Author: lebelinoria

thorinsmut:

a blog: *follows me*

me, an aged monarch lounging on my fur-strewn throne, gesturing for my servant to bring me my monacle: Bring them here! Bring them here, I say. Let me look at them.

guards: *drag the unwitting blog before me*

me, peering intently at the new blog and poking them with my scepter: Is this a real person? Hmm? What have you to say for yourself? What are your fandoms? Your interests? Speak up, these old ears aren’t what they used to be.

guards, tentatively: they do seem to be a real person, sire. We found them in possession of several memes and a fandom rant.

me, subsiding back into my sumptuous furs and waving them away: most extraordinary. It has been an age since there was a real person, but just as well, the dungeons have been overflowing with those tacky pornbots. This newcomer may remain in my domain. Make them welcome. And fetch me a quill! I feel a ficlet coming on…

purified-zone:

the1001cranes:

danielle-mertina:

I now know firsthand that going to a car dealership is…an experience.

I went going exactly what car I wanted and I imagine that if you don’t know that much it’ll be easier for a dealership to screw you over when you get there by feeding you misinformation about a car, manipulating you into buying a more expensive model, and etc.

I had already done all my research online so I knew what I wanted. Down to the color. (Green is my favorite color!)

So boyfriend and I went (I followed Tumblr’s advice about bringing a man lol). And I test drove the car and loved it just like I knew I would. And THEN the real dealership experience began.

The bottomline is that I knew my credit score and so I knew what kind of interest rate (APR) I should expect. I also knew the manufacturer price of the car (MSRP) and I knew how much they were selling for on average in my area ($3k less than MSRP).

So I knew what I was going to pay and I had already decided on that in my head.

So dealer #1 (a white guy–this is relevant to mention lol) brings back the first set of numbers. He cushions it with making small talk and flattering me on starting my PhD in August. He also chats up boyfriend.

The numbers were bad. I could tell looking at it. Although they didn’t say the APR, I knew that my monthly rate shouldn’t be that high based on the number of months I’d be paying it. Also they only gave me $2k off MSRP.

I noted that the sticker price was too high because I can go to another dealer and get it cheaper and they knocked off another $1k.

And then I asked him what the APR was. He was very evasive and kept telling me to look at the monthly payments because that’s what “really matters.” No, what really matters is what I’m paying for the car overall which is the sticker price + state fees (unavoidable) + interest rate.

Dealer #1 finally told me the APR and it was 3x the rate I knew I was eligible for. I told him that’s not gonna work. He turned aggressive and said that I’m a first time buyer and I can’t expect better and that I’m being unrealistic to expect a lower rate and etc etc.

So I said that my bank quoted me a rate half that much and I’ll just go through them and buy later (at a different dealer). Because I want the car but there’s 2 other places I can go to get it in my area.

Then all of a sudden dealer #1 could get me a better APR. His next offer was 2x what I wanted to pay. I said nah that good enough.

Then they brought out dealer #2, who was a Black guy. He didn’t sit down and instantly start talking about the price. He said a bunch of small talk and said some stuff about being Black lol. Tryna be chummy chummy and connect with us on a racial level.

Then he tried to push the same numbers as dealer #1. I said I know I’m young and I don’t have a math background but you’re charging me way too much for this car and I’m not going to buy it at that price. Period. I said: get the APR down and I’ll buy the car. He kept telling me it wasn’t possible and I said okay…I won’t buy it.

But then he was like wait…lemme run the numbers. And ta da! He came back with the right APR. Also zero down. And payments lower than my target.

This whole process took 5 hours.

Moral of the story:

– know as much as you can before going to a dealership so you can focus on the numbers
– know your credit score so you know what your APR should be
– get approved through an independent bank for a loan so you have leverage to negotiate with a better rate from the dealer
– don’t focus on monthly payments. Times that by the amount of months so you know what you’re REALLY paying
– threaten to walk because stuff magically happens at dealerships when you do lol

YES. and I will also swear by The Toast’s How to Buy a Car Without Interacting With a Human

capitalism is fuuuun

jumpingjacktrash:

curlicuecal:

jumpingjacktrash:

kmclaude:

queerpyracy:

queerpyracy:

baffling how much of this site is just conservative protestantism with a gay hat

you know what i’m in just enough of a bad mood that i’m ready to nail my grievances to the church door so let’s fucking go

  • black and white morality wherein anyone who doesn’t believe/think/live exactly as I do is a dirty sinner Problematic and probably a predatory monster
  • everyone is a sinner Problematic but true believers people who activist the right way according to my worldview are still better than everyone else, and I will act in accordance to this belief in my own superiority to let everyone else know I’m better than them because I found Jesus am the most woke
  • casual and fucking omnipresent equations of womanhood with softness/goodness/purity/nurturing to remind every woman who isn’t/doesn’t want to be any of those things that they’re doing it wrong
  • aggressive desexualization (particularly of women’s sexuality, to the point where it may as well not exist at all) accompanied by pastels [not a criticism directed ace ppl having a right to sex-free content and spaces but specifically targeted at a wider problem resulting from the previous point]
  • YOU’RE VALID AND JESUS LOVES YOU and neither of these platitudes achieves a goddamn thing
  • historical context is for people who care about nuance and we don’t have time for either (see: black and white morality)
  • lots of slogans and quotes and nice little soundbites to memorize but does anybody actually study the source material with a critical eye to make their own informed analysis
  • the answer is no
  • I’ve been to bible study groups don’t @ me I know what the fuck I’m talking about
  • Good Christians™ Nice Gays™

    don’t fraternize with/let themselves be influenced by non-Christians those terrible queers

  • all the media one consumes must be ideologically pure or it will surely harm the children
  • it is Our Sacred Duty to protect the children from Everything, thus ensuring their innocence/purity/etc until such time as they are idk probably 25 years old
  • literally just “think of the children” moral panic y’all can fuckin miss me with that
  • people who don’t conform to the dominant thinking WILL be excommunicated/driven from the social group, and any wrong treatment they suffer will be seen as a justified consequence of their wrong thinking
  • I Saw Goody Proctor With The Devil And She Had A Bad Steven Universe Headcanon

Thank you for breaking it down like that because so many of us have been saying it but to see a play by play breakdown comparison is just…Thank you.

  • sipping tea and judging people as a group bonding activity

oh, man, speaking as a queer Christian who gets regular tumblr flashbacks to my childhood in the Bible Belt, YES

-belief that small snippets of text can be analyzed out context to understand the whole work/ judge the whole person
-Desire for moral choices to be easy/ black-and-white leads to belief that it is possible to find a one-size-fits all answer to every situation
-Literal, rather than literary analysis, with weird fixation on etymological roots that have nothing to do with source material
-Belief that there is “one true interpretation” that is self-evident and will be understood by everyone encountering the same material regardless of background
-Overwhelming, internalized sense of culpability for other people’s actions/integrity/souls
-Overwhelming, internalized sense of personal guilt
-Pressure to evangelize aggressively
-Tendency to value broad ideals before individual needs
-Hostility towards coexistence/tolerance/neutrality
-Hostility towards lack of consensus in viewpoint
-Knowledge as contamination
-Guilt/contamination by proximity
-Fixation on the sexual as uniquely dirty/sinful
-Belief in “thought crimes”
-Argumentation via appeal to higher authority/feelings of revulsion rather than internal, verbalizeable logic
-“conversations” that are actually stealth soapboxes because one side isn’t actually interested in listening
-“polite requests” that are actually commands because “no” is not considered an acceptable answer
-in-group language
-virtue-signaling and hostility towards the outgroup
-gatekeeping
-communities strongly built around the idea of being the world’s underdog
-appropriation of other people’s persecution/victimization
-treating the concept of oppression like a trophy
-glorification/fetishization of victimhood

reblogging again for good addition

grawly:

dat-soldier:

grawly:

grawly:

the insides of dead malls exist within a space that is separate from our own and if you explore hard enough you will find the gateways that link them together

savvy readers will connect the dots and realize this will effectively allow you to teleport from one location to another but this is not recommended as repeated traversals will merge one’s consciousness with the mall, trapping them inside forever

Hey, actual expert on this! Dead malls and the anachronistic realities contained within them are a new phenomenon caused by the overabundance of malls being built between the 1960s and 1990s, along with today’s economical decline. So not many people know this, but as previously said, teleporting and walking deep within the walls of dead malls leaves you at a very real risk of not coming back, physically and otherwise. Say for example you are coming across an old, abandoned K-Mart, do not enter the store, especially in the Fall fashion aisle of the ladies and girls department today. You can choose from our Hunters Glen collection, an array of fashion fall pants, sweaters and shirts, all in the latest styles and colors! For that sporty look, you have a great selection of novelty fleece tops, private labels, and label jeans! We also have a terrific selection of girls’ sweater and fleece separates to choose from. Don’t forget to use our convenient layaway on all these new fall fashions, and thank you, for shopping our K-Mart.

cursed soul of the shoppers realm, take leave from my sight. this world is not yours to inhabit.

argumate:

brainstatic:

Ben Carson is such a great example of how the concept of raw intelligence doesn’t exist, and that people can have wildly varying types of intelligence. This man is the best brain surgeon in America. Possibly the world. He invented a new way to treat seizures. He separated conjoined twins in a surgery that everyone else said was impossible. And he thinks going to prison makes you gay. He thinks the pyramids were grain silos built by the biblical Joseph.

So maybe you suck at something because in one area you’re Ben Carson The Politician but in another area you might be Ben Carson The Neurosurgeon.

this is tremendously inspiring and utterly horrifying at the same time

We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.

Hildegard von Bingen

(via spiritualgateway)

This is difficult to wrap oneself around. The easiest way in is to consider other cultures and how they saw objects, ideas, existence differently. A harder entrance lies in dismantling one’s own taught preconceptions. Why should I only be with one person at a time? Why can’t men cuddle their friends? Why is touch often inappropriate, why is it important and how could the balance be different? Can I wrestle a table? How is the world like upside down? What is sitting, what else can it be?

(via camarguais)

as a frequent furniture-wrestler and hildegard fan, i endorse this

(via dharmagun)

there are no shortcuts. you can’t just embrace everything or discard everything. you have to engage with the world and engage in yourself. it’s worthwhile work.

(via jumpingjacktrash)

prokopetz:

Stages of fandom:

1. This is awesome!

2. This is okay.

3. This was awesome, but now it sucks.

4. This has always sucked.

5. Whether this was good or bad is beside the point, because I now realise that I was never a fan of it in the first place; I was a fan of the idea of it, and most of what I found appealing and relatable in it is stuff I extrapolated from the text that was never explicitly present.

6. Welp. I guess it’s all up to me!

The Denny’s rule book: A simple guide

dennys:

stories-of-arani:

Denny’s is your local, friendly diner open 24 hours a day every day of the year. A place to relax and enjoy a breakfast at any hour, a fulfilling lunch or delicious dinner. All are welcome at Denny’s, and it’s your safest location, provided you follow this very simple guide for the nightly hours.

  1. Never close your eyes in a Denny’s parking lot. 
  2. Walk calmly to the door; you will hear sounds. Do not look behind you.
  3. Always make sure the door closes behind you, unless it was already open when you arrived, in which case do not touch the door.
  4. Never sit at the table farthest from the front door. Your server will sometimes try to seat you there. Politely refuse and ask for another table.
  5. If you see a table with two salt-shakers, walk past it; that table is taken. Sit at the table directly across from it instead. 
  6. Eat your pancakes. Box any leftovers; it would be a shame to waste food. It might attract something.
  7. Do not, under any circumstance, look into the eyes of your own reflection in the bathroom.
  8. If your server’s eyes turn black, do not panic; order a coffee with extra cream. Do not ask for a refill. Do not stare.
  9. Think you recognize someone who just walked in? Best to ignore it. It’s probably not what it seems. They will proceed to sit at the table farthest from the door.
  10. If you are walking past a Denny’s and you see yourself sitting in the corner booth through the window, keep walking. Do not eat at Denny’s that night.
  11. Did you tip? You better double check. It’s only polite to leave a tip.
  12. Do not ask questions. They will Notice.

Your local Denny’s is the perfect place for a delicious meal at all hours of the day. Hope you enjoy your next visit to any Denny’s Diner!

sage advice