It Would Be An Interesting Challenge To Write A Narrative Of Some Kind Where The Adults Are Selfish Assholes

This is here because I can't post photos on the local message board. I'm trying to find the owner of these two kittens before the raccoons get them.

~*1ll3qi*1blE bUll$?Hi*t-~

I was going to design and market a bumper sticker or decorative sign that looked like something written in an extremely hard-to-read fake-cursive font, but was in fact not actually lettering at all, just a bunch of random loops and squiggles.

Then I remembered pareidolia exists, and that people would "discover" offensive statements in the squiggles, and would NOT believe that they weren't really there or not intentional.

When Jesus went up on the mountain alone, to pray and meditate, do you think He was ever interrupted by rich Roman tourists, who, having ridden sedan chairs all the way up, stood right next to Him, and loudly told each other to "look at all the rocks"?

There are books now that are specifically used as status symbols: people use them to appear to be the person they want others to see them as.

Consumer culture has the distressing effect of enhancing the human tendency to convince oneself that one liked something, for the sake of conformity and peace of mind. People tell themselves that they liked what they were told they should like.

Reviewers often wind up with extreme biases for and against certain types of works, for similar reasons to the above. It's also not too crazy to consider there may be some corruption in the literary review community.

Marketing is now a powerful discipline with cutting-edge psychology behind it. When used by trained professionals instead of incompetent corporate outcasts, it can essentially function as mind control, even for the well-informed.

Also, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."

TL; DR: Don't feel bad about hating something everyone else seemed to love. There are many reasons why terrible books can get good reviews. And your own opinion is still a valid opinion, even if it's contradictory.

the sense of horror when you finish a book that was Ass Bad and you go to see what fellow haters are saying but all the reviews say it is the best thing they've ever read. feel like i just saw my reflection in the mirror move all by itself or something

I think that some people hate Blitz because they're so used to dealing with assholes IRL who act like Blitz does in season 1 and much of season 2. This makes it hard for them to see how Blitz is doing it performatively, because he's afraid to show his caring side, or to be vulnerable to others. Props to Brandon for helping us to see the difference.

And, let's face it, most IRL people who act like Blitz aren't faking anything, and are just selfish, hateful assholes.

Don Quixote, except it's a small child who runs away from home in order to have the kind of adventures that parent-less children in children's literature and media have.

Possibly their pet puppy or chicken or crow is their Sancho Panza. It doesn't really talk, but the kid's buried self-preservation instinct is projecting onto the pet in an attempt to reach the kid.

From episode 90 of the podcast "Lingthusiasm":

More power to that guy, he is a kindred spirit, but also

why is nobody talking about the little man-box??

Note that this does NOT say, "If a person cares about you, they will drop whatever they're doing, RIGHT NOW, and rush to your side for any reason you deem sufficiently important, and if they don't, then they don't care about you at all."

“No matter how busy a person is, if they care, they’ll find time for you.”

— Unknown

"Stolas isn't wrong for choosing his own happiness for once after years of abuse and depression"

and

"Octavia isn't wrong for feeling betrayed by her father and fearing she's been only an obligation to him"

are two concepts that can and should coexist.

Good morning, fellow Americans! Are you enjoying each having a house and two cars? I like to mow my lawn