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M. Belanger

@sethanikeem.bsky.social

6.4K followers 1.4K following 8.9K posts

writer of books - wrangler of cats - creator of #TTRPGs - #intersex, introverted & feral (you’ve probably seen me on TV) - Posting a cat picture a day thru #CatBreak because, cats! 🐈‍⬛💙

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 3d

Just in case the inevitable happens to this platform -

Places you can find me & my stuff

#Zines & #TTRPGs

xoshdarkheart.itch.io

Darkheart Games

xoshdarkheart.itch.io

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 2h

King

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 1d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Reposted by M. Belanger

L.A. TACO @lataco.bsky.social · 5h

Here are 10 practical tips, based on Retana’s advice, for talking to kids about ICE raids and helping them cope with fear and uncertainty. Each point is presented in english y español.

The full guide: lataco.com/kids-ice-tal...

By Erick Galindo

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

I think there was a recording of the panel. It was at an event in Cincinnati (2009, maybe?). Let me poke around and see if it still exists somewhere on the Internet.

M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

(the same is true in journalism: if you are part of the dominant culture, no one bats an eye when you write articles or opinion pieces about that culture; if you belong to a marginalized group, any attempt to write - however honestly - about that group is framed as bias)

M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

Oh – and the real kicker:

Experts like myself who have the degrees to instruct on marginalized subcultures are generally rejected from instructing local law & gov’t on the grounds that we are biased by our affiliations

Imagine if it were the same for Christians instructing about Christianity 🙃

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

Furthermore, when law enforcement “experts“ such as that bigoted cop travel the country running workshops for other cops, their badge of authority allows them to pass their bigotry on as if it were reliable education

There’s a whole cottage industry for bigotry instructors like that

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

A whole bunch of people start to wear possum pins?

Law-enforcement might have no idea what the fuck those are supposed to represent, but if they don’t like the way you look, clearly it means you’re in a gang and you should be beaten accordingly

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

Consider how this reasoning allows a person in law enforcement to identify & punish similar “gangs” based on wearing colors or insignias to declare affiliation:

Anyone with rainbows or pride gear, for example

That cute d20 T-shirt? Obviously you’re in a gang. The Dungeons & Dragons.

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

Among the panelists, a cop who enforced policies at a public high school

The cop argued Goths were effectively a gang. His reasoning: they all wore the same gang color to declare their affiliation (black)

That was enough for him to proactively punish Goth students as if they were gang members

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 7h

On who gets to determine who else is “in a gang”

(Spoiler: whoever is in power gets to make the definitions even when they know they’re wrong)

Years ago, I was invited to speak at a national law conference about the Gothic subculture (and how it did not represent a threat in schools)

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 9h

And it is almost always gerrymandered nonsense (I say from in the middle of this red hell):

Facebook notice about early voting in Ohio encouraging Republicans to vote by mail with the slogan, “it’s OK to vote that way!” Written over and over again is the phrase, “keep Ohio red.”

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 10h

That said, I have been considering taking up carpentry to customize some of her spaces

M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 10h

I’ve brought steps into several places and so far she has disdained their use, preferring to try to jump

Maybe she will learn. But she is very stubborn.

My halfway solution has been to move objects of different heights closer in arrangements where she doesn’t feel like she’s being helped

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 10h

This is the sour grapes reaction of all those old white guys trying to skew the Hugos taken to its logical, ludicrously petty extreme.

Rabid Puppies meets Agent Orange

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 10h

🤷🏼

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 11h

I really wish she wasn’t so stubborn and would allow me to help her more

We’ve restricted what part of the house she has access to, but she still finds things to try to jump up onto

I’ve made many cozy spots for her to sleep in an attempt to make floor-life more appealing

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 11h

A downside is, now that she’s feeling better, Bliss is determined to try to jump up and jump down to places she previously could access easily - with variable success

And she is absolutely opposed to me trying to pick her up and help her in anyway

She has taken a few tumbles as a consequence

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 11h

What a gorgeous gentleman. And such a hard decision. It never gets any easier.

I’m so sorry for your loss, but glad he left only with memories of kindness and love.

M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 12h

For those of you following her stroke recovery: my eldest (and dearest) cat Bliss is still with us and is doing a little better each day #CatBreak #CatSky

A little black cat sits on her favorite human‘s lap. The human is clad in black jeans and a black T-shirt with white lettering. Bookshelves line the wall in the background. Herbs hang from the ceiling.

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M. Belanger @sethanikeem.bsky.social · 12h

You really want to read this entire thread, but this specific exchange is a five alarm fire:

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 12h

Perry: DOJ's definition of rebellion would mean that
"literally all nonviolent protest” could be considered evidence of rebellion. Is that your argument?
Hamilton: The president has determined there is a danger of a rebellion, and you must defer to that finding