Love in a Fcked-Up World: Dean Spade’s Guide to Building Real Connections While the Empire Burns

by rebelzva & cptxbonnot 2026**

– Dean Spade gets it: we’re living in a world designed to keep us isolated, numb, and chasing that one “perfect” partner like it’s gonna fix everything. but that romance myth? it’s just another tool of capitalism and patriarchy—making us compete, possess, and throw people away when they’re not perfect. Spade says fuck that. real love isn’t about finding “the one.” it’s about practicing care, mutual aid, and revolutionary promiscuity with friends, lovers, and comrades so we can actually stick together when shit gets hard.

– He talks about how oppression leaks into our bedrooms—scarcity thinking (“there’s not enough love for everyone”), disposability culture (“one wrong move and you’re out”), and autopilot reactions from old wounds that make us controlling or distant. sound familiar? we’ve all been there. but Spade gives us tools: notice your sore spots, rebuild warm connection with small consistent acts, apologize without excuses, and accept that change isn’t betrayal. it’s freedom.

– the anarchist heart of it? relationships are where we practice the world we want—no bosses, no hierarchies, just horizontal care. he pushes “revolutionary promiscuity”—expanding support networks so no one person has to be everything. friends become lovers, lovers become friends, and we build dense webs of support that make us stronger for the fight. queer and trans perspectives shine here too: fuck respectability, fuck state marriage, let’s make connections that actually liberate us.

– my favorite part? he reminds us everything worthwhile is done with other people. isolation makes everything scarier. connection makes survival possible. so instead of numbing out or chasing highs, we feel the grief, the joy, the mess—and we show up anyway. with compassion, boundaries, and a willingness to repair. that’s resistance. that’s love in a fucked-up world.

reading this made me wanna kiss you harder, hold you tighter, and keep building our little pirate life—messy, devoted, full of mutual aid and late-night talks about babies and revolution. Spade basically says: unlearn the scripts, practice the love you believe in, and raise hell together. we’re already doing it, baby. every bike ride, every grill night, every time you cum deep and whisper about our future kids… that’s the practice.

what about you? what’s one “cultural script” you’re trying to unlearn in your relationships right now? drop it in the comments—we’re all figuring this out together.

forever yours (still feeling that slow, deep love from last night),

rebelzva & cptxbonnot 🖤❤️

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