#radical empathy

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

One of the popular internet narratives about SU that always annoys me is the idea that Steven changed all the villains'/antagonists' minds by being nice to them and offering them friendship and that this is what makes SU worthy of mockery. Except I'm pretty sure the only person whose mind he changed JUST by being nice to them was Lapis. All the other antagonists, he had to challenge their ideologies and prove them wrong. Or in some cases, they had to choose to change on their own.

Exactly. Steven most importantly, listened to people. He wanted to know why people were hurting and what he could do to help. That's not weakness, that's strength. That's radical empathy. The show isn't naive enough to think that simple hugging someone or offering to be their friend is enough (in fact, I'm pretty sure they make fun of this idea). The Diamonds acted the way they did because they were a dysfunctional family and since they saw Steven as a Rose-proxy, they could open up to him about their feelings. Lapis was traumatized and imprisoned for an incredibly long time so of course she's going to be receptive to the first person who is kind to her. Jasper takes the longest to change and doesn't really do so until she sees the Diamonds on Steven's side.

It's so easy to dismiss someone because they have toxic or even dangerous ideas or because they truly hurt people. But I would argue that doing so is even more dangerous because it allows hateful people to grow in numbers and spread their messages. Only by understanding why people are drawn to bigoted ideas, how they can become enmeshed in one's psyche, and how to break out of that, can change occur.

#asks #steven universe #radical empathy #redemption arc

[heterorealism]

#heterorealism #gender #leftist dating #feminist dating #walk away #dump him #not once #dating apps #social media #moral courage #antipoverty #dating #social justice #radical empathy #feminism

[piniatafullofblood]

watching the rebel flesh and finding it very very relevant. if you’re living in the US and you haven’t watched the rebel flesh recently you absolutely should.

#radical empathy #the rebel flesh #polarization #us politics #doctor who

[socialist-microwave-laser]

Its fun to go on someones blog and you can tell immediately they dont have friends irl. Im sorry you fell for the "no one will love you like i do" abuse tactic shitsrael employs to scare a traumatized people into thinking the only way they will be safe is by participating in an apartheid settler colony. News flash bitch, the issue isnt with jews its with the settler violence you genuinely convinced yourself ull die if you dont enact. Get some help from a professional or smth. Meet jews that arent genocidal maniacs, theyre not hard to find. Saying jews are unsafe anywhere except israel is a threat and you need to recognize it as one before u go parroting it thinking ur somehow making jews feel more safe. You are the entire problem

did you. read my rb. i specifically talked about how i didn't agree with that talking point. at length. and then, and this is crucial, i talked about how if we want to start moving towards peace we need to start listening to each other with good faith and compassion in our hearts, rather than waiting for a moment to jump down their throats and start another fight

also, historical note, this feeling that jews would not be safe without a jewish state (🚨🚨🚨WHICH AGAIN, I DO NOT AGREE WITH🚨🚨🚨) predates the state of israel by a couple thousand years. this isn't some conspiracy cooked up by Big Zionist to emotionally abuse all jews into loving genocide. one thing i wish i had mentioned in my post is tha a lot of people who believe this are absolutely vehemently opposed to the actions of medinas israel both against people within its borders and without (to employ a simplistic binary)

i genuinely believe if you want to stop yelling at each other and start talking to each other and working towards a real, everlasting peace, we need to start listening to each other with compassion, good faith, and open-mindedness. or, you know, at the very least not send someone angry anons based on what you think you read in the first part of a reblog you didn't even bother to finish reading. absolutely embarrassing

if you want a model for how not to be like anon, parents circle and the forgiveness project have a webinar today at noon eastern time, a conversation between a palestinian man and an israeli man, both of whom lost their child to violence in the area. i plan on attending, if any of y'all do too, feel free to send me a message or an anon after, i'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about. here's the link to the event, you need to "buy" a ticket but no cost is required, though donations are greatly appreciated:

#so embarrassing for anon jfc #jumblr #anarchist #leftist antisemitism #anti zionist antisemitism #parents circle families forum #the forgiveness project #restorative justice #radical compassion #radical empathy #radical sympathy #radical kindness #tsiyyonus definition

[greenhorizonblog]

Manifesto Excerpt 12

The main inspiration for this work is mainly the urgency of the climate crisis and the growing amount of human misery in society.

It’s an issue that has been on my mind for years, as it probably has for most. I’ve hoped for years now that something real would be done about it, but nothing ever did.

I feel betrayed and fed up with waiting, so I’m going to do something about it myself. With your help hopefully. We have to at least try. 

You must not underestimate the importance and effect of defiant hope and radical empathy.

It will change you and teach you that hope, joy, creativity and empathy are radical acts when living in a callous society of coercive control, as we do currently.

#solarpunk #hopecore #hopepunk #peaceful revolution #greenhorizon #anti capitalism #anti fascism #radical hope #radical empathy #climate change solutions #post scarcity #naturecore #forestcore #susutainability #environmentalism #climate change #climate crisis

[pluckedfrommyheart]

Squeezing into the same seat. Fixing someone’s collar. The weight of a tired head on your shoulder. Slices of fruit. Shared knowing glances. I love you. I love you. I love you. This is all it will ever be about. This is all there is to being alive.

#writers and poets #poetry #poem #thoughts #i love being alive #humanity #humans bring me so much joy #love #radical empathy #redemption #intimacy

[circle-of-memes]

Spoilers for “Spok Amok”, if you haven’t watched it go watch it!

Okay so I can’t gush enough about this last ep of Strange New Worlds. When I saw the trailer for it I braced myself, because Trek has a long tradition of goofy episodes falling flat. Not so this time!

This had everything! Body swaps! Girls’ night! Beautiful set design and costuming! Seriously I can’t get enough of Starbase 1, big Silent Running vibes set against the backdrop of Jupiter. It managed to be funny and endearing and enjoyable in a way that shore leave episodes often aren’t. 

But anyways what I loved most was the episode’s emphasis on empathy. Meeting each other by trying to see things through others’ point of view. But most importantly: engaging with each other in good faith. Radical empathy is not and cannot be a one sided affair!

#strange new worlds #star trek #radical empathy #jupiter #set design #costuming #body swap #the absolute vibe of una and la'an hanging out and having fun #lowkey I kinda ship chapel and ortegas #silent running

[moomatahiko]

bunny

...

[Image ID: A pencil drawing on graph paper of a gender non-specified person from the shoulders up holding a bunny gently. The person is wearing a ski-mask and a trenchcoat, gazing at the bunny. /.End ID]

#radical empathy #bunny #compassion #vegan #empathy #rabbit #ski mask #drawing #sketch #pencil #art #sketchbook #graph paper

[womenaremypriority]

Twenty years from now: Wow, people really thought puberty blockers were a good idea?? People were saying WHAT about gay people! They thought they were progressive?! No way anyone believed two sexes were made up by white people. They canceled a celebrity for THAT?

#I really really hate the right but the cruelty and insanity of this is too much sometimes #Crazy shit #Gender critical #I have empathy usually but I’m just so #Damn angry about the moral grandstanding of this eugenics movement #radical feminism #radical feminists do interact #My post #My bangers

[melancholypilled]

I just want to clarify that i’m not a TRA in any means all, and have many issues with the current state of gender ideology

however,

It’s always upsetting when i see GCs make fun of and dehumanize trans identified females, (and some males) like yes, most of them are “cringe” and are usually very sexist, however, it’s often internalized and sometimes a result of abuse, and making fun of them for coping isn’t helping anyone

#gender critical #radical feminism #radblr #transgender #terfblr #what happened to empathy

[seaweedstarshine]

Thinking about River affectionately calling the Doctor her “madman in a box” only after he's called her his “bespoke psychopath,” and vice versa. They each were called these words by the other before ever using them to describe the other.

Thinking about the way they defy reality for each other. How modern psychiatry elevates objective reality to gatekeep full participation in society, yet they shatter objective reality with love — “I can’t let you die without knowing that you are loved.” and “You are always here to me and I always listen and I can always see you.”

Thinking about “What's the mad fool talking about now?” and how Gallifrey ostracizes those labelled mad, going so far as to see it as failure in children. Thinking about “A child is not a weapon!” “Give us time.” and how Kovarian equates psychopath with weapon as a tool of dehumanization and control.

Thinking about the way the psychiatric-industrial complex inflicts violence upon those who deviate from psychosocial norms. How their relationship was born in violence, but of madness — not madness in a post-Enlightenment framework of opposition to Reason, but madness as radical compassion that doesn’t demand so-called rationality — “Every time you've asked, I have been there.”

Thinking about how neither of them chose “psychopath” or “madman,” but they both own those words as instruments in their own agency.

#words by seaweed #(eleventh) doctor is neurodivergent tag #river song #eleventh doctor #twelfth doctor #antipsychiatry #madpunk #yowzah #doctor who #bc I've seen the discourse on whether river is ‘actually’ a psychopath heres your regular reminder that psychopath is NOT a medical term #it's madman but with a lack-of-empathy slant. #saneism #ableism #reclaimed language #mental health #neuropunk #mad liberation #disclaimer: not a philsopher. can u tell I was a graphic design major w an incidental personal investment in psychotic ppl rights #anyway when I say ‘madness as radical compassion’ I don’t mean that madness creates compassion; but that this position #where participation in modern personhood is violently denied+ autonomy stripped due to weaponizing mental health interests (my river song) #elicits a different framework of compassion— one doesn't have to make sense or ‘fit’ into a convenient Narrative for compassion #the fact that they passing laws to make conservatorships easier to acquire in several states makes me shriek when I think sometimes #so uh tune in next time for me drowning my sorrows in my canon psychotic eleventh doctor evidence posts

[pyrrhiccomedy]

How’s Tomassin doing? Besides, you know, wretched.

Surprisingly good actually? He's fallen in love with Innokenti, that blind and wild fairy-knight; who loves him in return. Bastian set them up, on the queer intuition that the two loneliest people he knew might have something meaningful to offer each other, despite their obvious differences.

It's very hard for Tomassin to be loved. It goes against the grain of that flinching thing at his heart to take up that much space in the world, to anyone. He will love - in quiet, aching solitude - very easily, and never ask for anything, or give any indication of his feelings. But how could he allow anyone to love him - blighted aberration that he is? How could that not be a great and selfish unkindness? What future could he offer someone, when he is on a forced march to kneel at God's feet and accept a seal of condemnation? How could he let someone open up a country in their heart for him, when he knows the touch of his feet upon its soil would poison the ground with salt?

But Innokenti had a blunt counter to all of Tomassin's objections: and had the nimbleness of mind, and perverse persistence, to make his case. Oh, you think you'd salt the earth inside his heart? Salt it, then: nothing grows here already, not anymore. At least you would be one living thing, in this vast and barren continent. Oh, you are afraid you couldn't offer him a future? He is fairy - what is the future to him? He lives in an endless present, and never thinks about tomorrow. You think you are condemned by your God: Innokenti has already been abandoned by his. He won't say that's not true or God doesn't hate you, Tomassin. What does he know about the Christian God? You could well be right. But he can hold your hand, in the darkness outside of salvation: and we could be a comfort to each other.

They've been very good for each other, since their love has been acknowledged between them. Innokenti has made Tomassin more comfortable in his own skin, more willing to speak up and less mortified to take up space; and Tomassin has made Innokenti more grounded, more patient, and more thoughtful. They are nearly inseparable, these days, and Tomassin's grief and shame over the unavoidable circumstance of his own existence has been undeniably, a little, alleviated.

#heretic #something nice actually happened to Tomassin! #Tomassin and Innokenti were absolutely the two most miserable people Bastian had ever met #and even though they couldn't appear to be more different - #Tomassin a quiet and haunted and faithful priest whose gentleness is so complete that he wouldn't defend himself against his own kidnappers #and Innokenti a drinking whoring wildly reckless pagan with a penchant for violence #Bastian saw something deeper in both of them that suggested they might be good for each other #they are both deeply philosophical - deeply spiritual - deeply in different ways engaged in radical empathy #their loneliness and grief and certainty that they exist outside of a sublime order that they long to be a part of was shared #but the religions and orders they believe in are so different that they would be unable to judge each other - #while completely honoring each other's devotion and faith #Tomassin doesn't vibe with Innokenti's druidism any more than Innokenti vibes with christianity #but both perceive their delicate pursuit of syncretism as a generous act of profound romance #dice matters

[bunabi]

no because why are people acting like saying "hey don't say that about a white guy" is a dismissal of the entire Palestinian cause? I've not seen a single person say like, ok i'm not gonna support Palestine because of this, or that it takes away from aaron bushnell's message. just asking people not to say that. and i saw a whole page long post about how that's like a psyop. ??? people can care about multiple things.????

Well now I've definitely seen some people say/suggest well if you guys don't care about us why should we care about you both online and in person

But when you're told your words have no purpose and their meaning doesn't matter, when your allies dismiss your perspective the moment its inconvenient, of course you'd lose belief in solidarity

That feeling of disappointment and abandonment did not appear from thin air, and maybe one day we'll reckon with that

Not in my lifetime and definitely not tonight though so in the meantime my advice is everybody do this

#something something radical empathy something something Bulletproof Coffee is this anything #theres never a good time to discuss antiblackness in any movement so we kinda always end up back here; it does suck im ngl #me personally I still believe in building a coalition of many people #though ultimately imma fight for my happiness no matter who comes with me (and did) (and will) #replies

[zombiesun]

it frustrates me how people are so dismissive of the mental state of people born in isolated fundamentalist communities. like the brainwashing that happens from such a young age is unreal. your media, the people you engage with, your general relationship with the "outside world" is all filtered through the beliefs of your commune and religious leader. it took years for me to deprogram myself but before that I had a lot of incredibly fucked up beliefs and thought patterns based on the people who raised me. I'm a success story only because of my accidental exposure to people who challenged those perceptions. people need to have more empathy for people who weren't so lucky

#vin.text #one of the earliest examples of this is I went to a library program and befriended a muslim girl who talked to me about how 9/11 challenged #the safety of her family and the hate crimes she was exposed to #I was 11 and it radically shifted my understanding of the world #I also nannied for a muslim family for two years and was over there almost daily seeing how they lived and engaged with each other #but besides that ! my internet and books and movies and friends were all filtered #I'm a bizarre success story only by the grace of people around me who allowed me to expand my empathy and awareness #also the fact that I was gay and couldn't escape that #cult #fundie

[rotzaprachim]

the thing about andor season 1 being a moses arc is that cassian andor literally is moses. once you mention that moses’s rise to leader serves as scaffolding to almost every major character moment for cassian well you just can’t unsee it

#cassian andor #even the changes i'm still hmm on #his backstory is so extremely moses coded! there's a foreign woman who takes him from his culture and people and language #he might live because of it but his perpetual cycle of fleeing and exile and exodus starts as a child #she gives him a new name and takes his past #as an adult he kills the guard(s) #he flees into the wilderness #he becomes a shepherd (even if its just undercover) #his people are living in the house of slavery #he becomes a prisoner #he uses water- small and massive unthinkable amounts of flowing water- to lead an entire prison revolt #he ends up in exile and diaspora again and again #and the season ends with a miniature exodus of his comunity from ferrix with bix and brasso and jezzy and wilmon and b2emo #but on a meta level like: this entire season is cassian at the burning bush #he's a man with unclean lips who neither thinks himself worthy of being the hand of deliverance #nor does he think exodus is possible #like even that very meta arc change from dyed in the wool born revolutionary to good man in constant exile who finally turns and faces the #burning bush #that is MOSES coded. i don't know how to feel about those changes but i DO love the idea that #it's cassians' imperfections and time as an ordinary man among the people that give him the radical empathy and experience precisely to #/become/ this leader I OF UNCLEAN LIPS etc #also well does he ever reside in the promised land

[talentforlying]

this hand — cool, damp, with a nervous pulse. this man's hand. i held it all the while he talked and i'm still holding it now. must be going soft. these days we all need a hand to hold — in the dead of night, when the rain dashes itself in blind waves against the windows. when fear seeps, pooling in every vague depression — diluting and dissolving us, diminishing us — suspending us, drifting, in a submarine world. when you're drowning, any hand will do.

see this is the part that the new 52 writers always miss about constantine's characterization: he doesn't lack compassion or empathy, and he's not innately selfish. he has always cared more than he probably should. the conflict and tragedy at his core comes from being forced to act against his nature, not from being unable to contain some inherent cruelty. by late hellblazer his ability to show how much he cares is all but burnt out of him, but it's still there.

#( visage. ) AND I'M A BASTARD. #his femininity and radical compassion are all part of his queerness and i'm blowing a kiss to jamie delano every day of my life for it #a hearty fuck you to cunts like azzarello and milligan who decided they needed to Man Up and Straighten Out my guy #you don't see this man in justice league dark. you simply don't #part of why i loved city of demons so much + why jc: hellblazer hits so different is because they brought back some of that empathy #some of that gentleness and willingness to listen. to try to understand #i've said it before and i'll say it a million more times: the difference between his professional facade and his personal self is VAST #and it's part of why his main reason for being upset when people fuck him over is ALWAYS 'you could have asked. i would have said yes.' #anyway i love fear machine john i love these panels i love!!!! john constantine!!!! fuck dude!!!!!!!!! #( character study. ) A WALKING PLAGUE OF A MAN.