when people point out a scene/particular line(s) that tugged at their heartstrings
when people ask for your meta of your work that they enjoyed so much
when someone comments on a fic you wrote 982783113502 years ago
getting recc’d
just the small happiness in knowing you made someone out there smile on their way to work/home or at school, in knowing you warmed someone’s heart somehow
This is the level of salty I hope to reach someday
Patrick Burke is a county legislator (heyo I didn’t even know New York had county legislators, I have learned a thing today) for District 7 of Erie County, so if you live in his district you should call and let him know how completely awesome he is for proposing this. And if you live in Erie County, you should call your legislator (you can figure out which one represents you from this map) and tell them you support the PENCE Bill.
so today a public health official guy came into my class to give a lecture on disaster awareness and he was talking about house fires and mentioned that the reason people most likely die during a house fire is because they refuse to leave their pet inside or they go back to get their pet. and right when he said this my friend immediately turned his head and looked at me and in that moment I had the most complete and genuine acceptance take over my body. I would 100% in front of my family and Jesus himself walk straight back into some raging inferno that was once my house to go get my fat cat. I nodded back
the best part of this post is reading all the tags from animal people who would also go back to save their pets. like no hesitation. walk backwards from heaven straight back into hell. someone even said they would go back for their fish. amazing
I have never hit the reblog button so fast in my life. Holy shit.
As a mother of three let me just say; Kids ain’t for everyone.
No kids for me thank you.
Kids should be an opt-in thing, not opt-out. Especially for childbirth-capable folks because of the higher proportion of resources they usually have to devote to pregnancy and parenthood.
It is Monday. go take your turkey out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator. It needs to sit there overnight to start to thaw before you can put it on the counter tomorrow night. I know at least six people last year on my Tumblr feed who were still trying to thaw out there turkey as of mid day on Thursday.
If, like us, you have not bought a turkey yet that is fine. Just make sure when you do buy it it’s refrigerated and not frozen. Or you will be fucked.
IMPORTANT
It’s Tuesday, now, so you might want to put the wrapped bird in a tub of cold water to help a faster thaw…
Okay so this is one of the WEIRDEST FUCKING THINGS humanity has stumbled upon in science and it gives me a nerd boner that can be seen from Alpha Centauri.
As far as we can tell, this fucking thing generates reactionless thrust. Let that shit sink in: The EM Drive does not require fuel. Only electrical power.
Okay I know I said it already but AS FAR AS WE CAN TELL THIS IS A !!REACTIONLESS!! !!THRUST!! !!DEVICE!! you have no idea just how goddamn amazing that is
mark my words this fucking thing is going to REVOLUTIONIZEthe design of satellites and scientific probes
and just think of the potential it might have if its thrust increases proportionately to the power fed into it
THIS IS FUKCIN HUGE MY DUDES
Reblogging this just to restate how fucking huge this is.
Imagine you blow air into a balloon and tie it off. Then when you untie it, you let the balloon go and it flies all over the place. This is how propulsion works. This is what Newton’s Third Law is based on. That the air is coming out and pushing the balloon forward.
The EM drive is moving forward when the balloon is still tied off at the end.
I heard about this theorized not some time ago and thought it was amazing!
The fact that it’s been thoroughly peer-reviewed and still stands up is nothing short of absolutely astounding.
This device works, and no one is quite sure how or WHY it does. It defies our current understanding of why physics work the way the way they do. Which mean basically means that we need to re-evaluate and refine our laws of physics because we have discovered empirical evidence that we’ve got something wrong. And trying to fix our math to accurately describe the universe is going lead to new discoveries about the fundamental nature of reality. IT’S MIND BLOWING.
Not to mention this device itself, if we can elaborate and expand on it, will change how we do propulsion. This might the next stage of propulsion technology. To the people a few decades in the future, combustion engine propulsion technology will seem as silly, outdated, and quaint as steam propulsion or horse-drawn carriages seem to us.
THE FUTURE APPROACHES.
god I’m such a nerd
This is hugely important stuff.
A lot of reports on this thing talk about how it “breaks the laws of physics,” but this is an inaccurate oversimplification. The reality of it is much more profound. If this thing indeed works, and the results we’ve gotten thus far can’t be explained by some sort of experimental error, it will redefine our understanding of physics. In other words, the laws of physics aren’t being “broken,” we’ve just been wrong about physics the entire time.
so what you’re saying is maybe we get long distance space travel before we go extinct of our own stupidity
Yes.
So we built a machine and we don’t know how or why it works?
Things just transpired in my house hold that are equal parts offensive and hilarious… Here goes.
So my roommate, Dale, has a gf who does not live with us, but she’s here all the time. So Sunday when my gf was her we were on the couch and we kissed (scandalous, I know) and she saw it, and I’m pretty sure that’s the first time she’s seen us be affectionate, that’s neither here nor there.
So today she tells Dale she’s “uncomfortable” here and wants him to move out because she thinks me and my lady are going to hit on her or something, she doesn’t like living with lesbians, cause it’s not “normal”, so now I’m pissed. Then, Dale goes, “well you don’t live here, so it shouldn’t be a problem, just stop coming over”…things escalated and Dale is trying to break up with her, but she won’t leave our house….she locked herself in Dales room.
So, Dale barges in my room wearing a bathrobe and goes, “call every lesbian you know, we’re smoking this bitch out!” Then turns around and whips his robe like a cape…
And that’s the story of how there are 8 lesbians climbing through the window of Dales room…
im so glad ive found someone who is also committed to erik and charles's tragic friendship i have been alone for so long
*tosses aside all other obligations* MY NEW BUDDY, I AM SO COMMITTED. I just. I’ve been a devotee of the tragic friendship since I was seven years old, okay, I’m not going to just wake up one day a shipper, and the tragic friendship is SO GOOD, Christ. Help me. And since I am SO UNSPEAKABLY THRILLED to have someone in my inbox talking to me about the tragic friendship, I had to figure out a way to show my appreciation, so HERE HAVE A FIC. I rustled up an old request from this prompt list at the start of the summer, so @littlestartopaz sorry it took me like six months. Also this is like long as fuck, taking place in the same movie-comics bastardization universe as the limitations of wax as an adhesive, so I’ll probably crosspost it to AO3.
Alone in the Light
X - Charles/Magneto
friendship (“You’re the only one I trust
to do this.”)
Erik was asleep. Charles couldn’t
feel his mind—was the man sleeping in
that helmet now? But even Erik Lensherr
needed sleep and a cursory sweep through the outermost thoughts of Erik’s
Brotherhood answered the question of his location.
I’m sorry, Charles told the
girl whose mind he was brushing up against.
She was young, a recent recruit, bilingual, with the keening,
perpetually frightened mind of someone not in control of their powers. Gentle, he assessed as he pushed further into
her mind, reaching to speak with her.
Not made for this violence. No
true animosity against humans, but nowhere else to go, either. A missing twin brother? I’m so
sorry, Wanda, I need to speak with him.
Okay, so, I'm a senior in college and I have zero free time to actually find fics my own damn self, so I was wondering if you had any recs for Buffy/Angel fics? (I have some issues with Buffy/Spike for personal reasons, but it's the most popular ship and wading through it is just kind of exhausting, you know? Like, no judgement, but I can't do the ship, and it takes FOREVER to find Buffy/Angel stuff.)
okay, i’m SO SO sorry this took a hundred years. like i said, i wanted to make sure to give more than just a few recs. they’re all bangel, set during various seasons. hope you like them!!
had to put it under a read more because it got longer than i thought it would
In the dog world, humans are elves that routinely live to be 500+ years old.
“They live so long…but the good ones still bond with us for our entire lives.”
“These immortals are so kind we must be good friends to them”
My heart wtf
Not gonna lie, this fucked me up a bit.
POV Fantasy slice of life book when?
“Now I am old. The fur around my muzzle is grey and my joints ache when we walk together. Yet she remains unchanged, her hair still glossy, her skin still fresh, her step still sprightly. Time doesn’t touch her and yet I love her still.”
I feel like nobody ever gives Green Day credit for how brave they are. These guys have guts. They were the only artists at the AMAs who had the courage to all out drag Donald Trump, the President-elect, on national television. Everyone else either danced around the topic or made awkward jokes about it but it was only Green Day who came out, guns blazing and hands in the air, and screamed “NO TRUMP, NO KKK, NO FACIST USA!!”
I voted for Trump, so I’m automatically a fascist and a KKK member. Guess what, performers, we pay you to perform, not to voice your political views.
yeah, you are automatically a fascist for voting Trump! glad you got the memo on that one
also Green Day released American Idiot in 2004 which was directly tied to the election of George W. Bush, they’ve literally been voicing their political opinions from day one, it’s part of their entire identity as a band, them performing and them voicing their political views are one in the same, you filthy damp sponge
I’m honestly getting really tired of this idea that performance should be free from politics. Or that actors/musicians/artists shouldn’t be allowed a political opinion on anything.
“Keep politics out of theatre!”
“Keep politics out of music!”
“Keep politics out of comedy!”
“Keep politics out of film!”
Like, I don’t know what kind of boring theatre, film, music and comedy thehannibalbarca has been consuming before, but art, and performance art is inherently political. And the people who provide this incredible art are also human beings. Politics affects them as much as anyone else, so why the hell shouldn’t they be allowed to express their ideas? Jeez…
Studies have shown that people are more likely to trust entertainers than people in positions of authority on a subject (like scientists and politicians). It’s because we connect with them on a different level. Entertainers have more power to get people’s attention and educate them on important subjects than anyone else. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.“
Trump’s an entertainer, he’s a reality TV star and even before that he sought attention from entertainment news agencies and took acting jobs. Ronald Reagan was an actor for 32 years before getting into politics. Clint Eastwood spoke at the 2012 Republican Convention. “Entertainers need to stay out of politics” is something I only ever hear when the entertainer isn’t representing republicans.
I’m tricking my students into writing a research paper by having them write an open letter and then strengthen their argument by adding evidence. They were allowed to write about anything they wanted for the first draft of their open letter, and one of my 10th grade boys decided he wanted to write about girls who only like bands because the members are cute and don’t really care about the music.
I let him do it because I’ve found that shutting down a student’s idea at the first draft stage tends to make them more obstinate about the topic. I figured we’d get to the evidence-gathering stage, he wouldn’t be able to find scholarly sources and he would change his topic.
Well lo and behold, today he comes into class and tells me he’s changing his topic. Apparently, he couldn’t find any evidence and he figured he was being kind of hypocritical because he gets really excited about athletes he doesn’t even know and the only reason that’s different than fangirls is because it’s him. He actually told me that he realized that writing that first letter would be pretty condescending. He’s going to write about LGBT rights instead.
This next generation, y’all. There’s some good stuff happening.
just because i don’t follow u back doesn’t mean i think u have a shitty blog. you might just have posts/fandoms/stuff i don’t really want on my dash. and hey, that’s fine. it’s YOUR tumblr you’re here for you and that’s goodgreatawesome
but please don’t think me not following you back means i hate u 5ever and that u can never inbox me or reply to my posts or follow me on twitter or something b/c that is not what it means at all
or hell, i might just have a completionist thing about being able to get through my whole dash and i am following Too Many Blogs already so i don’t want to add more.
Oh hey look, something that ISN’T TOTAL FUCKING BULLSHIT :D
… Step 1. Realize that you should exercise. Step 2 ? Step 3. HEALTH!
When you’re depressed, that question mark can be a barely navigable labyrinth of garbage fires fueled by physical and mental exhaustion, self-loathing, defeat, and frustration. The last time I found myself trying to hack through that mess during a particularly dark period, I started to come up with my own list of bare-bones, practical tips to help me face the idea of moving again. Now I’m sharing them, in case they might help someone else in a similar position. I stress the word “might.” If you’re depressed, the last thing you need is another a-hole telling you what you should do. But if you’re looking for somewhere to start, I’ve been there too.
First heading? “You don’t have to exercise.” I love this entire piece. It’s going on facebook, that’s how much I love it. A+
“The perfect body is a breathing one. Anything that serves those ends is worth considering. Everything else is noise.”
“Most of these training tips and listicles read like they came from people who have faced very little adversity in their lives, and who think that their own health is entirely the product of their own hard work.”
fucking instant reblog
This is also SO fucking helpful if you have any sort of executive dysfunction issues. Because, like, okay, exercise might help with the ADHD, but the ADHD is preventing me from doing stuff, and exercise is something I don’t enjoy. So, no, I’m not going to get through a whole structured workout. I might maybe do some push-ups while I’m waiting on a print. And then pat myself on the back for it.
A friendship between a time traveler and an immortal. Wherever the time traveler ends up, the immortal is there to catch him up to speed.
when we meet, i’m older but born after her, which is confusing. she was immortal somewhere after the 3rd century, we’re not sure. something about an ancient ritual. a sacrifice. she was twenty. if she ages, it’s nowhere i can see. the cut on her ribs from the ritual never heals. she is constantly annoyed by it.
we met in a meadow, by chance, when i got lost after woodstock. she looked at me with these odd eyes as i stumbled out of the loop, still smelling of sweat and other things. for a long time we stared at each other, she in her peasant clothes, me in tattered peace signs. and then she laughed.
she meets me in london during jack the ripper’s reign. we get tea. i tell her about the future where women are rulers and she snorts. i tell her about medicine. she tells me about witchcraft. i tell her about spaceships. she tells me about books that will die before i get to read them. when she laughs my heart feels funny. i think it’s the death on the wind.
she meets me by the berlin wall. we break it down together. she dances her bare feet in the dust. when she laughs something very small breaks in me. i miss my twenty-third birthday by accidentally going back to the dinosaurs. when i find her in the twenty-second century she’s holding a cake for me, telling me she’d found the signs of my travels somewhere back in twenty fifty-three. we sit on a rooftop and look at the stars and eat cake. i save her a slice. when i go back in time, i find her crying. i don’t tell her how i knew. there is something really beautiful in watching someone break into a smile when they’ve been sobbing.
i don’t know what happens. i stop jumping so much. we’re not supposed to. we’re not meant for long stays, we’ll change fate. just in and out. but hours turn into days. we spend a week in paris in her apartment over the city and i’m silly drunk when she leans over to me.
kissing her stops time. kissing her stops everything.
she waits for the future where we are legally allowed to be together. in the meantime i find her in dark corners. she laughs when i get tangled in my own skirts. she shows me a different world. a place where i stay. she knows i have to go. but i can’t help wish i could stay.
time isn’t real. that’s the thing. we experience it only based on our own perception of events. i only realize what’s happening because i stay too long. we are skinny dipping in a cold ocean the first time i notice it. she says something wrong. it’s not a bad mistake. but she doesn’t seem to remember how we got here for a moment. and then, in a flash, it’s gone. we are hiking through the amazon the first time she starts screaming. it’s been a long history. there’s just too much. she has periods of lucidity followed by eons of confusion. everything for her flashes by in an instant. she can’t remember what’s already been invented or what are stories i’ve told. her language is slipping.
i hold her in a future where she is shaking. i kiss her neck. she smells like summer. “i’m losing myself in it,” she whispers. her skin is still bleeding. “i’m losing it.” i don’t know what to say. infinity is a long time to wait. she experiences time in flashes, sees a hundred years at a glance. and me? i show up and evaporate before she even recognizes me.
if she is mad, i am just as bad. i travel too much to find how to stop this. into parallel universes. outside of the ages. i don’t sleep and i don’t eat and the whole time i hear her screaming.
it comes to me while i am sitting in the library of alexandria. time isn’t real. if i break the law, time could unravel. i think of her. if it’s worth it. what happens if i’m caught. we aren’t supposed to do things like this. even if we’re in love.
but i am in love. i am in love.
i open the loop. i could ruin everything. but there she is, crying on the night she will be taken. and my heart breaks. it’s simple. the only way to undo it without leading to ruin is to make sure it never happens in the first place. i take her hand and i give her my loop. she has all of time to explore now. i’ve already seen it. i take her place.
it is many years later. we meet in a meadow and she laughs.
One of my favorite phrases my Creative Writing professor had for when you’re writing fantasy is ‘giving your story a Flux Capacitor’.
Because it’s not real, it doesn’t exist. But the way it’s thrown into Back to the Future, at no point does it throw the audience off or suspend any more disbelief than time travel would. You believe Doc when he says he created the Flux Capacitor - the thing that makes time travel possible, because the universe never questions him.
So it essentially means like, there are going to be elements to your universe that are just not gonna make any sense, even if you set up a whole system based on it. And the only way to make it work is completely own it. You cannot second-guess your system or else the reader will too. You can give it the strangest explanation, but write it like you own it.
Either you’ve got to follow the rules of reality and physics and shit TO THE LETTER, or you have to say “naaaaaah” and fuck off with your magic/sci-fi/whatever to have a marvelous garden party where reality isn’t invited.
*Steps in quietly* hi, i’m Kry and i get stupidly excited when i see posts like this one in my dash.
So, okay, what you are talking about has to do with two very intertwined concepts: one is the concept of verisimilitude, the other is the concept of “fictional pact”.
So the first one is a term that comes from Aristotle (and also Plato, but he spoke of it negatively, as is the habit of the asshole of Plato). The verisimilitude is basically the credibility of a particular element within a book, a poem or a play. It is something that has the appearance of truth (it is not necessarily true, it can be false) for the purpose of persuading someone, getting someone’s attention and maintaining that attention.
That concept of verisimilitude is mixed with the concept of the fictional pact that was born (more or less) of the expression of the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “willing suspension of disbelief”: what he meant by this is that when a subject is reading a book must suspend their critical sense, ignoring inconsistencies or incompatibilities of the work of fiction in which the subject is immersed (such as existence of a Flux Capacitor) that may clash with their reality, allowing them to enter and enjoy the world of fiction exposed in the book.
To simplify all this, my friends and I like to explain it in the following way, using “The fossilized mosquito paradigm” of Jurassic Park: “So you have the fossilized mosquito. In our reality (for the moment, mehehe) it is scientifically impossible for this theory to happen. But it has an argument that is sufficiently consistent, believable and possible (aka: verisimilitude concept) to work on a book/movie/video game and to create a pact of fiction by which it is easy to accept that what is narrated could have happened although it is pure fiction.”
If the plot of the story is sufficiently credible to immerse the reader in the story, it doesn’t matter if it’s a fossilized mosquito that revives dinosaurs or a Flux Capacitor that teleports ya which in reality would be impossible, because what matters is that in your fictional world works enough to suspend those thoughts of doubt and enjoy the story!
"Wait, there has to be a trap here." "But I don't see anything." *"Exactly."*
for @words-writ-in-starlight: the Star Wars D&D AU. bc nothing makes me feel better than taking the piss out of Anakin in a tabletop game setting.
–
Ahsoka kicks her feet up on the table, leaning back in her chair. “I pick the lock,” she says, confident.
Padmé looks up from her sheets and says, “Okay, roll for it.”
She rolls, then nearly falls off her chair when she pumps her fist into the air and shouts, “Natural twenty!”
“Aw, come on,” says Anakin, glaring at the dice as if they’ve personally offended him. “You roll twenties for Ahsoka and not for me? I own you, you fuckers.”
See, I probably need to get this out here before it’s potentially jossed by the next new episodes.
In the meantime, consider:
Luke Skywalker being a young Daddy to baby Rey by the time A New Hope begins.
Rey’s Mama has not been fridged, btw. By mutual agreement, Luke is raising the kid himself and Mama just visits. Luke still wants to get off Tatooine, but he wants to bring his kid with him because he doesn’t want the little one growing up always and forever wondering about her biological parents, just like he did.
So Luke has Plans, okay? He wants to travel the stars but he wants to embark on this adventure with his little girl.
So imagine Luke’s terror when he comes back home to the homestead and finds Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen dead.
Imagine his relief at finding Rey, quiet and terrified in some secret cubbyhole that the Larses once devised for baby Luke. She was quiet, because Aunt Beru told her to be. And so she was never found by the stormtroopers.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, knowing the possible Disaster Scenarios in leaving Rey Skywalker behind (even if she was to be hidden with her biological mama), encourages Luke to bring his toddler with him.
Han made the obligatory grumbles about having kids on his ship but they’re really just for show and basically Chewie has declared that he’s adopting the Skywalkers, even as he’s happily cuddling the baby girl.
Han cannot protest.
When Rey meets her unknown “Aunt” Leia, she takes to the Princess immediately.
Also, Ben Kenobi does not get killed on the Death Star. He’s got Skywalkers to look after. Again.
Also, Rey would be Very Unhappy with him if she doesn’t have her Grandpa Ben.
Luke Skywalker has an even bigger reason to make that Death Star shot.
When a certain wheezy Dark Lord of the Sith finds out the name of the Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star, he’s understandably Pissed Off.
When he finds out that said Death Star Destroyer is a happy Cinnabon Roll Sunbaby with his own precious happy Cinnabon Roll baby girl, welp - this just in: Darth Vader Defects to the Rebel Alliance.
I’d just like to add more happy/hilarifying headcanons to this:
– Basically Darth Vader does a Hunt for Red October style defection and brings himself and the Executor and her loyal-to-Vader crew over to the Rebellion.
– Also Vader has ALL THE HOLOS of Baby Rey in his private chambers.
– “Who’s Grandpa’s cute little future Empress? You are! Yes you are!”
– “Father, she’s TWO YEARS OLD, you can’t hand her the galaxy to rule just yet!”
– “Well, you and Leia would be her Regents.”
– “FATHER!!! BEN, DO SOMETHING!”
– “I’m sorry, I must do as Her Imperial Highness bids me.”
– “Rawwarrrrgaaaaggghhhhhhhh!!”
– “See? Even the Mighty Chewbacca agrees with me. Everyone knows it’s best not to argue with a Wookiee.”
— The Clones would totally dote over “The Little Empress” and there’s always a couple of them as her “honor guard.”
– Luke has cottoned on that this is really Darth Vader’s idea of a Dad Joke™ but he knows he has a role to play and dutifully registers his mock protests.
– What Luke doesn’t know is that Vader is totally planning to hand HIM and Leia the galaxy on a silver platter. This is Anakin Skywalker’s idea of making up for twenty years winning the Galaxy Deadbeat Dad Award™.
– Ben Kenobi knows that the Skywalker twins are actually going to dismantle the Empire once handed the throne but he’s just happy to let Anakin wreak havoc towards more deserving targets.
– Also, he thinks “Little Empress” is totally a cute nickname for Rey.
It got better!
- When Vader first arrives for his scheduled defection, there is some initial tension between him and Obi-Wan, for obvious reasons, but when baby Rey coos and waves at him from Obi-Wan’s hip, he’s like, “Eh, more important things to worry about.”
The Rebels finally realize that Darth Vader was absolutely SINCERE in his defection when they find him helping to change baby diapers and being HAPPY about it.
All this crap about convincing the electoral college to change their votes and these screaming protests about the outcome- it all seems crazy.
But you know what seems a lot crazier? Taking it. Taking a decision foisted on us, taking every damn thing trump and his people hurl at minorities and youths, taking the decision that got made for us by manipulative media and backroom deals and unadulterated hate.
Yeah. Protesting at this point seems crazy. But do you really want to go down in history for not doing Every. Single. Thing. to stop this? Do you want to be recorded as the people who let the most hateful, Racist man since Andrew Jackson into office?
Or are you going to go down as the people who fought tooth and nail at every step and at every damn angle to keep EVERYONE here safe, not just the white majority.
ARE YOU GOING TO LET THE COUNTRY FALL INTO DARKNESS OR ARE YOU GOING TO RAGE AGAINST THE GODDAMN DYING OF THE LIGHT?!?
So go to every protest, volunteer as often as you can, sign those damn petitions. Not just for your own peace of mind but because there’s people out there that can’t and they need you. In the streets, online, and in town halls, America is going to need everyone to do everything they can if they’re going to be ok.
This is about history. We are at a turning point, here. So, you tell me: will you and yours be remembered for standing down and letting this happen because you couldn’t be bothered, or will you be the people who stood up and stood firm in defense of those who couldn’t defend themselves?
I wish people wouldn’t make posts about how to deal with tear gas/protests unless they actually know what they’re talking about.
I am a trained street medic and I’ve personally been tear gassed more times than I can count.
- Do not use soda or water to wash tear gas out of your eyes. Use a combination of liquid maalox and water, 50:50. That’s what works.
- They can literally tear gas you anywhere you stand in relation to the police because riot cops have gas masks. I’ve been tear gassed within five feet of the front line of police. They do not care.
- Before my very first protest I asked my friend who’d been doing this for over 5 years if I should soak my bandana in vinegar. She laughed and said, “I have no idea who started that rumor but it’s never done shit for me or anyone I’ve ever known.”
- If you are bulimic or have chronic vomiting, please keep in mind that the mucus membrane in your throat is a precious tender baby and you will be much more effected by tear gas than everyone around you and you will feel it in your throat for weeks afterwards and NO ONE EVER WARNS YOU ABOUT THIS.
- The police probably won’t zip tie you with your hands in front, they pretty much know how easy it is to break out of those.
- People with asthma should always carry their inhalers because that shit is real bad when you get sprayed with tear gas.
- Never go to a protest alone. Always have a buddy there and always let someone who isn’t going know where you are, your legal name, and your birthday so if you get snatched they can check the jails and the online database for you. (note: this does not work when they grab hundreds of people at once or sometimes they just never put your name in the database yay!)
Seriously y'all, this is not the time for posturing. If you don’t know something, ask a street medic or google it.
A bright spot today: I work a truly awful job at a juice bar (I hate people who come up and try to convince me to, say, drink things with raw eggs in them, and vegetable juice has vitamins and shit but I POINT BLANK REFUSE to tell people blatant lies about magnetized water et al), but today. Oh god. Today I had my FAVORITE CUSTOMER EVER, oh my god I want him to be a regular, he was amazing, I want to be him when I grow up.
So it’s me and @twistedangelsays killing time and pretending like we aren’t slowly building up the Leaning Tower of Dishware next to the wash sink when an older gentleman in a very fine hat (elderly but spry, you know the type) walks in with his wife and granddaughter. He strides up to the counter, and we give our usual creepily-peppy greeting and brace ourselves for another crazy in a long line (someone earlier informed us that she does wheatgrass enemas, and…I just really didn’t want to know that, okay?).
“So,” he says, leaning on the counter and observing us with the kind of wry nothing-is-funny-but-if-I-show-fear-the-bad-guys-win smile I’ve been seeing a lot lately. I decide I maybe like this guy enough to drop the creepy pep. He looks us dead in the eye and says, “What juice do you have to get me through the next four years.”
And of course I’m me, so I laugh a little and go, “Trust me, if we had something I’d be hooked up to an IV of it right now.” I am not a professional soul.
He nods very solemnly and sighs and goes, “Well, all right, then what do you have that will give me the strength to fight?”
Adler and I just stand there in this state of delighted awe for a moment before she manages to recommend a juice. We start making his juice and he asks if we’re “a pair” and we tell him that no, we’re not a couple, everyone asks, don’t feel bad, we’re just best friends. And he kind of humphs and nods and goes “Well, that’s still a pair,” and tells us about his best friend of sixty years who he texts every day after meeting in college (meaning that ABSOLUTE MINIMUM this guy is 78).
So we hand him his juice, he takes it, and without further ado tells us the time, date, and location of a protest in our town. And he and his lovely wife swan right on out with their adorable granddaughter with her froyo, and he tells us he’ll see us at the protest.
I feel like I’ve been visited by the Angel of Revolution, I want to be that guy when I’m 78.
ill respect any woman who chooses to take off her hijab after yesterday but i just want to say like. if you choose to keep wearing it, and someone harasses you, i will stand up for you. you will always be welcome to wear it in my car, in my home, and i will fight for you wherever we go
im just one person, but there are millions of people like me who are gonna support you
To any of of you who are thinking of going to protests:
- Bring water and snacks.
- If you get pepper sprayed or tear gassed, milk on your face will help. Do not put soap directly in your eye. A damp cloth with soap and water can also help irritated skin. I’ve also heard that toothpaste beneath the eyes can help.
- Bring anxiety medication if you need it
- if you have a form of medical ID, do not wear it around your neck. Someone could yank on it and hurt you.
- Boots. Trust me on this one.
- Also goggles.
- Have a plan B/emergency contact in case you need a way to leave quickly.
- Wear long sleeves and long pants to reduce chance of injury.
Your safety is important. If you have any corrections to this post or things to add, please do. I want people to be informed.
Stay safe. Stay strong.
tooth paste helps for tear gas as well.
another good thing to bring is a rag soaked in lemon juice or vinegar in a plastic bag, this can be used to breathe through for some protection against gas.
pack wet bandanas to wrap around your face when tear gas is release.
Extra pairs of clothes too.
Don’t wear contacts. Wear glasses or goggles, tear gas with contacts causes unimaginable pain.
Avoid wearing oil based moisturizer or sunscreen as chemicals cling to these on your skin. Remove with detergent-free soap before going near the riot.
BE CAREFUL GUYS
Reblogging for my American followers. I support this fight but I also need you to stay safe. You’re all too important to get hurt.
in traffic just now i watched a middle aged white man put his car in park, get out of the car at a stop light, and punt a trump/pence sign on the side of the road
me too buddy
there was a whole row of signs, it was on the bumper grass between a church parking lot and the road, and he just went down the row of trump/pence and local election signs and punted like five of them before the light started to change and he got back into his car and (presumably) drove to work
i hope that dude feels better now
i feel a little better at having seen it happen tbh
