#may you live in interesting times

[ignatius-pennyfeather-ix]

gotta say nothing that transpired over the past week was on my 2024 bingo card haha WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON RN

[gabe495]

man downplays risk of covid, contracts it, and ends up surviving it

man orchestrates an insurrection and gets SCOTUS to rule presidential immunity for him

man boasts "i can shoot someone on the street & people will vote for me" and ends up surviving assassination attempt

i'm exhausted.

[doomspaniels]

Last weekend was Interesting, though not abominable, just Interesting. We tried to give Tristan meds for carsickness but instead they made him sicker. So instead of going to PT, he came home... but somehow neither Tristan nor Guinevere observed that the other wasn't coming with them. Tristan arrived home and looked for Gwyn. Gwyn dug up the car beds in her disgrumplement that Tristan was not there, and galloped inside when we got home to find him in his crate.

This was their mood the next morning when Tristan's Fetch and Tug Buddy left to go run an early errand. Oh, Gwyn was indignant. She did not approve of him leaving. She laid at the door growling occasionally, I think she was protecting Tristan and me? I don't know. She's not protective normally, but last weekend really seemed to draw it out of her.

Then. Then. Saturday afternoon the groomer came. The groomer took Gwyn out and she was calm, if not chill. The groomer returned Gwyn and took Tristan... as she went out the door, Gwyn was walking shoulder to shoulder with Tris. Gwyn followed him out to the groomer's van, jumped in with him, even took a treat from the groomer for the very first time after Tristan took one. When I went to go back inside, Gwyn thought about staying, but I guess she decided I needed her more, or something. So instead she laid in the windowsill, watching the groomer make Tristan 50x more comfortable, growling and howling in turn. HOWLING. This poor kid was sufferin', folks, I tell ya. (She wagged and took more treats when the groomer returned with Tristan. I think it was mostly the separation that put her into FURY MODE.)

[Video Description: Guinevere the red cocker spaniel lays in a window, growling, then howling. The volume of the growling section has been increased, so that you are not deafened by the howling. It's still loud. Exercise informed caution 😄]

[alliwanttodoiscollectpoetry]

Being Boring by Wendy Cope

[blackat-t7t]

"May you live in interesting times" sounds like the kind of curse a hobbit would wish on someone.

Especially an outsider who wouldn't understand it's meant as a curse, like a drawf or a man.

(It won't do any good to wish it on a wizard. Wizards are always distressingly interesting.)

[sarasa-cat]

For a bit of a while, and especially the past week or two, I have wanted to say something vaguely put together about some of the bizarre ways (well, bizarre/intriguing-as-in-"Huhhh?") in which the north american public think about visual art, talk about visual art, value vs devalue aspects of visual art including the creation of it, etc.

Add in various other thoughts long in formation (and I mean looooongg) in how practicing professional artists have some really, uh, interesting views about art and art making.

And then I think, nah, idk, is tumblr and my fandom account really the correct forum for this?

[tilbageidanmark]

[tirsynni]

it is not “ageism” because people find older qualities like gray hair and wrinkles attractive and this certainly has nothing to do with “purity culture” oh my g-d go back into your proshipping circle and leave us alone stop misusing terms and stay out of main tags

I would like to thank this anon for being an amazing example of why I am so frustrated with modern fandom:

"It's not ageism. I want to have them look older for my personal kinks/fetishes/whatever. Get out of our spaces, proshipper."

Hell, if you want to do that, go for it! Write whatever you want. I'm pro-self-indulgence with fics. Just don't do that bullshit where you argue that of course it should somehow magically be canon that they look that way, that of course someone in that age range will have gray hair and wrinkles, whatever. And for fuck's sake, get off anon if you're so confident in your beliefs. Yeesh. I feel like I need a broom and to yell at you to get off my lawn.

Referencing purity culture when you have no idea what it actually means? People like anon don't realize that they fell into a popular trap: they're taught specific trigger phrases so they have a strong, violent response to them, equating the people connected to those trigger phrases with IRL evil acts. They support right-wing, Conservative ideals because they're packaged to target people like anon. Years ago, it was "Do this or the terrorists win." Right now, it's accusing all opponents of being a pedophile. Kneejerk response: they're evil and are obviously pro-pedophilia. Yes. If you use the word "proshipper," you're a card-carrying member of purity culture, complete with the defensive response to all possible trigger phrases.

This is how Trump and his minions won over so many people. This is how the Russian bots won over so many people on tumblr and Facebook and Twitter. They learn the language or sometimes create the language -- in this case, proship -- and as such are able to manipulate people from diverse backgrounds to agree to attack the same exact people and enforce the same exact right-wing, fascist bullshit. "If these people do this, they obviously promote pedophilia and probably are parties to evil acts. Feel open to attack them. You are fighting evil." This people do not research or use the time to use critical thinking: after all, if they question it or even consider defending these evil people, are they evil, too?

These are the same people who end up convinced that some other minority group is evil -- like trans people - and are confident that their group is safe because their group is Good. We went from "don't like, don't read" to anons bitching about "proshipping." Don't worry: soon, your group will be evil, too.

We've entered the latest age of cults. Experts warned us about it a decade or so ago, that the economic and cultural instability was very similar to what led to the rise of cults several decades ago. Think the Age of Charles Manson. Same thing, except now we aren't seeing cults in the form of communes in the woods. We're seeing them in online communities, in the form of Trumpers, QAnons, antivaxxers, TERFs, crunchy moms, etc. We're seeing a rise in the group mindthink which suppresses critical thought and individual opinions. "We are Good. They are Bad. If you question it, you're Bad, too."

"Leave us alone," says anon. "My actions are good. Go away, proshipper."

I'm posting this anon as an example. The rest I'm just blocking and deleting. Seriously, this shit is tiring. It's bad enough that I have to deal with this bullshit every time I turn on the news about the latest book ban or anti-abortion laws or -- hey! -- pushes to legally murder women who obtain abortions. I don't need that shit in my inbox, too.

[imhilien]

Maybe... don't put on the just found 2,000 year old green serpentine stone mask? Just a thought. 😮

[daziechane]

Texting with my neighbor.

[azeutreciathewicked]

Also: tell your stories. Preserve the stories of those who came before you and your own so future generations can access them.

(remember that digital media and cloud storage can be limited / inaccessible / ephemeral).

Keeping a journal through these times has many benefits - for your own mental health and to inform choices future you will make.

We are living history right now. Sorry it sucks, but we will persist.

Survival During Turmoil

This semester I've been teaching an Ancient Civilizations class for college freshmen—that's how it's listen in the course catalog: Ancient Civilization. But that's not how I've personally been referring to the class.

I've been calling it Ancestral Civilizations and stressing at every turn that, while these civilizations no longer exist, they are not entirely gone. To call them dead or extinct or lost negates the fact that through every time of turmoil and collapse, people have lived.

People lived through the Bronze Age Collapse or the fall of the Mayan Empire or the dissolution of a Chinese dynasty. They got up in the morning and combed their hair and tended their crops and nurtured their children. They were uncertain then just as we are now, and nevertheless, they persisted. So will we.

The archaeological record is full of evidence of that day to day persistence, just like it will be full of ours. Everything you do is important—every moment of joy you snatch or quotidian defiance matters. Your life and your history matters.

Talk to your friends and loved ones. Make something. Come up with plans for the future. Keep living during tumultuous times. Persist.

[skeletonpandas]

My life always sounds rather...outlandish when I describe it to people.

I'm struck by the "May you live in Interesting times" curse. I've been on more adventures than I ever wanted. Met many interesting people in the best and worst ways.

Every aspect of my life is outside the norm, I just seem to fit any box fairly well. Busting the illusion that any of those boxes really exists, I suppose.

I think I'm really close to finding the stability and peace I was always really chasing.

I'm saying this. As I contemplate rebellious actions like community organizing, mutual aid, and digital activism.

Just me, being a random weirdo.

[evelyn-princeofmelancholy]

Unit G4-0013 is... lagging. It's mind is fogged from exhaustion, both of mundane and prana. Only the combat stimulants coursing through its bloodstream are keeping its meagre frame afloat. That last maneuver ate up the last of its reserves, however, and it starts to fall, faster and faster, twisting and turning. Attempts to stabilize are futile. Stray shots from the auto rail-cannon suppressing it's position are heard whizzing by and-

agony

-her It's left arm is missing. It's hud flashes purple, then red. It's barrier is down. More drugs are forced into it's bloodstream. Time dilation settles in, dulling the pain and giving it time to think. Automatically, its frame activates protocol Paradise Lost. Code 497D, Black Heart.

Calculating: ...2.10230286% chance of survival. Advised course of action as followed:

This is.. not ideal, the Unit thinks. Very well.

The unit remembers.. something, from it's past life. Do not go gently, or something similar. She It is perplexed, though it agrees with what it remembers.

She It wishes to live, for a short while at least, for the first time. There is no hesitation, however.

She thinks.. she would have enjoyed living.

Alert: Are you sure you wish to deactivate safety pro--

Yes.

Alert: BhWd Bi reactor safety limits are bypassed. Singularity collapse is imminent, cease--

Shut up.

Alert: Collapse in 3- 2- 1%×^×******

rapture

how intriguing, doth does this narrative ponder. how interesting. no, no this simply wont do. thou art simply too entertaining. this ripple in the currents shall take thee, little glint. may you live in interesting times, o tarnished reflection, mine.

[ellycrys]

Listen, everything said above. But also assume that there will be a rejection of election results even if Biden wins. But at least there’s hope along that path.

This decision is a violent choice. This path the SC has chosen is ugly. As a trend, choosing to make it illegal to sleep outside was a step, and taken together with this decision paints a frightening picture of what could happen after the election.

I live in Canada but I’m deeply deeply worried about you guys. I am worried about your safety frankly at this point, your basic civil liberties obviously …..

But frankly mostly I’ve moved straight to wondering whether you and I are going to make it.

I will get positive again because we can’t let this happen- obviously. This is not an option. But I want to be real with you.

How are you all doing right now?

I cannot stress enough how important it is that whatever you think of anything else, Trump Cannot Be President Again.

The "rip apart democracy and install an autocrat" group was not Ready for him in 2016. They didn't think he'd win.

They're ready now. They're teeing up for a second Trump president. Whatever your favorite current Thing, it would be worse under Trump, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they're going to try to make sure that they stay in power forever, by any means necessary.

SCOTUS basically just said, "If Trump sends the Army in to murder protestors, that's okay. If Trump assassinates a political rival with the armed forces of which he is the Commander In Chief, that's an official act, and there's no recourse."

Anything he can even vaguely justify as "an official act" - including installing people in the Justice Department to support his coup, including pressuring his VP to support his coup - is no longer a crime.

This isn't just me saying this, btw. Here's Robert Reich, lifelong public servant (and yes, dad of @samreich, since I know what's important to y'all):

Finally, the Republican-appointed justices have given a dangerous amount of discretion to presidents — broad enough, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in her dissent, to protect presidents from prosecution for bribes and assassinations. A president already has the authority under the Insurrection Act to order troops into American streets. After today’s ruling, those troops would be under the command of a person who would almost certainly enjoy absolute immunity for the orders he gives them.

This is unbelievably terrifying.

[eggwhiteswithspinach]

👏 May You Live in Interesting Times