#life before covid

[scalded-melk]

I miss basement shows.

I miss the throb of the crowd, beer spilled on my shoulder, the brief squeal of feedback from the mic. The sweat, cigarette butts grinding under the heels of a tiny mass - a sardine can of all-grown-up troubled youths singing along to songs their friends write together. I miss being pulled by the tide of the room, the warmth of our bodies collecting together, our voices and movements blending until we resemble one combined creature dancing with itself.

[inkskinned]

one of the things that's the most fucking frustrating for me about arguing with climate change deniers is the sheer fucking scope of how much it matters. sweating in my father's car, thinking about how it's the "hottest summer so far," every summer. and there's this deep, roiling rage that comes over me, every time.

the stakes are wrong, is the thing. that's part of what makes it not an actual debate: the other side isn't coming to the table with anything to fucking lose.

like okay. i am obviously pro gun control. but there is a basic human part of me that can understand and empathize with someone who says, "i'm worried that would lead to the law-abiding citizens being punished while criminals now essentially have a superpower." i don't agree, but i can tell the stakes for them are also very high.

but let's say the science is wrong and i'm wrong and the visible reality is wrong and every climate disaster refugee is wrong. let's say you're right, humans aren't causing it or it's not happening or whatever else. let's just say that, for fun.

so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the earth cleaner, and then it turns out we didn't need to do that. oops! we cleaned the earth. our children grow up with skies full of more butterflies and bees. lawns are taken over with rich local biodiversity. we don't cry over our electric bills anymore. and, if you're staunchly capitalist and i need to speak ROI with you - we've created so many jobs in developing sectors and we have exciting new investment opportunities.

i am reminded of kodak, and how they did not make "the switch" to digital photography; how within 20 years kodak was no longer a household brand. do we, as a nation, feel comfortable watching as the world makes "the switch" while we ride the laurels of oil? this boggles me. i have heard so much propaganda about how america cannot "fall behind" other countries, but in this crucial sector - the one that could actually influence our own monopolies - suddenly we turn the other cheek. but maybe you're right! maybe it will collapse like just another silicone valley dream. but isn't that the crux of capitalism? that some economies will peter out eventually?

but let's say you're right, and i'm wrong, and we stopped fracking for no good reason. that they re-seed quarries. that we tear down unused corporate-owned buildings or at least repurpose them for communities. that we make an effort, and that effort doesn't really help. what happens then? what are the stakes. what have we lost, and what have we gained?

sometimes we take our cars through a car wash and then later, it rains. "oh," we laugh to ourselves. we gripe about it over coffee with our coworkers. what a shame! but we are also aware: the car is cleaner. is that what you are worried about? that you'll make the effort but things will resolve naturally? that it will just be "a waste"?

and what i'm right. what if we're already seeing people lose their houses and their lives. what if it is happening everywhere, not just in coastal towns or equatorial countries you don't care about. what if i'm right and you're wrong but you're yelling and rich and powerful. so we ignore all of the bellwethers and all of the indicators and all of the sirens. what if we say - well, if it happens, it's fate.

nevermind. you wouldn't even wear a mask, anyway. i know what happens when you see disaster. you think the disaster will flinch if you just shout louder. that you can toss enough lives into the storm for the storm to recognize your sacrifice and balk. you argue because it feels good to stand up against "the liberals" even when the situation should not be political. you are busy crying for jesus with a bullhorn while i am trying to usher people into a shelter. you've already locked the doors, even on the church.

the stakes are skewed. you think this is some intellectual "debate" to win, some funny banter. you fuel up your huge unmuddied truck and say suck it to every citizen of that shitbird state california. serves them right for voting blue!

and the rest of us are terrified of the entire fucking environment collapsing.

[poisonousquinzel]

"a dude in Texas legally changed his name to "Literally Anyone Else" and he's attempting to run for President against Biden & Trump" [source]

okay, but putting aside the comedic aspect of this, it is concerning the amount of people who are prompted to vote for candidates just because it's funny. I'm not the biggest fan of how his policy about the boarder sounds [Site], but I do implore anyone who is able to vote in the 2024 US election to please research other candidates.

The media is only going to continue pushing the idea it's inevitably going to be Trump vs Biden 2.0 and we have no other options, that we have to vote for Biden again because of Project 2025. Is that whole thing terrifying?

Yeah, fucking absolutely.

But voting for Biden will not solidify our safety from that. Biden is exactly like the rest of them. He always has been. You can't make the lesser of two evils argument when they're both just plain evil.

You cannot say that Biden is even mildly a better choice than Trump when he is currently directly involved in a genocide. That is not some little fucking thing. That in and of itself disqualifies him as a lesser evil. Biden is just as bad as him and he will not save us because he doesn't fucking care.

Cornel West [Site] is an Independent candidate running for President in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia [Site] are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

There are options.

There are people trying to change the corrupt foundation our system is built on, but we have to help amplify them because the mainstream media will not.

[freaky-flawless]

It was a certain baddie's birthday yesterday!!!🌙🎂🥩🐾🐺

[backofthebookshelf]

Okay, fine, you've finally pissed me off enough that I'm willing to talk politics on tumblr

I can't speak for all leftists, but when THIS leftist says they're having a hard time voting for Biden this time around, it's not because I don't want people to vote or because I genuinely think Trump wouldn't be any worse

It's because this is the administration that made me finally realize, on a deep and profound gut level, that none of these people actually care about us. That electoralism won't save us - HASN'T saved us, not from COVID, or wildfires, or cops, or billionaires, or genocide.

"But Trump will make all those things worse--" Yeah for sure! But things are bad enough right now that we can't, at least I can't, continue on like things are now, even if I felt like I could trust Biden (or any Democrat, let's be honest, this isn't about him at all, we're not even fighting about primaries this time because we aren't being given a choice) to keep them from getting worse.

By all means, we should vote for Biden, because things getting worse more slowly is better than things getting worse faster. But we deserve better than a life that only gets a little bit worse every year, and I'm sick of people telling me I'm being ungrateful for wanting more than that.

Again: THIS ISN'T ABOUT WHO TO VOTE FOR. this is about spending your time on something, anything - union organizing, clean air advocacy, bringing food and shelter to the houseless, physically preventing the movement of weapons and military contractors - that has a better chance of saving lives than any politician.

"The revolution isn't going to come next year -" okay, well, neither is pushing Dems far enough left that they stop supporting Israel or do anything about emissions or anything else that treats human lives as more important than a billionaire's profit margins. The presidential election happens once every four years, WHY are we ceding an entire year to defending a piece of shit because he's slightly less of a piece of shit than the other guy? What if I told you there's a secret third thing, and that thing isn't voting for a third party but making a once-every-four-years vote as unimportant to you as your wants and desires and hopes and dreams are to any of the people you'd vote for and working your ass off on SOMETHING THAT HELPS PEOPLE instead?

[sarah-yyy]

cannot believe i've been put on god's green earth to experience horrors

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

Traveling out of state to go visit my (now ex) gf and coming home with covid is such a double whammy.

[kenobihater]

23 is young and i don't wanna go acting like it isn't but sometimes i see stuff from baby zoomers and i feel fucking ancient. skibidi toilet? i have yet to understand what that's referencing. reality shifting? i was into new agey stuff as a teen and i get the whole law of attraction/manifestation thing, but the rest is all greek to me. a good half of the aesthetics i see talked about online? literally got overwhelmed when i stumbled on the aesthetics wiki last year and i feel like an idiot seeing all these kids list off like 4 different hyperspecific aesthetics to describe themselves 😭 girl what does any of that mean? patiently explain it like i'm 85 when it comes up, or don't expect me to know what the hell you're talking about. i'll just end up smiling and nodding like your out of touch grandpa who loves your energy but is frightened by cellphones and the concept of smartfridges 💀💀💀

[zebratimw]

[pjharvey-moved]

i have another date on monday with a very hot butch who advertises hating men on her tinder. i am fr not worthy

[true-blue-sonic]

If memory serves you had written before about Espio and Silver driving together in the TSR plot, but I also quite like imagining them having Extreme Gear races

Yes, that's true! The idea was that Silver had to learn to drive a car, based on my own godawful experiences with getting a license. But he at least had a much nicer and more patient teacher! <3

I might have written a story about them having Extreme Gear races as well, actually? Lemme check rq

one return from the depths of my Ao3 profile later Okay, this is interesting: I did, specifically for Flufftober 2022, and I never uploaded it XD Now that I'm rereading it, I don't like it much anymore, though. It's got Silver not knowing how the board works, and right now I figure that he would be able to figure it out much more quickly than what I'm writing there🤔 As for your idea, I guess Espio "borrows" Vector's stuff since I figure that is the only board they have laying around, and Silver brings the Psychic Wave over from the future, and that's what they race with together <3 Haha, in an actual competition I can imagine they team up to try and screw over the other racers as a duo, though! They can be seen at the back of the line whispering to each other, with Silver more than willing to help out because the Chaotix really need that cash price for Vector's fifty three-course meals or whatever it is that he wants. That's how the other racers know they might be in danger! XD

[sarahlancashire]

in case anyone noticed my disappearance earlier, tumblr terminated my account, but they've reinstated me now, i'm back to annoy you all again 😊😊😊

[fromthemouthofkings]

I'm sick of asking people to please take COVID precautions. I'm sick of people refusing to put on a mask around me when they're sick. I'm sick of putting out free masks at work, only for them to mysteriously end up packed away again whenever I'm not on shift. I'm sick of having to beg people to care about me. I'm so, so tired of having to beg for my life and be ignored. Every. Single. Day. I'm sick of doctors who think they know better. I'm sick of politicians who simply don't care. Four years ago, we found out that there's this scary new disease that can cause death or new or worsened disability, but hey! there's this one neat trick you can take to greatly reduce the chance that your friends and neighbors die. And nobody does it.

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

words can’t express how much i love him, his courage and fearlessness of expression in everything he creates is pure magic 🖤

[icewindandboringhorror]

More misc. daily life pictures and such

[authenticcadence18]

I miss the person I was a year ago. two years ago. more social. happier. doing more creatively.