lunarleylines

[lunarleylines]

i'm literally cuddlebait. i'm internationally recognized as a snuggle risk. they've got me on the registry of snoozers with two charges of soft and reasonable suspicions of smells good

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I've seen this kind of thing going around a lot lately, and it's deeply, deeply true, but something else finally just hit me this morning.

This is the exact same experience I've had working in the I.T. field, especially in the tiny departments I've been in. It's unfortunately common for people to look at a system that's working as intended, and rather than appreciating that the resources being used are keeping it that way, they decide that the system must be doing fine without the resources in use, and do their best to get rid of those resources.

It's something that's been driving myself and my manager up a wall, because so many people refuse to understand how it all works big picture, and while I knew it was not just us, I realize it's not just this field either, it's everywhere. People reach a combined level of comfort and lack of understanding that they entirely separate the end product from what it takes to get there, and begin to believe that the end product is a thing that exists on its own.

I don't know what it will take to break this trend, or truly teach people what they've been missing, but it's at the heart of so many things plaguing people top to bottom.

As a society we have benefited so much from successful public health measures that we now have the privilege of declaring that we must not need them anymore

Bitch before enriched flour, neural tube defects like spina bifida were far more common. Even now, spina bifida clinicians and researchers are begging to have salt and maize fortified to reach groups that don’t use as much flour. Before iodized salt, the United States had a fucking GOITER BELT. Eleven years after the introduction of fluoridated water, a city in Michigan found the rate of dental caries among school children dropped a staggering 60%— in an era where tooth decay regularly fucking killed people

I’m literally not even going to start on vaccines, which are among the most successful and robustly studied public health measures in world history

You might say “oh well today we all have access to vitamins and toothpastes and dentists so we don’t need those things in our food supplies” and boy do white people on social media loooove to fucking say that. But here’s the thing: no, people don’t all have easy access to those things. That’s privilege talking yet again

[lunarleylines]

man sometimes i really want to get back into welding but then i remember that the guys from the first course i took won’t be there and change my mind

[lunarleylines]

maybe this time picking at Textures on my skin will lead to being silky smooth

[lunarleylines]

saw someone criticizing the transfem werewolf metaphor and comparing it to how zootopia (badly) sets up predator vs prey as a race analogy and i feel like i should clarify

the transfem werewolf metaphor works because people assume werewolves will be predators to humans, when in reality, real wolves are just. not really all that dangerous to people

and yeah you could argue that a lot of werewolf mythology involves them being violent but thats part of the metaphor! how many people do you think got their impression of trans women absolutely ruined by someone telling a story of some trans girl and calling her a child predator or a big scary man in the woman’s bathroom? because it’s quite a few!

the metaphor works because, much like werewolves, there’s really no reason to assume that trans women are dangerous to anyone else except what people (who have had their fear weaponized) say about them

[lunarleylines]

ultimately the truth about frankenstein is that we are all grotesque amalgamations of the best and worst parts of everyone who came before us. and sometimes the people who are supposed to love us because of and in spite of this will not. and we can kill them with hammers for that. and i think that’s beautiful

[lunarleylines]

i love sluts i love perverts i love dykes i love faggots i love aromantics i love freaks i love librarians i love ibuprofen

[lunarleylines]

girl are you a medieval executioner bc you are torturing me with your rack

[lunarleylines]

I think I may never be sad ever again. There is a statue entitled "Farewell to Orpheus" on my college campus. It's been there since 1968, created by a Prof. Frederic Littman that use to work at the university. It sits in the middle of a fountain, and the fountain is often full of litter. I have taken it upon myself to clean the litter out when I see it (the skimmers only come by once a week at max). But because of my style of dress, this means that bystanders see a twenty-something on their hands and knees at the edge of the fountain, sleeves rolled up, trying not to splash dirty water on their slacks while their briefcase and suit coat sit nearby. This is fine, usually. But today was Saturday Market, which means the twenty or so people in the area suddenly became hundreds. So, obviously, somebody stopped to ask what I was doing. "This," I gestured at the statue, "is Eurydice. She was the wife of Orpheus, the greatest storyteller in Greece. And this litter is disrespectful." Then, on a whim, I squinted up at them. "Do you know the story of Orpheus and Eurydice?" "No," they replied, shifting slightly to sit.

"Would you like to?"

"Sure!"

So I told them. I told them the story as I know it- and I've had a bit of practice. Orpheus, child of a wishing star, favorite of the messenger god, who had a hard-working, wonderful wife, Eurydice; his harp that could lull beasts to passivity, coax song from nymphs, and move mountains before him; and the men who, while he dreamed and composed, came to steal Eurydice away. I told of how she ran, and the water splashed up on my clothes. But I didn't care. I told of how the adder in the field bit her heel, and she died. I told of the Underworld- how Orpheus charmed the riverman, pacified Cerberus with a lullaby, and melted the hearts of the wise judges. I laughed as I remarked how lucky he was that it was winter- for Persephone was moved by his song where Hades was not. She convinced Hades to let Orpheus prove he was worthy of taking Eurydice. I tugged my coat back on, and said how Orpheus had to play and sing all the way out of the Underworld, without ever looking back to see if his beloved wife followed. And I told how, when he stopped for breath, he thought he heard her stumble and fall, and turned to help her up- but it was too late. I told the story four times after that, to four different groups, each larger than the last. And I must have cast a glance at the statue, something that said "I'm sorry, I miss you--" because when I finished my second to last retelling, a young boy piped up, perhaps seven or eight, and asked me a question that has made my day, and potentially my life: "Are you Orpheus?" I told the tale of the grieving bard so well, so convincingly, that in the eyes of a child I was telling not a story, but a memory. And while I laughed in the moment, with everyone else, I wept with gratitude and joy when I came home. This is more than I deserve, and I think I may never be sad again.

Here is the aforementioned statue, by the way.

[lunarleylines]

Gatekeeping is so good and important

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[lunarleylines]

maomao is my favorite "not like other girls" style protagonist bc for one shes a girls girl through and through. to the bone. and two she's just a weird little freak. absolute lunatic. they have the whole "omg she's actually beautiful and everyone falls for her when she's all made up" trope but the punchline is that she does not fucking want to look like that. she actively puts dirt on her face every day bc she does not want to be perceived as attractive (mostly out of fear of being used for sex work though at the same time she has the utmost respect for women who do sex work like she grew up in a brothel those are her sisters). she's Sherlock level smart and solves every mystery so fast but goes "well thats none of my business. anyway back to testing poisons on myself" she has the 2nd most powerful guy in the nation head over heels in love with her and is like "man this guy is weird around me what's his deal. I guess he's fine though because he gives me rare medicines and has no dick" fucking ICON i love her. also she once slapped someone so hard they fell on the floor. 10/10

[lunarleylines]

Interwar German Nazi: I am hardened by trench warfare where I watched a generation of my friends and loved ones die.

Modern American Nazi: I will NEVER stop playing with my racist toys.

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[lunarleylines]

The worst part of human adulthood is being your own zookeeper

[lunarleylines]

My apologies, Lady Normal. But where does you Eunuch come from?

[lunarleylines]

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜