Shir

They/them 🏳️‍🌈 This is mostly a D20 and Good Omens blog now but I’m not strict about it. Also, it’s really fucking gay.

[shirbird]

Here is an announcement that I have changed my blog name, just so you know.

[star-mom-selkie]

happy pride month

[brennan-lee-mother]

Simply cannot stop thinking about the fact that HJ and LaVonte are Sire and Childe and yet seem to have no hierarchy between them at all. HJ unquestionably treats LaVonte as his equal and LaVonte feels perfectly comfortable yelling at and physically assaulting HJ, both of which are kind of unthinkable under the social rules of the Camarilla. It’s LaVonte’s name first in Worthy and Wingstreet Industries. They are Sire and Childe but more importantly they are partners.

[patronsaint-ofmystery]

heartbreaking: your problematic power gap yaoi actually respect each other as equals

[itgetsbetter]

annual reminder that this is who pride is for:

❤️ those who are out & proud

🧡 those who aren’t out at all

💛 people still figuring it all out

💚 folks trying out new labels or terms

💙 people who have always known

💜 people who are just realizing

🩷 those out there being loud

🤍 those waiting until it’s safer

🩵 our elders who came before to pave the way

🤎 and youth making change right here, right now

we see you, you're valid, you belong here.

promise.

[cranberry-branflakes]

which heart did you get when you liked this post?

rainbow flag

lesbian flag

gay flag

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asexual flag

aromantic flag

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intersex flag

Remaining time: 3 days 16 hours

when reblogging, please add the pride tags I've included! if not, anybody liking your reblog will only see regular tumblr hearts :)

[liberalsarecool]

Billionaires lie. All the time.

[arcandoria-archived]

crossposting from bsky - glad I stopped using spotify when I did and that I unlinked it from my discord, but still

[ reddit thread | bsky post ]

[carby]

Everything after (and including!) the question mark is the identifier. Destroy it!

[sadhoc]

when I say autistic people can write poetry, I mean autistic people with higher support needs. I mean people whose poetry is written via symbol based AAC, who are putting cards with pictures and sight words on them in order to make something that has meaning to them, even if it doesn’t make sense to a neurotypical.

when I say autistic people can play baseball, I’m not talking about “this pro pitcher has a special interest” I’m talking about how the local little league team should take a chance on a nonspeaking kid with a care aide who comes with them to practice, so they get the experience of hanging out with friends and doing a group activity too.

when I say autistic people can date, I’m not talking about people who say they have “a touch of the ‘tism” on their hinge profile. I’m talking about the rights of adults in day programs to hold hands. The rights of institutionalized people to have sex. The rights of queer teens in life skills classes to get sex ed that applies to them.

you need to presume potential. You need to start from a place of “can.” You need to give autistic people the right to try.

[sadhoc]

#actually. I would LOVE to read poetry by nonverbal autistic folks. not entirely ops point but#I wanna see new and exciting art!!!

a couple recs!!!: mel baggs's poetry blog!!

archer jay doesn't have a separate poetry tag but does post poems occasionally ,

nonspeaker library is an entire archive of writing by nonspeaking autistics

not all the poets in this collection are nonspeaking but some are

[byjove]

everybody: you’ve got to advocate for yourself in medical settings!

medical professionals when a patient advocates for themselves in a medical setting (x100 if that patient is a part of any minority): damn. you’re a hypochondriac crazy bitch who has every mental illness and is seeking every narcotic in existence. that’s the only reason you’d be disappointed in the care you’re receiving here. in retaliation, we will be even less helpful and less sympathetic. our jobs are hard. people are dying. we don’t have time to deal with anyone who is slightly inconvenient for us.

[byjove]

Yeahhhhhh. Whenever someone comes online to speak about a negligent, discriminatory or extremely unprofessional and uncomfortable experience they had in a medical setting, medical professionals tend to swarm them just to remind them over and over again that their job is sooooooo hard and patients are soooooo mean to them and that there are soooooooo many sicker people, like the sicker patients aren’t also being humiliated and abused, like hospitals do not stabilize people and dump them back on the street to die, like deaths due to medical errors aren’t a major problem, like racism, ableism, classism and misogyny isn’t rampant in the medical system from the top down, perpetuated systemically and individually by providers. So many doctors and nurses hate to admit they’re wrong, they hate to admit they’re complacent, they hate to admit that their patients are all people, often having the worst day of their life.

[thememedaddy]

[grubarchived]

like people are just going to keep saying “theyre only queer because they want to be/because it gets them off/because they think it’s fun/because they saw a queer person and thought it sounded like a good idea/etc. theyre gonna keep saying it

and we are going to have to stop desperately scrambling to say noooo, they have to be like that, they have no choice, they wouldn’t be like this if they didnt have to. we HAVE to stop falling all over ourselves assuring straight people and transphobes that we hate being us as much as they hate us being us, that we are suffering and that’s why we deserve this decadence and deviancy. we HAVE to start saying “yeah ok and?”

being queer is a delight. deviant sex makes people really happy. being genderfucky is joyful. queerness CAN actually be an option you can choose, and that doesn’t make it worth less than if you only picked it with a gun to your head, because it is a good option and there are good reasons to pick it.

[elodieunderglass]

“They’re only queer because they want to be” nice! My identity is also self-constructed because I’m a human

[jmtorres]

frankly i hope straight people are straight because they think it’s fun and it makes them happy! the implication that one should not pursue happiness is so frustrating!

[lierdumoa]

Regina George voice: So you admit it! You admit that your homophobic ideology directly opposes the right to liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

[headspace-hotel]

In all seriousness tho as a cis woman, I am only a woman because I love being one.

[special-lucky-chosen-one]

I fucking hate it here

[some-sort-of-ecologist]

For those of you with android devices, you can use the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) standalone app control program to get rid of all the bloatware, data mining, and AI crap - no coding needed!

[d-e-w-p]

save

[clatterbane]

There are also Android-based alternatives like GrapheneOS and LineageOS, which are pretty easy to install. These are unfortunately available for a more limited range of devices (Graphene is ironically Pixel only, while Lineage supports more), but it's very worth checking out whether one of them might work for your phone.

GrapheneOS: the private and secure mobile OS

GrapheneOS is a security and privacy focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility.

LineageOS Android Distribution

Typing this from Graphene now, in fact. But, both of those take the Android Open Source Project, without all the bloatware--and largely de-Google the whole thing. They give you much more control over privacy and what the apps you choose to install can do and access on your phone.

I know Graphene sandboxes everything, including the optionally installed Google Play Services which a lot of apps unfortunately require to run. (Lineage uses an alternative to Play Services instead.) So, you can install what would normally be unacceptably intrusive apps and just lock them away from pulling any funny shit with your data, or phoning home. Including the couple of Google things I do still keep around.

I also prefer running much more transparent, privacy-respecting open source apps where possible. Besides the transparency, I'd rather avoid the shitty tech corps entirely where I can. There are pretty good alternatives available for a lot of the usual suspects.

AlternativeTo lets you find apps and software for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Android Tablets, Web Apps, Online, Windows Tab

An alternative app store:

F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy

[clatterbane]

Also just going to leave this here.

ReVanced

Continuing the legacy of Vanced.

GitHub - ReVanced/revanced-manager: 💊 Application to use ReVanced on Android

💊 Application to use ReVanced on Android . Contribute to ReVanced/revanced-manager development by creating an account on GitHub.

This lets you pretty easily patch some of the worst offender corporate apps to make them behave better.

[f4therlesssss]

this isn’t a “blog” we are having tea together. do you take sugar

[eizneckam]

i'm sorry but a lot of you guys need to be writing short stories.

[eizneckam]

"[x story type] but what if-" short story. come on man you should know that if your story is easily blurbed down to "interesting thing happens" that is not going to sustain a reader for 400-600 pages. a book is where you write an actual narrative, not a cool idea that came to you in the shower last night.

there's nothing wrong with writing a short story! there are lots of good short stories that revolve around Interesting Ideas. What if I was my own mother. What if fish people were real and also (evil) living in massachusetts. What if you were your own worst enemy, literally. lots of good short stories there, all at just the right length for a cool idea. no one is going to go see the feature-length adaptation of William Wilson though, because that's it. unless you add in a tragic backstory and a love interest and so on and unfortunately there are a lot of novels and movies running around out there that clearly were meant to be a short story before someone took them and stretched them to a silly length.

your short story doesn't even have to be short! herman melville wrote over 100 pages of a guy who hated his job so much he died of being a hater the end. good show, herman. thank you

novellas exist. you can write one. please. it's necessary for the land to survive

[eizneckam]

@justaflyintooka "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", by H.P. Lovecraft

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

You guys should also be reading short stories, they're like a lovely cool bottle of mineral water if mineral water was concentrated fucked-uppedness.

[crabussy]

hi trans kiwis and friends. if you haven't seen the news, they're trying to pass a frankly insidious bill in aotearoa to define the terms 'man' and 'woman' based on biological sex. this unsurprisingly reflects a lot of similar cruel efforts happening overseas at the moment. IT HASN'T PASSED YET, but I figured I should speak up about it because this is happening as we speak.

(screenshot from the linked RNZ article)

it seems very fucking bleak!!!! please don't lose hope! it hasn't passed yet and a lot of the shoddy bills suggested by the coalition have been shot down already. it's still worth knowing about. you don't have to share this post if you don't want to. I just know that a lot of my followers are kiwi. if there are any updates as to what we can do to push back against this, I'll make a relevant addition. kia kaha, okay? love you all.

[crabussy]

UPDATE: you can now very quickly and very easily submit a comment on the bill! these will be counted and considered in parliament.

it took me less than three minutes, and that's only because I wrote a whole paragraphs on why this is a stupid idea. all you really need to put is "don't pass this bill" if you want. it'll only take 30 seconds.

if you're able to and you want to, please consider reblogging! the more reach this gets, the better. thank you all so much [:

[leebrontide]

Ok so my kid had an ear infection, right? As kids often do.

The doctor scraped out a bit of earwax to have a better look inside.

I was sent a bill for $200 PER EAR for this 5 second procedure which I did not give permission for them to do.

That was key- they did not ASK me if they could do this "procedure". And, as I OWN a medical practice (it's me. The medical practice is me, sitting in my house on video calls) I knew to call them when this bill came in to be like "You did not obtain informed consent for this procedure, and it was not en emergency procedure. You had full ability to gain my consent and didn't. I'm not paying."

And the massive hospital who owned the bill said "yuh-huh you do have to pay."

And I said "I own a practice. I know these laws. I do not owe you money for this."

And they conducted an "internal review" and SURPRISE! Decided I totally owed them money and they had never done anything wrong ever.

And so I called my state's Attorney General office, and explained the situation because, as I mentioned, I know the law. The AG got in touch within a couple days to say they were taking the case and would send the massive hospital conglomerate a knock it off, guys letter.

Lo and Behold, today I have a letter where said hospital graciously has agreed to forfeit the payment.

"How not to get screwed over by companies" should be part of civics class.

Know your rights and know who to call when they're infringed on. This whole process cost me $0 and honestly less effort than I would have expected.

May this knowledge find its way to someone else who can use it.

[musefortheages]

This post is super cute and all but like.... This isn't practical advice. I called the AG???? And they got involved over a $200 bill. Maybe because you yourself are a medical practitioner. Not just your knowledge but also your status.

Civics class wouldn't help most people in this case because the AG will not take on all these cases and most people cannot afford an attorney in this instance or more importantly, the hit to their credit.

The issue is not education over the system, it is the system

[leebrontide]

I agree the system is a mess but I think education does matter because people seem not to know that this is actually perfectly routine AG office stuff. I’m not the only person who’s done this- this is just what they do?

Were they going to get into a lawsuit over my $400 bill? No obviously not. But they printed up a letter on fancy letterhead to say to stop and it worked. They followed up with me the next day to be sure, and so ask how much money they had saved me.

They use dinky cases like mine to track habitual misbehavior of large scale companies to build cases they could actually go to court over.

And because people are shocked- I never spoke to the AG of my state directly. He operates mainly by overseeing a whole crew of people. And this is what those people do.

This didn’t happen because I’m special because of my tiny therapy practice.

This happened because this is what the AG office is for.

“The problem is systemic” doesn’t mean “and there’s nothing you can do”.

This is a systemic problem but that doesn’t mean there are no resources to help.

[ktempestbradford]

Thank you for clapping back on this. I'm here to reinforce. Yes, you CAN call your state Attorney General office when an entity is doing something illegal, even if it's "only" for $400. You think they don't care a hospital is doing a crime because it's not a big enough crime?

Then you've been trained well by "The System".

Yes, that System you say can't be fought? Where did you get that idea, huh? Who taught you that "small" acts of illegality don't matter? Who made you think that there's no point in fighting back because it will all come to nothing?

Might it be the same entities that benefit if you believe all that?

Gonna pause and let you ponder.

Never. Ever. EVER.

EVER.

Let companies or corporations or hospitals or organizations or any business big or small get away with screwing you over without a fight. Maybe you personally don't win every fight, but you lose 100% of the time you don't try. You'll win more often than you think you will. I know cuz I've done it.

So have others. Attorneys General offices bring lawsuits against businesses all the time. They do so because citizens contacted them to say "someone is doing a crime" and the crime doers did not stop when told and got into way more trouble than if they'd just stopped. FAFO. The Find Out can't happen if you don't even bother to report the Fucking Around.

On that note, as OP said, please know your rights! And, in a situation where you don't but suspect something is hinky, ask! The people of the internet can help! So can librarians! So can many others. Find out what is and is not okay for them to do. If it's not okay, report them! See something, say something.

Don't let the System win by default.

Fight, damnit!

[themardia]

Additionally, pay attention to State Attorney elections! Here in Minnesota, our AG Keith Ellison has made it a POINT to go after slumlords, has created an entire UNIT in the AG office dedicated to wage theft, and gone after debt relief for people who were conned by those scummy fake universities. And despite MN being a blue state, one of his elections was a fucking NAIL-BITER.

Absolutely fight the system, absolutely go to your AG office if you’re being screwed over, and also pay attention to the people running for AG in the first place.

[sabra-n]

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people only works if the people make it work. That's you! You're the people.

"Don't bother doing anything because nothing will happen" confused cause with effect: it's really "Nothing will happen if you don't bother doing anything." Yeah, I know, it's a travesty that they don't hand you psychic powers when you take your oath as a civil servant, but until we fix that clear defect in our democracy: you're serving the public, too, when you report fuckers like this.

[ktempestbradford]

Not gonna leave this in the tags:

[mxlabradorite]

Suspicion of The System™️ is one of the ways The System™️ perpetuates itself.

If you believe The System™️ is only for Them™️ and not you, it will only ever be so.

Know the rules so you can make them work for you. Or better, how to break them in ways that hurt The System™️ and help you.

[pineapplesquid]

It’s a little bigger than $400, but this week’s newsletter from NC’s AG (I get them for reasons even though I don’t like there anymore) was about a case that’s being brought because a photography business swindled hundreds of couples getting married, and enough of them complained to the AG’s office to get them to do a larger investigation. They can help with isolated smaller problems, and also sometimes it turns out that it’s not actually an isolated problem and they can handle that too.

[redstonedust]

i do find the rules around clothes fascinating because of how made up it all is. we invented the idea of covering our bodies from the elements because we lack fur like other mammals and then made up all these rules around it and now people will unironically tell you "men cant wear skirts its unnatural" girl none of this is natural. we are born naked and made up the rest as we went along. hope this helps.