#normalrants

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

...sometimes I wonder why I have problems with setting boundaries. Then relatives pull shit like this, and suddenly it all comes roaring back. 

For future reference: ‘I don’t want to’ means no. ‘I don’t feel up to it’ means no. ‘I don’t feel comfortable doing whatever’ means no, regardless of who is asking.

.

aka, here’s a summary of the last two hours—

me: you want me to do you this huge favor at the drop of a hat, after not having said more than five words to me in the past year and like ten in the past decade??? 

them: keeps insisting, knowing I have a track record for saying yes if pressured

me: no. 

Parent: how about you do it as a favor to me?

.

...anyway, this is all a long-winded way of me saying that I’ve spent the last two hours writing the single most passive-aggressive thing I have ever put to paper, and still trying to see how many insults and backhanded compliments I can comfortably fit because screw it, if I’m going to be forced into this might as well have some fun with it. 

am I an asshole for doing this? Yes.

Do I care? No, because this shit happens every goddamn time and yet somehow I’m “indecisive”, like I wasn’t socialized to be a people-pleaser my entire life and it makes my blood boil when these people I happen to share blood with can't seem to take no for an answer

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

tfw the basic premise of something is awesome but immediately fucks up in the execution. Twilight’s insistence on focusing on its two most boring characters is something the internet that has already been greatly bemoaned, but this show is...well, it really gives it a run for its money. 

Like, the idea of human cloning and its role in a telenovela? Come on! We could’ve had a really messed up murder-mystery-thing going on, with actual twins and someone who shares their genetic code. Could’ve had this quickly devolve into a psychological thriller or something, with unintentional identity theft as Character A does his thing and doesn’t realize the migraine he creates as an irresponsible mogul and his artsy twin run around trying to figure out why there’s rumors of them being sighted elsewhere when they’re both going about their business. 

Could’ve had an unintentional case of the Prince and the Pauper, and maybe address matters like class issues and cultural differences.

Instead, we get incredibly flagrant breaches of ethics, convoluted quasi-love triangles, and a lot of people sucking face.

Great. Exactly what I wanted to see. [if it doesn’t show, please note that’s sarcasm. Me and certain family members have very, very different tastes.]

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

Some people talk like their perspective is the be-all-end-all of something, like their opinion’s the only one that matters, because they’re the oldest and assume that some half-remembered throwaway comment about apples from years ago is 100% valid and applicable to a scenario about oranges right now. 

With all due respect, fuck. That.

Sometimes this person pulls this stunt to where I’m tempted to cut off my nose to spite my face. Just because though it seems petty, it would be worth it, because my experiences are just as valid as theirs and shoving that reminder in their face is something that seems to be necessary more often than not. Because I’m normally pretty damn passive and easygoing, but for this...I’m more than willing to be a bitch if push comes to shove because this situation is not the greatest.

Because playing nice means gritting my teeth and trying to assume ignorance over malice and I am so. Damn. Tired.

For the record, college now is a very different beast than what it used to be and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

...sometimes I start to forget why I hit the ground running. Then Parent 1 starts talking and I go “wait nvm that’s why I’m going to a college across the state, right”. 

geez this entire month’s been a mixed bag

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

This Is So Not What I Had Planned [a non-comprehensive list/rant]:

Which is sketcher, walking alone at night in a badly-lit but mostly quiet and residential neighborhood you don’t know, or,

walking alone at night downtown in a place you only vaguely know that’s a tourist trap in the day but has quite a few people smoking at night

bonus: phone was very nearly dead in all of this

just to get back from an event that required over two hours of transit, single-way

...suffice it is to say, this weekend did not go as planned and I can now safely cross that off my bucket list. [If I had one.] 

Also, Google Maps is a lifesaver and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise. [Only being slightly metaphorical, too: getting back to Seattle from Tacoma after dark would’ve had me even more antsy than I already was without it.]

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

Thought the First: I am really, really side-eyeing certain relatives’ taste and how exactly are we related, again? Just...I know I’m a nerd, but the extent to which our preferences and tolerances differ is like night and day. 

Also, just got reminded of how much I am not a fan of kids, or people who seem to have the maturity of them. Wasn’t a fan as a kid [a good chunk of my happiest childhood memories involved my nose in a book and not looking away until people grew tf up—then again I suppose my standards got kinda screwed up somewhere along the way], and now it looks like my dislike also includes seeing some of that in the media. 

Specifically, looks like the older I get, the less tolerance I have for seeing people once my age making stupid decisions onscreen or elsewhere. From the basic ‘gdi can’t you just keep it in your pants?’ [aka ace person meet every cheating subplot under the sun], to stuff like ‘peer pressure + classism = not good’ [gee whiz like I needed the reminder, no, I definitely didn’t live that, absolutely not], to...welp. 

As a writer, I get the need for drama, know the way it can carry the plot. As a nerd, I’d much prefer having a different motivating factor than what I’m seeing here and I know it’s just not my genre but I’d rather walk a mile in pouring rain without an umbrella than sit through this.

...this is hell, pt. 2. [makes me almost miss That Show That Shall Remain Unnamed]

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

Every time I think I couldn’t hate this show more, I am proved wrong. 

While I would like to be amused by the melodrama of the situation, I can’t say anything bc a family member’s watching this mess unironically and they’re not the type to take criticism of the media that they enjoy. good thing they don’t know I have a tumblr otherwise I wouldn’t have any other good way to vent

Family drama is bs I live with, seeing it onscreen is already strike one and we’re less than five minutes in and cutting it off there to avoid yet another rant.

[I’m in hell.]

[mynormalisnotyournormal]

okay, how much of this show’s drama is grounded in victim-blaming, seriously?

Maybe it’s because I’m marathoning it, maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I’ve been really used to telenovelas, but at this rate I will have successfully either invented brain bleach or cracked a molar or something out of the sheer number of times I’ve gritted my teeth because this damn show gets on every last one of my nerves

I can't even.

also a redux of prior complaints while I’m at it too, feat. me rooting for the ‘villains’ and hating the protagonists and very poorly-researched handling of very important cultural nuances.

Fun fact: I can count of one hand how many times I’ve wished the main ship would crash and burn onscreen. This show’s one such instance.