Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens (Traditional) Backwards to Oregon by Jae (Romance) Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (Dystopian) Cruel Angels Past Sundown by Hailey Piper (Horror) Crossing the Wide Forever by Missouri Vaun (Romance)
CHEERS TO GUY WALTON FOR “OUTING” THE FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES
From the article:
Walton has devised his own criteria for named heatwaves in the US, based on duration and extremity, on a one to five scale similar to hurricanes. Heatwave Chevron is classed as a four and is “historic”, Walton said. The meteorologist said he has a list of 20 oil and gas companies – including Exxon and Shell – for upcoming heatwaves and will turn to coal companies if he runs out of names.
Y'all know what to do. Use Walton's naming system. Make it catch on.
I think sometimes people forget that the gov is the corporations’ bitch, not the other way round.
as my own direct immediate list of game grievances i hate that stardew valley expects you to side against a wheelchair user who is upset that he was moved without his consent. i hate that the mass effect trilogy gives you visible scarring as a direct result of choosing mean dialogue and heals it if you're nice. i hate that the vampire the masquerade ttrpg has a monstrous player class that can appear as horrible vampiric monsters or as visibly disabled people and both of these appearances are mechanically the same. i hate that dark souls games have a difficulty level implemented in a way that cannot be adjusted for disability. i hate that i can play as a mermaid or a werewolf or a horse in the sims games but can't use a wheelchair. i hate that the ace attorney games have so much flashing and not all of the games can disable it. i hate that disability is constantly something that happens to teach a lesson, i hate that disability is something that happens as a punishment, i hate that disability is either compensated perfectly with no drawbacks or something that is endlessly sought to be cured. i hate that no character customization will ever include the mobility aids i use, that the player avatars that represent me will never look like me. i am so goddamn annoyed and so goddamn tired.
[person 500 years ago knitting a sock] O Sister Margaret, regale me again with the tale of Vicar Wesley's scandalous elopement with the baker's daughter!
[me today knitting a sock] O Youtuber Hbomberguy, regale me again with the tale of SHERLOCK IS GARBAGE, AND HERE'S WHY
These are just some of the many ways members of the LGBT community identify themselves in a beautiful photo series from San Francisco-based photographer Sarah Deragon.
Deragon’s “The Identity Project” has taken her around the country as she “seeks to explore the labels we choose to identify with when defining our gender and sexuality.” Her portraits show the amazing diversity and vibance of a queer community that for too long has been defined by outsiders.
See more and quotes from Deragon
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You know, if we DO make contact with aliens within the next hundred years-ish, enough people are going to give the Vulcan salute to the first alien they see in real life (whether out of quivering excitement, lol memeitude, or sheer awkward, panicked grasping for the one prominent alien greeting nested in the social conscious) that there's a solid chance that it becomes a thing we're known for as humans.
Live Long and Prosper, my friends.
Leonard Nimoy would openly, unironically weep with joy if that happened.
He helped develop the Vulcan salute based on what he saw certain people doing during services at his temple. The splayed fingers represent the Hebrew letter shin ש, and the men (I don’t know if they are rabbis) do it with both hands. It represents a blessing.
In an interview, Nimoy mentioned how delighted he was that people the world over greeted each other with “the Vulcan salute,” because it meant “they were going out and blessing each other.”
I’ve always been an atheist, but I still think it’s a lovely sentiment to greet someone with “May you have a long and bountiful life, and I wish for good things to happen to you.”
It's an excellent greeting.
It's non-threatening. You not only can't hold a weapon in that hand, the position itself is awkward enough to be useless for combat. It's not something that easily switches to a punch or strike.
It doesn't involve touch contact - avoids both cultural barriers to touch and problems of disease or incompatible skin types. (Don't have to shake the hand of the volcano aliens.)
It's clearly deliberate, unlike some kinds of bowing. And it can be mirrored by a wide range of body types, even if they don't have "hands" or "fingers" - an octopus-being that holds up a tentacle in response would be recognized.
And the sentiment it conveys (the Vulcan version; I have no idea about the original Jewish meaning) is likewise pretty universally acceptable.
It’s the Priestly Blessing (although in some Reform synagogues the rabbi will do it rather than calling up all congregants of priestly lineage to do it--i.e. everyone whose last name is Cohen or Katz or Kaplan or whatever is supposed to go up and collectively bless the community together).
The words match the oldest excerpt of the Bible found by archeologists, on amulets in grave goods dating from before the big redaction project that actually produced the Bible in its written forms. (NB: Jewish amulets usually take the form of written text; this is even more true in the modern era.) There is a real sense in which this blessing predates Jewish religion as we usually understand it.
The translation is “May HaShem bless and keep you, may HaShem’s face shine on you and show you favor, may HaShem lift his face to you and give you peace.”
In the Jewish religious context, “may HaShem bless and keep you” means, like, may God decide that you’re going to keep living a while longer. So the benediction literally means Live Long and Prosper in Peace.
i think if we’re going to have conversations about consent we should talk about how consenting to something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be a good experience, and having a bad experience doesn’t necessarily mean someone violated your consent. this can apply to a lot of situations but the two i’m thinking of right now are sex and transition.
you’re getting it on with someone. you enthusiastically consent to having sex with them. afterward, you feel a little weird about it. maybe even distressed. maybe they did something you didn’t enjoy and in the moment you just didn’t say anything. maybe you just realized after the fact that you were not in a good headspace for sex and now your mental health is declining. that doesn’t inherently mean the person you had sex with violated your consent. sometimes it just means you need to take a break from sex or work on communicating your needs or boundaries better during sex.
and with transition, i feel like this is something that gets consistently overlooked but like. there will never be zero detransitioners. there will always be people who decide that actually transition wasn’t right for them. they could have had the best most thorough doctors in the world who did everything by the book and got full informed consent at every step. and some people are still going to decide they don’t like the changes and wish they hadn’t transitioned. that doesn’t mean that the doctors violated their consent, and that doesn’t mean that transition shouldn’t be available to anyone. it just means that we need to have more resources available for folks who detransition.
regret does not automatically mean someone did something wrong. regret is simply one possible result of having bodily autonomy, and i think we need to get more comfortable with that.
lizard brain
questions: do i have food, water, and safe shelter?
solutions: drink more water. drink things with electrolytes. make and stick to a food schedule that works for you. clean your room. if you are in an unsafe situation, talk to someone trusted about creating a plan to get out
toddler brain
questions: have i had enough rest? am i been getting what i need to be healthy? am i cared for? am i frustrated?
solutions: make sure you’re getting enough sleep on a schedule that works for you (people naturally sleep better at different times and need different amounts of sleep. if youre young you will need to sleep more than 7 or 8 hours). make sure you have varied nutrition in your diet. make sure your medications and supplements are working for you and take them on schedule. work on developing a support system that meets your needs. take breaks from things if you feel burned out, even if it’s only for a day
monkey brain
questions: have i had enrichment in my life? am i stuck in a rut? have i had socialization, entertainment, and creativity? has anything challenged me lately?
solutions: limit your time on social media. make an effort to be in new environments - even if its another room in your house or backyard. examine what is or isn’t working in your routine. pick up a new hobby (if you’re more physically active, consider a hobby like writing or coding. if you’re more mentally active, consider a hobby like woodworking, bookbinding, or a sport). write stories, make art, and write analyses (if you haven’t tried original work - focus on that for a little while). try new music. try a new food. build something with legos. consume a new type of media even if you’re not sure you’ll like it (like graphic novels, radio plays, or watching ballet). take on a long term project and set aside time to work on it on a schedule (whether its every day, every few days, or specific days each week)
human brain
questions: do i feel loved? do i feel understood? am i existentially fulfilled? do i have a sense of purpose? do i have a sense of meaning? am i contributing to the lives of the people i care about and are they doing the same for me in return?
solutions: reach out to friends and loved ones, and do activities together, like play a game online or walk in the park. talk to safe people about things that upset you, such as a trusted friend or a therapist, and find steps to improve your mental health. interrogate whether your religious beliefs are working for you, and if they are, make an effort to practice your faith, whether that is attending services (including digitally if they have them), reading and discussing your religious texts, or following holidays. read self help books or blogs from trusted professionals. read about philosophy and interrogate your own understanding of things. learn how to communicate your needs, thoughts, and desires to people who will listen. be active in your community (whether in community service, activism, or getting involved in local politics). adopt a rescue animal. give money to causes you care about. make an effort to learn about points of view and lived experiences that are different than your own. challenge assumptions about how you are expected to live your life and decide whether you want those things or not. express love for the people you care about - through kind words, good acts, crafts, or otherwise. if there are steps in your life you have been afraid of taking, make a plan to take them
if you fulfill higher needs before lower needs, you will still feel bad. if you feel bad and don’t know why, start lower and work your way up. basic needs must be met before moving on healthily
so, reddit, due to its amazing updates as of late, needs positive pr. so. they brought back r/place. Which used to be a super cool, every couple years event. If you don't know what place is, id just look up a youtube video on it cause it was cool.
anyways the people of reddit have spoken
fuck spez indeed i agree
A short poem-type-thing I wrote last year and then took wayyyy too long to finally complete as a comic. Not entirely autobiographical, but close. I put many hours in on this one, so I hope you like it.
Able-bodied people (and sometimes disabled/chronically ill people with mild/in remission disease progression) operate under the assumption that medical devices are life(style) limiting and that by using one, you are giving up an able part of yourself.
Feeding tubes + pumps, piccs, ports, catheters, ostomy bags, cardiac and gastric pacemakers, drains, mobility devices, nebulizers, CGMs, insulin pumps, pain pumps, nerve stimulators, implants, internal defibrillators, etc etc all extend the freedom and life of the user by allowing us to live comfortably with our condition(s).
The assertion that we are limiting ourselves by using medical technology is so prevalent, even in disease-specific communities. There are people in my gastroparesis support groups that are actively starving because they are refusing intervention at this moment, and it's all a byproduct of this mindset that I've touched on before that mental willpower is greater than the progress of chronic illness/disability. And in this case- it's perpetuated by many medical professionals as well. No amount of "eating smaller, more frequent meals" will flip a switch and un-paralyze my stomach, Dr. ER. Hospitalist.
someone tell the tumblerinas that you can raise an issue without deliberately guilt-tripping everyone about it
okay, I take it back. I don’t think everyone is doing this deliberately. some of it is so deeply entrenched in tumblr culture that you probably don’t always notice you’re doing it
“nobody’s talking about this” -> you can just delete this phrase
“if you can’t reblog this, unfollow me” -> you can also delete this one
“x group can, and should, reblog this” -> remove the “should”. or you know. delete the entire sentence
your post will still spread all the important information without the guilt-tripping parts, I promise
if an otherwise valid post tries to guilt trip me it’s a pass on the rb, sry.
I think it's important to acknowledge that while yes there's many posts that go around written to be very guilt trippy in that annoying Tumblr cadence, they are not synonymous with any post that may elicit strong feelings of guilt, and that those emotions aren't inherently bad or counterproductive!
Just like anxiety, there is such a thing as "good" guilt. I know a lot of us here have this globalized internalized shame about ourselves and guilt/shame over everything we do and are trying to unlearn, but guilt is different to shame and is a useful emotion in healthy doses as it helps us navigate socially.
Strongly worded informative posts on topics such as, say, American imperialism, white supremacy and racism are conversations that need to be had and should be spread. And chances are if you belong to one of those groups benefiting from said power structures and have never been confronted with them before in your life, you may experience strong negative emotions when you are, and it's not indicative of a bad guilt-tripping post! The thing is sometimes nobody IS talking about something.
I myself will admit over my decade+ on Tumblr (I joined when I was 14) trying to become a more realized intersectional socialist, I was confronted with ideas that would make me occasionally experience those feelings. and I think there is value in said posts that illicit guilt that force you to step back and challenge your internalized beliefs. Guilt can be proactive when it makes you reassess and want to do better, instead of throwing up your hands and wallowing in the shame you feel over it.
And that's something you gotta teach yourself to do if you find yourself spiralling when confronted about anything that makes you feel even slightly guilty. Ultimately you're in charge of regulating your own emotions around discomfort, nobody can possess your body to do it for you. Sometimes the truth is harsh and blunt, and I don't think we always deserve to have it brought to us is in the most coddled tone either.
Anyway, just because a post elicits guilt from you please don't automatically dismiss it as shitty rb bait, ask yourself where exactly that emotion sprang from and maybe try to follow where it leads. Some people here throw around the term guilt tripping very liberally and lose their shit the moment something makes them feel uncomfortable or forces them to question their belief system and it's not at all OP's wrongdoing.
how did Lou stay so straight faced that is a fucking skill
I care more about being spoiled about what Chocolate Guy is making at the start of his tiktok videos than I do about Marvel movies. Don't post "chocolate guy makes a ____" in the description, I want to see him pour chocolate into an egg mold and then 2 minutes later be like "oohh shit " when I realize that it's actually a life size chocolate model of himself making a life size chocolate model of himself making a solid chocolate model of himself making a
I really hope people online aren't getting the wrong impression of unions and that they're flawless Things that will protect them from any and all mistreatment and that strikes are fun little treats union workers get
Unions are People not Things. Union leaders can fuck up. Unions can definitely operate in a way that gets you low wages and poor benefits if you're not being represented well.
A union by itself does not guarantee you anything. Unions take work and money to run. You pay dues, you go to meetings, you vote. You protect each other in a union. You don't join a union and magically have everything taken care of for you.
Strikes are a powerful tool but are scary. They're not a goal to achieve. Unions don't aim to go on strike during negotiations.
