#we also kicked our speaker. for a better reason but not a less hypocritical one

[majorbaby]

[pointing at the us] same hat!!!!

[ecotone99]

[RF] Vomit - a short story about a descent into a rabbit hole of drugs

(a repost after bot-moderator removed the original post on the spurious grounds that the story was less than 500 words, and cut out 2nd half of the story)

Theo returned from work at seven in the evening. It was still sunny. The heat was warm and caressed his skin as he sat on the porch of his parents’ house. It was no longer the oppressive heat of the midday. It was Friday evening, the beginning of weekend. The construction work that week had been gruelling, and Theo was going out as he did every weekend, to seek powerful stimuli that will make him forget about his mind-numbing daily reality.

He got a text message from Darius, a coworker whom he suspected of being on the psychopathic spectrum. That man is best avoided, thought Theo, but earlier that day he had a violent confrontation at work, and Darius had his back. They needed to discuss what happened. Darius was coming to pick him up in fifteen minutes.

Theo walked back into the house to put on his party clothes. He put on his gold chain, styled his hair, and put on his cologne. His parents were yelling at each other as usual, and his young siblings were screaming around the house. His mother asked him where he was going and he said “out”, and rushed out the door.

There was an old Mercedes waiting for him in front of the driveway. Darius sat and smiled in the passenger seat, and Theo got in the back.

- This is my cousin Marco, Darius introduced the driver.

Creepy looks seemed to run in their family. Marco was even paler and more bug-eyed than Darius. Darius always looked somewhat sweaty and oily, and showed a small range of emotions on his face. It was proof that he was subject to physiological processes of ordinary humans. His cousin Marco on the other hand looked like a vampire. His face was deathly pale, and dry, and it showed no emotion whatsoever.

- Marco’s got a sweet condo downtown. Want to join us there and party? said Darius. He’s got a DJ set and everything.

- Sounds good man, said Theo.

Darius then produced a massive bag of marijuana and started to roll a joint. He passed the bag to Theo so he can roll his own. It was a day of plenty. Darius also produced a tub of hemp oil. Theo had never seen such a thing before.

- That’s going to give you a massive kick, said Darius. You smudge some on the zigzags.

Sure enough the weed was powerful. The three men took the long route and drove slowly towards downtown. The sun was setting and Marco was playing reggae, which matched and enhanced the high of marijuana.

- So what do you do for a living, Marco? asked Theo.

- I’m a property manager, answered Marco.

- And his hobby is marijuana, as you can see, hehe, said Darius. He’s got some sweet connections, don’t you cousin?

- Let’s just say I know some very important people, said Marco.

- Cool, which properties? asked Theo again.

- Several high rises downtown.

- We are actually making a quick detour to one of them, said Darius, then we will head back to Spaulding Avenue to the condo.

- Oh, you got some work to do man? said Theo, just drop us off at the club district.

- It’s a quick drop-off, don’t worry, explained Darius.

At some point Marco got a call from his girlfriend. Theo was surprised that Marco had a girlfriend, or that he was capable of any form of intimacy whatsoever. The woman seemed to complain about losing her keys, or some other household item. Marco remained cold as ice, but his words were incredibly abusive.

- Well honey, you are such a damned retard. What exactly is the use of having you in the house? You never clean the house. You live like a pig. It’s always cluttered, and there’s no wonder you lose stuff all the time. Maybe don’t be such a stupid pig next time.

They pulled up to a run down condominium for the drop off. They were in the middle of the projects. A young man in a sports hoodie walked over to the car and leaned into the passenger window. He seemed restless, as he was constantly rocking back and forth. Darius pulled a plastic-wrapped rectangular package out of the glove compartment and handed it to the man, who quickly slipped it under his grey hoodie and disappeared.

As they drove off, Marco finally initiated a conversation.

- Darius told me you had a scuffle with Larry today. That was hilarious. I can just imagine Larry’s face when he saw that kid all bloodied up. And the dead dog, haha.

- Wait, you know the plaza owner? The guy with the ponytail? asked Theo.

- Oh, of course. I manage half his properties. Listen, you guys got nothing to worry about. The matter has already been resolved. Larry stepped over the line. He is like that, he will test you and try to squeeze you as much as he can. But if he sees that you can’t be squeezed, he’s reasonable.

- Good to know! said Theo. He was surprised and he began to piece it all together.

- Yeah man, said Darius, we got bikers on our side, thanks to Marco. Larry won’t do a thing.

They finally arrived to the condo. It was in a high-end building. They arrived to an empty apartment with a beautiful balcony view. But the apartment was empty inside, except a large mattress on the floor and a DJ set with two speakers size of chairs. There were already people inside. Two guys were sprawled on the mattress, dysfunctionally high. A third man was spinning on the DJ set and listening to the music on headphones.

The new arrivals settled in and Marco took over the DJ set. He started blasting reggae on the speakers so loud that Theo could hardly talk to anyone.

- It’s a sick system, someone told Marco.

- It is, but the stupid neighbours complain about it all the time.

- You have to play reggae loud in order to properly enjoy it, said Darius, smiling.

At some point Marco approached Theo and started a conversation with him. He didn’t really make eye contact, and he talked slow.

- Darius told me what you did today. You got balls, and you got brains. That’s rare.

- Thanks.

- I don’t know why you do that job with that grouchy grandpa, what’s his name? It’s a gutter job, and you have a gutter boss. You are too good for that.

- I hate that job, man, said Theo. Thinking of his past experiences on the job, and imagining the prospect of it going on indefinitely, his stoned mind filled with terror.

- If you want to make some real money, you talk to me. I can get you in the property management, you know what I mean?

- I know what you mean.

- Think about it. You don’t want to be on the bottom of the system.

Marco then went on a tangent about the system. Speaking from his personal experience, he explained how all the judges are corrupt and hypocritical. He ended up in some legal trouble for doing what he does, and they took him down just so they can have their own people do the same thing. There is no justice out there. There is no right and wrong. There is only loyalty.

Suddenly, one of the recreational drug users began to convulse on the mattress. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started foaming at his mouth. His lips turned blue.

- He swallowed his tongue, pull his tongue out, said Marco. The music was still blaring.

Marco knelt next to the guy and stuck his fingers in his throat. He pulled out the man’s tongue, and the man vomited on the carpet immediately after.

- Give him some water! said Marco. Someone brought a glass from the kitchen.

In about five minutes the man had regained his wits. Once it was clear that he would not die, Marco worked himself up into a rage.

- You damned junky! Don’t you have any self-control? Last thing I need right now is a dead body in my goddamn apartment. Who brought this asshole? Lawrence, did you bring this bitch?

Lawrence said nothing. Marco slapped the junky on the back of the head.

- Hello? What’s your name? What did you take?

- I’m sorry man, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened there.

- Sorry? You better get your ass up and clean that pile of puke off my carpet! Before we all start barfing from the stink.

The junky said he’d do it. He got up to find some rags in the kitchen, but suddenly rushed towards the exit door, grabbed his shoes in his hands, and tried to get out. The door was locked and he couldn’t figure out how to open it on time. Marco caught up to him, threw him on the ground and began kicking him and cursing. The junky had no choice, he went back to the kitchen slowly this time and found a rug and a roll of pepper towels and a bucket, and begun cleaning his mess.

Everyone’s buzz was beginning to clear off. Theo’s phone started ringing. It was his mom. He went out onto the balcony.

- Honey, where are you? Are you going to come back soon? Please come back soon, okay?

Theo hung up and went back inside. He said bye to everyone and went back home by public transport. As he sat in the back of an empty bus and looked on outside, he had one thought that came back to him over and over again.

- I need to get out of here. I need to go back to school, or something, anything, but I need to get out of here.

submitted by /u/george_boreas [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/3lgh6YF

[bumblingseabiscuit]

Tumblr made me think a lot today, and I am going to do my best to try and tackle a pretty heated conversation. I apologize if I do not cover everything, this is something with over 300 posts and very “at opposites” sides. 

“Half-Breed” / “Halfling”

I start this off by addressing the main context of the conversation: “Is the use of the word half-breed racist?”

In my personal opinion, I will say: yes. 

“Does the use of the word half-breed make someone racist?”

In my personal opinion, I will say: no.

I’m going to do my best to explain why I can acknowledge the difference.

Presentation: I’m of the opinion that starting a discussion on the offensive will always place people on the defensive. This means, they shut their ears, they close their eyes, and they feel like they first and foremost need to shield themselves from your ‘attacks.’ 

Now the argument can be made here that’s, “Good, they should feel attacked like we do every day.” Unfortunately, that. . .  isn’t quite how it works. I’d argue it’s a touch hypocritical. You’re trying to escape that hate, you know better than anyone why it’s important to not put it upon someone. 

It also closes people down to viewpoints and means more people turn away from your side. Does that make this racist? I don’t feel like I’m qualified to decide that. Honestly, I think it’ll depend on who you talk to. I do think that it’s hard to understand hatred. I do think it’s hard to join the side of someone who is attacking you. I do think self-preservation is coded into all of us. Whether or not that excuses their actions can remain up to the individuals involved.

There will always be those who will scream and shout in argument to whatever point you may bring up because of their racism or their privilege (or honestly both), but in trying to educate, in trying to change the narrative, you need to appeal to those that have privilege and just don’t understand the other side. Who haven’t been shown the other side. These people aren’t inherently evil, racist, or against you. But if you approach them on the offensive it’s easy for them to go on the defensive. 

I don’t feel like people who use the word “half-breed” are inherently racist because:

Privilege: they’ve not experienced the other side

Language barrier: it’s been pointed out why this may be the case

Privilege:

I want to buffer this to my followers: Privilege is not an evil word. It’s not an offensive word. It’s not a word used to insult you. I know in some cases people use it that way. There are extremists in every movement who will taint terms with their outlooks. However, I want you to take a moment and acknowledge that here, right now, I’m not using this as a word to attack you.

Instead, I’m trying to explain things the best I can.

Privilege is the lacking experience of social situations or hierarchy because of your religion, your skin color, your gender, or your sexuality. It means that you don’t inherently experience the world in a darker light. It means you don’t face having to consider:

whether or not to wear your khimar 

how to style your hair for a job interview

whether or not the outfit you wear is “too skimpy”

if you can hold hands with your lover

These are just some examples and there are hundreds upon thousands of alternative examples that explain how you may have the privilege that others don’t, and why those other people may have aches and pains you may not understand.

So here’s where that comes into play for “half-breed” and “halfling.”

Many of you who have experienced the term, “half-breed,” outside of biracial communities, experienced it in an online fantasy world. From D&D, to WoW, to XIV, Dragon Age, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and a plethora of other worlds where racial / species mixing is possible. However, I encourage you to apply critical thinking in these situations.

In most cases, when the term “half-breed,” is used in a fantasy realm, it is being used in a derogatory means. Example:

“Ack! A half-breed your kind aren’t welcome in my bar!”

“Did you see that man. Yes! The one over there! The half-breed. I can’t imagine how he ever got work at Lady Amarth’s home.”

“She’s a mudblood, filthy she is.”

XIV in particular shows that mixed races are treated poorly. They’re kicked out from their tribes, they’re disowned by their family, they’re cast to the slums. Half-breed is rarely used as a “positive” or “neutral” descriptive in fantasy narratives. When it’s presented in a neutral fashion that’s often because the setting has already been shown to not have socially progressed. Calling someone a “half-breed,” is as ‘natural,’ as more inappropriate insults were before our society progressed.

Still with me?

When we apply critical thinking, we can see that the term “half-breed,” is in most cases a racist term supplied by fantasy creators to set a negative mood. So we can see in our fantasy settings how this term is considered derogatory. And at this point, we’re forced to recognize the fact that this term is meant to be racist (and thereby is racist). It’s meant to split a character apart from the “purebloods,” because the pureblood are viewed as “superior.”

This is something that, as a privileged person, you can grasp onto with a level of tangency. It’s a good step into progressing you into the further outlook of why the term, “half-breed,” is racist. And that’s because:

It’s used to insult biracial human beings. 

Privileged people only hear half-breed in correlation to a dog, a cat, or another animal. It’s important to remember that many people don’t and are treated not unlike animals. Many colored communities are still treated as if they’re less than human and those communities face a plethora of insults in the form of racial slurs that you, as a person of privilege, would never have flung at you. One of which is, half-breed, and as such (as you can see from the discussion) it’s very hurtful to those who are and have been part of those communities.

Language:

This has already been touched upon by @nightmaze into why some people may not recognize the derogatory term. I will say that dismissing this point entirely isn’t quite fair to non-English speakers and non-American inhabitants. English, in of itself, is a mess of non-grammar, non-infliction words that develop connotations through historical use more than linguistic design. Our language is a mess. 

People from entirely different countries, with far less knowledge of American history, who have words that loosely translate into what we perceive here as insulting should not inherently be deemed “racist,” or their points invalid. That being said, this is meant to be a bridge to understanding and not an excuse. Mistakes will always happen when you learn a different language. The important part, for you as a bilingual speaker, is to understand and educate yourself on why a word you thought was fine, isn’t.

Does your mistake make you inherently racist? Nah, heck no. In fact, it’s probably going to happen a lot (especially growing up in a completely different country from where such drastic history was held). How you handle the mistake reflects on you, though.

(*I will note “you” here is being utilized in a general way and not targeting Nightmaze specifically)

ALL RIGHTY. So now we tackle some general miscommunications.

“I’d never say this word in real life. It’s my character who is racist!” That’s fine. If you use this term and acknowledge the fact that it is racist, and your character is being racist, your character can face the in character consequences of their actions. However. There’s this idea that “IC=/=OOC,” is this great holy black-and-white rule and it’s not. Your pretendy times is not more important than my mental health. Your pretendy times shouldn’t be more important than our friendship. Not blending IC and OOC is always a good idea, but sometimes, people are just made incredibly uncomfortable by an action or word and they’re allowed to be uncomfortable. They’re allowed to ask you to stop, or not do that thing or use that word around them, and if you have any respect or regard for the player on the other end of the screen I’d hope that you would consider a level of empathy. 

An example I can provide is rape. If your character is a rapist, and you 100% acknowledge that is evil and that your character is evil, that’s on you. You do you. I’d ask for you to not play that character around me, not try to rape my character, or bring up rape around me/my character. Because while it’s in character for yours, I am personally made uncomfortable. Sure you can scream, “IC IS IC!” but honestly why does that matter at this point? I’m uncomfortable, it upsets me, and you’re telling me to, “Just get over,” my real world feelings for your fake world pretendy fun times. 

If you’re one of the people that prefer to protect the sanctity of your writing and roleplay over the sanctity of a person’s thoughts and real world emotions I’d suggest for you to do some critical self-thought, and look into yourself to see why that is.

“I’ve never encountered half-breed as being racist!” And now you have! And I’ve tried my best to provide reasoning as to why and I’d hope you consider using a different term. 

“This seems blown out of proportion.” That’s because you’ve likely never been on the receiving end of constant hate. What may seem silly to you is extremely hurtful to others. And isn’t that what’s more important here? People are hurting. It’s really easy in this case to be empathetic and make an effort to see they don’t hurt by removing a term from your vocabulary. 

At the end of the day folks, that latter point is what this comes down to. While I think going around and name calling, being on the offensive, and generally getting really heated is not going to be how this subject educates people I do understand why it’s a snap-reaction. A lot of you have experienced heartache. A lot of you have privilege. Those two things combined with no proper foundation creates a rocky discussion platform and I feel like more people came out of this on the defensive when they should have come out with understanding.

I hope that, at the end of the day, this helps to create a more neutral and understanding conversation going forward. I’m sorry I couldn’t tackle everything, this is already extremely long. I’m not going to spoiler this because honestly it’s really important to read. So instead, I’m just going to apologize for, “The long post.”