#and the people they have emboldened

[bloobluebloo]

That last post just has me thinking of how so many countries who enshrine free speech in their constitutions have banned protests for Palestine, how posts circulate about hiding your identity if you do choose to attend protests and let your voice be heard because that could be used to arrest you, that voicing support for Palestine can end up with termination of employment, that people who gather their wit and attend rallies to demand ceasefire are dragged away by security, that our phonecalls and petitions and letters feel like they’ve gone relatively unanswered as our politicians and corporations continue to voice support for Israhell while their crimes become more blatant and cruel and undeniable in their nature. This is what our ruling governments look like. Is this freedom or do most of us simply exist in a state where we aren’t in the direct line of fire when it comes to these governments and their dysfunctional policies, where we can ignore it enough and hope that voting in progressive candidates into this oppressive system that has been built on years of shedding blood and promoting violence will somehow change it for the better?

#admiral’s log #it just feels unfathomable to think that #in its current state that things can be turned around #it feels like most governments are falling deeper into fascism #with the sort of candidates being put up #and the people they have emboldened #i don’t know man

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

To the newly out nonbinary kids who are worried they’re not trans enough and aren’t sure you’ll be able to confidently refer to yourself as trans: give it time. one day you’ll be shouting off the rooftops that you love being transgender and you’re not even sure if that’s the first time you’ve ever even said it

#yes that was me #im like shocked that i ever really struggled with that #thats what happens when cis people smack you down over and over. you become emboldened and determined #your trans friends and loved ones help you feel worthy enough #those silly insults and attempts at gotchas flow off of you like water #we’re the strongest mfs alive and they have no idea #yes even if you dont decide to transition whatsoever you’ll gain the strength and courage to call yourself trans

[bleue-flora]

Yo! Just noticed it’s the anniversary of when I finished my second fanfic Dreamcatcher, which is the work I actually started to lean into writing fanfiction (since my first work I really just wrote for myself before being encouraged to share it).

So, in honor of that, here is some of the original second nightmare which was actually written from Dream’s pov before I ended up changing it to Punz’s.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Referenced Torture, Blood, Death, Injuries, Profanity.

Dream is wet and panting, in a puddle of watery red flowing into an equally crimson pond to his side, where the non diluted liquid gets thicker.

There’s white fur stuck in it as the body of a dog, slashed to bits lies there next to him. Both sitting in the despairing silence of the box.

Tears form in the corners of his eyes and his vision gets blurry, but he doesn’t let them fall. He just exhales.

Why does everything die around him? Why does everything he dare to care a smidge about get taken from him?

As if to follow his thoughts, the white turns to black. The fluffy bloodied dog shifts into a cat that’s long since stopped breathing. Dream turns his head, and faintly smirks at the sight of the additional body sprawled out on the floor next to him.

He mutters to the corpse under his breath, rolling his eyes, “To be fair, you were being a bitch. Like don’t blame me, you know you d—deserved it… I mean I lasted like—how long before beating your head in? That’s pretty impressive—pretty fucking impressive, you know.”

Tommy’s unmoving body doesn’t respond, just stays there, unmoving and uncharacteristically quiet. His face swollen and bruised, not unlike the innocent cat he beat to death.

Then his body evaporates and Dream finds himself in a new room, accented with black walls and bedrock. It’s detail is perfectly ominous like he wanted.

He’s kneeling, unguarded by armor with an audience of people surrounding him. His heart beats rapidly threatening to burst out of his chest at the danger. But he ignores it.

Indignant, Tommy rips off the mask that always covers his face. Exposing his pale skin to the cool air and the venomously judging faces.

Despite the frustration at his denial of privacy, he doesn’t so much as dignify it with a flinch. It was expected. He was ready. He’s not about to show weakness in front of a crowd.

They are silent as the axe lands, and lands again before lady death finally embraces him.

They are silent as the sword finds its place in his chest and he falls to the ground, bleeding out into the cold stone beneath him.

It’s ok. He knew this would happen. It was expected, it was planned. He didn’t know they’d kill him twice, but it’s fine.

On one life, he makes his way back down with sharp pain running through his veins. Somehow it seems duller than the pain in the prison cell, though it can’t have been less excruciating.

Tommy once again stands above him savagely firing arrows away. As they pierce his flesh and bone, he searches the cold faces around him and listens intently, hoping to hear one sound of objection to his approaching final death.

Surely, someone will say something, right? Surely, someone will oppose his final death, right? Surely, they woundn’t let Tommy kill him off in cold blood. Would they?

But there’s nothing from them. Absolutely nothing. Standing there, dripping in blood, he feels his heart entirely disintegrate into nothing. Leaving only a hollow emptiness in its wake.

Then suddenly he’s freezing from more than just death and despondency. He’s surrounded by ice. Their pillars, tall and sharp, casting the land in a pointed terrain. Despite the bone chilling air and his frozen insides, he stands, planted to the ground, looking at a sign pinned to the glacier. The wood marking the death of his parrot that travelled so far only to die there.

A deep sigh is released from his lungs and the scene smears into broad strokes of colors. Until a well known bleak room encases him in lava and obsidian again.

Sitting there with nothing but the annoying sounds of the prison to keep him company, he wonders if he’s always destined to lose everything. Was it always going to end up like this? Was he always going to end up alone?

#I swear I do plan on expanding this work into a series… I can’t believe it’s been a year and I still haven’t posted any of related fics… oof #blame bad and techno for claiming me attention lol… anyways I do have lots written so it’s coming… :) #leftovers #c!dream #thank y’all so much for your support. kind words. and for encouraging me to write more and making me feel safe to do so and share it. <3 #writing has been really good for my mental health this past year and not only being allowed to do so #but having people enjoy it has been really really healing for me so thank you so much <3 <3 #thanks for being the first fandom that emboldened me to write fanfic <3 #dreamcatcher #dsmp #dreblr #dsmp dream #for real though… I could have written such good arrow and supernatural and maybe even Loki fanfic if I’d know fandoms could be so supportiv #(and that fanfic isn’t just about ships… XD) #dream smp #dsmp fanfic

[txttletale]

i'm not really interested in doing performative penance on Blogging Website but there are two incidents in the last couple months where things i said provided a platform to and vessel for ableism and antiblackness and i do very much regret that. would like to be clear that i am sorry to @loki-zen for directing a bunch of ableism their way with a snappy and ill considered reply a couple months ago and in more recent terms i'm really sorry to all the Black women who i replied to with entirely unjustifiable condescension and more broadly for that entire shitty post and how it ended up being a platform for people to accuse Black women who disagree with them of being psyops. am not asking for nor do i particularly need forgiveness from anyone involved--just felt the need to express this clearly for integrity's sake.

#tattletxt #not interested in relitigating either of these discourses #but have for a while now found it regrettable that i approached conversations in a way that resulted #in people feeling emboldened in their bigotry #if you know what posts im referring to you know! and if you dont i aint digging em up

[coccolithophore]

if someone asks if i have a boyfriend or implies that im straight in anyway my mom just has to declare "she's actually dating a GIRL!!!!! they're very happy together! i support her and her they/them girlfriend! my daughter is OUT AND PROUD!" lmao mom it's fine

#i don't need this random old man to know i'm having lesbian sex #really the only time i clarify is if the other person is gay/trans and i wanna be like hey ur cool #even if a guy hits on me i just say i'm taken i'd rather they don't know im gay tbh it sometimes Emboldens them #me and my beefcake husband jason who likes to punch peoples faces #kiwi.txt

[bitchthefuck1]

We as a society need to acknowledge the psychological toll of being the only woman in a friend group willing to argue back when the guys start saying sexist shit. I deserve financial compensation.

#I'm out here in the trenches with zero backup and the only prize i get is a text from a girlfriend after the fact saying i was right but she #didn't have the energy to argue it #someone give me a fucking medal #like in any other context I'd straight up stop hanging out with these people but i can't for Reasons so instead every few months i have to #undergo psychological terrorism over a group meal #it has actually been such a good demonstration of how men will prioritize patriarchal alliance over anything else bc this is a group of #people ive known for years and that i see weekly and the way they will throw me under the fucking bus to agree with a random guy someone #invited that none of them actually know is genuinely insane. good to know exactly how little you value me as an individual 👍 #actually tho I can't describe to you how fucking depressing it is to watch a male friend say something lightly misogynistic and then when #you provide the slightest bit of pushback they just all start to join in and double down and then because none of your other female friends #are willing to speak out they start to get more emboldened and the situation spirals a bit and you're literally standing there getting #dogged on as you're forced to confront the fact that on a fundamental level they dont see you as a real person

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

i find conversations around palestine hard to navigate because often people will say that showing support for the people of palestine is anti-semitic and use really inflammatory language and then its difficult to move on from, do you have any advice?

I have thoughts and I hope they are useful. There is an underlying logic to what I'm suggesting - that I think might be useful to make explicit - because it's transferable to other situations. First of all figure out what your political purpose is - and then acknowledge that some of the things you are trying to do are hard and will take effort and you can't rely on your automatic instincts.

I should also say that I'm white and not Jewish and live in New Zealand. This advice is for someone who is also personally distant from Palestine in those ways - and may not be useful for you if you are in a very different situation.

The first step is to not be anti-semitic. This may mean you need to learn more about anti-semitism than you already know. You can't rely on thinking "I am not anti-semitic in my heart and therefore I can't be anti-semitic". Our culture has a lot of anti-semitic tropes that you may have learned without understanding. Do the work of unlearning anti-semitism. The best place to learn about is from Jewish people involved in Palestinian, but if you don't have access. Don't dismiss the possibility that you might be anti-semitic - take it seriously - but know enough that you can easily identify accusations of anti-semitism that you disagree with politically, or that aren't made in good faith.

I think it's worth understanding that not being anti-semitic is important not just morally or in an abstract sense, but that anti-semitism does active harm to the political project of building a Palestine solidarity movement in New Zealand (or anywhere else I've lived) I've always found this piece by Naomi Klein a touchstone

Then I think it's important to start with why you might want to talk about Palestine. I think understanding the political purpose of what you are trying to do. Sometimes the point will be to organise - but in that case you're probably not starting from scratch (organising rarely begins with an argument). But in the type of situation you are talking about - a place where there is hostility - I think the purpose is to legitimise Palestinian solidarity.

Huge resources and power are put into delegitimising Palestianian solidarity - it's always true and has become more clear than ever. Equating Palestinian solidarity with anti-semitism is a significant part of that.

The only way to fight this is to actively promote Palestinian Solidarity without anti-semitism - particularly in spaces where there is hostility and inflammatory. You won't necessarily win the argument - you're not going to undo everyone else's beliefs by the power of your argument. But what you can do is take a small step to insist on the legitimacy of Palestinian solidarity in the space you are in.

If people call you antisemitic for showing solidarity with Palestine and you disagree with them politically or think they're not made in good faith - it is absolutely crucial that you do not get distracted by that. Your purpose is to fight efforts to delegitimise Palestine - not to win arguments about what is anti-semitic and what isn't. The importance of not engaging may be counter-intuitive - they are arguing that solidarity with Palestinian liberation is delegitimate because it's anti-semitic - if you prove that they're wrong then aren't you legitimising solidarity with Palestine?

But in reality you're not - because you don't win arguments. Instead they are taking you away from your goal of showing that you think solidarity with Palestine is legitimate to arguing over whether or not solidarity with Palestine is legitimate - which is a much weaker position.

That sounds easy, but of course it's not. It can be very distressing to have someone call you anti-semitic - when you think that you're not and you believe that anti-semitism is wrong. And what solidarity demands in this moment is that you deprioritise that distress and do not act on it in a political way (although you can and should process it personally in non-political spaces way away from all of this).

If non-Jewish non-Palestinian people who were intending to offer solidarity go into a reactive space when they're accused of anti-semitism - and prioritise their feelings about being called anti-semitism - over the solidarity they were giving they can do incredible harm.

It's a horrific to watch genocide and to be so powerless, but it's all the more reason to focus on what you can do. Show your solidarity, don't get distracted from showing your solidarity.

#I have seen first hand #the damage that people who were not able to take a step back from their personal reaction did #and they contributed to the current environment in the UK #which emboldens Israel #and contributed to the side of barbarism over socialism

[corbinite]

it's mindnumbing to me that everyone has already decided that they're gonna let Biden win the primaries and aren't even considering a possibility where he doesn't win even after his approval ratings have fallen to some of the lowest levels for any president in history. We're all having these debates about whether we should vote for him in the general to keep trump out or if we should abstain but like why are we even jumping to that??? Vote Williamson in the primaries. We're all doing that way right? RIGHT??? You wanna talk about lesser of two evils but aren't even considering the candidate that at least supports SOME sort of ceasefire? (yes even though it is severely lacking) Stop playing the same strategy the democratic party has been playing for decades. Stop just assuming that the centrist borderline republican is the only electable candidate in the democratic party, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

#mine #I know I'm screaming into the void right now but it's so bizarre to me that every conversation I've had about this #so many people have already resigned to 'well trump will still be worse so I guess I'm voting biden' #CROSS THAT BRIDGE WHEN WE GET TO IT WE'RE NOT AT THE GENERAL YET #I'm not ignorant I know that the primaries probably won't go how I want them to #but we're not even gonna try? #it's like people are afraid of speaking against biden during the primaries because they fear it'll embolden trump during the general #like I try to talk about how we can't vote for biden and need to vote for a real progressive or at least the closest thing we have #and biden is NOT the closest thing we have even in this shithole of an election #and the conversation still keeps coming back around to trump #ignore trump! #he's not in the fucking democratic primaries! #he is not a factor in this moment #deal with the decision we have right in front of us right now stop getting distracted

[thebendsbyradiohead]

the thing about racist liberals is that they genuinely believe in the "exceptional immigrant" myth. like if you are somehow skilled enough, proficient in a language, white enough, christian enough, meek enough, that that will save you from fascism. even if history shows time and time again that it won't.

"but that anti-immigrant rethoric is not about you! it's about the uneducated muslims on social welfare" okay and when they get rid of those, they will get rid of muslims that aren't on welfare, and when they're rid of them they will turn to the jews, and when they're rid of them they will turn to slavs/eastern europeans because lbr after all this time we're still subhuman to them, and they won't stop until everyone looks and behaves like them

like this rhetoric is not based on anything rational, so to assume you somehow get to be an exception is a fool's errand from the start. those racists against immigration aren't thinking of who's picking their tomatoes, packing their packages, and delivering their takeout. people without whom their society will quite literally collapse. they're thinking of everyone who is not "theirs", who looks and sounds different, and blaming them for taking their housing and jobs. jobs they don't even fucking want or they'd be doing them instead of having to ship in immigrants! there is absolutely no viewpoint from which this rhetoric is grounded in reality and yet i have to entertain it as if our collective humanity is not on the line

#i quite literally wouldn't have this job if it weren't for immigrants #i'm almost positive that a dutch supervisor wouldn't be as understanding of my lack of proficiency preference for WFH #& general lack of participation into company culture #i've seen how my immigrant friends get treated by their dutch bosses. they're tolerant at best & deliberately difficult at worst #they fucking promoted a dutch guy over my friend just so they could fire her & avoid legal repercussions for discrimination lmao #& i'm supposed to not care that these people might get emboldened & my life might fall into their hands someday? ok #lina laments.txt

[vacant2007]

i never do anything with love when i get it

#i desperately need it but something always makes me stop when i receive it and have the option of responding positively so that i can #receive more of it #and even the people im closest to rn. the only thing that emboldens me to get that way w them is the idea that we might never meet irl #i want so much to be excited by the idea of doing that but instead it just scares the shit out of me #and im always shocked to realize people have anything other than neutral or negative emotions about me but my brain always convinces me #that it doesnt matter or that they wouldnt continue feeling that way if they knew me better #love is just so fucking scary. i fixate on its ability to destroy or enslave #in searching for happiness i could ruin my entire life i could get myself killed or worse i could be trapped in misery forever #and everything that allows me to respect myself and know myself would be traded away for the sake of it #love is uncertain and claustrophobic and terrifying and love has the power to kill and maim but love is also necessary to stay alive. #what do i do with this. #cw vent #cw negative

[space-mist]

i want to be a part of this group in a brc server im in that has cool dot exe ocs bc i have one and i want to interact with them but. they seem kinda exclusive and ogh i could never work up the courage to ask

#shut up starly #i mean its fine for people to have their cliques but i just wish i was emboldened to post abt mine #i want my shitass nerd to be in a group and rp too but i dont know how to ask. #the rp threads in the server have been dead for over a month bc they have an exclusive group #and i wanna rp! but everyones fucked off and i dont know if its right to ask or if theyd care #uuuugh im just getting upset over something i dont make a good enough effort to participate in

[llycaons]

there's a lot of commentary on the...disneyfication I guess of art, and how unique indie works get swallowed up and genericized for profit. the play on stupid side character creatures could have been right from any kids movie trailer. that being said the way they handled the problem of nazis in their game was stupid as fuck

#'just isolate them to their own server' giving white supremacist a platform and making them think they're welcomed #is empowering them to act on their beliefs in real life. fucking idiots. #their game only works if these people never do anything in their lives besides the game #fascists are emboldened if they have no pushback! #mq lb

[troublcmakcrs]

//i saw poly art of craig being shipped with both tweek & thomas (of the tourettes fame) and i'm like. what if we cut out the middle man and get rid of craig this arrangement? :3c

#misc :: ( ooc ) #//specifically i have been thinking about metro tweek & thomas #//whom i have taken to calling tom or tommy to differentiate him from Craig's Dad #//DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH FEAR I FELT SEEING CRAIG X THOMAS IN GOOGLE SEARCH SUGGEST #//clicked on it out of morbid curiosity like. what kinda shit is this- #//breathed a huge sigh of relief when i found out it was Lil Guy Thomas not Craig's Dad Thomas #//anyway altho i have been thinking of metro tom/tweeks #//with the two of them both having a great distrust of other people #//since tom's mom gets murdered by other humans and he too lowkey sees humans as the real monsters instead of the mutants #//(not as bad as tweek is about it tho) #//but they're like we only have each other that's it. oh and the dark ones. but thas it #//LET ME KISS THOSE RADIATION BURNS AWAYYYY 🎶 #//anyway even tho i have been on my metro brainrot they're good in all verses tbh #//main verse tweek & tom would be soooo lowgrade cunty to everyone around them #//like they're fucking sick of you people #//and they're emboldened by each other to actually say something about it lol #//just a couple of lil dudes against the ableism of the world at large #//they probably come together via agreeing with the other's bitching and then figure out that they have nicer stuff in common from there #//i don't always ship but when i do it's with myself apparently HDKSHSKS

[susansontag]

the truth is that licorice pizza does glorify pedophilia and that’s hardly a ‘snowflake’ viewpoint, it’s a fair appraisal of a specific aspect of the film. perhaps the real conversation is that not everything must be moral in fiction however and that there are many more deeply disgusting, disturbing depictions of pedophilic relationships in media that truly make the stomach churn than whatever shit was happening in a quirky 70s nostalgia movie that’s pretty subpar to begin with. like yes people aren’t going to find it so totally unacceptable when what they’re watching in reality is two adult actors being dramatic, it’s simply not going to be a proper reflection of how predatory relationships look irl. they could have said the guy was 20 and the film would barely change is my point. I guess you can be angry that it’s not an accurate reflection and feel like that’s unacceptable, sure. but like aren’t we caring too much about this film at that point

#the people calling for censorship probably have no issue with like. sailor moon or something lol #but at the same time we now have these annoying men who truly see nothing wrong #with a 15 and 25 yr old in a relationship and they're emboldened to share this view in public #;_; #moth.txt

[david-watts]

had to stop watching the referendum coverage because 1. nobody understands the constitution 2. and instead of actually campaigning for or against they made up strawmen to get angry about which 3. results in the most inconsistent statements going live on the national broadcaster. yet alone being used as justification to halt any progress because it's not good enough in regards to where we as a country SHOULD be but we're not at yet

#I am so angry. #people are asking for truth-telling and action and yet when the chance for that comes along it's all #'what about truth-telling and action' #is the first second of eternity analogy appropriate here. #a bird sharpens its beak every day on a mountain made of diamond and when the bird has chipped away the entire mountain #the first second of eternity shall have passed #progress is like that. the is the bird sharpening its beak. #and I feel like this whole thing has been someone shooing away the bird because they're waiting for a jackhammer #which may take far longer than the amount of progress it would make compared to the bird #like yeah. the referendum was kinda a bad idea because it has emboldened racists but y'know #considering that the last few advisory bodies were all removed because the legislation was repealed #and usually not for much more than silly labor vs liberals tit for tat #why not constitutionally enshrine the voice! it's not like it's the end all be all

[tiercel]

I love that tumblr has virtually no moderation system because I may not be able to report people and expect something to happen but I can sure talk about how much I want those people dead

#Not to be violent at 10 in the morning but also I am a firm believer in violence for violence 👍 #Like no offense but I think all of these people who enabled Recent Event to happen and are celebrating it do not deserve to breathe my air #It's never been about 'political opinion' it is full on eradication of those that deviate from the norm #If you feel so emboldened to call for more violence upon a minority you should absolutely expect to have that violence enacted on you #Because when it happens to us its funny. But when youre on the receiving end suddenly its a threat and its scary and you dont feel safe Lol #Republican hypocrisy continues to corrupt people. They seriously have lost the ability to empathize with other human beings #And personally? You shouldnt be part of society if you watch vulnerable people die and have the soullessness to laugh