Vampire Harpy @thindol@octodon.social

Reminder to myself today: Don't let the world take away your softness. Be kind, be vulnerable, for the world needs love and empathy far more than hardness and steel.

Don't wanna talk about capitalist shit anymore, have my adorable cat who refuses to move even when I stack books on her.

Reminder to myself today: Don't let the world take away your softness. Be kind, be vulnerable, for the world needs love and empathy far more than hardness and steel.

bonus "my #DnD adventurers" "yeah, this rotting corpse-filled observatory is a good place to take a nap."

A Few Amusing #DnD Game Highlights: Leaning in fully to the "yeah, we're graverobbers" ; "How do you know ____?" "Intimately."; carrying a wrapped boy's body on a dire wolf's back through the middle of town ; and finally, chatting casually with a stranger while a magic stone absorbs blood from your arm about your group's reputation in town.

Bonus: "We could take over this abandoned tower! Or buy a house!" "But Lux makes us breakfast."

Yep, these are my murder hobos.

My favorite thing today is finding out there's a whole subgenre of "slice of life" that's just people being kind and taking care of kids/pets; it's so wholesome and sweet that it really helps make this day less terrible.

"The premise that regulations come at the expense of economic activity is so pervasive that even the American left tends to accept it, defending regulations as necessary evils to promote other social goods. Yet there has never been strong evidence that these trade-offs actually exist."

https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/april-may-june-2018/null-hypothesis/

Follow up thread - bigoted conservative dude who whined about how he hated black people and liberals before giving me a death threat (on company time), is getting fired.

He'd "like to apologize" after threatening me with "his lawyer" for reporting his death threat.

Fuck no. Nope no nope nopeity nope fuck off.

Well, that's yet another death threat chalked up for me this week. I say this casually because humor helps me cope, but I'm actually pretty freaked out.

I sent a copy to the dude's employer and posted it to some relevant college sites.

I'm really disappointed in the mutual friend who tried to minimize the behavior, "100% he was wrong to do that, but also can you take it down he's freaking out and also he's just dumb he didn't mean it."

Actions have consequences.

Some weeks you really can't force out creative/productive work. That's why, when I'm feeling good and inspired, I try to churn out as much prep as possible for my #DnD game prep.

Some days you'll just be more productive than others, and that's okay. Don't force yourself to be creative - just go work on something else. Follow your muse and do those "unproductive" side notes, sketches, headcanon blurbs, whatever you need.

bi-yearly resolution:
be less angry and don't assume the worst of others

Been plateaued halfway to my goal, so I'm fasting this morning to try and get a metabolism boost. It's hard, because it reminds me of when I involuntarily "fasted" because I had nothing to eat, and I'm trying not to think about that and play video games instead.

Isn't it interesting how associative memories are?

I spent most of today on fanfic, reading author answers on drabble, and spending time with my partner. Overall, a well spent Saturday.

I've got a pile of books to read, but haven't been in the mood to read - 50% because I first want to finish N.K. Jemisin's The Stone Sky but I know it's going to be an emotional rollercoaster of The Angst Feels and I don't know if I can handle that.

But 50% because I'm just being "mehhhhh" about reading, even though the moment I start I'll be chain reading all day every day.

So of course I went and bought The Essex Serpent to add to my massive bedside pile.

Something occurred to me today.

There's a lot of (valid) criticism of capitalism. But not a lot of advice on how to survive in capitalism, especially lower class survival techniques.

You have to give people the tools to deal with the oppressive systems they live in until alternatives are in place, not just yell at them to delete FB or that credit ratings are evil.

As a qualifier, this is mostly advice toward cis white folk/family.

PoC communities face a lot of voter disenfranchisement, so make sure everyone is registered to vote, go together to the polls, have required documentation/ID (fuck voter ID laws), and empower everyone to vote out all the racist garbage currently in power.

White folk, use your privilege to protect them at polls and call out racist poll workers. See Something Say Something (ACLU Justice App is great.)

If you have the spoons, start priming friends and family NOW: ensure they're registered to vote, understand the positions/stakes, vote socialist-Democrat in primaries, and for propositions that promote voting access.

If they're more conservative, it's best to focus (truthfully) on how Trump and the Republicans are selling America to the rich. Raising the minimum wage & higher wealth taxes work best as arguments dovetailed with their blatant corruption and self-serving platforms.

Doing better today. It helps that I finally realized, "Oh shit, this month has been nothing but awful stressful garbage. No wonder I'm breaking down." Being kind to yourself also means acknowledging your circumstances.