[heedra]

so far one theme of the 30s for me has been realizing that literally every human being on earth who appears completely cool and collected and together with it at first glance has some threshold past which enough known information about them will shatter that mystique completely. i don't even say this negatively or pessimistically it's just been helpful to keep in mind that we're all like that.

[inbabylontheywept]

apparently the average roma tomato contains 11 calories. im flabbergasted by this. it would be so easy to starve to death just eating tomatoes. i bought 30 tomatoes this week for my dehydrator, and my wife was giving me weird looks because that was 2 entire grocery bags of tomatoes. but that is 330 calories of tomato. i would need approximately 12 full grocery bags of tomatoes a day just to meet my basic caloric needs. thats like, 1 bag of tomatoes every hour and fifteen minutes. thats a tomato every five minutes. can you imagine how much your day would suck if there was a timer that went off every five minutes and then you had to eat a tomato or, eventually, you would die?

i used to see those old timey photos of photos of circus fat men and laugh a little because its like. really? this was the fattest guy anyone could find? this guy was so comically fat that he could go to a circus, and people would pay to gawk at him? this guy? i could walk into any bar in my town and lose an arm wrestling match to a guy fatter than this. 110 years ago guy was professionally fat, now he's losing to amateur hobbyists.

but then i think, you know, yes. i could outfat this man with the benefit of modern technology. i could eat two twinkies and smirk at this bastards two fucking grocery bags of tomatoes. i could do that.

but it is actually a hell of an accomplishment to do this with 1910s food. imagine the hell of being the 5 minute tomato man. like, your part time job is just chewing. 20% of your life is going to be chewing. its a grind. its awful. and then you look over, and theres this beautiful bastard, and the timer hasnt even gone off and hes eating another tomato. you're looking at him, and you're gonna say hey, i think you heard someone elses alarm, you dont have to do that, but then he gets another tomato. look at that defiant posture. look at his arms crossed. 12 bags of tomatoes? make it 20. im not scared of you, this posture says. im not scared of being alive. is it work? is it work to exist? of course its work to exist. so much chewing. but whats the alternative, let the fuckers grind you down? let the tomatoes win? he eats another one. you're grinning. you eat your tomato. you cant keep up with him but it feels a little better. this isnt a losing battle. youre alive. youve seen fat bastards before but they were rich. they got fat the easy way, with good food, with good drink, with honey and butter and jam. this guy has tomatoes. he eats another. he cant beat em but he can join em. he can do this. youre cheering. your friends are cheering. he does this for another six months and then he says hes got a new job. hes joining the circus. he is now, finally, professionally fat.

its like watching your friend in a small town get accepted to harvard. youre so proud of him. you wish you could join him, but at least one of you is gonna make it. and you know, youre proud that it is him. you give him a hug. your timer goes off. you eat a tomato. you wipe the tears from your eyes. you wave at him as he goes. your heart is heavy. your timer goes off. you eat. you eat. you eat.

[beau-and-arrow-99]

Op i love this post but i also am contractually obligated to ask: What the fuck?

[inbabylontheywept]

so sometimes i write with my brain and sometimes i write with my fingers and this time i started off writing with my brain. but then my brain got tired and my fingers kept going and i just kept watching the words pop up on my screen, and i just kept getting more and more confused by the Work of my Hands until eventually the only thing i could do was click post and hope someone smarter than me would know what just happened.

and now we’re here. confused. together.

tomato for your troubles?

[miseria-fortes-viros]

so on a scale of one to ten how bad is the acid reflux

[inbabylontheywept]

canticle of threnodies 5:7

[beardedmrbean]

[seaturtlesayshuh]

Casting spells over long range: I use my amulet

Casting spells with high quality and fidelity: I use my fmulet

[comvi]

[lesbianherstorian]

lesbian traffic lights in trafalgar square, london, june 2016

[anexperimentallife]

[ash-cherryblossom]

”i’m probably doing it for attention” after not telling a living soul

[slutdge]

whenever i post stupid shit that gets a lot of notes on here that i regret i take comfort in knowing that theres no real repercussions from that because this website is going to be tanked and shutdown within, at the most, 3 years

[slutdge]

[thebristolboard]

“The Militarization of the Police Department – Deadly Farce,” an original painting by Richard Williams from “The 20 Dumbest People, Events, and Things of 2014″ in Mad magazine #531, published by DC Comics, February 2015.

[spaceraptor]

Here’s the original, for comparison. And here’s a bit more about the artist and why he created the piece above for MAD Magazine.

[pennamerequired]

Richard Williams on Norman Rockwell:

“For most people, he was the painter of ‘America,’” he added. “But even he said his vision was what he wanted ‘America’ to be. It was a mythical ‘America,’ a place where all people were decent, honest and full of good will. His work was full of gentle humor that made you feel a little better; even if you knew it wasn’t really true… you just wished it was. My parody of Rockwell’s painting simply says, ‘That myth is dead.’”

[1-420-666-6969]

I think it’s relevant to add that even Norman Rockwell chose to leave his cushy job at the Saturday Evening Post because he wanted to make artwork that was more radical. The Post had rules that wouldn’t allow him to do artwork depicting black people as anything other than servants. The job paid really well and that was a huge reason he continued on. But he wanted change that and so he moved to Look magazine.

A lot of people know about the very first piece he did when he left the post which was the The Problem We All Live With which depicts Ruby Bridges walking to school under federal protection.

But I don’t think enough people know about Murder in Mississippi which depicts three real civil rights activists who were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan and sherriffs. The magazine ran the sketch instead of the finished piece because they felt it had a more striking statement to accompany the article. Norman Rockwell would finish that version after publication which is here

Rockwell’s legacy is sanitized because he decided to maintain his job at the Post for so long despite his frustrations with not being able to express himself. The civil rights movement was just his final straw to change what he could with the little time he had left. Look magazine received a lot of hate for Rockwell painting these as well.

Another favorite piece of mine is The Right to Know which depicts an integrated populace questioning their government. In 1968, the year of Vietnam and the year the Fair Housing Act only just got signed in months prior:

But I think it’s important to include the caption Rockwell originally wrote for the piece as well. I think it represents how a 74 year old Rockwell felt about the America he believed in and the people in it:

We are the governed, but we govern too. Assume our love of country, for it is only the simplest of self-love. Worry little about our strength, for we have our history to show for it. And because we are strong, there are others who have hope. But watch us more closely from now on, for those of us who stand here mean to watch those we put in the seats of power. And listen to us, you who lead, for we are listening harder for the truth that you have not always offered us. Your voice must be ours, and ours speaks of cities that are not safe, and of wars we do not want, of poor in a land of plenty, and of a world that will not take the shape our arms would give it. We are not fierce, and the truth will not frighten us. Trust us, for we have given you our trust. We are the governed, remember, but we govern too.

[godshideouscreation]

[nostroviadrop]

[zdf-deactivated20251121]

[gayleafpool]

SO WHAT IF YOU CAN SEE 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🔥🔥🔥🔥💥💥💥💥💥THE DARKEST SIDE OF ME🩸🩸🩸🐺🐺🩸🐺🐺🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🐺🩸NO ONE WILL EVER CHANGE THIS ANIMAL I HAVE BECOME🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸💥🎸💥🎸💥🎸💥🎸💥🎸💥🎸💥💥🎸💥HELP ME BELIEVE 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏ITS NOT THE REAL ME🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺SOMEBODY HELP ME TAME THIS ANIMAL I HAVE BECOME🥩🐺🩸🥩🐺🩸🩸🐺🩸🩸🥩🐺🩸🩸🐺🩸🐺🩸🩸🩸🩸🐺

[snapscube]

there was a long stretch of time where i’ll admit a concern of mine was coming across as a more acceptable and palatable version of myself specifically in the interest of possibly dodging ire and antagonism from people who hated the very core of what i was anyway. like maybe if i could prove i was different or more normal then i could bridge the gap. but when doing this you realize eventually that certain gaps are not meant to be bridged. they’re man-made and specifically maintained on purpose to keep you othered. there is nothing i can ever say or do that will stop the most hateful people from twisting literally anything into evidence of a pre-decided nature. it is genuinely impossible to be anything but who i am, so i can’t afford to waste my breath anymore. there’s too much light and love to be found within what i’ve already had the whole time.

[sunnydaze081]

5.

[illmadekn1ght]

i’ve genuinely had this in my calendar for a couple of years this is so exciting

[morganaspendragonss]

will you guys cancel me if i say that queer tragedy has a place in the creative arts and shouldn’t immediately be dismissed as bury your gays

[rubynye]

adding @glorious-spoon 's astute tags:

#bury your gays and women in refrigerators and the black guy dies first are all about treating marginalized people like props#to further the story of the (white straight male) protagonist#that's not the same thing as a tragedy! some stories are tragedies! whose story has weight and meaning - that's the question

[toriel-2]

you like me...for me..? (blushes) (cums all over the

huh

as you wish lord

[veryberryskye]

yeah i like to give my blessing to the most pathetic looking weak little knight at the tournament. she can’t even look me in the eye when i give her my flower and she stutters out that she’ll do her best or something of the like. i think its funny when she has to cry and beg my forgiveness and i get to say “such a shame, i suppose my hand in marriage will have to go to someone else…” and then i get to hear her whimper like a dog. ive done this like 6 times alrea-

did she just win.

[the-stew-goblin]

I shall prepare a stew for the wedding! Extra salt!

[veryberryskye]

wait wait wait stew goblin wait

[peachdelta]

get ready for the wedding