I’m starting to see a bunch of people on various social media slamming Pokemon Go as stupid or
juvenile, saying that whoever plays it is clearly uneducated or living
in their mama’s basement, and I honestly have been getting kind of het
up about it.
‘Cause, here’s the thing: I fucking hate Game of Thrones.
I honestly loathe it. I think that it’s pandering trash.
The Walking Dead is worse.
I only hung on ‘til the end of Breaking Bad because I wanted everyone
to die, and I genuinely hoped that Mad Men was going to end with a
suicide-by-long-drop.
I find almost all organized sports of the
sort that you’d see on television to be criminally dull. Despite living
in Pittsburgh for twelve years I can only name three of the Steelers,
and one of those only because he used to come into my favorite
restaurant and mistreat the waitresses.
Beer is disgusting. Tastes like the fifth straight day of being sick.
But so what? WHO CARES?
My friends love this stuff. Why should my opinion matter at all? Why
should I feel that it’s my place to be a downer about any of it? Why
should I look at their conversation about how great Tyrion is, or how
much they loved that last play, or when they wax lyrical about the
difference between this smalltime brewer and that, why should I look at
their happiness and think it’s a good time to for me jump in with a
“Well, ACTUALLY–” and embarrass or shame them? Not liking stuff doesn’t
somehow make me better than them.
The world is full of spite
and exhaustion and constant, grinding sorrow. It’s full of people who
spit at children from cars, people who cause pain out of the sheer mean
joy of dragging someone else down to where they constantly sit, people
who are so afraid of not being on top that they’d burn their
neighborhood down.
“I’m too *busy* to play a child’s game, so you should be too” is on the same spectrum.
Why would I want to number myself with those people? Why would you?
When did joy become shameful? When did someone expressing delight in
something become something you felt they should be ashamed of?
This is a wonderful, community-building, health-encouraging and
ultimately harmless thing. And if we’re talking about maturity, it’s
your job as an adult to not be made so uncomfortable by someone else’s
naked enjoyment of a thing that you think you have to take it from them.
If ONE MORE PERSON says “What if they’d medicated Van Gogh!?” I think I’m permitted to set things on fire. If they’d medicated Van Gogh, he’d either have painted twice as much, or he’d have been happy and unproductive. And you know what? Starry Night wasn’t worth a terrible price in human misery. It’s neat. It wasn’t worth it.
Sometimes I wonder if being an artist makes me jaded to ART. Because it’s not magic and it’s not mystical, it’s just paint or pixels. And it can do amazing things! But you don’t owe humanity to be miserable just so you can move paint around in interesting shapes. Jesus. Art is not some kind of Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas bargain where you agree to be miserable so everybody can go “oh! Neat!” for 5 minutes.
Ursula Vernon, dropping the mic. [x] (via magdaliny)
If you adjust for superpowers Sam Wilson is inch for inch and pound for pound the strongest and most agile of the team. The reason he hasn’t been experimented on is because he already has like 800lbs of pure awesome.
I mean try it your damn self. Do a plank for two minutes.
Ok, did you do it?
Did you not because your core muscles clenched in fear? I know mine did.
You have the assistance of the earth to hold you up, meanwhile Sam is in a constant state of plank going like eighty miles an hour in the sky against all kinds of wind conditions and shit.
But SAM MOTHAFUCKING WILSON is like no I am a graceful torpedo.
ALSO WHO THE FUCK CAN HOLD STEVEN GRANT ROGERS (6′1″, 200lbs) IN ONE HAND and drag him along through the air mind you LIKE I TRIED TO PICK UP MY EIGHTY POUND DOG IN BOTH HANDS AND I THINK I PULLED SOMETHING.
Does this man just casually bench 400lbs on arm day? Does his bicep curl move the entire machine???? WHAT KIND OF MAINTENANCE REGIMEN DOES HE HAVE?
I feel like Sam does body weight workouts on all the DC light poles he can find like man I gotta take the ferry somewhere, better get my workout on.
Ugh CAN U IMAGINE
HE PROBABLY DOES LIKE TWELVE MINUTES OF EACH POSE EVERY DAY
THere’s probably an instagram account of the mysterious DC planker with like 7million dudebros following trying to figure out which protein he takes.
The wings are a fucking jet pack there is no way you can convince me they’re anything less than 50 lbs of dead weight deactivated, and then over 300lbs of torque strapped ten inches from his asshole. He’s just casually maneuvering this shit without getting thrown are yOU KIDDING.
I feel that Tony would be a far second because he moves his equipment around all the time, therefore has big arms, but I also feel like Tony is the kind of man to not know his macros and who never learned to lift with his goddamn legs and therefore has injured himself countless times until Rhodey forced him to build lifter bots.
AS A FOLLOW UP HE PROBABLY RECREATES THIS VIDEO BUT WITH STEVE
Hell yes. Sam’s a PJ, Air Force Pararescue. Do you know how incredibly badass that makes him? No? Go take a gander at this. Some highlights:
“The process of becoming a “PJ” is known informally as “the Pipeline” or “Superman
School”. Almost two years long, it’s among the longest special
operations training courses in the world. It also has one of the highest
training attrition rates in the entire U.S. special operations
community, at around 80%“
You know what the attrition rate is for the Army Rangers? At its highest, 65%. Navy SEALs? 75% These are people who parachute into combat and disaster situations, perform field surgery in the harshest conditions in the world (sometimes under fire), and do every damn thing they can – including DIE – to get people out. Their motto? “That Others May Live.” That’s not enough? How about this:
“The qualifications and capabilities of Pararescue teams are extensive:
all PJs are qualified experts in Advanced Weapons and Small Unit
Tactics, Airborne and Military Free Fall, Combat Divers, High
Angle/Confined Space Rescue operations, Small Boat/Vehicle Craft
utilization, Rescue Swimmers, and Battlefield Trauma/Paramedics.”
FUCKING BADASS. And Sam? Sam Fucking Wilson? He was picked for the EXO-7 program, which means that he was one of the best damn PJs out there to have been selected.
Sam Wilson didn’t become a superhero when he strapped on his wings and joined the Avengers. Sam Wilson was already a goddamned superhero.
so you got your Bisexuals Aren’t Real crowd, your Sexuality Is Fluid And Everyone Is Bisexual!!! crowd, your Bisexuals Are Sex Crazed Menaces crowd, your Monosexual Privilege crowd, your Bisexuals Are Only Queer If They’re In Same-Gender Relationships crowd, your Bisexual Is The Transphobic Version of Pansexual crowd, your I Can’t Understand How People Are Only Attracted To One Gender uwu crowd, your Pansexual Is A Superfluous Label And Bisexual Is Superior As A Term crowd, and what I’m saying is we got a whole mess of people up their own asses on this earth
bless confident fat girls and bless fat girls who aren’t so confident
bless fat trans girls
and fat girls of color
and fat girls with eating disorders
disabled fat girls
poor fat girls who can’t afford to do OOTD posts
fat girls who don’t wear makeup and aren’t hyper feminine
and bless fat girls who are
all fat girls
bless em all
*~*~throws confetti~*~*
Fast food workers in NY just won a $15/hr wage.
I’m a paramedic. My job requires a broad set of skills: interpersonal, medical, and technical skills, as well as the crucial skill of performing under pressure. I often make decisions on my own, in seconds, under chaotic circumstances, that impact people’s health and lives. I make $15/hr.
And these burger flippers think they deserve as much as me?
Good for them.
Look, if any job is going to take up someone’s life, it deserves a living wage. If a job exists and you have to hire someone to do it, they deserve a living wage. End of story. There’s a lot of talk going around my workplace along the lines of, “These guys with no education and no skills think they deserve as much as us? Fuck those guys.” And elsewhere on FB: “I’m a licensed electrician, I make $13/hr, fuck these burger flippers.”
And that’s exactly what the bosses want! They want us fighting over who has the bigger pile of crumbs so we don’t realize they made off with almost the whole damn cake. Why are you angry about fast food workers making two bucks more an hour when your CEO makes four hundred TIMES what you do? It’s in the bosses’ interests to keep your anger directed downward, at the poor people who are just trying to get by, like you, rather than at the rich assholes who consume almost everything we produce and give next to nothing for it.
My company, as they’re so fond of telling us in boosterist emails, cleared 1.3 billion dollars last year. They expect guys supporting families on 26-27k/year to applaud that. And that’s to say nothing of the techs and janitors and cashiers and bed pushers who make even less than us, but are as absolutely crucial to making a hospital work as the fucking CEO or the neurosurgeons. Can they pay us more? Absolutely. But why would they? No one’s making them.
The workers in NY *made* them. They fought for and won a living wage. So how incredibly petty and counterproductive is it to fuss that their pile of crumbs is bigger than ours? Put that energy elsewhere. Organize. Fight. Win.
I love this because you have Elizabeth who couldn’t even defend herself in the first one to becoming this master sword fighter and leader of ALL pirates. You watch Will who was just this angsty little brat head over heels for Elizabeth become this grown man who faced all his demons.
and then there’s Jack
“Elizabeth who couldn’t even defend herself”
Do you mean…
Elizabeth who improvised a weapon when pirates invaded her bedroom
Elizabeth who could have run for the exits but instead went straight for the swords
Elizabeth who demanded to speak with a pirate captain and then used the leverage she had to get him to agree to her demands
Elizabeth who CAME AT BARBOSSA WITH A GODDAMN KNIFE and then fucking STABBED HIM when she couldn’t get away
Elizabeth who was trapped on a tiny island with nothing but crates of rum and a man she couldn’t stand and who used those supplies to summon a rescue party for herself
Elizabeth who made a rope out of sheets and climbed down the back of a ship to save the day herself when no one would listen to her about how dangerous the pirates were
Elizabeth who snuck onto the Black Pearl, knocked two cursed pirates straight off their ship, and rescued Jack’s entire crew
Elizabeth who rowed straight back into danger without any backup instead of running away with everyone else
Elizabeth who came to Will’s rescue with a blunt object and a one-liner
Elizabeth who proceeded to team up with Will to take down all the remaining pirates in the cave
Elizabeth who – without being asked or told what was going on – faked unconsciousness to create a distraction for Will’s rescue of Jack
Elizabeth who stepped in front of a ring of muskets, successfully protecting Jack and Will from being shot or captured
Elizabeth may have learned some impressive sword tricks in the later movies, but she was a Badass from day one.
In 1964 Bernie Sanders was 23 years old, graduating college, and had developed his own life and ideals as an independent adult.
In 1964 Hilary Clinton was a 17 year old high school student, being influenced by her family and school teachers who were mostly conservative republicans. By the time she was 23 she had been active in the anti-war campaign for years, during law school she worked on civil rights issues, and by the time she graduated Yale Law she had fully changed her political alignment to be a liberal democrat.
Once again, people are pitting an adult male against a teenage girl and denouncing the teenager for not having reached the same level of maturity and life experiences as the grown man. I do think Bernie Sanders is the better choice for president but we should be showing this through their current politics, not by claiming that a 17 year old girl should have had all of her political views fully sorted out before graduating high school. The real life experiences that shape our political views usually happen in our early 20s, it’s not uncommon for someone to change their mind about political issues during this time.
Because I am sick and tired of these pissbaby bullies and their perpetuation of an out-of-date fad that represents what’s worst in fandom.
You sound like a fun person. 🙂 Please explain how we are a hate blog.
(Counterproductive because the only way to get you to disappear from my dash is to stop talking about Mary Sue shaming, which is something I feelstronglyabout)
But oh my goodness I beg your pardon! Me calling you a “hate blog” when all you do is highlight the works of vulnerable and immature creators as part of a decades-long fandom culture of mockery, ridicule and bullying. That would be like calling you a misogynist for engaging you in a practice that mainly serves to silence and discourage girls and women from writing about girls of women because they’re afraid of the social backlash from exceeding your definition of “acceptable” character-building. And would I ever do that?
No wait, I would. You’re a hate blog, a bully, a misogynist, and a blight on the face of fandom. I hope you figure it out sooner rather than later and cut it the fuck out.
Adding:
The thing is, most of the time these days, while there’s the bit of me that is angry for the kids and baby-writers who are being mocked and attacked at their vulnerable places (and yes, that can in fact include “the really egregious cases” where it’s “really deserved”), the rest of me is just … embarrassed.
Embarrassed at the mean-spiritedness, embarrassed at the arrogance behind setting oneself up as the arbiter of what’s good-vs-bad, embarrassed at the sheer pettiness of hunting out stories to point and laugh at.
And no, it’s not innocently helpful. Yes, it is mean spirited and petty. Mocking fandom stuff put up for free is no better than mocking someone’s clothes and then defending yourself by saying “but we’re helping them and giving them advice. If you weren’t asked, it’s not your business: you didn’t pay that author, you didn’t pay to read it (or look at it), it’s not really your business, any more than their clothing is. Even if they’re really, really annoying.
The reality is, of course, that nobody engaged in doing it is going to give a damn about what I say. Much like they did fifteen years ago, they are going to find excellent (to them) reasons why their work is not only harmless fun, but even good for fandom! No really! Because that’s what people who like to tease and belittle other people do. It’s what they’ve always done, and always will, and surprisingly otherwise decent people will come up with astonishing reasons why, in this case, meanness and pettiness is totally okay. (Those writers put their stuff on the internet, after all! That’s totally asking for it!)
Which is in turn to say: this isn’t really about an argument. This post, as with any other reblogs and so on, is because I know I’ve got followers that those kinds of sites and blogs and tumblrs upset and intimidate, and back when they were messing me up I never had anyone to say “hey: ignore’em. Their opinions are meaningless and they’re kind of being jerks, and everything they complain about applies to Batman. Write what you want; if writing what you want isn’t getting the response you want, then go looking for some advice or some help, but do it from people who seem kind and thoughtful. But if what you’re writing is making you and your bffs happy, please, write more, practice more, have fun, and ignore the mean girls.”
And you never know: your thirteen year old semi-misfit aggressive Latina girl who does parkour, lost her father at a young age, and then became one of the recovering Winter Soldier’s first human contacts and the one to give him a kitten might turn out to be close to your most popular character. (I’m still pleased but utterly weirded out by this. Mostly because of the Mary Sue blogs of my adolescence.)
Kimchi and Justice 