I Swear To You, People In The College Classes I’ve Partaken In Seem To Think That The Only Reason Things

Hot take but anytime I see a hyper aggressive female character in a workplace setting it always reads as “I’m this aggressive out of necessity to survive a male dominated field.” Because- it was never her age that was an issue. It’s mentioned like literally once or twice, but like :/ . You know she became aggressive to compete with miles for her father’s attention. Manfred strikes me as the type to give the boy attention and credit easily, leaving his daughters vying for it. That kind of setting breeds aggression, imo.

franziskas desire to be viewed as competent especially via violence is also, i think, very interesting for Gender Reasons but I can’t put together my franziska gender thoughts coherently yet. the thing is that we can’t chalk up the condescension n disrespect she’s struggling against (both within her family and in the courtroom) to just her youth - she’s also a young girl.

The expectation of sexuality among teens is what really irks me.

It was most confusing and alarming to me when books, media, medical professionals, hell even my parents made me feel like I was supposed to one day look at a boy my age and get the vapors or something. Like everything would be all rosy, butterflies would float into the air, the sun would beam upon my skin, and the sky would clear because of some budding attraction that according to most of society is expected. Outside of innocent attraction too, that all other members of society were leering over my shoulders, watching me like a hawk for any self exploration even encroaching upon the realm of sexuality and desire, ready to shame me if I took one step or stumble into the less-than-innocent that is supposed to come with maturing.

I genuinely had issues with fitting in because I thought something was wrong with me for somehow fucking up this mystical biological math equation, and not getting “x= people are attractive and sex and attraction with or towards attractive strangers is appealing and good yay”. There were times when I would lie about liking a boy in my class and back pedaling when girls my age reacted negatively, because FUCK if I knew what made that person an appealing or non-appealing pick. I kept waiting for this change that never came, and yet at the back of my mind something was whispering that I wasn’t the ever the same as those other peers of mine I saw as ‘normal’.

Even after I found my identity, and I’ve still not felt the need to change that label, there have been other addendums added to it. And those were important to me, too. The realization that, yeah, I don’t really give a shit about a persons gender if I do manage to fall in love was a big one, even if it was obvious until then. And even if I had bloomed late and realized I’m not demi, just picky as hell, I would still know that I don’t have a gender preference and kind of never had to begin with. Even if I never have a relationship with a woman or an androgynous, nonbinary, or intersex person, knowing that I don’t have a preference about that subject either way was still valuable to my self discovery.

I really think that society as a whole needs to stop emphasizing attraction as a turning point of maturity milestones, if not because it doesn’t work as general marker, (and really never did), then because there are still kindergarteners who crush on each other, and kiss on the playground swing set, and that technically forces the definition to include kids who recognize attraction early as well, which I don’t think is ethical- or right. But even with that aside, the isolation I felt then- the isolation I still feel as a result of misunderstanding about my identity- is real and it hurt me. And that caused some of my hurt. My life would’ve been a touch easier if there wasn’t this implicit expectation to turn boy-crazy, or become hyper-sexual and horny as a teen when I didn’t really experience any of that.

And even when I did get my first taste of real, genuine attraction and love for someone, it wasn’t this big reveal. It snuck up on me quietly, passively, so much so that it took other people pointing it out for me to step back and go “oh shit that sure is a thing that’s happening in my brain”.

My point is there shouldn’t be such a heavy importance on love and attraction on people that young- it shouldn’t be an expectation or a step to adulthood to be completed- but something that just sometimes pops up, sometimes doesn’t, but is just a natural little ‘whatever’ of the world that happens because biology baby. It’s kinda weird that it’s even something adults are thinking about in regards to their kids- not as in anticipating safe sex talks and all that- but that kids and parents should be communicating honestly with each other throughout puberty because it’s a fucking trip to go through all that, and the last thing anyone needs is to be expecting some coup or phsyop of crushes and less-that-innocent thoughts to be popping up in their freaking children- and if that’s even the case setting boundaries and allowing for the appropriate amount of privacy is arguably necessary for healthy development.

I have many thoughts on this topic but. Yeah. There are worse things to be wrong about than deciding you’re not ace.

tbh it doesn't rly hurt teenagers to incorrectly id as ace like... what's the worst than could happen? they don't have sex till they're older?? lol

hang on I’m trying to see something

don’t tell me the name of your pet, just tell me in the tags the name you call them that’s got nothing to do with their actual name

What else am I to slay encroachers with?

!!! BABEY !!!

It’s about present distribution. If you get presents in June, July, August or September and then chirstmas you get presents, like, every six months. (Not including the candy of Easter and stuff) especially if you’re born in June. Every six months you have a celebration. When you’re born in December, you don’t have a nearly as even distribution of presents. You genuinely get them once a year. And some people cop out by making your Christmas present a birthday present too. Like that’s not how this works. Or they forget about you and you just don’t get them until like March. Also? Not as many options for parties and people don’t show up. Genuinely had a few birthdays where like 1 or 2 people showed because I was also born on the 31st of December. I get this lil guy.

He’s absolutely right; he just wasn’t sayin it right.

Especially in Florida. We have them. But their range has shrunk so small that it’s rare you even see them. I’ve only ever seen them in the Everglades. They need decaying grasses and wet leaves. Leave them be. They’re marvelous

fireflies lighting up a rural Pennsylvania field at dusk

YESSSS THE PARTY LEAFF

I love these little funky guys. Absolute cuties.

Beautiful tiger lily by the way, she’s gorgeous

This truly is the party leaf

I am a fiend and denegerate trapped inside a dainty little body and I strongly resent this fact.

I WANNA BE A NATURE SPIRIT AND JUST LIVE SHIPPING CHARACTERS AND SLEEPING UNDER STARS! I FORSAKE THIS PRISON OF MORTAL FLESH.

LET ME FERALLY FIEND FOR THE HAPPINESS IN ROMANCE OTHERS DESERVE SINCE IM TOO MUCH OF A HERMIT TO ACHIEVE IT MYSELF IN PEACE.

I now know how to describe my dog when he sprints inside the house because the grass is wet and he doesn’t like having wet feet

Ploop ploop ploop