The Inspiring Spark

[starlightxraven]

Nobody needs AI to search the Internet, court says in ruling against Google

Google AI Overview court loss in Germany could spell doom for AI search industry.

[appalachian-werewolf]

"Google AI Overview court loss in Germany could spell doom for AI search industry."

It fucking better.

[mrsjdavis]

Like to charge, reblog to cast?

[assignedmale]

[esamastation]

I promise you can use "said" and "asked" so much more in your writing than your realise. People won't think your writing is bad. I swear. The words are basically invisible. You can use them. It's okay.

[quakerjoe]

[depsidase]

[period-dramallama]

I DO NOT WANT SMOOTH-BRAINED WUTHERING HEIGHTS

I DO NOT WANT SMOOTH-BRAINED ANYTHING

"can't the girls and the gays have a mindless treat" no. No actually. 99% of treats are mindless. Enough. You cannot live eating nothing but icing.

[sunflowers-and-scales]

“this character did not act in the most objectively logical way possible!” is not ! actually valid literary criticism

[sunflowers-and-scales]

i have trust that the media literacy enjoyers will find this one idk

[acceptableduraz]

[william-s-churros]

i think i saw a movie like this once

[maidslime]

Ok I needed to know the story and

Guy makes a really stupid decision and gets in a car accident -> no real damage from accident but insurance goes up -> starts beating himself up over his stupid decision -> gets depressed -> starts to realize he's single and had crash been worse he'd die alone -> realizes he's never had a relationship or even a crush and starts wondering what he'd want out of a relationship -> starts to realize he doesn't really like girls so he thinks he must be gay -> realizes he likes girls and boys about the same amount, so he must be bi -> later realizes that "same amount" is none at all -> he's ace

[captain-price-returns]

[deadgenerations]

in more pleasant news: this year is seeing the biggest humpback migration in Australian history, bigger than it was PRE whaling. That's right, there are more humpbacks migrating off the coast of Australia than there were BEFORE industrial whaling started.

A huge, fat W for environmentalists and Greenies. what an achievement

[lumsel]

we did it! we saved the fucking whales!!!!

[the-tao-of-fandom]

These whales were hunted to 150 individuals. Now there are 50,000 of them

Once hunted almost to extinction, the population of humpback whales currently migrating down Australia's east coast has bounced back and is

Further info for those interested

[pnwnativeplants]

Environmental activism works!!! If they tell you its hopeless they're lying and/or selling some shit!!!

[traegorn]

[octaviaabadassblakee]

I need fat female characters in tv whose weight is inconsequential. It means nothing to the story.

She's fat and gets the guy and no one bats an eye.

She's fat and the hottest chick in the sorority and that's normal.

She's fat and an actress and she gets good roles.

She's fat and she's funny and she has character depth and growth.

She's fat and the main character and no one mentions her weight once.

I'm fat and my weight doesn't play a part in my day to day conversations, or plans, or friendships. Why can't I have that on tv?

[unspeakablearchives]

[cherrydj-l]

loghain duel any %

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

yes, India made legal gender change impossible but the doctor down the street who gives me my T shots in a clinic so small that it's just two rooms was excited for me when she said my voice had dropped yes, India made legal gender change impossible but the receptionist who could see that I was a man didn't bat an eyelash when I asked to see the gynecologist and called me sir when he asked how I wanted to pay yes, India made legal gender change impossible but the barber cuts my hair exactly how I want it and never gave me strange looks for being in a men's salon not even back when I didn't pass as one

yes, India made legal gender change impossible but my friends have always gendered me correctly and stick to it even when it confuses other people and my friend's little sibling calls me older brother in Kannada yes, India made legal gender change impossible but my dog learned my new name quicker than the humans and she runs to give me a kiss when she's told to without being confused about who's being referred to

yes, India made legal gender change impossible but I can feel the Adam's apple growing in my throat and my muscles getting stronger, and my smile more real and I'm growing a beard, and I talk more freely

yes, India made legal gender change impossible but I'm here, and I'm alive, and so are you and there are good people, people who care and don't let them make you forget that-- you are not alone.

[kayla-denker]

Hey, you, cis girl that's very (correctly) vocal about women being allowed to talk about their periods, do you include trans women in that?

I ask because every single time I've tried to talk about it to anyone that isn't a trans woman they get fucking angry. Which has caused me to have to just suffer in silence every single month. So I really relate to cis women when they talk about literally the exact same thing; being shamed by everyone around them their whole lives for talking about their periods, so they just suffer in silence every month as it negatively impacts their work and social lives. But I don't even feel like I can voice that I am literally dealing with the same exact thing because most of y'all react like you want to throw me in front of a bus for saying it, even those of you who act like your such big great transfem allies.

[kayla-denker]

I guess I'll take this opportunity to talk about trans women periods. The first thing any tme person thinks when they hear this is always "how can trans women have periods? They don't have uteruses!"

The answer is: the uterus isn't what causes your period, it is effected by your period. What causes your period and what causes trans women's periods is the same thing: the endocrine system.

HRT changes the sex of your endocrine system. Feminizing HRT makes it a female endocrine system, giving us a 28-day hormone cycle just like cis women. At the end of that cycle, the hypothalamus floods the body with prostaglandins. Those are what cause all but one of the period symptoms, because they make muscles inflame and contract. They are what make the uterus shed its lining, they are what cause intestinal cramps, they are what cause body aches, they are what cause headaches and migraines. The only period symptom not causes by the release of prostaglandins throughout the body is depression, and that is caused by your endocrine system simply not processing as much estrogen and from simply feeling like shit.

So, the only symptoms trans women don't get every 28 days is menstrual cramps, because yes we do not menstruate since we don't have uteruses. But migraines, depression, body aches, intestinal cramps, and the infamous "period shits" don't exactly add up to us having any better of a time. Except we have to pretend that we're fine and nothing is different because no one believes that we get periods, not even cis women.

"But you can't call it a period then because that refers to MENSTRUATION!" is another one I hear all the time. This is incorrect. You use the word "period" instead of just "menstruation" because it doesn't just refer to menstruation. It refers to a period at the end of the hormone cycle where we experience a host of symptoms. And not all cis women experience all of the symptoms that encompass the period. Not all cis women get migraines, or body aches, or have severe depression. If a cis woman gets a hysterectomy she doesn't menstruate either! In that instance she experiences an identical period to what trans women experience. Yet, I doubt you'd insist that cis women who've had hysterectomies don't have periods.

[kayla-denker]

Oh, another thing that I personally discovered after bottom surgery: vaginal odor changes for trans women during our periods too. I was not expecting that because I always thought it was just from menstruation. But nope, the ph levels of a trans woman's vagina are the same of as a cis woman's vagina, and it changes during our periods just the same.

[reverie-de-la-rose]

I want to address the idea that Donna is better for the Doctor than Rose. I know there’s people who ship her with the Doctor. And that’s fine. But simply analyzing their canon relationships, Donna fits a VERY different niche in the Doctor’s life to the point where they can’t be compared the way you’d compare two romantic relationships.

The way Donna challenges the Doctor in some ways that Rose doesn’t is not a signifier that Donna is better for him. It is actually an excellent example of why a person needs more in their life than romance. Rose is the Doctor’s ideal romantic partner. She pushed him to be softer and kinder and taught him to be happy again after his darkest chapter. She made him a better person for others, but ultimately what she was challenging him to be was the happiest version of himself above all else. The way they end up just getting along nearly conflict free in series two is because that is how a healthy romantic relationship looks. She is his ultimate comfort, peace, and cheerleader. And he is hers. Even with Nine that’s where their relationship was always headed. If Nine never regenerated the Tenrose dynamic would’ve still existed, it just would’ve developed gradually instead of all at once.

Donna’s role is different. They’re best friends and she’s the kind of bestie that doesn’t see him see the Doctor in even a slightly idealized way. She loves him but won’t build him up the way Rose did. And he needs that. Here’s the thing though: he needs Rose too. Rose does idealize him to a certain degree. But did you know that studies actually show that there is a form of healthy idealization that IS a key part of a healthy romantic relationship? [1] [2]As long as the person is embellishing existing and real traits rather than completely ignoring reality, it is an important part of romance [3].Which is exactly why everyone needs a friend (like Donna) who views them with no embellishments at all.

The Doctor never gets both all at once, and it wouldn’t make for very good television if he did; but the absolute healthiest version of the Doctor would have had have both of them.

The best Doctor for the universe had Donna.

And the very happiest Doctor, universe be damned, had Rose.

Sources:

[1] https://faculty.washington.edu/jdb/345/345%20Articles/Chapter%2011%20Murray%20et%20al.%20(1996).pdf

[2] The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman

[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11220443/

[probuccalfat]

you actually feel gaslit when you try to tell white people of a certain age that pewdiepie, with a platform so vast and catering to youth, helped reinvigorate racism and casual dehumanization towards indians because they get all “omg you can’t blame One man for that” like yes i can actually :) we were very incrementally making our way past the gas station indian popularized by apu and indian creatives were finally being given legitimate and serious opportunities (like say what you will about aziz and mindy in hindsight but at the time that was a shift culturally) only for this dumb swedish pig to get online and spark that vile shit right back up. ask any indian with a modicum of pride in their heritage and they can tell you how uncomfortable pewdiepie made us with ourselves