ink

ink | nb

[trianglart]

Stages of having a short (gay) haircut! 

[thisloveforyourmom]

an advertisement drawn by alison bechdel, 1988

[enderbot-magic]

Hey tumblr user evilpepsiman who does it feel to be an absolute King

[ayay]

if you were a fictional character rb and tag what parts of your physical appearance would get messed up in fan art. for me its unibrow + hands.

[cosmicfaeriewitch]

[rhythmic-idealist]

[ID: A tweet by 🔮✨ (@/TheOracleReadsU):

Green flags in relationships:

You find yourself laughing and smiling a lot.

You feel respected.

You're able to communicate clearly and without fear of repercussion.

When issues are addressed, you feel like it's you and them vs the problem, and not you vs them.

End ID]

[cavilhenry]

him: what are you thinking about?

her: oh.. it’s nothing…..

her brain, longingly:

[goldnrry]

And these!

[locusimperium]

[swan-archive]

locusimperium:

A few years ago, when I was living in the housing co-op and looking for a quick cookie recipe, I came across a blog post for something called “Norwegian Christmas butter squares.” I’d never found anything like it before: it created rich, buttery and chewy cookies, like a vastly superior version of the holiday sugar cookies I’d eaten growing up. About a year ago I went looking for the recipe again, and failed to find it. The blog had been taken down, and it sent me into momentary panic. 

Luckily, I remembered enough to find it on the Wayback Machine, and quickly copied it into a file that I’ve saved ever since. I probably make these cookies about once a month, and they last about five days around my voracious husband - they’re fantastic with a cup of bitter coffee or tea. I’m skeptical that there is something distinctively Norwegian about these cookies, but they do seem like the perfect thing to eat on a cold day. 

Norwegian Christmas Butter Squares

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg 1 cup sugar 2 cups flour 1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp salt Turbinado/ Raw Sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chill a 9x13″ baking pan in the freezer. Do not grease the pan.

Using a mixer, blend the butter, egg, sugar, and salt together until it is creamy.  Add the flour and vanilla and mix using your hands until the mixture holds together in large clumps. If it seems overly soft, add a little extra flour. 

Using your hands, press the dough out onto the chilled and ungreased baking sheet until it is even and ¼ inch thick.  Dust the top of the cookies evenly with raw sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees until the edges turn a golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about five minutes before cutting the cooked dough into squares. Remove the squares from the warm pan using a spatula.

[brawltogethernow]

So I tried this recipe.

And it is GREAT.

It basically makes the platonic ideal of commercial sugar cookies, only in bar form. When I give them to people (which I do a lot, because this is one of those simple recipes where the results seem very impressive), I just tell them they’re sugar cookie bars.

Edit: Oh, right, and I just use normal white sugar to dust. As much as the dough can hold is best, which is why I always end up shaking the pan around like I’m panning for gold.

[the-knights-who-say-book]

SGKSGKSGK MA’AM

[coolcurrybooks-deactivated20230]

1) This is hilarious

2) Her work is all really awesome! And she’s got a ton of short stories available for free online. Some of my favorites:

“Bluebeard’s Wife” -- what would happen if a woman Bluebeard married just didn’t look in the room?

“The Dryad’s Shoe” -- an aroace Cinderella who has zero interest in the ball or the prince but does love gardening

“Jackalope Wives” -- takes the skinshifting conceit of selkies and applies it to jackalopes (folkloric horned rabbits) in the American Southwest. Also stars the absolutely iconic Grandma Harken, whose left to clean up the mess when her grandson tries to catch himself a jackalope wife. This one won a bunch of awards and there’s an audio version read by LeVar Burton.

“Sun Moon Dust” -- a young farmer inherits a sword bound to the souls of three warriors, all ready to teach him to be a hero... but he has no desire to be anything but a farmer. A very sweet M/M story!

The rest of her free fiction is linked to on her site. She’s also got some great novellas and novels, including a f/f “Snow Queen” retelling!

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

Narrative Botox: Filler Words and Phrases to Look Out For

If you’re planning on publishing traditionally, chances are you keep a sharp eye on your word count. Literary agents and publishing houses are on the hunt for the best quality stories that they can print for the cheapest price (using the least paper and ink), so you have a higher chance of gaining representation if you can crank your novel out in the least words possible.

However, filler words and phrases aren’t only the enemies of aspiring traditional authors; every writer—fanfic, novelist, journalist, you name it!—should try to eliminate filler from their stories to assure more concise and high-quality writing. Oftentimes, filler contributes nothing but clutter, and without it, your narrative can flow smoother and in a more sophisticated manner.

But how do you know what’s filler and what’s not? Here are some tips on how to Ctrl+F and kick this narrative botox to the curb!

I compiled these lists with the help of Infusionmedia, BDR Publishing, and ResetEra !

Filler Words

1. Just

A writer’s worst enemy, and the bane of my manuscripts’ existences. Eliminating all the ‘just’s can cut down your word count by hundreds.

2. “That” as a conjunction

It’s an unnecessary addition to a sentence, which will be more streamlined without it.

Example: “He said that he wouldn’t do it again.”

Revised: “He said he wouldn’t do it again.”

3. “Now” as an adverb

“Now” is essential if you’re talking about the past and present, but when you’re using it to draw attention to a particular statement or point.

Example: “Now, I didn’t think it’d get so out of hand.”

Revised: “I didn’t think it’d get so out of hand.”

4. Redundant adverbs

These adverbs serve no purpose because the verbs they’re describing already imply the way the action is performed.

Whispering softly

Yelling loudly

Crying sadly

Laughing happily

5. “Telling” words

These words are redundant, especially when using first person, because in describing an event, we can already assume that the characters are experiencing it.

Seeing/saw

Feeling/felt

Hearing/heard

Smelling/smelled

6. “Clarifying” words used to portray definiteness or indefiniteness

Although these are meant to help out the readers get their bearings on a situation, all they do is come across as wishy-washy! Be concise and sure of yourself!

About

Absolutely

Accordingly

Actually

Almost

Basically

Certainly

Clearly

Completely

Entirely

Even

Exactly

Fairly

Highly

Hopefully

Literally

Maybe

Only

Often

Oftentimes

Perhaps

Possibly

Probably

Quite

Rather

Really

Reasonably

Relatively

Seem

Seriously

Simply

Slightly

Some

Somehow

Sometimes

Totally

Very

Filler Phrases

1.“Let out (vocal noise)”

Use the verb instead!

Example: “He let out a sigh.”

Revised: “He sighed.”

2. Using passive voice

Passive voice inflates your word count by including various “to be” verbs into the prose. Passive voice involves actions happening to a subject rather than the subject performing an action, and as a result isn’t as riveting to the reader as active voice; even if it wasn’t a matter of word count, you’d still want to get rid of it anyway!

Still don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out this article from Grammarly.

Example: “The boy was bitten by the dog on his arm.”

Revised: “The dog bit the boy on his arm.”

3. Describing the wrong noun

Many writers will be as specific as possible about what “thing” is affected by the event they’re describing, when it’s much simpler to take a step back and write about something more general.

Example: “The level of water rose.”

Revised: “The water rose.”

4. Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are the combination of two or three words from different grammatical categories—a verb and an adverb or a preposition—to form a single action. Usually, these phrasal verbs can be replaced by a single-word verb.

“Ask for” can be replaced with “request”

“Bring down” can be replaced with “reduce”

“Come across” can be replaced with “find”

Etc.

5. Clarifying phrases

Same reason as clarifying words. Get to the point!

A bit

A little

A lot

In a sense

Kind of

Sort of

6. Remember your contractions!

Even if your story takes place in olden times, I can guarantee that if you never use any contractions ever, your story’s gonna be a clunky mess. But sometimes you’re in the moment, consumed by the poetic power of the muses, and forget that this isn’t a soap opera; so make sure you check that you’ve been using your contractions!

It is, it was, it would, she is, would not, should not, is not, does not etc.

7. Inflated phrases

These phrases can be replaced with more concise words.

Along the lines of (shorten to: like)

As a matter of fact (in fact)

As to whether (whether)

At all times (always)

At the present (now or currently)

At this point in time (now or currently)

Be able to/would(n’t) be able to (could or couldn’t)

Because of the fact that (because)

By means of (by)

Due to the fact that (because)

Even though (though or although)

For the purpose of (for)

For the reason that (because)

Have the ability to (could)

In light of the fact that (because)

In order to (to)

In regards to (on or about)

In spite of the fact that (though or although)

In the event that (if)

In the nature of (like)

In the neighborhood of (about)

On the occasion of (when)

On one/two separate occasions (Once/twice)

The/A majority of (most)

There is no doubt that (No doubt)

Wasn(n’t) capable of (could or couldn’t)

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

[scarfacemarston]

This rant is in regards to all writing tips such as these:

Please realize that these are not set rules and that these are suggestions.

I personally disagree with many of these suggestions. You’re writing a story, not an academic paper. While OP and similar writing guides have good intentions, it can also be frustrating and demeaning to others, especially those whose first language isn’t English.It also has an aspect of elitism.

 Yes, some of these tips may improve your writing, but not totally—the writer’s diction matters. I see similar tip sheets, and again, it comes across as mechanical in some instances and awkward in others. Your writing is not necessarily better because it’s more concise just as lengthy overly descriptive writing is not necessarily better. Go with what YOU feel is best. If you feel comfortable sharing your work with others, check to see if the reader can understand your writing. If multiple people can’t, then perhaps your work can be revised. For every piece of advice I see here, I personally know of professionals who would disagree. 

I understand the issues regarding publishing because this is something academics deal with constantly. While there are some similarities to academic publishing, publishing fictional work is still a different ball game with its own rules.

I’m also very tired of hearing the passive voice vs. active voice argument. Let me tell you - most people don’t care. Outside of some teachers teaching grammar or professors in colleges, most don’t care. Your writing isn’t a failure because you used passive voice. I was always treated this way, and I don’t want anyone else to feel the same. I have had to read hours of academic books and journals, and they ALL have passive voice. Every fictional book has passive voice—lots of it. 

Similarly, some of these tips, especially the inflated phrases, actually come across as more “juvenile writing,” which may also lead to criticism. There is no pleasing everyone, and there is no “winning.” Additionally, every publisher has different policies, so some may be more strict than others regarding stylistic choices. 

TLDR: If something in these guides helps you, wonderful! However, don’t feel ashamed if you chose not to write this way or if you struggle. You still matter as a writer, and your work is still just as valid.

(Ps, if you’re a fanfic writer creating free content, please be especially kind to yourself. )

[callmethebrightness]

1000% agree with all of the above.

None of these tips are bad or incorrect; some of them I follow strictly in my own writing! They help you accomplish a very clean, straightforward style, which is great if that is what you want to achieve. Writing is an art, not a science. No writing “rules” or advice should ever be taken as gospel. These posts are great for academic writing, as well as helping you notice things you may do repeatedly and helping you make informed, deliberate choices in your writing.

For example: You may want to use the passive voice depending on what you want to emphasize in the sentence. “Meryl Strep stole my casserole” is active voice, and the focus is on the stolen casserole. But, if you want to emphasize that it was Meryl friggin’ Strep who did it, the passive voice (”My casserole was stolen by Meryl Strep”) might be totally appropriate.

Before you go through your writing making all of these changes listed above, there are so many things to consider: audience, genre, style, tone, dialogue vs. narration, character voice, etc. Do you want your writing to sound like a medieval fantasy epic or a gritty noir detective story? When you make these choices, you can then make deliberate decisions about your writing that supports the kind of writing you want to do.

TL;DR: Love the lists, but hate when they’re interpreted as “must do” instead of “can do”.

[the-pen-pot]

Hard agree with the idea that all writing tips are guidelines. Use what you like and ditch the rest.

[captainclickycat]

Another thing that always gets me about these synonym suggestions is that they don’t acknowledge how using different words - even if the meaning is similar - can fuck with tone to a significant degree. 

When was the last time you heard someone say they “requested” something in a casual conversation? “”Request” and “reduce” both sound distinctly formal and technical, which can make text or dialogue come across as weirdly robotic or old-fashioned in a way that “ask for” wouldn’t. Plus expressions like “come across” can be very useful if, for example, you’ve already used the word “find” earlier in the paragraph and want to avoid repetition. 

And clarifying words or phrases do help the reader get a grip on the situation. “Sort of” has very different connotations to “definitely” or “absolutely”, and can potentially change the entire meaning of a sentence. Plus, these are terms that people use all the time in everyday speech, so putting it in written dialogue too is just realistic. People don’t speak like robots composing legal contracts, fictional characters shouldn’t either. (Unless your story actually is about robots composing legal contracts, in which case knock yourself out.) 

I definitely agree that some of this is useful, but would highly caution against taking it purely at face value, and it definitely comes off as a little too definitive about what you should or shouldn’t do when writing. (And also yeah, a lot of it seems like it would apply more fruitfully to writing academic papers than fiction.) As with a lot of these sorts of guides (probably including the ones I’ve written tbf) take it with a pinch of salt! 

(Also keep in mind that if you’re a fanfic writer, one of the beauties of that is not having to worry about word counts.) 

[drearyhours]

unpopular opinion but i think the film and tv industries should have better labor laws even if it makes it harder or impossible to depict certain things

[drearyhours]

i dont care if it makes it harder to produce game of thrones or whatever, acting should not leave women traumatized

[squeeful]

Okay I know this is about acting and people are getting more traction about it (sexuality safety coordinators are a job! yell about them. demand your shows get them) but

Any person who has worked on a set for more than a few years has at least one person they know who died.  

Not usually on set, but afterwards.  Because we don’t have anyone shutting down production for unsafe practices when “unsafe” means 16 hour days.  Or more.  For weeks.  Finishing a day before hour 12 (not including lunch) is considered an early leave.

I had teachers tell us not to, unless we absolutely had to, take music video gigs because they’ll work you for 24 hours and send you to drive home.  And if we had to work that, pull over and nap in our car because multiple people per year fall asleep at the wheel and go over the canyons around LA.

I know you mean acting but please.  Don’t forget the crew.  We have a shockingly high rate of suicide because these working schedules leave us with no sleep, no time outside of work, and it destroys lives, relationships, and families.  Burnout is high.  Chronic illness and broken bodies are common.  Cocaine use in order to get through a 20 hour day is rampant.  Every single one of your reality shows is fueled by cocaine.

The number of days that are scheduled to shoot a feature has shrunk dramatically in the past two decades.  Which means longer days.

Netflix shows are notorious for being poorly organized, understaffed, and long days.

There are labor laws but what they do is levy fines.  Those fines are either factored into budget, people are bullied into not reporting actual hours, or crew members see them as incentive to take those jobs because more money and cost of living is high.  (Also this industry has a crew culture of dick measuring by sticking your wang in a blender and boasting about how many 100 hour weeks you pulled.)

[alexazombie]

this can be applied for people working in animation as well. Like I know people who work at Pixar and they straight up work 12 hour days and go into work on weekends to meet their deadlines. The incredibles 2 made over a billion dollars and Pixar still cut jobs due to “budget”. The entertainment industry is a business at the end of the day. There here to make money and they are going to do it at the expense of workers because they know no one is going to do anything about it.

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

I think I’ve shared this before, but it’s been a while.

It’s also worth noting this is why seasons of stuff like British TV shows are so short… because there actually are protections there keeping you from working people like that.

[caul-serrikane]

[skwerlly-squirrel]

@wearepaladin your tags deserve to be seen dammit

[recoil-operated-deactivated2021]

Only People Who Can See RED Really Well Can Read These Words

Will you be seeing red after taking this quiz?

I can only read “dogs” and only see anything in one other. I see nothing in any other.

[bunjywunjy]

8/10 but fuck, OW.

[0811]

six weeks six fucking weeks . someone please god teach the women of Texas about period charting because the need to know like the second they can possibly know

[intactics-deactivated20211231]

also like. https://www.jexblackmore.com/store/a-womb-of-ones-own-taking-charge-of-your-reproduction-without-doctors-by-jane-doe

link with free pdf

[pansexualjamestkirk]

Can you imagine Pirate King Elizabeth killing people on the high seas and her final words to them are ‘Say hello to my husband’

[captainlordauditor]

#the pirate queen kills you and you meet davy jones and he’s eagerly like ‘did elizabeth have a message for me?!’ #you flash back to your bewildered last moment #’…she said jack is teaching your son to shoot’ #‘oh god no’ says davy jones

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

people on this website be like “it’s actually school’s fault that i don’t know how to read because i wanted to write my essay on the divergent trilogy and that BITCH mrs. clarkson made us study 1984 instead. anyway here’s a 10 tweet thread of easily disproven misinformation about a 3 year old news story and btw, who is toni morrison?”

[kendallroy-deactivated20210425]

i KNOW most of y’all are lying about being in the gifted program as children because none of you could pass the basic reading comprehension assessment they give third graders today

[themself]

this post is mean and I never read divergent or whatever the fuck but 1984 sucks and is rape apologism so if somebody wanted to write about divergent or whatever good for them

[westenra]

this reply is like literally exactly what op is talking about lol. like firstly ops point isn’t “1984 is good”, ops point is that analysing complex stories teaches you how to form opinions and think for yourself. and like secondly in 1984 you’re supposed to think damn it’s fucked up that he’s thinking that way about her, i wonder if this ties in with the central theme of “a society like this will fuck you in the head”? (this is the thinking for yourself part). like do you think orwell just put that in for fun? do you think that just because winston is the protagonist you’re supposed to agree with everything he does?

[lunaescribe]

You know I feel like this post just gave me an epiphany for what is wrong with how Tumblr Fandom/Internet Fandom responds to media-or not *wrong* but makes it very hard to respond to anything but a morally correct, and heroic protagonist. 

When an English teacher, or reader, taught or picked up 1984, it wasn’t with the intention they were going to love the protagonist. They picked it up with the intention of reading a whole story and trying to grasp the theme or catharsis from the story. If the protagonist was a *shitty* person it played into the the themes or the story, because it wasn’t about morally judging the book or *liking* or feeling attachment to the protagonist. Sometimes and often times, books were just about gaining another perspective. 

No one read Lolita expecting to endear, or like, or be inspired by Humbert. You are supposed to be upset by his behavior, you don’t read Lolita with the intention of being inspired. You read it to learn more about what the fuck is going on inside someone’s head when they behave like that. How children get sucked into abusive situations. Or read “The Great Gatsby” not because they want to fall in love with Gatsby or Nick, but to better understand and analyze the experience of the 1920s or destitution of the American Dream. 

A lot of internet and fandom culture has changed that though. When we say something like “I love the Great Gatsby” it comes with the idea or association that means you must *love* or relate to one of the characters. And maybe you do, but the first assumption is not longer about the quality of the work or themes, or cathartic impact-it’s about character admiration. And with that character admiration, in tumblr stan culture, or kin culture, or exalting characters with fanart/romance/so on you don’t just ‘admire’ or find that character ‘compelling’ it now translates to ‘you LOVE that character’ or you ‘DIRECTLY relate to that character.’ 

You can’t say “I love how Humbert is written, it’s so fascinating and dark”, without it directly translating you somehow relate to a child abuser or condone his actions. Taking in media has become an act of worship and connection. We no longer watch meant to just see the story as a whole, we watch expecting to connect to a character and if we offer them our “worship” as it’s become, as opposed to just attention or interest study as it traditionally was, it means we are condoning the character or saying we directly empathize with all their actions. 

I think that’s why there is often now so much fuss over *toxic* characters or not. Or whether that classical novel is showing good or bad things anymore. We’re treating the characters as people we should love or want to draw or write about. Sometimes a story is just about getting the the theme or catharsis or learning another perspective. We don’t NEED to like the character. Or we don’t HAVE to like a character to be impressed by how they’re written or intrigued by their behavior. 

I think if internet culture could learn to view stories as small insights into other lives or single takes of one perspective instead of purposeful moral inspirations we’d be a lot less worried about how toxic or not toxic they are. 

[icarus-suraki]

Seriously! 

And this is where “unhealthy relationships” in fiction come in too. Well-written, complex stories of bad relationships aren’t supposed to be good and healthy examples. If it’s held up that way (Twilight), then the issue is the writing and the writer. Unhealthy relationships in, say, Anna Karenina are obviously unhealthy but they are, to misquote James Joyce “portals to discovery.” You can know that a fictional relationships is seriously bad and still find it interesting. Psychology! Complexity! 

Also I want to add that some characters (Humbert Humbert is a good one) are written so that if and when you find yourself sympathizing or saying “Yeah, I know that feeling” you’re supposed to stop and consider that. Not in terms of “I am a sick individual and deserve to die.” but more like “is it possible to have compassion for terrible people?” and “what is it in our culture or my upbringing that makes me think like I do?”

I’ve heard way too many people say “I will never read Lolita because of what it encourages” and I just…you’re missing the point? Completely? Like, you’re so missing the point that it’s almost meta? You’re not supposed to like Humbert??? You’re supposed to either be like “wow, gross, dude” or “oh fuck, wait, why do I have even 1 thing in common with this guy?” Nabokov is not going to be straightforward with you! 

It’s like the jokes about being mad at your teacher for asking why the sky is blue in a certain book. Maybe there really is a reason. Did you think of that? For a bunch of people who’ll write thesis-length defenses of your favorite ships and trace down one instance in one minute of one episode of the 15 season show to prove that you’re right, it concerns me that you’re not as willing to look at a lot of other things with any depth. To say nothing of multi-chapter fanfic.

If you surround yourself with only good and pure and wholesome media approved by the purity-culture police, then you just don’t get to do a lot of introspection and I think that’s kind of a shame. I feel like it really limits your view of the world.

I dunno. There’s a weird kind of anti-intellectualism disguised as protection and good intent sometimes. Or it feels like the kind of prudishness that labels some books “dirty” and the people who read them equally disgusting, but just relies on social ostracism to enforce the labels. You know, “Think of the children!!” 

Anyway, I’m going to go read some dirty, dirty literature now. Like 1984.

[sawasawako-archived]

one of the worst things the marvel movie franchise has done is turn superheroes into agents of capital and the government… like the whole point of superheroes is that they’re anti-establishment, they fight against corruption of power and institutional authority, they abide by a moral code separate from that of everyday society. and yet marvel has aligned them with the us military, enlisted them under the causes of those in power, stripped them of their subversive nature. i don’t think that’s forgivable

[rubykgrant]

a good chunk of super hero origins (not all, enough to be noticed) involved a character suffering some kind of injustice or harm, and then either seeing that typical government/law enforcement was unable to react properly or was INVOLVED with the problem. the character happens to either have amazing powers/abilities (including training and intelligence) or access to some form of equipment/technology that allows them to deal with the problem OUTSIDE of the law... because the system was flawed or corrupt. so they became a super hero. they’re not supposed to be a bunch of cops who can fly, and it sucks that a lot of recent movies have turned them into that

[lesbianbending-moved]

seeing all the 14-17 y/o queer kids who don’t know what v for vendetta is.... u mean the blockbuster film written by two trans women about a masked vigilante who decides to singlehandedly take down a fascist alternate version of england set in the distant year of 2020... and his driving force was getting justice for a lesbian who he never met but whose diary he found, who was separated from her wife before being killed by said fascist gov.... and it stars natalie portman.... okay

[mckitterick]

the movie is great, with amazing acting:

and the original graphic novel is phenomenal:

I highly recommend them both

and they've never been more relevant

[tastefulcrucifixparty]

this has 100% been talked about before but younger members of the lgbt community (especially on tumblr) NEED to understand that “gay panic” doesn’t mean “oh no i’m a teen panicking because i might be gay” it means “literal legal defense used in cases where a person has murdered someone upon finding out they were gay”

[rock-fish-deactivated20201231]

the gay panic defense states that if someone finds out you are gay you do not need to have threatened them, spoken to them, or even know of their existence- they now have the right to murder you under self-defense laws bc you letting them find out you’re gay antagonized and “panicked” them.

[browherenew]

Only a handful of states have outlawed this horrific legal tactic. Ten have conclusively banned it as of June 2020, and 12 states have put the topic on the table for debate. 

The American Bar Association is staunchly in opposition to this discriminatory practice being used by legal defense teams. They published this helpful article last July that explains the legal ins and outs of it, its legal history, and some action steps to take if you want to get involved in making sure ALL STATES get laws on the books that prohibit the gay/trans panic defense.

Content Warning: The article mentions incidents of violence and murder against LGBTQ+ individuals, when it gives examples of high-profile cases where the gay/trans panic defense has been successful and unsuccessful. To go straight to the action steps, scroll to the bottom where you’ll find a list.

[tastefulcrucifixparty]

i’m so glad this post has been gaining traction and that people have been adding more information; the two overwhelming responses to this post have been “yeah, this refers to hate crimes and it’s not right to dilute that” and “oh shit, i never knew! i need to remember this!”

if you never knew the history of this phrase, it’s not a personal or moral failing. it’s just information that hadn’t gotten to you but is important to remember. follow the links. do your research. take action. 

[calystarose]

Gonna re-reblog this because of what’s happening in my small Nevada town right now. Our library put up a Pride display. It is one table with a variety of queer books both fiction and non and some festive rainbow colored decorations. On our library’s facebook page a bunch of bigots started being vile. Then they started sending threatening messages to the librarians. And now they’ve begun planning to come to the library specifically to tear down the display. THIS is gay panic. The fear that the very existence of gay people will ‘infect’ others. Being openly queer in any way or acknowledging that queerness exists as something other than a sin/mental illness is something that these people think gives them the right to commit acts of violence. So please, stop using ‘gay panic’ as a quirky meme. People are still using that mentality to silence and harm actual living queer people.

[newshour]

What does it take to teach a bee to use tools? A little time, a good teacher and an enticing incentive. Read more here: http://to.pbs.org/2mpRUAz

Credit: O.J. Loukola et al., Science (2017)

[paranoidgemsbok]

@clockworkrobotic

[robotlyra]

“Friend? Friend push ball? I push ball. I do good.”

[robotsandfrippary]

Bees.  Smart enough to push a ball, not smart enough to not be fooled by a stick masquerading as a bee. 

[madsciences]

maybe they know and they’re just being polite

[neil-gaiman]

Other dimensional beings are undoubtedly amazed at what human beings will accept as human beings too. “But it’s just a stick with a person on it.”

[msfcatlover]

#excuse me neil but what the FUCK was that #thanks for that terrifying thought (nooby-banana)

[supreme-leader-stoat]

NEIL WHY. WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT.

[neil-gaiman]

This turns up on my dashboard. And I read it and am impressed that someone writes exactly the post that I’d write, without actually reading the name of the person who posted it.

And then I’m puzzled at all the Neil Why’s, and realise that this was me in the Wayback Long-ago.

At least I’m consistent.

And, I should point out, we are no closer to being able to spot the extra-dimensional stick “people” who move unobserved among us.

[jenroses]

[jaesrri]