untitled

mid 20s/F It's unfortunate but you were born useless/ And however much you struggle/ Nothing is left for you/ But a future of abject misery

[indigosfindings]

admonishing teacher: and would you still behave this way if the earth cracked open to reveal an unyielding tract of slavering organs ?

naughty child: i would unveil my terrible opus

moral: the child's opus is too hideous to behold

[prunsel]

if you've ever pet more than a few dogs you'd Know what dog residue is

[computationalcalculator]

[mewwon]

i feel like we really don’t need a million pride flags. it gives hogwarts houses and sweatshop temu accessories. it gives sense of identity through consumerism. it gives those pic art avatars fuckk whatever they’re called from 2019. and most importantly its unchic

[crisis-actor]

[kiefbowl]

I got these back to back on my facebook feed. Now, I haven't read the Atlantic article, and also it was written in 2020 and not as a response to this couple, but clearly the Atlantic is reposting it with an incendiary pull line to capitalize on this couple's story.

And the pull line is ridiculous on its own, regardless of what context I'm missing from the article. Down syndrome is not an inherited trait like red hair or brown eyes. It's chromosomal abnormality. Talking about it like there's some kind of movement trying to "wipe out" a group of people is so intellectually dishonest. Down syndrome is not an ethnic group, and one woman aborting is not a call to murder all living people with Down syndrome.

It's just so woman hating. Why shouldn't a family decide what's best for the health of their family and child? I don't know of this couple, even if they are cringe influencers, I think it's so brave to share their story and it's helpful to women and girls to hear it. Despite the hate that is being directed at this couple, I hope they realize they are helping normalize this conversation and this choice.

[kiefbowl]

To be fair enough, I decided to read the article, and I got to the pull line. The context is bizarre!

So, in Western countries people with Down syndrome have the best resources available than ever before, but it's the also the "worst time" because many people are simply not being born? Huh? They're just not being born, not experience worse things than before. People are trying to "eliminate" Down syndrome because of the individual choice to abort, but not, uh, the collective choice to give those who are born with it the best possible life they can? Life expectancy going up does not change the face that you might have to bury your child before they're 40 or 30 or 20. School is not necessarily affordable, and school existing does not mean your child will be capable of it. A child in and out of the hospital getting heart stints is not the preferable way to live for a child or a parent. Can both choices not be from a place of love?

This argument makes no sense unless every Down syndrome child must be born. And so then why shouldn't every child be born? There's just no way around it, if you argue this way, you must ultimately think there is no reason "good enough" for abortion.

Living, breathing people need resources. Abortion does not take away from that. If anything, it helps.

[kiefbowl]

and who, I suppose, are not the ordinary people, that presumably had the power before? this is a rhetorical trick, you see. ordinary people aren't to be trusted. ordinary people do not deserve power. there are extraordinary people who can be trusted. ordinary people make decisions based on emotion, fear, from a lack of education. You're expected to nod your head like "of course. not me but I know the people you're talking about. the ones we all know who can't be trusted." Perhaps ordinary people do get some say on what life is "worth" bringing into the world. Perhaps the most ordinary person in the world, a woman, is actually precisely the most capable person to know the value of human life, and the cost of pregnancy and birth.

Also moral pioneers my ass, ancient people would abandon babies they couldn't take care of when they were without options.

[deadblog293898210398]

*sees henis gay*

[thethirdromana]

Putting the term "Catholic guilt" on a high shelf where fandom can't reach it until everyone learns how to identify characters who are very very clearly coded as Protestant.

[fox-bright]

Swarovski can continue to fuck off.

In 2021, Swarovski (the company that makes the very sparkly crystals you see in certain jewelry, on figure-skaters' twinkliest outfits, on red carpet dresses), decided they didn't want the grubby fingers of small-time jewelers, clothing designers and costumers and crafters on their shiny beads and rhinestones anymore. They decided to limit their sales to "luxury" and couture creators, not girls who sell stuff on Etsy. The tenor of their press release on the subject was snide and insulting. Resellers (like your favorite bead shop) would no longer be allowed to carry their product; the average Jane on the street would not be able to purchase them. You could only get them if you had an authorized business agreement that bound you to very strict brand behavior. And those of us who still had good stock of the crystals would no longer be "permitted" to use the brand's name in our listings for sale.

Every bead shop and craft supply place and many, many small clothing makers--wedding shops, prom and dancing dress suppliers, the sort of salt of the Earth mom and pop time machines of shops that are the backbone of the field--scrambled to find something that could replace them. The last of the stock dwindled quickly, all of us grabbing what we could get while there was any chance of it, and then it was gone and we no longer had any access.

I was Big Pissed about it at the time. It was just so goddamn stuck-up, when wholesalers and indie jewelers had made them so much money, when some people I knew--when *I!*--had been brand-loyal for decades. But with no recourse, everyone pivoted fairly quickly, most of us to Preciosa Crystals. Those are Czech, quite sparkly, and considerably less expensive than Swarovski. The faceting method they use is different, but not worse; any differences are hardly noticeable when you're seeing them as a hundred pinpoints of light.

Well, out of nowhere, Swarovski just dropped this: https://www.harmanbeads.com/swarovski-brand-policy-update

"Effective June 1, 2026, Swarovski updated the distribution and brand usage policies introduced in 2021. Businesses may now purchase Swarovski Crystals without signing a Brand Control Agreement, and Authorized Distribution Partners may once again sell Swarovski Crystals to resellers, including bead stores and online retailers. Businesses may also use the Swarovski brand name when following Swarovski’s Proper Use Guidelines. Designers, manufacturers, artists, brands, retailers, and resellers are now eligible to purchase Swarovski Crystals through authorized distribution channels."

They want us back. A lot of the companies who could have kept a brand relationship with them also have swapped to Preciosa, over the last half-decade, in solidarity with indie creators and out of a sour awareness that it could be them, next. And it doesn't hurt that Preciosa was able to expand their line quite a bit now that everyone who wanted sparkle had no choice but to go to them.

And I'm not seeing nearly anyone who intends to return. The feeling is, "Y'all told us to fuck off! Off we fucked! And now, that's what you can do, too!" I'm seeing a lot of "How many of us did you stab in the back?" comments from the people whose money they're hoping to attract.

And personally I'm sitting over here all rubby hands, mean snickering, because they really thought they were going to be able to outclimb the people who actually provided all their profits, and now here they are, hat in hand.

[emmaubler]

Me, completely out of the crystal loop:

[qwertyu858]

Oh, my mom used to sell handmade earings and brazalets made of those cristals some years ago, I didnt even knew she wasnt even supposed to and I doubt she knew or cared lol

But well, that explains why I suddendly started seeing so many preciosa ads online

[tyrian-red]

my erotic fanfiction is more historically accurate than yours. here it claims that shes moaning 'yes,' however classical latin didn't have a word that corresponds to Modern English 'yes,' i.e. an affirmative answer to an interrogative. You could have easily avoided this glaring implausibility by allowing her to moan plus, 'more'—as exemplified in my critically acclaimed fic with an unprecedented number of kudos (eleven). I recommend that you log out of AO3 and return only after acquiring satisfactory knowledge of the subject matter.

[mereologic]

classical latin did in fact have an affirmative answer to an interrogative (sic), it's just not a cognate with modern english "yes" which is Germanic. but you probably recognize its modern descendants, spanish sí, italian sí, etc.

anyway how this is relevant to this post is that when Dido commits suicide in book 4 of the Aeneid she says "sic, sic! iuvat ire sub umbras" or "yes, yes! with joy i pass beneath the shadows" while stabbing herself, the allegory of penetration accompanied by shouts of ecstasy leading unto death being an interpretative exercise best left to the reader.

[targetedknowledge]

[lilyblisslys]

if I ever tell you “lmk what you think if you read/play/watch it!” I am firmly inviting you to send me a play by play minute by minute cataloguing of your thoughts about The Thing

[wellfine]

TRAGEDY: every member of a once-flourishing group chat is now employed

[badassdemonsword-deactivated202]

jerking off has been mid lately

[frankiedotbiz]

[iraffiruse]

[tim-official]

see every time i see this status i get angry because i’ve played through literally every scenario in rct1 and there is no place where this is a thing. there is never more than one park per map. and in rct2 you can’t make that happen i the scenario editor either. it is not remotely within the game’s functionality to simulate two discrete parks and these games were coded in assembly for christ sake so it’s not like someone modded it in by adding the line “int const TOTAL_NUM_POSSIBLE_PARKS = 2;”. there is no conceivable way this post is anything close to true and even though i know how writing all this out reflects upon me as a person and even though i know exactly how meaningless and trifling of a takedown attempt this is on some random facebook screencap with hundreds of thousands of notes im going to post it anyway because i’m too petty to have any say in the matter

[galaxywarp]

once you realize you don’t actually need to sleep, you can really (stops talking abruptly and stares straight ahead for 4 minutes)

[inthefallofasparrow]

[beardedmrbean]

WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!!!!!!!