This is apparently an extremely unpopular opinion, but I hate 9/11 jokes. And I don’t say this as some super patriotic person who is always like #neverforget and planning memorials and all that. I was born in 1999. I was two when it happened, so I don’t remember it. But I live in America so I’ve seen the documentaries and the news reports. It seems like every year of school starting in like 4th grade I learned something new about what happened that day. And it was a tragedy. It was devastating. People died. People felt so hopeless that they jumped out of buildings because it was better than burning to death. I agree that it’s unbearably annoying that we are so obsessed with this event. I agree that it is horrible that our country ignores the effects of this event, all of the innocent people who died in the war, all of the innocent Americans who were harassed and harmed afterwards for simply looking like the people who did this. I’m angry at our government for ignoring the signs of this attack because it wasn’t random. There were many things our government did that led to this attack and signs that something was coming. I don’t think it was an inside job, but I do think it could have been stopped. I don’t think Bush was involved simply because he didn’t freak out and panic in front of a bunch of children during story time (something everyone who claims Bush did 9/11 ignore when talking about his straight face after finding out). This wasn’t a military attack. These were innocent people just going to work. My dad knows someone who was inside the building because he was delivering sandwiches for a lunch order. I think a big part of the younger generations’ response to it is overexposure and a lack of personal understanding that leads to apathy. We see this frequently. I understand why you think it’s okay to make constant jokes about this. But it was still a tragedy, one that happened during some of our lifetimes. I don’t expect you to weep and be filled with patriotism and rage upon hearing about it. But I also don’t understand how anyone could joke about it. Especially not an entire generation
Honestly kinda upset that the main reason FOB is trending is because people are saying all their songs are about Mikey Way. Fuck off guys just appreciate it for being beautifully written and amazingly performed.
Lol I told myself my first original post wasn’t gonna be a vent but here we are.
So I use Amino (mistake #1). Found a few communities I like so whatever. Well, turns out that some classic/famous art is considered NSFW. Posted The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel (one of my favorites because angst; also mistake #2) not really thinking about it and was muted for 24 hours minimum for posting adult content.
Like, look. I’ll own up that Luficer’s nude in the painting. I see now why a bot flagged it. I get it. I don’t think of art like that as porn but I get why it could be considered that. That’s my bad.
Here’s why I’m so pissed. Firstly, the notification that I got a strike was very vague, just saying I posted porn and that I could be completely banned if I did it again. No indication what was flagged, no screenshots, nothing. I frantically looked through my profiles to find the thing that could have possibly gotten me flagged. Nudity in art doesn’t usually cross my mind as porn so I was clueless until I found that post missing. Refer to the previous paragraph, I get why it was flagged. I wasn’t thinking in that way when I should have. I also appealed (mistake #3) before looking through the posts instead of just taking it, so now I have to wait, probably for them to just double down on the initial flag.
The second thing is the hypocrisy. For the past month or so I’d be bombarded by explicit profiles advertising NSFW Discord links and scams for free coins. Like, I’m talking uncensored nudes and hentai in the profile picture and as the background image. Weeks of reporting profiles only for more to flood in. The profiles would take a while to be taken down.
I dunno. I’m really upset because one of the communities got me to get back in touch with my younger self & past interests. I was the furthest out of the closet that I’d ever been and everyone was cool with it.
But yeah. I was already spacey today from being tired but the anxiety spike from this BS made me disconnect even more. 🙃 gotta love rejection sensitivity (no I don’t)
Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
This might be a hot take but can Mrs.Flood just be Mrs.Flood who knows what a TARDIS is cause she lived in London all her life, where alien shit is happening at least once a year and is always accompanied by the doctor and a strange police box.
Yk the doc aren’t as subtle as they think they are, word gets around as to what the box actually is.
I've been having a tough time lately, and when I don't have the energy for everything keeping up with social media is one of the first things I slip on. But I still care about all my writing buddies, so:
Reblog if you're not offended when people take a long time to answer asks, forget to reply to your replies, lag behind in tag games, or skip several weekly ask games.
the problem is that being single is seen as the consolidation prize, and not the natural neutral state of being-a-person. at the end of the movie or the book or the poetry, there is a person waiting for you at the altar, and they love you. if the play is a comedy, everyone gets married. the metaphor is about how you are not-whole. the metaphor is about how everyone is going to be happily-ever-after. the metaphor is that romantic love is the most important resource on the planet, not just all-love. all-love is not a thing, that is a disappointment. the treasure is not the friends we made along the way. the treasure is the girl you landed.
the metaphor is that you cannot be alone, that means you are broken. are you getting over someone? that is acceptable, you can be getting over someone, but not for long. you must be single because you would rather not be single. you must be single and looking to not-be-single. you must want to date, eventually.
friendship and community are never seen as being equal-to or even-better than romantic connection. that person is your one! you need to find them. you need to hunt through the sand particles until you can shift out some kind of gem. this is regardless to your own experience of the beach and the sun. you need to be somewhere with someone.
if you are taking this time alone to heal, that is so sad. everyone gives you this little pitying look. the understanding is that you are not actually happier than you were before you were single. it is seen as a sort of pity - oh, you are choosing yourself, making yourself the priority? - that isn't quite right. you must mean that you are making yourself ready for the right person. you are just laying the bed better this time. open up your heart. you'll find them, we promise!
what do you mean you're really-truly genuinely-very happy? you are probably misremembering what it was like to be in a relationship. and besides, once you meet your person, that time will look grey and bland and wasted. your person is the only way for you to see in color. so what if you have taken this time - for the first time in your entire life - to actually-for-real do the fucking work. you can be proud of yourself, sure. but the way we need to know that you got better is that you get a partner. you're healed enough for the next bad part!
people don't choose to be single, they just say they're choosing to be single - they actually mean "nobody wants to date me." it doesn't matter how many people you have gently rejected or how many times you've talked it over carefully in therapy. what matters is that you are single, and by all accounts - that means you are something worth our pity. your successes and life all seem pale in the sunlight. sure, you have done amazing things and finally found your way in life. what matters is that there wasn't a person in the room with you while you did it.
you want to tell them - that's the whole thing. i didn't know how to be alone in the room. i didn't know how to handle the silence. every moment was so sharp, and i kept choosing the wrong way to close the door. i have spent my entire life in the empty well, living in the ricochet of someone else's cruelty. for once i have built myself a ladder. for once everything i taste is all mine, every bite of sunshine and laughter. i have learned how to sleep out in the open with my memories. recently, they have started to purr.
your father rolls his eyes. listen. this isn't about you. i just want a grandchild in my future.