SPIDERS!!
I just love them so much. They are little guardians and always around whether you see them or not. Tend to try and stay away from you because they’re afraid of you, and we of them, of course… I just love how they look, behave, and the important work they do for preventing pestilence from overwhelming us.
It’s hard to pick a favorite species. Huntsman are very incredible, and tarantulas. The bigger the better. Although jumping spiders of all kinds are simply adorable and I love wolf spiders because they’ve always been around in my life.
But even then all of these beings have human problems and human like personalities, and voices. I think this is the difficulty in writing non human tales, is that the tales that most people empathize with, no matter how alien their premise or characters may be, still end up centering around human like traits and problems.
So many things. Dealing with racists and bigots in the “most progressive” “safe space” communities, the fact that the reddit admins were totally fine with right wing terrorists organizing on their platform until it brought them bad press, the fact that if you so much as hint at the existence of transgender people on a major subreddit people will lose their damn minds.
“Under no pretext…”
But seriously. As a member of a minority group I understand that there are people who would have me killed. I understand as a worker living in the US that the government does not have my best interests in mind. I understand as a minority and a worker that the police are more likely to harm me than save me from a bad situation. So, with all that being known, how could I ever reasonably give up my weapon? It may stand between me and death some day.
Alongside this, the issue of gun violence in the US is not primarily an issue of people having guns, or mental illness. It is an issue of white supremacy and reactionary attitudes being normalized, and violent, toxic masculinity being entrenched in our society. The vast majority of shooters may have some kind of underlying mental illness, but notice the main things that are in common between them. Namely, they are generally white cishet men, and they almost always ascribe to some kind of hateful ideology.
Likewise when you tolerate another person’s intolerance you are showing them that their bigotry and hatred is simply a difference of opinion. This is dangerous because these are not simply differences in opinions. These beliefs reinforce systemic structures that get people killed day in and day out. By treating such opinions like just that - opinions - you are legitimizing oppressive structures. Even if your intent is to disprove these oppressive opinions through debate, the issue is that the simple act of debating is enough to bring legitimacy to a dangerous ideology. You are essentially telling minority groups that their right to exist is simply another talking point which is up for debate and questioning, while telling the bigot that their ideas are acceptable in day to day life. They absolutely shouldn’t be.
I’m sorry, I don’t have much in the way of advice. But you should look into “stealth camping”. From what I’ve seen on youtube and reddit, with the right resources you can set up just about anywhere. Like someone else said, in most public areas you can find a nook, or you can use a car if necessary.
Also, make sure you know what temperatures your meds should be stored at.
Best of luck to you friend, and may the gods’ blessings be overhead.