compost in training.

Dusya. They/them. 26. Queer.

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

neurotypicals talk a lot about how autistic people aren’t “empathetic” bc we express empathy differently but. but then they turn around and refuse to empathize with experiences they don’t relate to? i don’t get it? 

i get called unempathetic for missing out on social cues, by the same people whose default attitudes include: “the music is hurting your ears? but it’s not that loud?” “you’re having trouble sitting still? but have you considered that what you’re doing looks weird?” “this thing bothers you? have you tried not being bothered by it???”  

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

tags: like i’m autistic and i don’t relate to a lot of people’s experiences but…if they tell me “this thing bothers me” or “i am in pain bc of this” all i have to do is just… remember what it feels like to be in pain? and then it’s easy to respond with “I’m sorry you are in pain. that sucks. how can i help?”

i may have trouble recognizing what other people are feeling when they don’t tell me clearly. and i don’t always express my empathy in a way neurotypicals recognize. but that doesn’t erase the fact that I feel empathy and express it in a way that feels natural to me. 

and when i become aware that a person is Feeling a Thing i accept that Thing as valid, and i believe they have a right not to be unhappy. because they are a person and people deserve help and sympathy when they are distressed. “you’re bothered by this Thing that i’m not bothered by? that sucks and your feelings are valid.” that should be the default response, it’s not that difficult. 

[butchscientist]

the idea of "if a workplace is good to its workers then they wouldn't need a union" has got things the wrong way around. if a hypothetical workplace already treats its workers right & cares about them then it would have no reason to oppose workers unionizing because a union isn't threatening unless you're abusing your workers :)

[helenofboys]

i’m absolutely off my tits and no one will talk to me about twilight!!!!

(Hi, it’s me, I still exist, i’m just different now)

[rewrotethestars]

me talking to people

[antifainternational]

We’re OK with letting them have this BAR though:

[socialjusticeissue]

Reblogging for the “shut the nazis down while they are being ‘nice’ before they escalate and become a more serious problem.”

Don’t talk to bigots. Don’t ‘debate’ bigots. Don’t let them talk you into ‘having a civil conversation.’

The worst atrocities in the world started with people downplaying the early warning signs.

[princesszeldazbyebye-deactivate]

magic is real you fools it happens when you make your friends smile

[haleyincarnate]

Writing by Aysha Natsheh

[helenofboys]

i am. incredibly heavy today. we’re all trapped it’s all a mess i don’t know where to put it.

[purehoneyblossom]

Shout out to all the people who are still social distancing and wearing masks. Thank you for still taking this pandemic seriously and understanding how an illness can spread from person to person. I pray that the universe provides you with an infinite amount of abundance. 

[utilitycaster]

D&D spells named for the wizard who developed them nearly always take the form of <developer’s name><adjective><noun>, eg: Otto’s Irresistible Dance.

Therefore, Mike’s Hard Lemonade is a wizard spell. In this essay I will

[sjdjfjvifieifigigirje-deactivat]

imagine if you became a stand user but your stand didn’t match your aesthetic. i’d be devastated

[sjdjfjvifieifigigirje-deactivat]

would i really remodel my appearance just to match some weird apparition that 99% of the populace can’t see? much to think about

[venoshocked-deactivated20230503]

if your stand doesn’t match your aesthetic you should absolutely change your appearance to match it because that shit is your life energy right there. like if your literal fucking soul is a vaporwave cowboy that probably says something about you as a person

[imsopopfly]

If your stand doesn’t match your current aesthetic then that’s just a sign you have not yet embraced your True Aesthetic.

[gynandromorph]

the annoying thing about adhd is that like, most of the symptoms you can’t even argue are “evolutionary flaws” or “chemical imbalances.” literally it’s just that it’s not good for lining somebody else’s pockets. being “distractible” helps people notice predators or juicy berries out of the corners of their eyes. hyperfocusing on a task until it’s done is literally exactly in line with what an alleged persistence predator would need to do to actually follow through on hunting other animals. there’s so many little things that are obviously beneficial to have outside of a fucking factory assembly line

[teaboot]

NEUROLOGICAL DIVERSITY IS AS IMPORTANT TO SURVIVAL AS GENETIC DIVERITY, and OUR CONCEPT OF DISABILITY AND NEURODIVERGENCE IS BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF OUR OWN MAKING

[teaboot]

When I lived out in the woods and spent my time herding sheep and hunting bullfrogs, nobody gave two shits that I walked around barefoot and said whatever popped into my head out loud.

My hyperfocus and poor sense of time made me a hard worker, my compulsion to sort and organize random crap kept the property clean, and my special interest in native flora and fauna meant I could go out into the woods thanksgiving morning and come home with all the pricy mushrooms and herbs we couldn’t normally afford otherwise.

Who cared that I was awkward? There was nobody around except the occasional customer or temp worker, and those kinds of interactions could be entirely scripted.

Who cared that I dressed funny, had frizzy, dry hair, talked flat, and ate raw onions? Who gave two shits that I built forts out of scrap metal and twine? How did it matter that I passed time running in circles over old truck chassis’?

There were no bright lights, no packed-in crowds, no huge collections of shouty, screamy, smelly people. Nobody stared at me for more than a few seconds. Nobody critiqued my body language.

I was a bit odd, yeah, but all I knew was that I was smart and creative and better than other people at fixing problems.

I went damn near fifteen years out there not even suspecting I might be autistic. Nobody even thought to bring it up.

Now I’m in the city, and I have a hard time going into the middle of a store. I hate the mall. My eyes hurt. Ambulances and fire trucks and cars with bad brakes go by and I cover my ears and nobody else does. I’ve been told I come off as “quirky”.

My question is, though, if an atypical person is in an environment that suits them, can anyone tell?

Most folks only know who’s blind when the lights are on. If the sky went dark tomorrow, we’d have no idea.

[anarchopuppy]

This is something we as radicals don’t talk about much but which has come up a lot in my experience:

You deserve mutual aid. You’re not too privileged for it, you’re not stealing it from people who need it more - you have a right to use community resources just as much as anyone else

I’ve seen food rot, clothes and books be forgotten in storage, because the people volunteering at or supporting these projects don’t think the resources are for them. Then those same volunteers will go out and put money they don’t have into the capitalist system to buy the resources they could’ve gotten for free

You’re thinking like a charity. You’re drawing a line between the people giving resources and the people taking them, which inevitably leads to a feeling of separation and eventually superiority, unconsciously seeing yourself as a savior coming in and helping the less fortunate. That alienates the people you’re helping from you, and results in neither side fully recognizing the other as human and the same as them

There’s a reason we say “solidarity not charity”. There’s a reason mutual aid is called mutual. Because by lifting each other up, we all become stronger. In solidarity and mutual aid, there is no separation between giver and receiver, because everyone involved is benefited by it

But that doesn’t happen if the resources aren’t used! Get out of the capitalist scarcity mindset - give freely and take freely, because by being lifted up you help us all

[queeranarchism]

This is so important. If you’re not practicing the Mutual in Mutual Aid, you’re doing charity. Change your attitude. Take what is offered. Ask for help when it makes things easier, not only once you hit rock bottom. Understand these acts as parts of what makes Mutual aid work.

[apocalyptic-mailman]

I’ve done a few FNB tables and every time I did, I ate my fill

Mutual aid is MUTUAL

[anarchopuppy]

At Food Not Bombs especially, this is a vital and absolutely central aspect of that model

The volunteers grabbing a plate is the difference between giving food to someone and sharing a meal with them. It presents everyone as equals

That’s one circumstance where I’d argue you’re almost obligated to take some

[queeranarchism]

#which is also why it’s important to offer food to *everyone* who walks by#even if they look well-off#because when they come and share a meal with their unhoused neighbors they feel like equals too#it’s that kind of presentation that makes fnb have so much bigger an impact than just feeding people#and what separates it from food banks and soup kitchens

[thesweetscentofbooks]

[apricitic]

on purpose!!! love people on purpose!!! find someone wonderful and love them and tell them it wasn’t an accident, you had a choice, you saw who they were and realized how lovely it would be to love them, and it is!!! i made a good decision! i love you on purpose!!!

[hydro-homies]

How it do be

[myapogee]

[no-longer-another-bondi-blonde]

[huckleberrywine]

LOL

[debkorvelus]

We need HOAs or some idiots will paint their house purple or put tractor tires in their front yard.  If you want tractor tires, don’t move to a HOA neighborhood.

[captain-snark]

I couldn’t even fathom how horrifying it must be to live somewhere there are...purple houses and and yucky stuff in people’s yards. Thank God I don’t have any real problems like that.

[scrimblobimblobadimbo-deactivat]

listen my Nonna and Nonno live right by a purple house (it’s a nice lilac) and as a kid I was fucking obsessed with it because purple is my favorite color. I’d go nuts whenever we passed by it. Also it had a purple mailbox to match and it blew my mind.

No more HOAs. More purple houses.

[antelopian]

imagine trying to control what someone else can do with or on their own property just because you don't agree with their taste in decor

[tarantula-veins-deactivated2023]

NO MORE HOAs MORE PURPLE HOUSES

[gallusrostromegalus]

Related, becuase I just had to move:  “just don’t move into an HOA” Do you know what a PAIN IN THE ASS it is to find NON-HOA Housing? Very nearly everything in the CO front range that isn’t a rental has an HOA these days!

Short list of the Shit the HOA at my pervious house tried to pull:

Banning personal and community food gardens (The reason the tag for my garden is “The garden of earthly HOA violations”)

Banning people from using thier personal yards as Native Plant Restoration microzones, something that looks gorgeous and is extremely helpful to the local ecology

trying to get the city council to remove protections on adjacent city Open Space/Native Plant restoration zone so they could mow it.

mandating the use of ONE landscaping company in the neighborhood, coinicdentally owned by the HOA president’s son

Mandating the use of an unecessary water purification company on all properties.

suing city animal control for collecting lose dogs and cats and returning them to the addresses on thier collars.  You know. that thing animal control does so the animals don’t get run over or disemboweled by the coyotes or catch and spread rabies.  The thing that’s illegal to let your pet do out here for those reasons Karen.

Suing the city council to remove a city bus stop in the neighborhood that was heavily used by many residents.  They damn near got away with it becuase the HOA meetings were always in the middle of the day on a weekday.  You know, when the residents that use that stop are working.

Sending people letters threatening to fine them for having “Out Of Season” holiday decor.  Specifically targeting my Indian neighbors who were celebrating Diwali, not Christmas and the Jews with visible Menorahs.

Fining people for doing thier own appliance and car repair on thier own personal property

Fining people for operating a business out of thier house, specifically targeting a disabled neighbor that does comission tailoring and garment repair out of her home.  never bothered a soul except the one snoopy bitch who didn’t like that her clients were allowed to park in the tailor’s designated and otherwise unused parking space.

Trying to fine a neighbor for flying a Pride Flag

HOAs are invasive, bigoted, corrupt and cruel institutions that should never have been allowed to be created.  If you live in and HOA area, showing up at the meetings to tell people what the fuck is wrong with them, Joining your HOA board to protect your neighbors and possibly organize the dissolution of the HOA is one of the best things you can do to protect the marginalized members of your community.

FUCK HOAs AND LONG LIVE THE PURPLE HOUSES AND TRACTOR-TIRE GARDENS OF THE WORLD.