, medium and high plants, including native and tropical plants, bamboo grasses and palm trees.

Heat-trapping infrastructure like metro stations and bridges has also been greened as part of the project and government buildings have been adorned with green roofs and vertical gardens to beat the heat. The first of those was installed at Medellín’s City Hall, where nearly 100,000 plants and 12 species span the 1,810 square meter surface.

“It’s like urban acupuncture,” says Paula Zapata, advisor for Medellín at C40 Cities, a global network of about 100 of the world’s leading mayors. “The city is making these small interventions that together act to make a big impact.”

At the launch of the project, 120,000 individual plants and 12,500 trees were added to roads and parks across the city. By 2021, the figure had reached 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize their impact.

“The technical team thought a lot about the species used. They selected endemic ones that have a functional use,” explains Zapata.

The 72 species of plants and trees selected provide food for wildlife, help biodiversity to spread and fight air pollution. A study, for example, identified Mangifera indica as the best among six plant species found in Medellín at absorbing PM2.5 pollution — particulate matter that can cause asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — and surviving in polluted areas due to its “biochemical and biological mechanisms.”

And the urban planting continues to this day.

The groundwork is carried out by 150 citizen-gardeners like Pineda, who come from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, with the support of 15 specialized forest engineers. Pineda is now the leader of a team of seven other gardeners who attend to corridors all across the city, shifting depending on the current priorities...

“I’m completely in favor of the corridors,” says [Victoria Perez, another citizen-gardener], who grew up in a poor suburb in the city of 2.5 million people. “It really improves the quality of life here.”

Wilmar Jesus, a 48-year-old Afro-Colombian farmer on his first day of the job, is pleased about the project’s possibilities for his own future. “I want to learn more and become better,” he says. “This gives me the opportunity to advance myself.”

The project’s wider impacts are like a breath of fresh air. Medellín’s temperatures fell by 2°C in the first three years of the program, and officials expect a further decrease of 4 to 5C over the next few decades, even taking into account climate change. In turn, City Hall says this will minimize the need for energy-intensive air conditioning...

In addition, the project has had a significant impact on air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the level of PM2.5 fell significantly, and in turn the city’s morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people [Note: That means the city's rate of people getting sick with lung/throat/respiratory infections.]

There’s also been a 34.6 percent rise in cycling in the city, likely due to the new bike paths built for the project, and biodiversity studies show that wildlife is coming back — one sample of five Green Corridors identified 30 different species of butterfly.

Other cities are already taking note. Bogotá and Barranquilla have adopted similar plans, among other Colombian cities, and last year São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, began expanding its corridors after launching them in 2022.

“For sure, Green Corridors could work in many other places,” says Zapata."

-via Reasons to Be Cheerful, March 4, 2024

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