Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Proud Shout Outs and Story Suggestions

Generated by Bitmoji
I know that it's the final day of Pride Month, and that this has been a particularly hard month for various reasons. Still, I hope people were able to embrace who they were and found safe spaces to just be them. Enjoy this final day of Pride Month, friends, but please carry that pride and love and strength throughout the rest of the year as well.

You are loved exactly how you are.
Generated by Bitmoji

Getting to the point of this blog, I'd like to apologize for missing last week. I had no clue what to talk about because, you guessed it, I haven't written a dang thing. As I tried to mentally plot out what to discuss, I figured I'd check in on a Facebook message from ChibiSunnie. Next thing I know, I'm sending the poor girl an 11pg letter and it was time to pick Hubby up from work! I had debated working on a blog post after picking him up and doing our grocery shopping. Problem there, though, is a) we wouldn't be home until after 1pm, b) it's been taking me 4+ hours to write my posts lately, so this would take up my entire afternoon, c) I still wasn't sure what to talk about, d) I had chores I really needed to get back into a consistent routine with again, and e) I was already getting exhausted and needed something mindless to do.

So, no blog post last week.

The week before, I had continued working on my blog post after picking Hubby up from work, and it kept me until about 3:30 to finish. By the time I was done, I was so drained I ended up napping for about an hour or so. I just didn't have the energy to even promote it. All the more reason I didn't want to bother last week. So, if you did manage to find and read that post from a couple of weeks ago, thank you. This is why I have that email alert option, so you don't miss a post even when I'm too lazy to promote my own work!


Anyway, here we are again, with me STILL not writing anything. I was tempted to also skip today because, well, I'm sure you are sick and tired of reading me go "meh, no writing this week..." for months on end. I know I'm tired of writing it.

However, first and foremost, since I didn't write last week, I didn't promote the week before, and I totally forgot I was writing in June that first week, I wanted to make sure to get today's blog post done in order to have a proper "Happy Pride Month" in just before the month ended.

Secondly, I needed to make sure I got a shout out to my mom. Yesterday marked 25years since she was declared officially cancer-free; kicking breast cancer's ass when she was younger than I am now!
Generated by Bitmoji
I'm bummed that this year Hubby and I weren't able to go visit her, for safety reasons among others, but I did get a chance to chat with her last night. She sounded like she managed to still properly celebrate. She told me this year was the one she was most looking forward to:
Mom: "Five years meant I could breathe [the cancer probably wasn't coming back]. Ten years meant I could ease up [on my vigilance]. Fifteen years meant I was probably safe. Twenty years meant it was highly unlikely it would return. Twenty-five years meant I could finally relax."
Well, you did it, Mom! You can start to relax a bit. May the next 25 years go a LOT smoother for you, and a lot less stressful.
Generated by Bitmoji

Along with those shout outs, I also had three stories I wanted to promote. None of them are mine, of course, but all three are great reads and on-going projects.

First up, we have a two-fer from zenmisery.

FINALLY having both the time and mental energy to read some fanfic, I started up Zen's story Dressed to Confess.
Summary: A lonely and forlorn Chat comes to visit his Princess and ends up keeping her company every night leading up to her last-ditch effort to capture Adrien’s attention.

Rating: Teen
Current Word Count: 8548
Status: On-going; 4 chapters; updated every week or so
This is an awesome story with just the perfect balance of rot-your-teeth-out fluff and breaks-your-heart angst. Adrien has been feeling particularly dejected at home, so, as Chat Noir, he goes to visit Marinette. He knows she's making an elaborate and gorgeous gown in order to make herself - as she put it - look as beautiful as possible before FINALLY confessing how she feels to her crush. She figures it's all or nothing. If the dress turns out the way she wants, and she feels she's going to look as gorgeous a she's gonna get, and he still rejects her, then she'll finally start to move on.

Chat Noir of course has no clue who she's talking about, and assumes she's talking about Luka, and gets small pangs of jealousy that "this idiot" hasn't already realized how amazing Marinette is and scooped her up. As the story progresses, Chat Noir is all but convinced to do the same with Ladybug: confess one last time, and if she still rejects him it's time to finally move on. The decision to give up on Ladybug becomes easier for Chat Noir to make when he starts to realize that maybe he has fallen in love with Marinette.

The fourth chapter just went up, so I haven't had a moment to read it yet, but the story is already so lovely, and I'm curious how the Love Square is going to collapse in on itself as the story progresses.

Now, while I have been waiting for updates on Dressed to Confess, I've been reading the other story that Zen recently started up. Excuse the pun, but this one is a much darker story overall.
Summary: Lost in complete darkness, Marinette comes across a child who has just been through the same ordeal she went through. Except, she doesn’t know what that ordeal is, how to find his mother, or how she’s going to explain if he ever sees her face when he’s already identified her as Ladybug and she can’t find Tikki.

Rating: Teen
Current Word Count: 8266
Status: On-going; 4 chapters; updated every week or so
Talk about a consistent writer, right? Both stories updated at about the same pace, both have 4 chapters up right now, and both are roughly the same word-count.

Anyway, this story is a gritty and intense story, especially compared to Dressed to Confess. Personally, I am amazed by her ability to switch story vibes as regularly as she does.

In the Dark deals with a great mystery of what exactly happened to everyone. Marinette wakes up with a headache; probably a concussion. Tikki is missing, with no explanation yet as to how or why; not even Marinette remembers. She then has to navigate the pitch black in a rubble-filled collapsed building with a small child in tow she quickly stumbles upon. The boy Luc had asked if she was Ladybug, and she went with that persona despite the lack of powers or suit, as a means to keep the child calm. The "lie" gets a bit more complicated when she runs into Nino in the dark, and then hears Chat Noir's voice. If she's brought into the light before she can find Tikki and properly transform, her secret may be out. She has more to worry about, though, such as the safety of herself, her friends, the child, and his mother. Finally, since she couldn't remember if the damage was caused by an akuma, Marinette has no clue if she can repair the damage that Paris has suffered. The potential inability to repair what happened becomes heavier as Marinette's head wound seems to get worse, and one of her friends is found injured.

I am on the edge of my seat reading through everything, wondering what could possibly go wrong next. It is completely gut-wrenching and the hits come frequently, but in the best way as the stakes keep increasing. The current chapter pattern has also been bouncing between Marinette's POV and Alya's which is great as the two best friends are currently separated. This way you can also get a glimpse of what the rest of Marinette's class is up to during the destruction. The mysteries of what caused everything, how Marinette is going to get out of her identity predicament, where Tikki even is, can the damage be repaired, how are they going to collectively make it to safety, and will everyone be alright just keeps me wanting more.

And when it gets too intense, you can just hop back over to Dressed to Confess or some of her other fluffy stories to get the warm fuzzies again.

Jumping fandoms, Cyhyr uploaded her latest chapter of Displaced by Time.
Summary:
Vesper Scienta wanted nothing more out of life than to make sure her charge and best friend, Prince Aster Amicitia, was happy. She would follow him, always, and keep him safe, as her appointment as Shield dictates she must. She was happy. They were happy.
Then they found the Messengers.
Now she's flitting through time itself, racing against the weakening pulse of the Crystal. It's been almost nineteen years since the Dawn Returned, and the world needs saving again. Vesper just doesn't understand why it has to be her, or why the Messengers separated her and Aster, or why they paired her with the daughter of the Marshal and the son of the King of Light - both from different times.
Time's running out. The star will burn. Raise the dawn, become the night, restore the Crystal.
Vesper just wants to be with Aster again.


Rating: Teen
Current Word Count: 23,043
Status: On-going; 3 chapters
As a refresher, this is a mostly original story taking place within the world of Final Fantasy XV. It follows a party of original characters, with the canon characters sprinkled in as support and timeline guideposts. Very much like how X-Future was.

I do not follow this fandom at all, and my knowledge of this game specifically was mostly learned via Cyhyr's Tumblr posts, but I am still adoring this story. There are time travel and parallel world shenanigans, and parallel stories to the main game storyline. I'm always a sucker for those types of stories. I've also already grown to love Cy's original characters, and I'm rooting them on. I'm curious about their different timelines, and how their parallel universes both differ and connect. We also haven't had any confirmation yet that the timeline the trio is currently on is part of Vesper's or Voti's past, or if this is a completely separate universe than even either of them are from. It's complicated, but intriguing as you try to figure it out alongside the characters. There's also this struggle between duty to save the planet as a whole versus taking the chance to save a loved one, and already two of the characters have been struggling with that choice.

Things get even more complicated in the third chapter as one of the characters tries to save a parent who never actually fathered children in the timeline they're currently on, but you can still sense this emotional cry to save him regardless, and you hope that they succeed in doing so.

I'm sure the story is much more entertaining for any who played the game and can see the game story plot points played out in a different perspective, as well as see how Vesper's actions - and that of her partymates - either affect the timeline, or cause a canonical event to happen regardless (or because of) her intervention. Still, without knowing the canonical story, I'm enjoying this hardy read. It is a bit confusing for non-fandom members, mostly because it's rough to gauge where the characters are in relation to different important cities and the significance of their locations across the whole continent's layout, but it is still written well enough to be followable and entertaining.

Now to get my OWN writing in gear.

Mouse lit a fire under her own butt this past week, and sent me an article about persevering against fear. I'm going to try to follow her lead and see if I can find time to finally just sit and think and create again.

I do miss it.

As I try to re-center myself this July and re-find that 2017/2018 self that managed to create and complete Peeping Tomcat, I also wish to leave you with this reminder:
Generated by Bitmoji
Love you, friends. Stay safe out there.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

A Rambling Catch-up

I honestly went into this post with no clue what I was going to write about. This week has been a crazy-busy blur.

Last week I had a rare Monday as my second day of the week off, so I've been working straight through since Wednesday until yesterday. I'm still trying to get back into the rhythm of getting ready for work every morning. Some days I run out of time for breakfast and have to bring it with me to have at my desk. Others I have to wrestle to tie my hair completely back because I ran out of time to dry or straighten it. Others still, I actually get ready with loads of time to spare, but STILL nearly run late for work because I get sucked into a project to kill that spare time.

By the end of the week, I think I've managed to FINALLY get my timing more-or-less figured out. Since Hubby started going into work at 6am during the pandemic, I've now gotten used to waking up at that more decent time, as opposed to the 7:30/8:00 we used to wake up at. I've been able to get ready for work within my usual 90-some minutes that I was able to do before coronavirus hit. Which usually leaves me with an hour or so before work, so I do most of my Animal Crossing dailies as a means to kind of meditate and get myself in a good mood before work. Also helps cut down the amount of time I'm on the game post-work.

At least... that was supposed to be the idea.... I'll get to that.

While at work, there is still a LOT to play catch-up on. For instance, updating price tags from pre-corona that were up in March. Also, couple of years ago, my manager asked me to come up with info and customization tags for the different furniture pieces we sell, and then last year she asked me to also create sizing tags. So I had to go through and double check that they were all still accurate. Spoiler: a lot of them were not. The manufacturers have added or removed features on a lot of frames, so I had to update pretty much every tag. Meh. It gave me a chance to also spruce up the tag designs to make them more "fresh" looking. On top of that, we've received a bunch of new pieces to fill in the holes we had on the floor just before shutdown, so I had to research those to get the info and customization tags made up for them.

Lastly, we're getting ready for our Independence Day sale already, so I had to do up the promotional price tags for our mattress line-up, which took me two days because the coworker that explained the sale to me is TRASH at explaining anything, so I ended up having to re-do the tags a few times before I FINALLY figured out what he was trying to tell me.
Generated by Bitmoji
I'm also supposed to create a poster for a new base we're giving away as part of our mattress sale, but the only photo-editing program owned by the company is in our corporate office nearly an hour away, and I'm not about ready to give up a day off to go down there and create the poster, and I'm sure my manager isn't going to have her or my other coworker give up one of THEIR days off to cover one of my work days so I can go down to the office to work... so I've been trying to find other ways of creating this poster in a high enough resolution that it can be printed as a professional-quality poster.

AND I'm also trying to keep up with the company's social media accounts, including researching our vendors and products so I can throw up informative tidbits about them once a week, and trying to come up with cute little furniture-themed memes to engage customers and give them a reason to want to check out our page, even if it's for a weekly chuckle.
My attempt to be humorous.
This is probably why I don't make more meme-content....
While my coworkers are still complaining about the store being slow - although, we had a decent turnout this weekend - and how they're bored because their To Do lists are vastly shorter than mine, I'm running around all day.

And I had TRASH shoes to do that in - cheap things I grabbed at Walmart when that was the only thing open when I got back to work and needed closed-toe nice shoes again - so my feet and legs and hips were SOOOOOO FRIGGEN SOOOOORE when I got home each night.

I have since made it to a proper shoe store and purchased replacement shoes, as well as throwing out the ones that have been killing me... they were already wearing through! Feet are still sore as I break in the new shoes, but at least my legs and hips aren't as bad. So... win?
Generated by Bitmoji
Anyway, between my apartment being too hot to exercise in, my knee acting up and clicking badly just about any time I bent it, and now this issue with my legs, hips, and feet, I haven't Zumba'd in nearly a month. I'm going to be in a LOT of pain when I can finally get back to it.


My nights had therefore been spent with my feet elevated across the arms of my loveseat as I either played more AC:NH, watched Netflix with Hubby, or had a streaming Anime Night with Hubby and Omnibladestrike. We had actually been doing the Anime Streaming Night once a week for the better part of a month now, as a way to try to get back into our social routine while still social distancing.

Although, on Sunday, Hubby and I bought a TV for the bedroom so he can hide away and play his games in there when I need the living room, when I'm doing Zoom meetings for Zumba or family get-togethers or when I'm doing webinars, when he just wants to play something stupid in the background to help lull him to sleep, or when it's too hot in the rest of the apartment and it's cooler in the bedroom. It also means we can go back to properly snuggling while watching TV together. Which is what we did Sunday night.

Plus, being able to properly lounge instead of my awkward sprawl across the loveseat is helping my legs and feet.
Generated by Bitmoji
Speaking of lounging and playing AC:NH, Hubby and I are to the point where our islands are mostly about daily chores, but even said chores aren't really needed. We don't really NEED to find our 4 fossils every day since both of our fossil sections in our museums are completed, and I believe our friends' fossil sections are too, so there's not really much need of evaluating the fossils either. I mean, we both still need to have fossils evaluated to finish off the Nook Miles goal, and it's usually a Miles+ goal every morning, but both of us have over 100,000 Nook Miles anyway, and nothing to really spend them on.

We don't need to find our daily money spot or money rock, because we both have multi-million bells in our accounts, and not nearly enough to spend them on.

We don't need to find our two free items in the trees, because both of our house storage is close to maxed out and we're just selling nearly everything right now anyway. Plus, it's rare that we'll find something we actually like or is new to us.

Our flowers and villagers, with the programming for this game, are now fairly self-sufficient as well, and neglecting them for a day or two or three really won't hurt much of anything.

There's almost nothing new in Nook's Cranny, and Hubby doesn't buy up clothes like I do. Even so, aside from socks, which I barely buy, it's hard for me to find something at Able Sisters or with Kicks that I haven't already purchased. Right now I'm just spending bells buying items so they go into my catalog to re-purchase at a later date if I so wish, and then selling the items I didn't particularly like in the first place, because I just don't have the space.

So, yeah, neither of us truly need to play daily anymore. Hubby is done terraforming, and he seems pretty set on his villagers. I still need to re-arrange a bunch of stuff, but I don't have the energy to map out my island right now, so that project is on hold. Neither of us need fossils or bells or Nook Miles or free items. We don't really need to bother hitting up either of the shops or the traveling vendors; definitely not Leif since we're set on the shrubs and flowers on our islands, but MAAAAYBE Saharah even though we're close to getting all of her flooring and wallpaper options. Hitting up CJ or Flick would be nice, at least, to get the commissioned statue made, but otherwise, we don't NEED the bells, even if they're nice to get.

Truly the only real reason to log on each day is to see if Redd is visiting so we can try to get more artwork. We're finally up to, I think, five pieces each?

HOWEVER, right when I go back to work and really don't have much post-work time to play anymore, right when I thought I didn't NEED to play all that much anymore because I don't really NEED the fossils or bells or items or clothing or Nook Miles, right when I thought I could step away from the game and maybe transition to playing Two Point Hospital more, or start up Link's Awakening on the Switch, that's when we find out that June is Wedding Season, and you can earn Heart Crystals by visiting Harv's Island daily and stage wedding photos for Cyrus' and Reese's wedding anniversary celebration.

Staging the photos alone has been so much fun - I love weddings! - albeit a bit time consuming. And the fact that Reese asks for something new each day is also fun. Cyrus also added more wedding-related items to a special catalog each day for the first ten or so days. So you could get a new wedding-themed item daily, and use the heart crystals you earned to buy even more items. Between starting these dailies late and forgetting to hit up Harv's Island 2 or 3 times since I started, I think I've done the photos something like 10 out of the possible 15 days. Cyrus has stopped adding new pieces, and Reese has stopped giving me a new item, but I can still earn up to 15 crystals a day. At least, I haven't surpassed 15 crystals ever, so I'm assuming that's the max amount. There are a lot of items that I can only buy during June, and June is the only time I can earn crystals for them. So I'm currently in the process of earning as many crystals as I can to then splurge at the end of the month.

Hubby's in the mindset of "meh, I'll just snag things next June" but I don't know if I'll a) still be playing the game daily by then, or b) remember to log back onto the game in June if I have stopped hitting it up daily before then.

So... yeah... With all of that going on, I haven't had much middle-road down time. I'm either going full-steam and can't stop to do things like enjoy my own social media accounts, read, write, or even brainstorm further, or I'm so burnt out that I have to do something that requires little thought, like the Animal Crossing tasks that are pure routine for me by now, or mindlessly watching something on Netflix, or focusing purely on reading subtitles while watching anime. The extent of my creativity has been working on those Facebook posts for work, and staging the wedding photos in AC:NH.

That said, I DID manage to get ONE thing read over the week. It was a relatively short fanfic that I read while on my lunch break (I may have unofficially made it an extended lunch break, but my feet were killing me, and I just needed to recoup for a bit).

You might remember me gushing about mostlovedgirl during the Love Square Fluff Week event leading into Valentine's Day. Well, she posted a cute little slice-of-life fluff piece that I absolutely adored.

Summary: Preparation for Fashion Week is keeping Marinette at her studio tonight far later than she intended. She's about to go home for the night, but her plans are derailed when she discovers a giant blanket fort in her office.
It is so cute to see adult Adrien and Marinette happily married, and to see their children fleshed out. It's a small story, but you can still get a sense of their family life, and the individual personalities of the kids. You also get to see Adrien's own problem-solving skills, as well as how much of a leader their oldest has already become; taking after her mother. Plus, you see both Adrien's and Marinette's concerns about their parenting and balancing work-life. You just get this great view into their lives, and feel like you more-or-less know everything, as if you were still watching their day-to-day. There's also these really great one-liners... just... go read it. We all need some fluff in our lives right now, to get a brief break from everything, and I recommend this one, even if you aren't already in the fandom.

Sadly, while I got an email alert that zenmisery posted her latest story Dressed to Confess on the same day, and it just got a second chapter either last night or this morning, I haven't had a moment to go through that one yet. Next on the To Do list!
Dressed to Confess Summary: A lonely and forlorn Chat comes to visit his Princess and ends up keeping her company every night leading up to her last-ditch effort to capture Adrien’s attention.
I'm looking forward to getting to this one. Also for Cyhyr's latest chapter of Displaced by Time.

Now, with all of this being said, let's not forget that there are still battles to be had.

Yeah, sorry, I'm taking a turn for the serious again.

Last time I checked, which, to be fair, was Saturday, the cops that killed Breonna Taylor not only haven't been arrested yet, but they're also still on the police force with little to no repercussions for her murder.

Sure, there's now a law making no-knock warrants, like the one that resulted in Taylor's death, illegal in Louisville and it was named after her, but it's not a nation-wide law, and creating a law to help prevent more Breonna Taylor tragedies doesn't give HER justice.

Another young black man - Rayshard Brooks - was shot and killed by police over the weekend after they confronted him while asleep and possibly intoxicated in his car in a Wendy's drive-thru.

The push-back against BLM by trying to villainize George Floyd - as if that justified his death, let alone HOW he died - has been ramping up. There is also confusion and push-back against #DefundThePolice and #AbolishThePolice and #8CantWait.

I'm far from an expert, but here's what I've been able to gather up in SUPER simplified and general terms.

While there may be extremists who do mean that they just don't want the concept of police to exist anymore, MOST people seem to agree that we do still need police, but just on a Much MUCH MUUUUUCH smaller scale than what we see today.

Basically, the idea is that part of the problem with the police as-is is that they just have too much on their plates, and they literally cannot be trained to handle everything they're forced to. They should be reserved for combating violent crimes where they are the shield for innocents most white people believe they are. That, and, of course, detectives to solve crimes that have been committed. However, cops are also called for domestic disputes, non-violent drug violations and offenses, mental health situations, homeless problems, guarding students within their schools, car accidents, and other such situations where an armed person might not be needed, or might actually escalate a situation instead of de-escalate it.

The concept of Defund the Police is pointing out that, in most American cities and larger towns, the police force gets the lion's share of the budget, which leaves less than half to split between infrastructure, schools, mental health services, social services, homelessness solutions, public transportation, etc. Instead, these bloated police department budgets would be cut, and the funds would instead go to those other organizations/departments. Then, those other, now better-funded, organizations can take care of those situations where an armed officer might not be the best idea.

Schools could invest in keeping their students safer, and find alternatives to armed guards patrolling the halls. They can better educate students, and have the means to better handle students that might have hard home lives, or mental health issues, or are neurodivergent and don't learn by standard means. Educating the youth and creating productive after-school programs that are free for the kids helps diminish crimes, and helps lift the entire community.

Invest in the future, and all that.

Mental health facilities can bring on more employees and better training. They could provide free assistance for those who can't otherwise afford help. The police are woefully under-trained for dealing with people with mental health problems, so having people whose whole job is to be specially trained to help these people would also lower the need for cops. And, if the person gets violent to the point where an armed officer might be needed, it's easy enough for the assigned social worker to call in back-up. It could even set up on the same network as the police so back-up can be called in just as quickly as if a cop were the one requesting it.

Drug rehab centers, support groups, and other such assistance can either be better funded or just straight up BUILT to help people recover. And, they can have their own mental health care workers that are specially trained to find the causes of addiction and the best methods to help someone stay sober. Throwing drug offenders into jail - assuming it's consuming and not trafficking - isn't helping them at all, but having these services could very much help them.

More assistance for those that are homeless - shelters, food banks, job training, job coaches, drug rehab, mental health evaluation and assistance, etc - will help ease the homelessness problem. It will get people help that they most likely aren't getting in jails. It humanizes them instead of criminalizing and demonizing them. It could help them get back on their feet, give them back their dignity, and help them back into productive society.

More money funneling into the DMV will help with road maintenance and can also go towards more traffic signs, lights, crosswalks, etc to help keep people safe and try to minimize the number of traffic accidents that police respond to. Also, if there's a shift so that DMV workers are the ones going to traffic accidents, calling first-responders to the scene, etc, it will cut down even more on what the police have to shoulder and train for on the day-to-day. And, if it's a situation that calls for the police to investigate, it should be fairly easy for the DMV employee to then report it to the cops.

For instance, when I slid off the road last winter, but was otherwise fine and just needed a tow back onto the road, I didn't really need the cops there except for their lights to alert the other drivers to be careful. The DMV could get hazard lights like that. The tow truck already has lights like that.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Also, as a post that's been floating around the internet has already said (I'm paraphrasing because I can't find the exact post now):
You are all so enraged by the concept of defunding the police, but none of you seem to mind that they've been defunding your schools for years now.
With regards to Abolish the Police, again, it's a spectrum of supporters. There are those who, again, believe the concept of armed guards patrolling the streets and answering calls about crimes - both real and perceived - is dated and should just end completely. However, it seems most supporters just wish for the abolishment of the existing police, and for a new, better trained and re-imagined department to replace the old.

While it is just one city, and probably shouldn't be used as the Gold Standard of whether or not this concept works, Camden, New Jersey is an interesting case study, as it were.

The police department in Camden was deemed too "far gone" to be properly reformed. The systemic issues - with race inequality and other problems - were just rooted too deep to get the existing officers to comply with any sort of reform. So, seven years ago, the entire police force was disbanded; abolished. The police were re-imagined in an attempt to get them to work alongside the community better and help everyone feel safer. Then, new recruits were brought in. The pre-existing officers were allowed to re-apply for their jobs, and around 100 of them did return to the force. Presumably, after proving that they were the "good cops" that people keep stating exist, and proving that they would gladly embrace their New Normal (see how I brought that back from last week? Eh?).

The police force isn't perfect by any means, and things seem to have taken a turn for the worse in the transitional years between abolishing the existing force and fully staffing the new once, and there's the added caveat that there's a lot of other underlining factors that most reports aren't including, but the criminal stats for Camden have shown improvements since 2013.

Here are a couple of articles and a video I found on the concept of Camden and abolishing the police:
Again, take everything with a grain of salt, because Camden, I believe, is still the most dangerous city in New Jersey, but that's an improvement from being the most dangerous city in the entire country.... Right?

Point is, much like the situation with Camden, the arguments for Defund the Police and Abolish the Police are varied, nuanced, on a bit of a spectrum, but, as a whole, are good concepts and cries for a re-imagining of the police force.

For a much more comprehensive look at these concepts, here are some articles and videos on the subject to help get you started:
Now, the #8CantWait movement seems to lean heavily on the "fully abolish the police; we don't need people with badges and guns" camp, but their list of 8 police reforms that MUST happen NOW is still a good concept that should definitely be taken into consideration, as well as their view on how to prevent or otherwise deal with crimes in communities without a police force. Use that as a guideline to at least - as Dr. Goff mentioned in that Rachel Maddow interview linked to above - reduce the footprint of the police.
Image taken from 8cantwait.org
It is definitely a lot easier to understand what this movement is trying to achieve because they DO have a centralized website to explain it. The link is in the image caption, but I'll put it here as well:


So, the fight continues on. I'm still a bit drained from all of the information I'm trying to absorb and re-distribute. I again own my White Privilege by stating that I was able to grow up not having to know about all of this, or learn how to consume all of this daily. I was raised to be "color blind" to race, and thought that made me a decent and non-racist person. I've since learned how terribly wrong that practice actually is, despite the well-meaning intentions, but, still, I had the privilege to at least BELIEVE that it was a good practice while I was growing up. I also believed that calling America a "melting pot" meant we were unified. (I have since grown to love the idea of America being a salad: each bit is individual and unique, and can hold its own on its own, but makes up something better when combined; with the additions each individual celebrated and enhancing the whole.)

I hope we don't let up quite yet. I hope everyone keeps fighting and meaningful changes do happen.

I also hope we remember to keep fighting for the LGBTQIA+ community as well. There was a major blow to the Trans community by way of Trump revoking their health protections, allowing health care providers to deny service to transgendered peoples. On the plus side, though, the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act also prohibits employers from firing someone based on their sexual orientation or for being transgender. So, kind of a mixed bag of news there....

It also reminds me, with all the craziness that's been going on in the world this month, I totally forgot this:
Generated by Bitmoji
While there have already been such highs and lows this month, and it may seem awkward to be joyous and proud with everything going on right now, I want you do it up anyway.

Be proud. Be joyous. Enjoy who you are and help others embrace themselves as well.

Know that I love you, and I will Mama Bear for each of you.
Generated by Bitmoji
To finish off this crazy post, I want to warn everyone that I might have to find a way of reviewing comments before they post. I haven't found that option on Blogger yet, but I'll have to look further into it.

This past week I've been basically deleting a new spam comment on my posts daily. I'm actually up to 9 spam comments since the start of June, 7 this past week, and friggin' FIVE the past two days alone! It's the same spam message each time about "finding out your true name" or "find the true meaning of your name" or something like that.

There's supposed to be a fail-safe to make sure bots can't post comments, but clearly that has eased up, or the bots have been programmed smarter than the fail-safe. On the plus side, at least my blog has enough visibility for bots to find and attack it? Yay?

Oh well. I'm gonna end on a high note with these two pictures:


Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Accepting a New Normal

Hey, how's everyone holding up?

Me? Well, I actually managed to brainstorm a bit about One and the Same this week! I know. Shocking. I didn't get around to actually WRITING anything, but it was a start. Even more surprising, I was brainstorming an akumatized villain! I HATE doing those! I still have a lot of wrinkles to iron out, but, again, it's a start.

I also managed to beta read a new chapter for Cyhyr's story Displaced by Time. I wasn't able to get the notes to her until late Saturday, so the chapter isn't quite up yet, but keep an eye out for that.

And, honestly, I was going into today thinking I'd talk more about those two things. I mean, this IS my writing blog after all, right?

I just couldn't though. I couldn't pretend everything was normal again. Not yet.

Protests, demonstrations, riots, and, basically, uprisings have been sweeping across the United States, and even around the world. In the wake of all of this unrest, people are still struggling to stay safe as the pandemic also continues to rage.

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a complete dumpster fire of a year, and we are more than ready to fast forward to 2021, in hopes that we can get back to "Normal." We are all just aiming for that "Normal."

Here's the thing, though, we shouldn't want to get back to "Normal." So, sorry, peeps, but I'm again going to "get political."

Also, side note: I absolutely HATE that it's STILL considered "political" to care about the well-being and basic rights of fellow people: LGBTQ+, women, minorities, those with mental health issues, men trying to combat toxic masculinity, disabled peoples, entire towns in developed nations that don't have clean water, children fearing for their lives due to gun violence, people in any nation being oppressed and/or killed by their own government, the future of the entire planet, etc....

Anyway, back on topic.

Yes, the term "New Normal" is scary and frustrating because it brings to mind masks, and cleared off grocery shelves, and purchase restrictions, and social distancing, and unemployment, and staying inside the house like a caged bird. And maybe even curfews and near-constant protests.

Here's the thing though. Even when we're past the pandemic and the social distancing and the masks and the purchase restrictions and shortages and we can freely roam wherever and whenever we'd like, we should still look for a "new normal" in the post-COVID world. We should never want to get back to our original version of "normal" because it clearly didn't work out for the vast majority of us.

Everyone was looking optimistically towards 2020. It's a magical sounding year. A futuristic sounding year. Heck, a lot of sci-fi was set in 2020 because of that. People were hopeful that 2020 would bring change to their lives.

And, well, it did. Or, at least, it SHOULD.

This year has been a disaster. It's been a struggle. It's been painful. It's been deadly. We all probably will look back on this year with disdain. However, ever the optimist, I also see 2020 as the potential start of something so much better. This could be the change we all needed, even if it's not the change we wanted or even realized we craved.

The pandemic has re-calibrated everyone's views on so many jobs. Nurses, doctors, EMTs, and all others who work in the health profession in some way - the administrators, the clerks, the techs, the maintenance workers and janitors, etc - are getting the recognition they have long deserved. Average citizens are truly seeing the struggles teachers face, and the effort and love they pour into their jobs. Teachers are getting the respect they should have always received. Grocery workers, delivery drivers, mail carriers, sanitation workers, and tons of other essential workers I know I'm forgetting, are all being lauded as heroes that help keep the country moving. Businesses are learning that they can function remotely, and communities are supporting the small businesses that live and die by their neighbors' choice to buy from them.

These should all be our new normal. We should never wish to go back to before. We should always realize how stressful health care work is, we should always make sure they have enough supplies to keep themselves safe and help cure their patients, and we should keep these telehealth means to help people remotely if it works better for the patient and/or if it keeps the waiting rooms from getting clogged. A means to check that a doctor's visit is truly warranted, versus a quick bit of instruction and rest at home.

We should always remember the stress and strain and financial burden that comes from being a teacher, and all strive to help relieve that. Also, we should be able to keep optional virtual classrooms so students who are unable to make it to school, or otherwise thrive when learning on a computer, can still continue their learning, or even learn better. Even if it's just one classroom of all the virtual students instead of every classroom and every teacher having to include this added feature into their curriculum.

We should never forget how important every job is. The workers at the grocery stores. Those at retail stores. Fast food workers. Delivery drivers, from food delivery to big-rigs. Mail carriers. Sanitation workers. Phone, cable, and electrical techs that come to your house and maintain the lines throughout your community. Construction workers. Public transport workers. Janitors and maintenance workers. Factory workers, especially those at food processing plants. The list continues, and I am again forgetting people, and I'm sorry. The point is, we need these jobs. We need these people. They do things we take for granted. They make sure things we just assume will always work are, in fact, working. It's because they do their jobs properly that we tend to forget that they are crucial jobs in the first place, and so many are talked down to, demeaned, and forced to live in poverty because of that. Let's remember how much of our society actually runs on these jobs, and help raise them up. Don't make working at McDonald's some indication that someone wasted their life. Don't shrug off trash collectors as someone unworthy of your time. Don't snub a delivery driver their tip because they're a couple minutes late. Don't complain to a cashier about a company policy they have no control over. Let people know that these jobs are as essential as they proved to be during this pandemic, and fight to have these workers get a decent enough wage to survive and thrive on. Make sure they have the benefits to keep them healthy and safe.

Again, though, we should also remember how COVID-19 showcased how the "Normal" we all used to know didn't really work.

People who struggled to make it into a specific building to work for a variety of reasons - they're a caretaker of family members or parents who can't get child care, they suffer health issues that prevent them from making it into a place of business 5 days a week, they are literally physically incapable of entering the building due to a disability the building doesn't accommodate, they have no reliable means of transportation, they have to endure abuse and/or harassment from their coworkers and/or management, etc - have suffered for so long. They were unemployed and then blamed for their unemployment, they struggled to force themselves into the building, they lived paycheck-to-paycheck because the money they were making instantly went to child care or transportation, and I'm sure there were tons of other issues I can't even imagine.

Then companies were forced to adapt or die. Magically, telecommuting became the "new normal." There's still struggles with that, just like there are with virtual classrooms, mainly because not everyone has access to reliable internet, but I'll get to that.

In a post-COVID world, companies need to remember that a lot of jobs don't need to be done on-site, and that people ARE capable of self-managing. Also, as long as the work is done before the business opens again the next day, a work day shouldn't have to be 9am-5pm. If someone works better from 11am - 7pm they should be able to shift their 8hr day. Or if it's easier for them to work while students are in school, and then finish when the kids are in bed, they should be able to. That way they can spend the rest of the time with their children. Or, if there is x-amount-of-work that needs to be done before the end of the week, and the employee can do it in 4 10hr days instead of 5 8hr days, they should be able to tweak their schedule. If someone can be productive enough to get their normal 9-5 work done, but only work for about 6hrs sporadically while taking care of their household, they should be able to.

We're not built the same. The same tactics don't work for everyone, and this pandemic showed how more flexible and fluid definitions of a "work day" can still be efficient. Also, assuming someone has that reliable access to the internet and the programs needed, so many more people are now capable of those jobs. All those people who were previously unemployed because they couldn't physically make it into a building five days a week are now employable. We need to remember this, and remember that our previous shortcomings were our own doing. Our own unwillingness to change and adapt to the needs of others.

As I mentioned a couple of paragraphs up, another issue is that telecommuting, telehealth, and virtual classrooms aren't ideal for everyone. Not everyone has reliable access to the internet, which is kind of ridiculous considering how much of our society now hinges upon it. So our "New Normal" should also focus on helping everyone get that access, and we saw that saying things like "they can go to the library for the internet" might not be a viable option all the time. Also, technology can be hard, especially if you didn't grow up using it. Forcing people to be their own tech-support isn't going to work either. We need to understand that shortcoming and find ways to adapt to that struggle as well.

The big issue in the United States, though, was the inequality of finances and access to health care. For the majority of Americans, health insurance is directly tied to your employer. Your employer offers expensive insurance, or cheap insurance that barely covers anything, or no insurance what-so-ever, or you're self-employed and therefore have to provide your own health care? Well, you're just S.O.L., aren't you? You have insurance that's fairly decent for everyday or preventative care, but has a HUGE deductible for any sort of hospital care? Here's hoping your job also gives you enough that you can have a financial safety-net set up, and that you have a large enough net for whatever health issue you might come across.

Yes, the United States had an issue with just having enough tests for people to take, but even if that wasn't a problem, the next one was getting people to actually test. Because, for a lot of Americans, it was a large out-of-pocket expense to just take the test. Then, if it was confirmed that they had coronavirus, it was an even LARGER burden to pay the medical bills, as well as figure out how to pay the everyday bills while on medical leave from work. Assuming, of course, that they COULD get medical leave and aren't just outright fired for needing to be quarantined for at least two weeks.

There's just too many Americans that had this mental battle: get tested and find out if they're sick, or risk it but be able to still get food on the table and keep the roof over their head. The need to go with the latter option meant the potential of the disease spreading further - especially when their coworkers have to make the same decision - and more deaths as people don't bother going to the hospital simply because they cannot afford it.

And this spotlighted that it's the Black and Brown communities that had to make that decision the most. Their access to health care and decent health insurance, and being financially capable of handling the burden of treatments, is atrociously subpar compared to a lot of their White peers.

We need to remember this. We cannot go back to our original normal where people are literally dying because they cannot afford to take care of their health without sacrificing food or shelter.

This disproportionate loss of non-white lives brings me to the other "Normal" we HAVE to avoid.

There are demonstrations going on right now. There are protests. There are riots. There are uprisings. This is because White people still consider themselves superior to Black and Brown peoples. Now, I don't mean EVERY White person, and I don't mean ACTIVELY consider it. I, for one, believe all peoples are equal, but that still doesn't mean I don't have racism ingrained within me so deep I haven't weeded it out yet. Believe me, whenever something new shows up that demonstrates my implicit racism I become enraged. First, I get mad at the implication that I'm racist, then I get mad at myself for not noticing it before and changing, and then I get mad at the society that subtly taught me that racist view.

But the fact that those implicit racist views are still creeping up on me shows how ingrained into society they are, and that "Normal" HAS to go away in this post-COVID "new normal."

We cannot go back to the "normal" of a militaristic police being idolized and praised as heroes when the only ones they're protecting seem to be the White community. We cannot go back to ignoring the cries of our fellow citizens. We cannot return to a country that values businesses over lives.

Businesses can be rebuilt. Human lives cannot.

Now, my mom is a business owner. She is the sole employee. I understand that for small-business owners that their business is their life. If it goes, they have no way of supporting themselves, and that's another change that needs to be made. Again. We cannot continue allowing businesses to trump human lives. We HAVE to find ways of creating safety nets so we can focus on public safety over financial stability.

We have to find ways of funding Black and Brown communities and mental health care, instead of the police.

We need to learn to become a proactive society instead of a reactionary one. We need to learn to raise up those essential workers so they don't need to work three jobs or run on four hours of sleep or rely on social programs to supplement their finances. Nor do they have to choose between working while sick or getting fired.

We need to adjust how we view the work week structure and what jobs truly need to be "on-site" versus telecommuting. We need to also find a happy balance between online and offline availability. We need to re-evaluate how ableist our society is, and figure out how to adjust. We need to realize how entitled we are as a people, and re-calibrate our priorities so that our fellow citizens are the focus, not the businesses oppressing us or the luxuries we mistake as rights. We need to make health care a right that all has access to, instead of a privilege where people literally pay to be able to live.

We need to see all of the shortcomings and misconduct and oppression COVID-19 and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have spotlighted. We need to realize that so so SOOOO many people have already known and lived through all of these failures of our society. These issues have been their way of life. It's not new news to them. It's not something that started with COVID or 2020 or even with Trump's administration.

But it's something that we can change now. Perhaps 2020 is like a fever during an illness. Nothing the body had done up to that point had stopped the disease, so now the body is taking extreme measures. Not everyone survives intense fevers. They are dangerous. They are scary.

A lot of times, though, they are necessary, and the body does indeed defeat the infection and becomes stronger.

Let's survive this fever. Let's end this disease. Let's become stronger.

Let's embrace a New Normal.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Black Lives Matter

Hey, everyone. Sorry if you had been worried about me. May was a rough month that resulted in two missed blog updates, but I'm fine. I promise you. I'm actually back to work, which has kind of contributed to my absence here.

Two weeks ago, my last week of shutdown, I honestly just forgot what day of the week it was, and by the time I realized I had missed my weekly update and figured out what to talk about, it was already something like Saturday, and so I just waved the white flag. I assumed it wasn't that important that I update, especially since it was just going to be me talking about Animal Crossing more.

Last week I actually did write most of a blog post. Kept me my normal 4hrs or so to write it up, however, I was again focused on sharing more about my AC:NH progress, so I wanted to include screen grabs. Between the actual writing of the post, going through my hundreds of screen grabs for the ones I wanted to share, editing them together into little comics instead of sharing dozens of individual pictures, and realizing I needed to go back into the game to screencap a few more things I wanted to show off, all took HOURS. I then was interrupted by the errands and chores I had to get done because I was back to my regular work schedule of Tuesdays off; work most of the rest of the week. By the time I got back to the game for those last screencaps it was about 8pm. I thought I'd finish up my blog post Wednesday, but that clearly didn't happen, mostly because I am now in charge of the company's social media presence, along with being the contact between the company and the marketing company now in charge of out website. So I have to make sure our website is up-and-running properly, and I have to relay any issues I might find with it. The website is brand new, so obviously there's still some issues to work out. Which meant no real free time. Which also meant no time to finish up that blog post.

I debated just finishing that post for this week, but, in light of things, it didn't seem right. I mean, sure, having something light-hearted might be exactly what you need right now with the state of the US being as terrifying and enraging as it has been.

Still, I've seen posts asking for any White Americans to utilize whatever platform they have, however small, so that's what I'm planning on doing today.

Okay, so, a few caveats before I start:
  1. While my parents tried their hardest to raise me as an empathetic ally, due to the neighborhood I grew up in, and the neighborhood I moved to, I am still a very sheltered white woman who has maybe interacted with 5 or so people of color - all inclusive; not just black - near-daily at any given time throughout my life. The things I say may reflect this sheltered life and come across as ignorant. PLEASE correct me if this indeed shows up.
    1b. Further disclaimer, it literally kept me until my senior year of high school to figure out that a classmate I'd grown up with was mixed-race because I just thought he was of Mediterranean-decent with naturally-tanned skin. So it is entirely possible that I've interacted with a lot more non-whites who can pass as white, and just never realized it. Still, the fact that I default to "they're white" probably also showcases how sheltered I am.
  2. As I stated, I understand that I am still ignorant in a lot of things, and so there may be things I say or advice I give or sites I share that aren't as helpful as I was lead to believe. For instance, I participated in the Instagram #BlackoutTuesday movement today, only to then see this Twitter post condemning it with some very valid points. The long-and-short is that IG used to have a lot of valuable information for people, but all of that is now gone because everyone instead posted a solid black square. There were good intentions in showing solidarity, but is was misplaced and has now potentially hurt the people we are trying to stand beside. Sadly, I still don't quite understand Instagram, so I have no clue if there is a way to delete my story. So, if you see me pass on misinformation or well-intentioned sentiments that are actually harmful, PLEASE alert me. 
  3. Basically, I'm still learning. I'm trying, but I'm embarrassingly new to this, mostly due to the aforementioned sheltering. I'm absorbing as much as I can, and being cautious that what I am taking in and sharing comes from the black community in the first place, but I can still trip-up. Once more, PLEASE alert me if I'm misrepresenting anything or sharing bad-faith information or sentiments. Clearly I know nothing of the oppression because I don't experience it and I don't even see it (hard to see it when the majority of the people around me are also white). I'm trying to be a microphone for the black community's message to pass through, instead of adding to the conversation myself, but, again, I can still trip up. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know where I am stumbling so I can become better.
That all being said, let's first address that banner I shared: Black Lives Matter.

It's been a cry for years, and for just as about as long, the echoed reply has been "All Lives Matter."

No! Stop!

There is absolutely NO ONE in the BLM movement claiming that ALL lives do not matter. They are addressing the issue that, to society, black lives do NOT matter, and they SHOULD. The movement might as well be Black Lives Matter Too, You Know!

Here is a quote from one of my college friends that she's been trying to post on All Lives Matter comments to help educate:
It would be ideal if all lives really did matter, and that’s what I hope our future looks like. However, at present, it’s pretty clear that black lives aren’t being valued by society at large. That’s why saying “all lives matter” isn’t exactly correct — they SHOULD matter, but they don’t. Our black friends use “black lives matter” to help point out this disconnect. Anyway, I hope this helps to explain why you see so many people get upset when white people say “all lives matter." By saying that, it’s like you’re saying there’s nothing wrong with the way black people are treated right now.
To further emphasize this point, I've seen two different hypotheticals circling social media:
Everyone sits down to a full table of food. Plates are in front of everyone, they are filled, and everyone starts eating. Everyone but you...
You reply appropriately, “I need food.”
Members at the table turn while chewing and say, “Everyone needs food.”

Black lives matter, and saying ‘all lives matter’ right now makes as much sense as yelling ‘everyone needs food’ at someone holding an empty plate.
A house is burning, so volunteer firefighters hose it down to try to save it.
"What about saving our homes?" the neighbors yell, "All homes are important!"
Well, yeah. Of course every house is important, but yours isn't the one burning down right now.
So, I hope that you now have a better understanding as to why the BLM movement is so important, and how counterproductive, and even passive-aggressive, the All Lives Matter counter-movement is.

Okay, so you agree that black lives matter, but you are still fighting against the notion of having White Privilege. I get it. This kept me a minute too. The thing to really focus on here is not that White Privilege means opportunities are given to you, or that you are without hardship. By no means does White Privilege detract from the struggles you had and still have to endure.

White Privilege simply means that you don't have ADDED struggles based on the color of your skin.

Here are some examples that I've seen:
  • As a white person, I don't have to worry about being assumed I'm a criminal, lazy, a "thug", or "illegal"/undocumented simply because of the color of my skin. (on the "positive racism" spectrum, I also don't have to worry about people assuming I'm good at math or finances simply because of my ethnicity)
  • As a white person, I don't have to fear about getting "justifiably" shot while out exercising, or shopping, or visiting a friend. Nor do I have to fear about my place of worship being attacked.
  • As a white person, I don't have to worry that people will automatically assume I don't have money, simply because of the color of my skin. Nor do I have to worry that showcasing my wealth will make people automatically assume I either stole it, got it via illegal means, or have it because of some "white benefactor."
  • As a white person, I don't have to question if my rejection for a school or job or award was based on the color of my skin. I can trust that it's largely based on my qualification.
  • As a white person with a European name, I can trust that people will recognize my name and know how to properly pronounce and/or spell it. 
  • As a white person, I can trust that I'll be shown as many homes as are available in my area, even if they are out of my perceived budget, as long as I ask to see it. I can also trust that any rejection for renting or purchasing a home isn't based on the color of my skin.
  • As a white person, I can turn on virtually any TV show or movie or news report and see other people of my color, and even if I don't, all I need to do is change the channel or wait a few minutes.
  • As a white person, I can see actors of my race in all types of roles: superheroes, Everyman, heroes, villains, oppressed people, the oppressors, LGBTQ+, disabled, able-bodied, strong, weak, etc.
  • As a white person, I can almost always find classmates and coworkers that share my skin color.
  • As a white person, I don't have to worry about getting pulled over or otherwise harassed by cops or fellow citizens simply because I'm in a nice/expensive car or walking in a nice/expensive neighborhood.
  • As a white person, I don't have to fear that my loved ones might not come home simply because of the color of their skin. I don't have to wonder if their name will be the next hashtag in a nation-wide movement.
  • As a white person, I don't have to worry that cops will bust into my house while I'm sleeping, shoot me - possibly kill me - and then excuse it by stating something akin to "I didn't realize, at the time, that I was in the wrong house."
  • As a white person, I don't have to worry about interacting with the police. I can have faith in their protection and faith that I will be considered "innocent until proven guilty." Hell, I can even trust that if it's the first time I've interacted with that area's police force that I'll most likely be let off with a warning if it's a minor enough offence! Most importantly, I can trust that the police will believe me when I call them, and will properly prioritize my call based on urgency in relation to other (white people's) calls.
  • As a white person, I can always opt-out of this entire conversation.
There are far more points to add to this list, but it was getting long enough, and I think you all get the point. None of the above points actively help me have a better live. None of them stop me from suffering. None of them stop me from fighting through hardships and struggling to get to a better life. But that's not the point. The point is that because of all of those privileges I have SO MUCH LESS TO WORRY ABOUT OR FEAR. I have MUUUUUUUCH less to try to compete and fight back against in order to take the same steps to improve my life. 

THIS is what is meant by White Privilege, and I thought about it a LOT this past week.

Okay, so we acknowledge our privilege, but how does that help?

Well, for people who feel comfortable going out in the protests, or who live near the protests, using that privilege has meant standing between the police and the black protesters to help protect the protesters from aggression, or housing the blocked in protesters when things go sideways, trusting that the police won't automatically send a SWAT team to break in to arrest everyone.

Most importantly, though, it's using that privilege to force society to have the conversation black people have been screaming for. It's standing beside them to show them, and others, that they are not alone, that they are not insane, this oppression IS REAL and others do see it. It's admitting that you do have privileges because their rights are NOT equal to yours, and shouting that it is not right! Fighting to correct this imbalance, even if it doesn't benefit you.

What if you are afraid to protest? There's still a pandemic to contend against, or you fear for your safety after seeing how violent the protests devolve into, or you fear of losing your job or custody of your children if you get arrested, or you are physically incapable of attending, or your mental health is too unstable to join a protest, or you have anxiety about being in such large groups, or you are working and cannot afford to take the time off to protest, or dozens of other very valid reasons for not protesting. What then?

Well, there have been a LOT of fundraisers popping up. Here's just a few that I've seen most frequently:

Obviously, we'll cycle back to Black Lives Matter.
Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
There is also, of course, the NAACP.
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
The biggest one right now is Minnesota Freedom Fund. This organization helps pay bail for those jailed - both protesters, so they don't have to be deterred from protesting due to lack of bail funds, and normal citizens jailed daily - as well as bonds to help release undocumented immigrants.
WE VALUE A SOCIETY THAT VALUES ITS PEOPLE, THEIR FREEDOM AND RECOGNIZES THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE GREATER GOOD. A SOCIETY THAT DOES NOT CONDITION PRETRIAL FREEDOM ON CLASS OR IDENTITY, THAT HAS ENDED MASS INCARCERATION, AND THAT INVESTS IN RESTORATIVE AND TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE.
Another big one is the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund. This GoFundMe page was created by George Floyd's brother:
"This fund is established to cover funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings, and to assist our family in the days to come as we continue to seek justice for George.  A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund."
The final major one that focuses on Minnesota is Reclaim the Block. This organization raises funds to ensure it goes to black communities who are otherwise impoverished and struggling to survive.
The crises facing our city, like housing shortages, addiction, and violence in our communities, need real investment. Reclaim the Block is calling on our city to invest in violence prevention, housing, resources for youth, emergency mental health response teams, and solutions to the opioid crisis - not more police.
Another suggested organization for criminal bail funds is The Bail Project.
Join our 8,000+ donors who are helping us post bail for people who can't afford it, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of innocence – one person at a time.
The Bail Project™ National Revolving Bail Fund is on a mission to combat mass incarceration and reshape the pretrial system in the United States. 100% of online donations are used to bring people home. Since bail money comes back to us when cases close, we're able to recycle every dollar donated at least twice per year.
Money keeps people in. But your donation can break them out.
The health care organization North Star Health that helps with first aid assistance at rallies and protests have on their main page that they have actually received all the donations they would need at this time, and instead has a list of about a dozen other organizations you can donate to, some of which are listed above.

Unfortunately, with so much focus on George Floyd there have been other black murders that have been overshadowed. Namely that of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Sadly, I fear they are most certainly not alone, but they are the only two I know of.

The I Run With Maud GoFundMe was established to help Ahmaud Marquez Arbery's mother Wanda Cooper-Jones with the financial burden of burying her son and finding justice for his murder.
On February 23, 2020, 25 year-old Ahmaud Arbery was chased and gunned down by Travis McMichael, son of retired Brunswick investigator Greg McMichael, under the father’s and son’s pretenses of witnessing a burglary in Satilla Shores of Glynn County.
There is no evidence of the alleged burglary. Furthermore, McMichael’s account of the deadly encounter with Arbery was not released until nearly 6 weeks following the shooting. Today and every day since Arbery’s death, both Travis and Greg McMichael walk freely.
McMichael’s questionable account of events and the police department’s poor communication efforts following Arbery’s death lead us to believe that Arbery was a victim of racial profiling. Furthermore, due to Greg McMichael’s previous involvement in county law enforcement, Arbery’s death is not being addressed as a homicide nor taken as seriously as it should be.
The Justice for Kenneth Walker GoFundMe is an effort to raise funds for both bail and legal aid as Breonna Taylor's boyfriend struggles to prove his own innocence during the invasion that resulted in Breonna's death.
In the early hours of March 13, 2020, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) used force-ably entered the apartment of Breonna Taylor, where Kenneth Walker and Breonna lay asleep. The police were there to serve a warrant on a person that did not live at the address and who was already in police custody.
The 3 officers of the LMPD claim to have announced themselves, however neither Kenneth, Breonna, nor any of the neighbors heard them do so. Kenneth, in self-defense, fired shots believing the police to be intruders, with the intention of protecting himself and Breonna. The police fired over 20 shots into the small apartment, killing Breonna. She was unarmed and died from 8 gunshot wounds. Kenneth's life was also endangered, but fortunately he survived.
Rather than admitting their wrongdoing, the police arrested and charged Kenneth with the attempted murder of a police officer. Kenneth was being held on a $250,000 cash bond until his judge released him on home incarceration.
This one in particular is tricky because it only managed to raise $219,000 compared to the above fundraisers listed. However, the May 22, 2020 update on the fundraiser did state that Kenneth was released and the charges dropped, but if evidence warrants it, he'll still be brought back to face a grand jury. Also, Breonna's loved ones still need help in making sure those responsible for her death are held accountable. To help, the GoFundMe suggests also going to standwithbre.com to sign the petition and find additional steps to help justice be served.

Alright, those funds are great, and even a few dollars can help, but what if you aren't capable of donating for whatever reason? What else could you do?

Well, one way is to have YouTube be the one to donate. As this Tumblr post points out, "A black woman named Zoe Amira posted a video on YouTube [that is] an hour long and filled with art and music from black creators. It has a ton of ads, and in result will rack up a ton of revenue. 100% of the ad revenue from the video will be dispersed between various BLM organizations, including bail-out funds for protesters...dependent on necessity."

So, if you are on your computer anyway, and have the bandwidth to have the video streaming at the same time as everything else you are doing online, why not at least have it playing in the background. You can mute the video and keep doing what you need to if the video is distracting, but DO NOT skip the ads. Heck, if you are still bored after "watching everything on Netflix", this is a great showcase of black creators, so why not actually watch it?

Still not quite your thing, or wish you could do more?

Elle Osili-Wood on Twitter has a great thread of other options to help. The highlights include donating - as listed above - posting to social media, sign or start petitions, learn how to safely and properly document police interactions, confront racism wherever you find it, "remember that black people are traumatised," ALWAYS hold police accountable for mistreatment done to you or that you have witnessed, fight facial recognition, educate yourself, think about your privilege, teach the next generation about racism and how they can also fight against it, and, finally, if you are white, think about this call-to-action posed by American former third-grade schoolteacher, anti-racism activist, and educator Jane Elliott: "If you, as a White person, would like to be treated the way Black people are in this society, stand."

Obviously, you can check out Osili-Wood's thread for more details and helpful links, but let's still quickly touch base on those points.

There are some that are fairly self-explanatory: protesting, donating, signing petitions, and even the reflection of privilege - at least, I hope I properly explained that last bit above. The others, however...

Social Media: Sometimes you are angry and you want to go off, but then, as I feared as I started this blog, or the person who started the BlackoutTuesday movement, sometimes vocalizing, especially as a white person, ends up becoming counterproductive, harmful, and comes across as ignorant. How do you handle that, while still trying to show support? Don't add to the conversation. Maybe this conversation isn't yours to add to. This is a conversation Blacks need to have and need people to hear. Truly hear. So, if you aren't sure what to say, how about tracking down posts made by black people, and sharing those? Take a step back. Hand the mic to someone else so they can be heard. Help them be heard by adding your platform to theirs. That's what I'm trying to do with this blog post, honestly.

Document Police Interactions: It's getting to be second nature for black people to do this in an attempt to hold the cops accountable. It's the reason body cams became so popular, and why more and more stations are having them be mandatory gear. However, and ESPECIALLY if you are white, if you see any interaction between a cop and a person of color, in particular, any that seem to be leaning towards hostile interactions, record it. This Tumblr post demonstrates how one woman does this to help try to defuse situations around her between cops and black community members.

This brings me to the privilege one again briefly, because, frankly, being a white WOMAN comes with it the extra privilege that we are the demographic probably most protected and trusted by the cops. For evidence of this privilege weaponized, just see the Amy Cooper incident. Instead, we can use this privilege for the benefit of our black friends. This has been demonstrated a few times in this past week's protests, including photos of white women linked arm-in-arm as a human barrier between the police and black protesters. I'm not saying you have to go to that extreme if you feel unsafe doing so, but know that there are ways to use your privilege to help protect others. Osili-Wood also provides a checklist of things in your life that might support or benefit from racist societal structures. It's difficult to look though, but we have to in order to change any of it.

With regards to facial recognition, there was no true direction on HOW to do that, but Osili-Wood did explain WHY:
A NIST study showed it's up to 100 times more likely to incorrectly target ethnic minorities than white men, and a police-organised independent review found it's wrong 81% of the time - but they're using it anyway.
*NOTE: I was the one who included the link in her quote. It was one of many hits I got when I googled the study she referenced.

Osili-Wood also explained the need to remember black people are traumatized better than I could, so I'll again defer to her:
Remember that black people are traumatised. We have to see a constant stream of black people being killed in horrific ways, and watch as our families, friends, and communities are dehumanised. Label distressing material, be careful in conversation, & check in with black friends.
This one in particular I need to really focus on. I have always had an issue of remembering to mark triggering material. Mainly because I don't really trigger, so I don't think to warn others initially. I'm still trying to improve, but I know I fail quite frequently. So, even if you yourself are not triggered by anything I post - either here or in one of my stories - PLEASE kindly remind me that tags need to be used, as well as the best wording for the warning so people who have it blacklisted don't accidentally stumble upon it.

A point with regards to confronting everyday racism: remember to stay calm and in control of yourself. While you are in the middle of that confrontation, remember that is not the time to also be angry. Your anger might escalate things, and if you escalate things the anger and violence won't be directed at you, but at the person you were intending to defend. Also, if you do not feel safe or confident in personally stepping in, please try to document via your phone, and try to help afterward. Also, don't default to calling the police when you see something. As Osili-Wood put it: "Calling the police to a situation that involves black people is so dangerous we’ve literally seen it weaponised."

Alternatively, you can contact your local police chief and commissioner independently in order to ensure the needs of the community are being properly met. Express concern about the treatment of black communities.

This thread by lex. on Twitter also has some great ideas to help without protesting. Most ideas are similar to Osili-Wood's thread, but there's also this important suggestion: support black owned businesses and creators.

This BLM link also gives you suggestions on how to help on different levels.

Now let's cover that last suggestion of Osili-Wood: educate yourself. This is something I've been trying to do all week. One of the first things I actually did was take the Harvard Implicit Association Test (IAT). There's a list of them on that page, and I should go back and take more of them. For this week, though, I took the Race IAT and got a moderate implicit preference towards European Americans. It's something I need to adjust, but now I know.

I also read this article helping me understand what my black friends truly need from me:
For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies.

The article itself is from 2017, but, sadly, it was still stuff I needed to read, and I'm sure other people need to read it as well.

Find other articles, and books, and interviews written by or featuring black people. Learn their story. Learn their experiences. Learn to empathize with their suffering and the culture they are forced to pick up as "normal", such as "how to interact with police" classes for their children's protection.

This blog is long, and yet I feel like it is so short. There's probably so much more that should be said and shared, but it's getting late.

Also, reminder that if all of this is just too much for you right now, and you need to take a mental break from it all, that's fine. There's a difference between taking a step back for your own mental health and just ignoring this problem exists. You need to remember to put your own safety first.

In my first-aid training through the Red Cross, one of the first things we were taught was to make sure the situation is safe for us before assisting someone else. When flying on an airplane, you are instructed to make sure you are safe - fastening your belt first, securing your oxygen mask first, fitting your inflatable vest first, etc - before helping your neighbors. This is because you won't be any help to anyone, and may even hinder efforts to help the original victim, if you get injured in your attempt to help. Mental health is the same way. You need to make sure you are safe and strong enough to handle the cause you are fighting for, or you may make the situation worse.

So, absorb this information best you can. Step away for as long as you need to in order to be in a good head space. Ask your black loved ones how you can best support them, and listen to their suggestions.

I hope all of this does help. I hope this post does some good.

Once more, if you see anything I need to correct, please contact me. If you don't feel comfortable stating anything in the below comments, you can also DM me on Twitter or Tumblr.

Stay safe, friends, and stay well.