Some Stuff I Found In Some Tubes

agender pansexual panromantic chaos muppet. they/them/their

[ithelpstodream]

[jonpertwee]

I feel like this would be a slippery slope towards making it illegal for people to choose to not vote.

[hamfistedbunvendor]

that’s already how it is in australia

[jonpertwee]

That’s just so fucked up. :( Do certain medical conditions exempt you?

[sapphicdalliances]

?????? why is it be fucked up to have compulsory voting? that’s the way it is in most democratic countries? it’s a part of being a citizen, like paying taxes and obeying speed limits? the fine for not voting is only like $50 and because of the compulsory voting law, our country bends over backwards to make it accessible: it’s always on a weekend, lasts most of the day, and is set up at schools and community centers so there’s one within easy reach of almost everybody. you can also mail your ballot or vote early if you’ll be out of the country on the day. like, IT’S EASY TO VOTE, and the penalty isn’t even that ridiculous. i don’t understand why the usa doesn’t have this, except obviously it would make it harder to literally stop minorities from voting.

[salparadisewasright-deactivated]

I think we Americans tend to forget that a lot of other countries don’t actively work to make it harder to vote.

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Adding to this here, in Australia you don’t have to vote. Or, more precisely, there’s no way they can tell if you ruined your ballot. You have to turn up, get your name marked off, but you can put a line through the ballot if you don’t think any of the candidates are worth voting for. Or do this: 

Or this: 

Or this: 

You have get your name crossed off (if you don’t want to wear the fine), but you don’t have to make your vote counted if you’re opposed to it. 

And it is so, so easy to vote. Stuck at work or on holidays? That’s fine. Do a postal vote.  Stuck in hospital? That’s fine. They’ll go to you. Stuck in an old people’s home and can’t get around? Again, they’ll go to you. It’s amazing to me that it’s so hard for so many Americans to actually vote. If you make it compulsory, than at least the government is obligated to provide you with the means to vote. 

And look, I get it. Sometimes I don’t want to vote either. But I suck it up, I walk three minutes down the street, and I hope that this year they’re selling lamingtons again. Oh, and I buy a democracy sausage, which, even if all the candidates suck, makes the effort of turning up pretty worthwhile. 

[julad]

ALSO, you can see even on the fucked up ballots that you NUMBER CANDIDATES IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE. There’s no need to calculate whether I would be throwing away my vote on the candidate that I most agree with if they’re not from a major party. I can say, I want that independent person to get in, but if not them, give me Big Party A, and if not them, that minor party person is still better that Big Party B, and I’m not giving any preference to the Lunatic Fringe Party.

Our system certainly has some issues still, but I can show up to somewhere nearby, line up for a few minutes (if at all), vote exactly in line with my values (on paper, leaving a paper trail that can be recounted), and then buy a sausage and some home made cupcakes on my way out.

A country’s voting system matters a hell of a lot and every citizen deserves one that makes it easy to vote and results in a government that is representational and accountable.

And by the way, one time I had a bad asthma flare-up on Election Day and didn’t make it to my polling station. I got my fine in the mail, I filled out the form explaining why I couldn’t vote, no more fine. I would rather have, you know, expressed my preference for who should run my country, but they were cool with the fact that I couldn’t do it that day.

[batmanisagatewaydrug-deactivate]

“oh no, what if people actually have to participate in picking the government officials who will impact their lives” jesus christ

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

It’s honestly all kinds of disturbing that america has raised people to think that it should be difficult to vote when literally the only way democracy functions is if everyone gets their voice heard when it comes to picking their government

It’s disturbing but not surprising given that this is a country where a man who lost by over three million votes still got elected “President” and got to create an illegitimate government because of a nonsensical system that literally no normal country uses during its elections

[bleemoo]

“If you make it compulsory, than at least the government is obligated to provide you with the means to vote.” I wholeheartedly agree that we need to make voting much more accessible in the US. Let’s be real though, if it was compulsory to vote here, the government wouldn’t actually make it any easier to vote. It would just become another tool to oppress poor people and non-white people. I’m imagining a judge telling a black 22-year-old who works three jobs and can’t get time off on election day, “This is the third year in a row you didn’t vote. If it happens again next year, I’ll have no choice but to lock you up for two months.”

[sophie531896273240810891]

is being into coffee an older sibling thing bc everyone i know who loves coffee is the oldest child

[sophie531896273240810891]

like every oldest child ik loves coffee, the middle child hates it/prefers tea, and the youngest will drink it but only if its super sweet n has a ton of milk

[sophie531896273240810891]

rb w/ if ur oldest, middle, or youngest child and how u feel about coffee

[bleemoo]

I’m the oldest, and I hate coffee and drink two cups of tea every morning. My sister (middle child) used to be a barista and wrote a coffee blog for a few years. Our brother (youngest) only drinks Red Bull, and doesn’t like coffee or tea.

[bleemoo]

my name is Wil, and in the nite, the icebox i did open wide, tho your bedtime had gone and come - apologeez: i ate your plums.

Alternatively,

I have licked the bread that was in your authentic 18th century bakery

and which you were probably saving for sandwiches

Forgive me it was delicious so fresh and so warm

[charlesoberonn]

Norwegian prisons are nicer than my apartment.

[postmaritalsex-deactivated20210]

holy shit dude

[firebirdscratches]

I was really shocked by this and dubious, so I decided to read further. There’s a great article about this here: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35813470 As it turns out, this is more like a halfway house. Prisoners usually begin their term in a prison more like one we’d typically recognize - bars on the windows, locked in their cells. But the emphasis there is on successful reintegration into society.  As their sentence progresses, with good behavior, they can move into a facility more like this, where their freedoms are still restricted, but they can do things like network with people outside of prison, search for employment, cook and clean and look after themselves, and begin making plans for their reintegration into society.  As a result, Norway has one of the lowest rates of recidisvism. 20% as opposed to America’s 76%.  It seems like a shocking idea to us because of where and how we live, but apparently, Norwegians are addressing the real problem. When you take people who can’t function well in society, and then…help them do that?…they….do. Without the crime-ing. 

[daxlo-ren]

Turns out treating people like human beings makes them more likely to act like human beings….

[liquidsodanium]

But won’t that incentivize some people to go back there since they get treated so well and get a nice room versus the streets?

[kompanie-mutter-deactivated2021]

If you read the post above, it says Norway’s recidivism rate - that is, the rate of released criminals who go on to be arrested again - is 20% versus 76% in the United States, so for the most part, no.

[bleemoo]

I mean, the flipside is that you also need to make sure your non-felon population is healthy, fed, and housed, which I’m guessing Norway is probably better at than the US. This is by no means an argument against reintegration, just a note that adopting a program like this, without doing anything else, very well might incentivize recidivism in the US, and if we run a pilot program somewhere and it does have that effect, that doesn’t necessarily mean we should abandon the idea. (Not that the idea of even a pilot program like this is politically viable right now, but hey, I can dream.)

[fatpinocchio]

It should be socially unacceptable to come to work with a cold or similarly contagious disease.

[infraredarmy]

It should be socially unacceptable to make your workers come to work with a cold or similarly contagious disease.

[bleemoo]

This. And “unpaid sick leave” still counts as making your workers come to work; it should be socially unacceptable to refuse your workers pay unless they come to work with a cold or similarly contagious disease.

[aegisaglow-deactivated20181219]

On the trans pride flag, the blue stripe represents men, the pink stripe represents women and the white stripe represents anyone not totally covered by those categories. So next time someone insists I can’t be nonbinary because there’s only two genders, I have a helpful visual aid for them.

[seananmcguire]

So I bought the first three InCrypid and the first October Daye books. I devoured all four in under a week, and made the mistake of ordering the rest of InCrypid online (because there are no decent bookstores near me), which I now have to wait for. Like a fool. So I went into the city yesterday and bought the next 6 October Daye books. I adore Tybalt. I want to pick him up and give him snuggles.

I think he might object to that, unless Toby was there and annoyed by watching this happen, in which case he would curl up and purr smugly.

Thank you for reading!

[bleemoo]

I want Tybalt to pick me up and give me snuggles.

[demilypyro]

good thing this here internet box exists. back in the 12th century or whatever i would have had to shout my bullshit from the window

[demilypyro]

me hanging out my window in the dead of night, 1127 AD: I HAVE TWELVE TOES AND SEVEN EYES

a guardsman, already aiming for my nuts with his crossbow: SHUT YON FUCKETH MOUTH

[bleemoo]

I’ve seen this post a few times now, and every time I see it, I can’t help but hearing “I have twelve toes and seven eyes” as if it is being sung as the first line of Nothing Compares To You.

[paulsrockinpagoda]

Visit Original Link

so i used something called infinite jukebox to cut out every other beat of this song and

well

here ya go

250 miles

[johnthedragon]

I’m having a fucking stroke

[sjaukes]

*vaguely scottish noises*

[deus-ex-aquila]

when I whmp, well I nunna be, wanna be who wakes to you. when I gwmp, ay I nonna be,  wanna be who go wih you.

if I *SLAM*, well I nonna be, wanna be who geks to you. if I heh, ay I nonna be,  wanna be who’s into you.

but hwn wive head manna ood wive hun, must’ve done mcwhaff an’ puff aodood.

when I’m wock, yes I nonna be,  nunna be who’s wock for you. an’ na mungeh, well then fuck I do, I subley plin to you.

an’ I clankahoe I nunna be, unna be who coal to you. if I brokhe, well I nonna be, unna be who’s cold with you.

but wood wive hen manna hood wive hun, musta dub mcwhaff an’ *bloop* muff aonouds

nahnahnah, dahdahdah, nahnahnah, dahdahdah, dladadadadadadadah nahnah*bloop*nah, dahdahdah nahnahnah, dahdahdah,  dladadadadadadadah (hoh!)

when I’m luh’, well I nunna be,  onna be who’s without you. when I’m drmp, well I nunna dream, unna drink a pint with you.

AAH KWENG! well I nonna be, ‘nna be new good with you. an’ I cluddag! yes I nonna be,  ‘nna be who cob with you, gonna avish coooomb wi’ you.

but ood wive hung manna *bloop* ood wive hem yes the *bloop* dung man whaff an’ luff aonood

dahdahdah, dahdahdah, nahnahnah, dahdahdah, dladadadadadadadah (ayy) dlahdahdah, dahdahdah, dahnahnah, nahnahnah, dladadadadadadadah

dahdahdah, dahdahdah, dahdahdah, dahnahnah, dladadadadadadadah (eh) nahnahnah, dahdahdah, nahnahnah, dahdahdah, dladadadadadadadah

an’ would wive ben wanna hood wive den, justa dackh mood hwackh dundwehnhaodoo kohh–

[sovietsofficial]

EVERYTHING WAS LAID OUT IN FRONT OF ME AND YET I WAS NOT READY FOR A SINGLE SECOND OF IT

[monzstermash-deactivated2018120]

the fucking transcript i can’t

[i-am-grell]

help im sobbing

[gothweebgf]

Hi, I’m a white person and I’m racist.

I benefit from privilege based on my skin color and I have internalized racial biases that I must continue to acknowledge in order to actively remove them from myself and society. Saying all white people are racist is not an attack on my personal character. It is a statement on our broken system as a whole, and I am part of that system even when I’m doing my best to not perpetuate it. It does not make me a bad person to own up to my failings as a person of privilege. The most productive thing I can do on a personal level is to listen to others when they point out my biases. There is always room for improvement. The least I can do is acknowledge it.

Hi, I’m a white person and I am racist.

Now, was that so hard?

[hatchetsandscars-deactivated201]

^^^^^^

[tsu-anti]

I encourage all white people to reblog this post

[welcometoyouredoom]

A book crystallized in the ocean

[blluish]

oh mood

[bleemoo]

I love this photo; it’s really cool. It’s also not actually crystallized in the ocean; this is a book that’s been coated with Borax crystals, either by or inspired by the work of Alexis Arnold, the artist who popularized (invented?) the technique: https://www.alexisarnold.com/#/crystallized-books/ http://truebluemeandyou.com/post/155859573190/diy-crystallized-book-sculptures

@witticaster 

[altfire-archive]

shoutout to nonbinary people who default to presenting as their assigned gender bc it’s easier

shoutout to nonbinary people who default to presenting as their assigned gender bc it’s safer

shoutout to nonbinary people who default to presenting as their assigned gender bc they don’t feel like they can pull off anything else

shoutout to nonbinary people who default to presenting as their assigned gender bc presenting as their real gender is impossible

shoutout to nonbinary people who present as their assigned gender bc they want to

shoutout to nonbinary people whose presentation is mistaken for their assigned gender but is in fact how they express their real gender

just because we might “look cis” doesn’t make us any less nonbinary and tbh fuck anyone who says otherwise

[tinsnip]

Okay, so I'm /actually/ about to write a porn fic to AO3, and I'm interested in knowing what the difference is between the M rating and E rating. Able to enlighten me?

Mature is ‘and then they made love.’ Explicit is ‘and here’s how they did it exactly.’

To wit: mature.

He looked at the envelope, spread out before him.

God, he’d never been this hungry.

Could he be gentle enough? Slow enough? He didn’t want to damage it, didn’t want to do anything he’d regret… but no, no, it seemed the envelope wanted this as much as he did. It slipped into his hands, it folded as he asked. When it was time for more, the card was waiting, and he somehow knew exactly what to do. He moved with his correspondence in a dance as old as the mail system, and when it was over, he was smiling and the envelope was completely, thoroughly sealed.

Explicit:

The envelope waved its flap in the air slowly, gently, and he could see the faint shimmer of the adhesive traced along its fold. It was like a taunt, a dare: won’t you? And he would, oh, God, he would, lifting the envelope firmly to his lips, licking slowly at first, then faster, more firmly, tasting the envelope’s essence, the faint bitterness, the sweetness to follow—

Oh, he couldn’t help but smile at how it felt in his hands. It was so perfectly folded. Its paper was rough against his fingers, and its crossed folds shifted slightly as it opened for his eager tongue. Yes, yes…

Now the card, and his hand trembled as he lifted it, as he held the envelope, stretching it wide. Would it fit? Oh… oh, yes, it would fit, it slid in smooth and quick and filled the envelope to bursting, oh, made for each other, and he smiled in delight at how perfect it was.

He was ready. Now, now, now: with one swift movement he folded the flap over and he pressed, yes, he pressed the flap down and it stuck, God, it stuck perfectly, and he closed his eyes in bliss.

Afterwards, he stroked the envelope, and thought about addresses.

[anarfea]

omg THIS MADE MY MORNING.

[onethousandhurrahs]

well, this is something I didn’t know i needed till I had it.

[redscudery]

“and thought about addresses” oh my

[amemait]

I never thought I’d say this but it’s too early for this level of porn.

[fira211]

MAIL PORN

[fozmeadows]

someone, somewhere, reading this:

[bleemoo]

Ok, I acknowledge this is awesome, but who the hell licks an envelope BEFORE putting the card in?

[bleemoo]

That famous play, Macbeth, where Fortinbras befriends the Three Musketeers, Pathos, Orville, and Aragorn.

[salyagalpal-deactivated20171027]

Reblog if you’re trans and dreamed of being a shapeshifter when you were a kid

[rosetintmyworld84]

Rick Riordan won a Stonewall award today

for his second Magnus Chase book, due to the inclusion of the character Alex Fierro who is gender fluid. This was the speech he gave, and it really distills why I love this author and his works so much, and why I will always recommend his works to anyone and everyone.

“Thank you for inviting me here today. As I told the Stonewall Award Committee, this is an honor both humbling and unexpected.

So, what is an old cis straight white male doing up here? Where did I get the nerve to write Alex Fierro, a transgender, gender fluid child of Loki in The Hammer of Thor, and why should I get cookies for that?

These are all fair and valid questions, which I have been asking myself a lot.

I think, to support young LGBTQ readers, the most important thing publishing can do is to publish and promote more stories by LGBTQ authors, authentic experiences by authentic voices. We have to keep pushing for this. The Stonewall committee’s work is a critical part of that effort. I can only accept the Stonewall Award in the sense that I accept a call to action – firstly, to do more myself to read and promote books by LGBTQ authors.

But also, it’s a call to do better in my own writing. As one of my genderqueer readers told me recently, “Hey, thanks for Alex. You didn’t do a terrible job!” I thought: Yes! Not doing a terrible job was my goal!

As important as it is to offer authentic voices and empower authors and role models from within LGBTQ community, it’s is also important that LGBTQ kids see themselves reflected and valued in the larger world of mass media, including my books. I know this because my non-heteronormative readers tell me so. They actively lobby to see characters like themselves in my books. They like the universe I’ve created. They want to be part of it. They deserve that opportunity. It’s important that I, as a mainstream author, say, “I see you. You matter. Your life experience may not be like mine, but it is no less valid and no less real. I will do whatever I can to understand and accurately include you in my stories, in my world. I will not erase you.”

People all over the political spectrum often ask me, “Why can’t you just stay silent on these issues? Just don’t include LGBTQ material and everybody will be happy.” This assumes that silence is the natural neutral position. But silence is not neutral. It’s an active choice. Silence is great when you are listening. Silence is not so great when you are using it to ignore or exclude.

But that’s all macro, ‘big picture’ stuff. Yes, I think the principles are important. Yes, in the abstract, I feel an obligation to write the world as I see it: beautiful because of its variations. Where I can’t draw on personal experience, I listen, I read a lot – in particular I want to credit Beyond Magenta and Gender Outlaws for helping me understand more about the perspective of my character Alex Fierro – and I trust that much of the human experience is universal. You can’t go too far wrong if you use empathy as your lens. But the reason I wrote Alex Fierro, or Nico di Angelo, or any of my characters, is much more personal.

I was a teacher for many years, in public and private school, California and Texas. During those years, I taught all kinds of kids. I want them all to know that I see them. They matter. I write characters to honor my students, and to make up for what I wished I could have done for them in the classroom.

I think about my former student Adrian (a pseudonym), back in the 90s in San Francisco. Adrian used the pronouns he and him, so I will call him that, but I suspect Adrian might have had more freedom and more options as to how he self-identified in school were he growing up today. His peers, his teachers, his family all understood that Adrian was female, despite his birth designation. Since kindergarten, he had self-selected to be among the girls – socially, athletically, academically. He was one of our girls. And although he got support and acceptance at the school, I don’t know that I helped him as much as I could, or that I tried to understand his needs and his journey. At that time in my life, I didn’t have the experience, the vocabulary, or frankly the emotional capacity to have that conversation. When we broke into social skills groups, for instance, boys apart from girls, he came into my group with the boys, I think because he felt it was required, but I feel like I missed the opportunity to sit with him and ask him what he wanted. And to assure him it was okay, whichever choice he made. I learned more from Adrian than I taught him. Twenty years later, Alex Fierro is for Adrian.

I think about Jane (pseudonym), another one of my students who was a straight cis-female with two fantastic moms. Again, for LGBTQ families, San Francisco was a pretty good place to live in the 90s, but as we know, prejudice has no geographical border. You cannot build a wall high enough to keep it out. I know Jane got flack about her family. I did what I could to support her, but I don’t think I did enough. I remember the day Jane’s drama class was happening in my classroom. The teacher was new – our first African American male teacher, which we were all really excited about – and this was only his third week. I was sitting at my desk, grading papers, while the teacher did a free association exercise. One of his examples was ‘fruit – gay.’ I think he did it because he thought it would be funny to middle schoolers. After the class, I asked to see the teacher one on one. I asked him to be aware of what he was saying and how that might be hurtful. I know. Me, a white guy, lecturing this Black teacher about hurtful words. He got defensive and quit, because he said he could not promise to not use that language again. At the time, I felt like I needed to do something, to stand up especially for Jane and her family. But did I make things better handling it as I did? I think I missed an opportunity to open a dialogue about how different people experience hurtful labels. Emmie and Josephine and their daughter Georgina, the family I introduce in The Dark Prophecy, are for Jane.

I think about Amy, and Mark, and Nicholas … All former students who have come out as gay since I taught them in middle school. All have gone on to have successful careers and happy families. When I taught them, I knew they were different. Their struggles were greater, their perspectives more divergent than some of my other students. I tried to provide a safe space for them, to model respect, but in retrospect I don’t think I supported them as well as I could have, or reached out as much as they might have needed. I was too busy preparing lessons on Shakespeare or adjectives, and not focusing enough on my students’ emotional health. Adjectives were a lot easier for me to reconcile than feelings. Would they have felt comfortable coming out earlier than college or high school if they had found more support in middle school? Would they have wanted to? I don’t know. But I don’t think they felt it was a safe option, which leaves me thinking that I did not do enough for them at that critical middle school time. I do not want any kid to feel alone, invisible, misunderstood. Nico di Angelo is for Amy, and Mark and Nicholas.

I am trying to do more. Percy Jackson started as a way to empower kids, in particular my son, who had learning differences. As my platform grew, I felt obliged to use it to empower all kids who are struggling through middle school for whatever reason. I don’t always do enough. I don’t always get it right. Good intentions are wonderful things, but at the end of a manuscript, the text has to stand on its own. What I meant ceases to matter. Kids just see what I wrote. But I have to keep trying. My kids are counting on me.

So thank you, above all, to my former students who taught me. Alex Fierro is for you.

To you, I pledge myself to do better – to apologize when I screw up, to learn from my mistakes, to be there for LGBTQ youth and make sure they know that in my books, they are included. They matter. I am going to stop talking now, but I promise you I won’t stop listening.”

[seananmcguire]

I finished reading Down among the sticks and bones the other day and can't stop thinking about it. Also, the art in the books was SO unexpected but wonderful. Just thank you a million times for the 7 books you write a year (something around that?? me and my partner preorder and read EVERY SINGLE ONE since we got into feed) also i'm craving more fantasy and started indexting the other day :D

Aw, yay!

You are so welcome!

[bleemoo]

I started this as an Ask to Seanan, but then realized that I don’t actually have a question for her. @seananmcguire if you want to reblog this, you have my permission (which I say mostly because I think it’s a sentiment you’ll agree with and I’m guessing there might be other members of your fan base who it might help), but if not, that’s obviously ok too.

Asks like this sometimes make me feel guilty. I have a copy of Sticks and Bones in my bag, but I prefer to savor books and also don’t have a lot of time to read, so I haven’t started it yet, and likely won’t for at least another few days. Somehow, my brain translates that into “You’re disrespecting Seanan, and are clearly less of a fan than the people who do read it quickly.” That’s my brain lying to me. To all fans of authors everywhere: If you devour books the day they come out: Great! If you prefer to read them slowly: Also great! If you forget about them and buy them weeks later, or prefer/need to get them from the library and there’s a wait, or for whatever other reason don’t start them immediately: Still great! If there are some books you won’t ever read for whatever reason: that’s ok too! Enjoy books in your own way and at your own pace; the author doesn’t owe you anything, but assuming you’re not actively stealing content, you also don’t owe the author anything. Don’t steal content, though; that makes you a jerk. And this is getting to be a bit of a tangent, but it’s important: Buying used books, or checking books out of the library, does NOT count as stealing content, and is perfectly fine.

(Also, I don’t know whether the original question-asker automatically gets tagged, but just in case they can see this: this is in no way meant as an attempt at shaming you or asking you to stop making me feel bad. Please continue to share your enthusiasm with content creators. The fact that my brain sometimes lies to me is my own problem, and is my responsibility to deal with on my own. I post this as a message to other people whose brains may be lying to them in similar ways, and may need a reminder that the lies are lies.)