oh my gosh I've  been reading old threads i was on, and i feel like such a jerk.

i was so freaking rude and literally every rp i was on i tried to godmod. and the worst part of it is i think i knew that back when i was doing it. like, in an rp i made i put a ton of ridiculous rules for the character sheets and i changed someones character without permission just because they didnt follow the rules and ohmygod i just feel like a huge jerk right now.

and also.

there was an old confessions thread, and i read it, and i think someone got really offended by something someone else said who was trying to help. and the thing was posted anonymously. and i think i was the one who offended someone else, like, twice. but i don't actually know. like, i can't remember at all. i don't know if it was me or if it wasn't and i'm so confused and just kind of scared about it.

yeah and it doesn't help that my old writing was terrible as well and yeah.

:( 

I'm sorry, I know we're trying to leave this in the past, but I just wanted to express that it is so important to wear a mask, even if it's uncomfortable for you. If it's making it hard to breathe, maybe you should try a different type. I have read through so, so many studies that prove conclusively how effective masks are, and how effective they could be if only everyone wore them. This is true for cloth masks, your standard surgical masks, and the highest quality N-95 masks. Obviously, it would be ideal for all sick people to stay home, but that's much easier said than done for a lot of people. Not everyone can work from home, and most people still have to go out into the real world fairly often. There is no one solution that will fix everything - that can only be done by using a combination of solutions, and doing everything that we can.

This has nothing to do with fear. It doesn't matter if you yourself are ok with getting covid - you could be giving it to someone else, someone much more vulnerable to the effects of the virus. Choosing not to wear a mask is selfish, because you are putting the lives of everyone around you at risk, even if they're people you'll never see again.

Also, what I think a lot of people don't realize is this: being young does not make you invincible. My 13 year old cousin had to go to the ER because of COVID. Her dad (my uncle - not young, but also not old) had it for an entire month. He could barely breathe, or move, for a month. All of the statistics out there that report the death rates for COVID don't even take into account the lasting effects of it other than death, because don't tell me that being sick for that long doesn't seriously weaken your heart and your lungs.

What makes me most angry, though, is why this is even a debate, and I don't mean here on this thread, where it's stayed pretty respectful, I mean across the entire country. Wearing a mask has become a politicized issue for so many people, even though it shouldn't be. Americans can get so obsessed with their freedom that they don't even notice when they're robbing others of theirs. It makes me sick that the politicians of our country keep manipulating the pandemic and the data collected from it for their own personal gains, for political standing. I hate how the systemic injustices in our society make some groups so vulnerable to the pandemic, while others are able to ignore it, so that what devastates the life of one is a minor inconvenience for another. It makes me angry that so many governors have handled the situations in each of their states so poorly. My state currently has one of the lowest transmission rates in the country, but I know that won't matter once people from other states start bringing it over again. I don't think I could take another lockdown. I don't think I could take it if school were closed for most of my senior year. And I know that lots of other people will have far, far worse consequences.

So please. Seriously. Wear a mask. You have no idea the effects that your actions could have on other people. Not wearing a mask means increasing the risk of another lockdown, which means that this goes on for longer and longer when we could just end it now, making it worse when we could be making it better, until we really don't even need them. And does anyone really want this to keep going on?

~~~

Anyways, that turned into a longer, angrier post than I intended, and I just wanted to finish by saying that I don't mean to target or attack anyone, I just want to stress how important this issue is. This is genuinely just a rant that I've needed to get off my chest for a while, and seeing this topic already on this thread, it seemed like an appropriate place to post it. If anything I say comes off as harsh, it's only because this is something that I'm passionate about and I care too much about to ignore. Every claim I've made here is something I can back up. If something on here comes off the wrong way, I apologize for that, but not for any of the beliefs that I have stated, because they are my own, and I stand by them. I am sorry for hijacking this thread to talk about the virus when people were trying to leave it alone, and I'll try to keep my future posts on this thread about different topics. Thank you for reading anyways :)

On a lighter note, I made a prediction the other day that if we actually end up developing a vaccine for COVID, someday in the future there will be a Vaccine Day that will be celebrated in honor of the day that the pandemic was finally ended, and it will be celebrated with large social gatherings, TPing people's houses, and lots of hugs with friends <3

My photo wall keeps falling down :( Why can't you just stay up?? Whyyy? It looks so nice, and then it falls. and every time a piece of tape comes loose and falls, it makes a loud noise that freaks me out. Ugh! Just stay up!

memphis says etbim. ET is bi? Ummmm... 

Sorry if this thread isn't turning out so well. I knew that this might happen, I mean it's a rant thread, and rants can kind of be nasty, because they're balls of emotions, concepts that some people may not agree with. I don't really want people to argue. I know I made the thread but others can decide whether to keep it or not. 

1. Religion is a sensitive topic. Of course people are going to disagree about it, because being religious means you believe in your religion and not anyone else's. Respect other's religious beliefs even if you disagree. If someone doesn't want you to talk about it with them, don't. 

In conclusion, don't push it on people. I've done that before, not going to pretend I haven't. But I'm going to try to not do it anymore. If people don't want to hear about it, you can always pray for them if you want!

Rant about it if you really need, but with these mind rule 3.!!  In fact I think I'm gonna put a little religious rant here:(Stereotypes are bad, no one likes them. So why are Christian stereotypes fine?? That's it.) Try not to say religious people are horrible, basically.

2. Masks... wear them. We're pretty lucky wearing masks and washing our hands are the only things we have to do. No, seriously, think about it. It could be way worse! Wear a mask!! I mean, of course you can rant about it if you want, as long as you wear them!!

3. Of course sometimes you can't help it, but maybe it would be better if we tried to keep our rants as short as we can! That might be a good idea? What do you think?

If I missed anything or said something wrong, tell me!

I have a lot of mini-rants...

I have this thing where I feel like I'm not original enough. Like, my writing isn't that bad, I just can't seem to come up with ideas/plots that are both original, interesting, and actually make sense. I don't act original either. I'm not very funny, I'm too scared most of the time to bring up topics that aren't super basic, and I dont have a signature phrase, look, or nickname. And I tend to mangle my words when I'm nervous. I'm getting better about being less boring, but I'm still too scared to talk about anything very deep or personal.

And anyway, I feel like most kids my age just wouldn't get it. I mean, you never know, but all of my friends are just so, so different from me. Sometimes I think none of them care about me at all. Certain friends who I though were pretty close haven't contacted me a single time without me starting the conversation first, through the entire pandemic. They like me  alright, they just don't care. And my mom noticed how awkward and antisocial I am, and she tries to get me to play with the neighborhood kids, but often it just seems too hard and I know if I showed my real self to them they'd think I was a total weirdo. 

But it's really not that bad, I'm ok and at least I have some kind of friends and a great family, and you guys! :)