Life as an #actually disabled person be like
Legends of Tomorrow x LGBTQ+ pride
Disability Rant
Why the f is it that the symptoms/existence of my physical disabilities have to be dismissed the second people realize I have mental disabilities too? Why is it okay that I suffer physically because my mental health may be a contributing factor to stuff? I have long-term pain, hearing loss, vision problems, and a wonky immune system. My anxiety and depression put abnormal amounts of stress on my nerves, especially optic and vestibular nerves (eyes and ears) which is expected to worsen with age. My doctors’ response has pretty much been to say I should try to be less anxious or that it can’t be as bad as I say. WTF!!! Just be willing to believe me. Even if you can’t do anything. That’s all I ask of the people I’m literally paying hundreds of dollars to.
Movie Rec. (Silent Night)
Silent Night is my new favorite Christmas movie! It perfectly combines dark comedy with holiday family drama to create a masterpiece that leaves you unsure whether you’re allowed to be laughing or not. Plus the ending! No spoilers but… someone was right in maybe the saddest way ever.
Multilinguilism!
So, I was called out recently (in real life but I’m posting here now that I’ve had time to come up with a more eloquent response) about being fluent in four languages without being some kind of researcher / language buff / check list polyglot whatever. Basically how could I, a normal plebian, possibly be fluent in several languages?
Short Answer: Easy- bilingual parent 1 x bilingual parent 2 = quadrilingual (had to google that one) child.
Long Answer: My first language is english. I speak, write, and interact primarily in English. I’m not sure any content on my blog isn’t in English (?) just because that’s what I’m used to. My default setting so to speak. My dad’s first language was ASL (American Sign Language) and I grew up learning that alongside English. I don’t know everything and would probably make a sucky professional intrepreter but I can hold a fluent conversation. My mother was raised with English as her first language but most of her family learned Italian first. My mother also knows Italian but doesn’t use it much + didn’t teach me because her relationship with her family is strained for private, personal reasons. [I will not be taking questions about that. No exceptions.] I learned Italian when I got older (mostly through Duolingo / Youtube / online classes because I was interested in reconnecting with my heritage + learning about that side of the family. [Also won’t be taking questions on that. Similarly, no exceptions.] Spanish served as my required high school + college language.
I speak:
Primary Language- English (fluent)
ASL / American Sign Language (conversationally)
Italian (fluent in educational not native)
Spanish (fluent in educational not native)
Feel free to ask questions / reach out in or about the languages I speak. Please note: I did not grow up speaking Spanish or Italian so I don’t speak like a native. Apologies in advance if I use incorrect grammer / make a spelling error / whatever.
Please feel free to reach out in a language not listed above. I do know a handful of other languages partially even if I’m not fluent in them.
Though the jokes that "since gay pride month is over, july is now gay wrath month" are funny and all, it's important to remember that July is ACTUALLY Disability Pride Month and y'all should really be focused on boosting disabled voices and issues this month! For instance, the fact that marriage equality doesn't actually truly exist in the United States for disabled people, or the fact that disabled people are forced to live in poverty or lose their disability benefits, or the fact that 1 in 5 people with chronic pain end up sufferring from alcoholism or other addictions, or how accessibility is still a daily battle for all of us, or how there are active hate groups on places like reddit who try to "call out" those they see as "faking" their disabilities.
This July, boost disabled voices. Talk about the issues that our community faces. Call out ableism.
Thank you! I’ve been waiting for someone to say this :)
If you would report an undocumented immigrant to ICE you would have reported me to the Nazis and I don’t fucking trust you
A note:
I live in a state where you “have to” report anyone you suspect of being undocumented (that wonderful hellhole of Arizona). Now in practice this law has fallen far short, thank goodness. But if you live in such a place and they start enforcing it, here is how you get around it:
Assume everyone who doesn’t speak English is visiting.
Never ask about their job, because if they tell you they work here then you know they’re not visiting. You see them a lot for several weeks or months? Hm. Someone in the family must be ill. That’s terribly tough. They always dress in old, ratty laborers’ clothes? I feel you, my dude, I can’t afford new clothes either, and my dad has the fashion sense of an aardvark, so sometimes it’s not even about “affording” them. They say they’ve been here for years? You must have misunderstood. Spanish isn’t your first language, after all. First and last name? It never came up, or you don’t recall–you meet a lot of people.
And then, if you’re asked: no, you haven’t seen anyone residing illegally in the United States. Just people visiting.
Very good very important addition
Essentially, this is the civil society version of a work-to-rule strike.
Don’t do more than is expressly asked of you, and do what you are asked with such an intense attention to protocol that not asking you at all becomes more effective than even bothering.
In this case:
“Have you seen an illegal immigrant?”
“Could you describe an illegal immigrant, officer?”
*officer describes a person who is in the country without appropriate paperwork, or who has crossed the border illegally*
“No, sir, I haven’t seen any illegal immigrant.”
And this is correct. You have NOT seen an illegal immigrant, because you have no way of knowing if Jose Fulano is here legally or not. And since you can’t see his paperwork (or lack thereof), and did not personally see him cross the border illegally, you are only answering precisely the question asked.
I’m not American, and I have like, three followers, but this is important.
So, I’m a lawyer, who deals with immigration though does not specialize in it. But here’s the thing(s):
1) Even someone who’s working could be here on a migrant (or other sort of) visa (hey, there are a few thousand per year, and *someone*’s got to get them, right?) or could be waiting for their case to resolve in immigration court, after having come to America to join a born or naturalized American family member.
2) Even people who are working improperly could have come into the country legally – and just overstayed their visa or be violating the conditions of their visa, and you have no idea what the niggly little regulations that govern that might be.
3) If a law enforcement officer asks you about a neighbor/friend/etc., take this moment to remind them that, unlike them, you cannot ask a random person off the street for their ID and be entitled to a response.
4) Even if someone has told you that they are undocumented, you still don’t know, do you? Humans lie all the time. How could you know for sure? You can’t, because they can’t prove that they have a lack of papers. Just because you haven’t seen papers doesn’t mean they don’t exist!
5) Don’t ever talk to cops in general. Why are you talking to a cop? Stop that, as soon as it is safe and feasible.
Love,
a very tired public defender
I made these in response to hate crimes in my community. They are full size and free to download and print if you’d like to use them, too.
Since these are going around, I wanted to fill in some of the gaps! Here are seven more posters for communities under threat. As with the first set, these are completely free to download, print, share, repost, etc with no credit needed. This is open source activism.
I can never hope to cover every community, but in light of these difficult times, I wanted to make the additions above. Hopefully, you would be able to find the poster you need to respond to any type of violence in your community. These are especially meant for allies who want to state loudly that they are here to stand with vulnerable members of society. Remember: if you just say “everyone is welcome”, some secret bigot agreeing with you is marking an asterisk in their head beside a vulnerable group they hate. Be specific. Stand up. Resist.
Every community is welcomed here ❤️🎉
Making a Villain
Richard III by William Shakespeare
Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Tangled (2010) screenplay by Dan Fogelman
No Good Deed (from Wicked the Musical) by Stephen Schwartz
Untitled Poetry by Stephanie Bennett-Henry
mad woman by Taylor Swift
[Description + Tags Coming Soon]
PSA
Hi friends! It was recently pointed out that a lot of my posts that are visual-primary don’t offer descriptions for those who can’t see the visual. I will be correcting that! It won’t happen overnight and I promise to have it done in as efficient and effective a manner as possible. Please always feel free to bring to my attention anything I can do as a blog creator to curate a more positive, accessible, etc. space.
Blog Bio
According to Tumblr this blog is about:
#shadowhunters: Fair
#dan and phil: Of Course!
#feminism: Always!
#jodie comer: Didn’t realize I had a whole bunch of Jodie Comer stuff??? But she’s a really lovely person and Killing Eve is awesome so I’ll go with it.
#entertainment: …fandom stuff?
Polisis
Hi friends! Something cool for those of you like me who don’t speak fluent legalese and use lots of internety things. Polisis is a growing database of Privacy Policies/Terms & Conditions broken down into comprehensible language. Basically it reads the legalese tells you what it is actually asking you to consent to and gives it a rating on how protected you actually are if you do choose to consent.
“I know I have you
And honey, till I die you’ll have me too”
“I know I have you
And darling I do give the same to you”
[Youtube Video for Brother Sundance’s “You & Me”]
Queer Domesticity in 2021 w/updates
Dan and Phil (Daniel Howell&AmazingPhil) are (hopefully) FINALLY moving into their house [they moved in! Still having some of those DIY a house problems but…!]
Jamie and Shaaba (Jammidodger&Shaaba) are getting married (maybe… we’ll see if Covid reschedules it again) [not quite yet but soon, hopefully!]
Jessie and Claud (Jessica Kellgren-Fozard) are having a baby [welcome Rupert Henrik Kan Kellgren-Fozard June 4th 2021]
Abbie and Julia (Abbie & Julia) are having a baby [welcome Harbor Ensign February 5th 2021]
Rose and Rosie (Rose and Rosie) are having a baby [welcome baby Daughton July 1st 2021]
Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are adopting a baby (thank you babygayfwog) [welcome Sloane Phillips February 12th 2021]
Not to mention:
All of the JKF collabs/joint-content with Jamie, Dan, Stevie, etc.
Killing Eve Season 4
Some possible Naterhad in LOT???? In addition to everything else *cough* avalance *cough*
Motherland Season 2 + whatever is going to happen with Raelle and Scylla
My heart! After everything 2019-2020 has done to us… I needed this.
My December PSA
Have I stopped posting/reposting (at least semi-) orignal content? Yes
Is it because 2020 has been progressing my already bad anxiety+depression? Yes
Am I feeling guilty about it? Kind of. But like… DBT Skills. Do What Works so…
Will I be trying to post (or repost or something) more (semi-) original content in 2021? Hopefully!
maureen2musings
