Scholar in Training

Chronically ill, chronically fabulous | 26 | he/him transmasc | Jewish af Batpham blog @ghostgoing

[queer-talmid]

I am just a baby Torah scholar trying to figure out a machloket uwu

[cocainesocialist]

[manynamedshe]

“They’re not smarter or faster they’re buying up others’ lifetimes to do their chores”

“They’re not smarter or faster they’re buying up others’ lifetimes to do their chores”

“They’re not smarter or faster they’re buying up others’ lifetimes to do their chores”

[thequeerwithoutfear-deactivated]

[images: series of tweets from @realavocadofact. tweets read, “they’re not elite they’re rich”, “they’re not better they’re better supplied”, “they’re not smarter or faster they’re buying up others’ lifetimes to do their chores”, “there is nothing wrong with you; you’re doing your best in a game rigged against you, probably not enough people and fruit tell you that”]

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I see this reaction a lot, and I gotta say, it always makes me a little sad. Whenever the conversation of exploitation of labor comes up, inevitably someone finds themselves struggling with the guilt of “It is so important to me not to contribute to exploitation but I cannot do this thing myself and need someone else to do it for me, so how do I even approach that?”

Exploitation isn’t in the hiring of a service worker. Exploitation is in the respect you show them for their ability to perform the service you need from them.

I have been on a cleaning service staff before, and also been someone who hired a cleaning service, and I can tell you for sure that a lot of cleaning crews (especially worker owned ones) absolutely LOVE their clients and are genuinely happy to be able to make their lives better. The clients they don’t like? Those are the ones who disrespect the workers.

When I was involved with a cleaning service, we had everything from little old ladies living alone to McMasions with five cars as clients, and I can assure you that whenever there was someone who clearly hired us because they were overwhelmed or unable to keep their space clean, those were the households where you put a little more elbow grease in and did a deep clean even when it wasn’t paid for, because you could see how much these people were trying and struggling, and they were always so kind and generous and often embarrassed when talking to you about the job.

I only hired a service a couple if times in my life, but whenever I did, I worked with the same people as often as I could, tipped as well as I could afford, and tried to be the kind of client I would want to have, and that’s how I often ended up with my baseboards cleaned too, or my fridge scrubbed and organized or a restorative clean done in a high use room even when that wasn’t what I had scheduled or paid for.

I’ve heard the same thing from all manner of service workers over the years. Many of us like our jobs! We enjoy the work. It’s the customers that can do a number on you.

I think a lot of people are afraid that by needing a service they are inherently exploiting or harming the people who perform that service, and they really aren’t. But it does benefit a capitalist system for us to all be burnt out and overwhelmed because we’re too afraid to hire the help we need. Be upfront and honest with service workers about what you need and why you need it, and treat them with dognity and kindness while they perform your service, and I promise you they will always be happy to answer your call.

[headspace-hotel]

HIRING A PROFESSIONAL TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE ISN’T MORE EXPLOITATIVE THAN GOING TO A DENTIST OR ORDERING A PIZZA

We all fucking depend on each other, it’s about respect and treating one another as fellow humans instead of seeing them as below us

[theseventhcrow55]

i get so emotional every time i think about fanfic culture. it's just so beautiful that people are writing and anonymously posting these thousand-word stories about characters we all love and not even getting any money or public fame from it. it's literally just for the love of the game.

shout out to everyone who participates in fanfic culture, be it reading or writing fanfics. you are contributing to such a lovely thing <3

[penandinkprincess]

girl it's a load-bearing 8 seconds

[loveridden1999]

when england lose, women bruise

[headspace-hotel]

Here's an idea about why kids are so anxious and depressed all the time...the environments kids are in most of the time are very stressful and don't fulfill their needs for play, rest, proper variety of foods, positive social opportunities, and freedom from fear pain punishment etc

[headspace-hotel]

Like everyone with any basic understanding of animal welfare knows that if you put an animal in an enclosure that is too crowded, without hiding spots, with no freedom to move around, no ability to avoid harsh and stressful stimuli, and scare it by shouting at it and punishing it, the animal will become stressed and start chewing its own fur off or hurting itself or become sick or unable to eat...

But we expect human children to grow up in these conditions and literally blame them when they develop the exact type of problems that any creature under those conditions would

[destiel-news-channel]

[Image ID: The Destiel confession meme edited so that Dean answers 'JK Rowling posted upskirt photos of a woman on Twitter' to Cas 'I love you'. /End ID]

No one doing this should be allowed to call themselves a feminist.

JK Rowling deadnamed and posted 'upskirt' photo of trans woman on X

The wealthy author escalated a social media spat that resulted in posting a photo from a 2023 event at the Institute of Economic Affairs in

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Let's not beat around the bush: Children's author JK Rowling sexually harassed someone. In some jurisdictions, this would count as sexual abuse. JK Rowling has committed a sex crime against a woman and fell back on the old rape apologist standby of "she was asking for it".

I hope your nostalgia is worth it

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[fairycosmos]

your aversion to anything earnest or sincere has affected us in the following ways 1. youre annoyinggggggg

[feamir]

[ohwhatagloomyshow]

do you remember why you followed prev

yes :)

no :)

Remaining time: 4 days 8 hours

[johnny-depp-is-loved]

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[aetherograph]

And then get REAL good at obfuscating that you're doing this by learning how to Rationalise at a master level!!

[trellanyx]

Soon it will become muscle memory and you won’t even have to think about doing it, and will become convinced this is just your default state of being! 😃

[aetherograph]

AND that you actually AREN'T blaming yourself or hating yourself, because you have learned to phrase it as being about how you know other people/the world perceive you (bonus if you make it "people in my specific cross-section of demographics"!), whether that's accurate or not "it doesn't matter, that's just what people think and how I will be treated". Even therapists will not detect it after you get this good at it, because you'll have successfully turned the statement into one about your experiences as a minority that is so rare therapists YOU can access are never part of it, so they shy away from contradicting you and if they DO you can chalk it up to them being bigoted.

[trellanyx]

All the constant put-downs aren’t self-loathing, no no no, you’re just SO practical and realistic! You’ve got your expectations on LOCK they’re so reasonable, this way you can never be disappointed about anything ever and if you are, hey, more things to totally legitimately blame yourself for. Because you really should’ve known better. You’re SO self-aware.

[aetherograph]

Tbh I know we're like, joking around and all but today I actually did say out loud "actually, it doesn't matter WHAT I did, nobody deserves to [be treated the way my ex treated me particularly in regard to the murder attempts]" and honestly I would not have gotten there if I hadn't learned more about the prison and punitive justice system from a defence lawyer and in so doing decided I was against punitive justice so like. Starting by changing how you view other people is not a bad place to start undoing this stuff, bc the way you think society should treat the worst people is sometimes the path to treating yourself with basic compassion if you think YOU are among the worst people.

I don't think anybody, no matter what they've done, should be killed or tortured or enslaved about it. I'm "anybody" and I've certainly not done anything particularly awful to anyone even in my worst moments, so like... if I would give basic humanity to someone who has done much worse, why not me? Even if I'm as bad as I feel sometimes, I'm still a human person.

So yeah. Idk. ymmv but becoming an activist for prison abolition and restorative justice really did a lot to help me fix my relationship with myself. Joking about the bad habits I'm still stuck in is helping me break from them but so is learning that punishment doesn't work, punitive justice isn't the only kind of justice (and doesn't work), and how restorative justice works. The macrocosm is the microcosm and vice versa. If you can't start inside, start outside and work your way in.

[thelawfulchaotic]

This is so, so beautiful. This is so beautiful and you're so beautiful and I hope this stays in your bones forever because it's true.

Learning this is so hard and it's an everyday thing. Being a public defender caused me to cross this threshold slowly and painfully -- because what happened to me wasn't really abuse, and I'm just some privileged white bitch and what do I know? What do I have to say?

In a very real way, I found society's worst and least defensible people because if I could find them worth defending then I could find myself worth defending. My privilege was a barrier that I needed to learn to cross, but it also became a shield that I could use on my clients' behalf.

And your words and insights have broadened my life and my perspective as well, so thank you for being there. Truly.

[morethanthediagnosis]

I came across this article in the wall street journal and thought it might be helpful for some of my fellow spoonies

[catgirl-kaiju]

This post really hits home for me just how many of the things old people do is just disability accommodation

[neonnewsfeed]

Danny Fenton Gets Detention at Gotham Academy and Somehow Turns It Into a Support Group for Gotham Rogues

Danny Fenton gets detention on his second day at Gotham Academy.

Official reason: “disruptive commentary.”

Unofficial reason: he told a substitute teacher that their “vibe felt like a hostage situation waiting to happen” and then tried to give conflict-resolution advice mid-lecture.

Damian is also in detention.

For unrelated reasons.

They do not speak.

The room is quiet. Boring. Normal.

Then the window opens.

No one touched it.

Danny glances over. “Oh. Hey.”

Damian immediately reaches for a weapon.

Because standing outside the third-floor window is a Gotham rogue who definitely should not be there.

“Relax,” Danny says. “He’s not here for that.”

“That is a criminal,” Damian replies flatly.

“Yeah, but like… he’s having a moment.”

The rogue climbs in, looking less threatening and more… frustrated.

“I tried it your way,” he snaps at Danny. “Didn’t work.”

Damian freezes.

“You know this individual.”

Danny shrugs. “We talked yesterday.”

“You talked to a rogue.”

“Yeah, he needed advice.”

This is already spiraling.

More spiraling happens when another figure appears at the window.

Then another.

Within ten minutes, detention has:

One vigilante-in-training (angry)

One civilian (unbothered)

Three Gotham rogues (confused, irritated, but oddly cooperative)

The teacher has not returned.

Danny claps his hands once.

“Okay, cool, everyone’s here.”

Damian: “…Everyone?”

Danny: “Yeah, we’re doing a follow-up.”

“A follow-up to what.”

Danny gestures vaguely. “Bad decisions.”

One of the rogues points at him. “You said if we didn’t escalate, things would go smoother.”

“They would’ve,” Danny says. “You skipped step two.”

“There were steps?”

“There are always steps.”

Damian is watching a known criminal argue about process with a teenager who should not be in charge of anything.

“Why are you listening to him,” Damian demands.

The rogue pauses.

“…He’s weirdly convincing.”

Danny nods. “Thank you.”

This continues.

Danny mediates.

Not fights. Not threats. Just… talks.

He breaks down their plans like they’re group projects that went off the rails.

“You’re overcomplicating it,” he tells one. “You don’t actually want the chaos, you want the reaction to the chaos. Different problem.”

“You’re focusing on the wrong target,” he tells another. “That’s why it keeps blowing up in your face.”

At one point, he hands someone a piece of paper.

“Write down what you actually want to happen,” Danny says. “Not the dramatic version. The real version.”

“…This is stupid.”

“Do it anyway.”

They do.

Damian sits there, absolutely still.

Because this should not be working.

These are criminals.

They should not be calmly discussing motivations in a detention room like this is normal.

And yet—

No one is fighting.

No one is escalating.

For once, Gotham’s chaos is… contained.

Directed.

Almost manageable.

Damian finally interrupts.

“You are interfering with active criminal behavior.”

Danny looks at him. “Yeah.”

“That is not your role.”

“Maybe,” Danny says. “But it helps.”

“It is not sustainable.”

Danny shrugs. “Neither is what they’re doing now.”

Silence.

One of the rogues raises a hand slightly.

“…So what’s step two?”

Danny smiles.

“Glad you asked.”

By the time the teacher comes back, the room is empty.

Except for Danny and Damian.

The window is closed.

Everything looks normal.

“What happened here,” the teacher asks slowly.

Danny brightens. “Group discussion.”

Damian says nothing.

Because later that night, reports come in.

Fewer incidents.

Plans abandoned halfway through.

Rogues… hesitating.

Not stopping completely.

Just… reconsidering.

Damian finds Danny on the roof after school the next day.

“You are altering behavioral patterns,” he says.

Danny leans back on his hands. “I’m talking to people.”

“They are not people. They are threats.”

Danny looks at him, expression quieter than usual.

“They’re both.”

Damian doesn’t respond.

Because he doesn’t have a counter for that yet.

And that is deeply irritating.

[storieswritteninthesand]

[thatrandomsarahchick]

Damian starts benefiting from this therapy, too, and the batfam automatically assume that Danny is a new rogue with mind control powers.

[neverending-symphonia]

if i see another person basically go "but what if this character who is explicitly neutral nonbinary is actually just a binary trans egg because nonbinary people arent REALLY as trans as binary trans people im so woke actually" i will start killing people

[maidslime]

There is no actual, tangible reason why we allow people to starve, to be homeless, to suffer and die needlessly. Food is plentiful. Empty homes are plentiful. Medicine is plentiful. It’s hidden away behind constructs and we pretend those constructs mean something. There is an empty home and a homeless family, give them it. There is a sick child and common medicine to treat it, give it to them. There is a starving person and so much food wasted by corporations or hidden behind a dollar sign, feed them.

[nurseleonedeactivated-deactivat]

i think ppl would be a lot happier and better-adjusted on here if they realized that being online on a website is like being in any other casual public space full of people. if u walk into walmart u dont immediately think to yourself “i have to be friends with everyone in this walmart and if not everyone likes me i’m a failure” and u really shouldn’t feel that way online either. likewise if there’s a guy in the walmart parking lot shouting obscenities u probably wouldn’t answer him and that’s literally an exact equivalent to some of the weird stuff that people on here seem to feel they’re obligated to respond to.