#like a global pandemic

[canichangemyblogname]

A friendly reminder:

If the state has the power to decide who must give birth

It also has the power to decide who must not give birth.

#in the wake of mass disabling events #like a global pandemic #there is a rise in eugenics movements #and it is no coincidence #that we see a corresponding #restriction on abortion #and a rise in sterilization- among black. brown & disabled people #we will also witness the take over of an anti-BC movement too #and the take-over of #anti-porn. anti-sex. anti-sex worker movements #reproductive justice

[communistkenobi]

I remember early during the pandemic when there were eviction bans and widespread closures of public spaces and vaccine mandates that the state ‘revealed’ itself to the public in a way that neoliberalism had previously cloaked it for decades. these things were not set in stone, people in power were not asleep at the wheel, these were not automated governmental processes that simply facilitated the market. the state could at any point exercise its power for collective public interest, it could flex its might out in the open outside the scope of police and military violence - and do good things with that power. I have not forgotten that, and it makes all these declarations about how this policy or that proposal are too difficult, impossible to implement, pie in the sky wishing all the more hollow

#I really truly feel insane sometimes like we are living through a global pandemic rising fascist violence & organising #spiralling inequality etc. and the state can do something about all these things but chooses not to. those are conscious policy choices

[emblazonet]

Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern

THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD!! It's so good! This is 100% my favourite Pern book so far. The characters are all great. The setting felt alive and interesting. The stakes were fucking high. I knew Moreta was going to die, in the way you know Vanyel is going to die in The Last Herald-Mage trilogy, because we're going back in time to explore the life of a characters from an in-universe ballad, and it made me love her more.

It's also about a pandemic, but in a soothing way? Honestly it was SUCH a relief to read a story about people just fucking doing the work of Dealing With A Contagious Flu without much of the bullshittery we've all had to live through these past three years.

This got long, so more under the cut!

There are no psycho anti-vax cults in Pern. The small population scattered over a continent that's constantly being besieged by Thread does not, generally, have the luxury of either the greed we've gotten to witness IRL nor the misinformation campaigns. Characters that hoard are stolen from; characters who try to prevent vaccination are villains in the narrative and the good guys go into their territory to vaccinate—that's Moreta's final heroic moment! She dies, not from the disease but from exhaustion, to ensure everyone gets vaccinated to PREVENT A SECOND WAVE.

I expected to feel re-traumatized by the pandemic conflict. Instead, it felt healing to read about these characters. It felt affirming. It made me feel better about my choice to continue wearing a mask in public. It felt invigorating: ok, so my world isn't as sensible as Pern's, but it's still worth it to fight disease, to fight the depression and apathy—in short, it did exactly what a fantasy book is supposed to do. Inspire. I don't know that this will be everyone's take away, but it was mine.

This book gets so much right, I can't even believe this is the same author who wrote all those other Pern books I've read so far. (How did we jump from the crap of The White Dragon into this? HOW?) All these things:

Despite there being SO MANY characters, the book largely juggles its cast well, and while I often forgot names, the context usually helped me out. Every character actually felt unique and distinct and like they had different lives they were living.

Moreta and Alessan's relationship was so well done. You know it's not a romance that will go anywhere, so it feels precious when they snatch some time together. Also, Alessan is just an attractive dude character? Unlike any other of the male leads in a Pern book, Alessan appeals to me.

The relationship between Moreta and the older queen rider, Leri—UGH MY HEART. At the beginning of the book I was worried Moreta would have the 'not like other girls' vibe... I needn't worried. Leri as mentor, accomplice and friend is everything I could have asked for in a female friendship. And Moreta has other relationships and positive experiences with women, and it's so good, but what she has with Leri is so special.

The way the book builds this yearning for Moreta to be able to fly Orlith again, and then at the end she's with Leri's exhausted Holth, and they die away from their partners in the line of duty—I CRIED OK. It was so much. It was so good.

Only small bits of time travel, smart avoidance of paradoxes, thank you.

I was super invested in Moreta's healing of the Thread-damaged dragon wings. The whole process of healing dragons was super interesting!

Loved that Threadfall kept on happening throughout, it made the stakes even higher in the best way possible.

There were things I think could have been better:

I didn't enjoy Moreta's introduction and it made me feel like the book was gonna suck lol, she was arguing with Nesso and then talking about her body in a way that just felt dated and weird.

Everyone on Pern must have the same blood type I guess? Because they're just using extracted blood to make the vaccine, and the vaccine appears to have no ill effect. Honestly, the book had so much going on I'm pretty grateful it didn't go into Accurate Medical Science, but it did feel incredibly oversimplified.

Telgar Weyr's Weyrleader just sort of like decides everyone's not allowed into his territory and fuck you guys but I didn't really get a feel for that character at all or where he was coming from? So it undermined Moreta's end sacrifice a bit, because the ending felt rushed.

I really wanted Sh'gall to do something so egregiously annoying that someone yelled at him. Sh'gall was basically the comic relief though, I generally enjoyed how useless he was lol.

Overall? 11/10 and I REALLY hope the rest of the Pern books are this good! I'm going to pick back up in January with Nerilka's Story.

#Amber reads Pern #Dragonriders of Pern #Moreta #straight up I enjoyed this one even more than Dragonsong #wish we'd globally handled the pandemic like they did on Pern #still losing my mind that runnerbeasts are just horses #ffs #I'm gonna have to design a weird equine for pern

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

i'm so jealous of how it seems literally every other human on earth is really chill with being in rooms full of groups of people again. i'm still not!!! i'm still having the ol' covid anxiety about it!!!

#other people in a room with people: i'm one person among many existing in a human society like we're supposed to! i am happy and well! #me in a room with people: (chuckles nervously) i'm in danger #idk why this impacted me so much but it's contributed greatly to my 2023 sexy hermit lifestyle #i just ... can't let the whole years-long global pandemic thing go yet D: #dollsome's deep thoughts

[demadogs]

this is my impression of a byler:

“narratively speaking…”

#im obviously a byler this isnt a hate post but i just find it kinda funny #cuz like…. yeah duh were talking about a narrative story how else would we be speaking #i guess if it was something about like the set design or practical effects you could say ‘aesthetically speaking’ #but for anything about byler like yes i know youre talking about the narrative #like if you were analyzing the words to a song you wouldnt say ‘lyrically speaking’ lmao #same energy as when everyone was saying ‘global pandemic’ as if the word ‘pandemic’ does not already mean global #byler

[juanabaloo]

if you live in the USA and are feeling especially overwhelmed rn, remember we are living through both a modern day civil rights movement (like the 1960s) and a genocide that our govt is funding (like the Holocaust). keep fighting. if you need a break, rest up. take care of yourself. i believe that we will win.

#like a fuck lot of other things are also happening #like the Nazis i mean Republicans still politicking #and economic price gouging on everyday items #a shit job market yes even for those of us with good degrees #a shit housing market for most people who haven't already bought #and dealing with the lingering grief of a global pandemic that killed many of our friends and family #and oh yeah covid isn't over yet even though the capitalist machine wants you to think it's done #but the Nazis targeting everyone Black and brown and Muslim and queer and trans while the USA funds genocide conducted by Israel #yeah it's like no wonder it's overwhelming #i mean overwhelming doesn't even begin to label it #and yeah i am heartened by the protests on college campuses #never been prouder to be an alum of my college but solely bc of the student actions #fuck the college powers that be who are actively anti Palestine #but it's a lot right? it's def a lot for me #i'm OK just processing as best i can

[herrlichersonnigertag]

Just realized that maybe all my beautiful mutuals dont know that I live in the same city as my boyfriend now so I need you all to know that I LIVE IN THE SAME CITY AS MY BOYFRIEND NOW

#not just the same city. i live a ten minute walk away from my boyfriend. we can be gay so conveniently. :))))) #this may not sound like a big deal but consider this: for the first year+ of our relationship i lived either a full continent away #during a global pandemic #or I lived IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY ACROSS THE OCEAN FROM THEM #so a ten minute walk is. a big fucking deal. #שירו שיר חדש #inspired by mia as most things are #@mia #diagnosed with gay bitch disease

[raddagher]

Yesterday NPR did a spot about how teen depression has doubled between 2011 and 2021 and how Facebook is being sued for making toxic platforms and don't get me wrong I'm glad we're FINALLY getting around to addressing dark patterns in social media but the person they're interviewing said (re: teen depression) "there's nothing else that could be causing this"

Are we sure tho???

Are we sure about that??????

Are we positive that nothing else happened before 2021 that could have tanked teen mental health???????

#can we PLEASE stop pretending that the global pandemic just didnt happen #i feel like im going insane

[gregmarriage]

me as a kid being like ‘i wanna stay home all day and do whatever i want!’ and adult me being chronically ill, disabled and bed ridden ���🏻

#like be careful what you wish for kid #sisters to me at 2020 new year’s being all ‘i just want something interesting to happen!!’ #i think you can see where this is going #like yeah something ‘interesting’ did happen #a global pandemic happened and you got really sick and hospitalised multiple times #more times than you ever have in your life #august isn’t just my birthday month anymore #it’s also the anniversary of being getting hospitalised for the first time and all the horrible shit starting up #which is fun #like i’m turning 25 this year and then like 3 days later: trauma time!!! #it’s been four years this year #actually quite sickening #four years ago i was physically healthy #this shit really does just come out of nowhere sometimes and completely changes your life and you just have to deal with it #because you can’t change it no matter how much you might wish for it #all the people thinking they’d never get disabled #neither did i #no one expects to be 21 and stuck in a hospital bed #i’ve blacked out most of that time #like i genuinely don’t remember most of my 20s #even the non traumatic stuff #my brain just decided to get rid of it #and i can’t tell if my personality is bred from trauma or just bc i’m in my 20s now #it’s so hard to work out #bc i’m unsure if ppl who knew me before would even recognise me #have i changed or am completely the same? #i suppose being recently manic has left me questioning a lot of things #i’m basically revisiting a lot of stuff in an attempt to better cope and understand my triggers etc so i can better deal with the next one #honestly my brain has blacked so much out i don’t even remember having manic episodes #even tho i basically know i did

[meowmeowmessi]

every peps quote abt messi makes me feels so exasperated if you want to fuck him so bad being him to england my GOD

tears you know what they say abt absence making the heart grow fonder...

#i've given this a lot of thought and i realize the messi to city deal will only happen if messi himself takes the first step #not pep. messi #and it's not bc pep's a coward or that there's a rift between them or anything of the sort #it's bc pep knows what barça means to messi and vice versa #and he'll never try to take those two away from each other #remember in 2020 when messi wanted out pep literally flew to his house (this was in the middle of COVID mind you) #to discuss the move with him. but he stepped away once barto said messi would have to take the matter to court #and messi backed off #bc pep didn't want to make it seem like he was trying to steal messi from barça. and messi himself didn't want to sue his boyhood club #i think it's that simple. pep will come to messi's aid if he asks but until then he'll always want him to be with barça #i refuse to believe the man who risked his life during a global pandemic after a phone call doesn't want the best for messi #asks

[parismystere]

lord being a young person today feels so awful. was it always this bad?

#i'm sure every generation feels like that #first gen to grow up with the internet first gen after the fall of communism the 2008 recession the pandemic global warming #unless you grow up with money or get set onto some path at an early age you're just winging it #all my friends are so wonderful and brilliant and none of them know what they're doing #we all want bigger lives but we can't afford them.

[mothmouth]

Splatoon 3 hero mode spoilers past this point!

----------------

Am I the only one who feels really fucked up by like, log four's lore? It's really horrifying how it's described. Like, imagine being the scientists, so desperate to see the sky, that your ambitions end up snuffing out humanity for good. But that's not all! The log goes absolutely out of the way to let us know that anyone who survived the initial disaster died soon after.

Imagine being a child during all this. Perhaps your name is Rhea, and you don't exactly know what the sky is like, but you're excited for the big day of the rocket launch because your parents are. But then everything goes wrong. There's so much screaming and fear, then silence. You emerge from the rubble not knowing what happened or where your family is. And now you can't do anything but wander the ruins of humanity, scared, alone, and soon to be very hungry.

Or maybe you're Marcus - somehow, you got out unscathed say for some scratches when your apartment collapsed. But, you've got a problem; you're trapped. The walls caved in in such a way that you have plenty of air, but no hope of escape. You can only scream for help, struggle, pace and eventual lay down in what you realize is your tomb.

Hell, maybe you're even one of the luckier ones. You're Salem, and you don't really care that much about the launch. You were having a wonderful afternoon nap when you were awoken by a horrible noise - and following soon after it, a cacophony of screaming and crashing. You scramble to your window to be met with the sight of the sky falling in on itself into darkness. As your freeze response hits, you have just enough time to comprehend what's happening and despair over the loss of humanity before your house is hit and you die instantly.

There are theoretically infinite scenarios to describe the last humans of splatoon's earth and their experiences. Those pinned under rubble, realizing everyone they know is dead, or those injured horribly but still struggling to live. Something about the way that they specifically described the disaster really makes it real to me. It's upsetting in a very compelling way. Like - all that was left of humanity died! And given the time span of the event, there were almost certainly children and elders and others who were even more helpless than everyone else. That's fucked up.

#splatoon spoilers #hero mode spoilers #splatoon 3 spoilers #splatoon #splatoon 3 #tag your own alternan who died horrible in the notes #there's so much writing potential its horrible i love it #PLUS LIKE OK #log five makes me emotional in an entirely different way #how sentimental yet sad that sealife eventually fulfilled humanity's wish and carries it with them to this day #AND MR GRIZZ TOO!! he is so fucked up and sad #he wanted things to go back to what he understood #i think we all know that impulse #before the pandemic and global warming ramping up and political extremeism #i wish things could be simpler but i also understand its not like the before times were perfect either #and its ultimately a futile desire #in the end his search for the past made him no longer a mammal himself #and i just noticed that since the ooze acts on peoples thoughts its only natural it turns into furry ooze in his hands #he wanted mammals so it replicated human life #but just like the sky it's only a facsimile #it's just goopy crystal. it's not the same #this game feels so poingant to what a lot of us have been feeling i think

[likeabxrdinflight]

speaking of therapy work, I sometimes still think about my first therapy cases. there was something special about those early experiences that can't really be replicated. I didn't quite know what I was doing, they didn't quite know what they were doing...it was sort of a journey we took together. and that was the 2019-2020 academic year too so y'all know what happened then. what a ride that was.

#there was one I was really sad I couldn't terminate with in person too #I still feel bad about that sometimes like...not guilty just. bad you know #I could genuinely write an entire book about that experience alone #learning to do therapy in the context of a global pandemic was...something

[caffeinatedopossum]

Doctors be like "have you experienced a major life event recently", not considering the possibility that every event in my life has been major so honestly nothing feels important from my perspective

#like last time they asked me this im pretty sure i had just moved states cut off contact with most of my family #turned 18 discovered i was chronically ill and disabled AND was just going to doctors for the first time in my life #despite my crushing anxiety of being anywhere in front of anyone #im pretty sure i have/had agoraphobia but ive never been evaluated for it #i just feel absolutely terrified being in public especially any new places or being alone outside at all #like i cant go places alone but that was what i was doing anyway for doctors appointments #because oh yeah this was during covid too lmao #i kinda forgot because once again nothing seems all that important me #like global pandemic? cool cool can i get some severe isolation with this life threatening virus too? awesome #also yeah covid is still a thing but people dont care anymore #oh yeah i had also just lost my pets and my religion and all of my religious friends. this is the type of stuff i forget #what even counts as a major life event anymore #i think if i was to become homeless get hospitalized or my gf died. those are the only three things i can think of that would shake me rn #nvm there are more now because im thinking about it lol i just think those three are more likely scenarios

[hellishfig]

wondering about if future tma fans will understand the feeling of waiting for season 5 to come out only for a pandemic to hit and then have the apocalypse feel very topical

#like eventually it’s gonna end right #and tma will still be around #there will still be people getting into it #but it will never be being released at the same time as a global pandemic is ravaging the planet #and police violence is becoming more and more noticed by the public consciousness #like that was IMPORTANT SHIT #and it was INSANE #fuck dude this podcast #anyway #the magnus archives was a podcast #the magnus archives #tma

[the-togepi-man]

How did the move to the DC area go? Or is that still upcoming?

I move this weekend and I am very excited

#and also nervous as all fuck #ive been packing #and donating clothes that dont fit me so ive been beating myself up over that #and everything is sentimental to me which is OBNOXIOUS lmao #like “omg i lived here when the pandemic started” was a thought i had #who thinks like that?? like?? oh wow so nostalgic #a global pandemic?? #anyway #i am also very excited im just bad with inbetween time