2020 Writing Log, Part 21

[rynling]

- I posted Chapter 38 of Malice.

- I edited Chapter 3 of Malice.

- I finished my original short story "Don't Order the Fish." Later this afternoon I'll write a cover email. After reading it over one last time, I'll send the piece to the anthology editor first thing tomorrow morning.

- I moved to Philadelphia and unpacked everything. Now that my desk is set up, I can get back to the illustrations I've been working on for the past few weeks.

- I did what I could to amplify voices speaking out against police brutality and support protestors within the Black community. And you can too!

- I protested.

- I got hit with teargas, what the actual living fuck.

- I signed up for a community learning center class on how to serve as a street medic.

- I marched.

I'm starting to be able to see what my life is going to look like now that I don't have to spend seventy hours a week working for a horrible neoliberal institution, and the view isn't bad. May we all be powerful and brave as we look forward to a better future!

Comments

[runicmagitek]

For some reason, it feels weird to say "thank you for protesting" (kinda like "hey thanks for not being a trash human being and instead supporting, you know, basic ass human rights" which... yeah), but yeah. Thank you 💕 I wish I could do more beyond throwing money at people who need it, but considering how severely immunocomprimised I am... sigh :\ also, if there are any specific places accepting donations you're helping out with, please send them my way. I'd like to funnel any spare money to support you and other friends on the front lines.

And congrats on the move!! I hope you enjoy your new home and job 💕💕💕

[rynling]

Thank you, really! That means a lot to me. I was in the middle of moving, and I was basically just a warm body (in a mask), which was about all I could do. I was scared shitless, and I felt kind of useless, to be honest. Chanting doesn't come naturally to me, and when I see danger I will run right the fuck away.

Being on the ground actually made me really annoyed that all of this is necessary, especially during a pandemic. Like, people are just trying to live their lives, but this country can't stop killing Black people for long enough to let the shelter-in-place orders lift. I kept thinking about the MLK quote about "the silence of our friends," because this isn't just this moment, it's all the moments leading up to this when no one said anything.

This is a concrete example of the sort of thing I was thinking about:

I got bored while waiting for the moving truck last week and started reading through the personal Tumblr of someone in the Final Fantasy fandom who I used to follow. Why did I unfollow them, I wondered. The next day, they reblogged something from someone else in the Final Fantasy fandom who reblogs a bunch of cryptofascist posts about "global capitalists." I'm Jewish, and that's obviously upsetting to me. You know how I feel about "cancel culture" and the authoritarian insistence on ideological purity, but antiseminitism as a radical political platform is something this person has consistently defended as being in the interests of social justice. It's hard to see people I know and have interacted with for years just shrug and pretend it doesn't matter.

And it can be difficult to speak up in real life, I get that. There have been many occasions in which I remained silent myself. Speaking up can mean losing allies, losing your job, losing health insurance, losing the financial support of your family, and so on. But Jesus Christ, how hard is it to send a gentle anonymous message on Tumblr? Or to no-platform someone spreading toxic messages on social media? And what's the cost? Losing a follower? Not being able to see the occasional fan art of a moogle?

I guess this is the same frustration I feel about LGBTQ+ allies, like, people can't just support us when we're wearing a colorful flag on a t-shirt for Pride Month, they have to support us all goddamn year, even when we're not "performing queerness," you know? Nobody has to march in a parade; all people have to do is, like, unfollow Jowling Kowling Rowling on Twitter and say something quick and painless to Aunt Karen in private after she makes a tasteless joke about dyke haircuts at the 4th of July get-together.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wish more people would take advantage of these small moments so that nobody has go out into a virus caldron or get shot with rubber bullets on their own porch while they watch military tanks roll down their suburban street. If Republican Grandpa Arnold Schwarzenegger can learn to step up, and if Racist Uncle Joe Biden can learn to fix his shit, I feel like major change is very much possible at the level of quiet personal interactions.

Sorry, this became a speech. Haha oh man. I guess I had some feelings.

Anyway...

I used to work at a food bank, and sending your local municipal or regional food bank a quick $15 can make a huge difference. These places get food in bulk directly from farmers and other suppliers at prices you wouldn't believe (because it really is that cheap; fuck capitalism for creating artificial scarcity), and they also provide a lot of other social services (including legal contacts) for low-income communities. Most of them won't ask for more than the zipcode for your card, so you're not in danger of getting endless spam emails and junk mail for years after a one-time donation.

If you've got some books (including textbooks and video game strategy guides) lying around that you've been thinking of tidying up, you may want to donate them to your local library, regardless of the condition they're in. A lot of libraries will sell these books to large warehouse-based online retailers and put the money directly into community support, which includes adult education, prison outreach, and LGBTQ+ youth shelters.

You don't need me to tell you this, but I think you're awesome, and I love how you support all sorts of different people on a daily basis while making it look cool. Good luck to all of us!!

[lassarina]

Hopping into this thread to say I appreciate the suggestions, too.

I'm waiting for my library to start accepting stuff again (I have a box I can't even lift under my desk just collecting things for me to start putting into bags and carrying in me-sized piles to the library again), and our local food bank is huge and not annoying in their "please donate again" enthusiasm so as soon as this month's paycheck clears I will put more money there too.

[lassarina]

Holy shit, teargas is terrifying.

Yay for being moved and unpacked!