#milennial problems

[davnittbraes]

Rewatching The Land Before Time and shout out to my fellow elder millennials because this shit is traumatizing as fuck and it was an integral part of our childhood.

[tragedyinblue]

Whumpee, soaked to the skin and terrified of heights, adjusts the tv antenna on the roof of Whumper’s two-story house during a thunderstorm after the signal fuzzed to static. Whumper sits comfortably inside with the window open, randomly calling out whether the picture is getting better or worse. They’re having far too much fun to tell Whumpee the tv’s been off for an hour.

[thefinaljohnson]

Me right now 😂

[9leaguesofmirrors]

Set Lists (a Ross Gaines x Joseph Lisgoe fanfic)

This is purely self-indulgent. Nobody asked for a Band!AU, but I love the idea of Drummer!Lisgoe, so we have a band AU!

If you wanna know the name of the song the band is playing, it's Jobseeker by Sealford Mods because the song slaps and I like irony

CONTENT WARNINGS: Smoking and car makeout sessions because that's the life of a rocker innit?

If there was one thing Ross hated about the bar he went to, it was the Open Mic that happened every Thursday night

It had gotten to the point where he was playing mental bingo just to keep his sanity:

"Open Mic Thursdays" set list

A girl screeching her way through My Heart Will Go On

A group of drunk milennials singing ABBA

Some guy with a guitar (bonus points if he plays Wonderwall)

A wannabe rock band

A couple that thinks they’re in a Disney movie

The theatre kid

The one that can actually sing and wants to make it everyone’s problem

The try-hard crooner

So far, he’d managed to tick off almost everything (tonight they had a couple that was particularly gushy and it almost made Ross want to hurl his guts up), and now he was scanning the room for those rock wannabes. It was slightly shameful, the child-like excitement this game gave him, but it was keeping his morale up. And after the day he had at work, it was the least he deserved

And right on cue...

He watched as a group of black-clad 30-somethings took the stage to set up. Surely there’s an age cap on when it’s acceptable to still be in a band was Ross’ immediate thought before turning to his whiskey

Ross could hear a voice through the microphone, but he wasn’t paying too much attention. It wasn’t until the sound of heavy guitar filled the air that he could no longer focus on just his drink due to the sheer noise of it. The joys of live music. Always a racket

What it did mean, however, was that Ross was finally able to see what exactly a bunch of washed-up rockers looked like

"Weird Rock Band" set list

The singer: A slightly weedy guy with shoulder-length hair and glasses who, in all honesty, stuck out like a sad little thumb

The guitarist: Girl in a black bomber jacket and some sort of weird, messy updo; she looked like she’d jumped straight out of an 80s music video

The bassist: Another girl. Undercut, lace button-down and a silver chain. Looked a lot like the drummer, speaking of which...

The drummer: Who was now slamming his drumsticks down on the instrument like it had done something to personally wrong him

If Ross had to pick, and he only ever would if he had a gun to his head, he’d say the drummer was perhaps the most convincing rocker. He certainly had the jewellery, and he had that look of intense anger that was very prevalent in the scene. Ross was slightly ashamed that he could recognise it

Even though he didn’t want to admit it, this band was one of the better ones. Not that it meant much, considering the last time a band performed it ended with the guitarist grabbing a drumstick and volleying it at someone in the back of the pub

In particular, something about the drummer caught Ross’ eye. He’d never seen someone give it the way he did. Despite there being four people on that stage, the drummer was the one clearly pulling focus. And it wasn’t the usual desperate pandering, he was just present in the moment. Ross was slightly concerned that he was going to put a stick through a drum, but at least he was interesting to watch

Well, he wasn’t sure about the rest of the audience, but he was intrigued

The song reached its end and recieved a generally warm atmosphere. Ross' eyes still found themselves on the drummer as he twirled his drumsticks around with his fingers. He'd hardly noticed the singer step forward until he started talking, much to the disappointment of Ross

“We enjoying ourselves!”

I was until you showed up

“I said are we enjoying ourselves!”

Clean out your ears

He spoke a little more, and the people watching were having a good time, but Ross only started really paying attention when he started introducing the band members

"Weird Rock Band" set list 2.0

The singer: Admittedly, even Ross didn’t catch his name. He just wished he’d shut up and finish the song

The guitarist: Ruby Louganis

The bassist: Jodie something

“And of course, last but not least,”

Jesus christ, this is dragging on

“Please give it up for our drummer-“

Can we wrap this up?

"-Mr. Joseph Lisgoe!”

... Joseph

Drummer of a rock band

And his name’s Joseph?

There wasn’t anytime to ponder this though, because the band had started up again, playing another song Ross didn't recognise. Ross went back to his drink, allowing the noise to fade into the background

The band weren’t up for too long, only about two or three songs, before they packed up and went off into the backrooms. Not emerging until a bit later, well, two of them did. The girls. Ruby and Jodie

The closer she was, Ross could really see the resemblance between Jodie and the drummer. It was strange, they looked so alike yet extremely different. Though that could’ve been due to the thick eye makeup she was wearing-

“Show’s over, cunt. Eyes on your glass.”

Damn it

“I was just wondering-“

“Bet you were.”

“Nothing like that! You just looked like your drummer, wondered if there was a genetic reason.”

Jodie gritted her teeth like she was about to launch at him, but was stopped by Ruby placing a hand on her shoulder

“We’ll take your word for it,” she said, zipping up her bomber jacket “Jodie and Joseph are twins.”

“Makes sense. How long have you been playing together?”

“We don’t.” Jodie piped up, still wary of whether she could trust Ross or not “This was just a laugh. I like guitar, he likes drums. Thought ‘fuck it, why not?’ and found out Ruby and Jezza were looking for substitutes. This is a one night only deal.”

Ross nodded and tapped his fingers against his empty glass. For some reason, his mind shifted to the drummer. He always thought twins were attached at the hip

“Does your brother not hang around then? Early night for Little Drummer Boy?”

It came out a lot more condescending than he’d intended, but it got a slight laugh from both of the girls, so at least it eased the tension

“He’s probably outside,” Jodie said “smoking it up-“

“Or having it on with someone.”

“I’ll break his fucking teeth if he is, I’m not staying after hours so he can get a quick shag!”

“And I’m not dragging you off him when the fight breaks out, so get a shot down you and ease up!”

Since Jodie and Ruby seemed to be enjoying their drinks, Ross figured he’d leave them to it. Besides, he needed some fresh air

As Ross approached the side of the pub, he noticed a figure wearing a vest top on the far end. Lanky, cigarette in hand, back against the wall. He couldn’t make out the face until he took a few steps closer

“Can I help you?” Came the figure’s voice, slightly nasal

“I can leave if you want.”

“Nah. Public place, innit?”

Ross leaned against the wall next to him, keeping a slight distance out of respect. Close enough to see the many tattoos that covered his arms, upper chest, and the one on his neck. Usually, Ross thought tattoos were either gross or a desperate attempt to appear intimidating. But he had to admit, the barbed wire that travelled up his arms, the black bird on his neck and what looked like a crack on his chest looked quite good

Obviously, by 'good', he meant objectively speaking

Once he saw the slicked-back hair and the hardened gaze, he recognised who the stranger was

“It’s Joseph, isn’t it?”

“Yup.” He threw the cigarette down and stomped it into the ground “Most people call me Lisgoe.”

“That a stage name?”

Lisgoe gave him an incredulous, amused look

“No. It’s my surname.”

“I’ve never known someone use their surname as a first name before.”

“Puts a boundary up. Helps with my job.”

Right thought Ross he’s not a musician

“I collect debts,” Lisgoe explained, as if he could read Ross’ mind “well, I mainly deal with desk stuff. But I deal with the more difficult targets. Ones that need an extra push.”

Ross thought back to his aggressive drumming and decided that he didn’t want to know how he convinced those ‘difficult targets’

“What?”

Ross snapped out of his thoughts with a soft “hm?”

“You went off somewhere, have you been drinking?”

“What? No! Well, a little, but I can hold my alcohol well. And I never get drunk.”

“Wowee!" Sneered the drummer "We're in the presence of Mother Theresa!"

"Was that necessary?"

"Yeah, I'd say it was."

After that rather snappy altercation, Ross was ready to turn right around and walk off, the only thing that stopped him was the sound of Lisgoe's voice

"You a regular then? At this bar, I mean."

"Yes?"

"No clue how, the drinks are shite and everyone that goes here is a twat."

"Like me?"

That, admittedly, came out as more of an accusation than a legitimate question, and he very nearly asked him to forget it, but that was stopped when he noticed the way Lisgoe was looking at him. As if he was taking the whole of him, really studying him. Reaching into his eyes and grasping his brain, taking it apart with a scalpel to see what was inside

In a word, it was exposing. But not in a creepy way. Ross was frozen in place. Under the watchful eye of Joseph Lisgoe, he felt both anxious and completely at ease. It was a strange feeling, not unpleasant but extremely unorthodox

It was the man's voice that broke him out of his thoughts

"Nah. Well, you seem a little stuck up."

Rude

"And you dress like a secondary school History teacher."

Rude, but annoyingly accurate

"But you're not a twat like most people are." He gestured vaguely with his cigarette "You go to bars and you see all kinds of people. The ones that try to fit in. The ones that think they're God's fucking gift because they don't fit in, the ones that are so desperate to fit in they'll do fucking anything."

"And where do I fit?"

"That's the thing," Lisgoe took a puff of his cigarette "you don't really seem like the kind of guy to fit any of those boxes. You're just... you. You wear your clothes, you drink your beer. And if you don't like the band that's onstage, you don't bother watching. Unless you're making eyes at the drummer."

That last part was accompanied by a playful smirk that made Ross roll his eyes

"I wasn't making eyes at you."

"Would you rather I called it 'gawking' then?"

"I'd rather you didn't exaggerate."

"Whatever," he waved his cigarette dismissively "my point still stands. You don't give a fuck about what people say, you don't seem like the kind of guy that bends to how people think you should act. It's pretty punk."

"I'd hardly call myself a punk."

"You don't look the part, but you're more punk than most twats that wear the badges."

There was something strange about Lisgoe. For someone that spoke so casually, with such a relaxed and colloquial atmosphere, he was strangely philosophical. Contradicting, that's how Ross felt it best to describe Lisgoe

As they stood in silence, Ross' eyes were caught by Lisgoe taking out his cigarette box. Well, for some reason, was specifically watching his hands. Clearly, he wasn't new to this, and his fingers were equally as skilled. That must've been due to his drumming hobby

Why he didn't just look away, Ross didn't know, he can't recognised he was staring until he was pulled out of his trance by Lisgoe's voice

"Did you want one?"

Ross just shook his head, suddenly finding the floor fascinating. Not fascinating enough to stop his eyes from darting over at Lisgoe as he let the cigarette stay in his mouth, stretching his hands down by his sides. The tendons fidgeted as he moved his fingers, bending and shifting in a way that was almost hypnotic

He had rings on. That was how Ross excused his fascination. Silver, some had small black gems, they were quite pretty. Suited him. Suited his hands

Those hands-

"If you want a smoke, I don't mind sharing."

"I was looking at your jewellery."

"Is that right?" Lisgoe's tone was smug and biting, cigarette still in his teeth "Just my jewellery?"

Usually, Ross would just deny it and move on. And he knew he was for the best. But he watched as Lisgoe moved to stand directly in front of him, slowly reaching to take the cigarette out from between his teeth. There was something about the way his canines caught his lower lip as he smiled that caught Ross' attention and refused to let it go

"What else would I be looking at?"

"Dunno," Lisgoe's right hand jolted out to grab Ross' left shoulder, standing in front of him as he brushed his forearm against Ross' throat, causing him to let out a strangled gasp "what else could have your attention?"

Well... this is new

The eye contact between them was thick and glowing like an ember. Ross' eyes darted towards Lisgoe's forearm and he made the mistake of glancing at his shoulder. Because he was instantly met with the sight of Lisgoe's hand tightly gripping it

And that made it incredibly hard to make rational decision

"I'm not a hook-up sort of person," Ross said softly, the way he spoke sounded more like a challenge than anything else "you'll have to do more than push me into a wall to convince me to spend the night with you."

"You may not wanna hook up, but you want something." This was followed by a hand slipping down Ross' back, resting on his ass "Something a little more hands-on?"

"And you're alright with acting like this in public? Where anyone could catch you?"

"No big deal," came the drummer's response as he pulled away, which caused Ross' more disappointment than he cared to admit "part of the fun. But you look like you don't get much of that."

The glare Ross gave him caused him to laugh, and he took another smoke of his cigarette

No fun, is that what you think?

He had the decency to wait for Lisgoe to stop inhaling the smoke before tugging him in by his vest. But, just as their lips brushed, he hesitated. It felt odd. Not bad, not at all. Hell, as he heard Lisgoe exhale the smoke into the tiny space between them, Ross could feel his head spin quite pleasurably. It just wasn't what he was used to, none of it was

Oddly enough, it was as if Lisgoe could read his mind through the web of thought he was tangled in

"Could leave you alone," he said casually "just say the word and I'll fuck off. The others are probably wondering where I am anyway." A pause. As if he were trying to work out how to speak without pushing "Or... if it's publicity you don't like, my apartment's free. Up to you really."

"Logical Things To Say" setlist

"No, I've just met you"

"I have work in the morning"

"This is a very bad idea"

"We could get caught"

"Not very decent, is it?"

Ross opened his mouth and responded with the first thing that came to mind

******************************************

After a long day at work, or a long day anywhere for that matter, Lisgoe often enjoyed sitting in his car, in some secluded area, accompanied only by his thoughts and the radio

This time, however, he was in his car, in some secluded alleyway

The radio off

And his tongue down someone's throat

What a fucking night!

*********************************************

Ross' brain had been yelling at him about his complete lack of dignity as soon as Lisgoe started leading him to his car. It had been somewhat quietened by the feeling of Lisgoe's hand massaging his thigh as he drove, but it didn't leave him alone until the car was stopped and Ross felt his chin being grabbed and his head turned to face the man in the driver's seat

The man he was currently straddling the lap of, in that exact driver's seat

"Making Out With A Guy You Just Met" set list

The buzzing in your stomach at the potential for getting caught, a combination of fear and thrill

Cramped spaces that aren't exactly comfortable, but makes everything feel that much more sensual

Jesus christ, I'm making out with a stranger in the front seat of his car

All of Ross' thoughts came through as static, every time he felt Lisgoe grip at his sides, tug his shirt, run his hands across his bare skin, the static got more intense until his head was completely empty of what had happened and what might happen next. All he could focus on was cold hands on warm skin, the sound of the drummer's breathing becoming more laboured and heavy

He didn't even realise he was making gentle sounds of his own until Lisgoe broke the kiss to tell him in a breathy tone

"You sound so fucking good."

"Do I?"

Lisgoe just nodded as he pulled Ross back in, as if replying simply wasted too much time. Time he wanted to spend completely melting into him, surrounded by the combining scent of cologne and cigarettes. Strange, but somehow added to the thrill. Made it feel more rebellious

"Just realised," Lisgoe muttered against Ross' mouth, unable to pull himself away for more than a few seconds "never got your name."

"Right."

"So what is it?"

"Um, Ross."

As Ross placed a hand on Lisgoe's chest, he could feel the way a chuckle rumbled gently through him

"You didn't sound too sure, that an alias or something? Are you a spy-"

Ross put a stop to the teasing by trailing his lips along Lisgoe's jawline

"It's Ross." He said gently in his ear "Ross Gaines. And I'm an auditor at the job centre, not a spy."

As he kissed down Lisgoe's neck, taking his time as he did with most things, he could hear his saying something under his breath

"Ross Gaines. Ross Gaines."

Each time his name was said, more heat started to pool within him. The way it sounded in Lisgoe's voice wasn't quite something he'd prepared for

"It's fun to say, 'Ross Gaines' all those s sounds." Lisgoe's lips moved to his ear, nipping at the lobe "Ross..." his hand slid up his shirt, digging slightly into his skin "Fuck sake, Ross Gaines," he grabbed the hem of his trousers, moving to undo his belt "you taste so sweet."

The hissing of the sibilance, combined with the feeling of the words hitting his skin, was enough to make Ross slightly dizzy. And the feeling of his belt being unbuckled was not helping his critical reasoning skills in the slightest. The words were bubbling up through his throat, arms wrapped around Lisgoe's neck as pulled him in, as if searching for a way to distract himself. To stop himself from falling off the edge

"Ross-"

"Wait."

Lisgoe pulled his hands away, holding them up like he'd been stopped by police

"You said your apartment was free?"

"I live alone, so I'd be fucking confused if it wasn't."

That made Ross roll his eyes, laughing a little. His hands made their way to cup Lisgoe's face, looking at him with considering eyes

"Do you do this often then?"

"Not as often as people think." Lisgoe answered, his hands on Ross' hips "Yeah, sometimes I like a quick one before I go to bed, but I'm not exactly a hook-up expert. I just get horny." His hands moved slowly up his sides, sending a chill up Ross' spine "You're the first one I've invited back though, I like your company. You're hot as fuck, but you're also easy to talk to. I respect that."

"I thought it was common decency to kick the person out of bed after you're done with them."

That got a gravelly chuckle from the drummer and he let his hand travel to Ross' ass, squeezing roughly

"I like spicing things up every now and then."

"Really?" Ross, in a sudden wave of boldness, leaned in and brushed their lips together "Because I think stalling things would make it quite boring."

The sound of Lisgoe's stuttered breath bounced in Ross' head

"Was... your fucking idea." He replied with a sly smile "You changing your mind, Ross?"

"I'm allowed." He bit Lisgoe's lower lip and god! The low, raspy moan it produced caused his hips to buck, which only drew another groan from the drummer's lips "Any objections, Joseph?"

"Say my name like that again and I won't be able to fucking talk, let alone object!"

There was no more time for set lists

[ofmermaidstories]

Will it ever end tho, or will Hori just keep pulling more story out of his butt to prolong the ending

It will!!! When is up in the air, lmao. Depending on his health and the breaks he takes, I could see My Hero ending this year tbh. But also—Horikoshi has seemed ready to finish the series for a while, now. 🥺 If anything I think the thing we gotta worry about, as a fandom, is him rushing things. 💀 Which is why I’m so leery when people trot out the “emotional resolution” thing as a reason for the series going on longer—I do consider it one of his weaknesses with his storytelling, outside of the fights, so I think he could very easily sacrifice that kind of satisfaction to get to the “and they were ALL heroes, the end :)” ending.

I sound like I’m hating on him, I’m not. 😭 I love what he’s done and ultimately how he’s telling his story—and I will be a wreck when the manga comes to a close LMAO. When we get that “we’re the greatest heroes :)” ending. 🥹 But he’s also the artist of like, one of the few remaining long-haul series left in Jump. 🥺 Like, god, what else is there? Kishimoto, maybe, with Boruto? Is that a thing? I’m not a Naruto reader so I’ve never paid attention. 😩🙏🏽 Oda with One Piece? Maybe technically Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter? And then Horikoshi, with My Hero Academia. 🥺 Plus there’s a generational difference—all those other artists are what, Gen Xers and older? Whereas Hori is a Milennial, and one of the last so far to have as many chapters. The only other one I can think of hitting the same stride was like, Furudate with Haikyu!! That long-form storytelling takes its toll!! Mangaka break their BACKS with their series, the weekly demand with shonen is insane, and we lose so many artists to health problems they shouldn’t be having!!!!! 🥺 in a dream world Hori would take like, idk, a six month break and then come back and wrap up My Hero however he wanted to, however long that takes, but I think the relentless demands of being such a heavy hitter for Jump will mean he will be keen to finish it as soon as possible. Whether he will is up for debate, but if the series wrapped up by the end of the year or sooner, I would not be surprised nor resent it. 🥺

[borathae]

Can we explain what is top bottom dom sub in hetero relationships very simply? An old milennial here

Okay I'll take the aaol!couple as the example because I'm pretty sure you are asking this because of them.

The terms Dom/sub originates from BDSM and is mostly used for BDSM dynamics (but tbh and maybe I'm talking shit, but I also think that more vanillay couples can have Dom/sub roles during sex as well. maybe I'll call that kinda dynamic the chill laidback version of it) BUT it is mostly used for BDSM play and is very obviously not limited to gender.

Dom and sub describes the roles the partners take on during the play. Sometimes those roles aren't limited to the bedroom however, but also play important parts in a couple's day-to-day-dynamic as well (example: when Kookie calls her "mommy" as a term of endearment or when she gives him little commands throughout the day). So in aaol's case the Dom is OC and the sub is Kook.

Dom is short for Dominant and describes the person who "is in charge of the scene". So to put it into a few words: the person who gives the commands during the sex, who tells the sub how to act and who very often is the giving part of the scene (OBVIOUSLY ONLY AFTER KINK WAS DISCUSSED AND LIMITS WERE VOICED. EVERYTHING THE DOM COMMANDS AND DOES, IS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE SUB CONSENTED TO IT AND WANTS IT!!).

sub is short for submissive and is reserved for the person who "submits during the scene". They follow the orders of the Dom (or don't depending on if they wanna be a lil brat hehe) and very often are the recievers of the kink.

The thing with recieving and giving is obviously not set in stone. There are also Doms who only like to recieve and subs who only like to give. And there are dynamics where giving & recieving is equal between the Dom and the sub. But a lot of the time it is that the Dom gives and the sub recieves. (maybe that's just me though JFADJFJ I really do love giving pleasure that shit gets me off so good fadf)

Now to get to Top and Bottom. Dom/sub is NOT equal to Top/Bottom. A Dom can also be a Bottom, a sub can also be a Top and vice versa. The term originates from the LGBTQ+ scene where homosexual couples like to use it to describe "who gets penetrated and who does the penetrating during anal sex".

I also think that this is a good definition for heterosexual sex and is very obviously not limited to gender (because it's 2023 and women aren't the only ones getting penetrated anymore. you've got a problem with that? leave my blog.) I think "who is getting penetrated and who is doing the penetration?" is a good general definition for what Top/Bottom means.

In my case I like to use Top and Bottom when a slight power play happens, but it's not enough to label someone as the Dom and the other as the sub. In the case of my latest aaol story, I used Top!Jungkook because he was still very obviously subby BUT he also kind of took the lead during the sex and railed her into a total pillow princess. So I felt that Top fit the dynamic way better than calling him the Dom, because he very clearly wasn't the Dom even if he was the one ruining her with amazing sex.

I hope I could explain it to you well, anonie. In general you can say that Dom/sub = what part takes the person during the kink play & Top/Bottom = who does the lil pokey poke and who gets the pokey poke? LMAOAO

[listlessnessss]

I was discussing one of my blackpills among the repressor oracle and realized that transmasculinity has nothing to say and nothing to contribute to masculinity classic. It doesn't propose any sort of conceptual threat to men, as we try and climb up a ladder rather than take an immediate redpill, at least conceptually, there is no way for a woman to 'become a man' in any sense without the effort. (This and it being harder to be a trans woman are why ftm reppers are rarer, btw.)

This is why, in tandem with the lack of obligate social cohesion amongst males (with exceptions for marginalized male groups), many of us revert to woman in some sense. It has nothing to do with the inherent cunning duplicity and disingenuousness or illigetimacy of the individuals involved. The male alliance doesn't naturally exist and has to be artificially engineered to ideological ends or to attempt to fill some sort of need, either by the right or the left wing (toxic masculinity as a term wasn't created by complaining feminist women but rather a leftie men's 'alliance' type group, originally)-- when leftie men do this and discuss its intersections with trans, they mean the possibility that some of the men among them are... not... transfemininity poses a conceptual threat to men with which cis men must contend, and they're right to try, yes. they're not speaking to nor about ftms, the assumption is an automatic understanding with the group of origin(women) with queer people in general or a self-selecting tguy space. I'd argue that points one and two are obviously not always true but are for some reason taken as a given, and option three is a viable solution, but let's not pretend that masculinity is under any current social nor political pressure to absorb, it has not been taken to the same task that womanhood or feminism has. Yes, I mentioned that the marginalized group alliance thing exist for the males, too, and wouldn't ftms be that? Yes, you would think, but one must contend with the nature of that marginalization which is precisely that ftms are "not men". So unlike other groups, the 'base case default' of "trans" is not 'trans men'.

It is so funny to watch theorists self-styled or otherwise (go on trans twitter to see examples of this or read that medium article on 'trans masc misogyny and the red six of spades' for a summary) try so hard to avoid the next logical conclusion of 'trans women are women, and as evidence of this, they're victims of misogyny'... this argument has successfully been made, and I agree. But I also sort of think that both trans women and trans men are women and nobody on the left will ever say that but that's my blackpill. It is not a physiological blackpill, though I could spin the phrenology wheel of fortune but that's played out by every other shitty self hating trans person... this is a social, cultural, political blackpill. Again, as I've said, you may want the impossible, yes, but I will not use that against you, I will want the impossible with you and for you.

back to the medium article, it ends like this, after arguing that there's no specifically trans masculine experience: "Living on a border can mean feeling connected to everything and everybody. It can also mean feeling like nothing and nobody, particularly when the dominant culture refuses to admit that you exist. I believe it is the underlying threat of zero-ness — that fear of being canceled out, rendered unthinkable and illegible — that drives much shitty trans masc behavior." I'd argee with the author, but I'd say that the threat of nothingness and lack of conceptual existence has for us already materialized, and has been happening since forever. Curiously, no solutions to this problem are offered, but I think even though it's entierly mired in the nuances of twitter arguents between milennial microceleb wannabe public intellectual types, a culture which I couldn't give less of a fuck about personally, it's an interesting musing on the same problem.

I refuse to blame trans women for this problem, btw. And I will always acknowledge that I will always have it easier in general. But I think that the woobification and aggressively un-political and un-sexualized nature of 'transmasculine culture' is obligate, in that lack of any narrative at all and lack of a politically justifiable positive identification and lack of visibility does translate to material effects (we're more likely than not to eventually try out suicide: look it up) that memeified infantile complaints of 'erasure' don't do justice.

but I'm a dumb repressor and a self-identified autohomoerotic and a trender and a theyfab and refuse to just be butch and a faggot and have no lesbian past and am also a privileged bitch so idk.

[futuristicbarbie]

idk if the birth charts correct since idk where my friend is born exactly but she might be a gemini moon like me only problem is shes a normie, while i grew up with unlimited internet brain rot, shes a milennial that had a normal life and thinks fat babies laughing videos on instagram is funny..

[horrorsequel]

everyone keeps getting so up in arms abt stuff related to the barbie movie as if the whole thing wasnt just bad. the thing abt barbie is that it wasnt a toy commercial. ppl always say that and that was a byproduct of it but that wasnt actually what it was doing. it was a lifestyle commercial. it was not trying to sell barbies to kids. kids r already buying barbies. it was trying to sell the Barbie brand to adults. the barbie brand rn as far as toys is trying to be very inclusive and encourage boys to play with barbies as well. adult men dont need a barbie commercial cos like, gay men already huy barbies. the ppl that needed to be won back to the barbie brand was milennial women. thats why the movie said the things it said. it brought up the spesific points it did because those are the problems milennial women always cite with barbie. the reason Barbie herself was connected with a Mom, the reason her annoyed teenage daughter went on the journey and not like, a child? Because the barbie brand wants YOU. and it worked. all the brand collabs went off so well. people r still talking abt it. the writing of the movie itself wasnt even good at waht it was trying to do but it worked because they hot all the right talking and plot points no matter how shallow and ham fisted.

like this is all part of a much bigger societal problem which boils down to giving corporations and rich people way too much fucking credit for doing the bsre minimum. and YEAH the people who run awards shows are missing the point. but at the same time. the movie itself didnt give any of the barbies a huge musical number. just ken. the movie itself is part of the problem youre just being selective as hell with what you got out of it.

[davnittbraes]

It’s official I guess.

I’m now at that age where I emotionally relate to 1985 by Bowling For Soup.

[stinkybreath]

I’m proud of how this turned out so I’m crossposting from fb but I respect you so I’m putting it under the cut. Here’s 5 of the absolute worst bullshit I put myself through consuming in 2023 in my lifelong pursuit of cultural literacy. Individual explanations underneath each for those who are interested in me being a hater 🫶

I have tried really hard to develop my critical perspective this year so I do have actual thoughts about these but I did me best to make them entertaining as well.

The Stand - This year I embarked on an effort to read more Stephen King because I really like the Ranged Touch guys and I wanted to better engage with their show Just King Things. I read Carrie first (more on that in another post), which really set me up for such monumental disappointment when it came to this fucking book. Jesus Christ. I have scarcely read a better selling or more beloved work of popular fiction, and I have also separately scarcely read a more offensive and poorly constructed work of popular fiction. I don’t even know how to begin addressing the headache it gave me, but I was pissed off almost the entire time I read it. Caveat here that, like everyone else, I did love the “no great loss” section both on its own merits and as a cute little Vonnegut nod.

Goodnight Beautiful - I read a lot of shitty thrillers because they get miscategorized as horror very commonly- and while I don’t think genre boundaries are hard and fast I do think that these are very distinct groups- but they’re almost as satisfying so I guess I’ll take it while I’m here. But my lord. This is one of the shittiest shitty thrillers I’ve ever managed to make myself finish. I have brain problems that make it difficult for me to distinguish between characters when there’s a lot of action or time weirdness or whatever whatever, but based on reviews that I trust, it was so poorly done that even normal people couldn’t follow what was happening until the author took the reader by the hand and shoveled the answers directly into their mouth.

Stolen Tongues - for YEARS I’ve been hearing people rave about how unique and effective and just good this book is. My experience, however…

1)author can’t turn a phrase to save their life *vine boom*

2) this has such an extended ‘nlog breasting boobily’ description of the girlfriend that I think I literally gagged *vine boom*

3) racist. *vine boom vine boom vine boom*

No One Is Talking About This - one of my biggest pet peeves is the way most people (authors, journalists, thought leaders, your parents, congresspeople) talk about the internet. It is broad, with both the lack of specificity and the extremity that implies. The way someone talks about the internet can tell you so much about their perspective that they must not know how revealing it is or they’d be more embarrassed about how they sound (again, more on this in another post). This book is a great example- it’s inauthentic to the core. There are some readers who clearly interpreted this as funny glibness but the particular way Lockwood takes internet haterism ad absurdum lets me know she’s never had one single internet argument with someone. It pissed me off so royally that I nearly sent this author an email except I’m not convinced she understands how to open those.

The Vile Thing We Created - the only book on this list that I did not finish and yet felt qualified to speak on anyway. Suckered again by booktok! There was sufficient hype for this book that I let myself get excited, I even spent a few of my actual dollars to get the ebook for convenience. I am really enthusiastic about engaging with themes of the horror of parenthood, good or bad, because I find them an interesting reflection of social ideas about parents. However. Let me just excerpt some of this dreck so you can feel the full force of the normie milennial local cringe that is baked in to every sentence:

Lola was elbow-deep in her fifteenth batch of macaron batter for that week. Spring orders were in full swing, as were an ocean of orders for baby shower treats. It never failed. She never refused the business. Quite the opposite. Macarons meant time. Time meant money. She easily brought in an extra twelve-hundred dollars a week during baby shower season. Music floated into the kitchen from the living room record player. Depending on her mood, Lola’s extensive vinyl collection met her every need. While baking, she usually threw on some David Bowie, Foreigner, something along those dramatically-opposite lines. Today, Louis Armstrong’s “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” danced in the air, trumpet notes accompanying Lola’s bopping around the kitchen.

……….yeah. You can see why I ragequit at 15%. It’s also really fucking weird about the dialogue of the black characters.

[the-consortium]

To Mr. Herik.

Have you ever worked with the Saqqura on certain projects? If so, what did you bribe him with?

Herik takes a datapad from the lab table and puts it in one of the boxes set up around him. Then he looks around briefly, then reaches for it again and puts it in another box.

The Chief Apothecary has dismissed him again, so he is now preparing to return to Holvall. And the packing for this is about as planned as the nest-building of crows. Things end up in containers, are removed again to be placed elsewhere, where they seem to suit Herik better. Several of the little serf-mutants scurry around him and add to the chaos as they also keep moving lab equipment and data coils around.

Every now and then one of the colleagues peers into the lab, but then decides each time that he'd rather go somewhere else. It is simply impassable at the moment unless you are either very small or have wings.

Finally, Herik has apparently reached a level of disorder he likes and, aided by a flap of his wings, he jumps into the second gallery, where he has built something like a relaxation room out of old scraps of cloth. He pushes some books aside, makes a mental note to return them to the library before he leaves and leans back.

Then he digs his private datapad out of the fabric nest and begins to write.

"I have not worked on any projects that have required Saqqara's special talents. His expertise with Neverborn has little to do with my work on bodies and evolution. Of course, I am grateful when he protects our work and our base with his skills, but that is more general in nature. He is as little a scientific collaborator to me as my brothers of the 12th Milennial are. In general, we just have little in common and virtually no overlapping interests."

He pauses, taps his lips with his data pen. Then continues, "But really, that's true of all members of the Consortium. I have no problem approaching him should I ever need his special skills or once have the leisure to study a demon of Tzeentch. But otherwise … no, Saqqara and I don't really live in the same world."

[mariacallous]

@ the brookings quote like THANK U i have been saying and preaching etc! Sorry this is a rant but like. We NEED to start actually tackling these human problems!!!!! Nothing can replace the work of moving people out of despair!! Im also reading the name of the rose atm so it is all hitting me lol like. Its oppressive and unearned and depressing to hear the online drumbeat of unproductive nihilism and anxiety and despair abt the future as tho you have no control over it from genz and milennials like idk. Its getting old!! Esp from fellow usamericans who have time to be online and are usually economically/socially middling or better (even if they'd deny it)

No, exactly!

People take "difficult" and "drastic" to also mean "unavoidable" or "inevitable" and that's not really the case!

[yurisorcerer]

Honestly most of this episode is pretty dull. School drama is almost never compelling and that's what the whole episode is built around. Worse, Alya and Kuze spend most of it apart so we don't get any of their banter. (Also he basically solves the problem Alya's caught up in for her which is not great from like an optics perspective, eh.)

The shorter second part of the episode is better since they're back together and we get more of their repartee, which is the show's main strength, and also a bit of relationship development (punctuated with a very powerful slap, since this is a pretty straightforward romcom anime at heart).

All of this is beside the REAL point of the episode; the song covered in the ED this week is fucking "Hare Hare Yukai!" This is less of a weird pull than it might seem, given that Alya's voice actress is a milennial and presumably grew up on the series, and there is a line to be drawn from Haruhi to this, even if Roshidere's self-awareness is itself a pretty standard and accepted thing by now. (Somewhere in here Kuze thinks to himself that something doesn't befit the main character in a romcom. Slow down, buddy, the fourth wall can only take so many hits.) I was delighted by this, and it redeemed an otherwise iffy episode in my eyes, so I'm happy it was done.

[serenity-song]

Adventures in Bumble Dating. Episode 1: “unfaithful”

My opener is to ask about an all-time favourite movie. I’m a content nerd, future forever has to have an opinion on this subject.

I will (and have) accepted answers in list form. But better to have the problem of too many favourites (aka my problem) than not enough. Because how has NO SINGLE NARRATIVE FILM of any genre not resonated with you by this time of life.

Unless there’s a “Blast from the Past” bunker situation.

But I’m off track. That isn’t even the issue here.

How do I respond to a persons favourite film involving adultery and not see that as a pink flag at best? The goal in life is to look for more green flags but my dude, where do I go from that other than “oh those aren’t my kinds of movies.”

The other factor is that the response only included the one word “Unfaithful.” So… did you not have a follow up question for me?

What is the point of matching someone and not engaging in the barest of minimums of conversation expectations.

Like the bar to clear here is not that high.

Unless I’m asking too much that the other person take an interest in my opinion.

Is it too much to ask to find the right level of conversation and flirt with an engaged individual?

Another guy unmatched because I wasn’t matching his “hungover watching a (and I quote) dirty movie” energy.

May have told him I was watching “27 Dresses” and crafting.

But if they don’t want me at my retired grandmother energies, they don’t get me at my sassy milennial who loves to flirt era.

Ramble over. Who knows. Lightning could strike.

This would also be an excellent time for anyone who’s “never been able to forget me” texts. They’ve happened before. It could happen again.

[illisidifan]

Need to talk about this

Ok. So, my fellow queer folk. I love all of you, I really do. And you can live your lives however you like. But I do feel the need to point out that this is just buying into bullshit societal ideas about what relationships are/can be. "Queerplatonic" is just friendship. It's just being best friends. It's just being bonded to someone through friendship. And being bonded to someone through friendship can be VERY intense, VERY deep, VERY meaningful and the people who dismissed you and your very deep friendships because it wasn't romantic are just wrong.

Use whatever words you want. But be aware that when you over-intellectualize like this, you are just playing into the "normative" societal bullshit. I feel this particularly as an older milennial having watched so many of my peers and younger constantly working to find as many labels for themselves as possible, to more precisely and accurately describe themselves. And to me, that is a completely understandable HUMAN response, to categorize, to MAKE SENSE of things that are really complex and fluid. But it's also limiting. And it's used against you. Our consumerist capitalist culture WANTS to atomize, wants you to label yourselves, wants you to get further and further separated into distinct advertisable bubbles. Because the more that happens, the more disconnected you are from your fellow man, the more you only identify with people who share your adjectives, the easier you are to MARKET to, the easier it is to make you miserable and then promise that buying things will alleviate that misery.

I understand the desire to be part of a group. Being outside, feeling like you are alienated from the predominate culture is really scary and upsetting. It's understandable to want to create new boxes to stuff ourselves into in order to feel a part of something again. And if that brings you comfort, by all means, live your life, ignore me. Do as thou wilt and all that.

But you don't HAVE to. You don't HAVE to label yourself. You don't HAVE to have identities or adjectives or categories. You can look straight at the people demanding to know what you are and just say "I'm a person, I'm a human being, if that's not enough maybe you need to examine why that is for yourself."

I feel like older generations, in particular generation x, understood this better and maybe it's because they lived through 70s feminism and the gay rights movement. Lived through the strong dyke women and leather daddies telling the larger society "No, FUCK you, we don't NEED to be anything that you understand. We exist so you should respect us and that's the end of it." It's antagonistic, it's uncomfortable, it spits in the face of politeness and whiteness and "respectable society" and that's the fucking POINT, y'all.

I guess what I'm saying is... don't label yourself to make it easier for others to consume you, to DIGEST you. Don't sand down the sharp jagged edges of who you are so you more easily fit into someone's picture of the world. Let your existence challenge them, let your presence as a human they can't relate to or understand stretch their fucking brain a bit. We can all stand together saying "You don't get to tell us who we are and we reject, TRULY reject, your ideas about gender and sexuality and friendship. We exist, this is how we are, and we're not going to give you new special words to use to make you feel safer around us because the fact that you don't feel safe around us IS the problem, not the fact that we exist."

Visible minorities don't get to claim their identity. They are whatever society says they are. People are uncomfortable around them and make assumptions about them based on things they literally cannot hide. It's not the responsibility of the minority to make themselves more palletable, more fitting to the predominate culture. It's the job of society to learn to stretch and accommodate them as human beings solely because they are HUMAN BEINGS. End of story, no coda, no PS.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FIND WORDS TO MAKE YOURSELF ACCEPTABLE TO ANYONE.