Probably didn’t go in with the idea that the only way she would be interested in similar hobbies was for her to be whipped in some way and just treated her like a person. 🤷🏿‍♀️

The problem is I lost the person I wanted to be while becoming who I had to be. That person is lost to me now. 🤷🏿‍♀️

A main character who can do no wrong. They’re the best, prettiest, most important person. Rarely has flaws, or flaws that are actually “cool.” Like, the lead in many YA novels.

Or Batman, or Harry potter, or Tony Stark, or Kirito… There are so many! But those aren’t a problem for some reason. 🤔

Why is it gender stuff when it’s women but not men? Men and their gender is apart of their movies too, you just may not see it, like how a fish doesn’t see water. Take how a film is shot, how women and men are framed. You may not notice the camera assuming a het-male’s perspective by “eyeing” women a certain way because “that’s just house films are shot.” You may not go into a horror movie with the silent prayer that the male lead doesn’t get raped because that can just be thrown in there. You may not notice if every woman looks a certain way, and how no matter how old the actor gets, the female lead is still 25. Even in movies where it doesn’t even matter. You make not notice when a woman only gets to speak to and about men. You may not notice that one woman is usually tossed in to represent the entire female demographic because “they’re not the focus.”

But all those little details add up. Women have had men’s gender and their ideas and values soak into almost every part of society, even to how they value themselves. Men are not the default, and that means that they will have to go into some media knowing that they are not the main target and be okay with that.

Some people see themselves as the default, and any change is abnormal or pandering. Same thing happens in video games. Anything that brings attention to the idea that they aren’t the default audience is seen as a an offense. They assume these stories are an attack, an expensive way for people to say their way of doing things is wrong and therefore they are wrong, so they get defensive. In reality, it just someone else telling a story for another audience.

To them, the argument is, “why add more poc/genders if we’re all the same? Are you saying something is wrong with people like me so they have to be gotten rid of? How come it’s always me that’s getting removed? Why am I under attack!” They see the addition as the erasure of some, like, Schrodinger’s self-insert that would have been there if they didn’t have to force a" woke" choice.

Absolutely. But I work from home, so it’s way easier.

You’ve gotta be kidding me. It’s like they’re actively going out of their way to be the worst ever. Jesus christ.

Same. Even just taking walks around my area can be scary (though I also don’t know how to ride lol). I could go to the store, but only that one store. My actual grocery store + most things are in a strip mall with no sidewalks to be seen, not even a curb to slow down cars thay come too close.

Yes! I learned at the YMCA as a kid.

I am 😔

You could just not be in a relationship if you don’t like your partner, or talk to them if you want to work on communicating. “Please punish me.” Like, you don’t need to ask. Just leave 🤣

Thank you for the answer 🙏🏾

Best I can do is listen to an audio book while playing a chill/puzzle game. I would short circuit I’d had to watch TV and play a game. I can’t even really have a conversation and play, I have to pause it.

Do you have a specific field of study? Do you work for a university? (just curious, please feel free to ignore)

I work in insurance, specifically auto insurance. I used to work as a bodily injury adjuster, but moved to subro. I’ve been doing this for longer than I realized. My mom told me with a smile that I’ll likely be in insurance the rest of my life. I went home and cried 🤣

Pays alright though. And I’m (currently) able to work from home which I know is a blessing. Just wasn’t what I was dreaming about as a little girl, you know?

I think it’s the added warmth. Like when you deep condition your hair but put an extra bag or what have you to trap the heat.

What are the purported benefits of incorporating heat? Increased effectiveness: Incorporating heat into your deep conditioning treatment can help to increase its effectiveness, allowing the conditioning ingredients to penetrate more deeply and provide greater benefits to the hair.

Improved hydration: The added heat can help to open up the hair cuticles, which can improve the overall hydration of the hair.

Better product absorption: The heat can also help to improve the absorption of the deep conditioning treatment, making it easier for the curls to retain the benefits of the treatment over time.

“‘E’ for very, very, extra ordinary.” VS “‘E’ for very, very, extraordinary.” The way I heard it performed always sounded like two separate words. I was like, “damn, she couldn’t just be nice the whole song?” I finally read the lyrics when I was older.

“I don’t want another heartache at my door, don’t want another heartache on my list” VS “don’t want another heartache on my lips.”

That was honestly my first thought. It was just “Household of - address-” the envelope was also interesting so I opened it instead of tossing it with the junk.

No. Never. I’ve been at my current place for a few years and this was the first time ever saw it.

Thank you so much!