weaselygoodness - Tumblr blog

[weaselygoodness]

When people say they struggle with keeping track of all the tone tags (the ones like /j or /gen), everyone who disregards that by responding "it's just memorizing some abbreviations/acronyms, it's not that hard, stop complaining" is ableist and a fucking hypocrite. If you're going to advocate for accessibility, advocate for accessibility for all of us.

You can't claim to be an ally to neurodivergent and disabled people and then shit on us for our symptoms. If you actually care about helping us, why aren't you listening when we say we struggle with something? It's never okay to tell disabled people they should be able to do something they can't, that it's not that hard, but it's especially not okay if you do so while pretending to support disabled people.

Also, in addition to the "it's not that hard" statement being ableist, it's utter bullshit. There are so many tone tags to keep track of and memorize. I did a quick google search and one of my top results had ninety one tone tags. That's a lot. That's probably a lot even for a neurotypical person, and I'm not a neurotypical person. I struggle to remember a lot of basic, necessary tasks, so I really can't memorize ninety one tone tags.

Especially when some of them are incredibly ambiguous- only one letter? Acronyms or abbreviations at least give you some clues, one letter tone tags are so incredibly confusing. Like, what does /t mean? There are a lot of words that start with T! (This is a rhetorical question. I know /t means "teasing," but I only know the answer because figuring that out was a memorably frustrating experience.)

And /t is just one example of a tone tag I learned because I kept seeing it in conversation and not understanding and being really confused and frustrated. I can't tell you the number of times I've been messaging someone on discord, and they say something with a tone tag I don't recognize, and I just open a new tab to google the meaning, which is where I find lists like the one above. I usually rely on google instead of asking the person what they meant, because I feel stupid and embarrassed for not knowing this code that everyone else seemingly gets.

Which is exactly how it feels when I don't understand someone's tone in real life! Confused and frustrated and ashamed. And tone tags were supposed to help neurodivergent and disabled people not feel that way, so I don't know how we reached a point where they cause those feelings in many of us.

I can't deny that tone tags are a useful accessibility tool for some. If you find them helpful, it's genuinely good that you have that resource. But they're not accessible for all of us. It's incorrect to act like tone tags are a perfect way to communicate, and it's ableist to disregard our struggles with them and tell us to just try harder.

Either listen to those of us who say they have trouble understanding tone tags, or stop pretending you actually give a shit about accessibility.

[weaselygoodness]

In India’s Thar Desert, nomads rely so much on camels for survival that the animals are revered. Livestock owners take great pride in their camels, carving intricate patterns in their fur.

[weaselygoodness]

I’ve been seeing a lot of anti-Nazi ones, which is great, but I felt like we needed one to show our support for the Jewish community.  

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the seal at the bottom of 瓷器 ciqi/chinese porcelain is handwritten

[weaselygoodness]

A win for abortion rights today! Mifepristone remains available.

Supreme Court did the right thing. Today at least.

[weaselygoodness]

Paraglider and black vulture chilling

(via)

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The English Illustrated Magazine - 1889-1890 - via Internet Archive

[weaselygoodness]

Hell is a place where companies make bank off the aggrieved father of a dead child for the removal of the child’s organs for donation.

[weaselygoodness]

As a side note… I am really annoyed by one thing about Star Trek.

“Replicated food is not as good as real food.”

That’s ridiculous.  In Star Trek, replicator technology is part of the same tech tree as transporters.  Replicated food would be identical to the food it was based on, down to the subatomic level. 

[weaselygoodness]

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Mother elephant can’t wake baby sound asleep, asks keepers for help (via)

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I kind of feel like if you don't know what "the R rule" of hunting squirrels is, you shouldn't presume to know what subsistence hunters in American need or whether "take all guns away" is going to do something other than starve people.

(No one needs an AR-15 to hunt squirrels, that is not what I am saying, but for fuck's sake I am so tired of listening to people who have never lived in rural areas, eaten squirrels and venison, or even had friends who hunted for food and would have starved without hunting -- not even having hunted for their own food, just known people who did -- talk about how 'no one needs guns really, not even to hunt'. Last night I was thinking about that while talking to my wife, that this may just be another thing where I assume that people know that a lot of people in the US are subsistence hunters, a lot more than you think.)

[weaselygoodness]

Misinformation is everywhere, especially around big events like COVID-19. But what is it, and how can we spot it? This plain-language guide, featuring self-advocates Eric Matthes and Eric Warwick, helps you spot misinformation. 

[weaselygoodness]

“Oh yeah, we mixed with lesbians. We always got along back then. All that division between the lesbian women and queens came after 1974 when Jane O'Leary and the radical lesbians came up. The radicals did not accept us or masculine-looking women who looked like men. And those lesbian women might not even have been trans. But we did get along famously in the early 60’s. I’ve been to many a dyke party… The lesbian community today has a lot to learn from the old ways of the lesbian community.”

— Sylvia Rivera (via millesbianfalcon)

[weaselygoodness]

boomers dont understand that anyone below the age of like 40 has lived in a world where things have constantly gotten worse and we have no optimism about it ever getting better

[weaselygoodness]

Hi. I've been summoned for jury duty for the first time and am incredibly anxious. Do you have any advice or tips on how to successfully get through this experience? Thank you

That's sort of a weird question for me, because I've never been called for jury duty and now the odds are that I never will be, since almost nobody wants a lawyer on their jury. However, as the person picking a jury, I just want jurors to answer questions honestly, pay attention (and take notes as needed while the trial is ongoing) and do their best to be fair.

Really, though, most people are anxious or irritated to be on jury duty. Just be honest and things will be fine.