WideEyedStupid

In Dutch we have that saying too. “Blaffende honden bijten niet.” Barking dogs don’t bite.

Oh I can definitely not claim it either. Someone said it ages ago, and I stole it.

Yeah same, I guess time flies when you’re bombarded with shit 24/7

I should go. <3

The mierdas touch!

I have always felt bad for ‘non-practicing’ pedophiles. It must be a horribly lonely thing to go through. Not only are you universally hated, but you have desires and longings you can -never- act on, a need that can -never- be fulfilled. Add to that the isolation… it must be hell. And all because of something they can’t change. And the worst thing about it is that the hatred is so understandable. Where someone’s kids are involved, of course they won’t take any risks. Of course they’re going to lash out at anything and anyone that might be dangerous. It’s a visceral thing.

But you’re right. This idea that every pedophile wants to rape kids is probably very damaging. Not just to the pedophiles themselves, but also the kids around them. When you push someone into a secret corner where they can’t talk to people about their issues, where they can’t be honest, can’t get help… you’ll only make sure that some of them don’t look for help, when they might have otherwise. Someone with nothing to lose is more dangerous than someone with some social net.

Maybe I would feel different if I had kids myself, but I have always approached it from a rational point of view. Does every heterosexual guy rape women? Does every heterosexual woman rape men? Does every gay man rape men? No, of course not. Being attracted to someone obviously doesn’t mean you will end up raping them. Especially when romantic feelings are involved… most people don’t want to hurt the people they’re in love with. So why assume that every pedophile rapes children? I am no expert, but I assume there are way more people with these feelings than we would like to know. Luckily most humans have some sort of self-control.

Yup, I’ve had my Kobo for quite a while now and I still love it. The push buttons are great, as pointed out by another poster, but also… I’ve just never had any issues with it. None whatsoever. I’m hoping this one will just never brick.

About a month after I got mine, I bought the exact same one for my husband and he says his is still working like a charm as well! Now to be fair, I had never owned any other e-readers so I can’t really compare it to anything, but quality-wise I’d say they’re really good.

Omg, now I recognize it!

“Your very liiiiiiiives?”

Wow, edit, grammar.

Is this a copy-pasta I missed or did you make it up on the spot?

Either way, nice!

Thanks for the chuckle!

That’s funny. I’ve only ever known 2 of them personally and they have all of it. The whole damn package. Yeah, that wasn’t fun.

Data show that, unlike normative, healthy self-esteem, which is associated with positive outcomes (5–7), narcissistic self-esteem is fragile, because it is highly contingent on achievement-related successes and feedback from the social environment (13–15). Narcissistic self-esteem is thus conceptualized as precariously elevated. When an individual with NPD is faced with an ego threat (e.g., real or imagined criticism, failure, or reduced social regard), unrealistically high self-expectations crumple into perceived inferiority (16, 17). Individuals with NPD are, therefore, hypersensitive to ego threats, and when threatened, they respond with efforts to reduce concomitant distress and upregulate self-esteem (17–19). These regulation strategies include some of NPD’s most recognizable and maladaptive behaviors. Classic “grandiose” responses include being aggressive or devaluing toward others (20, 21), fixating on grandiose fantasies (22), or engaging in self-serving bias (23). Classic “vulnerable” responses include alienating and isolating themselves (24) by avoiding situations that may threaten self-esteem (25), relentlessly criticizing themselves (26–28), or engaging in suicidal behaviors and fantasies (29, 30). This vacillation between overly inflated and deflated self-appraisals, alongside efforts to regulate this unstable sense of self through grandiosity, flawlessness, and/or avoidance, are described in both early psychoanalytic theories of narcissism (31), the contemporary Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (8), and the personality disorder section of the ICD-11 (32–34). It is important to note that research is continually adding nuance to scientific perspectives on self-esteem in NPD (35). Various frameworks differently emphasize shifts between distinct states of grandiosity (i.e., elevated self-esteem, arrogance, and entitlement) and vulnerability (i.e., shame, insecurity, and neuroticism). Scholars are working to clarify whether and how grandiosity may function to conceal ever-present vulnerability and whether fragile self-esteem is a driving force or an outcome of this process (17, 18, 26, 36).

Source.

So. I guess it’s not actually clear yet which one of us is right (whether it’s ever-present or not).

All I can say is that in my (limited) experience they have extreme reactions to any sort of criticism, they take almost everything personal, and this just doesn’t happen with people who are actually really self-confident. I know plenty of confident people and they can handle criticism just fine without throwing huge fucking temper tantrums. It came to a point where I was walking on eggshells trying to never say anything that could be interpreted as criticism, because their fragile ego couldn’t handle it and they’d turn it around on me. Like… trying to make themselves feel better by putting me down. Anyway, I’ll stop dragging my personal issues in here, and just say: perhaps some day we’ll have a definitive answer.

Edit: typo.

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. You’re right.

Yes and that need stems from deep insecurity. Narcissists are insecure, but don’t show it. Their whole superiority act is just that, an act. Very convincing, because it’s what they -want- to be, and when people praise them it’s like a confirmation. They’re addicted to it. That’s why they lash out at anyone who sees through it. When you praise them, they’ll treat you like the best friend/lover they’ve ever had, but once you take away the praise… well they become a nightmare.

See it like this: nobody who is actually self-confident needs to get a constant stream of praise to be happy.

My cat too! She instantly lifted her head and has been listening intently.

Really not a fan of speed walking. So in stead I went home and painted rainbow colors on my bigoted neighbor’s door. Wonder if I turned him gay…

I actually think those kinds of mistakes are made more often by native speakers, because they learn it from other people as they’re growing up (including all the mistakes), while non-native speakers learn it correctly (from books and teachers). Same goes for the then/than or they’re/their/there, etc. When you learn it spoken first, and incorrectly, it’s harder to correct those mistakes than to learn it correctly from the start.

In Dutch, for example, we have loads of people who will say “groter als” (bigger than), which is dead wrong - it should be “groter dan.” This als/dan-mistake is something typical of natives, and I’ve never heard a non-native make this mistake. Same goes for zij/hun. Usually kids just learn incorrectly from their parents. My own parents make those mistakes as well and it took more than a year of my elementary school teacher correcting me every. single. time I made the mistakes, for me to correct them.

Vlooienmarkt in Dutch, also literally flea market.

Edit: Nvm, I’m blind, I see you already mentioned it.

Ugh this. I hate it so much, in fact, that when I finally (FINALLY) found one that actually, really fit, I spent almost €800 on bras, just to buy a bunch of them and prevent the necessesity to go bra-shopping. Plus, I checked recently and they still have them, so I’ll just order a bunch more and be done for a while again.

I mean, sometimes I look in the mirror and think ‘well, I guess they look nice’ but god, breasts really are more trouble than they’re worth. Especially in summer. And especially if you don’t have like a ‘standard’ size.

Agreed. When I saw the Apollo thread, my first thought was ‘Nah, not even spez would do this’ but I choked on that very fast when I saw the e-mails, the audio recordings and everything. It was so blatant, so asinine, so horribly fucked up.

I’ve never used the Apollo app, but millions of people did and in stead of thanking him for all his work, reddit just stabbed him in the back. Can’t believe there are people still taking reddit’s side on this, it’s crazy.