And I Will Continue To Make Fucking Noise About The Fact Our Representation Is Disappearing Rapidly During

So that's what you really think of me. Is that what he thinks, too?

Last night I had a dream where instead of the usual unrelated next game Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door got a direct sequel.

It was called Paper Mario Knights, you started the game with all your companions from ttyd only for Koops to become your sole companion for the game after becoming a knight and getting armor.

Now the most important part of this is that everyone was freaking out and playing this game because, apparently, Luigi became 'INCREDIBLY' attractive. (Not that he wasn't attractive before, but he apparently 'evolved' here) I say apparently because I was still in the prologue and therefore did not get to see what my subconscious thinks 'INCREDIBLY' attractive Luigi is.

if you're waking up like me thinking "where do we even go from here?"

you:

build community & involve yourself locally

learn self sustainability skills

choose kindness

protect others & yourself

join or build a mutual aid group and/or network

find time for small joys (the arts, cooking a meal you love, spending time with loved ones, etc.)

Activism is not cold-calling.

Activism is not cold-calling, and this is critically important to understand.

I'm seeing a lot of posts on here about 'building bridges' and 'finding community,' and then (extremely valid) response posts saying "BUT HOW??" And I'm going to explain something that can be very counter-intuitive: there is strategy involved in community.

As a longtime volunteer labour organizer, I’ve taken and taught many trainings on the strategy of talking. Something that surprises a lot of people is the very first thing you do in a union campaign. You sit down with your organizing committee, take out pen and paper, and literally map it out. You draw a physical map of the workplace: where are the entrances, exits, break rooms, supervisor offices. Essentially, ‘where is it safe to have a union conversation.’ Then you draw another physical chart of your coworkers. You sort out who is union-friendly, openly hostile to unions, or somewhere in the middle, and then you plan out very deliberately and carefully who talks to whom and in what order.

Consider: If Vocally Leftist Jane walks up to Conservative David and says "hey what do you think about unions," David is going to shut down immediately. He's not inclined to listen to Jane. But if Jane talks to Moderate Jason and brings him into the fold, then Jason is a far more effective strategic choice to talk to David, and David may actually hear him out without an instant reaction.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: If Conservative David turns out to be Alt-Right David, and could be dangerous to follow organizers, we write him off. We are not trying to reach Alt-Right David. We are trying to reach Conservative David, who may actually be persuaded to find solidarity with other employees as fellow workers. Jason is a safe scout to find out which one he is. It does no one any good if Leftist Jane (or even Moderate Jane who is a visible minority) talks to Alt-Right David and puts herself on his radar. Not only has she done nothing to convince Alt-Right David to join a union - she's probably actively turned him against the idea - but now she's also in danger and the entire campaign is at risk. NOBODY WANTS THIS. Jane was NOT a hero for doing this. The organizing committee was foolish and enacted a terrible strategy to everyone's detriment.

Where you can make a difference is with people who will listen to you. You having a conversation with your well-meaning but clueless Centrist Democrat Auntie, and maybe gently helping her understand some things the media has been glossing over, is way more strategically useful than you marching up to MAGA Neighbour You've Met Once and trying to "build community" or "understand" them. They don't care. They're impervious, dangerous, and cruel. But maybe your beloved auntie will think about what you said, and then talk to her friend Anna who IDs as "fiscally conservative" but didn't vote because she can't bring herself to get on board with Trump. Then perhaps Anna talks to her brother Nic who has MAGA leanings but isn't all the way there yet. Proto-MAGA Nic would not have listened to you, nor would he have listened to Centrist Democrat Auntie, but he might absorb some of what his sister is saying.

This is not a cop-out or an echo chamber. This is you spending your time and energy strategically and safely. You are not a useful activist to anyone if you’re dead. Anyone who is telling you to hurl yourself directly at MAGA assholes like cannon fodder has no understanding of the strategy behind community building, and you should feel comfortable writing them off.

Last point: If you are tired, emotionally devastated, and/or in danger: take a break. This post is for people who would feel better jumping into action, not for people who are too overwhelmed to even think about it right now. You are worth so much even if you’re not actively Doing Activism, and your rest is worth more than “a break period so you can recharge and Do More Activism.” We all deserve the individual dignity of being worthy of comfort, rest & safety just on the basis of being human, outside of whatever we're doing for others' benefit. To deny ourselves that dignity is to devalue ourselves, and that’s the absolute last thing any of us should be doing right now.

Please reblog for larger sample size :)

maybe, if we had met on a fateful summer's evening...

⚠ This Blog contains no artifacts of any ill property or kind ⚠

⚠ Artifact seekers move forward as there is no gains for you here ⚠

p2 of the thieves as crepes

feeling the need to post again about this. i'm standing with every single person who is protesting for palestine right now. especially all the people at these universities setting up encampments and having guns and police brigades pointed towards them. these are PEACEFUL protests and should not be threatened with tear gas, force, or even snipers pointed at them. palestine needs our voices more than ever. we're nearing 50K marytered palestinians when there shouldn't have even been 1.

if you personally cannot protest in public for whatever reason it may be, at least voice your support for protesters who are and also voice your support for palestinians. they need your voice. their voices are getting silences constantly online whether through suppression or the IOF marytering them along with everyone else.

i stand with every palestinian in the world. i stand with every protester in the world speaking for palestinians.

FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE!!!!!