Insert something witty here

reading does take a lot of effort and it is difficult. that’s why you should do it!

like. it’s not supposed to be easy. literacy is no small feat. cultivating one’s imagination is no small feat. it’s not supposed to be easy

Breaking Bad (2008-2013) 2.13 | ABQ

That's cool you're hot but are you a nice person?

opening my followers every day and blocking the pornbots like a humble farmer pulling weeds from the vegetable garden. wiping my brow of sweat at my labours in the sweltering sun

DO NOT LET SOCIAL MEDIA TURN YOU INTO AN AMERICAN

As an American: Seriously, please don’t

ok well i don't

"Americanization" is a real phenomenon, and how non-Americans should be cautious of it is taught in different countries at school. It's taught in Greece and people from other countries told me their elementary or middle school teachers (using the American grades, to make it make sense to the majority on the site) talked to them about it.

It's common sense here, except for USians, so I'll analyze it a bit more for the dominant demographic here. In a globalized setting, the most dominant culture affects the others and sets the trends. The way our language works, how we think, our levels of politeness and intimacy, and our levels of respect. (flash news, they are going down 😂)

I don't want to imply that there is nothing good in the US. There are plenty of positives in the country. It's just that for the rest of the cultures online it's a constant daily fight to not forget our roots, with the degree US media and brands have permeated our lives. In Greece at least we watch more US American media than Greek media nowadays, and many of our shows are rip-offs of USian ones, with little adaptation to Greek reality and culture.

And to demonstrate the amount of this exposure, a 22-year-old Greek asked me the other day "if something happens we call 911, right?" This might have literally cost them their life, in a dangerous situation! Because all the movies and songs they consumed (not an unusual thing for the Greek youth) were what they knew. And I found a similar comment in this comment thread.

Lots of Americans in the notes failing to understand this post. It's not about not liking the US. It's not about you feeling ashamed or guilty for being American. It's not about you.

It's about American media drowning out native language media all over the world, and workplaces requiring the English language in your repertoire more and more. It's about proper translations and foreign language dubbing of films disappearing because "everyone speaks/should speak English anyway." All of this is leading to the deterioration of native speaker groups of languages worldwide.

In my country, Dutch language courses can't find enough people who want to study the language, while English language courses are overflowing with people who want to study the language. There is even widespread distaste for the Dutch language for being crude or sounding rough or what have you. That's our native language!!! That is our culture in its purest form!!! That is knowledge we inherit from our parents as they did from theirs!!! That is how we learned fairytales and folk stories and myths!!! That is the language that shapes our communication and our way of thinking!!! To hate your native language is to hate yourself at the deepest level.

And yet it's so normalised. Droves of foreigners living in the Netherlands will never learn a word of Dutch, because "everyone speaks English anyway." We are the world's leaders in non-native understanding of English, but it comes at a cost. A grave cost we will continue to pay.

If you're looking to support your non-American friends in any way that is not performatively shouting "I hate being an American" into the void, first of all, unlearn that hatred of yourself and your culture. You are of no help self-flagellating, and there is a difference between holding your country accountable for its issues, and denying yourself your culture because your country is doing and has done bad things.

(I am not going to get into arguments about whether or not US American culture exists. It does, and if you think differently you are welcome to change your mind.)

Secondly, learn about other countries. Learn a bit of Chinese. Take an interest in the Italian political system. Ask your friends about their countries' folklore. Watch documentaries about art from Nigeria. Absorb information that is not fed to you by American media.

And thirdly, quit expecting your non-American friends to communicate in a way that appeals to you. The French and Dutch will always seem rude to you because our way of communicating is far more direct than the way you communicate. People from other cultures may seem vague to you because their way of communicating is far more indirect, and you're not used to that either. Quit being frustrated when you don't get what we mean exactly. Quit assuming we mean the absolute worst thing you could imagine just because you didn't get what we meant the first time. Ask us to explain if you need us to, and learn to accept that we are different from you.

We are already adapting to your culture 100% of the time we are online. It's your responsibility to adapt to us, too. At least do your friends the courtesy of learning about and adapting to them.

I hope 2023 is good to my mom

people have got to learn the difference between I didnt like it and It was bad

i do this to u

by Orin

combining colloidal silver, wheatgrass, and essential oils in a cauldron to make an Elixir of Does Nothing

Oh my god I can feel its effects, such as:

1.

2.

3.

4.

and

5.

This is the direct consequence of not believing Amber Heard. It makes it easy to begin poking holes in the stories of other victims, changing the narratives around domestic violence and discrediting women. This idea of "mutual abuse" is extremely harmful and needs to be debunked on a massive scale.

Abuse requires an unequal power dynamic. It occurs when one partner wields power over the other, typically social, economic, or physical. For this reason men are much more likely to abuse women. There ARE male victims of abuse but most of them were abused by other men, and a tiny percentage were abused by women who held positions of power over them (e.g. an older woman with a much younger man). Mutual abuse is a MYTH, it does not exist and is frequently used against victims of abuse to discredit their story. Reactive abuse occurs when the victim begins to fight back against their abuser, but this is not equivalent to abuse, it is self defence. Victims are more likely to admit to using violence than abusers, who are less likely to take accountability for their aggression.

Abusers will employ a technique called DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. They begin to accuse the victim of being the abusive one and position themselves as the victim. If police misread this situation it can be fatal- police arrived at the home of Gabby Petito and her boyfriend to find a hysterical woman and a calm man with scratches on his arm. They arrested her. A short while later, she was found dead. He killed her.

This is the direct consequence of not believing women and not understanding how domestic violence functions. Famous women who have been abused are becoming the scapegoats in changing the narratives around domestic violence and making it socially acceptable to blame the victim.

I think people need to understand that part of living a healthy life is having different people who understand different parts of you, so that you don't overwhelm your friends and expect too much of them, or ignore valuable relationships because they feel "incomplete".

We all want to be fully seen and understood, but it's not shallow or meaningless to just have a pal you talk about TV shows with who isn't also, like, your platonic soulmate. That's still your friend! You still enhance each other's lives with your company. Not everything that matters is profound.

I think a lot of you are lonely because you're waiting around for someone who sees into your soul instead of just plain old lookin' at the people in your life, finding common ground, and planting a little garden there. Even if that garden only grows Star Trek fan theories and memes, it's still good.

It just... makes me real sad that you guys can't imagine a friendship where you don't talk about sex and trauma constantly, or that you think these are prerequisites for "real" friendship. Like, it legitimately breaks my heart.

listen I’m so glad you all are having fun with the dragon incest show, but I need you to understand that from the outside all I see is approximately 14 posts per day of people in truly horrific wigs with captions like “baegael did nothing wrong except all the murders”

asking myself “could i feasibly parkour in this?” before buying an article of clothing. 

we need positivity posts for people who suck at shuffling cards