I said this a couple years ago (one year ago?) and most of the comments on tumblr actually did not know this, so to reiterate what you’re up against: a VERY mainstream belief among American Christian fundamentalists is that they are the only ones who experience love. They raise their kids to think that everyone “living in sin” (all other faiths, atheists, and LGBT people) goes through life sad and empty, falsely believing they know what love feels like, and will never know until they’re “saved.” It’s not as simple as them diminishing the humanity of others out of hate, but being deeply brainwashed to believe others are automatically mentally less human.
They are also very good at convincing new converts that they really are experiencing this “real” love for the “first time;” the same way members of all cults can become wholeheartedly convinced that they’re receiving psychic alien messages or communing with spirits. Cult conditioning is simply that powerful.
The flip side of the redefinition of “love” is also that Christians genuinely believe they can “love” someone by calling them to repentance for their sinful lifestyle. They genuinely “love” their gay kids by not supporting their ~homosexual lifestyle~. They genuinely “love” people in foreign countries by continuing to send missionaries to colonize “spread the gospel.” “Loving other people” gets twisted into “doing what you think is best for other people,” regardless of if it’s actually good for that person or if that person wants you to do that.
Happiness get redefined too. As a child I was taught that while “people without the gospel” may claim to be happy, they couldn’t experience true happiness, because “true and lasting happiness” only came from the gospel. Other people could only experience temporary worldly pleasure, like the kind you get from buying something cool or riding a roller coaster (yes that was an actual thing that was said) or “indulging in sin,” but it would ultimately make them unhappy in the long run.
I was told that, since those people had never known the true happiness of the gospel, they mistook worldly pleasures as happiness, but in reality their lives were empty and less meaningful and deep down, they could sense something was “missing.” Also, apostates were all depressed and angry alcoholics who couldn’t be truly happy bc they’d rejected the gospel.
One of the techniques cults and high control groups use is redefining words to make the definitions suit their purposes. Love and happiness are just two words that get redefined this way.
there’s no hate like Christian love, but it also seems like there’s no missery like christian joy
I mean I think people should curate their own fandom experience and whatnot and it’s perfectly fair to just avoid things one is uncomfortable with…
That being said. From personal experience? Immunizing myself to all my discomforts by browsing through pixiv and kink memes with raised eyebrows while searching for things I am interested in back when tagging was non-existent has really made my fandom experience much more pleasant nowadays.
I have preferences, for sure. But I have no fear. I have no cringe. The filthiest, grossest fanwork holds no powers over me. I am a god.
Like honestly dl;dr and block on sight is respectable and all but I genuinely think everyone could just benefit from purposefully exposing yourself to your nOTP and non-triggering squicks sometimes? (And obviously don’t go bother the creators for it.) If only so that it makes it easier/safer to search for content you like without living in fear of accidentally glimpsing something you hate and having that ruin your day.
Training oneself to be comfortable with mild discomfort is a highly under-rated skill in this day and age
I think its interesting that “desensitized” is a dirty word now. Like…when I did my therapy, being desensitized was the GOAL. It was the fucking dream.
But also, desensitization essentially gives you the agency to say, “okay so that felt bad, now I can either put it away, really explore and understand what that discomfort is trying to tell me, or discard it.” Idk…some of yall are so fucking distressed all the time and you call it “being normal” or “being a decent human being” but…it isn’t normal to be distressed all the time. It isn’t decent to be distressed all the time. And like…I have disords and chemical shit going on in my brain but if you don’t have all that….I think you need to look at your distress and ask why it is actually enduring and who benefits from you being distressed (lessons from a pre-bush era american).
why is “report hate speech” not one of the default options with “report spam” instead of “report sexually explicit material”. i’m not a cop so i don’t care if people post hole & pole but i would love if i didn’t have to explain every time why it’s bad when there are nazis
I love the staff blogs b/c being surrounded by chronically mendacious company men gives the website a fun film noire flavor
I never knew how much the user experience of a website could be improved by introducing a cadre of naysmiths whose job is to tell you lies about the website you’re both using while you’re using it. It’s very surreal.
i was talking with a friend and i mentioned the term “pillow princess”, and we started talking about like. opposite terms. what i meant by that was more along the lines of “service top”, but he took that to mean just like, the boy version.
he just started dropping names: blanket boy, duvet dude, mattress man. fitted sheet fucker. boxspring boy. headboard hunk. he just kept GOING
pillow princess looking for matching headboard hunk :3
The other day someone told me “Oh, bless your heart” with complete sincerity and I had to take a minute to be like “Madam, I appreciate the sentiment but I need you to understand that in my culture this would be a declaration of war”
“Oh, bless your heart,” “I’ll pray for you,” and “That’s nice” are the three Killing Words for which one can legally initiate the holmgang
“Name your shieldmaiden, DEBORAH.”
“You know it will be Mabel, my husband’s sister. Do you have anyone who will stand on the isle with you, SHARON?”
“Beatrice, who is my friend since cottillion, you doxy to a coal-chewer.”
“Beatrice? Of the knock knees and round heels? I hear she spends most of her time on her back… both within the circle and whenever her husband it is out of town!”
“You’re just jealous because everyone knows she sucks dick better than you… including Fred.”
“…I will gut you like a salmon and feed your eyes to your children, Sharon.”
-Saga of the Mobile-daelar Folk, Chapter 4, often called “The PTA Meeting”
i think we need more trans people in fashion because y'all dress like jrpg characters sometimes and i envy that so much. i wish i could pull off a vest and a crop top with a skirt and knee-high boots. its pioneering fashion
Trans folk will dress like this on a Wednesday at 7pm and they’re so right for that. i crave what they have.
I feel bad for people who’ve never experienced a corn maze bc it’s not even fun but you just have to do it
I’d like to reblog this with some tags and comments bc I’ve really appreciated reading them
people who get what I mean:
people who have found a way to have fun in the corn maze but who I’m a little worried about:
person who we are going to put in the corn:
Sometimes you will see what looks like an insightful post but it will be anchored by quotes from Conflict Is Not Abuse and it really just calls the whole thing into question
