Things I Read

My friend made me make this blog

[uninspiredbylife]

Financial help for vet & utilities

I’m in a tough spot right now. My dog, Buddy, is on an expensive vet diet for his kidneys and I just took in a senior dog whose person was having health issues. My new senior dog, Chip, needs surgery to remove bad teeth that are causing him issues. With all these unexpected expenses for the dogs, I’ve had to dig into my savings and it’s gone. I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay for the treatment they need and my bills coming due. I can’t apply for care credit and I’ve maxed out my cards. Anything you can spare will help immensely in getting them the care they need.

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[veeaziel]

every day i am percieved™️

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

There is a reason for this though!

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I’m glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love–the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail. The fact that you find joy in the process of reading (or listening!) to stories–that is what matters.

[attackofjak]

I feel understood 🥰

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

a bunch of people have reblogged this with the default “i feel called out” reaction….and i know when we say that we mean it tongue-in-cheek….but this comment sorta blew my mind & shifted my perspective up and to the left a little thank you♥

[zadabug98]

The Serotonin is stored in the Ao3

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

The Serotonin is stored in the Ao3

[kizo2703]

#this 100% happened to me#but i’m a middle aged writer and english teacher with an academic literature background#when i burned out got sick and had a breakdown i couldn’t read regular books anymore i could only read fanfic#i saw on twitter where someone said literature is prescriptive. you read the kind of fiction that fits your personal need#we’re all overwhelmed right now and that’s why we like the tropey fiction whether fanfic or romance novels or superhero movies#we UNDERSTAND the rules of fiction and dont’ have to work to understand while the payoff comes quickly. kiss. hea. battle/victory

[sadwhore04]

if a demon possessed me I’d just b like ok take it from here good luck man

[dinobot]

if i start talking to you about really stupid shit and im not trying to look intellegent anymore that means youve done it. obtained true trust levels. god tier friendship. 

[anxietyproblem]

[chewbacca]

🖌️🎨🐕 [source: oxyomic via r/aww on reddit]

[the-spaztic-fantastic]

[midgelenny]

reasons why i am now in love with johnny flynn as mr. knightley in emma (2020), in chronological order:

our first glimpse of knightley is as an independent person, completely separate from his relationship to emma, and though those first minutes of his screen time have very little dialogue, we see him (*ahem* all of him *ahem* *chef’s kiss*) and bits of his character shining through in how he carries himself during vulnerable moments, how he interacts with his servants and banters with them, how he is clearly an energetic, against the grain, down-to-earth man, from his clear familial intimacy with the housekeeper to his desire to walk everywhere rather than taking a carriage. we also get a simple establishing shot of him walking through empty covered rooms that sets up the importance of the relationship with the woodhouse family in his presumably lonely bachelor life

(but also, god bless autumn de wilde for truly directing this movie in the female gaze, BLESS YOU)

just…the way he’s always soft and familiar with emma - they banter and argue passionately, but also sit close together and laugh in private moments together showing how kindred they are

the DANCE at the BALL - the way he carefully takes her hand before the dance, the way you can literally see him get drawn into the dance and staring into her eyes, the way he forgets the steps and does the WRONG MANEUVER at the end so that she is in his arms, the HANDS the hands ok i’ll stop now

the way he seems so stricken and confused and desperate and longing as he gets left behind after the dance, and then runs after her?! and then stares at her when she runs out to meet him?! the restless pining is just ungghhh

and THEN he’s adorably bumbling and thinks emma wants him to stay but then emma asks for frank to stay instead and he does that adorable scrunched up face like …”really? him? in front of my salad?”

also, taking off the uncomfortable bits of his period costume so he can starfish sprawl on the floor in romantic frustration what a mood

i liked how, in the box hill fight, you get a sense that he’s not so much straight angry at her but more viscerally disappointed in emma because he loves her so much and knows that she should know better and that she is capable of being better and he just desperately wishes that she could find the empathy he knows she possesses underneath her societal mask of superiority

him running and hopping over walls to meet emma before The Scene was absolutely adorable

he gets teary-eyed not ONCE but TWICE at the end of this movie because he loves emma so much and he’s so EARNEST as he bares his heart to her - he is definitely the most emotionally moved and visibly in love mr knightley of all the adaptations, and i just…MY HEART

he’s bumbling for most of the movie but THEN at the end he’s suddenly smooth and sneakily like “oh mr. woodhouse maybe you are right maybe there is a draft in the room oh no i must go sit next to emma” and then he’s so SWEET and he looks so fond and even more in love when she gives him the adorable little peck of a kiss… and they do the forehead touch!! as he gazes at her and slowly leans back in?! i was SWOONING i tell you

basically, johnny flynn was just a really SOFT mr. knightley and i love him thank you for coming to my TED talk

[catchymemes]

[adhd-vibes]

Does anyone else do that thing while reading where your eyes are like 3 lines ahead of where your brain is?

[bluequestionmark]

Do you mean skipping to the next paragraph and not being able to stop yourself from reading a few lines but then you have to go back to where you were before and try really hard to read in a linear fashion but it's boring now that you know what happens next? Yes

[adhd-vibes]

oh you are me. 

[geekandmisandry]

I feel called out that I skipped the entire first post, started reading the second one and then had to go back up to the first.

[valtsv]

i hate it when people ask me to "explain my thought process" like hell if i know

[valtsv]

"what's going on in that head of yours?" nothing i want to be a part of

[russingon]

i love how legolas is canonically absurdly ready to throw hands for his friends

[russingon]

boromir: and what would a mere ranger know of this?

legolas despite literally being in a council about the fate of the world with the most important people alive:

[russingon]

eomer: i would cut off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a little higher off the ground

legolas, despite the fact they’re surrounded on all sides by men with big spears:

[jenny-jinya]

Short comic, while I work on something bigger on the side. It is nevertheless a very important topic. A lot of seabirds die because they eat plastic. They feed their chicks with the waste. It’s really tragic.

[coq]

not knowing how to respond to messages and forgetting about them for so long that it becomes impossible to respond to them without it being weird is the bane of my socially awkward existence

[sandersstudies]

Man I remember when I was a kid and my mom would take me to the library and I'd come out with a stack of books like a foot+ tall - sometimes the librarians had to override the computer which told us we were checking out Too Much. And I'd get home and I'd plow through like three four five six chapter books in an afternoon and then I'd emerge for dinner only to go back for one more book, which I was still up reading two hours past bedtime and like damn those were the days huh.

[catgirlwarrior]

Goddamn throwback to when I had an attention span

[uninspiredbylife]

Or when I’d request so many books at once that I had to have my own special shelf when they came in.

[slow-riot-deactivated20200720]

Weirdly anti-millennial articles have scraped the bottom of the barrel so hard that they are now two feet down into the topsoil

[tramampoline]

its so wild like “this generation with no fucking money is learning to prioritize essentials” and all these chucklefucks can write is advertisements for these companies

[catparazzi]

at least our jeans won’t tear at the seams after two washes

[awfullydull-deactivated20170619]

FUCK FABRIC SOFTENER IT’S UTTERLY POINTLESS

AND FUCK DRYER SHEETS LITERALLY NOBODY EVER HAS ENOUGH OF A PROBLEM WITH STATIC TO WARRANT PAYING OUT THE ASS FOR THAT SHIT

DO YOU WANT CLEAN CLOTHES? YOU DON’T EVEN NEED TO BUY FUCKING DETERGENT JUST MAKE YOUR OWN* IT’S SO GODDAMN EASY AND 80X CHEAPER

FUCK THE ENTIRE LAUNDRY INDUSTRY *Fuck The Entire Laundry Industry Recipe

1 cup Washing Soda (not Baking Soda. Different things.)

1 cup Borax (not Boric Acid. Also a different thing.)

½ cup - 1 cup grated bar soap (you can use literally anything. I often use Ivory because it’s easy to get and I find it works well, a lot of people like Fels-Naptha, which is an actual laundry bar. Some people use Dr. Bronner’s. Really does not fucking matter.) After grating your soap, combine all ingredients. That’s it. That’s the whole thing. Use maybe a ¼ cup per load.

[madsciences]

^^^ I’ve done this for years now and it works as well as any store bought detergent

[ghostoftwentysomethingspast]

WHAT Thank you, tumblr user awfullydull! Your URL does no justice to the good advice you give!

[legallynonbinary]

Also you can MAKE your own washing soda very VERY cheaply.

Step one: acquire $5 bag of baking soda from Costco.

Step two: lay that motherfucking baking soda out on a baking tray.

Step three: bake the baking soda on a tray in an oven at 400° for 1 hour (to make the moisture evaporate, leaving washing soda)

Step four: revel in how easy and cheap it is to make your own washing soda, and maybe take a moment to be angry that the industry upcharges the fuck out of something that is so easy to make.

[legallynonbinary]

I see some of y'all complaining about static and/or wanting nice smelling laundry. Go to a craft store, find 100% wool yarn balls. If it doesn’t come in a ball, ask an employee to make it into a tight ball for you. Wash in the washing machine to make it felted. Remove from washer, add a few drops of essential oil to the ball, allow to seep in. Dry with clothing. Doesn’t need to be rewashed ever, and if it stops smelling, add few more drops of essential oil. Bam, reusable dryer sheets.

[polar-academia-deactivated20230]

I love this post so much it’s filled with helpful advice, hatred, saving money, and fucking the system all in one

[fieldbears]

Men: “Guys are expected to be buff, with defined abs, and are otherwise considered worthless by women.”

Women: “We adore David Tennant, the gangliest collection of limbs to ever masquerade as a human being.”