the Fear Takes Hold

[baradragon]

[52stations]

i've got the kind of eyebags that make people in movies say 'you look like hell, detective. go home.'

[sexygaywizard]

FUCK AMERICA HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY CEASAR SALAD 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽❗❗❗

[kaban-bang]

[lakemojave]

You know that whatever character did those problematic things isn't like. Real, right?

[lakemojave]

You are aware that a fictional character is just a rhetorical construct designed to fulfill a narrative/thematic purpose right? That their actions are written by an author who wants to use them to explore complex ideas and moral gray areas within the safe confines of fiction right? That they aren't a real person who has killed real people right?

[cowboyhatesithere]

250 years and most native tribal groups continue to not be federally recognized. Embarrassing!

[cowboyhatesithere]

Hey so a small thing that literally everyone who sees this is capable of is correcting any “used to” statements about native people in this country.

“Native people used to live in this National Park” No. They still do.

“Native people used to tell these stories-” No. They still do.

“Native people used to use this plant as a natural remedy-” No. They still do.

Better yet, familiarize yourself with the tribes local to you. Odds are, they do not yet have federal recognition. You can still read the stories they have to share, you can share their ongoing battle for recognition with others, you can sign petitions and spread the word to others to do so as well. But do something.

[evilwriter37]

Saying “this niche, properly tagged, warned, and rated piece of fiction could theoretically hurt someone” is not a good argument. This properly labeled cookie with the allergen information at the bottom that contains gluten could theoretically harm me very badly, but only if I consume it. Tags are like nutrition labels, and warnings are like allergy information. If you know you have an allergy to something, the logic is to stay away from it. It is the same with fiction. I’m not running through stores yelling at people to take all the products with gluten off the shelves just because it could hurt me. Instead I ignore it and go to the gluten free section and find cookies that are right for me. And if running through a grocery store yelling sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is. Stop doing the same with fiction.

[kokichis-dead-dove-club]

this is the best way i’ve seen this put!!

[lynati]

And just like with food, what might be harmful for one person to consume could be quite *beneficial* for others. One man’s trigger is another man’s catharsis.

[randomslasher]

AND if you lack the maturity/self control/awareness to stop yourself from eating things that could potentially harm you, you either 1) are too young to be making your own food choices and should be supervised by a parent/other adult who is supposed to be responsible for you (and the store clerk who put the food on the shelf is NOT) or 2) need to take accountability for your own actions, because if you deliberately consumed something you knew could hurt you as a fully autonomous adult, then you really have no one to blame but yourself.

[nikoford]

I’d like to add that within AO3, “Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings” is, in this food analogy, like the food labels that read “This product was manufactured in a facility where [potential food allergens] are used in the production of some products”. It’s not telling you they’re in there, but even more importantly, it’s not telling you they’re not. This is not the same as “No Archive Warnings Apply” which would be the certified [food allergen] free food. One guarantees a certain experience, the other has given you no promises as to what may or may not be included and is very much a consume-at-your-own-risk product.

[sevdrag]

perfection

[novelconcepts]

Hey, man, c'mere. Listen. Get in real close, this is important.

You're gonna make stuff again. You're gonna make stuff you're proud of. You're gonna make stuff you're excited to share. You're going to feel that overwhelming drive to create, not just the frantic I want to want to you're stuck in now. You're going to have awesome ideas, and you're going to make them into reality. You're going to create again. You're still an artist. You're still a writer. You're still home to the same passion you had before. You'll find it again. It's not gone. It's just resting. Let it rest. You're going to make stuff again. I promise.

[becquerel]

what if we both had the same name and were discussing the rpf status of the mayor of new york

[waltersnowwhite-deactivated2013]

a detailed list of things i hate

hot weather

high temperatures

heat

warmer than average conditions

[tomhoppusdelonge]

sorry for the mixed signals I don’t know what I want or what I’m doing mostly

[segamascott]

[akindplace]

scribbellz

[mezbiyen-deactivated20220330]

[artistformerlyknownasbutttrumpet]

i was training a young person at work, and she referred to sexual assault as "SA" out loud, and i immediately was like, "no, it's sexual assault, call it what it is," bc idgaf if the algorithm overlords have taught y'all that you should fear direct language, how tf do any of you expect to ever address real issues with any amount of seriousness if you can't even say the words? imagine an advocate looking a sexual assault survivor in the eyes and asking "did he grape you?" it's absolutely fucking absurd, but these young interns and new hires are coming into an environment where we deal with survivors of all different kinds of abuse, and they're coming with the mindset that the words are as bad as the actions, and that makes them shitty at the job and look juvenile af

i HATE self-censorship for a lot of reasons, but being in crisis work makes it even more frustrating. who are you censoring for? like i am being so fr, WHO are you censoring for? have you even thought it through? people who have been raped know that they have been raped. if someone attempts suicide or is grieving someone who did, saying "sewer slide" isn't going to protect them from any of the feelings. a murder victim's family isn't going to feel better bc you said "unalived" instead of murdered. if anything, it's just extremely invalidating and othering. it's saying "what happened to you is so bad that i won't even say the word," which is NOT trauma-informed care. you are not protecting survivors/victims when you self-censor. the ONLY things you protect when you self-censor are the puritanical ideologies that are being encouraged by rich fascists who want your money and obedience

say the fucking words, guys. just say the goddamn words before i go insane!!!

[artistformerlyknownasbutttrumpet]

not to put the spotlight on you, friend, but i wanted to address these tags bc they're rly important. my post was about the person i was training, but what actually inspired me to write it was bc i was at a presentation yesterday for someone from the child advocacy center where they interview children who have been abused, and the whole time i was thinking about how sanitized so many people are to basic words--words i was listening to at 9 in the morning in a professional setting, mind you, and i promise nothing bad happened to anyone in that room bc we had to hear uncensored language--and how ridiculous and dangerous that is for precisely the reason you highlighted

it's so important, especially with children who might not have the same understanding as an adult might about what they've experienced, to be able to use the proper language. these interviews are used to make arrests and as court evidence to convict perpetrators. direct language is better for survivors' general mental well-being, sure, but it's also vital to justice being served. children need to be able to articulate what happened to them clearly for it to hold up in court. obviously you need to approach those conversations in a specific way, and only trained professionals should conduct these sorts of interviews, but everyone needs to be able to say the uncomfortable words, or else children won't know them, or will think they aren't allowed to say them. it goes back to that "this is so bad that we won't even say the word" thing. like, ok, so then how is a child, or even an adult for that matter, supposed to feel like they can report what happened to them if everyone is acting like the mere mention of it, even in an academic context, is worth ostracizing/blocking/censoring the person who said it?

idk, man. i recognize i am in a unique position bc of my job, but this does not only pertain to ppl in crisis work. people in general need to get way more comfortable with being uncomfortable posthaste, and they RLY need to accept that they shouldn't change their language to appease a corporation just so they can get views and internet clout. almost everyone will continue to suffer if they don't, but it's the vulnerable people they're supposedly protecting who are going to suffer the most

[transformativeworks]

Updates to "No Fandom" Additional Tags, June 2026

AO3 tag wranglers have canonized some new "No Fandom" additional tags and revised subtag and metatag relationships of existing "No Fandom" canonical tags. Check out the latest news post for details: https://otw-news.org/2wdv4dm5

[the-enchanted-little-star]

[thiswasachoice]

This is a spreadsheet from Old Kingdom Egypt, written about 4500 years ago. It was part of the diary and logbook of Merer, an inspector responsible for the transportation of materials to Giza for the construction of Khufu's pyramid. There's something beautiful about the organization here, how his rows and columns would fit in just as well in Excel as any modern spreadsheet of delivery records. Across the yawning gulf of ages, we're united by this mundane and incredibly human task. I love reading things like this. They remind me of the fundamental similarity of humans across time. They were no less intelligent or skilled than we, and oftentimes had to be moreso, to account for the many technological aids they lacked.

I often hear people talk about how showing a smartphone to a medieval peasant would shock him, but I want to show Merer Excel. I think pivot tables would make him cry tears of joy.

[fiumeikikotoben]

@copperbadge, could Merer be a distant ancestor of yours?

[copperbadge]

I mean I feel like, spiritually, Merer is an ancestor to all of those who kneel at the altar of Rows And Columns.