any time i feel instinctive discomfort or irritation at somebody doing something i find weird but is truly harmless, i legit say to myself “it’s hard getting by in this world, what is your problem with somebody who found a way to make it easier for themselves?” like i had a full turnaround on so many infamously cringe subcultures because of it because i don’t see it that way anymore. it’s not cringe, it’s somebody making this bitch of a life more bearable.

My woke take, as someone who has worked in both a public library and a school library, is that we desperately need both more books that are at a higher reading level but a less mature subject matter, and more books that are at a lower reading level but a more mature subject matter, because 8 year olds who are advanced readers are still 8 year olds and don't want to read about graphic violence and torture, and teens and adults who have learning difficulties or who are just later readers for whatever reason are still teens and adults and don't want to read about Billy the Bunny going to school or whatever the hell.

Shoutout to people in the notes also mentioning people learning the language, I should've mentioned that really, given that I've been stuck reading German picture books myself while learning German.

it’s kind of insane how much you watch star trek run into the same brick wall over and over again with the klingons because they’ll do a good interesting episode regarding klingon society and then they’ll be like btw they’re like this because of BIOLOGY and you’re like ok man. you ruined it

similarly you’ll have characters being like oh klingons are a violent xenophobic warrior race because it’s in their blood and then you’re like ah i see this is a perspective we are going to refute by the end of the episode to gain a more nuanced and rounded perspective of klingon society and then they just won’t do that

thats one thing i actually wish people would speak about more in relation to trauma, often trauma especially trauma within children is not dictated specifically by What Happened but how their emotions to the traumatizing event or situation were responded to by the trusted people in their life. two children can go through the same exact experience and the biggest factor that changes their reaction is how their parents respond to their reaction, or if their parents had already taught them coping skills that were applicable. so many parents and guardians panic and freak out about how they can prevent their child from being traumatized by outside forces, but every child will encounter multiple traumatizing events just due to the fact that that's a part of life. the important part of parenthood is not doing everything you can to prevent an event from happening in the first place but learning and preparing how to provide them with tools to help them cope with whatever happens if something happens. i feel like this is an argument that can also aide in the support of anti-censorship but i never see anyone talk about how if parents stopped worrying about banning shit and started worrying about learning how to explain things and help guide their children to have healthy views on things they'd have an easier time managing their childrens internet use. which is just odd to me that people don't bring it up.

Actually, no, I don't think that friendships dropping like flies in your late 20s and early 30s because no one has time for that between overwork and family obligations and marriage and kids and partners and the ritual of the time slayer is normal and ok. No I don't think deep conversations and spontaneous adventures being replaced with a tired coffee every six months is a normal part of growing up. I don't think that emotional intimacy and soul bonds disintegrating in the face of practical inconvenience is a fact of life. I think that means something is deeply deeply wrong with our society and I will never forgive it for the friends I've lost