#but this also is very personal

[bybdolan]

AMY! https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/taylor-swift-the-bob-dylan-of-our-age-pmlg5m7hl

You are the third person to send me this link but I finally managed to dodge the paywall to the article in order to make a nuanced statement, and that statement is: Mhh.. idk?

If you have been around for a while you have probably been witness to me arguing why I tend to disagree with statements such as "Taylor Swift is the new Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen!" (Spoiler: It is because I personally find a lot of the impulses Bob and Bruce use to create art vastly different to the impulses Taylor uses - Taylor's art is tied to her life and her experiences in a way that many, though not all, of Bruce' and Bob's songs are not) and generally speaking I tend to find most of the comparisons sort of lame because they kind of revolve around the "both of these people are great songwriters who were the voice of a generation!", which is true but doesn't capture what makes these artists special. That said, I do think the article makes some interesting points in regards to how both Bob and Taylor came out of a scene that highly valued authenticity and were punished for breaching out of it, and I also agree that Taylor's influence on the future generations of songwriters likens her to Dylan, as does her tendency for self-mythologization (although her n Bob's public personas are radically different) (+ Bob is much more intertextual in general). I also think both are excellent in transporting you into the scene of a song and making you envision the setting and characters. However, I personally can't simply look past the vast difference in subject matter and style that these artists have. "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" is a great song, as is "The Times They Are A-Changing", but they obviously deal with very different things. And sure, perhaps it is unfair to pidgeon-hole Bob Dylan as a protest singer (a comparison to "Tangled Up In Blue" for example would make much more sense), but it IS a significant part of his oeuvre and part of what made him "the voice of a generation". The same can be said for Taylor, who captures the anxiety of the social media generation incredibly well, but writing songs about brewing revolutions and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation is a lil different than writing songs about how tough it is to preserve your sense of self in times of Instagram & Co. Not that one is per se more deeper or worthwhile than the other, it's just different. (I do wonder why we never see the comparisons between Dylan and certain HipHop artists, who genuinely follow into Protest Song footsteps.)

And, to simply be biased for a second here: I consider Bob a better and more versatile writer than Taylor and because I specifically hold his more Protest Song-adjacent songs close to my heart for how well they manage to capture broad anxieties within society/young people in particular, the comparison will always slightly rub me the wrong way. But as I am not a music journalist writing for a major publication... That's okay.

[stiffyck]

Good luck during pride month to all the aroaces who are gonna be blasted with "love is love" everywhere

Edit:

This post includes aplatonic people, loveless aros and any other people who fall anywhere on the aro and ace spectrum.

Stop saying "but theres platonic love and familial love-"

[spitblaze]

I guess Chilchuck has brought us right back to 'adults who are short are child-coded and if you like them you're a pedophile' discourse huh

[kimdokjas]

though the movie might be cancelled, yuri on ice will live forever in our hearts. thank you yoi fandom, it's been real ♡

[catmask]

does anyone have like an anti aesthetic. like something you look at and can recognize as a complete fashion/interior design/artistic movement and understand it but it makes you shudder seeing it. i am not talking like “its morally bad” “its poorly structured” like just sheerly devoid of joy for you actually invites a repulse response.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

HOT, SINGLE, UNSTUDIED SPONGES. 3000 NAUTICAL MILES AWAY. Come sail the distance and read Tiger Tiger!

[autumn-may]

Mostly spoiler free summary of my viewing experience

[citricacidprince]

POV: Your estranged brother shows up at your door with a pair of pre-teen twins, wwyd? 🤨

In honor of The Book Of Bill coming out and my friends getting massive Gravity Falls fixations (Which HELLLL YEAHHHH 💥💥💥) I decided I wanted to redraw my first ever Timestuck AU doodle because that AU has my heart and soul and my time traveling loving heart can never truly abandon it 💛

(Also looking back, YIKES my art style was a little funky, thank you Psychonauts for making my art look nicer <333 (this is also your sign to play Psychonauts I guess lol))

Blank versions without the text cause I really like how these came out, I think they’re pretty :]

[prolibytherium]

I will say I get the vibe that a lot of peoples interest and support for strikers is a bit too much for a vicarious ‘burn it down’ thrill, rather than for the actual goals of a strike.

Like UPS has agreed to come back to the table and it is very possible they will concede to Union demands and avert a strike. And if that happens (so long as the union does not make concessions on its key demands) it’s a good thing. It’s a victory for the laborers. It is the same ultimate conclusion that a strike would intend to produce except without the workers having to go on (not so great) strike pay for a week or two.

[poorlydrawnmcyt]

Xisuma is forced to play hit video game That’s Not My Hermit by Evil Xisuma every day

Part 2

[chloesimaginationthings]

Hear me out, Michael would think Roxy is SICK AF

[mythicalcoolkid]

You don't wish your disability was worse or more visible, you wish your disability was taken seriously. Please stop confusing the two, I guarantee you would not get the support you need JUST by being more severe or more visible. Please listen to visibly disabled people when we tell you it isn't better on our side

[thepoisonroom]

NOTICEABLE positive change in the utilities company lady's mood once she found out i had a girlfriend

[metaphoricallyrose]

Wizard and her paramour

[lesbxdyke]

I would like to again big up libraries as safe spaces for people of all types!

I had a psychotic episode in my local library while I was in there working and had convinced myself that I was in a bubble dimension and if I left the library I would die, and that being what had happened to the librarian because I hadn't seen them in an hour (it's a small, local library. You can see the librarians desk from where I sit to work)

Now obviously they weren't dead, they were just in the little office that I couldn't see into.

I'm also lucky enough to be a very self aware psychotic, so I reached out to my support network to make sure I got home safely. But none of them could actually get me OUT of the library and I was still absolutely certain that if I stepped off the carpet and onto the tile, I would die.

So I got up, I made my way to the desk, I found the librarian and I said "I need your help. I'm having a psychotic episode and this is what I currently believe. Could you please come out from behind your desk and stand on the tiles so I can see it won't kill me?"

And they did. They didn't shame me, or laugh, or tell me it wasn't real. They said "Yeah, that must be scary." And thanked me when I admitted I'd thought them dead and been really upset about that because I liked them.

And then stood there on the tile, while I stood on the carpet, for ten minutes while I chatted shit and tried to build up my courage to step on the tile, just in case. Including telling me that if this happened again and I needed to call someone, to disregard the usual 'don't call people in the library' rule and just do so after I promised I was going to be calling my husband the second I was on the tile so he could safely walk me home.

(& so no one worries: my husband got me home safe, and a friend came to check on me a little while later and brought me food and I'm fully Cognizant and out of it now)

I cannot imagine another place where I could approach someone and say that and not get the police or an ambulance called on me. Neither of which I needed or would have been helpful.

I cannot imagine another place where a member of staff would stand somewhere for ten minutes to make sure I felt safe enough leaving.

I cannot imagine another place where I would not only be explicitly welcomed back, but be told "If this happens again here, disregard our normal rules to take care of yourself."

I cannot imagine another place on this earth that I would feel safe enough returning to, 3 days later, after an episode like that.

Libraries are a fucking Godssend and should be protected at all costs!

[fernacular]

Some people on this website wholeheartedly believe a cat will only try to bite its’ owner if it’s under traumatizing levels of stress.

I assure you cats will bite for a variety of reasons up to and including “fun and me time”