#and are just fine with it

[ylkcheeeks]

So here’s a take which I think is downright tepid yet still am deliberately putting here instead of FB on account of boomer relatives likely making themselves annoying!

If anyone actually believed that it is a few bad apples and cops as a whole are mostly good family men invested in protecting all citizens in the area they serve out of a sense of civic duty- you know, your basic copaganda fairytale- all you have to do is look at what the police themselves do to see it ain’t so.

like, ok, we know by now that Uncle Politics Guy and Karenus Bluelinea ignore any statistics which don’t suit them and will whip out special pleading every time there’s another incident where a cop brutalizes or murders someone unless there’s a oner showing the whole thing, in which case there’s one of the bad apples.

So in their view of the world, most cops are good guys with guns and a few totally different people slip through. They also can see that a huge swath of the population does not trust cops and judges the incidents they say are fine a lot more harshly. We know they know this due to the way such folks will bring up how hard it must be for heroic innocent good guy cops to be subject to such vitriol. So, to recap, cops are mostly good, and there’s a loud and growing public sentiment they are not, damaging their PR and morale.

What would be the logical response for the cops in such a scenario? Probably to take steps towards:

Removing the Bad Cops, not just when they do something egregious and the public outcry is so loud they are forced to act, but as a preventative measure because they are Good Cops who Want to Protect People Actually- it would really hurt morale even more to keep one of the guys ruining it for everyone else around!

Retraining the Kinda Bad Cops; to the degree that there might be some Bad Apples who Totally Still Deserve a Chance, it would also be in the interest of a culture predominantly populated by civic minded people to make sure all their members are upholding the law, not just because it is their job, but because they’re Good Cops who Care.

Of course sharing PR which directly addresses the people who are upset; whether the perceptions are reasonable and realistic or awful mean liberal bullying of the poor innocent cops, the public clearly no longer trusts the police. That’s a big issue for how police are supposed to function, so you would expect to see campaigns that directly address that loss of trust. Probably something that tells the public about the strides above, maybe even cite some sort of external oversight or study that shows their particular department is so full of very good cops who never get violent with the citizens they are sworn to protect.

But, I know this is not a shock to anyone who follows me, that is not what we seen happening with police departments across the US (in the specific only because I can’t speak to other countries’ cops). What do we see?

Cops who have been a repeated and expensive problem for their department get promotions and often their pattern of misconduct only comes to light when they finally are caught murdering or brutalizing someone and gain national attention.

Cops who have done things which would get them fired from any other job, who are not disciplined at all or who are put on desk duty until attention dies down.

Cops who show a clear disregard for human life, from laughing at the “low value” of a young woman brutally killed by an on-duty officer, to writing up reports in which a victim they judge as undesirable (usually sex workers, PoC, unhoused people, and other demographics who are overall subject to discrimination) as having “no human involved”

Cops making fun of, blowing off, and showing extreme resistance to any professional development which challenges bias or otherwise overlaps with DEAI training.

Cops who do try to bring attention to injustice within their department being stymied, intimidated, and (special shout-out to the NYPD) subject to involuntary commitment to shut them up which is subsequently memorialized as a full color enamel challenge coin showing a rat in a straight jacket. Oh and can’t forget the more recent incident where they beat one of their own to death “accidentally” during a “training exercises” like an extra fucked up sparagmos.

Cops who are high ranking within their hierarchy demonstrating the expectations of police culture by not just ignoring but engaging in all of the above.

Of course neither list is exhaustive, just taking a bird’s eye view of what you would expect from an organization which aims to protect and to serve, and what we actually see happening. These actions point to an organization that not only is refusing the judgement of a large fraction of the populace which the fairy tale claims they serve- and that they serve everyone is definitely part of Uncle Politics Guy’s perspective because folks who pity the poor wittle cops love to crow that the libs will be crying for police back if we actually defund/demolish/even slightly discipline the cops. “Who will you call when [racism, usually]?” they ask, implying that in their view, the good guys with guns cops would currently be useful to protect even you, callow cad that you are, from the very scary evil criminals.

These actions point to an organization which not only refuses that judgement, even if they are super sincerely sure it’s not accurate or merited, but rather than demonstrating a commitment to being the good guys with guns, they refuse to engage in anything which would prevent, counter, or clean up after their messes. Remember that reporter who lost her eye while covering a protest? Remember the cop spraying the seated college kids directly in the face with chemical “disincentives”? Rough rides ring a bell?

They get more violent when someone tries to hold them accountable or points out their actions. They insist on special treatment and the law can’t touch them. They use violence on and off the job as a first response to fear, anger, mild annoyance, and will swear up and down they “feared for their life” even when footage comes out showing that no rational person would believe they were in danger, never mind someone who is supposed to be trained in deescalation and non-lethal force.

Cops do not act like an organization of do-gooders with a few fellas who just were too jumpy for the job and made a mistake they feel just awful about. Cops act like an organization which knows it has power and feels entitled to wield it against anyone who opposes them, from protesters to their own men when they try to speak up. Cops behave consistently like they believe they are above the laws which they supposedly enforce despite not knowing them.

You know, when there’s one bad apple in actual apples, it spoils the whole barrel, and farmers don’t fuck around with letting their whole harvest turn. Not the first by far to point that out, but it merits saying. Cops don’t even turn the barrel over to salvage the good ones and the barrel itself is shot through with fungus. You can ignore everything other than what happens to be audio or video recorded and what police themselves say and it still paints the same picture.

[omegaverse-anesthesiologist]

why is ao3 is blocked on the hospital wifi????

[marisatomay]

People will claim to be a fan of some thing and then hate all of the themes and motifs and story lines and plot lines and protagonists and antagonists like man I don’t think that you actually like it here

[stemmmm]

bad youtube clickbait thumbnail that reads "I think I just had a therapy session with a DEMON???"

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[carefulzombie]

gf fandom in 2016: if you so much as hint - even jokingly! - about the nature of ford and bill’s relationship being anything other than platonic (and even then you NEED to give a disclaimer that bill is manipulating him!) then you support abusive relationships

gf fandom in 2024:

[taffywabbit]

they should invent a new type of "staying in bed for 2-3 hours after you wake up repeatedly opening and closing apps on your phone" where it makes you feel awesome and energized and emotionally fulfilled

[monophobix]

lesbian situationship vs gay situationship

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

whens megatron coming back

[january-summers]

"AO3 doesn't need a "dislike" button"

Um, actually, it already has one. Depending on your specs, it might look a little different but over all it looks kinda like this:

You can find it at the corner of your screen, which corner is dependent on your layout.

Anyway, if you dislike a fic, you can hit this Dislike Button until the fic goes away. It really is pretty amazing actually.

[hinamie]

10 years later

[anarchopuppy]

I, a hearing person who likes subtitles just as a preference, shouldn't have to read a subtitle that's obvious nonsense, go back a couple seconds, and listen again in order to figure out what's going on. An accessibility feature should not be the most half-assed part of a professionally made production. Scripted media has absolutely no excuse for not having subtitles or having subtitles that aren't perfectly verbatim. Professional captioning services should be ashamed of the shoddy work that they put out. Captions should be treated as a part of the production, just like filming, editing, audio balancing, etc - and anything that releases with missing or bad captions should be seen as unfinished

[faggotisaacfloofs]

the person who helped today when I fell out of my wheelchair actually did a really great job, so I want to share in case other people wonder what to do. [Note: this is not universal, this is merely a suggestion from one person, every wheelchair user's needs are different! I am a person who uses a manual chair usually pushed by someone else who is also disabled.]

Scenario: you see someone in a wheelchair fall out of their chair, and you have the ability to help.

1. Approach and ask "are you okay?"*

2. Next question if they say no, are vague, or open to continuing conversation** is, "is there anything I can do to help?" Or "what can I do?"

If they say no to help, then that's the end, just leave and go do whatever you were doing!

If they ask for help or say they are mildly injured, ask "what would you like me to do?" And wait for an answer before doing anything! If they seem dazed or confused, they might have hit their head or had another medical event*, or they might just be like that due to regular disability. Be patient.

Do not touch the person unless they say to, or they are like, unconcious in the middle of the road, ya know?? Wheelchair users usually have conditions that mean being handled improperly can severely injure us, you could cause much more damage than the fall.

Some things they might need you to do:

Bring their wheelchair closer (mine went about 5 feet away after it dumped me)

engage the brakes of the wheelchair

hold wheelchair steady if it's an unsteady surface (mud, hill, ramp, wet, etc)

offer an arm for them to hold onto to get up (them grabbing you, not you grabbing them) or move another solid item closer for them to use (i.e. a chair) [only do this if you physically have the ability to!]

If the terrain is rough (i.e. a parking lot), they *might* ask you to push their chair to a more stable area once they are back in their chair

nothing

Something else

Do what they ask, NOT what you think would be helpful. If for some reason you have to do something (i.e. you can't stop oncoming traffic and need to get them out) ASAP, tell them what you plan to do

Keep in mind they might also be D/deaf, have a communication disability, be stunned after the fall, have a head injury, not trust other people, etc. Be patient and treat them as a person with autonomy and agency! They might need to just sit on the ground for a few minutes to recover before trying to get back in their chair. They might want everyone to leave them alone. They might ask you to call someone specific. Their chair might have broken and that can be extremely distressing. All of this is like if your legs spontaneously stop working when you're out and about!

A lot of wheelchair users (NOT ALL) have ways to get into their chair on their own once the chair is close enough and brakes engaged (but it's hard from the ground!). Here's what brakes look like on a lot of manual wheelchairs, in case they ask you to lock the brakes. They're levers on each side and pushing the lever pushes a bar against the wheel to hold it still.

ID: A manual wheelchair with the brake levels circled in red and labeled "user brake levers"

*There is also the possibility of course that a person fell out of their chair due to a seizure or other medical event, so that is why it is important to ask if they are okay. If you saw them hit their head, tell them so. If they had a medical event, follow protocol for that, I'm not gonna get into it here (thought I could).

**sometimes a person will be clear after the first question i.e. "I'm all good thanks" clearly means they do not need you to ask another question, you can just leave them alone. Keep walking and don't stare. A lot of the time people will be a bit banged up but be totally fine and able to manage on their own.

TLDR: Ask the wheelchair user if they're okay, then what they need, and then do exactly that, including leaving them alone. Thanks!

[mausolealdrift]

its baffling seeing people on here being all shocked about how other ppl didnt have sex or do drugs or drink or go to parties etc etc in high schools like. sorry i was too busy getting bullied to do all of that stuff i guess. why are you surprised that there’s losers on the cringe loser website

[miss-jaye]

cw: slightly suggestive when nanami kento saw his wife about to leave the house in a stunning, tight sundress, he swore his whole world stopped for a moment.

“honey?”

“hm?” you glanced at him, then looked back at the mirror, trying not to stab yourself with your earring. nanami cleared his throat. “where are you going?” he asked as he walked over, standing behind you and sliding his hands around your waist.

“i’m having lunch with my friends, sweetie. i told you that this morning, remember?” you raised a brow, confused. your husband nodded dazedly, his eyes glued to your figure.

“right.” he swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “where are you going to have lunch?” he asked, his hands gently roaming over your body, feeling the fabric of the dress he so badly wanted to tear off you.

“that cafe we always go to…” you trailed off, finally securing your earring. “are you okay?” you met his gaze through the mirror. “i do this once a month—same place, same people.”

he nodded, humming in acknowledgment. you stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure out what had him so distracted. now that your earring was in place, you became hyper-aware of his hands, their slow, deliberate movements over your hips, squeezing in that familiar way that told you he was restraining himself from acting on his desires.

oh.

a blush crept up your cheeks as you realized nanami hadn’t seen this dress on you yet. you’d just bought it last week and forgot to show him. “kento?”

you called out to him, but he seemed too entranced by the way the dress clung to your curves. he leaned in closer, burying his nose in your neck, his hands trailing down to squeeze your thighs.

you let out a startled moan, hastily covering your mouth. he inhaled deeply, the scent of your perfume overwhelming his senses.

“your friends won’t mind if you’re a few minutes late, right?”

[neveroceanblvd]

he might be the love of my life