tiruvenkadu - Tumblr blog

[tiruvenkadu]

okay, a rant.

i have filters set up for tags i don’t want to see. i don’t want to see sexy pictures, i don’t want to see nudes (that are obviously posted for the specific purpose of something for people to masturbate to), i don’t want to see obvious sex stuff.

i have never sought it out. i don’t have many tag filters, because this is not a thing i think about or have experience with, but the obvious ones - “sexy”, “18+”, “tits” - should filter out the obvious porn.

and yet, some dumbasses out there refuse to use common-sense tags like that.

i have a history and an orientation (aspec) that means seeing images like that, especially thrown onto my tumblr feed for no discernible reason (i block each account that posts that stuff) can send me into a nasty spin of anxiety that could last anywhere from minutes to days.

anyone got any helpful tips? tags to filter? anything? *so* done with having porn shoved at me.

[tiruvenkadu]

i have also found that in a culture where there are often two diametrically opposed things (political party, sports teams, etc.), it happens often that being anti-x means you are in davor of y. but it doesn’t. it just makes you anti-x. (i know someone who “hates liberals” because the people he works with are all intolerant as hell and say liberal-ish things, but do not live in a way that considers anyone other than themselves. it took me a while to figure out that his coworkers are not, in fact, liberal, but are anti-conservative.)

you can hate a thing and be against a thing all you want, but unless you actually support some other viable alternative, that anti-ness gets you nowhere.

Every time I advocate for voting people are like "no you shouldn't vote! Read this literature, it'll totally change the way you view voting!" And every single time it's the same fucking "you shouldn't vote because both parties are exactly the same so it won't make a difference who wins" bullshit wrapped up in some fancy language

[tiruvenkadu]

I am a very proud damn liberal

[tiruvenkadu]

this whole time i thought “lieutenant” and “leftenant” were two different ranks because i know nothing about military ranks aside from what i have picked up from discworld books

left tennant

[tiruvenkadu]

You know there’s this temptation to think of yourself as existing at the end of history even when big historical events are happening to you.

In our time I often see this manifest as apocalyptic thinking. Perhaps that’s because we’re living in unprecedented times, perhaps it’s because an entire generation recently grew up on post apocalypse literature, perhaps it’s the climate change and fascism. Perhaps it’s a lot of things.

But like. You’re not at the end of history. You’re not at the end of all things. You’re living through strange times yes but frankly these past like idk 500 years have been kinda weird in the scale of all of human history. Hell, the past 12,000-ish years since we invented architecture and agriculture have been kinda weird.

One thing I do is study ancient lit and history as partially a personal hobby but also because I’m a writer that aims to be a communicator to the public about these sorts of things and one thing I’ve noticed through my studies is that everyone is ready for the end of all time. People in power both in small tribal communities and at the seats of major empires are playing bloody politics. Knowledge gets lost found and lost again. Invaders approach from the sea, the land, the air. Humans cut down forests and plant them again. Technology makes some things better and other things worse.

And through it all someone somewhere is still herding goats.

And someone somewhere will still be herding goats many long, long centuries after you and I are gone and buried.

[tiruvenkadu]

these are both hysterical and terrifying at the same time. those silly goofballs.

(also, nitpicky science time, light through a prism does not split into 7 colors, it splits into 6 colors; “indigo” was assigned because newton - being christian - assumed that since god made light, he would have made it split into his holy number, 7, so newton tried like hell to find a 7th color in the spectrum, and basically made it up.)

the noah’s ark rainbow is upside-down (red has the longest wavelength, people, this isn’t lucky charms), and i question about neonazi dad reading to his two apparently opposite-gendered kids - one of whom is apparently a frankenstein’s monster - nestled in the same bed. (!!) (also i, too, would want a shield that shoots rainbows. would it also be able to do a full care bear stare??)

Gonna add this meme to my list of 'homophobes unintentionally making us look cooler'

[tiruvenkadu]

thank you for putting this so clearly! it’s a concept i was struggling to find efficient language for.

Hi! Regarding your post that starts like this “Sometimes whether or not something is abusive behaviour depends on context, but not infinitely nuanced and complicated context, just one simple question: does it go both ways?”

How do you fit accommodations or varying needs into this? Ex. An autistic person easily overwhelmed by sound so you can’t yell around them who themselves have bad control over their own voice volume.

This is not critique btw, I’d just like an elaboration.

It's not about the act itself as much as the effect it has. Let's say that you're autistic, loud noises cause you pain, but you also make loud noises. Living with neurotypical people who don't have either of those issues, it's not a matter of "if I am not allowed to make loud noises, then you are not allowed to make loud noises", but "I am not allowed to recreationally do things that cause you pain, and you aren't allowed to recreationally do things that cause me pain." It's about reciprocal respect of everyone's needs.

Let's take a non-autistic example: There's a household of three people, out of whom one works nights, and needs to sleep during the day. The other two are awake during the day, and have no hesitation to make as much noise as they want, while the one who works night shift tries to keep dead quiet at night when they sleep. As far as the two day-active people are concerned, the rules are the same for everyone: Nobody can make noise during the night, everyone can make noise during the day.

But to the night shift person, it's an unequal arrangement, as they have the obligation to keep quiet when they're awake, and nobody has the obligation to keep quiet when they're trying to sleep. So the rule is "I am allowed to disturb your sleep, but you aren't allowed to disturb my sleep." Unequal rules.

And if everyone in your household is bothered by loud noises, and makes loud noises involuntarily, I'd suggest trying to find some other living arrangement. That can't be tolerable.

[tiruvenkadu]

Hi if you ever find yourself in a relationship saying anything along the lines of "well I can't leave cause I would never be able to find something better than this because I'm trans/fat/aging/antisocial/unlucky" I beg of you to run. Please. You can find and build better but in order to do that you have to take the first step out the door. You do not have to endure abuse, mistreatment, or just plain incompatibility for the sake of a fraction of happiness. You don't.

[tiruvenkadu]

finding out what a stark contrast the u.s. is to other countries really opens up possibilities for how life *could* be.

circulate this so everyone is aware. work culture here is a madness trap, especially in conjunction with our other shortcomings (lack of universal healthcare).

One of the most personal, saddest things about living in America is the summertime.

There is 0 reason for American adults not to have a summer break. I can only say this with a full throat so loud, but other countries have policies and laws that give adults summertime.

It is not a joke to say France is kind of shutdown for August. There are over a dozen countries that have enough mandatory, legally required leave available to take an entire month off, or more. PLUS mandatory PAID holidays.

It's Brazil and Russia (ooh scary BRIC countries outgrowing the US and coming for us). India AND China give up to 2 weeks mandatory vacation leave, plus sick leave on top.

It's Afghanistan (20 days). It's Angola (22). It's Argentina(25) and Armenia (25) and Australia (20). It's Cambodia (technically unlimited; you can eventually get 15 or 17 days per month vacation).

That us on top of mandatory PAID public holidays. Cambodia can somehow manage 27 mandatory paid holidays plus upwards of 18 vacation days per year and going up from there, and we in the US can't even manage mandatory paid holidays.

We don't even get paid on Christmas and Memorial Day. And even trying to convince some people, let alone politicians, that everyone should get paid on Christmas is unfair to compare to pulling teeth.

Please. Please. I want to have a better life. I want you to have a better life.

I want you to not miss Summer Break. Because France and Cambodia don't.

[tiruvenkadu]

i still remember the 90s when they weren’t tight down to the knee, but circus tents from the waist down.

had a girl in my college photography class who would wear pants like that. they are NOT safe tomwear in a darkroom. nearly tripped & killed myself on them multiple times.

that being said, i’m waiting for this look to truly come back - i miss non-spandex denim, and skinny jeans absolutely were not meant for me.

[tiruvenkadu]

[tiruvenkadu]

so cute!!

Most fucked up thing i ever drew...

[tiruvenkadu]

you know what? fuck this.

i love my life. i don't like a lot of what's in it, what with the loneliness and bigotry.

but my life, as is? i love it. i love breathing, walking, eating. i love being alive on so many levels.

i love being cells, little tiny protein robots that, by themselves, are little more than combustion engines running on glucose, but build up to a (comparatively) colossal being.

i love being terrestrial, feeling the dirt under my feet, the air in my lungs, every grimy bit of being on land.

i love being animal, eating and sleeping and being gross in every disgusting, happy way that animals are

i love being human, having such a big brain that i can truly revel in how vast the world is, and yet how small.

i love life. i don't like a lot of stuff in it, but i love life and living.

[tiruvenkadu]

One side effect of my research for this novel being steeped heavily in textile history is my swelling disgust with modern fabrics.

Firstly they're so thin? Like most things you see in Old Navy or even department stores might as well be tissue paper?? Even some branded sports t-shirts I've bought in recent years (that are supposed to be 'official apparel' and allegedly decent quality) are definitely not going to hold up more than a year or two without getting little holes from wear.

This side of even two hundred years ago fabrics were made to be used for YEARS, and that's with wearing them way more often because you only owned like three sets of clothes. They were thick and well made and most importantly made to LAST. And they were gorgeous?? Some of the weaves were so fine and the drape so buttery we still don't entirely know how these people managed to make them BY HAND. Not to mention intricate patterning and details that turned even some simple garments into freaking ART.

I know this is not news, the fast fashion phenomenon is well documented. Reading so much about the amazing fabrics we used to create and how we cherished and valued them, though, is making it hard not to mourn what we lost to mass production and capitalism. Not just the quality of the clothing and fabrics themselves, but the generations of knowledge and techniques that are just gone. It makes me what to cry.

I need to get a sewing machine.

[tiruvenkadu]

My nation put together this Tsalagi language children's show ...

as an language learning tool and it’s just the cutest thing on the planet. I don’t think I can explain the feeling of not only seeing your culture on screen and the language used in the way it is, but also… like to see these characters and what their wearing and it feels immediately familiar. Like I know who these people are immediately.

It’s definitely made me not feel as alone in some of the stuff I make given how I see the same sorta notes and characters resonate here. If anything it’s made me want to create more. I’m bristling with energy. Just seeing my people out there. Being cool and in motion.

It’s just pure cozy elation. This would have meant everything to me as a kid.

[tiruvenkadu]

😭😭