#but also we should abolish marriage lol

[sheisraging]

If you're considering not voting or casting a pointless 3rd party vote in the upcoming US elections*, I'd urge you to read about Project 2025, which is the Republican transition plan for if they win the 2024 election (link is for the wiki page, not the actual website).

A short summary:

Project 2025, also known as the Presidential Transition Project, is a collection of policy proposals to fundamentally reshape the U.S. federal government in the event of a Republican victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Established in 2022, the project aims to recruit tens of thousands of conservatives to the District of Columbia to replace existing federal civil servants—whom Republicans characterize as part of the "deep state"—and to further the objectives of the next Republican president. It adopts a maximalist version of the unitary executive theory, a widely disputed interpretation of Article II of the Constitution of the United States, which asserts that the president has absolute power over the executive branch upon inauguration.

Among the many horrifying and notable points:

Abolishing the Department of Education, whose programs would be either transferred to other government agencies, or terminated. Basic research would only be funded if it suits conservative principles.

Promotes the ideal that the government should "maintain a biblically based, social-science-reinforced definition of marriage and family."

Proposed recognition of only heterosexual men and women, the removal of protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual or gender identity, and the elimination of provisions pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from federal legislation.

Individuals who have participated in DEI programs or any initiatives involving critical race theory might be fired.

Explicitly reject abortion as health care

Revive provisions of the Comstock Act of the 1870s that banned mail delivery of any "instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing" that could be used for an abortion.

Restrict access to contraception.

Infuse the government with elements of Christianity, and its contributors believe that "freedom is defined by God, not man."

Criminalizing pornography

Combat "affirmative discrimination" or "anti-white racism," citing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Deploy the military for domestic law enforcement and to direct the DOJ to pursue Donald Trump's adversaries by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807.

Recommend the arrest, detention, and deportation of undocumented immigrants across the country.

Promotes capital punishment and the speedy "finality" of such sentences.

Reform the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) so that the nuclear household structure is emphasized.

Give state governments the authority impose stricter work requirements for beneficiaries of Medicaid

Mandate that federal healthcare providers should deny gender-affirming care to transgender people

Eliminate insurance coverage of the morning-after-pill Ella (required by the Affordable Care Act of 2010).

Remove Medicare's ability to negotiate drug prices.

These are just a few things and I'm sure lots of people will be like lol this will never happen but lots of people said this about overturning Roe, as well.

*FWIW - I think it is absolutely valid to be angry, discouraged, and disappointed in our current administration.

Be mad at Biden! (though I would encourage looking into some of the actually positive things his administration has achieved).

But also consider what's at stake for a huge population of this country if we wind up with a GOP win.

[thistlecatfics]

Some Bellatrix and Rodolphus couple therapy. Like Bellatrix having an affair with Voldemort and not caring at all about her husband and Rodolphus being so brainwashed he's okay with it. I would also headcanon that they would be pressured to have kids, but be unable to. My two cents would be a mixture of inbreeding and that Rodolphus was unable to sexually perform with a living person due to trauma. (From what we get to know about the Lestrange family, it's likely that Rodolphus would have spent his entire life under the threat of torture, with his dad or uncle being in Tom Riddle's entourage, attending Hogwarts before Dumbledore abolished corporal punishment according to the dates J.K Rowling had set up and being a Death Eater.)

Omg this is such an incredible question. Just wow. I love giving Rodolphus the (sexual) vibe of Succession’s Roman lol.

First, I have zero training in couple’s therapy and zero interest in it so this is all just me spouting uninformed nonsense. 

If they’re both ok with it, why are they in therapy? Maybe because they do need to have a child together and are unable to do so? 

Honestly, just sounds like they should go to a magical fertility specialist and place some of Rodolphus’s sperm in Bellatrix’s body? 

Marriage seems to be functional enough! 

BUT maybe Rodolphus might want to start seeing a therapist individually to work on that. Bellatrix seems to be thriving.

[genderisareligion]

How long do you think this trans nonsense is going to last? Do you think people, especially women, will eventually realise how sexist, homophobic and racist trans ideology is? Or do you think society is just going to keep regressing? I had a discussion - not even an argument - with a girl recently about it all, she has a brother that calls himself a woman, and she cried when I said that I thought we should be abolishing gender stereotypes. I thought I was pretty moderate, I said that I think people should be able to dress and act however they like, but it just doesn't mean that men can claim and appropriate womanhood. She cried and called me a transphobe, and then stormed out when I said that it's inherently misogynistic. Most of my friends, both men and women, agree with me, but said that I shouldn't have brought it up. Which I think is just shit - so women are just meant to lie back and accept the erosion of our rights? This issue is occupying so much real estate in my mind, I'm constantly thinking about how absurd it is and I'm constantly angry. How long do you think I'm gonna have to be angry for?

I can’t say for certain how much longer it will be, but I can recall what ten years ago was like, so maybe things will have changed that drastically in another ten.

2012 Tumblr was peak what’s good about liberal feminism. It’s not all garbage it is still feminism after all. Consent was a huge conversation, used to see posts about male rape culture in the tens of thousands of notes, it was cool and on trend to call out “I’m not like other girls I don’t need feminism,” sexism in the workplace was being addressed. My in progress tag #notes is in part meant to capture what female solidarity used to look like on the site

because it’s taken a massive fucking nose dive and I’m trying to figure out where we went wrong. Going through archives of radblr blogs around 2015-16 is when I start noticing more of the trans/TERF conversion happening, although it always was just on a much smaller scale using different words. “Lesbians who don’t like dick” and sex industry critical women have always been attacked for one reason or another iirc they just used to call us “radscum” and other nondescript shit before landing on these handy -ERF acronyms

The thing is 2012 Tumblr was also peak Superwholock Fujoshi time and “supporting the gays” (voyeuristically living vicariously through them) was more on trend than liberal feminism. The two were seemingly in unison at the time but were going to be at odds inevitably. Mostly straight and male-pref bi women (with a sprinkle of closeted lesbians) coping with IRL men’s increasingly sadistic view of women by fantasizing about safe love between fictional men on an obsessive level. Fandoms and thus show creators going out of their way to avoid F/F slash and instead feeding the monster that is M/M until Tumblrinas felt like just “supporting” them wasn’t enough and they had to skinwalk lol and shame one type of SSA while worshipping another

Iirc by 2016 gay marriage in the US (where most of these people live) had been “won” and queer MOGAI was the shiniest newest trend thanks to a number of influences (Caitlyn Jenner and LaVerne Cox come to mind but it was definitely more than just them). Liberal feminism is capitalistic at the end of the day and the powers that be saw “queering gender” for the cash cow it’s ended up being and the powers were probably terrified that in the early 2010s under popular lib feminism hundreds of thousands of girls and women were openly in agreement online that male violence was the problem. Now it’s “gendered violence” and you can never tell who’s a male and no one can call a spade in a dress a spade

It’s inconceivable to me to cry about the idea of gender abolition like your friend did anon…..makes me like sad how convicted so many women are about this. But I’m also not surprised and don’t blame them all because anti feminist males will stop at nothing. The TERF wars are so fundamentally ridiculous like the topic is a distraction about something that’s not even real yet they’ve made it seem so real and threatening by using their male privilege to instill fear and angry infighting.

I would advise you to not let this shit take up too much real estate in your mind. As someone who sort of watched it all start or at least get this bad I try to remember when I wasn’t censoring my language this much and when misandry was a fun meme on here. Also try to keep in mind how many times the queer theorists change their mind on what language is appropriate for who and when. I will never forget how quickly writing trans* with an asterisk or transwoman with no space became crimes when before you’d get lynched for not doing it. Imo things that change that often have no foundation or could change into something unrecognizable someday. Hopefully whatever follows gender is better than this shit. Hang in there 🖤

[multimetaverse]

Riverdale 5x03 Recap

Jellybean was born and raised in Riverdale though?? She only moved to Ohio after her mom left FP

Good on FP for doing what’s best for his daughter but probably should have told Alice beforehand that you’re skipping town

We’re ending this era of Riverdale as it began with Tom Keller as Sheriff. Hope he has a scene with his son tonight!

Jughead saying those kids almost looked innocent asleep was pretty messed up of him. 1) those are clearly homeless kids having to sleep in a fucking gym and 2) as bad as the voyeur vids were they still pale in comparison to the crimes that high school kids have been involved in over the years

Oooh man that Luke Perry is just brutal

It’s crazy to think of how far the show has come since that first scene of Cheryl and Jason Blossom in all white heading down to the river

Alice might be the most tragic living character on Riverdale, her life has just been wrecked over and over and over

It’s awful how realistic the army recruitment booth inside the school is. The Saved by the Bell reboot had a great joke about military recruitment of teens (it’s a much better show than Riverdale and I highly recommend it and it’s already been renewed for S2)

It’s nice that they brought Weatherbee back for the final high school eps

LOL at the Red Circle shade

The yearbook as a device to look back at some of the show’s history is clever. Also reveals how clearly chapter 79 which was supposed to be the S4 finale was also being written as a possible series finale

It’s very odd that Archie’s poor grades of all things are what the writers just to be realistic about. Nice of Weatherbee to let Archie walk with his friends though

Ladies and Gentlemen that could possibly be the last Varchie sex scene we ever see

Considering the US only abolished conscription after the Vietnam war, I don’t think those 4 students back in 1945 had much of a choice in joining the army. Although they lucked out with the timing since the war with Japan would end within months while they were still in basic training

Not Archie lying to both Jughead and Veronica about his post high school plans

FP telling Jughead he’s old enough to be on his own is rich considering Jughead was basically homeless and on his own in S1

Good on Cheryl for getting her red robe

Finally Tom Keller gets a scene with his son!

Omfg I can’t handle this Archie cover of Green Day

Yaas Penelope lurking in the bushes. I’m gonna miss that Queen, hope she gets out of jail soon enough

RIP Falice. It will never cease to amaze me that right when the obstacles that should have stopped Bughead such as their parents being in a relationship and their shared half-brother are swept away that Bughead is being broken up

Well good bye for now and maybe forever FP Jones. You were the best of the surviving fathers which is admittedly a hell of a low bar

Pop’s is rightfully restored to Pop Tate

Kevin mentioning Josie and the Pussycats threw me

I guess from now on we’ll always see Jughead without that stupid hat, that’s weird

These grad scenes have been surprisingly poignant but they fall flat when they include the wider group. How many lines have Kevin, Fangs, Reggie, and Sweetpea even had lately? Has Kevin done anything of note since Hedwig? We’re a long way from when he was Betty’s best friend. And what has Reggie been up to? I noticed his dad wasn’t at grad, is that because he’s dead? Is there ever gonna be a follow up on Reggie smashing his dad’s car?

Don’t have a great feeling about this vow

Archie sure knows how to kill the mood. The worst thing about Archie’s speech is its accuracy. The US military really does offer a path to a middle class existence especially for kids with no other options. The life outcomes for people without high school degrees are grim and Archie really is grasping the last, best way to try and turn around his life

This Choni breakup is so sad 

The CW is wildin out letting Betty take off her bra for sex. What a bizarre transition from tearful confession to sex. Perhaps the last Bughead sex scene we’ll ever see

Just realized that Vegas will very likely be dead by the time we pick back up in 7 years

These scenes would have more impact if the show had focused on the Archie/Jughead and Veronica/Betty friendship

Wow bringing the old car out for one last drive

These flashbacks are sad, especially the Luke Perry one

God I hope Nana Rose survives the 7 year gap

Jesus Christ, so Jughead had a home he could have stayed in but decided to squat at Archie’s instead??

Poor Jughead being the only one to keep the vow

Well this really is the end of an era. Riverdale will never be the same after this episode. From the promos we know that Veronica is married to a controlling wall street douche, Archie is wounded overseas, Betty is an FBI agent, and Jughead a writer. The crisis that brings them all back is Hiram dissolving the town of Riverdale for his nefarious ends

Veronica marrying a man who shares some traits with Hiram is not surprising though the fact that she’s married is interesting, both in that there’s no way that marriage will last and in how her husband is jealous of her past with Archie, it’s an easy way to start heading towards Varchie again if the writers choose. There’s no way that Betty would be get in to the FBI with a serial killer father and half brother but we’ll see what new killer the writers can come up with. It looks like Jughead is a tortured artist. I appreciate the costume designers for making Archie’s military uniform so retro that it looks like he’s being shipped off to Korea to stop it going the way of Red China 

Looking back it’s extremely bizarre that they did what they did with Barchie. It really served no purpose since they all would have gone their separate ways anyways

Well looks like Cheryl hasn’t been successful in thwarting Hiram. I would imagine that much of Veronica’s story after the time gap is her wrestling with whether to take on her father and to claim the Lodge legacy for herself once and for all. Archie had always been her guiding light in that regard and we’ll see if can play that role in the future

This 7 year gap brings the characters ages up to 25 which is much closer to the actor’s actual ages which will help in that regard. But time jumps are tricky and 7 years is quite a gap, double the length of time that these first 79 eps have lasted. Sadly, Riverdale was renewed for a 6th season but realistically the bulk of the series has now passed and whatever adventures the gang gets up to as adults will get far less time dedicated to them. Some sort of time jump was probably always necessary if the show lasted as long as it had but I’m skeptical that Riverdale can pull it off. Until next week Riverdalers

[the-ronan-cycle]

Diverse Book Recs

I recently typed up a list of books for a friend who said she’d stopped reading because she couldn’t find diverse/queer books. This list is predominately focused on queer diversity but there’s also lot’s of super awesome ladies and poc here too. The list is also in two parts, the first are all books that I’ve read myself and include me trying to give a summary, content warnings (If I can remember, I can’t guarantee they’re all exhaustive.) and a rating. The second part has books on my to read list that, to my knowledge, have queer characters. All of the titles are linked to their goodreads page.

I Was Born For This - Alice Oseman

A Hijabi ace fangirl goes to London on a week long trip to meet her internet friend and go to the concert of her favourite band. Jimmy, the trans, gay, mixed race, mentally ill singer for said band is figuring out how growing up famous has changed himself and his friends. They cross paths and stuff happens. A really interesting look into fan culture, both the good and the bad. Really fun characters and relationships. Written by the same person who does the Heartbreaker webcomic. CW: alcoholic behavior, brief mention of unintentional trans outing 4.5/5

The Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater

Welsh mythology meets small town Virginia. Gorgeous, poetic writing by Stiefvater tells the surreal story of a group of teenagers on the search for a lost welsh king and wish foretold if one wakes him. Along the way they discover the power of ley lines, dreams, and ~friendship~. One of the main characters (my favourite character) is canon queer (he’s into a girl and guy but like, the word bi isn’t explicitly said) and one of the other main characters is canon gay. It’s a difficult story to describe but it’s such a fascinating read. CW: child abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, there’s a scene in the second book that I think the author confirmed was sexual assault 5/5

Shades of Magic Series - V.E. Schwab

Avatar the last airbender meets pirates and royalty and multiverses. In this world there are 4 earths that intersect at London. Kell is one of the only two people who can travel between Londons. Grey London is our world, Red London is Kell’s, full of magic. White London is a wasteland barren of magic and ruled by bloodthirsty twins. Black London is dead. The main cast of Kell, Lila Bard, a pirate thief who gets caught up in the adventure, Rhy, the (gay? Bi? I forget lol) prince of Red London, and Alucard, (also gay? Or bi?) actual pirate have to save the multiverse! Lots of great subplots, written by a queer woman and impossible to put down. If you saw me with my kindle in class after winter last year, it was because I literally couldn’t stop reading. CW: frankly it’s been too long since I read it im sorry 5/5

Leah on the Offbeat/Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli

Simon Vs is the book Love Simon is based on. Simon (gay) has a mystery pen pal, Blue. All he knows is that Blue also goes to Creekwood High and is gay. But Simon leaves the emails open on a school computer because he’s a dumbass and then also an ass but the bad kind, Martin finds them and blackmails Simon. It’s similar to the movie but I prefer the book! There are some scenes and plot points that didn’t make it in. Also his friends don’t suck as much when he’s outed. Leah on the OffBeat is the sequel about Simon’s friend, Leah. She’s bi! Simon thought all his friends were straight but jkjkjk gays flock together. Cute wlw high school story. CW: character is outed against their will, underage drinking  SVTHA 5/5 LOTO 4/5

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee

Main character is a total slut and we support him. Bi and ready to party. But wait it’s the 1800s and that’s not super chill. In a final hurrah before he has to become master of his family estate, Henry Montague takes his best friend (gay and also ready to party) and, reluctantly, his little sister  (ace and ready to be a doctor) on a tour of the continent. Along the way they discover a plot and their trip turns upside down. There’s pirates! Period accurate medicine! Characters unlearning their prejudices! CW: Child abuse, period typical homophobia, sexism and racism 4/5

Captive Prince Trilogy - C.S. Pacat

hEAR ME OUT. This is probably my favourite series I’ve ever read. You’ve heard of enemies to lovers? Get ready for enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to allies to lovers! Crown Prince Damianos of Akielos is caught up in a coup lead by his half brother and sent to the enemy nation of Vere to be a pleasure slave for their crown prince, Laurent. Now here you think it’s gonna be some kinky sex romp but it actually becomes the best political intrigue with a thoughtful, loving, very vanilla romance. “If you gave me your heart, I would treat it tenderly”. Dw they only have sex after the whole slave thing is over. Also, they abolish slavery so there’s that. If you don’t like the first book,  I get it but just try the second book, the tone changes with the change of setting. The author does some really interesting stuff with her setting. Typically writers will just make society reflect our by default but Pacat threw that out, homophobia? Never heard of her. In Vere it’s actually taboo for men and women to have sex before marriage because of the threat of bastards. So everyone just is gay instead. You want a matriarchal warrior women country? Pacat has got your back. The series does lack in well written women. There are a few women but not enough, Pacat has talked about this and is basically like, u right, I’ll do better in my next series. Written by a queer WOC (kinda? Woc is the wrong word but just read these tweets where she describe it better than i ever could)  and I love it, the end. CW: child abuse, child sexual abuse, incest, rape, sex slavery, prostitution, graphic violence, non consensual drug consumption, child death, suicide, torture, animal death (also it should be obvious but none of these things are glorified, the abuser is the worst and he sucks and everyone hates him) 6/5

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell

Based on the Harry Potter parody series from Rowell’s book Fangirl. Simon Snow (doesn’t ever figure out his sexuality but had a girlfriend and boyfriend) is the chosen one, orphaned and brought to a magical boarding school, must save magical britain from evil. His best friend, book smart Penelope and his (possibly evil and a vampire? Also gay) roommate Baz must work together to defeat the humbug. This book has a really fantastic closed magic system and gives the character very clear limits. CW: rat death? 5/5

Queer There and Everywhere - Sarah Prager

A nonfiction book about 23 people throughout history that were both queer and very cool. From Frida Kahlo and Abraham Lincoln to the actual Danish Girl and Kristina Vasa, Prager dives into the lives of many historical figures who were also queer. A really wide gamut of women, men and nb, cis and trans, white and poc. Could have had more historical figures from the east. A fun, easy read. Made me cry, i want lesbian moms. 4/5

Huntress - Malinda Lo

It’s been a few years since I read this so bear with me. Cool magic girl main character and less magic but also cool other girl as well as a misfit group including the prince and a badass lady named shae (hell yeah) have to go into the fae world to right the magical imbalance of their world. Wlw, written by a queer woc CW: I don’t remember sorry 4/5

Outrun the Wind - Elizabeth Tammi

(I’m actually only half way through this) (Also it’s written by a mutual of mine on tumblr so that’s tight) A queer retelling of the greek myth of Atalanta. Atalanta (bi) is taken by the hunters of Artemis and has to help them defeat Apollo who’s being shitty. Wlw, written by a bi lady CW: animal death

Iron Breakers trilogy - Zaya Feli

Bastard Prince (queer), Ren, is happy to be out of the line of succession and just party it up but suddenly is framed for the murder of his brother and on the run along with a prisoner who escaped with him. Ren is faced with realities of y’know, not being a prince and decides to help save his country. Political intrigue with some twists I didn’t guess. MLM CW: slavery, graphic violence 4.5/5

All for the Game trilogy - Nora Sakavic

Think dark, queer, sports anime but with a co-ed team. Neil Josten (demi sexual- “which way do you swing? “I don’t?”) is on the run from his mob boss, murderer father and finds himself on the collegiate exy team of the palmetto foxes. Exy, a violent cross between lacrosse and soccer is Neil’s favourite thing but the team is made up of misfits. Neil has to survive both his father and the Raven’s (another exy team) owner, another mob boss, coming for him and his team. Super fast paced, very intense, after the first book I couldn’t put it down. The characters are all super interesting as are the relationships. Multiple mlm relationships, one briefly mentioned wlw couple CW: (o boy here we go) suicide, graphic violence, graphic torture, non consensual drug consumption, alcohol and drug abuse, prescription drug abuse, non consensual kissing, rape, child sexual abuse, sex work, mention of gay conversion therapy, discussion of self harm and self harm scars, child abuse 4.5/5

The Posterchildren - Kitty Burroughs

It’s been years since I read this so I really don’t remember much. It’s about a school for superheroes. Definitely wlw I don’t remember any else 4/5

Six of Crows Duology - Leigh Bardugo

A misfit group of criminals is hired to travel north to break into an impregnable prison. The cast of characters is lovable and the plot is fast paced. It’s set in the same universe as Bardugo’s first series but you don’t need to read them. (I did and they were ok but six of crows is better). Two of the main characters are mlm. CW: gore, graphic violence, child abuse 4.5/5

The Percy Jackson Series and Magnus Chase Series

I don’t need to describe these lol. PJO has two canon gay characters, the most recent series has lesbian and ace huntresses of artemis, and a bi main character. Magnus Chase has a non binary main character starting in the second book.

On My To-Read List:

Orlando - Virginia Woolf

I love her writing, it’s poetic without hurting my brain to read. This is a classic queer novel. It’s been said that Woolf wrote it as a “love letter” to Vita, her lover. The main character changes gender throughout the novel.

Stars in Her Eyes - Clare C. Marshall

I bought a copy of the first book in this series from the author at a convention last summer. It’s about a school for people with powers. I asked and apparently there’s a queer character but you don’t find out til the second book.

Ash - Malinda Lo

A wlw retelling of cinderella by the same author as Huntress.

The Academy Journals - Garrett Robinson

Apparently there’s trans, lesbian, gay, poly, ace, bi, pan! It’s about a magical school. It has really good reviews on goodreads so that’s promising

The Abyss Surrounds Us - Emily Skrutskie

There’s gay lady space pirates. Actually maybe not space? Idk i got space vibes

Vicious/Vengeful - V.E. Schwab

A story about moral greyness and supervillains. Kinda reminds me of Nimona tbh. I heard the main character is ace?

Our Bloody Pearl - D.N. Brynn

There’s mermaids, and pirates, and it’s gay apparently. The main character uses they them pronouns I think.

Breaking Legacies - Zoe Reed

Fantasy wlw by a trans dude (i think? They went through some sort of gender transition but i can’t find their pronouns)

The Dark Wife - S.E. Diemer

A wlw retelling of Hades and Persephone

The High Court Series - Megan Derr

Fantasy political intrigue mlm and I was told the main character is trans

Btw my rating system was basically:

4/5=i enjoyed reading it and would recommend it but probably wouldn’t read it again

4.5/5=I really liked it and would probably reread it

5/5= i love it, i either have or plan to reread it

[1ntergalactic]

The wedding industry is so toxic. I have the benefit of already being married (thanks Covid) and now finally planing the “celebration” that we signed a contract for long before Covid. It takes the planning emotions out since we’re now just literally planning a party, not the actual marriage, which is a really neat (and sad) lens to see all of this from.

Cake tasting, food tasting, flowers, all this stuff that’s included in the contract - almost every vendor along the way has looked to me (the bride) for all opinions, decisions, and have even gone as far as saying “it’s up to you, this is your wedding!” with my literal husband sitting right next to me. *My* wedding, not our wedding.

I feel like I need to wear an “I actually like my husband and care about his opinions” billboard going into these appointments. It’s awkward. And it’s completely crazy how it’s “funny” to disrespect the man sitting right there with me, to his face. He always keeps his cool because we’re just trying to get in and out as quickly as possible, but it’s stupid that he even has to feel that way in the first place. He’s paying these bills too.

And I know this is routine because these ‘jokes’ happen within 5 minutes of being anywhere - not after we’ve established any kind of relationship where they would know if I would find that funny (I don’t). But these comments must land with a disturbing amount of clients because otherwise they wouldn’t keep saying that stuff.

The wedding industry should not exist. There is nothing about it that honors what marriage is. It’s just a party machine.

On a related note, why do weddings make people get so insanely weird about things? Like family members asking the mother of the bride if they can crash at her house after the wedding (does the mother of the bride not have enough to do that day without the burden of hosting in her home?) like ??? And when RSVPs intentionally have the number of seats reserved for the listed guests, specifically spelled out with names and everything, but guests still asking if additional guests can also come? Why did we bother putting all those details into the RSVPs? And then us, the bride/groom having to feel like we’re stepping around emotional landmines trying to answer these questions because people get offended and talk behind your back if your response isn’t ideal…I’m convinced that modern weddings are only useful in tarnishing relationships and providing maybe a few minutes of fun and joy, and are completely independent of the institution of marriage itself. Abolish this entire mess. Lol

Seriously though eloping is so underrated

[nerdwiththehat]

#DemDebate night one:

Everyone's way too prepared.

So I said I wasn’t going to live-tweet the debates because I did that in 2016 and MAN did it make me insufferable online.

Buuuuut I also didn’t make a full write-up, I just scribbled a shit-ton of notes on my laptop and now I’m looking back at it the next morning and holy shit I must have been drunk as hell by minute three because I made no sense so fuck it I’ll just keep doing this.

here we go kids

BETO DID HIS ENTIRE SECOND PHRASE IN SPANISH UH

woo woo pass the ERA

Everyone's answering with such long lead-ins - the first person who gives an ANSWER in the first quarter-sentence gets an award

Bill De Blasio keeps grinning DIRECTLY at the camera. I'm deceased.

And GIVE HIM THE BONUS Bill De Blasio answered the question in the first 5 words. What a mans. AND HE CALLED IT OUT. he CALLED OUT THE PARTY-LINE TOEING. WHY AM I OKAY WITH BILL DE BLASIO NOW??

Jay Inslee said unions give him the award too. I mean, he didn't say a thing about the minimum wage, but he did say some nice stuff about clean energy, sticking it to Trump, and some other stuff. I do like him, I guess?

Tim Ryan says "China" in the same tone as Donald Trump hee hee

WoW! so it turns out if you ask Liz a specific question she gives you a FULL answer and I fucking love it god damn keep doing that. Stop giving her the junk questions for lead-ins and complaints.

Healthcare! It's time. Is it time to abolish private health insurance? Looks like... Bill, and Liz? Why do I like them?

Amy Klobuchar is weird and she's dodging the question every time she gets asked. They asked her why she wasn't going to abolish private insurance - she made a beer joke and talked about big pharma. That's... not the answer we were looking for.

Talking with Liz about Medicare for all! They asked her a direct question and she went FULL policy on them! Numbers on medical bills! Numbers on people who do and don't have insurance! I know why we elected her here and it's because she does THAT. (Also nice jacket Liz big ups I like the purple ^^) Healthcare is a human right!

Talking to beto! Let's see if he does THE THING again. He has a good anecdote! I like his opinions on universal healthcare, but he's not signed on for Medicare for all. Good notes on mental health care!!! Thank u!!! and Planned parenthood shoutout! Not replacing private insuranceandthenholYSHITOUTTANOWHEREEVERYONE JUMPED ON IT

TULSI showed up and actually talked some sense. The policy matters are important, but if we're going to stand on a stage arguing about what parts we're doing, we're not getting actionable.

JAY INSLEE COMING OUT SWINGING TO PROTECT ABORTION RIGHTS AND CONTRACEPTION

JULIAN CASTRO TRIED VERY HARD AND I SUPPORT HIM BUT ALSO DROPPING TRANS WOMEN INTO THE DEBATE WASN'T THE RIGHT MOVE

BIG dodge from Liz on the "limitations" on abortion question.

should drug manufacturers be held criminally liable for the opioid crisis? Cory says big yes. I imagine a lot of the candidates will. But, I do like that he's mentioning that arresting your way out of the problem is a huge problem. Beto gets the same question, and starts with aaaaaaaaaaa weed answer but also he has the same god damn point so big support

Immigration after the commercial break! Scores in the first round - Liz lost a point for a lack of full-throttle support for abortion rights. Castro gets the you tried star but also a starbucks gift card for good trans support. Jay Inslee gets some union patches. Beto gets an A- in Spanish class. Bill De Blasio gets a smol flag with ancom stars and a "fuck tankies" t-shirt.

back from the break - let's get to immigration. Specifically, the concentration camps, and the pitable kid pictures.The commentator is trying his best to spit full vitriol at DHS. Castro is banking off his immigration plan, and said "pissed off" on national television. Big ups, but also - he's using executive orders to prop up most of it. Pls say something about legislative reform for the border. Honoring asylum claims! Get them through. Plans for central american refugees! Cory isssssss pulling a Beto and took a DAMN long time to pull it up from his brain. Ending the policies of ICE and bringing back DACA options for current arrivals. Helping the northern triangle and working better with governments in central america. (castro jumped in I'm glad everyone's so support remove 1325 of the nationality act! Don't criminalise desperation! Seperating children is barbaric. and then CORY pulls that out to point at the planned raids this week. I support this discussion but also PLEASE folks stick to point of order. and here's BILL again all but QUOTING A GRANDSON SONG GOD BLESS. I love his tirades but also YOU WEREN'T CALLED ON

TAME ASKED BETO A QUESTION IN SPANISH AND HE'S RESPONDING I NEED AN TRANSLATOR MY SPANISH SUCKS

Beto's the first one to literally say the words no wall. He's still talking and castro's talking OVER HIM. Family case management sounds good but also cost??? Naturalising ALL the DREAMers

Castro is banking off the use of sec.1325 in this debate and I agree with him wholeheartedly. beTO on the other hand is dodging the question like crazy. And Castro's... calling him out on it? I love it!

TOO MUCH YELLING.

JOHN DELANEY KINDLY SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Amy Klobuchar has opinions about border crossings woo woo. You'd want to make sure that you have provisions in place to go after human and drug traffickers - WE HAVE SECTION 18 OF THE US CODES. annnd now she's talking about CEOs and F1 visas. IDK I mean it's important but also NOT THE QUESTION. But hey, first time someone said anything about legislative support.

who the fuck is Tim Ryan seriously and why the fuCK does he say things with such a weird voice sometimes. HOW DOES HE THINK EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY WORKS HE'S LIKE "order Doctors to go to the borders and save the kids" like I like the idea but what the fuc k?

The cameras keep WHIPPING back and forth and it's cracking me up.

Jay Inslee - there's no reason for detention and separation - but... what're you gonna do to REUNITE PEOPLE. (Also dude Charlie Baker stood up to Trump against the muslim ban and he's a republican) "The other DEEEaayyyy" (Oh he's also the gov. that Trump called out on twitter and "threatened" to send muslim refugees to)

CORY BOOKER DIDN'T RAISE HIS HAND BECAUSE HE WANTED TO TALK WHAT A FUCKER. I SUPPORT THE GRIFT BUT WHAT A FUCKER LOL

They tried to send a Hezbollah question to Tulsi Gabbard and she just drove it straight into the ground. I stan but also wooph. She is the person that folks were saying was in the pocket of the middle east, right? She's like cozy with Assad?

oh my god they had to cut them off with the commercial break

it's a goddamn cage-match of prostration to the base - "LETSSSSS GET READY TO HUMBLLLLLE"

I had to take a break and go get a glass of water jfc I'm getting parched.

CHUCK TODD AND RACHEL MADDOW HAD A TOTALLY SEPARATE DESK AND THEY FUCKING /ZOOMED/ OVER TO IT AT WARP SPEED I ALMOST PEED LAUGHING.

- we're less than 50 miles from Parkland. Assault weapons ban? - EVERYONE'S MICS ARE ON. - EVERYONE'S MICS ARE STILL ON. - EVERYONE, EVERYONE'S MICS ARE STILL ON. LESTER SHUT THE FUCK UP. - TIME FOR A COMMERCIAL FUCK ME DEAD - poor chuck todd but also I'm deceased

alright we're back. More robust plans, and teenage activism. What do you do about the hundreds of millions of guns already out there? - Liz is talking town halls - what's the hardest question? "when you're president, how're you going to keep us safe?" - This is a good response, and she's talking about it in the context of a HEALTH EMERGENCY good FUCKING lord THANK YOU lift the CDC moratorium. Should the fed take guns back? no... no answer to the direct question. But, I support her answer! Thank you for not treating it as an across-the-board answer kind of thing. - Booker has a buy-back programme. I think that's good? But he also said assault rifle so now we gotta shame him or something idk I'm not a fucking gun nut. We've let the gun lobby define the debate! Thank you for also touching on it! - Castro gets a question about active shooter drills, and is it a questions of what he's going to do to turn it around. Also awwww his daughter is in the audience we stan. But also LITERALLY no answer besides "we're gonna take back two of three branches on day one" literally what does that mean. - Tim Ryan is saying stuff about... mental health care for kids scared of shootings and supporting the kids who would do shootings? Wait why am I okay with this thank you. - Beto is about to talk about guns this'll be good. background checks good. gun show sales bad. assault rifles no bueno. red flag laws good. Throw it to the kids? I... guess? - Chuck Todd really wants someone to talk about TAKING YOUR GUNS. - Amy Klobuchar thinks about her uncle who hunts deer idk I mean I guess so also GUNS ARE LIKE GAY MARRIAGE OH BOY.

SENATOR THANK YOU

- We're talking supreme court now but CORY STILL WANTS TO TALK GUNS. Licensing is already a requirement up here in the northeast jfc. - SUPREME COURT - we're going to get to 50 votes in the senate to nominate a justice because stacking the senate lol thanks for at least saying it out in the open. - BILL BILL BILL if you nominate someone for the supreme court would you think TurtleMitch would let you nominate someone but he WANTS TO TALK ABOUT GUNS and police for some reason. Oh right also he has mixed race kids that's actually something he should have leaned on a bit more earlier.

HOW LONG DO THESE PEOPLE THINK 20 SECONDS IS.

- Senator Warren - if TURTLEMITCH is still there whatdoyado. WE ARE A DEMOCRACY. the answer is campaign finance reform to get a democratic majority in the senate. I guess. - Mitch McConnell gets called the fuck out lol - How are folks gonna beat the turtleman we'll never knooooooo - JAY INSLEE TRIED TO INTERRUPT AND THEN RACHEL MADDOW CALLED HIM OUT AND TOSSED HIM A CLIMATE CHANGE QUESTION I'm PISS he then TURNED IT ON MITCH. Also, he's staking his claim on climate change and y'know what I'm totally fine with it. - Climate Emergency! ten points to inslee. - Beto has a good plan for removing the dependency on fossil fuels I like - Chuck Todd all but went full hbomberguy and yelling FUCKING AQUAMAN on stage. - Bonus points to Castro for PUERTO RICO - Also paris accords - both castro and klobuchar have said they'd sign back on

Everyone keeps RAISING THEIR HANDS like they're allowed to yell as soon as they've got their finger up.

Time to punch on Tulsi Gabbard for her shitty stances on queer issues woo woo. Let's see how this goes. CORY BOOKER MY BOY CALLING OUT NOT TALKING ABOUT THE KILLING OF BLACK TRANS WOMEN AND SUICIDES OF QUEER KIDS GOOD TALK GOOD TALK BIG LOVE.

time for VOTED QUESTIONS guy asked if we shouldn't do the rwandan genocide again. Beto literally only knows the Rwandan genocide. Someone say Kosovo and watch his head explode. Bill says some stuff about going to war without congressional approval idk man Ryan made himself look like a big dumb doofy doo in front of two service members on stage lol I don't like Tulsi but GET HIM GIRL and NOW he's SUPER anxious and talking about ATTACKS and shit. Him and Tulsi are gonna eat each other. JFC THIS DEBATE.

Threats, right to left:

(IN AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE, PEOPLE)

Nukes

Trump

Nuclear War

Economic threat - china/actual threat - destabilisation of the middle east.

climate change

climate change

nukes and climate change

china and climate change

china

russia

Beto wants to prosecute Trump. This'll make news tomorrow, mark my words. Not saying he's totally /wrong/, but it's going to be front-page news tomorrow.

45 seconds wrap ups 

GET IT DONE PEOPLE let's see WHO KNOWS HOW TO TELL TIME.

(Ratings are based on the wrap-ups only and are a direct reflection of my mental state and random musings at the time whatever)

Delaney did some neat stuff and said saving the world and unions and shit. 2 reminders, 3 thank-yous. C+

Bill: it matters in the fight for the heart and soul of the party to nominate someone who bad upbring and also WAGE PROMISES. Also free preschool idk man. No reminders! 1 thank-you. B+

Jay Inslee is running because he wants his grandkids to survive climate change. Get committed to making it the top priority. Save ourselves and our children, and our children's children. 1 reminder, 2 thank-yous. B+

Tim Ryan: something about forgotten communities and a throwaway trans comment about running away with the gold and playing offense... he sounds like Jim Webb lol also lET'S PLAY SOME ALPHABET GAMES 3 thank-yous. D-

Tulsi: service above self is what defines the US, but that's not what we have right now. So this must end. "Our White House" 4 times good christ. Lot of random promises and also new??? Century? no reminders 1 thank-you. C+

Julian's is in spanish awesome but also interpreters pls. Also his brother's in congress, too. He wants the nomination but he's probably going to be another housing pick. NO THANK-YOUS :(((  B+ 

Amy: I listen to people. I pass bills. I listened to people and acted. I listen. Listening. I'm someone that can win. Because I listen. I keep winning because I listen. I'm not establishment and I listen. Something about listening. And integrity. 1 thank-you. D+

Cory's family had to move because redlining and he's kinda neat. Lots of lawyering. We win fights by being the best. Stop making it into a high/low fight. This is a referendum on us, and on Trump. I'll show the best of who we are. 1 thank-you. C+

Beto's daughter turned 11 this week and that's cute and also free the kids in concentration camps. We need a new kind of politics directed by the urgency of the nest generation. 2 thank yous A-???

Liz being raised in oklahoma dreamed to be a school teacher, didn't have money for college - and went to commuter college and got involved in law that way. We believe in making government work for everyone. I will fight for you as hard as I fight for my own family. NO THANK YOUS :((( B+

I’m going to do this again for the next few debates, I think? Depending how long my sanity holds out.

[anonymoustalks]

The thing is society dosen't really care for men and even many me don't seem to care for men, it's like both men and women never care about men's problems

(6-20-20) You both like Feminism.

You: hiyo

Stranger: Hi

You: what's on your mind?

Stranger: Many things.

You: mhm, anything that you want to talk about?

Stranger: Yours?

You: religion

You: my last conversation was about religion

Stranger: The feminist cult religion?

You: nope, I was on the religion tag

Stranger: Okay.

Stranger: I'm so not religious lol

You: is there a word for anti-feminist?

You: I'm not religious either

Stranger: There is, it is anti-feminist.

Stranger: That's it lol

You: it's a dull word

Stranger: Or anti-feminism.

You: so you are anti-feminism?

Stranger: I don't know but i don't support feminism and i hate most feminiets, the majority of feminists are scum and extremists.

You: mhm I support feminism

Stranger: Well good for you at least you know what you want.

You: mhm and you don't know what you want?

Stranger: I do but i cannot get it.

You: oh what exactly do you want?

Stranger: I want a boyfriend. I am gay.

You: ahh gl with that

Stranger: Gl?

You: good luck

You: where are you from?

Stranger: So do you fund feminists groups?

Stranger: America

You: mhm I donated once to the HRC

You: which supports both lgbt and feminism

Stranger: What's hrc?

You: human rights campaign

Stranger: Ohh

You: I donated 20 dollars to them and then they didn't stop calling me

Stranger: You donated to help what?

Stranger: Why didnt they stop calling you?

You: well if you donate once you're listed as a potential donor

You: so then they keep calling you hoping you'll donate again

Stranger: Yikes!

Stranger: So what did you do?

You: I think it's kind of common

You: I just said I wasn't going to donate

Stranger: What do they use your money for?

You: it's like your typical phone canvasing

You: colleges and univesities do that too

Stranger: I see.

You: they're an advocacy and lobbying group

You: so I think you'd probably dislike them

Stranger: What do they advocate for?

Stranger: It's okay, we're just having a convo.

You: oh that lobby for the passage of pro-lgbt bills in congress

You: *they lobby

Stranger: Are you from america?

You: yes

You: like big industries like guns and pharma all have lobbies in congress -- which means they spend millions to convince politicians to vote a certain way

You: for like other things, the money that goes to lobbying comes from ordinary ppl

Stranger: What's your opinion on metoo and the believeallwomen hashtag?

You: mhmm

Stranger: I mean woudn't you say metoo is toxic?

You: yeah I would say there are circumstances that it is kinda toxic

You: but I think it's important to speak out if you get sexually harrassed

You: there's a long history in the us of women staying silent

Stranger: I do and i would to but that does not justify accusing someone of rape when they did not do it.

Stranger: 2 wrongs don't make a right.

You: mhm, what percentage of people #metoo-ing do you think are lying?

Stranger: I'm saying we shoudn't believe all women cause the stats say 2% to 10% of women lie about rape.

Stranger: I can't even imagine how many more men might have been falsely imori

Stranger: Imprisoned for something they never did.

You: sure, although I think it's good that these 90-98% of women who aren't lying are speaking up now

You: a majority of rape cases are dismissed

You: overwhelming majority

Stranger: I'm not saying they shoudn't cause they should but we need solid evidence before accusing someone of being a rapist

You: sure

You: although I think everyone should have the right to speak their story

Stranger: If anyone tries to rape me of course i would speak up in a heartbeat.

You: I think some companies may overreact in some circumstances to firing someone who get's #metoo'd

You: but I think people should be able to speak up and say it happened

Stranger: Because of false accusations men have killed themeselves and entered years in prison.

You: I mean the imprisonment thing I think that's just not true

You: so few accusations ever lead to prison time

You: I think you could say many men have lost their jobs

Stranger: Are you sure?

You: yup, I'm sure

Stranger: There is news on it.

Stranger: Men have told their stories.

Stranger: Search on youtube

You: yeah, but if they're convicted by a trial and jury, that legitimately means there was like evidence

You: like a dna test or sperm or things like that

You: us courts do not convict without evidence

Stranger: I dont know about that i mean people always see to believe women even without evidence

You: mhm, but the legal system hasn't changed in the US at all

You: I think more ppl are concerned about their employers believe claims and getting fired from their jobs

Stranger: I heard stories where men spent many years for a rape they did not do

You: yes, but you can't get convicted unless there is some evidence that convinces the jury

You: sometimes there can be bad evidence though

You: but it's the same thing of ppl going to prison for murder they didn't commit

You: a rape charge is very serious in the US, and you can't get convicted without serious evidence

Stranger: The jury can just call anything evidence whether it is real or not.

You: mhm idk, it can be sometimes hard to argue dna tests and stuff like that

Stranger: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DO5yrFOX5vh0&ved=2ahUKEwjuhr7l15HqAhWs63MBHVavCq8Qo7QBMAN6BAgCEAE&usg=AOvVaw2Nj1O1PtJHVUDh-T9RW6Bq

Stranger: Maybe you should watch this video, of you want to that is.

You: but again, a lot of ppl support abolishing the death penalty, because there are times when the justice system convicts the wrong ppl

You: but this isn't a problem seen just in rape cases in general

You: it happens with murder convictions and other crimes

You: rape doesn't get special treatment in us courts

Stranger: But why are there so many men in prison for a rape they did not commit then?

You: mhm..... idk, you will have to look up statistics for that

Stranger: Okau

Stranger: Okay

Stranger: Are you like a liberal btw?

You: yup

Stranger: A hillary supporter?

You: lol hillary isn't running

Stranger: I know but you voted for her?

You: versus trump lol?

You: of course

Stranger: Is it true that all feminists believe men have it much easier than women?

Stranger: I just don't see how anyone could think that.

You: well I don't really think that's the case

You: I think each gender has its problems

Stranger: I sometimes feel ny life would be easier if i was a woman.

You: mhm how so?

Stranger: Well i feel like i woudn't be told to man up

You: right

Stranger: People would be more concerned about my mental help

Stranger: I think people woudn't be so hard on me

You: mhm I think it's bad that you had to go through all those things

Stranger: I always felt like the female gender is the privileged gender.

You: idk I think for me it's hard to say one gender is more "privileged" than the other

You: but for me, I think about women who can't get a promotion because her boss thinks she will get pregnant

Stranger: You're entitled to your opinion, i am not trying to change your mind. Just sharing my views.

You: mhm totally

You: you are too

You: so I think there are challenges in different areas

You: and I think society should work together to improve issues experienced by both genders

Stranger: The thing is society dosen't really care for men and even many me don't seem to care for men, it's like both men and women never care about men's problems

Stranger: The suicide rate of men is so high and that upsets me everyday.

You: I think society should care for men, and we should change culture so that society does

Stranger: People still believe me cannot get raped.

You: a lot of ppl tell me that feminists want to "emasculate" men when we say that we should encourage it so that it's more acceptable for men to talk about their feelings

You: and express feelings and talk about their emotions

Stranger: If a woman rapes a man then people think it's not possible and that pisses me off.

You: yeah rape can happen to anybody

You: you were raped? :c

Stranger: No but i am worried about the men who did get raped.

You: mhm

Stranger: I just want to prevent men from getting raped.

You: rape is bad, and I think it's important to look at what we can do to improve it

Stranger: Men are usually less likely to speak up if they are being raped or sexually assaulted.

You: right

You: I think men should speak up

You: or I think we should make the culture acceptable for that

Stranger: I want them to but society also needs to advocate for them.

You: mhm, yup

You: sexual violence hurts everybody involved

Stranger: I know.

You: but yeah, if it's important to you, have you thought about getting involved?

Stranger: I dont know how to

Stranger: Maybe i should join the mens rights

You: well there are rape crisis hotlines for women, maybe you can find one for men?

You: or start one for men?

Stranger: How much would that even cost?

You: most of them are run by volunteers

You: it's basically a phone number

You: and you organize a group of ppl to pick up the phone

Stranger: What is the phone number?

You: I think it depends on the area you're from

Stranger: Oh okay maybe i will try to find out

You: the trevorproject is the lgbt suicide hotline

You: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

You: you can get trained to volunteer for them and answer the phone

Stranger: So anyways are you married?

You: nope

Stranger: Oh okay

Stranger: How old are you?

You: 26 you?

Stranger: I probably will never get married..

Stranger: 23

You: mhm why not?

Stranger: Well i am gay so i dont think i can get married lol

You: are in the US?

You: it's legal in a bunch of states now

You: supreme court also ruled on anti-discrimination too

Stranger: Not that marriage in essential anyways especially if we consider.how many people get divorced after marriage.

You: mhm if you don't want to get married I can understand that oo

Stranger: I mean marriage was always between a man and a woman so i don't know if.it is really marriage.

You: are you from a conservative state?

Stranger: I mean are there any religions who have same sex marriage?

You: idk, I'm not religious, so for me marriage is a secular union

Stranger: I am not either but marriage was created by religious people.

Stranger: Even though i am not religious i believe in a spiritual world, don't laugh lol

You: no it's fine, I understand

Stranger: Do you believe in the supernatural?

You: I think in a lot of the non-religious countries, or atheist countries, marriage still happens. Maybe the meaning has changed

You: not really

Stranger: Oh okay. So you believe in science only? I believe in both science and the supernatural

You: mhm I guess you could say I lean more towards science

You: maybe I believe in a soul, idk

Stranger: Ok

Stranger: Oh ya do you want to talk about abortion?

You: sure haha ^^

You: do you have strong feelings?

Stranger: Like what strong feelings?

You: some people have very strong opinions about abortion

Stranger: Ya i kinda do

Stranger: Why?

You: pro-life?

You: no just curious, mine are less strong

Stranger: Well i don't join groups so no but i don't like killing a fetus either

You: mhm

You: is there a particular point in pregnancy that you think abortion should be illegal?

Stranger: A fetus is still the child of that mother and father.

Stranger: I think abortion always be illegal unless maybe there are a few exceptions like if the mother will ide

Stranger: *die*

You: have you ever heard of plan b?

You: the birth control pill?

Stranger: No i have not

You: it's the day after pill

You: technically you can think of that as a kind of abortion too

You: since you're aborting the day after

You: sex

Stranger: I dont know about those birth control thingies

Stranger: I dont have a lot of knowledge on many things

You: oh

Stranger: Lol

You: it takes a long time for the fetus to form

You: many states have laws on what point it should be illegal to abort

You: because early on it's like microscopic

Stranger: I really need someone to teach me things i want to learn

Stranger: I think if the sperm meets the ovum and becomes one then isn't that already a life?

You: it depends on how you see it essentially

Stranger: Do you support abortion?

You: yup, up to a limit

Stranger: If i was a woman i would never abort my baby.

You: mhm I don't think I would abort either

You: but I think it's important to have a right to choose to extent

You: having a baby is a life-changing event

Stranger: I believe abortion is murder, even in the early stages i would never abort my baby.

You: mhm

You: I was talking about weeks because at certain weeks the fetus is at a different size

You: like by week 6 it's like the size of a grain of rice

Stranger: I know it is a life changing event but murder is never the answer

Stranger: So you are counting the value of your child by it's size? :(

Stranger: I a

You: mhm well, I think there's a certain point when the fetus develops a heart or a brain

You: and takes its first heartbeat

You: I think for me, before it has developed to that point

You: I mean, in a way, every sperm cell has the potential to become a baby

You: and same with every egg in menstruation

You: so for me internally, I guess we all have a point when we consider life to have started

Stranger: But i dont think sperm is the same thing as a embryo or fetus

You: mhm but the day after fertilization, it's basically just an egg with extra dna

You: from the sperm

Stranger: Are we all a sperm and a ovum according to science?

Stranger: I am curious.

You: mhm in a sense, yeah

You: there's no brain

You: so it's not thinking

Stranger: So you and i are sperms and ovums?

You: well I mean, we've grown a lot

You: I think it's unethical to kill a fetus with a beating heart and brain

Stranger: That's weird cause i never felt like a sperm and ovum

You: because I think at a certain point life has started

You: and I believe the baby has started to feel things

You: lol you wouldn't remember being a zygote (the sperm+ovum)

Stranger: What stage at birth do you think the soul enters the body.

You: mhm somewhere in between heartbeating and having a brain I think

Stranger: I know but it is hard to imagine i was ever a sperm and ovum.

You: yeah but we all started that way

Stranger: What if it was even before that? Then it would be murder :(

Stranger: But it is so weird to think of it

You: I mean, like when ppl have sex there's millions of sperm

You: if it was a different one that fertilized the egg

You: in a sense you could be someone else

You: or when a guy masturbates, those are all potential babies

Stranger: Ya but without the ovum there is no baby

Stranger: And without the sperm there is also no baby

Stranger: So we are 2 parts merged into one? That is creepy

You: lol is it?

You: I guess it's just nature

Stranger: So i am 2 beings in 1?

You: mhm you are you

You: you know another weird thing?

You: so our skin is constantly dying

Stranger: What?

You: like we shed

You: dead skin

Stranger: Ya i know that

You: how long do you think it takes before all of our skin is replaced?

Stranger: Maybe a few years?

You: yeah idk

You: sometimes I think its weird that our body now is totally different from our body a couple years ago

You: like not even the same cells

Stranger: But then why do i still have my scars?

Stranger: Why didn't my scars go away?

You: scars are like dead tissue

You: so when your skin grows, it grows around them

Stranger: Oh. Well that upsetting that they wont go away anytime soon

Stranger: I just thought since scars that arent so deep should go away since they are on the surface of my skin

You: mhm yeah idk

You: how did you get them?

Stranger: I got scratched my sharp things i guesd?

You: oh

Stranger: But some of them are not really that deep at all

Stranger: Yet the marks are still on my fingers

You: mhm

Stranger: What is mhm?

You: oh, it's just a sound of agreeing

Stranger: Are you planing to get married?

You: maybe

You: I think I will probably get going

You: it was nice talking to you

Stranger: Ok

You: bye, I wish for the best

Stranger: Where will you be going?

You: hm? maybe clean a little

Stranger: Ok bye

You: bye

You have disconnected.