wanted all my horses in one basket, as it were

Homo Sapiens boy together again with his Neanderthal girl on the first warm day of Spring

The ship's mascot, a Persian kitten, finds a quiet spot in a special hammock. Aboard HM Indian Sloop Godavari, August 1943

Remember that the calls for the national guard to intervene are calls to use state violence against Palestinian, Jewish, Arab, Muslim and other pro-Palestine students. They’re calling for deadly violence against Jews in the name of “anti-antisemitism.”

you're going about your normal day when, suddenly, surprise! you've been pokémon mystery dungeon'd!

unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the pokémon assigning quiz has been canceled. instead, you must spin THE WHEEL, assigning you a random, unevolved, non-legendary and non-mythical pokémon. you must now go on some sort of world-saving adventure as this pokémon. good luck!

tell me in the tags what you rolled, and how you feel about it - for bonus points, you can spin the wheel again for (or just take your pick of) a pokémon to be your partner.

bonus rules:

you're not shiny unless the wheel tells you you're shiny

take your pick of regional forms and evolutions (for example, if you roll vulpix, it's up to you whether that means normal or alolan vulpix)

apply whatever logic you like with regards to gender

have fun and be yourself!

Free serotonin from Honey thr Italian greyhound

I love how in so many fantasy series, especially those for girls, we’re told that selfishness is wrong and shit and it’s written as a character flaw, and usually given whole arcs of why with this moral that’s treated like taking a sledgehammer to the face.

And then there’s Discworld where PTerry goes “yeah but nah” and has Tiffany Aching explicitly turn selfishness into a weapon to defeat an Eldritch Fae Queen.

It seems small and trivial, but really think of whom the Tiffany Aching books are aimed at, and just let that sink in.

In a society where young girls are still being socialised to live according to certain “good” traits of femininity decided by patriarchal values, Pterry literally tells you that it’s okay to fucking be selfish, makes it’s a positive thing, makes it a power.

Just let that sink in.

I attended a conference on activism this week (with a specific group, but I figure it's better to keep it vague when posting online). The organizing board led a structured Q&A session where one of them (an elderly black lady) happened to mention she'd been arrested during a protest before. When they opened the floor to questions from the audience, I got the first question, and I asked "So what's it like to be arrested?"

I was genuinely curious. I haven't found myself in that position through my activism yet, but I figure I might in the future.

She said, "Oh it's all planned" and then went on to detail how she and many other members had been through a specific training on being arrested during activism, that they each left for every protest with $50 and the business card of the organization's lawyer, and that they predetermine who is going to be arrested before they go out.

Another member then explained that when they protest in D.C. at the Capitol, the Capitol police are very used to this, so there's basically this theatrical performance that takes place where they protest; the Capitol police show up and warn them that if they continue, they will be arrested; the people who are not predetermined to be arrested leave; and the remaining people wait for the police to come back, handcuff them, and lead them out of the building. It makes the headlines, they go to jail, and then they get let right back out same day.

This is something that I knew happens, but I left with the impression that a large percentage of the people you see getting arrested in activism went out with the intent to have that happen. Additionally, the board members are all volunteers, so some have day jobs. They predetermine who is going to be arrested basically based on whose life will and won't be wrecked by it. The board members with serious jobs that would fire them if they found out they were arrested at a protest are never in the arrest pool. The elderly black lady who was speaking is retired, so an arrest record can't really do anything to her, therefore she's always in the arrest pool.

Side note: They also told us about a member in a powered wheelchair who tries to get herself arrested at every event just because the police don't know what to do. When last did you see a cop car that could take a person in an electric wheelchair? I find that hilarious.

Long story short, some people you see at protests really are risking it all, but there's also a significant portion of people who are literally trained in being arrested at a protest, so if you've ever felt bad for fearing what a police record could do to your life, just know that that's a legitimate concern that large organizations take into account when deciding who to place in conflict with police. Also know that you don't have to completely wing being arrested at a protest if that's something you're willing to do; you can seek out an organization that will offer you training and backing in exchange for your willingness to be arrested for publicity.

I like these guys

I’ll never forget the time I was sitting with this guy, nice kid, didn’t know him well, I think we must have had a bottle of wine or some questionable hashish or something, and in response to an awkward silence I just started talking and ended up going on a long meandering rant about how ugly American robins are. I’m talking a full monologue. I had an intro and conclusion. It was pointlessly vehement. I have never been so mean or loquacious about anything in my life.

Consider my horror when this perfectly nice guy wordlessly lifted his shirt to reveal a full-torso prismacolor tattoo of his spiritual soul animal, the American robin.

i see no difference, love is love