Your business, go mind it.

Angelic disaster.

[lurker-mclurkerson-blog]

Since tumblr (at least according to the part I inhabit) is the mental health website, I thought this would be relevant to a decent number of you. (I know i have a default icon, but I promise I'm a real person, posting about a very real concern.)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) announced last week that they're changing their billing policy next year so limited license mental health therapists in the state (21% of the mental health work force in Michigan) won't be able to bill them for therapy sessions if they work in a private practice or school setting.

Since BCBSM holds almost 70% of Michigan's commercial market, limited license therapists almost certainly will be forced out of private practice - interrupting care for (possibly hundreds? of) thousands of clients and severely restricting training opportunities for practitioners trying to get fully licensed.

Here are a few news articles about this:

Michigan Blue Cross to limit mental health benefit. Will thousands lose care?

‘Devastating’: Michigan mental health care workers concerned BCBSM billing change could cut access to counselors

Mental health providers warn BCBSM billing changes could disrupt care for hundreds

Ways Michiganders can help:

- Post about this on other social media platforms.

- Call your state legislator and say you're against this policy.

- If you have BCBSM insurance, call the number on the back of your insurance card and complain.

- Attend the rally that the Michigan Mental Health Counselors Association and the Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers are holding in front the BCBSM building in Lansing on Tuesday, June 23rd, at 4:30pm. (Facebook post about the rally).

[lurker-mclurkerson-blog]

I tried blazing my original post too quickly. The National Association of Social Workers created a page here that has a great summary of the issue and more concrete ways to protest, including easily modified letters that can be sent to BCBSM leadership and state legislators.

[i-rate-your-blaze]

10/10 Blaze

[orpheuslament]

this recent trend of teenagers using genAI chatbots to talk to fictional characters is fucking grim. what you should be doing is roleplaying on private messages with your friends until the lines between you & the characters begin to blur & you develop some very complex & confusing feelings for each other that culminate in a massive fallout you dont have the tools to process nor understand

[amurderof]

#can not emphasize this enough#start a multifandom game with 20-30 maladaptive weirdos#care about crossover ships that can not be explained#learn to negotiate truly incomprehensible drama#it will prepare you for adult life way better and more fun than leadership class#and perhaps you will some day marry the hottest weirdo (tags via @somarysueme)

cosigned

[bitchwhoyoukiddin]

😒😒😒😒

I am annoyed at myself for enjoying the convenience of virtual health visits. Why? AI rug pull. I am now REQUIRED to consent to AI tool integration/recording/storage of my MENTAL. HEALTH. APPOINTMENTS (and all other virtual medical treatment).

Found that I couldn’t opt out today ~5 minutes before my appointment was scheduled. It has been implemented in the last month.

Now I get to schedule in person for everything (again). Which, fine, but I am annoyed I got one convenient thing that got yanked away.

And if any of you go “Well, this is just the direction things are going…” NO. FUCK THAT AND YOU. Requiring the use of a shit tool that makes up stuff, is not owned and hosted by the clinic (HIPPA violations galore!), and which actively encourages our clinicians to BE LAZIER all because shiny? NO.

I am absolutely spending tomorrow finding the patient complaints line for this shenaniganery, and if your clinic does this too? Push the fuck back and HARD.

[mhalachai]

so i went to grab some timmies at work this morning and tripped over a film set. Nothing like existing in the hottest day of 2026 and watching film extras forced to wear parkas to walk amid fake snow drifts and pretend it's December in June.

(I gather it was for a show called Off Campus; raise your hand if you've heard of it)

anyway, poll time:

how often does your workplace/school double as a film set?

i work in the tv/film industry so it's all day, every day

quite often; i live in BC/PNW so it's x-files/supernatural all the way down

quite often; LA/SoCal is a giant film set and I'm just part of it

quite often; geographically not BC or LA/California

not often, but it has happened in the past

not specifically my workplace/school, but close enough that I decided it counts

I have never seen my workplace/school as the backdrop of a TV show or film

this poll is geographically weighted in favour of the Pacific coast (vanilla)

Remaining time: 15 hours 44 minutes

[geekgirl76]

It's novel when it happens, but not completely impossible. Groat road was randomly blocked off for a Christmas movie. And my favourite was walking my regular route to work, through Coronation park only to be met with American style police cars and craft service offering me breakfast.

[achesspiece]

is that simple task bothering you queen

[victusinveritas]

[kiisaes]

everyone eat more vegetables NOW!!! and mention the last vegetable you ate in the tags so we're all on the buddy system. I'll start: bok choy

[richyjerimovich]

9-1-1 7.03 "Capsized"

[sarahsoph]

Please reblog and add in the tags your most recently read non fiction book - or currently reading if applicable.

[roycohn]

there's an old anne rice interview circulating on twitter rn that i remember reading ages ago where she makes a pretty salient point about how submissive men who have bdsm fantasies etc will go to a sex worker and basically order the ala carte version of their fantasy to be performed in real life but women don't really have that same option and certainly not at the same point of availability so they read her horny books instead. and honestly that argument has been in the back of my mind every time people get on their high horses about the popularity of booktok romantasy novels or heated rivalry or whatever the "women are horny and we're upset about that" cultural property du jour is ever since. women, especially straight women, have so few outlets for their sexual desires, especially if they have a partner who doesn't share them, and i will never understand why "someone ELSE'S private sexual fantasy makes me uncomfortable and therefore they should not be allowed to engage with it, even if i am in no way being affected by it or even aware of it at all" is such a popular party line among allegedly progressive young people.

[atinymekanie]

The only issue I genuinely ever take with the romantasy tropes is that often they seem to be utterly nonconsensual on the part of the woman, as she is simply accepting (often with a lot of internal monologue about how she’s scared/concerned/upset about) the man treating her in whatever way his fantasy runs, which usually seems to be very dominance-based.

In this world where women are already subjected to the sexual whims of their male partners and their own desires are often ignored or belittled, I very decidedly don’t wish to read about that exact same thing happening to the FMC. Now, if the FMC is living her best life whilst being subjected to these tropes and shadow-daddy MMCs, then good for her!

I just really wish that the FMC’s pleasure and desires would be centered, rather than just assumed to be submissive and then executed as such without first asking.

So yeah, am I asking to see the kink negotiation scene? Hell yeah, I am.

[ariaste]

Nope. Because in a book like that, the BOOK ITSELF IS HAPPENING WITHIN THE KINK SCENE. The kink is non-diagetic! It's like saying "I don't like when movies have music that comes from nowhere, I wish they would show us where the musicians are, how do you have an orchestra pit when the heroine is running around the moors in the fog and the rain??" The kink negotiation scene isn't happening between the characters, it's happening implicitly between the reader and the author, and your power to withdraw consent is perpetual and ongoing -- all you have to do is close the book and walk away. You're allowed to do that, and I encourage you to do it.

But for things happening between the characters, if the FMC is scared-AND-horny or whatever, that's what the fantasy is supposed to be and you as the reader are expected to do some basic suspension of disbelief in order to engage with the idea that (just like in a kink scene!) this is not real, this is just for pretend, everyone is safe and no one is actually getting hurt. On account if it is fiction.

Now, if you're not into that, that's perfectly fine, I am not saying you have to be into reading things that you don't like. If you want to see some kink negotiation, that's cool. Sometimes, there are books that are about diagetic kink, and they do include those negotiation scenes. But for non-diagetic kink (aka the thing you're "taking issue" with), I don't think that it's fair to say that it's wrong for those books to be written that way. A woman's desires ARE being centered -- either the author's own desires or what the author is envisioning the reader will desire. If you're not into it--again, that's perfectly fine, it's just not the right book for you or the right genre for you. Read something else.

You missed the point of the first post, @atinymekanie, so let's read it together again:

women, especially straight women, have so few outlets for their sexual desires, especially if they have a partner who doesn't share them, and i will never understand why "someone ELSE'S private sexual fantasy makes me uncomfortable and therefore they should not be allowed to engage with it, even if i am in no way being affected by it or even aware of it at all" is such a popular party line among allegedly progressive young people.

"yes but the only issue i take with romantasy tropes [...]" literally is just "someone else's private sexual fantasy makes me uncomfortable" in different clothing. Do you see what I'm saying? You're doing the same thing. "Yes but when it comes to the thing *I* don't like, people shouldn't do it that way." Not everyone is doing it that way! Read different books!

[joannaismyqueen]

I don't have problems with tropes or kinks. I have issues with how fucking badly those books are written. There are books for children with better prose. And once the trend had gone up you suddenly have shitton of people saying that SJM is next Tolkien.

[roycohn]

buddy, if you think "sexy books with workmanlike prose" is some kind of trend, i highly recommend seeking out some pulp fiction or bodice-rippers from before 1980. there is prose there that makes SJM genuinely look like the next tolkien. if you're not enjoying it, it's not for you. move on. grow up.

[bitchwhoyoukiddin]

Can we also interrogate why we think Tolkien or any of the white, male canon writes “better” than the modern day [fill in romantasy/writer with books aimed at not-men]? Because I will FIGHT anyone who tells me James Joyce is a better writer than Jodi Picoult. (I do not enjoy either writer, fwiw.) Now, I am not saying that FOR YOU (Royal) SJM is a better writer than Tolkien. But art? Is subjective? Yes, even text-art!

Also, reading is a skill in a lot of different directions! And being a snob about your own reading level compared to others? Is kinda mean. I’ve had to interrogate my own biases a few times when I have read something I considered below my time. I took a grad-level course in the romance genre and the instructor, rightly, made us read a Harlequin along with a couple other books (one indie, one trad pub). I was absolutely repelled by how simple/bad the Harlequin was. It was so basic! So easy! So in need of a closer edit! And then I remembered how obsessed I was with these when I was 11-16.

Moreover, I remembered how several of my family members who still regularly read Harlequins didn’t have time or education to read anything else. I have had the time, ability, and access to expand my skills in reading. Hell, I have a Masters in information science. My job, for MULTIPLE YEARS has required me to extensively and exhaustively read technical writing, critical educational writing, and goddamn legal contracts.

MY reading skill outpaced Harlequins, but that just means they are no longer FOR ME. And like @ariaste said above, I can just read something else.

Tl;dnr: To quote deep fandom lore: don’t like? Don’t read.

[decemberwinter]

Reblog if you want more abortion representation in media.

I’m so tired of characters in movies and tv shows changing their minds at an abortion clinic the very last minute because “this baby is precious🥺 this life is innocent🥺”. abort that parasite. abortion is human rights. abortion is healthcare. abortion is good.

[sabertoothwalrus]

maybe this is not my place to say because I am monolingual, and I'm sure it's part of a larger, more nuanced discussion about visibility and accessibility on the internet, but I think it'd be cool if people posted in their native languages more instead of in english. I see people do it way more on other platforms than on tumblr which is almost exclusively in english

[minothtime]

El problema es, como bien has dicho, la accesibilidad y la visibilidad.

Tumblr en concreto es muy anglocentrista y un gran número de los usuarios no habla más que inglés. Si quieres que tus cosas lleguen a gente con gustos u opiniones similares, escribirlo en inglés asegura que la gente por lo menos lo pueda leer. Suma a esto el hecho de que bastantes series y tal son originalmente de habla inglesa (y a veces ni se traducen a tu lengua madre), lo que crea un fandom principalmente angloparlante.

Más allá de eso, también hay que tener en cuenta las diferencias culturales que surgen entre fandoms de distintos idiomas. Por ejemplo, durante mucho tiempo el fandom de Vocaloid angloparlante y el hispanohablante han chocado con respecto a temas como la piratería. En ocasiones es complicado manejar estas expectativas, y si sabes varios idiomas, peor incluso.

A mí me gustaría subir cositas en español y encontrar a gente que comparta mis gustos, pero en Tumblr en concreto es casi imposible. Tumblr ya es de por sí mucho más «nicho» en espacios hispanohablantes que otras RRSS como TikTok o Instagram, y si tus intereses no son muy populares, despídete.

La lingüística de los espacios de fans también está hipercentrada en el inglés. No es una pareja, es un ship; no es un universo alternativo, es un AU; no es destripar, es hacer spoiler, etc. Incluso las siglas: en español es LGTB, pero lo que sueles ver es LGBT. Parece una tontería, pero esta disonancia cognitiva hace que resulte muchísimo más complicado hablar en tu propio idioma en un fandom. Por no hablar de las innumerables referencias a posts o a memes... en inglés todo, por supuesto. Como te atrevas a hacer cualquier referencia cultural no inglesa, no te entiende nadie. Pierde la gracia.

Casi todo esto se puede achacar al imperialismo cultural estadounidense. El inglés es útil para comunicarse con gente de todo el mundo, pero su omnipresencia sirve de barrera para todos los demás idiomas. Quizás habría que reflexionar un poco sobre por qué coño el resto del mundo tiene que tragarse años de clases de inglés para hablar del juego que le gusta en una red social mientras muchos angloparlantes no se dignan ni a meter un texto en un traductor automático y prefieren pasar de largo.

[batsdotjpg]

tbh potato is easily in the top 10 reasons to live

[wordfather]

idk if this is an usamerican thing or not but it always blows my mind as a small european country resident that yall have many names and types of apples???? what do you mean its not just red yellow or green??? why is it so complicated??? who is granny smith????

[wordfather]

'whats your favorite apple' 'red' 'no i mean like what type' '??????' actual conversatiom i've had with a mutual from usa

[wordfather]

THIRTY TWO??????

[phillyphillyphilly]

Listen that doesn’t even account for all the weird shit local farmers are getting up to.

May I present the best apple:

[wordfather]

the world is so big and beautiful

[bitchwhoyoukiddin]

Wow, do I have a surprise for @wordfather

Meet the Appalachian Apple Hunter Who Rescued 1,000 'Lost' Varieties

Tom Brown's retirement hobby is a godsend for chefs, conservationists, and cider.

[youreadarkwizard]

The X-Files cast reunited at FAN EXPO Denver, 05/29/2026.

[fellshish]

what a year for buffy fans 🥺 rest in peace anthony head

[fellshish]

way too young 💔

[riceflavor]

Goddamn this sucks

[csny]

eastcoast: we hate our city and it makes us feel bad. but we like feeling bad

west coat: we hate our city and it makes us feel good

chicago: we love our city