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Pedestrian traffic lights

here’s my thing: people tend to live in a lalaland where trying to rehabilitate men who commit violent crimes is gonna help them. women have been trying this for years. people have tried this before. i don’t believe in that for rapists. i’ve tried my best to see where people are coming from but rape is calculated. it’s intended to make you feel inferior. it’s intended to hurt the victim, it’s intended to traumatize the victim. when it comes to domestic violence, i don’t fucking know. i personally have seen women claim their boyfriends who used to be abusive were able to “turn themselves around” but i just don’t think we should risk these predators and abusers running around and doing heinous shit because “oh but if we work with them they’ll be good ☹️☹️☹️”. also i feel like this is sentiment is just another way to coddle and focus on men when it’s women who need this support and attention

Rehab isn't going to fix them. Therapy won't fix them. More hugs or whatever won't fix them. Giving an abuser therapy just teaches them how to better manipulate future victims better.

episodes of paranoia, delusions, and dissociation

cyclical thoughts/spirals

magical thinking

episodes that can be very similar to psychosis or mania

attributing human emotions to inanimate objects

dermatillomania and trichotillomania

false sensations (like bugs crawling on skin)

paying way too much attention to very small things

physical health issues caused by compulsions

symptoms that are "problematic" (doing things that are considered "wasteful", needing reassurance or validation from others...)

extreme, deep, dreadful fear of things that can't truly be explained

disconnect between emotional and cognitive/logical responses or thoughts

contamination fears

problems with addiction and dopamine regulation

other people trying to force exposure therapy onto you without your consent and it making your anxiety way worse

tumblr when you word a post slightly vaguely/poorly:

Idk when I was younger, you could just go and go and find exciting new websites full of whatever cool things you wanted to explore. An overabundance of ways to occupy your time online.

Now, it's just... Social media. That's it. Social media and news sites. And I'm tired of social media and I'm tired of the news.

You're right that the internet is smaller than it used to be, but there's still some cool stuff left in the corners. I'd recommend checking checking out Neocities if you haven't--it's an independent web hosting platform like Geocities of the old web, and there are hundreds of interesting and active pages discoverable both through their search function and through web buttons (links attached to small pictures with the title of a website) within the websites themselves. Here are three examples of web buttons you may find in link pages:

Most Neocities websites have link pages or button collections with anywhere from tens to hundreds of these. Don't be afraid to explore!

If you're looking for something more like a search engine, I can point you towards Marginalia. It's not a particularly smart engine, but it's perfectly usable if you've ever been taught to use search engines back when they were mostly run through keywords instead of full sentence comprehension. There's also an "about" and "tips" section on the front page with more information. The algorithm of Marginalia can be filtered by the user to allow, disallow, or require JavaScript depending on your needs, plus there are filters designed specifically to prioritize web 1.0 sites or mostly text-based ones. It is possible to search for modern websites with it, but it can return websites from just about any decade (since the invention of the web, obviously) so long as they contain the information you're looking for. For example, here are some random interesting sites I've found using Marginalia:

Native Languages of the Americas: Native American Cultures

BASIC HTML COMPETENCY IS THE NEW PUNK FOLK EXPLOSION!

Earthbound Text Labs by Bill Eager

The possibilities for discovery are truly endless.

Now you might want to know about directories. These make browsing for websites easier, but require you to read through and judge which ones to visit, as there aren't algorithms ranking the sites besides the whim of whoever coded the directory. Some of them have themes, others don't. Here are two that I've used:

Yesterlinks Directory

Ichigo Directory

Directories can be harder to come by just by surfing the net, but they aren't impossible to find. Many personal websites have their own directories of interesting sites hidden within them.

Webrings are similar to directories, but are actually more community-based. You have to register your website to be a part of a webring, usually by sending an email to whoever runs it and meeting some kind of entry criteria. For example, my personal website used to be a part of a webring called Sweet Dreams, which was for websites that heavily utilize color palettes and images of cute things, particularly sweets. Webrings will give you access to a widget upon entry that allow visitors and other members to browse between the registered websites in a massive ring, ergo, where the term gets its name. Webrings can have any theme or criteria for entry. If you can make a website about it, you can find a webring for it.

Now, you might be wondering about social media alternatives. I can't offer much, but I can nudge you towards the idea of forums. Here's one I found that could really use some traffic. I also browse a bit on MelonLand forum, which is actually closed right now--it's currently closed on Mondays--but on any other day of the week, you can find a fun community there dedicated to web revival. You can find it through MelonLand's main page. I'd also recommend checking out SpaceHey, which is a MySpace clone that's customizable and easy to use.

Are you a word nerd like me, and my father before me?

Then may I introduce you to...

Her “violent revenge” was asking him to find a new job because he had an affair at work, btw.

That was her violent revenge. Find a new job so he doesn’t keep having an affair with his coworker.

Gene Roddenberry created series based on the hope that someday humanity would move past our differences and build a better world together.

He was also anti-theistic in general and anti-Semitic in particular. He was a misogynist. He was very likely the man who raped Grace Lee Whitney.

Does this mean he didn’t truly believe that people of all races and creeds should come together? That gay people had a place in the universe he created? I’d say no, I think he was genuine in that.

It is, in fact, perfectly possible for a person to hold progressive views and not act accordingly. It is possible for someone to believe one group deserves to be liberated but not all.