[visenyaism]

one fun thing about being a teacher in march 2023 is that chess is a literal epidemic among teens. we are starting to have meetings about how we can STOP teenagers from playing too much chess which is like if we were trying to figure out how to stop them from reading for fun. When i was in high school five years ago chess was nerd shit only but now it is transcending every social and language barrier and is absolutely rampant. kids aren’t on their phone texting in class anymore it’s ONLY chess.com. kids are playing chess on their phones while playing chess in real life. this is still better than tiktok because at least the kids are developing an attention span from this

[visenyaism]

the worst part of this is that they’re on chess dot com instead of getting an education. but the BEST part of this is watching high schoolers develop the weirdest goddamn strategies I’ve ever seen. One of my students invented something he calls the “evil advisor gambit” where he gets a third person to give out constant terrible advice to both teams hoping that his opponent falls for it straight-up or that his opponent thinks HE fell for it and will act accordingly thus worsening their own strategy. he has won every game he has been able to pull off a coordinated evil advisor gambit in. this is chess innovation never before seen in its 700 years on earth

[deathofherreputation]

“my child is fine” ma’am, your child romances Shane in Stardew Valley

[escapistiest]

[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.

[cheesecakeonthelanai]

The Golden Girls ~ Life Lessons

Dorothy has been feeling ill for a number of weeks, and is worried that there might be something seriously wrong with her health. But, after seeing numerous doctors and specialists, no one can give her an answer as to what the issue could be, and instead dismiss her concerns with claims that she’s simply depressed about being single or getting older. Dr. Budd, in particular, suggests that she ‘take a cruise’ or ‘change your hair colour’ to make herself feel better. Dorothy begins to wonder if it’s all in her head, but the girls assure her that they know she’s sick because they know her. Finally, after her friend, Dr. Weston, recommends her to specialist Dr. Chang, Dorothy is diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Relieved and happy that she finally has a name for what’s wrong with her – and that she’s not ‘crazy’ like the doctors originally made her believe – she takes the girls out to a celebratory dinner and sees Dr. Budd in the restaurant, where she decides to confront him about his treatment of her.

(Watch it here.)

[thefoxconfessor]

the characters of seinfeld could kill the characters of friends with their bare hands

[thefoxconfessor]

i think we should give elaine a crowbar and lock her in a room with ross just to see what happens

[girlmiffy]

yk when u are holding a lighter and u are just like. ohohohoho. ohohoooohohooohhohooho. ooooohh. oooohooooohooooh.

[thatsoup]

Adderall should be added to water like fluoride is

[ratfuck]

they should teach bald eagles to be addicted to cigarettes and listen to depeche mode

[karaokeiko]

[orpheusilver]

every time i feed my cat i think of who woulge? "dinner" it is my cat.

[orpheusilver]

oh this post is actually incomprehensible isn't it

this one this is the Image

[hollowtones]

I made this image. That’s my cat Lola.

[hollowtones]

This pic is almost 3 years old. She doesn’t eat Fancy Feast anymore because she has thyroid issues so we give her special dinner.

[hollowtones]

I was completely lucid when I made this picture. 

[azuretheshitposter]

please explain the picture

[hollowtones]

I saw this picture on Twitter years ago & it reminded me of my cat. She used to wear a collar that had a jingly bell on it, Then we took it off, and she got good at sneaking onto tables and eating butter when no one was looking. Also she likes to eat her dinner very fast. 

A lot of people got hung up on the word “woulge” for some reason. People like to obsess over every little thing & assume it has some hidden, deeper meaning, like it’s some kind of puzzle to solve. I made it say “woulge” because I thought it would look funny. 

[beesmygod]

i think the cat has a funny face

[hollowtones]

You’re right.

[blueshyft]

no it means dinner woulge

[politijohn]

[politijohn]

[cop-disliker69]

Morally it wouldn’t be wrong to kill pharmaceutical company executives

[rodrickheffeley]

comedians: it's so difficult to be funny nowadays without sjws getting offended

robert pattinson, without an inch of effort:

[rodrickheffeley]

if this is not funny, then why am i on the floor?! anyway i can't wait for the batman (2021) press tour.

[ratguzzler-deactivated20181213]

this is an england hate blog

[autisticmoonchild]

HOW IS THIS EVEN REAL? WHAT DID MY COUNTRY EVER DO TO ANYONE?!

[ratguzzler-deactivated20181213]

[autisticmoonchild]

oh sorry sweetie, i didn’t realise you still lived in the 1800s…🙄🙄

[ratguzzler-deactivated20181213]

[loreofcardigan]

I’ve been thinking about this for days. The 1800s??? The 1800s????

The 1800s ???????????????!

[gennyescsecsemo]

[dylanisdazed]

these shirts speak 2 me

[fix-ur-heart]

i’m pretty sure these are like the reverse version of when people get ~aesthetic~ shirts with asian print on them but they have no clue what it actually says. or maybe these people just have lit taste in shirts idk

[gustavowasright-deactivated2022]

calamity jane in film:

calamity jane irl:

amelia earhart in film:

amelia earhart irl:

[overpoweredbyfunk-deactivated20]

It's the erasure of butch women for me

[jenniferrpovey]

Gonna talk about those MRNA vaccines real quick.

So, many of us (possibly not all, because other vaccines in the pipeline) are going to be getting either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

What vaccine you end up getting is likely to depend on your age, health, and where you live. Pfizer’s vaccine is harder to store and transport, so if you live in a big city you’re more likely to get that one.

For what I’m going to say, though, it doesn’t make a difference.

You’re going to be getting two shots, a few weeks apart. For Moderna, it’s 28 days (4 weeks). For Pfizer, it’s 21 days (3 weeks). Yes, this sucks. No, this is not ideal for mass vaccination. You’ll get a card that will remind you to come back for the second dose. The person administering the shot, most likely a pharmacist, will also ask for your cell phone number so they can text you. Because if you don’t come back that first shot is a waste of time.

We don’t know for sure if the single shot gives any protection at all, but the reasonable assumption is that it doesn’t.

This means you need to get your ass back in there for that second shot. And while you are waiting for that shot, you are not protected.

This means you should continue to wear a mask, etc. In fact, if possible, you should be even more careful, because if you get sick and can’t come in for that second shot? They’ll most likely have to start over. The trial included longer periods between the two, so you might be fine, but there is a risk here.

And once you have had that second shot?

It’s going to take two to four weeks to build antibodies, during which time you will have lower, but increasing, protection. They’ll tell you what it is…that data hasn’t been released yet, but will be.

So you should still continue to be careful for those weeks.

Finally!

We don’t know if these vaccines provide what is called sterilizing immunity, meaning you can’t be infected and can’t pass it on.

They may only provide functional immunity, meaning you get infected but don’t get sick. You could still transmit COVID-19 to others, although the risk is lower.

Which means?

Yeah, the masks have to stay on until the case numbers and other metrics are looking good.

Please don’t be those people who get that first shot and go throw a wild party. Have a bit of patience.