the “woman is telling male romantic interest that she is upset about something and said male romantic interest shuts her up by kissing her without her permission and she struggles briefly but then melts into the kiss and she’s done being angry now because all she really needed was, not to have her concerns listened to, but instead to be sexually assaulted into silence, because men get to decide how valid women’s feelings are and how those feelings should be dealt with, I guess, and then they make out” is one of the most disgusting tropes I have ever laid my eyes on and it needs to die right now immediately
my mom pointed that out to me when i was really little. she said “that isn’t romantic. he’s just trying to make her shut up”
My 26 yr old sister still says things out loud like ‘ermagerd’ and ’___ ALL the things!’ Like…is that what’s gonna happen to me?am I going to be 30 still saying stupid shit like O shit waddup! Are all the youngins gonna be embarrassed by my use of outdated memes….how long until I myself am not Hip With It….how long until I am no longer a trendy memer…
my greatest fear honestly
Listen, I am 40. I was around for the early internet of webrings and hamsterdance. Homestarrunner. Those little cats in the boat singing to Immigrant Song. Longcat. Ceiling cat. Radiskull. Powerthirst.
So to me anything that is funny on the internet is, and always will be, cutting-edge and hilarious. If it’s funny the first time, it’s funny the eleven thousandth time. No exceptions.
I accumulate memes. Social media sites form actual strata in my soul, revealing my geological age in layers: Geocities, Myspace, Livejournal, Tumblr. Memes encrust me, like jewels, just layer on layer of reaction gifs and shitposts, some of which I barely understand, but I refuse to let go of. I cling to them, they are ever-relevant, undying.
You callow youths, who think in your innocence that that memes come and go, you are tepid fools who still smell of milk.
I am where memes go to die. I am where memes go to live eternal.
Someday, if you are lucky, you will join me. Bring your breadsticks meme, your Spiders Georg, your Bode, your big mood, your Supernatural gifs, your oh worm. Come with me and rejoice in pointless in-jokes and long-forgotten references. Embrace your encyclopedic knowledge of comedy sites ca 2006 and come share the knowledge with us. Come with me and lik the bred.
Imagine having control of more money than you could ever spend in your lifetime, and then going out of your way to try and bleed even more money out of people who can barely make ends meet. Imagine being the kind of person who could literally just spend all your days painting or writing or playing with dogs or helping to nurse orphan baby sloths, with no worry that you will ever lack the funds for housing, entertainment, health care, vacations, etc, imagine reaching that point, and then deciding you are going to work your ass off to screw everyone else over instead. You are going to spend your days bribing politicians so that you can charge some minimum wage single working mother an extra $40 a month for her ability to use Facebook. So that you can charge some uninsured kid so much for his insulin that he can’t afford it and ends up dying while he begs strangers on the internet for help. That’s what you want to do with your life.
I do not understand billionaires.
There are psychological conditions imposed by having a lot of money; it’s quite hard to imagine how or why a billionaire acts the way they do, because you have to orient your brain in a way that probably isn’t natural to it.
People with inherited wealth have a very strange view of the world and part of that really does involve the sense of being separate from other humans. We point out that they don’t have empathy; they would not be interested because they don’t recognise that we are the same species to even begin emphasise with. We point out that they are socially irresponsible; they don’t see any reason why they should care about your society. We point out that society cannot function in this matter: this is not a concern to them. They have not been raised as humans, really, so humans telling them “you should care about humans because humans” is met with blankness. the part where “caring” and “sharing” are rewarding to the brain is supposed to be programmed in by parents, to make the baby fit in with society and be loved. If the parents don’t have that mechanism, and it isn’t important that to them that strangers love and help their baby because of its inherent worth, (because the parents can simply pay strangers to do so), then where does the kid learn better? Their caretakers are not paid to teach the child how to love. And if the baby loves the paid caretaker too much, the caretaker will be taken away. So emotional appeals to the super-wealthy are a bit like asking a snake to herd sheep for you.
Not only that, but people with inherited wealth overidentify with their money. So they perceive our attempts at reason, and our emotional appeals, to be the yammering of scary creatures – rodents, maybe – trying to steal from them. Trying to trick them. We are only interested in their money, and we are coming up with all these tricksy plans to take it away!
And further, the human brain isn’t very good at the reality of numbers (we are best with numbers that we can comfortably count to.) So humans can usually conceive of fifty minutes, fifty people, fifty dollars, fifty apples, fifty days. We can understand the concept of fifty years, or imagine a room with fifty cats, or wince at the idea of fifty people being injured; if a scientist says there are fifty things, we nod happily. We know the shape of fifty dollars and the impact its gain or loss will have on our month. We can just about picture the reality of a “thousand”. We cannot really manage a million.
Billions are fake numbers. A human will nod politely, but will never understand. You have to break the billion up – “a billion dollars is forty thousand dollars spent every day for life!” – for the human to comprehend it.
The wealthy don’t perceive their billions either. They don’t comprehend them as a billion; they count numbers the same way as everyone else . They don’t drop a fifty in a homeless guy’s cup because they don’t feel like they have that kind of money (and also, fuck the homeless guy.)
Pretty much the only positive/affectionate thing I can say about Britian’s royals (apart from 👍Meghan Markle) is that they are reared with an immense sense of duty and social responsibility. This is an expectation of the nation, and the children are brought up accordingly. So even though they are a bunch of squinting gibbering lemurs, they are trained to empathise, to look human for the cameras, to hold pleasant conversations with everybody (even if the royal gives the impression of being an early design of chatbot while doing so), and to spend their lives doing Vaguely Positive Things for the Public. Even if they don’t have the mechanism where caring for people is rewarding, they can spend their lives miming it, because the world has tremendous social expectations, and royals are raised to meet those expectations since birth. Because we’ve all decided that the rich can do literally whatever they like, but the royal are still expected to have public appeal! So one set is deliberately trained to be approximately human, and the other is not.
It would be horrifying for Prince William to be accused of colluding with the Russian government; people around the world would consider it a personal betrayal. But a president’s children, apparently, may do so with our blessing.
So is it possible to be human and rich?
Well, there is an actual quantity of money that gives comfort and happiness; people research this. Below that number, you worry about money. When you reach the number, you are okay. After that number, it causes anxiety and outrage and feelings of scarcity again. Worse, because (like a cursed hoard of dragon’s gold) when the money reaches a certain size, then you stop having it because of the things it can be traded for (comfort, security, pleasure, happiness) and start keeping it for itself. Which is a toxic and terrible thing to do to that poor money…
So I think that wealth should be capped at that number and redistributed thereafter. It’s quite a high, happy number, but not an unreasonable one. It’s generous. A generous amount of money. And we will say gently to the crying billionaires, who will perceive this as us killing them, that it is for their own mental health. They were being cruel to the money, and it was a health hazard.
All of this. I have a hard time conceiving of billionaires as being human, cause they sure don’t act like it.
I sometimes try watching media that scientifically explains the mindset of the super rich, but I always get too enraged to engage with it for long. Explaining it the way the OP did is super helpful. Also thank you for explaining exactly why people view the royals more positively than non-royals, something which has always confused the hell out of me (although perhaps it was a little mean to lemurs to compare them to the British royal family).
Pretty/handsome. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Sensitive. Down-to-Earth. Stubborn. Repost this in 5 mins and you will meet someone new in 8 days that will perfectly balance your personality.
FEBRUARY BABY
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexiest out of everyone. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest And loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Horny. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizing dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions. Repost this in 5 mins and you will talk to someone new and realize that you are a perfect match.
MARCH BABY
Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Great kisser. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Observant and assesses others. If you repost this in the next 5 mins, you will meet your new love in 8 days.
APRIL BABY
Suave and compromising. Funny and humorous. Stubborn. Very talkative. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal. Does work well with others. Very confidant. Sensitive. Positive Attitude. Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Able to cheer everyone up and/or make them laugh. Able to motivate oneself and others. Understanding. Fun to be around. Outgoing. Hyper. Bubbly personality. Secretive. Boy/girl crazy. Loves sports, music, leisure and traveling. Systematic. Hot but has brains. If you repost this in 5 mins, a cutie that’s caught your eye will introduce themselves and you will realize that you are very much alike in the next 2 days.
MAY BABY
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Shy towards opposite sex. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High-spirited. If you repost this in the next 5 minutes, you will become close to someone you do not speak too much in the next 4 days.
JUNE BABY
You’ve got the best personality and are an absolute pleasure to be around. You love to make new friends and be outgoing. You are a great flirt and more than likely have an a very attractive partner. a wicked hottie. It is also more than likely that you have a massive record collection. You have a great choice in films, and may one day become a famous actor/actress yourself – heck, you’ve got the looks for it!!! IN the next 6 days you will meet someone that may possibly become one of your closest friends, if you repost this in 5 minutes.
JULY BABY
Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. spazzy at times. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover. Repost this in the next 5 mins and your reputation will boost someway in the next 12 days
AUGUST BABY
Outgoing personality. takes risks. feeds on attention. No self-control. Kind hearted. Self-confident. Loud and boisterous. VERY revengeful. Easy to get along with and talk to. Has an “every thing’s peachy” attitude. Likes talking and singing. Loves music. Daydreamer. Easily distracted. Hates not being trusted. BIG imagination. Loves to be loved. Hates studying. in need of “that someone”. Longs for freedom. Rebellious when withheld or restricted. Lives by “no pain no gain” caring. Always a suspect. Playful. Mysterious. “charming” or “beautiful” to everyone. stubborn. curious. Independent. Strong willed. A fighter. Repost in 5 mins and you will meet the love of your life sometime next month.
SEPTEMBER BABY
Active and dynamic. Decisive and haste but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Usually you have many friends. Enjoys to make love. Emotional. Stubborn. Hasty. Good memory. Moving, motivates oneself and others. Loves to travel and explore. Sometimes sexy in a way that only their lover can understand. If you do not repost this in the next 5 mins, someone very close to you will become mad at you in the next 8 days.
OCTOBER BABY
Loves to chat. Loves those who love them. Loves to takes things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Brave and fearless. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care to control emotions. Unpredictable. Extremely smart, but definitely the hottest AND sexiest of them all. repost this in 5 mins or you will not meet the love of your life for 10 years.
NOVEMBER BABY
Trustworthy and loyal. Very passionate and dangerous. Wild at times. Knows how to have fun. Sexy and mysterious. Everyone is drawn towards your inner and outer beauty and independent personality. Playful, but secretive. Very emotional and temperamental sometimes. Meets new people easily and very social in a group. Fearless and independent. Can hold their own. Stands out in a crowd. Essentially very smart. Usually, the greatest men are born in this month. If you ever begin a relationship with someone from this month, hold on to them because their one of a kind. Repost in 5 mins & you will excel in a major event coming up sometime this month.
DECEMBER BABY
This straight-up means you are the most good-looking person possible… Better than all of these other months! Loyal and generous. Patriotic. Competitive in everything. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Easy to talk to, though hard to understand. Thinks far with vision, yet complicated to know. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having lots of ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Has that someone always on his/her mind. Talkative. Daydreamer.Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. One guy/girl kind of person. Loveable. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves music. Pretty/handsome. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Sensitive.
1600s: most witch-hunts ended in this century. no witches were burned in North America; they were hanged or in one case pressed to death
1700s: the American Revolution. Marie Antoinette. the French Revolution. the crazy King George. most pirate movies
1800-1830: Jane Austen! Pride and Prejudice! those dresses where the waist is right under one’s boobs and men have a crapton of facial hair inside high collars
1830-1900: Victorian. Les Miserables is at the beginning, the Civil War is in the middle, and Dracula is at the end
1900-1920: Edwardian. Titanic, World War I, the Samantha books from American Girl, Art Nouveau
1920s: Great Gatsby. Jazz Age. Flappers and all that. most people get this right but IT IS NOT VICTORIAN. STUFF FROM THIS ERA IS NOT VICTORIAN. DO NOT CALL IT VICTORIAN OR LIST IT ON EBAY AS VICTORIAN. THAT HAPPENS SURPRISINGLY OFTEN GIVEN HOW STAGGERING THE VISUAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ERAS IS. also not 100 years ago yet, glamour.com “100 years of X” videos. you’re lazy, glamour.com. you’re lazy and I demand my late Edwardian styles
I just saw people referencing witch burning and Marie Antoinette on a post about something happening in 1878. 1878. when there were like trains and flush toilets and early plastic and stuff. if you guys learn nothing else about history, you should at least have vague mental images for each era
“Les Miserables is at the beginning, the Civil War is in the middle, and Dracula is at the end” sounds like the longest weirdest worst movie I’d pay to see in theatres five times.
Nothing but My Aching Soul 