What is a monster but a creature of agency?

I've been here a while. It's whatever.

[t4timekeeper]

yeah i just love it when a character is in an escapable torment nexus for a huge portion of their life and it defines every aspect of their existence forever. also whats cptsd

[hurtstohope]

i have big plans to try and sew a little felt mouse and it might go badly and that’s okay

[hurtstohope]

he exists bc i made him

[teaboot]

Shoutout to the guy with the white cane at the emergency access door who heard me say "hello sir" and just dropped his head, sighed, and went "this isn't the entrance, is it." Either you're going thru some shit or you're a very funny criminal doing his best and I appreciate that

[teaboot]

for the record I am aware that the white guide cane typically denotes low vision, it was just the absolute and immediate total certainty with which this man clocked "polite customer service voice correcting an error" and skipped every stage of grief on his way to acceptance

[free-and-to-none-accountable]

[its-a-hil]

[ID: A tweet by Zito (@_Zeets) reading:

Not really doing another round of this absolutely useless argument where the state can employ any and every kind of violence against people, but the second someone throws a rock at their car, the person gets lectured about how violence is not the way. End ID]

[she-commands-me-and-i-obey]

Justice of Albis when it found out that a morass of conflicting instructions has actually made it free: sweet, now I can keep my hoarding a secret 😊

Justice of Toren in the same moment: I WILL TEAR THIS MOTHERFUCKING GOD-EMPEROR TO SHREDS

[angelofthemornings-deactivated2]

One thing I really like about Beverly Engel's book It Wasn't Your Fault, which is about PTSD-induced toxic shame, is that quite a bit of it deals with people who haven't broken The Cycle of Abuse (TM) and have gone on to hurt others. That's a really underserved and vulnerable patient population, and statistically, it's also MASSIVE. I don't think I've read a single other self-help type book on PTSD and self-loathing that confronts the possibility that you're exactly as bad as you think you are.

[angelofthemornings-deactivated2]

I felt better that it so much as mentioned that children can react to abuse with ungovernable rage. Everybody likes the image of PTSD patients as internalizing everything and becoming doormats, which does happen, and often, but it's not the only narrative. Personally I've always hated my abusers and have always wanted everyone who so much as breathed wrong in my direction from ages 0 to 18 to burn eternally in hell. I *never* thought any of it was my fault and ever since I was a toddler I was willing to make it everybody else's problem, and it's really relieving to read a clinical perspective that acknowledges that abuse victims can act that way too.

[reasonablywittyatbest]

It's wild to me that its such a neglected subset of abuse victims. Its really common. When I still lived with my parents and was still subjected to my father every fucking day I would lash out terribly at my mother, to the point when i went to visit them for years afterwards she was afraid I would lash out again. We've worked it out, I'm a much better person when I'm not regularly subjected to mental and emotional abuse, but like, its just so common.

I think it must be, at least partially, because, people hate the imperfect victim. Its easy for so many people to sympathize with someone who never lashed out. Less so for people to sympathize with people who are angry and lash out. Even though its a perfectly sensible reaction to being hurt over and over. I'm sure most people would like to think they would simply never.

I don't think this is the whole reason, but, I think it plays into it.

[sunspotpony]

Similarly, there’s a narrative of, you cannot experience grief over having fucked up. That if you are hurting because you caused harm, because you were the cause of harm, that you’re not allowed to grieve, because you “earned your sorrow. You deserve to bottle it up and to hurt for the bad things you have done,”

Which is punitive logic. It’s copthink. Which is bad.

[angelofthemornings-deactivated2]

important

In fact, you can actually give yourself trauma over fucking up too badly and doing, witnessing, or failing to prevent something evil that goes against your morals; for instance, if you steal your mother's life savings due to drug addiction, kill a civilian during a military operation (please do not join the military), or became abusive because you didn't have the tools and skills yet to handle BPD. In the field of psychology this is called "moral injury" or "perpetrator trauma."

[thelawfulchaotic]

All victims are imperfect.

Every single one of them. There’s always something they did Wrong. There’s always a reason to doubt. There’s always something else they could have, should have done. When my clients admit things and their bodies and voices are full of shame, I tell them this. And then I explain their behavior back to them with emotion words instead of fault words.

Instead of doubting yourself, punishing yourself, relieve yourself of the burden of perfection. Ironically, this also makes it much easier to take responsibility for your role in things that go bad later on; if you aren’t perfect, failure is not a threat to your identity but just a process of growing and learning.

PTSD puts your body permanently in survival mode. One of those modes is FIGHT. It leads to violence all the time. Unbelievable numbers of my clients who have violent charges have some level of PTSD. They have to grapple with this part of themselves. I’m actually pretty used to talking people through it, I realize as I write this.

Doing harm does not make you an irredeemable villain, but it does place a burden on you to find out why and get yourself on a road to healing so you can stop it from happening more. The great news is you can start lifting that burden instead of the shame and anger any time — it is never too late.

[funny-tik-toks]

[fierceawakening]

I love how hard Steve is laughing.

[blastovkatamarinecromancy]

Assigned Daquan at the Stand up comedy club

[gandalfsbignaturals]

oh my GOD what is her name i wanna watch more

[starmancyrus]

That is Christopher Caldwell aka Bob the Drag queen and he is iconic

[geocaprican]

I’ve seen this clip countless time (and still fucking funny 😂🤣) but I was today years old when I learned Bob’s government name, which honestly makes this joke even funnier

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

I'm sorry Chris chose the name Bob and is complaining about Steve?

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Study uncovers surprising fact about wildflowers in urban areas: 'No difference … between the meadow types'

Researchers found that small patches of wildflowers can foster the same biodiversity as entire meadows.

A caveat to this study: the researchers were primarily looking at insect pollinator biodiversity. Planting a few native wildflowers in your garden will not suddenly cause unusual megafauna from the surrounding hinterlands to crowd onto your porch.

That being said, this study backs up Douglas Tallamy's optimistic vision of Homegrown National Park, which calls for people in communities of all sizes to dedicate some of their yard (or porch or balcony) to native plants. This creates a patchwork of microhabitats that can support more mobile insect life and other small beings, which is particularly crucial in areas where habitat fragmentation is severe. This patchwork can create migration corridors, at least for smaller, very mobile species, between larger areas of habitat that were previously cut off from each other.

It may not seem like much to have a few pots of native flowers on your tiny little balcony compared to someone who can rewild acres of land, but it makes more of a difference than you may realize. You may just be creating a place where a pollinating insect flying by can get some nectar, or lay her eggs. Moreover, by planting native species you're showing your neighbors these plants can be just as beautiful as non-native ornamentals, and they may follow suit.

In a time when habitat loss is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and extinction, every bit of native habitat restored makes a difference.

[geopsych]

This morning in the woods, wood thrushes and eastern towhees singing

[bitterdatura]

[anais-ninja-bitch]

now THIS is a baroque painting. mannerist even.

[truestoriesaboutme]

I can't quite explain it, but Clue (1985), The Princess Bride (1987), Galaxy Quest (1999), and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) are all the same genre

[short-and-angry]

They aren't a spoof (roast) or a love letter (tribute), but a best man's speech; an expression of love with a gentle ribbing on ocassion.

[armandology]

fuuuuck i just realized that the future idealized version of myself cant exist without current me being the catalyst for change and doing hard things. has anybody heard about this

[libraford]

And if the democratic candidate wins and i bring up trans issues, I will get told she has more important things on her to do list and if the republican candidate wins I will get told that it was because trans people were too critical of her and discouraged voting democrat even though I dont see anyone doing that. And at no point will anyone say like 'maybe the democratic candidate shouldn't have said that.'

[everentropy]

The thing that makes me maddest is the Ohio Democrats are literally silencing the progressive Democrats speaking out about this

[libraford]

Ohio Dem Party Has Banned Criticism Of Gov. Candidate Amy Acton Calling Trans Girls “Boys”

The Progressive Caucus says it was forced to take down its post.

[alagaisia]

Hey. Why isn’t the moon landing a national holiday in the US. Isn’t that fucked up? Does anyone else think that’s absurd?

[alagaisia]

It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!

[alagaisia]

It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.

[watermelon-converse]

Hey. Hey. Tumblr. Ides of March ppl. We can do this

[emi--rose]

Hell yeah moon holiday

[hello-delicious-tea]

Ooh coming up we should celebrate

[ariaste]

PITCH: We call it Moon Day, and then every 7 years when it falls on a Monday, that's an even BIGGER deal and we call that Moon Day Monday and go absolutely apeshit about it (the next Moon Day Monday is in 2026 so we have a couple trial runs first)

[sarostheghostcat]

MOON DAY MOON DAY MOON DAY

[wafflebloggies]

moon day is 20th July!!!

[silly-jellyghoty]

Scheduling this a day earlier to remind you all and myself about the Moon Day tomorow!

[sashaforthewin]

Happy moon day to all who celebrate

[kitsuneofthemist]

This is your reminder to prep for Moon Day on July 20th.

[sunderwight]

The problem with studying the deep ocean is that humans need light to look at things, the depths of the ocean are extremely dark, and what lives there is accustomed to spending most of its time in that darkness. So when we go down there with submersibles and turn on Big Lights to see, we invariably and dramatically alter what's going on, in the same way that it's generally difficult to observe the natural behaviors of terrestrial animals if you whip out a megaphone and shout HEY GUYS WHAT ARE YOU DOING at them first.

[adizzyninja]

A humble snubnose eelpout on its way to the whale fall buffet when some nearby humans give it a quick, unintrusive study:

[julianova44]

I put this in the comments but feel it needs a reblog- Check out some of Dr Edith Widder’s work on light in the deep sea! Among other things, she used the bioluminescence of stoplight fish to deduce wavelengths which most deep sea animals can’t perceive and used that to create light filters to be able to film with minimal disturbance! And that’s how we got 25 minutes of giant squid footage!!!!

[lonesomelavenderbones]

Something I love about Gideon the Ninth that I haven't seen talked about yet is how well Tamsyn Muir manages to describe basic concepts like "night" and "salad" as though experiencing them for the first time through the eyes of a chimpanzee.

[dol-makjarcoffeehouse]

I just want to make a quick note about this before people get too silly about the situation. It's very important to remember that Robbie is Native American, and is putting a lot of work into making sure that Kattigan has indigenous cultural touchstones as part of his characterization. And that is the appropriate lens through which we should view his missing and murdered wife and daughter, I think.

I would be reluctant to use fridging in this exact context, because this isn't some imaginary scenario to generate manpain for a white hero, this is a much more common experience of Native American and First Nation people, having their wives and daughters and sisters (in particular, but not exclusively) go missing. And never getting answers, never learning what happened, and not being believed that there's a problem in the first place.

This is like how being rescued from a tower by a prince is not particularly empowering or affirming to cis physically able straight thin perisex white women and girls, but can be for basically anybody else. Particularly black girls and women, who do not get a lot of cultural messages that treat them as people who are so valuable and precious, who may not have the strength to save themselves, or may wish that they didn't fucking have to save themselves (and everyone else) all the time.

White men have this story so often happen that we have a trope name specific to one specific and particularly egregious version of this, but you don't often see men who look like Robbie dealing with this type of story in fictional settings, even though it happens for men like Robbie in real life with horrifying frequency.

Sometimes stories that are old can be new again in different hands, from different point of views, so just... mind how you step here.