#nuance exists

[shallow-wordsalad]

Words mean things.

That must be true, because otherwise language doesn't function. If words were entirely meaningless, there would be no difference between talking and nonverbal grunting—everything conveyed through context and inflection. That's obviously not the case; words do have meaning, and we've largely agreed on those meanings within languages. However, when I say "watermelon" and you say "watermelon", we're imagining different things. If I said "wow that box was as heavy as a watermelon", you might be confused if I look tired when saying it.

Watermelons aren't that heavy, you think. You're thinking of the personal watermelons you had every summer, that you bought to split with your family over a barbecue. You could carry them as a kid, they're small.

I'm thinking of the larger watermelons that my dad bought to cut into cubes and put in the fridge for a week's worth of lunch snacks. They were huge and took a while to break down. They shook the table when he set them down.

We said the same word, but we meant different things. The words had concrete definitions, but the exact meaning is something we assigned ourselves, which defines only our own perception of the word and all associated with it.

Now what do you picture when I say "rock?" What shape is it? Can you pick it up?

Which is bigger: "Huge", or "Giant"?

Which is worse: An "injury" or a "wound"?

Which is faster: A moment, or an instant?

Define the color teal. Now define grey.

Define "male" and "female".

Define "lesbian", "gay", "bisexual", "transgender," and "queer".

Define "pornography". Define "sex".

I'm sure you can. I'm sure someone can give me exact data that empirically proves their definition. You could point to a scientific or medical or geological database that gives a certain, absolute definition. And yet I can point to something which exists somewhere on the fringe of your definition. Do you expand your definition to include that fringe case, or rigidly insist that "words mean things" and insist we call that thing something else?

In one field, words lose meaning—anything can mean anything, and we're back to pointing and growling in context. In the other, we subdivide everything into increasingly smaller boxes, rigidly assigned words in a fractal of definitions.

Words mean things. Whatever "things" are.

[the-cosmic-cauldron]

🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

People don’t talk about this enough, but make sure the person you’re dating isn’t racist, internally racist, prejudiced, sexist, misogynistic, colorist, homophobic, ableist, xenophobic, fatphobic, or transphobic.

Some people will sit with their partner and casually degrade marginalized and diverse groups of people—without realizing how deeply it reflects in their own personal lives and relationships.

At first, it might seem like harmless joking or shared laughter, but the truth is: if your partner cannot begin to love and hold space for people who are different from them, the relationship is bound to fail.

If your partner lacks compassion, empathy, and the ability to hold space for nuance, the relationship will inevitably become toxic.

🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

[transgwender616]

I wish more people online knew what context and nuance is

"You shouldn't nail rats to strangers."

"Oh so your saying nailing is always wrong even if i'm making a house?"

"No i'm saying you shouldn't nail rats to strangers."

[twilightether]

Tamlin, Rhysand and Nuance

This is a defense of Tamlin? I guess?

A lot of people hate him, and to be honest that's valid. His actions towards Feyre were awful. From his treatment of her during Acmaf to how he treated her during the high lord meeting. I'm not defending him, I just want to look deeper.

Rhys is also said to have done many terrible things during his tome under the mountain. The talk about him during the first book is probably partly due to Tamlin being his dramatic, over protective self, but its also do to the stuff he did.

One of the differences I noticed is that we don't really see the stuff Rhys does on page. They are hinted at for sure, but not shown as they happen. Tamlin's shitty actions are laid out in detail as well as how they effect the people around him(Feyre).

there's also the matter of choice. Rhys did the terrible things he did, presumably out of fear for his life and the night court. Tamlin also took his actions out of fear for his loved ones. The actions were incredibly misguided and not ok, but that was what i believe his intentions to be. They both had the same intentions.

I wish for Tamlin redemption. In an actual sense. I want him and Feyre to talk (I know communication is a wild ask for these fuckers) it out. I want Tamlin to be able to properly applogize and have a healthy conversation with Feyre. Have Feyre explain her side and WHY she did what she did.

Without war stress, impending doom, or Rhysand hovering. I want them both to heal from it.

feel free to add to this, or disagree with me. I'm just yapping

[head-empty-river]

so sad that gale doesn't want to be poly with astarion and i. like they're so cute together and i care about both of them.

like gale says he wants the whole of my durge's heart, to choose.

but imo he's wrong in thinking love is like a container to be filled and poured. if it is one, it is like a flask that's enchanted to always be full (like a decanter of endless water).

saying they (my character) do not love him invalidates the love they have for astarion, because their love for both is full and endless. to assume a limit is turning love into a currency, rather than a feeling.

i do get that some people want to be monogamous. it's not bad or wrong to only be comfortable with one partner. hells, irl i would be (if i was dating anyone rn) bc i can barely navigate one relationship.

but his specific wording harkens to a way of thinking that can become toxic (operative word: can). that phrasing has been used to shame or delegitimize poly people. this doesn't mean the writers of this dialogue at larian necessarily think this way, it just means that his character feels that way.

with that said, i would be happier if larian had let me be in a polycule with my two power hungry boyfriends. and i know a bit about his and astarion's chemistry that i think, with him specifically, he could be open to dating the pc and astarion.

[diam0w0nd]

Regarding James Potter in Echoing Souls

My story will not be a revenge fantasy or a moral enforcement against the Marauders. Neither will it be a glorious redemption arc that excuses their actions.

It is merely a depiction of a teenager falling apart, reckoning with the fact that he is not an inherently good person and learning how to live with his past mistakes. It is a showcase of both the wonderful refuge James has given his friends, and his delusional, overly-optimistic oversight of their flaws.

Above all, it is my humble attempt at a character study of someone who is constantly placed into extreme stereotypes by fandoms: either a kind, tragic hero who's done no wrong, or an irredeemable, evil bully.

He has been a bully — arrogant, condescending and mindlessly horrible — to some. But he has also been a saviour — generous, self-sacrificial and protective — to others. When both of those identities are stripped away, what’s left is someone struggling trying to understand himself, haunted by the insecurities he has desperately been trying to bury beneath those roles.

So I hope readers might keep an open mind to all these sides of him.

[not-spiders]

there should be a word for "i think 99% of your takes are complete and utter dogshit and if i had to be in a room with you for an extended period of time i would develop a migraine at twice the normal speed, but there's one take of yours that rocked me so hard with its profundity and value the first time i encountered it that it still deeply affects some part of the way i conduct myself and hold my own belief system" because that's how i feel about a lot of people (particularly internet users with sizeable followings/audience bases)

[clairedelune-13]

What frustrates me the most about Veilguard is that it has such a black-and-white view on morality, it doesn’t even explore that there is always an in-between.

There is no such thing as a person who’s just Good or Bad.

Veilguard doesn’t touch upon the fact that sometimes good people do bad things.

And vice versa.

It doesn’t want to entertain the possibility of a bad person simply deciding to do good.

Every villain in this game is literally portrayed as just that, a villain.

Why is Illario doing the things that he did?

The game developers clearly want you to believe he’s just Evil™️ and that he’ll probably do it all again.

But it doesn’t even try to explain the why of it all.

That maybe he wants to prove himself as more than just a lesser version of his cousin.

Or why Johanna Hezenkoss wants to prove herself as more than just a failed Lich.

Those are the only two that I can actually see some form of nuance, but its still not well explained.

Because everyone else is just so poorly done, there’s not even any room for nuance.

Because this game doesn’t understand that the world is not built on the foundation of black-and-white.

Solas is one of the few characters in this game that actually does have a nuanced perspective as to why he’s doing it all.

I’m actually fucking surprised that he is still so gray, despite all of your companions treating him like the bad guy.

This game’s overuse of the word “evil” is so comically wrong, I…



[ddashunknown]

The Paradox of Politics & Privilege

A new video essay appears! I'm ecstatic about how well this project came together, as it exceeded my expectations in MULTIPLE dimensions! 👨‍🍳🍳🔥

The slop loop rut ends NOW! 🗣️📢

[kaananom]

Hananoi's character writing Pt.2

I cant help but be mezmerized by hananoi's character building because it just makes so much sense in my head. Usually im not really one to analyse and deep dive into characters because i find it hard to connect things that are unsaid but implied (so i read others analyses lol), with him tho it just sticks out to me like a sore thumb. Idk what it is about this manga bit i feel like the author did a perfect job portraying things. So without further ado,

Exhibit A:

This matches up perfectly with what he experienced with his parents. All his life he was never given the time of day or prioritized so he grew an intense thirst for affection from someone. He wanted to experience what it actually feels like to be someones first thought, someones first priority, to be the person someone will drop everything at the blink of an eye to be with. And when he got hotaru, he expected exactly that from her. This is very evident in this panel below:

If you think about it, hotaru shares a quality with his parents that he very much dislikes. Its that she is a good person who will lend a hand to someone who needs it. His parents are technically not doing anything "wrong", theyre volunteering to provide healthcare to those who dont have it. Thats a good cause so theyre "good" people. But inspite of all that the fact remains that they neglected their son, and hananoi knows this. He dislikes them but cant truly hate them because theyre not bad people theyre going around the world saving lives for gods sake! Hotaru is ensuring the safety of 2 kids for gods sake!! He knows its inherently good that its inherently the right thing to do but his yearning to be the first priority weighs much more than his consience. This panel almost felt like he was testing her. It felt like he was SCREAMING "dont be like my parents please chose me please prioritize me please stop caring about the greater good just look at ME"

And so?

He feels guilty. So DEATHLY guilty that he loathes himself for it. The thing is, he can dislike or even hate his parents all he wants without feeling an ounce of guilt because they never showed up for him in the first place. But hotaru? He KNOWS shes not like his parents he KNOWS she cares for him and loves him deeply he KNOWS shes considerate of his feelings down to a tee because shes PROVEN that time and time again. But his insecurites creep in and he hates himself for feeling this way but at the same time he cant help but feel what he feels as theres sooo many layers of trauma here. Hes self aware of his problems but he has no idea how to tackle them so he feels like hes stuck in a cycle

Exhibit B:

Hananoi doesnt have any regards for himself. And it makes so much sense because nobody was around in his childhood to show him HOW to care for himself. He was never praised, never looked for in any instance, his name was never uttered. He has the brains and the looks but he doesnt care for them because he never built those qualities for himself, he built them to get recognition but never got them from the people he actually cares about.

Yes his grandma cared but i feel like at one point he became indifferent to familial love. And seeing his grandma makes him uncomfortable because she always gives him a "look" if ykwim. Like a look of pity perhaps? A look that says "you poor thing ur parents just HAD to be assholes" and he doesnt wanna think about that so he never bothered to build smth with her. They dont even live together, he should be living with a guardian but no he lives alone. Which brings me to this panel

It hit me HARD just how lonely he is when he says "its okay my parents dont live with me" like, thats a direct translation of "its okay nobody would be worried about me/nobody would look for me". He could be out at any time of day and be getting up to sketchy stuff and no one would really know. He could be sick or getting badly hurt and nobody would really know (atleast not until he reaches out first or really dissappears for days on end or smth). Not his parents, not his grandma, not even hotaru.

I mean hotarus in the picture now so he feels cared for, but imagine before that? OFCOURSE he did not care about himself, because who tf would notice if he were gone? Everybody kept leaving him so it was a message from the universe that he doesnt amount to anything. He never really experienced people calling him when hes out late, or people checking up on him when hes feeling down. He was just, so on his own. He refuses to acknowledge his good qualities because he doesnt think theyre all that great. He holds himself to standard that he wishes to reach but cant seem to so he gets massive imposter syndrome from it

I mayhaps projected a bit here and there and applied my own head cannons so forgive me if im mischaracterizing him but oh well ahahahahaahaha teehee

[the-cosmic-cauldron]

Things We Need to Cancel in 2025

1. “It’s just my opinion.”

No, dumbass — it’s a harmful narrative rooted in prejudice and bias that literally causes harm. Not every opinion deserves to be voiced. Some are just recycled ignorance dressed up as a “hot take.” Save it.

2. “I’m just logical.”

No, you’re not. You’ve just got a bloated ego and you buy into dehumanizing systems that don’t even value humanity. You don’t actually research or question anything. You lack nuance, empathy, and emotional intelligence. All you do is parrot the same tired ideologies passed down by broken belief systems and call it logic.

3. “This is how to be more feminine/masculine.”

Nothing screams capitalist patriarchy louder than reducing identity into a checklist and commodifying it for social media engagement. These “rules” are exclusionary, flat, and designed to uphold outdated hierarchies. Identity isn’t something you perform to earn approval — it’s something you live and define for yourself.

4. “She’s a 6, 8, or 10.”

Are you serious? It’s 2025. Why are we still rating human beings like we’re on some twisted game show? This is the same reductive mindset as the BMI scale — built to limit, exclude, and control. Humans are limitless. Beauty is not a hierarchy, it’s a spectrum. If you’re still using numbers to validate attraction, you’re the one who’s behind.

5. “Let me give him/her a chance.”

No. We have more than enough resources to not settle for bullshit. If someone continuously disrespects you, it’s not because they’re unaware — it’s because they choose not to care. Stop giving people access to your softness when all they want is to erode your boundaries. If someone shows you who they are, believe it — and walk away.

6. “Women must be ambitious and liberated.”

Actually, women must be free. Period. Sacred femininity does not demand performance. It allows for authenticity. Whether you want to be a wife, a mother, a CEO, an artist, or live off-grid — it’s your birthright to choose. Becoming a high-achieving “girlboss” clone in reaction to patriarchy isn’t liberation. It’s coping. You don’t owe anyone proof that you’re empowered — just be who you are.

7. Spiritual ego.

You left religion just to build a spiritual empire of self-righteousness and denial. Spiritual bypassing is real. You can’t “love and light” your way out of capitalism, racism, trauma, and systemic oppression. Your chakras being aligned doesn’t make you immune to the pain of the world. And spirituality is not a scapegoat to dodge mental health responsibility, accountability, or reality.

8. Aesthetics as identity.

Why are we still trying to brand our entire being as an aesthetic? You don’t have to choose one — you can be soft and edgy, dark and sweet, divine and grungy, wild and structured. You don’t have to perform identity to be valid. You can just be yourself, love what you love, wear what you wear, and move how you move — no labels required.

9. Shaming people for cosmetic choices.

Let people do what they need to do to feel good in their body. Surgery, wigs, nails, makeup, filters, all of it. Self-love is not one-size-fits-all. Just because someone chooses augmentation doesn’t mean they lack self-worth — it means they’re choosing agency. There is no universal beauty standard. There never was. Let people be free.

10. Glorifying emotional detachment.

Being cold, emotionally unavailable, or having a poker face doesn’t make you better — it makes you harder to love. And most of the suffering in the world is due to a lack of empathy, compassion, and nuance — not an excess of it. If you’re proud of how little you feel, that’s not strength. That’s unhealed trauma.

11. Dismissing astrology.

Astrology doesn’t need to be “proven” by science to be valid. It doesn’t need academic citations or randomized control trials to be real. It resonates — and that is sacred. It’s a living, breathing language of the cosmos. Don’t reduce it to a meme if you don’t even understand your own chart. Astrology is not a belief system. It’s a tool — a divine, ancient one. Study it, respect it, or shut up.

[ethicallysourcedhumanmeat]

Do ya'll know how much of an asshole you have be to be a GOOD drummer/bassist and struggle to book?

Like in a place where every drummer is in 15 bands and you can barely stay in 3?

Damn

[lgbtlunaverse]

Obsessed with characters who portray themselves as worse than they are. Who are lying to everyone including themselves about it. People generally assume if someone's lying about themselves they're trying to look better but sometimes they're trying to look worse. They attribute agency to where they had none, add intent to accidents, try to convince everyone that this is something they did instead of something that happened to them.

[ilovecabbage111]

every teen on the internet holds themselves to the standards of grown adults in that they think they must buy new clothes, furniture, bedding, etc. and no you don’t make money and are 15 go to the park with your friends

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

We're going on an ass kicking adventure.

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