arulaen reblogged
arulaen reblogged
💯🙏💛🟨👍
Worst part about this is I've only ever used that yellow square emoji once and it was just to see how it looked. This isn't who I am. However, in retrospect, I suppose it is
Reading through the notes is a surreal experience please keep adding more to fuel my effervescent consumption of non descriptive emojis
arulaen reblogged
inspired by boop day, reblog this post if its ok for people to send you random asks and interact on your posts with no judgement. i want to talk to people.
arulaen reblogged
giving even a single shit abt covid will actually make u feel fucking crazy sometimes lol
“during the pandemic-” “back when covid was-” it is still here. covid is still here and it still kills people and it still disables people and it does so at an incredibly fast rate because nobody fucking cares anymore and nobody wants to acknowledge it anymore but how can you just ignore it isnt anyone else seeing this . the fucking measles is back bc everyones immune systems are fucked from repeated covid infectons because no one fucking cares anymore. why dont people care.
why is the vast majority of society pretending the pandemic is either completely over or never happened What the fuck is going on !!!!!!!! what the fuck is ggoing on like actually. i feel crazy. How are you going to ignore The fucking plague thats killed and disabled millions. can anyone fucking see this. Oh my god.
went to bed because i was kind of losing it . woke up and im still mad just in a calmer and more actionable way . i think part of what upsets me so much is that it feels like gaslighting. it straight up feels like gaslighting. in the genuine, non-meme sense of the word. the cdc stopped tracking cases and then told us the pandemic was over. doctors don't wear masks and get all offended if you ask them to. grown adults don't cover their coughs. this isn't normal. none of this is normal. society & the cdc will try and tell you it's normal and it's not. and it feels like you're fucking crazy sometimes but you're not. the pandemic is real, it is ongoing, it is killing & disabling millions of people, and you're not crazy for still caring .
arulaen reblogged
hey since it's coming up again: no it's not a good thing that the government wants to ban tiktok. no you should not be glad that the government might ban tiktok. no you should not respond to this with "good riddance" or "hurry up I hate that app". I should not have to explain this to you but the government banning a social media app is still a bad thing even if you don't like the UI or booktok or having to say "unalive" or how you think it's killing the very notion of attention spans. It's still bad. It's bad.
arulaen reblogged
Anonymous asked:
Have you ever cried or been significantly upset at the death of a celebrity?
- Yes (which one?), because I cared about them or their work
- Yes, for practical reasons (ex. it was a politician with good political views)
- Yes, but not because I cared about them (ex. their cause of death was a trigger for you)
- No, but I would if certain famous people were to die
- No, and I wouldn't even if a celebrity I liked died
- No, because there are no celebrities I like/care about
- Other (put in tags)
arulaen reblogged
"Biden is funding a literal genocide!"
Yeah - and so will Trump. Like, if you don't vote for Biden, Trump will win, and he will continue to send aid to Israel - in fact, he will likely send MORE aid to Israel. That's the reality of the world we live in.
And, to be honest, any US president will support Israel. Because the USA is Israel's ally. That's how foreign policy works.
So who do you prefer?
Biden, who has helped lgbtq rights, reproductive rights, infrastructure, the environment, lowered medication costs, supported unions, and done MANY good, progressive things,
Or Trump, who we already know is awful. Who we already know will destroy any human rights Biden managed to gain. Who will not help the environment. Who will not help trans people, or immigrants, or women.
Because those are your two choices. And if you think they're the same, you are dangerous to all marginalized people.
There has never been a point in any of our lifetimes where the US wasn't contributing to some atrocity or war crime or SOMETHING somewhere in the world. There just hasn't been.
The president isn't a king, and can't unilaterally impose his will on the country. There is not - and will never be - a candidate who can just wave their hand and only make the Good and Morally Pure Things you want to happen happen. That is not the system we have.
But things can get better, and things can get so much worse.
There is no scenario where refusing to vote and letting Trump win causes FEWER marginalized people to die.
Some of y’all are like “it’s not just Biden vs trump.” No, it actually fucking is Biden or Trump - stop being stupid. It sucks but there is no viable 3rd party candidate in the US. Now is not the time to risk dictatorship by voting third party. Deny it all you want but that’s the reality.
duality of man
Running a passenger rail company
……card….dealing….?
Playing the piano, badly.
Smuggling exotic animals.
arulaen reblogged
three years ago today, a new me was born
Check out this fucking shit
CHOO CHOO ALL ABOARD MOTHERFUCKERS the transfemme glow up train is leaving the station
Can I throw one in here?
2012-2020 2 years on HRT
If I may...
2016 -> 2023; 2 and half years on HRT 🏳️⚧️
I'd say it worked out pretty well for me 🤷♀️
Fuck it. Feb 14 2021 -> Dec 31 2022
A little over a year on E
Decided to use my favorite pre transition photo from just before my egg cracked. Tbh I made a very pretty boy. I just like being a pretty girl more :3
Jan 2019 - June 2023 (2.5 yr HRT)
2000's nu metal bassist to goth gf pipeline (i do need to play more bass fr)
Oct 2014 -> June 2023 (abt 6 years HRT)
posted on this before, but i took some new bice photos of myself recently, and who am i to deprive tumblr of my cuteness :3c
Nov 2019 -> June 2023. 3.33 Years E
Not my best pics tbh but w/e
This thread is the cutest
Here's my lil Sept. 2019 -> June 2023
October 2018 -> May 2023 💜
June 2020 -> June 2023 🥰
Excellent thread hehe
1 year of HRT
November 2022 - November 2023
4 years Pre-HRT - 2.75 years on HRT (from age 20 to age 29)
arulaen reblogged
three years ago today, a new me was born
Check out this fucking shit
CHOO CHOO ALL ABOARD MOTHERFUCKERS the transfemme glow up train is leaving the station
Can I throw one in here?
2012-2020 2 years on HRT
If I may...
2016 -> 2023; 2 and half years on HRT 🏳️⚧️
I'd say it worked out pretty well for me 🤷♀️
Fuck it. Feb 14 2021 -> Dec 31 2022
A little over a year on E
Decided to use my favorite pre transition photo from just before my egg cracked. Tbh I made a very pretty boy. I just like being a pretty girl more :3
Jan 2019 - June 2023 (2.5 yr HRT)
2000's nu metal bassist to goth gf pipeline (i do need to play more bass fr)
Oct 2014 -> June 2023 (abt 6 years HRT)
posted on this before, but i took some new bice photos of myself recently, and who am i to deprive tumblr of my cuteness :3c
Nov 2019 -> June 2023. 3.33 Years E
Not my best pics tbh but w/e
This thread is the cutest
Here's my lil Sept. 2019 -> June 2023
October 2018 -> May 2023 💜
June 2020 -> June 2023 🥰
Excellent thread hehe
1 year of HRT
November 2022 - November 2023
arulaen reblogged
Hey hey, ho ho, photomatt has gotta go!*
*for legal purposes I am clarifying that this individual should retire or otherwise be peacefully removed from their current position in the company, aka should “step down”, unless they can be ousted some other legal peaceful way like being voted out by shareholders, for tarnishing the reputation of the website and potentially violating internet privacy laws. In no way does the above user imply or condone any violent action towards the named individual and in fact condemns in the strongest terms any kind of violent action or language and—
arulaen reblogged
There’s some common threads I see in the anti-voting posts going around, and I feel like I need to discuss some of them. Let’s start with the biggest one:
- Voting to punish evil. I see lots of variations of this. Biden is supporting Israel, therefore we can’t vote for him. Is there any viable candidate who would stop the genocide? I don’t think the anti voting crowd actually cares. They are appealing to moral feelings rather than political strategy, because strategically, you have to realize that voting is not going to change foreign policy, and that change has to be pushed by other means. It’ll probably be something in the long haul.
- Democrats should run someone else. First of all, this is a shit strategy. You don’t primary your president in the second term unless your party is falling apart. This may come from people from countries where replacing the head of government is easier, but the POTUS is the de facto party head. Also, going to the lack of thought to the goal — do you know someone willing to primary Biden and able to win who would do the things you want.
- Biden hasn’t done anything anyway. This is just a way to bat away pro arguments. There’s plenty of lists of progress on lots of things. Student loans, insulin price caps, regulations, anti-trust.
- Putting the entire Palestinian genocide on Biden. I’m not saying there’s not culpability there, but understand that the entire US government is in support of Israel, on both sides. It was a miracle we got a handful of Senators to call for investigations. We should cut off aid, absolutely. Who’s running to do that? And keep in mind that Israel chose to engage. US officials would have liked a more limited response, not out of care for Palestinians, but because they know from experience that it will come back to bite Israel in the form of newly radicalized Hamas recruits.
- Liberals just have no hope for change. This is a new one. Just some idea that people are stuck in a rut and that’s the reason the two party system exists. The two party system is a mathematical consequence of the way we vote. There is reason to hope for change. The change, though, whatever means you choose, will take decades. Keep working at it. The hope is not that this election will fundamentally change things. The hope is that many small political actions over the years will push things forward.
Funnily enough, I haven’t seen a whole lot of third party promotion, just lots of this rhetoric aiming to punish. When voting, ask yourself:
- Is this problem I have with this candidate something that the other candidate would be better on?
- Are there other political actions I can take that will help?
- What things can change with a different President or Congress, and what needs to be pursued by other means?
Withholding your vote as a punishment isn’t really going to help. Biden doesn’t know who you are or why you are not voting for him, and there is no one with a chance of winning that will do everything you want. But you have other means. Protest, organize, donate, build up alternatives, advocate for a different system.
Vote to give yourself space and get a little bit. Do other things to keep things moving.
I saw a post on BlueSky that said that if Biden loses, the party will see that his centric policies (including international policy) have failed and will therefore move the party further to the left.
I cannot stress how much this will not happen. The party attempts to shift to the center when there is a major loss, because they want to pull in the left leaning-independents and the center leaning-Republicans. The Democratic party pays attention to the left when the left is pulling in victories. They go where the votes are. Not where the votes aren't.
You can go fucking nuts at the primaries, though. If some otherwise ignored candidate starts racking up the numbers, the Dems will pay attention and may focus on that candidate's pet issues in the general election. They'll also be watching where the donations are going.
drives me up a wall living in a very very red district, like “no democrat is ever going to win any local election, let alone a real leftist” district, like “our school board members ran on who was the most anti-mask” red, like “I pass white supremacist signs on the way to buy weed” red
and being in the local leftist community and the guy who runs the anarchist book club and the lady who helps keep the warming shelters open and the people who marched on city hall when a local business was getting death threats for having a drag show are all members of a discord and we get on this discord and have frank discussions about how best to vote
the people who do the protests and the mutual aid and all the real work
going “okay, they’re both fascists, but this one lacks ambition and seems happy to just glide in the position” or “they both suck, but this one can be reasoned with if you frame it patriotically enough” like we don’t even have a democrat to vote for. we know what a vote is. we know what we hope accomplish with it. we know what it can do, and we know what it can’t.
and going from those discussions to here where people think that your vote is some kind of fucking??? enabling maneuver??? as if someone isn’t going to end up in that seat regardless of what you do???
we didn’t build this system, we just live in it. we’re just trying to survive. a vote isn’t a statement of your values, it’s not an endorsement, it’s not a marriage contract, it’s a strategic play you make to keep alive.
the biggest mistake I see leftists making is overestimating their own popularity. “well but everyone would be leftist if they just-“ no, stop, 1) you can’t possibly know that 2) everyone will not just
arulaen reblogged
sorry but i want to hit every american talking about not wanting to vote democrat anymore with hammers. lol
yes the democratic party also sucks but you know what sucks more? republicans winning elections because the left is too idealistic to vote. fuck you. not only would that have massive repercussions on human rights and just about every social issue in your country but it influences international politics too dipshit!! a far right government in the us is bad for the whole world!! i dont care that you dont like liberals you dont have to like them just fucking vote for the party that doesnt want poc and queer people dead. yes even if they have shit stances on things like israel. because its better than having a republican government. fucks sake
i just. i want to grip these people by the shoulders and shake them. i dont care that you dont like biden. i dont like biden. but if your other options are trump and desantis you have a moral obligation to vote for the guy that isnt trump or desantis. abstaining wont get you a better government that doesnt contribute to genocide itll get you a far right government that contributes to genocide even harder
arulaen reblogged
Ohhhhhhhhhhh I know why I love Astarion now.
Aside from the obvious reasons he’s. He’s Taako. He’s a vampire Taako.
Standing on the picket line is a cute gesture, but let's not forget how he prohibited the rail workers from striking for safe minimum staffing and the ability to take sick days.
Also, this “cute gesture” is something no US President has done.
Fuck off with yourself now.
Obligatory Biden not perfect disclaimer blah blah blah (do you people still expect to get perfect politicians??? apparently I guess)
But.
Going to a picket line is actually a huge deal. There is a reason no other president has done it.
Brief explainer:
A picket is not a protest. They have different goals and they are viewed differently under the law. A protest is meant to disrupt and to draw attention to an issue. A picket is meant to stop scabs from entering a workplace to replace the workers picketing outside.
This means that, historically, pickets were often very violent. When people in the 1920s wanted to stop you from entering a factory, they did not confine their tactics to angry yelling. This is why the courts treat pickets differently, and they do not enjoy the kind of broad free speech protections that protests have.
Biden standing on a picket line is huge in a number of ways. It's a statement by a sitting president that no one should go to work at that workplace, for one, which kind of wild in and of itself when you think of it. Who the fuck is gonna scab when you have to walk past a picket line that includes the fucking president.
It's also granting a kind of implicit sanction to picketing as an activity that it has never historically gotten. Picketing is one of those things that even the FDR administration was a little wary of. The law tends to approach it as something that is techhhhhnically allowed and we can't stop you...but it's something that needs to be reined in, controlled, corralled.
And like, is this the most radical thing a president has ever done? No. Is it going to magically fix everything related to organized labor? Absolutely not. Is Biden the most pro-union president ever? No again because FDR existed. But he is the most pro-union president of my lifetime.
And as someone who knows a lot of labor history, having a sitting president on a picket line is honestly kind of breaking my brain a little.
Other things that the Biden administration is doing or has facilitated (by getting non corporate hacks into critical positions for example) which are not getting talked about:
2024 is coming.
The Republicans have the 2025 Project that wants to literally imprison and genocide queer and disabled people.
The Democrats are giving us our money and lives back.
Show this to EVERYONE WHO YOU KNOW.
Tell them the difference.
Get them out to vote.
We have a chance to have a country that is worth living in if Democrat candidates keep winning.