Talk nerdy to me

we had to pay a deductible to replace my wife’s phone which she needs for work and safety, and our (borrowed) car needs some basic repairs before it becomes unrepairable. doing so means we won’t have enough money for rent, or we won’t have anything left for groceries or other necessities like bills and cat food. it’s short notice but i’m hoping we can get some help.

looking to raise $400 minimum by 4/5. ANYTHING helps. could you start by sharing this?

cash n vnmo: torkz428

pypl: torkz

in fandom, the same language resounds: they are tolerant of differing head canons and interpretations where “those people” aren’t. while those people are willing to bully and harass innocent creators, fan artists, fic writers (who do this for free!), they recognize that  they stand firmly against censorship of any kind, even and especially when this is censorship of racism and antiblackness. rather than making a fuss and escalating to aggression, anger, and digital violence, black fans should be willing to compromise between censorship and racism, always choose to compromise on racism. for people who have rarely been materially censored in their lives, and whose world ethos runs on the assumption that they are owed everything and owe no one anything else, of course being denied the freedom of racist expression is tantamount to torture and no less evil than fascism. first they came for etc is always a default cry for them, but bc they are incapable of viewing anything through a lens that does not center themselves, they assume they would be the victims of silencing rather than the overwhelming white majority that silences aggression, anger, and intolerance—that is, the intolerance of refusing to compromise, the intolerance of meeting racism with aggression, the intolerable censorship of anger that might force them to admit that something is wrong with what they are willing to accept, and who they are willing to censor in the name of ensuring whiteness never faces censorship.

obviously those people are being harassed and dog piled because they harassed others first: it is harassment to point out racism in fandom spaces where whites come to escape race—that is, the real life unpleasantness that is dealing with their culpability and joyous participation in white supremacy. if nonblacks come to fandom to escape black people, to pretend that their colorblind fantasy is not just one where they can be blind to blackness or brownness, but one where that unpleasantness doesn’t exit at all, then how can block people accuse them of not only seeing color but of hating it? for people who can only recognize slurs or literal slavery as racism—though even then, they might not know better, especially if they are not american since only the u.s cares about race this much, only the u.s has such an obsession with racism, so why should innocent nonblack people be expected to abide by those black american’s imperial claims that racism is a real issue in italy, when italians don’t care about race and raped african women regardless of color, or in brazil where antiblackness was never as bad as in the u.s and the slave ships made sure to let the tolerable africans know better this stop than the u.s, and of course all black people are those entitled angry black americans—if they did not literally say that blacks are an irrational dishonest angry group of ppl, then how are they racist?

when they said that these black characters are irrational dishonest and angry, that they are especially hostile and uncompromising and tough and masculine and dominant and rough, that they are abusive towards the nonblack characters, that they are the mode privileged in the canon and yet the only ones unwilling to take accountability or accept their faults in things, that they are best suited as helpmates and sexually permissive and obviously have the biggest dick or the loudest voice and the most accented syntax of the people in the exact same place as them, or that it’s their turn to take care of the nonblack characters for once, that they are especially misogynistic or especially homophobic, that they love to play victim, that they are incapable of femininity, that they must be the strongest, that black fans must be the racist ones for thinking they need a partner, that it’s unrealistic that their nonblack partner could never have other love interests, that they are ultimately only a secondary character and will soon be replaced entirely by the real nonblack leads—when they say these things, it has nothing to do with race. they alone are engaging with the fact logically, without bias, with tolerance and acceptance for other viewpoints, and plus what does it matter if 50 black people are telling them this is racist when they have 5 kinder, more accepting black people who aren’t?

Good article by David Hunter on how to survive the Trump presidency, both on the personal and on the political plane.

But in fandom, people will tell you that shitting your pants at parties is FUN, that you're hurting their feelings by bringing it up and that's the real crime, that the smell isn't even THAT BAD, and you should really be grateful that you were "allowed" into the party to smell their shit to begin with!

A politician dies and ends up standing in front of the pearly gates. Saint Peter looks at him for a second, flicks through his book, and finds his name.

“So, you’re a politician…”

“Well, yes, is that a problem?”

“Oh no, no problem. But we’ve recently adopted a new system for people in your line of work, and unfortunately you will have to spend a day in Hell. After that however, you’re free to choose where you want to spend eternity!”

“Wait, I have to spend a day in Hell?!” says the politician. “Those are the rules,” replies St Peter, clicks his fingers, and WOOMPH, the guy disappears. He awakes, curled up with his hands over his eyes, knowing he’s in Hell. Cautiously, he listens for the screams, sniffs the air for brimstone, and finds… Nothing. Just the smell of, is that fabric softener? And cut grass, this can’t be right?

“Open your eyes!” says a voice. “C'mon, wakey wakey, we’ve only got 24 hours!” Nervously, he uncovers his eyes, looks around, and sees he’s in a hotel room. A nice one too. Wait, this is a penthouse suite… And there’s a smiling man in a suit, holding a martini. “Who are you??” The politician asks.

“Well, I’m Satan!” says the man, handing him the drink and helping him to his feet. “Welcome to Hell!”

“Wait, this is Hell? But… Where’s all the pain and suffering?” he asks.

Satan throws him a wink. “Oh, we’ve been a bit misrepresented over the years, it’s a long story. Anyway, this is your room! The minibar is of course free, as is the room service, there’s extra towels next to the hot-tub, and if you need anything, just call reception. But enough of this! It’s a beautiful day, and if you’d care to look outside…”

Slightly stunned by the opulent surroundings, the man wanders over to the floor-to-ceiling windows through which the sun is glowing, looks far down, and sees a group of people cheering and waving at him from a golf course.

“It’s one of 5 pro-level courses on site, and there’s another 6 just a few minutes drive out past the beach and harbour!” says Satan, answering his unasked question.

So they head down in the lift, walk out through the glittering lobby where everyone waves and welcomes the man, as Satan signs autographs and cheerily talks shop with the laughing staff. And as he walks out, he sees the group on the golf course are made up of every one of his old friends, people he’s admired for years but never met or worked with, and people whose work he’s admired but died long before his career started. And out of the middle of this group walks his wife, with a massive smile and the body she had when she was 20, who throws her arms around him and plants a delicate kiss on his cheek. Everyone cheers and applauds, and as they slap him on the back and trade jokes, his worst enemy arrives, as a 2 foot tall goblin-esque caddy. He spends the day in the bright sunshine on the course, having the time of his life laughing at jokes and carrying important discussions, putting the world to rights with his friends while holding his delighted wife next to him as she gazes lovingly at him.

Later, they return to the hotel for dinner and have an enormous meal, perfectly cooked. As everyone is falling about laughing and flinging bread sticks at each other, his wife whispers in his ear… And they return to their penthouse suite, and spend the rest of the night making love like they did on their honeymoon. After hours of passion, the man falls deep into the 100% Egyptian cotton pillows, and falls into a deep and happy sleep… and is woken up by St Peter.

“So, that was Hell. Wasn’t what you were expecting, I bet?” “No sir!” says the man. “So then,” says St Peter. “You can make your choice. It’s Hell, which you saw, or Heaven, which has choral singing, talking to God, white robes, and so on.”

“Well… I know this sounds strange, but on balance, I think I’d prefer Hell,” says the politician. “Not a problem, we totally understand! Enjoy!” says St Peter, and clicks his fingers again.

The man wakes up in total darkness, the stench of ammonia filling the air and distant screams the only noise. As he adjusts, he can see the only light is from belches of flame far away, illuminating the ragged remains of people being tortured or burning in a sulphurous ocean. A sudden bolt of lightning reveals Satan next to him, wearing the same suit as before and grinning, holding a soldering iron in one hand and a coil of razor-wire in the other. “What’s this??” He cries. “Where’s the hotel?? Where’s my wife??? Where’s the minibar, the golf-courses, the pool, the restaurant, the free drinks and the sunshine???”

unless a person is actively making materials/etc for children, they do not need to worry about your kid.

your child gets respect as a human. that's it. nobody's private life/artistic endeavors/unrelated interests must be controlled for the sake of your kid.

educators and athletes and artists do not have to live in chastity because your kid might see us on our days off. we do not owe it to your kid to only write poems about bunnies and only sing songs about tying your shoes. i do not care how much a person has given to children, if they are acting as an adult in adult spheres, they are allowed to. they are adults. it is your job as a caregiver to raise your kid and keep them out of adult spheres, not our job to keep ourselves out of those spheres just in case.

guess what! adult role models are going to bars and hooking up and dancing and being adults! this is so they have the mental energy to do all the child-centric things.

"it makes me feel weird to picture them like that!" i don't know how to tell you this but actors aren't actually their roles. the customer-service personality your waitress has is probably not her actual personality. the way teachers interact with students is not the way that they interact with their private lives, and it shouldn't be.

"this tells kids this kind of behavior is okay!" actually it's showing kids a normal and natural progression of a person's life, boundaries, and bodily autonomy. it's showing kids that adults are dynamic human beings. kids already know this. they know there's places they're not allowed and things they don't understand yet. it's just that you have icky feelings because you were raised in a society with black-and-white morality.

celebrities don't owe your children perfection, modesty, sobriety. and you know something? it's way healthier when they don't. "this is a person, who gets up every morning and does their job - but also has adult interests, which you'll learn about later" is way healthier as a role model than "you should be perfect like the curated image of this person and if you're not perfect you should be deeply ashamed."

it is about the policing of black bodies, of minority communities, of queer expression, and of women in the workforce.

it is about real people in the real world. the notes are full of people who express the same thing: teachers who cannot buy wine with their dinner, social workers who have to cover up perfectly appropriate tattoos, queer folk who worry about bringing up their partner in the workplace. there are real-life, horrific, and ongoing consequences for this. real people get fired because they were in a picture holding a single beer, or they were seen wearing a too-saucy costume at halloween, or they kissed their partner in public on their day off. women have been fired for being the victim of revenge porn; their illegally distributed image instead just being seen as evidence against their character. there are queer artists that are actively being silenced because of this rhetoric. trans people fear using the fucking bathroom because of this rhetoric.

this is about the return of white nationalist slogans to a public stage. this is about how we are even seriously debating the phrase "think of the children". the children are not thought of during discussions of climate change, gun control, educational spending, free health care, student debt, access to childcare, access to food, or just getting the fucking vaccine and wearing a mask.

they do not care about the children. they want to protect their own bigotry by manipulating your empathy towards kids. that's what this post is about.

Tamaraneans