NonScarryGirl

yo ho homosexual

I love desire paths. There's something so wonderous about seeing an echo of humanity. Depending on it's location, a desire path can mean so many different things.

In a city, like the pic above, they represent rebellion, and efficiency. The messiness of humanity. We like to imagine we're oh so logical and neat so we design our cities to be logical and neat an then real humans literally trample on that idea. The ego required to think you can design something perfect that checks every box. Life is all about compromise and patching stuff when some new problem arises. Though people have certainly tried! Ohio state univeristy let students carve their desire paths, and then paved them over. It looks pretty artsy.

Some people will try to discourage desire paths, but this is almost always going to fail.

Eventually, people just have to accept them. Humans are too dang stubborn.

Certain desire paths are just adorable. A 0.5 second time saver. You just can't design for maximum efficiency, humans will always find shortcuts!

Though on occasion a desire path can actually be the least efficient way...especially if you're superstitious.

In a wilder area, such as below, they show us the curiosity of humans. A desire path somewhere natural often tells you there's something interesting just ahead. (Though remember some ecosystems are fragile and will suffer if trampled! Stick to paths in these sorts of areas)

And how about desire stairs? I always think these look so cool. We get see humans determination to climb, to traverse every kind of terrain.

And for something really crazy...a desire path used for centuries will create a 'holloway'

All of these pics are off the Desirepath subreddit, check them out for more examples! And many thanks to the users who submitted these photos.

the more i think about the more i feel like it’s impossible for me to analyse dean’s sexuality/repression without thinking about it in the context of the metanarrative and the control of the characters by chuck/the writers.

it’s like — why was dean’s bisexuality repressed? because of his internalised homophobia and childhood experiences, yes, but also because of chuck, but also, fundamentally, because he was required to be as a character on the tv show supernatural. he wasn’t written as a closeted/repressed character, instead his bisexuality wasn’t supposed to be part of his character at all and was ignored and actively suppressed by the creators (not just the writers, but the producers, execs, etc.). and that’s not a unique phenomenon in media, but in supernatural it’s literally canon that there’s an author-god within the show controlling the characters and his been writing this story since the beginning. so it’s not a huge leap to treat chuck as representing the writers, ergo that the decision(s) to suppress dean’s bisexuality can be viewed within the universe of the show as a choice made by chuck. dean, the character, is supposed to be a straight, manly, womanising male power fantasy, and in universe that’s what dean is created to be by chuck. dean’s repression isn’t an intended part of his character, it’s a facet of the show he’s in and the character he’s supposed to be. in universe, his repression is part of chuck’s control; he wasn’t supposed to be bi, he wasn’t supposed to fall in love with cas, that wasn’t part of the narrative chuck intended. which also fits in with my interpretation that dean isn’t completely oblivious to his sexuality and unaware that he’s in love with cas, but neither is he able to admit to either. he’s aware of how he feels but he suppresses it because it doesn’t fit the person he knows he’s supposed to be and he can’t escape the feeling that he’s wrong for feeling that way. he is aware of how men make him feel but he can’t accept that that makes him bi. he is aware of how he feels towards cas but he can’t accept that that’s being in love with him. because neither of those things are supposed to be a part of him and are completely at odds with who he was created to be. which is why although dean isn’t able to escape chuck (or the writers’) control like cas is, his falling in love with cas in the first place is as much of a rebellion as cas falling in love with him.

misha collins unfortunately understands the unstoppable human instinct to make things that could not have less to do with destiel about destiel

“Icarus is flying too close to the sun” - Icarus by Bastille

THIS PHYSICALLY HURTS

does anyone else imagine they're famous and giving a high profile interview on live tv in the shower...

MOTHER OF GOD

ARE YOU FUCKIN

OH GOD ITS BACK

DEAR GOD THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE TUMBLR POSTS IN EXISTENCE.

YOU THINK JUST THE NOISE IS FUNNY AND FITS WITH THE GIF REALLY WELL

BUT THEN

THEN

THE LYRICS START

seriously i have almost crashed my car into a telephone pole, becuase I suddenly thought of this post and started laughing uncontrollably

LOL FIRST TIME I SAW THIS? im a baby

this is the opposite of the avatar opening credit sequence

hellers. bibros. mean sam stans. the GA. Long ago, the four nations lived separately in hostility. Then, everything changed when chaos machine productions attacked. Only the jary reboot, master of disappointing all four fanbases, could unite them, and when the world absolutely did not need it the most, it showed up.

i feel like a middle schooler shouting 'fight fight fight' at the spn cast

honey wake up, Bobo Berens fancam just dropped

(i was really really bored and i just had fun)

LOKI (2021) - Episode 3

All this episode of Loki

shadow and bone (tv) characters as tumblr text posts lol

Loki using his magic in 1.03 “Lamentis”

gonna rebrand being closeted as straightbaiting

as in “I’m currently straightbaiting my family”

every day i am percieved™️

There is a reason for this though!

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I’m glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love–the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail. The fact that you find joy in the process of reading (or listening!) to stories–that is what matters.

tags: but for readers who also want to get back into reading traditionally published fiction, i recommend starting with short stories! short stories have a lot of the benefits that fan fics do. the storyline progresses and climaxes more quickly. there’s not as much room so the writer has to deliver the meaning of the story in fewer words (which is really helpful if you’re struggling to enjoy longer fiction that takes too long to ‘pay off’). plus it’s less of an investment and commitment than full-length novels. and if you read anthologies you can just skip a story–or multiple stories–until you find one you vibe with (easier to skip a short story in a collection than a chapter in a novel). re-reading books you read years ago is also a good way to start getting back into longer fiction! look for things that let you skim or skip parts when the pacing is too slow. also consider a book series, with the same characters and/or story structure (especially helpful if they can be read out of published order, like with many detective novels). basically, stories are easier to get settled into when your brain knows what to expect. (another reason fanfiction is so useful: the tagging system) 

concept: reading you do in your leisure time SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE A CHORE. if it feels like a chore that means you should find a different story. probably in a different format, genre, etc. you can always come back to a story later, but if you aren’t in the frame of mind where you can enjoy it–then honestly what is the point? if you aren’t reading this for a class or for information you need to know, then just…read something else in the mean time. read something that works for you in your current mental state. there is no shame in that, and it is so much better than the alternative of forcing yourself through a book you chose to read for fun and enjoyment. the important thing is that you are finding stories you can enjoy right now–in whatever genre or format–and you get to be proud of yourself for doing that.

I meant to make this meme ages ago when pride month was still on but yeah gé (pronounced gay) is the Irish for a goose.