I can’t focus on anything enough to write about Homestuck today, so I’m gonna talk about something that matters a lot more instead. I know this isn’t like, part of My Brand, but Puerto Rico is part of who I am and why I’m here. And since I couldn’t be part of the day of action officially, this is what I’m doing instead.
So here’s what it comes down to:

I can’t stop thinking about the Homestucks in Puerto Rico. 

And yes, it’s myopic to focus on a people suffering who happen to be part of a fandom. Everyone is human and nobody deserves this kind of suffering. 
Puerto Ricans deserve help because they’re people, full stop.

But people weren’t designed for numbers to track this scale of suffering, and even having spent part of my life there, the devastation my little island is going through has been more than I can relate to, or even imagine. 

So it’s this particular memory that sticks out for me, and those particular people that stand in for the unfathomable many who are suffering right now.
I’m going to tell you guys a story, and try to put the place I remember into the context of the Island’s current struggle, and the sorely lacking support of the American government. 

Then I’m going to talk about what we can do to help. 

I can guarantee that at least one of those things is something you can do. Even if you can’t do anything but blog about fandom and talk to friends online–and trust me, I get it if that’s where you are. There’s still something important I want you to consider trying. 

If you have the spoons and mental wherewithal, and you care at all about what I do here, or about Homestuck, or about the friends you’ve made and the people you’ve met through fandom, or about any story that has ever moved you to reach out and make a friend,

Then I hope you can find the time to read and signal boost this.
No pressure. I know it’s hard and we’re all tired. Still,
It would mean a lot to me. 

(A description of PR’s Capital city, dated Oct 10th.)

Upd8 culture isn’t something that all the fans here have been exposed to.
Fans have gotten flashes of it like on 10/25 last year or, of course, with Hiveswap’s release. But back during the days of Homestuck’s height in popularity, we were all wired, all the time. 

An Upd8 could happen any second, and anything and everything could change with any upd8. This was the height of update culture, and it was like being on a neverending rollercoaster. It was a sense of communal excitement and thrill that made me feel connected to everyone sharing the ride.

(The Federal Emergency Management Agency fails to keep up with the Island’s food shortages.)

I went to a con with friends only once in PR, but while there, we hung nearby a Homestuck meetup. I didn’t really engage with them, but I did have MSPA Notifier on my phone, and it just so happened an update hit. 

I was the first to notice. 

(x) (Jason Maddy, Marine Vet’s Facebook Page)

I remember grinning and telling my (Non-Homestuck) friends to watch. 
That was the first and only time I got to yell the word “UPD8” to someone else in person. The result was spectacular.

The explosion of yelling and the flurry of activity was too overwhelming to follow. Suddenly, teens were yelling and scrambling to get near the closest screen.
The one who sticks out in my head is a God Tier John–pretty sure the outfit was homemade–pressing his tablet up against a wall.

(Trump throws rolls of paper towels at a crowd in a Hurricane relief center.)

For a good ten minutes, we watched as what was a pretty chill meetup beforehand talked and traded screens with fervent excitement. 
My friends, exposed to nothing but my self-indulgent blather about the comic up until then, looked at me in bewilderment and asked: “What did you do?”

But of course, I didn’t do anything. I was just a lucky messenger.
What moved me, what moved us all with the same joy and excitement, was a shared moment of love for a story. A common passion. 

I didn’t make friends with any of them that day, and I wish I had now.
Really, I just wish I knew if they were alright. Any of them. 

I wonder if they enjoyed Hiveswap in the few days between the release and Maria, or if they got the chance to play it at all before the electricity grid collapsed. I wonder how many got off the island.
How many have stayed behind. 

How many are LGBT, now cut off from access to what was my only lifeline on the largely conservative island? I think about the reports of sky-high rates of depression and PTSD pouring in whenever I can bring myself to listen.

I hope all of those kids are still alive and well.

I should mention: All of these tweets and news reports are verifiably true.
I can confirm them myself, because I hear the same thing whenever I manage to get in contact with anyone on the island. 

My family hears supplies are coming, but never seem to see them arrive.
The woman who drove me to school contacted me today, saying the same thing. Wherever there’s contact on the ground, there are reports of inadequate support and desperate need. Food in grocery stores is near running out.

Everyone I know who is able making plans to leave.
Everyone I know cries and hurts most for those who cannot make these plans.
Those who are stuck. Those who will be left behind to survive the nightmare.

What can we do for them?

Of course, donating to verified and trustworthy charities is an option.
For those of us who are able:

Donate to Puerto Rican Farmers.

The Hispanic Federation’s Disaster Relief & Recovery Fund.

Eco-Kit uses Amazon to distribute life-saving survival tools.

And More.

But maybe even more important than that is adding our voices politically:

Petition for Immediate Large-Scale Relief Package for Puerto Rico.

Use this handy Call Script to find and call your representatives.

We can also simply talk, learn, and educate. It goes without saying that this devastation is in part a product of climate change. But we can also talk about the Jones Act that slows aid to Puerto Rico. 

We can reckon with Puerto Rico’s long history of colonial subjugation by the U.S. And we can increase understanding of the massive debt crisis that threatened the island even before the hurricane.

I will continue to post about this when I am able and have useful information to spread, but it may also help to follow blogs such as @tumblricans if you’re able. 

But even if you can’t do any of this:
Believe me, I understand.
I know how hard and unbearable it all is. 

Even if you can’t do anything but talk to people online, try to keep your mind off it, try to focus on fandom and friends and whatever gets you through these days,

There’s still something you can do.

Choose to be kinder. Here, in this space that you share with so many progressives, coming from so many walks of life, that have all been hurt by this world through so many cruel and unusual punishments. Even if nowhere else.

Choose to be kinder here, in this nebulous place where many of us come to forget our sorrows and share our joys and pains with others. 

Try to remember that everyone has a story. That everyone has something they’re dealing with, and you have no way to know what it is. Try to choose kindness and compassion over instinctual judgment and ideological superiority.

Extend this kindness to creators as well as your fellow fans and users, because the people who make art for us are people who are struggling and trying hard just like me and you. 

Extend this kindness to yourself and your friends in your moments of weakness, just…remember to extend it to your perceived “enemies” on this website, too.
In the grand scheme of things, they simply don’t exist. 

Fandom spaces on Tumblr and Ao3 are predominantly made up of lgbt women, and lean highly towards progressive sentiments besides. Wherever we turn to this hyper-critical behavior, we are making threats out of allies.
It’s not necessary, and worse, it drives us apart.

Remember that ultimately, we are all in this together. The world is a scary place right now. There are people out there in the world who deeply and truly want to hurt us.  You can even find them online, if you really want to. 

But like…fellow fans invested in the progressive agenda? Creators making progressive art? They are not your enemies, and for the progressive agenda and anyone identified as basically any kind of minority, the shit is hitting and will increasingly continue to hit the whirling device. 

We all need support now more than ever, and it is really only going to come if we begin to choose to support each other. 

And that’s important work to do. Because the kinder we are, the closer we are, the better we can connect. The better we can organize. And the more good we can do for places like Puerto Rico or people like Rune.

Sometimes, making the world a better place is just a matter of being nice to each other. That alone could well have the power to change everything.

Thank you for reading all this.
I love you.
Keep rising.

Puerto Rico: US officials privately acknowledge serious food shortage