#but they're very politically engaged

[greystend]

I dreamed that I bought tumblr and lifted the porn ban. I wasn't even on here before the porn ban

[notasapleasure]

I know we all see 'green party' and breathe a sigh of relief, but please remember the umbrella of 'green' still includes homeopaths, nimbys, people who believe in the 'unspoilt beauty of the countryside' (and use it as an excuse to campaign against wind turbines and social housing) and Malthusians. Please, please, please, just as you'll be scrutinising new MPs from Labour etc (and rightly so!) also make sure you check what kind of green your local representative is or party organisers are. Mostly harmless crackpot (the deputy leader of the UK greens used to offer hypnotherapy to women to increase their breast size*) or tree-hugging nimbys like the lot in Suffolk who think digging up the ecologically fragile seabed to lay cables from the offshore wind farm is preferable to having to look at a pylon or two. The green party in the UK has been proactive about booting out antisemites and disassociating from the TERFy groups that have caused division among them previously, and credit to them for that. But ecofascism is real and you can't just assume they're all 'Labour but leftwing', you've got to keep an eye out, just like y'all are rightly keeping an eye on Labour for attitudes to trans rights and a ceasefire. They're still a party made up of various individuals with differing beliefs and you've got to keep that in mind, no one party is pure and perfect.

*Source. He has said he's had a storied life and many different jobs. He's also apologised because he realises this may cause 'offense' which leads me to believe he doesn't actually understand what's fucked up about it but ok.

[dustteller]

Now that I am mostly over the Absolutely Feral stage of my Radiant Emperor Obsession and can think again, I want to do a proper write up on how the series handles colonialism. I need to get my sources together and make it all pretty and stuff, but the gist of it is this.

I actually really respect SPC for not making it A Thing. Like, the colonialism is an inherent part of the serting, and a lot of important moments hinge around it, but there's also a pretty clear refusal by the author to turn it into A Statement. I think they do a really good job of walking the fine line between aknowledging it and making it clear that its an important part of the setting, without turning the book into a political thesis on Why Bad Actually.

I think a lot of fantasy authors that frankly have no business making their books into political science treatises try to be super philosophical about it, and inevitably have almost all their points ring flat bc the main character almost always ends up perpetuating the system they spent the whole book critiquing. The classic example being, of course, "We've destroyed The Evil Empire! We will now replace it with The Good Empire, which is functionally identical to The Evil Empire except Good bc our Main Character is in charge! This will totally change the systemic issues we've spent the last three million words exploring! How? Don't worry about it, absolute power only corrupts you if you're A Bad Person!" (atla. atla i am looking at you. my love for you does not mean I am letting you off the hook.)

The Radiant Emperor books interact with and aknowledge the colonialism. The empire canonically falls at least in part because of one guy's willfull ignorance of the differences between his culture and that of two of the people he loves the most, because his culture supercedes theirs to the point where he does not even consider the posibility of this difference truly existing as a real-life power imbalance. And still, these books are not about that! That is not the main theme! It is important. It is handled pretty well, it is aknowledged, and it is not The Point. I really appreciate that more understated approach that SPC takes, because ironically by refusing to partake in dramatic philosophical grandstanding the media often ends up making way better and more nuanced points, because then their point actually fits into the story they are trying to tell.

[writing-with-olive]

How to call your representatives in 10 minutes or less

1: Pick a bill you want to call about. If you don't have one off the top of your head, go to your state's legislature website or congress.gov and type in a keyword about a topic you're interested in, and pick one that looks of note to you.

2: Check if the bill is in the house or senate (HB means house bill unless it's already passed and is now in the senate, vice versa for SB)

3: Figure out who's your representative(s) in that chamber. State sites will have a "who's my representative" field somewhere, and you can find your federal reps here. Put their contacts into your phone so you don't have to do this step again

4a: If you want to, you can stop here and go ahead and call your representative. You can come up with an elaborate script if you want, but my conversations often go like this if I have not checked whether or not my rep is on the subcommittee where the bill's probably sitting at. It rarely goes over 2.5 minutes

Staffer: Hello, this is the office of [lawmaker]. Me: Hi, I'm calling as a constituent of [lawmaker] about [house/senate bill, bill number, bill name]. I wanted to express my [support/lack of support] for it, and was hoping you could pass along the message to [lawmaker] that as [his/her] constituent I would like [her/him] to vote [in favor/against] [bill name]. Staffer: Thank you so much for calling and voicing your opinion. I will let you know that the bill is currently [insert information about what subcommittee it's stuck in], but when it comes down for a floor vote, I'll be sure your voice is heard in the discussion. Can I get your name, and a phone number or email address? Me: My name is [name], my phone number is [number I called them from] Them: Alright, well thank you again for calling in today, and I'll be sure to pass this along Me: Thank you so much. Have a good day Staffer: You too, bu-bye *hangs up*

note: they are legally obligated to tally a yea/nae count of constituents calling/writing in and have to share it with reps

4b: If you want to call about bills that your representative currently has some direct sway over, check what subcommittees they're a part of. If you type their name in to this site and scroll down, you can find a list.

5: On the bill, there will be a line (or tab) that says activity, and says where it was most recently referred to, and see if one of your rep's subcommittee assignments is on there

6a: If they're on that subcommittee, great! go ahead and call using the same script as above

6b: If they're not on that subcommittee, click the "get alerts" button to get automatic updates if movement happens, or set a reminder to check back later and see if it's moved

[greatspacedustbin]

Someone took down all the EU election posters in my town 😩😩😩. (well, only 4 out of 10+ possible parties were represented so far, but still)

Like.... what are you trying to achieve here? Don't want people to vote? Jealous that you didn't think of putting up a poster yourself? Hope that people won't vote for left and centre parties? Grow up.

[shannonsketches]

Nabooru and Ganon in the middle of an argument Nabs: You know what? *removes her wedding insignia* You're not the same man I married Ganon: What?? B-but--!! GUH!! QAQ

I actually do have a scene like this in Eidolon except they're only engaged, haha

[daisyachain]

here i go again. I think I’d be a lot more tolerant of f/m romances in work if any of them actually engaged with the dynamics of heterosexuality. The two characters, no matter how much they like each other or get along, are performing the roles laid out for them. A script exists for their situation. In liking each other they are in some way bending to the whims of society (or not in the case of caste/class/etc differences. but those aren’t explored often either). The dynamics of their relationship have been already laid out and prescribed for them. He was a boy, she was a girl. He was supposed to treat her badly, ignore her whims, take control of their mutual lives. She was supposed to quit her job and hobbies, support his endeavours, relinquish independence. Even in e.g. sci-fi set in a world free of misogyny, we the audience still expect a degree of gender conformity from a f/m relationship.

This should introduce some interesting drama. Shouldn’t it! If people are getting into a relationship where they have to bury their own desires and dance out the little steps they’re supposed to--shouldn’t that cause tension? Angst? Shouldn’t there be some sort of fear that they don’t actually like each other, they’re just doing the done thing? Shouldn’t there be internal conflict over whether they have to adhere to gender roles to make the relationship work? When this does happen it’s fun and interesting.

Ao no Flag does it. Relationships between female and male characters are strained, torn, twisted by the crushing pressure of a) inevitable heterosexuality b) having to perform gender roles to pass the heterosexuality test. I’ve heard that Pale Moonlit Dusk and Lovely Complex do it, though I haven’t read them. But time and again I keep getting reminded why I avoid anything with a romance in it

[anghraine]

Huh, some player in Queensdale map chat is going on frothing rants about "the left" and "liberals" (making no distinction between them, which is both "/sigh" and kind of funny if you've paid the slightest attention to Democratic primary elections) while simultaneously insisting that liberals are being emotionally manipulated by their politicians and professors, unlike the totally rational and dispassionate decision-making of conservatives.

Halfway through this bizarre rant he's broadcasting to the entire map, I reached the area where my personal story was taking place, zapped out to do the entire episode, finished it, returned to the general Queensdale map, and he was still at it and making these dramatic sweeping generalizations about how other countries took 45 seriously but have no respect for Biden, who is [something redacted by ArenaNet restrictions, no idea what it was] and just ARGLEGARBLE while the liberals who bothered to engage just kept requesting sources (only to be ignored, of course).

You get this kind of thing pretty often in PvP zones, but usually PvE maps shut it down fast, so I have no idea why he was doing the GW2 equivalent of screaming his screeds into a loudspeaker while declaiming about how rational he is.

[navree]

at the risk of sounding facetious but if you’re categorizing the targaryens as colonizers then i think you also need to categorize nymeria and the rhoynar as colonizers too or just realize that the dragon incest show and all its varied source material written by a white guy who thought these ideas up forty years ago is not in fact that deep

[munamania]

it’s just i spend so much time sharing little things about myself in the hopes that it sparks a connection with people and also i guess that maybe sometimes people will think of me yk. to feel like i exist outside of my own head. i dont think this is a bad thing it’s just where im at it’s a natural want for connection and it like. works for me. and i also dont think it’s bad to have the friends i do that are like ‘surface level’ yk. i still appreciate them and love them. it’s just, this is where im at, desperately clawing in different spaces in my life to be known even tho it’s embarrassing lol. and it just sucks that i never had to try to with her. not only did we have this extremely insane chemistry right off the bat, she’s someone that in like every way has made it seem like she actively wants to know me. beyond just the polite and whatever kind of level. and it’s like, of course that feels absolutely amazing given ive been pining since day 1 but also i just like her a lot as a person. you know. and it all sucks and makes me wanna combust sometimes that things aren’t the way i’d like them to be between us of course lmfao but i also think she’s an incredible person and she’s managed to make me feel so safe and calm and simultaneously obviously fucking crazy and energized and whatever. u know. whatever my point is here im gonna be done now <3

[thetruearchmagos]

I'll be honest, I usually have a deep seated dislike of damn near all Sci Fi Setting 'mercenary / pirate' groups, and the more of them I see the worse it gets

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

i have been in community with profoundly developmentally disabled peers and peers with brain damage my whole life, bc i had a childhood diagnosis. i have also been leftist my whole life; my mother was a marxist and raised me that way, and while their politics were absolute dogshit, they were lefty dogshit.

my entire life, i have seen leftist educators throw mentally disabled people away as "lost causes" because they couldn't engage with the material the way it was being presented. leftist outreach and education does, genuinely, have a massive lack of accessible material. to be blunt, people are not interested in retrofitting their leftist outreach to be accessible to people who learn best through episodes of sesame street.

as in, i have repeatedly faced outright laughter and cruelty over the idea that this could be a priority. or even something that we consider doing at all.

"people who are that mentally disabled don't need to know about these things," the kindest interpretation goes. ("people who are that mentally disabled don't interact with the world, anyway, they're all in institutions or monitored 24/7 by their parents," the uncharitable underlying assumptions go. "they wouldn't be a worker who needs a union. or a library attendee. or a member of the community garden. or a volunteer at the food bank. or or or")

the people i have seen this hurt the worst, over and over again, are profoundly mentally disabled people of color whose lack of access to accessible antiracist education is causing real danger in their lives. institutionalized disabled people of color who have learned racist ideology and behaviors from white authority, whether they were adopted by white families or incarcerated in care institutions run by white staff. who are treated lower than garbage by leftist educators, who view them as "lost causes," as unworthy of time and effort and attention, as deserving of their abuses because they... what... internalized the abuses that make up every aspect of their lives since birth?

i see people saying things in this conversation like "disability isn't an excuse for racism or transphobia or whatever, people have the obligation to improve themselves." oh, believe me, i have seen again and again how many privileged disabled people utilize their disabilities to punch down on others, try to escape accountability for their punching down by citing disability. but individual weaponization of identity is just that: weaponization of identity.

the power structures at play are what they are. it is a noble and admirable goal to want leftist outreach and education to be more accessible to all. if that is truly your goal, you must eventually reckon with the existence of people who do, actually, really need it presented in a picture book. or an episode of bluey. or a conversation where you only use examples of people they know in real life, using things that happened to them personally. the existence of people who cannot grasp forms of abstract reasoning, who need information presented as rules, or as guidelines, or as categories. the idea that yes, fully grown adults who need daniel tiger to explain racism to them are human beings who not only deserve access to that very thing, but who also deserve to be a part of leftist spaces and benefit from leftist organizing. are people for whom it might be INTEGRAL they get to be a part of leftism. are victims of racism themselves and suffering without access to antiracist spaces and community and support.

and you will need to reckon with the abject cruelty of your peers who laugh and mock the very idea of this. you need to reckon with the fact that a lot of people you respect, a lot of leftists doing genuinely good work, will respond to this by making fun of the people you're serving, even outright telling you their violent fantasies about these people. that is the experience of organizing in leftist spaces for profoundly disabled people. that is why so many of us burn out so fast. there IS a structural problem with mentally disabled people being seen as disposable and not a part of community. and it is EXTREMELY present in leftist organizing and outreach efforts.

[guinevereslancelot]

is there any worse feeling than when you feel like someone is mad at you bc they literally are mad at you

[seoulmates98]

I've been thinking these past few weeks about my interactions with my friends and how I interact with them and come to the conclusion that it feels like they love me as a person but aren't exactly interested in me as a person and now I want l kinda want to cry

[sanguineterrain]

Hello sanne! I have a request, if it inspires you: what about reader who's been hurt and has amnesia when they wake up. And Jason is there and reader gets all flustered because pretty boy alert!! Pretty boy is speaking gently to them!! And in actuality Jason and reader are together. I hope that made sense 😭 love your writing so so much!!

this is such a sweet request!

jason todd x gn!reader. tw medical setting, reader is on pain meds and has been in an accident, major major fluff, established relationship.

****

The first thing you notice is that your mouth tastes... not good.

You try to swallow and clear out the taste. All that happens is a useless smack of your tongue. Your throat is too dry for any swallowing to happen.

"...been out for about twelve hours. Yeah, I've been here the whole time."

You're pretty sure that you know that voice. You're drawing a blank on that voice's name, but you swear you know the voice.

"They're awake. Yeah, bye."

It's deep and warm and soft and yes. You definitely know the voice.

Okay. Opening your eyes.

You do so with substantial effort. Your vision is bleary. All you can make out are blobs of gray. You've got a lot of eye boogies in your eyes. You can feel them.

But you're not really sure about where your hands are at this moment in time, so the eye boogies will have to camp out for a little longer.

"Hey." The bed shifts. That warm voice gets closer. "Hey, hey. Y'thirsty?"

A straw taps your lips. You clumsily take it and drink until it gurgles and there's no more water.

"Yeah, I'll bet you're thirsty. Want more?"

You shake your head. A cool, rough hand pets your forehead. Oh, that's nice. That's very nice. The bedside manner in this hospital is impeccable. A little forward, but you don't mind. The voice and his hand are both very polite.

Time to try to actually see some shit. You hone in on your vision, putting every iota of brainpower into processing what your eyes are telling your brain.

A figure. A man. Huzzah!

Oh. Oh, wow. A very beautiful man. A big, hulking, beautiful man.

He's young, boyishly handsome. His eyes are bright. A scar is etched from the top of his right temple to his lip. There's a white streak in his dark hair. Is that a trend now? You can't remember.

"Where 'm I?" you ask.

"You're in the Batcave. How much do you remember, honey?" the gorgeous, beautiful, dreamboat nurse asks.

Well, you remember being in a car, and then being ejected from that car, and then hot, blinding pain, and then... waking up.

"Car accident?" you manage.

Pretty Nurse nods. Is he a nurse? He looks more like a biker, with his leather jacket and empty holsters. He looks like he could pin you down with one arm and—

Whoa. Chill.

"Yeah, kinda. There was an explosion. You hit your head pretty hard." He strokes the back of your head, frowning. "How do you feel?"

You feel like your head has an anvil tied to it. But it's okay, because look at this biker-nurse! Wowza!

He takes your hand (you have hands! Huzzah!) and strokes your knuckles with his thumb, which is fine, actually, because he has really nice eyes. You want to tell him.

"You h've nice eyes," you say.

Pretty Nurse blinks, looking startled. His cheeks go a little pink. "Oh. Um, thanks, baby. Y'sweet."

Baby? Do you really have that much rizz as a medical patient? You can't imagine how irresistible you must be when you haven't been in an explosion.

But then everything shatters when you look down and see a silver band on his hand. What the shit! He's married? Or engaged, at least. Son of a biscuit.

And he's flirting with you? What a pig!

You snatch your hand back, suddenly sour. Pretty Nurse raises his eyebrows.

"What's a'matter?"

"You have a ring," you say, voice dripping in contempt.

"I—" He looks down. "Uh, well, yeah. I do."

Devastating. "If you're taken, you shouldn't be flirting with me, jerk."

He squints. "Wh—oh. Oh. Huh."

Pretty Biker Nurse looks like you've just said something funny. You don't see what's so funny about infidelity. May God strike him down!

He smiles coyly. "D'you know who I am, sweetheart?"

"Yes," you say, glowering. "Y'just a no-good philanderer who should be ashamed of hi'self. Don't care how handsome you are; I won't enter your web of lies!"

He laughs, bright and sweet. Damn him! You need a different nurse. This one is the epitome of temptation.

"Oh, baby. Oh, you're too cute. Can I take your hand?"

"Not if you're gonna flirt more," you say, lifting your chin. "Dirtbag."

"Your moral code is incredible, honey. Good to know I'll never have anything to worry about, though I never doubted you. Can I show you something, though?"

He lifts your hand and on your finger is a gold band. More delicately shaped than his ring, but similar.

"Oh my God," you say, panic growing. "I'm cheating on my husband."

He laughs louder this time. "Your fiancé, actually. Wedding isn't till August. And no, honeylove. You're not cheatin', 'cause I'm right here."

He leans in and kisses your forehead. Your hackles raise for a moment until... wait...

"You're my fiancé?" you ask, eyes huge.

He smiles shyly. "In the flesh. Y'remember my name?"

You feel like it's a J name. "J..."

"Jason," he says gently. "Yeah, wow. They got you on some pretty strong meds, huh? Leslie said you should start to remember more stuff in a day."

Jason. Pretty Biker Nurse Jason. Holy moly. He's engaged to you? About to marry you?

"You are so pretty," you blurt.

That makes Jason more shy. He smiles like he's done something he's not supposed to do. "Not as pretty as you, honey pie."

"No, you're... I mean, wow. Sorry I called you a jerk. How did I get with you? That's crazy. You're fine as hell."

Jason snorts, wide shoulders shaking. His cheeks are red. "Jesus, you're shameless."

Well, yeah. You're still not sure this isn't a dream. You have to let your fiancé know exactly what you think about him.

You prepare to tell him something smooth and romantic. Something about how kissable he looks.

"Y'look like a sexy biker."

Hm. Not exactly what you had in mind. Your brain feels like a blue raspberry slushie.

Jason grins. "Oh, yeah? That why you been starin' at me? Didn't know you had a thing for bikers. You're terrified of going on my motorcycle."

How does he know that? It's true; you like bikers from afar but you're not about to get on a death machine, thanks.

"You can rev my engine," you say, head slumping against the pillow.

"Oh my God," Jason says, clearly delighted. "Don't think I've ever seen this reaction to pain meds."

"Can't believe we're engaged," you say again. "How'd we even meet?"

"Well, I'm a vigilante of sorts, and the first time we met was after I saved you from a mugging. And then we kinda just... kept running into each other. You bought me coffee without realizing who I was. And we, uh, fell in love. As people do."

"You proposed to me in Spain," you say suddenly, the memory rushing back. "You... you wanted to prove you wouldn't put work above us."

Jason nods, lacing your and his fingers together. "Yeah, that's right. Three weeks in Spain." He pulls out his phone and shows you the lockscreen. It's of you two. Jason has sunglasses on. You're smiling. You can't remember ever smiling like that before.

Tears suddenly spring to your eyes, emotion smacking into you like an eighteen-wheeler. Jason leans in, concerned.

"Baby? Hey, what's wrong? Something hurts?" he asks, inspecting your head.

Your mouth quivers. "You... you love me so much."

Jason stops, tilting his head. "I... uh, yeah. 'Course I do. You're the person I love the most in the world."

That makes you cry, tears running down your cheeks. Jason's eyes widen in alarm.

"Sweetheart? What's—hey, it's okay. Why're y'crying, huh?"

He brushes your tears away with his thumbs, cradling your face. You sniffle.

"I'm s-sorry I called you a dirtbag," you blubber. "Y'not a dirtbag. You love me so much."

"Oh-ho, oh, honey. Baby, you've been unconscious for twelve hours. You're under heavy medication. I know you didn't recognize me, it's okay. Trust me, I've been called far worse," Jason says tenderly.

Dear God, you're a beast. What kind of person doesn't recognize their own fiancé?! You cry harder.

"I should've remembered you! I'm a bad fiancé," you wail.

"Aw, sweetheart. No, no, it's okay. C'mere."

Jason scoots you over slightly and pulls you into his arms. You cry into his shoulder, slobbering all over his sexy biker jacket. He rubs circles on your back.

"You're really cute and nice and I'm glad y'marrying me," you say, muffled in his shoulder.

Jason hums, the sound vibrating through you. "I'm really happy to be marrying you, sweetheart. You rock my world."

You sniff. "Really?"

"Mmhm." Jason kisses the side of your neck. "How 'bout you sleep a little more, hm? I bet you're exhausted."

Now that he mentions it, you do feel pretty worn-out. Especially after crying. And almost getting blown up.

"Will you be here when I wake up?"

"Absolutely, honey. I swear."

Jason eases you onto your back. Your eyes are beginning to feel heavy.

"Sleep, beautiful. I'm right here."

[thebibliosphere]

How do you deal with going to events with catering (that wedding, presumably) with your very strict dietary requirements? Do they accommodate? Do you bring your own plate? Do you just sit there? If you just sit there, do you do it with a plate of food in front of you, or no plate, or empty plate?

It depends on the wedding, but often, I'm too hard to cater to unless it's being hosted in someone's home, and they're cool with me bringing stuff.

Most venues won't let you bring your own food. The last time I asked why, they told me it was a health and safety issue--which, having worked in catering, I get--I just find it deeply funny, considering if I ate their food, I'd be going for an expensive trip in the wee-woo wagon to the nearest ER. (Not even Disney feels comfortable catering to me, and Disney is ridiculously good about accommodating allergies. The last time we went, I brought a packed lunch into the fancy restaurant and got a thumbs up from Mickey.)

Usually, I'll sit with food in front of me and not touch it. If there's a menu, I tend to get the opposite of whatever @mothman-etd is getting so he can sample both dishes. If I'm sitting with people who don't know me, they tend to leave me alone, but if they ask why I'm not eating, I just say, "Oh, I've been ill." or something to that effect. Usually, it's enough to make people not want to ask more.

If they do pry, or they've heard from someone else that I'm "weird" about food, I'll explain that I've got severe allergies caused by an immune disorder, and the venue couldn't cater to me, but not to worry, I ate plenty before I came. If they keep being rude about it, I shut the conversation down as politely as possible. If that fails, I just stop engaging and pretend I can't hear them.

If they do know me, they know enough not to ask and just let me enjoy spending social time with them without making a big deal out of it. They know it's hard to be included in social interactions when so much of our society revolves around sharing food. It's nice to have people not make a big deal out of it.