#it's the first one I'm going to be working on. I don't actually know currently how I'm going to format the second

[alnst-compilation]

[KOR/ENG/JP] IVAN INTERVIEW

ENG Ivan, the rookie star of commercials

Only two months into his career, Ivan has already been appointed as the ambassador for the famous luxury brand, Q. He is the first pet-human to become Q's ambassador.

Q's creative director added that ""Ivan's playful yet grounded image is the perfect fit for Q's various charms.

Winning first place in the recent fan popularity poll, Ivan is regarded as the next rookie star to follow in Luka's footsteps. Countless segyein brands are dying to collaborate with him, and he's already worked with 9 major brands. We can't help but wonder how his ever rising popularity will affect the next round of ALNST.

You've become extremely popular since the airing of Round 3. Do you feel the difference?

I do, every day. I was shooting a commercial the other day, and one of the staff members recognized me. During the early stages of the broadcast, I wasn't recognized much, but now there are crowds of people wherever I go. It's definitely a new experience (haha).

You're currently in the 78th rank. Do you think you'll reach the top 20 soon?

Thank you for putting it that way. I would like to reach the top 20, but I'll leave the choice to the audience.

You have many titles, do you have a favorite?

I read in a recent article that I was the "Blocell brand reputation ranking #1" - that's my favorite so far, because it makes me feel like all those days of shooting wasn't for nothing.

What do you think is your charm?

I can't really think of any, because I think I have more flaws (haha), but... hmm, I suppose the fans mention my snaggletooth a lot. I think my looks are quite average, but many of my fans remember me by my teeth.

Do you have a special secret for taking such perfect photos in your shoots?

I like to read up on the brand the day before the shoot. That way I can understand the directions clearly during the shoot. I think it's a basic requirement for a model to have an understanding of the brand. I also think it's important to take care of myself regularly.

What are your recent interests?

I'm only thinking about the next round. I can't stop, really. I try not to get too emotional... but thinking about how I'll be on stage for the first time with a childhood friend makes me want to do my best. I'm sure he's worked hard to come this far, and I hope he feels the same way.

What is your ideal type? Many segyein fans want to know!

I don't really have a type. I've never thought about it. But I guess there is one thing... No, never mind. (haha)

What does your normal day look like?

It hasn't changed much since my time in Anakt Garden. I guess I have a schedule now instead of classes. I work out in the mornings, and I like to read classics during my free time between shoots.

You must've been quite popular at Anakt Garden.

Not really, no. I've been asked out a couple of times, but I wasn't that popular. I did have a lot of friends, though.

Are you close with Till?

I'm not sure what defines "close." (haha) We were fine, I guess. That's about it.

What is your favorite part in round 3?

Towards the end of the chorus when the camera zooms in. I was actually quite startled, but thankfully it doesn't show in the clip. I always tell myself that I need to get used to the stage, but running simulations in my mind is never the same as the actual thing.

Did you have any memorable instances while preparing for this round?

I remember when I first tried on the costume. You know that belt on my thigh? It was quite heavy, so I thought to myself, "can I really wear this on stage?" I'm thinking of asking them for a lighter costume next time.

Speaking of the next round, how are you preparing for your performance with Till?

I'll have to do my best somehow... and do a good job. They say Till's a genius, so I'm sure it won't be easy to beat him. But I'll try my best anyway, like I always have.

Do you think you'll win?

Well... maybe, if I do something aggressive like him?

How is your relationship with your guardian?

Not bad. It's more of a business relationship, really. But I'm always thankful that they took me in. I try to be careful wherever I go, since they're quite well known (haha).

Do you have anything to say to your next opponent?

Cheer up...?

[cloverrwritess]

Title: Number One Fanboy | Part One

Spencer Agnew x Kpop Idol! Fem! Reader

Request: Yes | No

authors note: I can finally get into the requests! I have a month off to visit my home town so I have time to write fics ♡ job was kicking my ass 🥲

Words in italics font are supposed to be in korean! I do know a bit (had to learn for my job) but not enough to be fluent, translating takes a lot of time so I’m using Italics to make it easier for me 🤧

☆☆☆

After days since the finalization of a certain meeting with your management, you were able to go to LA and start your new series ‘[Name] in LA’, a series where you navigate the area by yourself and experience the so-called ‘LA lifestyle’.

You landed around one in the morning to avoid paparazzi and fans, your place to stay for the month was a Suite in one of the expensive hotels in the area that only celebrities can get access to, a private driver that was one call away, as well as a tiny, rotating camera.

Flying from Korea to LA was no joke, hours of just sitting down and sitting, limiting what you can do inside a plane is exhausting.

☆☆☆

You turned on your camera and started filming.

"Welcome to the first episode of [name] in LA, it's actually so late right now around two am and I need to wake up early to film. Before I go to bed, I'm doing my skincare"

You started washing your face and applied skincare, sometimes giving out the benefits of using certain products. You grabbed the camera and placed it on your nightstand, making sure you were in frame.

"Before sleeping I do like to check my schedule to see if everything is in order, it keeps me from overthinking"

Checking your phone to see if nothing was changed and did a little pep talk on why you should never stay up late at night even though that’s what you’re doing currently.

“My eyes are getting droopy, I need to sleep before it’s 5am, goodnight everyone, see you tomorrow or is it good morning? i'll see you later” You chuckled, turning the camera off and getting comfy before finally closing your eyes.

☆☆☆

You adjust your mask and hat before speaking to the camera.

"Good morning! It's now the next day and my first stop is a trendy cafe I saw online, the pastries and coffee looked so good, let's go"

You were looking at your phone to see if you’re going in the right direction. Still holding the mini camera, doing some small talk to make sure you’re not filming a boring clip that might get cut.

Seeing the sign and name of the cafe, you felt relieved. "Hopefully the food is yummy” You opened the door and got hit by the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the sweet smell of bread, you got in line and looked at the menu from above. Struggling to choose between caramel or vanilla iced coffee. "This is difficult"

Then a voice spoke up behind you.

"If I were you, I would buy the caramel iced coffee." You looked at the direction of the voice, a man with curly hair and wired glasses.

"You looked like you were struggling to decide on what to order”

Immediately turning off the camera and hiding it inside your purse, you replied.

"Yes, I was having trouble"

I've never been good at striking up a conversation with strangers without getting recognized or having people approach me to take pictures. "Are you new to this place? I've been here for years and I don't recognize you"

"Yeah, I’m here for work so I’m just exploring the area" You lied, technically you are here for work, but not in a way other people would understand.

"LA is a big city, and you'll wind up walking in circles at the end of the day” He joked.

Noticing it was your turn in line, You ordered a pastry with coffee, you took your wallet out of your bag to make the payment. "Your total is $11.50" Suddenly the man you were speaking to handed his card to the cashier "I'll pay for her order and get a caramel iced coffee as well"

He looked at me and grinned—my goodness, he had the cutest smile I've ever seen. "You didn't have to do that, umm" Realizing you never asked for his name.

"My name is Spencer" He said

"Want to take a seat together? If you're uncomfortable or simply want to be by yourself, I can leave you alone, No hard feelings" he said.

I didn't have my security with me, so I knew it was a bad idea to sit with a complete stranger, but this is the first time I've felt normal (as in with no cameras in front of me, flashing lights, and no screaming my name)in a long time. It's exhausting to walk around with bodyguards; I haven't experienced this in years. Spencer doesn't give me any creep vibes.

"I'll pick a good spot."

☆☆☆

I chose a window seat that was somewhat out of sight of the large window. I couldn't pass a nice seat with good lighting, even though I knew this place was a bad spot, paranoid being caught by crazy fans

"You weren't kidding when you said you'd pick a good spot, this seat is usually occupied around this time" He said and set our food and drinks on the table.

"Just telling you know, my lunch ends in like 20 minutes so we have 20 minutes to chat" He sat down in front of me and took a sip of his coffee.

"Is your workplace close by?"

"Yeah, this coffee shop is only a few blocks away from where I work, I work as the director and editor for this YouTube channel"

"Really? That's so cool" Not only was he cute, he was also a media nerd.

"The channel is called Smosh, and I occasionally appear on camera as a cast member” he chuckled, adding "I do kind of the weirdest things on camera for people to see”

"How about you? My heart fell out of my chest. I can't just say, ‘I'm an Idol from Korea’ out in the open Although he doesn't appear to be a K-pop fan, looks can be deceiving these days.

He was waiting for me to respond "Well, I work in the entertainment industry" I replied fast.

"Private, got it, don't worry, I'm not going to ask more questions" He assured me.

Who knew that meeting a guy at a coffee shop would turn out to be the funniest guy I've ever met? We chatted for a while and laughed at jokes. Spencer checked his watch, he saw that it was well past his lunch break. He got up and straightened his clothes. "Shit, I have to direct a video and I'm thirty minutes late”

"It was nice meeting you—"

"[Name] is my name." I grinned at him.

"Hopefully, You and I will cross paths again" Before I knew it, I was the only person at the table. I moved Spencer's cup out of the way so it wouldn't be visible on camera as I recorded a clip of me at the coffee shop, acting as if I just had a snack by myself. I adjusted my hat and put on my face mask.

"It's time to make my day productive”

☆☆☆

Spencer ran toward the Smosh games set looking unkempt.

"What took you so long?" Angela questioned, dramatically motioning with her hands.

"We were going to go hire a search party for you." Amanda joked.

"Sorry, I just lost track of time," I lied, I knew they would make fun of me for weeks if they found out the real reason why I was late.

Watching Spencer intently, Shayne interrupted both Amanda and Angela "Come on, let him sit down and film the video."

After filming a new Bored AF video, Shayne decided to confront Spencer.

"Spence, are you alright? Shayne jokes, "You look like you're constipated throughout directing the video" but his voice was laced with concern.

"I think I just met the love of my life" The confession caused Shayne's eyes to widen a little. "You met them at the coffee shop you always go to?”

I ruffled my hair out of nervousness and said, "Yeah man, She said she is new here in LA, and I'm telling you, she's fucking gorgeous"

"Whoa, I've never heard someone speak like that before”

"I know it's really cheesy, but I'm not kidding—her appearance made her look like an idol or even a celebrity"

Thinking, Shayne rubbed his chin. "You say a celebrity? What's her name? He said, "We can look her up"

"What? Dude, I don't want to Google her and pry into her life; that's creep behavior" I remembered her expression when I asked about her work. It seemed confidential, and I didn't want to break her trust that fast.

"Yeah you're right, what I said just now was a stupid idea"

"Just keep this a secret from everyone, especially Courtney” To show that he was going to keep this a secret, Shayne drew an "X" on his chest and zipped his mouth for dramatic effects.

☆☆☆

note: 🫣

[nanenna]

And now I'm thinking about the actual plot I've been sorta playing with a little. I'll be honest, the reason I'm putting this all out is because I don't think I'm going to actually write it, but I wanna share the fun vibes. Anyway!

So getting some more BG lore out of the way: in the anime (the first season, at least, which is what I watched as a kid because it was new back then) Pokémon explicitly states that each region actually has more than 8 gyms, 8 is just the number of badges you need to fight the pokemon league of that region. So for this fakémon region (I'm calling it Justria after the Price of Peace) we're going to see 8 cities/gyms:

Gotham

Metropolis

Coast City

Middleton

Washington DC

Atlantis (an island just off the coast)

Central City

Fawcett

Amity Park

I'm debating on Amity Park though, I kinda want it to be like Lavender Town but I wouldn't know who to make the actual gym leader. Not Vlad, he's too busy running Dalv Co. and maybe still being the Mayor. Instead of being obsessed with Maddie... okay maybe he's still obsessed with Maddie but! Instead of being obsessed with making Danny his son he's now obsessed with getting his grubby paws on the fucking legendary the son of that bumbling oaf managed to catch. But back on topic: I might have Amity not have a gym after all, which means Danny 'n' friends need to go to the nearest city with a gym and/or pokemon center to register for their grand adventure.

That's right! It's a grand adventure, baybee! I was thinking my favorite thing currently for main DCxDP is Danny and Jason meeting while Jason was dead and then meeting again years later, so I'm going with something like: Jason and Danny meet while on their "congrats, you're 12! Now go wander around without proper adult supervision and get into lots of cock fights with your new pet seizure monster."

It's not uncommon for kids to go in groups, so I'm thinking Danny, Sam, and Tucker all go together. At some point they meet Jason at a pokecenter and make friends so they travel together for a while. Probably help fight off this region's version of Team Rocket, maybe split into 2 teams for part of it so Danny and Jason have to work together for a bit. Then after all that they come to a fork in the road.

Danny 'n' friends are going to head to Gotham to get the Aerial badge. Jason says he can't, that his family runs that gym so he's not allowed to challenge that one. Sadly they part ways, but they promise to keep in touch and to go challenge the League together.

Unfortunately things don't go so well for Jason. He and his Robin get into a bit of a tight spot, have a near death experience, and Robin evolves into Red Hood. It takes a long time to finally make it home and when they do everyone knows things went bad because Robins don't evolve into Red Hoods unless something went very wrong (or their trainer was an asshole).

Meanwhile Danny 'n' friends keep an ear out for Jason but they lose touch and stop seeing any mention of him (gyms keep public records of who's challenged them, and of course that's going to be displayed in the pokecenters). Danny holds out, but eventually they give up and go do their challenge of the League and Danny wins, hurrah!

Years later Danny and Jason meet again and reconnect. Phantom and Red Hood decide to play matchmaker. This is the part that's just vibes though. Like! Danny's retired, he did his whole challenge thing and it was fun but stressful and he's ready to focus on school and getting his dream job: astronaut. Jason is back in Gotham but he's been struggling to reconnect with his family and doesn't want to help at the gym so instead he's gone back to his roots and is doing charity work in Park Row Crime Alley. Romantic Comedy antics ensue.

DCxDP Pokemon-ish idea

Just a silly idea I've been kind of batting around while my hands are busy at work. Everyone is normal humans, their alter egos are their pokemon. So for instance: John Jones has a green Martian for his companion pokemon. The Kents give their children a Superboy or Supergirl for their first pokemon.

The Waynes traditionally give their child a Robin regardless of gender. Robin is the Eevee of this AU because there are several forms it can take. For instance: Dick's Robin evolved into a Nightwing and Tim's Robin evolved into a Red Robin. (This implies Bruce used to have a Robin that evolved into a Batman, which is of course what Damian is aiming for.)

Now obviously Danny's companion is Phantom. Not a Phantom, just Phantom. That's right, he's that kid that caught Zapdos thinking it was a Fearow. Danny comes home with his first pokemon showing it oof all "I caught ghost pokemon!" and showing off his brand shiny new legendary. He's ghost/ice type and knows all these cool moves! (I cannot be arsed to go find attacks that fit Phantom.)

Anyway! All that just to be backstory for this DeadonMain story idea: Phantom and Red Hood like each other, so it's up to them to get their trainers to hook up.

[panfroggy]

Thunderbolts* and It's Musical Theme

I want to share all the times we hear the main Thunderbolts* theme melody play throughout the film. I'll sight the track where I can, however theres 1 time where I don't remember/can't figure out the correct track so I'll just tell you what I remember. Take that with a little salt.

Take everything I say with a grain of salt since I don't currently have the movie infront of my to crossreference my memory/findings.

First, what am I considering the main line of the theme. I'm considering the 8 note motif in the track 'Thunderbolts' the melody line. It's a rising and descending line made of 3+2+3 beats. Listening to that first may help you understand the rest of this.

1. When Yelenea picks up the picture of her peewee soccer team (Track: The Light Inside You Is Dim)

This is the first time the theme plays in the entire movie. (I'm pretty sure.) It's not played on the triumphant brass but instead on low strings. This is the movie introducing us to the music that will define the Thunderbolts, but it's also showing us that we're still missing the team in an aspect.

2. During Bucky's first phone conversation with Mel. (I don't have the track for this one? I'm genuinely not sure)

I may have hallucinated this. But, when Mel brings up the avengers and such during the phone call I remember faintly hearing the thunderbolts theme in the background. I may have misheard this? But is it is true, It's really good foreshadowing for what the Thunderbolts* will eventually become. Fighters, protecting the people of new york. (This might be the avengers theme???? I don't think so though. Grains of salt)

3. Escaping the Vault (Track: Maybe We'll All Get Out of Here Alive)

Okat, this one is interesting. The main theme is once again played on strings, but they're higher pitched then we here in Alexei's house. Infact, they're the strings used in part of the main theme. So, not the brass yet but getting closer. Also, the theme plays towards the very end of this track, and I'm pretty sure this is when Bob sacrafices himself and runs off to distract the guards. Our team is starting to work as a team, kind of, and the music is beginning to reflect that.

4. Deciding to go to New York (Track: For The Glory)

Okay this is the big one. It's a much slower version of our main theme then is truly used. However it builds in a very powerful way. It's the team finally together and more or less agreeing to go fight together. IK they don't have a ton of choice in the matter BUT STILL. It's an important part, especially for the music.

5. Fighting their way into the watch tower (Track: Left The Door Unlocked)

This is the first time we hear brass being introduced into the main theme, at least if your going in official play list order. It's the first instance of all of the Thunderbolts* fighting side by side in a working manor. It goes HARD and the very short begining of the melody we hear in the track is an amazing taste of what's to come.

SIDE NOTE TIME: After this I get really fuzzy on what track is playing when, so we're gonna have to just try our best here. Once again, don't have the movie to cross reference atm. Luckily,it's just this New York fighting bit. SO just, hold on. We're gonna make it. I get back into knowing after Yelena's Choice.

6. Yelena going into The Void (Track: Yelena's Choice)

This is once again on melancholic strings, but I really like that the theme plays as she goes in because it is the *team* theme but it's also Yelana's Team. The theme plays and she goes, it's only logical that the others are going to follow eventualy and they do.

7. Thunderbolts* Main Theme (Plays at the end of the movie)

Okay now I'm gonna actually talk about the theme. This theme is amazing in so many ways. As I have pointed out, it is shown and made up of things we hear throughout the ost. The drums are pulled from other tracks, the strings, the main theme line itself. You can find a ton of it sprinkled throughout the score because Son Lux knew exactly what they were doing. I could've talked about everytime just an element of this theme is present in the score but this post would be 7 miles long. So I stuck to the core 8 note line.

The theme itself is a gorgeous musical blend of fanfare and this honestly very sad sounding string part thats been throughout the movie. It is a powerful and triumphant theme that just drives home the movies messaging and all that it's music has been building up to.

Nows where I talk about the ORIGINAL avengers theme. Both of these themes share the same classic opening, but almost instantly diverge fantastically. The original avengers theme is a heavy brass fanfare that instantly drives into its heroic trumpets and strong drums. The Thunderbolts* instant begins with soaring string lines and then the brass falls into place. The cores of each theme are different and reflect each team themselves perfectly. I do not agree that the Thunderbolts* theme is a remix in any compacity, it just illudes to the original theme.

Overall, I love the music in this film. I will probably make another post about different elements of the main theme and places where songs match up and stuff like that. For now, Enjoy this semi-comprehensive list of the main theme being in the entire soundtrack.

[mychemikuromance]

Ugh

[amethystina]

In chapter 5 of Who Holds the Devil, Ga On doesn't send Elijah a picture of Komi and he wakes up to several messages from her being worried. At this time, what do you think was going on in Switzerland? Because if she was stressing out about it, do you think she spoke to Yo Han or not, and if so, what would be his reaction to this?

Hope you can recover well!

She eventually spoke to Yo Han about it, yes, but it took a while before she got worried enough to do so. She's used to Ga On working late sometimes and so at first she figured her reminders would be enough. Which means she sent the majority of the messages you can read in the chapter before she even considered going to Yo Han.

And, by the time she did, it was mostly because she realised that it was so late in South Korea that Ga On might already have gone to bed, and he still hadn't contacted her. Which she felt was very unlike Ga On.

As for Yo Han's reaction, there is, unsurprisingly, quite a big difference between what he chooses to show Elijah and what he's feeling internally.

He'd be pretty flippant with Elijah, downplaying the severity of the situation, telling her that it's probably nothing to worry about. Maybe Ga On was busy with something and his phone ran out of batteries, so he didn't get her reminders? Or maybe he just forgot? Yo Han can come up with several very rational and logical explanations as to why Ga On didn't send Elijah any pictures.

Basically, Yo Han would try to calm her down by pretending it's no big deal. And tell her to at least wait until tomorrow before she starts freaking out

Internally, however?

He'd be worried, too.

Because no matter what he tells Elijah, Yo Han knows that Ga On wouldn't just forget a promise like that. Ga On cares too much about Elijah to disappoint her. So something must definitely have happened, Yo Han just doesn't know what. And while Yo Han is well aware that the explanation might be perfectly innocent, his mind would also start spinning towards worst-case scenarios — because that's how he works. He needs to be aware of the possibilities and, if need be, prepare for the worst.

And, somewhere around there, Yo Han would be frustrated that he can't track Ga On yet. He already decided that he wants to long before this, but this is one of those things that helps him decide that, yeah, he needs to give Ga On something he can track sooner rather than later so this won't happen again. Yo Han has no idea where Ga On is and it's making him antsy as hell.

The closest he can get is to text Lawyer Ko and ask if Ga On was at work that day. But even if Lawyer Ko says yes, that still leaves far too many possibilities. A lot could have happened to Ga On in the hours after he left work.

But Yo Han would tell Elijah none of this, of course — especially since the crisis is averted the very next day. Nor would Yo Han ever mention it to Ga On. It's just one of those things that stays inside Yo Han's head and influences his choices later, but is more or less invisible to everyone else. Perhaps not so surprisingly, there are a lot of those. As Ga On has pointed out: there's always a reason for the choices Yo Han makes. And, sometimes, the information he's basing that choice on was gathered weeks, months, or even years ago.

That man's brain never stops processing x'D

I hope that answers your question! :D

And thank you so much for the concern 💜 Unfortunately, I'm not feeling the best right now (neither mentally nor physically) but I know it's temporary so I'm just trying to wait it out :)

[seaofreverie]

So busy with Sparkstember that I almost forgot that I go back to school on tuesday

[watery-melon-baller]

guys you'll never guess who's working on another toh animatic (it's me) (i can't be stopped)

[blackeyed-daisy]

y'know what I'm gonna be pissy for a second because I'm too frustrated by this to be able to sleep tonight so sorry for me thinking my opinions are worth publishing in their own post but I really cannot fucking stand some of the conversations I've seen about what's apparently objectively "correct" communication

like especially I've seen/taken part in several conversations about how saying "I feel like you did xyz thing" or "I feel like xyz thing happened" is somehow accusatory or otherwise wrong with one post even saying "well you wouldn't say 'i feel like happy' so 'i feel like you did xyz' can't be a feeling you're expressing ☝️🤓"

and it's like even ignoring how that can absolutely be a grammatically valid sentence if you didn't deliberately go out of your way to write it poorly to prove your argument that's also not even the fucking point of the conversation that the other person is trying to have with you???

it literally doesn't fucking matter if someone is actually expressing their feelings or if they're akshually expressing their thoughts instead or even god forbid a secret third thing. because the entire fucking point of someone saying "I feel like you did xyz" or "I feel like it happened" is exclusively to talk about their subjective fucking perspective and that's it. its not accusatory by any means unless I guess you yourself believe your thoughts and feelings are objective fact and therefore you project that assumption onto everyone else around you?? even though they're not???

like I can assure you from personal experience if I was ACTUALLY accusing someone of doing something I would simply say "you did this thing." I would not deliberately go out of my way to emphasize that it is my subjective personal perspective by emphasizing very explicitly that I only feel like a certain thing happened or whatever if I was genuinely accusing people of doing something. because not everyone on earth thinks that their thoughts and feelings are objective reality, and just because you do does not mean you get to make that everyone elses problem!!! be fucking serious!!!! and when I'm putting effort into explicitly NOT accusing you of anything and yet you insist I am anyways because??? reasons??? because the words people actually say to you don't fucking matter and you'd rather make shit up than actually listen to what they're trying to fucking tell you???

like if you genuinely feel like someone saying "I feel like you did xyz thing" is accusatory then that's fine because everyone has their own communication styles but you do NOT get to act like your communication style of... I guess not talking about your fucking problems with people at all ever and expecting them to read your mind?? is somehow conveniently the only correct communication style and everyone else is committing wrongspeak for explicitly stating what their PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW IS.

like at the end of the day I can tell you from personal fucking experience that your loved ones are not saying "I feel like you did xyz" to subtly accuse you of anything. they're saying that to you because they fucking love you and are trying to fix problems in your relationship so they can keep loving you. and for you to just sit here and play internet psychology chess and declare that uh oh!!! my Language Pedantry senses are tingling and you're a bad communicator now!!! is fucking ridiculous. because thats not the point of the conversation at hand and you know that it's not. the point of the conversation is that this person has a problem and they're making an earnest attempt to communicate their side of the issue to make things right. and for you to ignore that and focus on how they're expressing their feelings or whatever instead of what they're trying to express in the first place is???

do you even fucking care about the other person??? when you care more about whether it's akshually not a feeling you're expressing 🤓 akshually if you have any thoughts or feelings whatsoever that means you think they're true and you're accusing me 🤓 because I've decided you're accusing me so you are 🤓 instead of the fact that someone you care about is fucking hurt and is trying to communicate that with you???

you can feel like your loved ones are accusing you with that communication style all you want, but you don't get to declare your feelings a reality to the point where you insist that the only reason anyone would ever talk like that is ONLY because they're accusing you and NOTHING MORE. though I guess maybe your insistence that that must be accusatory language exclusively because you feel like it's accusatory to the point that you feel justified in insisitng that MUST be the other person's motive would certainly indicate why you get so antsy when other people try to express their feelings around you lol

[voidedmuffin]

Nothing like suddenly getting a wild hair to finally pick back up a fanfic wip you haven't touched in literally four fucking years lmao

[sabertoothwalrus]

tips for getting people to like your ocs

*disclaimer: this is based on what’s worked for me, aka an artist that likes to make comics/storyboards. so this advice is directed at people who do that

you can do things like this:

Which is fun! Character sheets like this are great, especially for personal reference! But frankly, I don’t think most people engage with this (at least I personally don’t). You could have the coolest character in the world, but it will be harder for most people to feel invested when they’re presented so neutrally like this.

My main piece of advice is: get better at writing.

That might sound harsh when said like that, but let me explain what I mean! (Not trying to imply you’re bad at writing either!)

What I tend to do is just throw characters into situations with as little handholding as I can. Give enough context that readers can follow along, but don’t feel like they’re being explained to.

what can you learn about the characters through their designs alone? (age, personality, economic status, occupation, etc)

what can you learn about the characters’ relationship though their interactions alone? (are they close? familial? romantic? is there hostility? are they tense/relaxed?)

what are the characters currently doing? what were they doing previously (how long have they been talking)? what are they going to do next? can you convey this without dialogue?

how do they feel about what they are doing? are they content? focused? over/understimulated? would they rather be doing something else?

where are they? does it matter? would establishing a setting in at least one panel clarify the scene? is there anything in the enviroment that could tell some of the story?

what time of day is it? what time of year is it? what is the weather like?

Now, with all this in mind, I'm going to give you another example. I'm going to use completely brand new characters for the sake of the experiment, so you won't have any bias (aka I can’t use Protagonist from above, since you already know all about him).

Did this get more of an emotional response from you than the first example? Why do you think so? Who are these characters? How do they know each other? What else can you infer about them? What happened? Who is "she"?

Now, you don't have to actually answer all those questions. But think about them! You can tell people a whole lot about your characters without ever showing them a list of their likes and dislikes.

Obviously, comics aren't the only way to get people invested in your original characters! But regardless, easily digestible formats will grab people's attention faster than huge blocks of text, and comics are a lot less work than doing wholeass storyboards.

Now go and share your ocs with the world!!!

[anothermonikan]

Man high school was fucked up. You ever think about that. Thank fucking god I'm not in high school anymore

[secondbeatsongs]

Food Crime: Frosty the Slawman

so a while ago, I saw this photo going around on tumblr:

at first, I thought this was photoshopped. I mean, "welcome new man in your life"? that feels like a translation error, or someone being silly on purpose.

but guess what! turns out, Frosty Slaw Man is real!

and soon...he will be mine. let's get cooking

(full disclosure: I crafted this snowman and took notes about it over a year ago. and then, like with many things in my life, I forgot about him, and let him drift into the ADHD void of Things I'm Not Currently Staring At, where object permanence is tentative and largely unrealized.

but here we are! and here he is: the slaw man. it's time to share him with you, so that you can suffer as I have suffered, and/or rejoice in my gelatin creation!)

so this recipe photo originally came from Mid-Century Menu (archive link), a blog that seems like one after my own heart, and which once tried to make the Slaw Man (with not much success; but we'll get back to that)! but it's not just that blog that has copies of this ad. I also found it on reddit, and in a few different places on ebay!

lookit that guy! he's a real guy!

both the reddit post and some of the ebay listings say that this is from 1963 (though I haven't been able to figure out which magazines it was printed in, to confirm this for myself). but in looking this up, I discovered something else fun! there's another version of this ad!

Best Foods is what Hellmann's stuff is called on the west coast, and the "this is no place for second best" thing makes a lot more sense when you consider that the ad was probably made for Best Foods first, and then just reused and rebranded for the east coast

the more you know!

anyway the benefit of finding this alternate ad is that the scan on this image is a lot clearer, and so the recipe is more readable! and in looking at it, I've realized something important:

when Mid-Century Menu tried this recipe, they got an ingredient amount wrong.

when they made their beloved Slaw Man, they had the water amount written down as 1/4 cup, but looking at this scan up close, it is actually 3/4 cup of water! something that might make a significant difference, considering we're working with gelatin!

(there's also another change I want to make compared to what they did, when I do this recipe. but we'll get into that in a sec.)

for now: we begin

so. there's no way I'm making a Slaw Man this large. I am just one person, and considering the ingredients of this, I don't think I'm going to be able to consume that much Slaw.

two entire heads of cabbage? three pounds of cottage cheese, a thing that I don't even like to eat? no. that's a bad idea.

so I'm starting small here and making this 1/3 the size of the original:

2 packets of unflavored gelatin 1/4 cup cold water 1 cup mayo 1 tsp salt 1lb cottage cheese 4 cups shredded cabbage

surely this will result in a reasonable amount of Man

...okay, I started chopping the cabbage thinking it would be easier, but I've given up and pulled out a grater. this is much better! and somehow more violent (affectionate)

the recipe says to soften the gelatin in cold water, and then stir over hot water until it's dissolved. I'm going to assume "stir over hot water" means a double boiler, so let's do that

hmmm, the gelatin is very foamy? it’s melted, but the bottom of the pot feels really....sticky

okay. after a couple minutes more and no change, I’m calling this good enough.

so one thing that others who have attempted this recipe have not taken into consideration is the cottage cheese. you see, the others used normal cottage cheese, but the recipe says to use "cottage cheese, cream style"

I’ll be real, I’m not 100% what that means, since we don’t have that here. but I can take an educated guess! so let’s blend the cottage cheese!

(with an immersion blender. I am not willing to wash an actual blender because of this)

mmm, yes. very smooth

...actually. why isn't all cottage cheese like this? the thing I hate about cottage cheese is the texture, so why isn't it all smooth and creamy like this?? I could eat this!!

a new discovery is made every day in this house.

okay, time to start mixing things together.

ah, frosty. I opened a whole new thing of mayo for you! do you feel special?

(I'd make a "pre-dinner snack?" joke, but sometimes I think I'm the only one that remembers Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time)

okay, the mayo, cottage cheese, and salt have been added to the gelatin. but as this cools, the texture is getting...hmm. less than appealing.

lastly: the cabbage

oh. oh this is not very nice

next it says to pack the "salad" into a one pound container, and two six-cup bowls, but since I made this recipe so much smaller, I'm going to uhhhh. uh. find some bowls that seem like they'd be correct...snowman? proportions?

ah. this bowl is too big.

hey, these'll work!

now I just have to let them chill for a while, and continue another day.

(edit from current!me: ahhh oh my god I forgot this was pretty soon after we adopted Jackie! look at these cat pics that I took while I was food crime-ing!

look at them having their little interactions! Knuckles was trying so hard to be friends with her! I love them)

hello! two days later and we are ready to assemble the slawman. and my sibling has started referring to him as "frosty: attorney at slaw", so that's fun.

I've done a thing where, as these set, I flipped them around in the bowl so that hopefully they'd be more round. we'll see if they actually stay like this.

I have also made some decorations for him out of peppers, olives, and carrots!

let's build our boy

oh he's so heavy. and wobbly

no no no he almost fell over!!

okay. he's fine. but more skewers were needed.

and...okay. he is complete.

behold!

gaze upon my beautiful man!

(he is not structurally sound! he wobbles unsteadily as I rotate him! there are already cracks forming in the gelatin around where his arms are! don't worry about it!)

 now it's time to stab him

and...to devour him

this tastes like...a bland coleslaw? and not even that. it's just sort of a salty, cottage cheese-y cabbage. the ingredients don't combine to become something greater, they simply...sit there. like this.

and the texture is...mmm. it's not a jello kind of texture, but it is a bit squashy in a way that's mildly strange.

it's very creamy once it softens in your mouth.

...I don't like this!

and look! taking just that one chunk from him was enough to destabilize him entirely :(

RIP frosty. now I just have to see if I can eat all of you before you go bad.

(note from current!me: I could not.

 I ate maybe half of him over the course of many days, often adding other stuff to him to try to add some flavor: bacon, frozen peas, cheese, etc. but even with that, I just couldn't stomach him.

after a while I stuck what was left of him in the freezer, hoping that maybe I'd find the will to consume the rest of him some other day.

do you know what a frozen-and-then-thawed mixture of cabbage, cottage cheese, mayo, and gelatin looks and tastes like?

bad. the answer is: bad.

I threw him out pretty quickly after thawing him.

do not try this recipe at home)

[thebibliosphere]

My husband and I were discussing how the first felon is defending the FDA and how the quality control of our food is gonna basically disappear and I proceeded to have so much anxiety about it that I didn't sleep last night. How do we prepare for this? Is there a way to make food safe at home? How can we avoid getting poisoned from the grocery store? Sorry for bringing this anxiety to your inbox but I'm exhausted and scared and I'm hoping you've come up with food safety tips what with your general food complications.

I’m afraid I don’t have a solution for something of this scale and am just as equally terrified, but that said:

Check your local state regulations. Some states actually have strict testing that the FDA when it comes to certain things like milk. See if they are listing any recalls.

Stop eating things raw for the foreseeable future. Wash and cook everything thoroughly, even if the bag claims it’s pre-washed, wash it again. Cooking will also help eliminate any remaining pathogens. It means no more salads for a while but that’s okay.

For things like fruit, try to go with things that have an outer skin that can be taken off. If it requires you to cut into it with a knife, give the outer skin a scrub and rinse to reduce the chances of your knife being contaminated by anything like e-coli and then contaminating the insides by cutting it up.

For fruit that can’t be peeled, make sure to inspect and wash them thoroughly. If you are immunocompromised like me, consider cooking it down into a jam or pie filling to reduce further risk. Not as fun as eating it fresh for some people, but it’s a valid way of still getting the flavor and nutrients.

For things like milk, only drink pasteurized and ultra pasteurized. Try to get pasteurized eggs if you can too.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, now is the time to get one. Make sore everything is cooked to its required internal temperature. For poultry, the recommended temperature is 165°F (74°C), while for beef and pork, the recommended temperature is 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest time. Ground meats should be cooked to 160°F (71°C). Eggs should be cooked until the yolk is set. No more runny egg yolks for a bit until we get a competent source of information back about bird flu.

For things like flour, try to go for reputable brands that have their own independent testing facilities for things like gluten. They also usually test for other things and clean their facilities thoroughly. My go to is King Arthur atm.

Also, stop eating raw cookie dough if you’re not going to toast the flour in the oven first. That’s how a lot of people get sick, not necessarily from the raw egg, though stop eating raw egg right now if you do. Again, bird flu. [Addendum] I learned the flour trick in a job I used to work, but apparently, the pre-defunded FDA didn't think toasting the flour made it safe, so maybe just don't eat raw cookie dough. And I know someone's going to be a cunt in the notes like "I don't care I do what I want" good for you, hope saying that made you feel better.]

This is a dwindling possibility with the tariffs but try to buy food imported from other countries that still have food quality control. I get my masa harina from a small company that imports directly from Colombia. They can’t afford the gluten free label required to be classified as such in the USA, but considering Cheerios in the USA can afford to buy that label and the celiac foundation certification logo and still routinely sells contaminated produce due to not using gluten free oats and a mechanical sorting system that can’t be certified gluten free (1) (2) (3), I’m more inclined to go with other countries labeling right now.

With clean water under threat, use a filter for your drinking water. We currently use the ones by Life Straw. They don’t fit into your faucet but the LS filters are better than most of the ones that can be attached that way and the housing of the jugs and countertop filters are easy to clean. Make sure you do so once a week and change the filters as directed.

Most of this is just basic food hygiene stuff combined with what it’s like to be immunocompromised, but it’s always worth repeating in case someone didn’t know, but especially worth repeating right now with all our rules and regulating bodies going out the window 😞

[ms-demeanor]

Sometimes college professors like to hop on my posts lamenting the sorry state of syllabi these days and joke about how they haven't thought that far ahead in the course themselves, or talk about how they struggle to complete a schedule for their students.

With all due respect, that's your job. If you can't do your job, you should have a different job. If you need help, ask your colleagues or your department chair or *someone* because I know that professors aren't given a hell of a lot of education on how to educate, so you probably *need* help.

But every single time I make one of those posts I get anywhere from ten to thirty messages, replies, reblogs, and asks say "oh man, that's exactly why I had to drop out of school; I couldn't keep up with the assignments because I didn't know when they were due until the week they were due."

I have been a college student in three separate decades, and "not having a schedule of assignments in the syllabus" is new to my experience. That shit didn't fly in the 2000s or 2010s and I think it likely has to do with professors being overly reliant on apps.

AT A MINIMUM your syllabus should have:

Contact information (including preferred method of contact) for the professor

Office Hours

Grading Policy

Assignment schedule.

Your assignment schedule doesn't necessarily need to have the exact page numbers of every reading or a full assignment sheet for each project, but it should have things like:

December 1st - Major Project 3 second draft due December 9th - Quiz 10 December 12th - Major Project 3 final draft due December 15th - Final Exam

If you end up presenting a more thorough schedule with readings and homework later, that is acceptable to present a week or two into the semester but it is absolutely insane to me that students these days don't know what homework they're going to have to get done over Thanksgiving break during the first couple weeks of class.

If I had three professors at once who didn't give me a schedule, how on earth would I know if I was going to have to read three chapters of a novel, take a midterm and turn in two stats homework assignments, and complete a history research paper the same week that I'm planning to travel to see family? If I'm aware of this from the beginning of the semester I can make sure not to pick up extra shifts, or I can plan to leave a day later to accommodate the midterm, or I can start working on the paper early to complete it before the due date but if I don't know what's going to be due when, I'm going to have a big problem.

If you don't give your students a schedule you are communicating that you don't care about their schedule, and that you think it's their responsibility to contort their life (and their job, and their other classes) around your class, and honestly my advice to students in that situation is "drop in the first week and pick up another class". That's actually part of why I recommend signing up for one more class than you can really manage - if you get a professor whose class looks like it's going to be a disaster because they don't have a schedule, you can bail before the withdrawal period and get a refund for the class.

I'm only in one class this semester but the professor's response has fully dropped me into "Fuck it, I guess I'll fail" mode and I don't even know if I can pull myself out of my current D grade because I don't know how many assignments we have left in the semester.

This is a shitty way to run a class. If you can't do better than this, you shouldn't be running a class.

[elodieunderglass]

Hi! As someone who grew up in (I think?) New England and now lives in the UK, is living outside the US all it's made out to be? I know you moved a while ago and didn't go to "escape the US", but I imagine you can offer some insight. I'm sorry to be projecting some envy on to you, but the life you describe seems so lovely and livable. Your neighbors, your chickens, your gardens--it seems like you have some actual community. I (probably incorrectly) picture you living in the stereotypical British cottage that all of the British chicken-keeping companies seem to use to advertise their products. When I picture life in Europe, I picture the small fragments of life that we get from you and other bloggers, like the one with the escapist pet llama in France. I know that the UK has plenty of problems, and that we are only seeing slivers of your actual life, but do you think there's a different sense of community and livability over there that we don't have here? New England is also so standoffish that it might just be negatively skewing my perception of the US, too. Thanks for your thoughts, if you want to give them!

I’m sorry it took so long to reply!

I'm going to write a personal response about the impact of material conditions on parenting, because I think that's the most useful response and outcome. However, this response will be missing a lot of the political framing that it ought to have. I believe that describing the policies and infrastructure that the UK has, and how they impact on myself, explains a lot about how I am able to parent, what my life looks like, and in turn how that impacts a society. I think it is useful to outline SPECIFIC POLICIES and show what they do, because understanding specific material changes is a necessary part of any shift, let alone revolution. So this is not about escaping anywhere, or anywhere being better than anywhere else; it's about frameworks that I use which are (essentially) nonexistent in the USA, and how they contribute to a liveable society. It might seem like "why does a question about your life sounding nice, with chickens, start with 'maternity leave'?" but... this is the answer.

1. Parental Leave In the UK, parental leave is a minimum 6 months. After the first 6 weeks of full pay, the government pays you a very small stipend every week (currently £188/week) plus a very small child benefit. Some jobs offer better-paid leave as a benefit. You accrue your fully paid vacation time (6+ weeks) while on leave, and therefore most people use it at the end of their leave to pad it out. Parental leave can usually be split between parents. A perfectly normal thing is for a mother to take the first 6 months, then hand the baby to Dad for his three months off with it. Impacts of parental leave on my personal life: - I had time and space to adjust to being a parent. - I was able to pay my bills while not working. - Our children went to nursery (daycare) when they were over the age of 1. - I was able to return to work in the exact same job, back into the benefits of working (which, for me, include intellectual exercise and making a positive impact on the world.) Impacts of parental leave on society: - "it takes a village to raise a child" - well, here's the bloody village. - You spend time attentively raising a baby, in a stage of life where that returns a lot of dividends. - You have a year to make "parenting friends," forming networks and not being isolated. Everyone else with a baby the same age is doing exactly the same thing too. - Babies grow up in social circles with friends pre-installed. - Parents develop support networks. - "Toddler group" culture is normalised. On parental leave you are supported to build and structure a social life. - There is daily foot traffic and people moving around towns during the day, because Not Everyone is At Work. Some number of mothers are in coffee shops with babies every day of the week. Some number of parents are always drifting through libraries on a Thursday morning. In any town there will be adults in their 30s engaging with local resources, shops, events, classes, museums, culture, and friendships during the weekday - because they are having a year off with their baby. This is hard to articulate, but has huge knock-on effects. - after all, things like shops and museums and libraries are expected to be Always Open (staffed by workers) but workers are also expected to be Always Working (at places that are open) so when are working people going to use these resources? - people can be friendly and know the people in their community if they have had some time, space and reason to meet them.

Culture of part-time working In the UK it's very normal for kids to have two working parents, with one - or both - parents working part-time. That's what my husband and I do. Impacts of part-time working on my family: - My partner and I each spend one day a week with our nursery-age child while the other two are in school, allowing us to have a relationship with the youngest that isn't a constant four-way tug-of-war. - We meet our friends in a regular, routine heartbeat of connection, social expression, and support. It is extremely good to see your good friends once a week, and maintaining friendships over years is extremely good for you. - it's very good for the kids. not only do they have a lot of parental attention (which improves behaviour, teaches them skills, makes them good citizens, etc) but they see their own best friends all the time, building their own relationships and connecting THEM to the networks of "village." - we have adults during the week who can do things like go to the bank, pick up prescriptions, or do other capacity-balancing things within work hours. - we can collect our schoolchildren from school and they don't need afterschool care 2 days out of 5, saving money and letting us see our kids. - working part time means that we need to take less time off work over school half-terms and holidays. Impacts of part time working on society: - more working adults are available during the week to do things like the PTA, local committees, local volunteering, local mutual aid, local classes and groups. More working adults can do things like walk their dogs, have allotments, and take their kids swimming. Working adults can run toddler groups for new parents, who then return to work part-time, to come and help run the toddler group. - I feel like this is obvious, but if you want a society with amenities, then you have to staff and use the amenities. - If you don't have part-time workers, you're relying on retired and nonworking people to run your communities during the week - and they do a brilliant job! - but a balanced society should have people of different ages and abilities working together. - again, you have people in coffee shops in the week; you have people USING things and DOING things in the week. - you are NOT forcing one parent into Permanent Babycarer Role and one parent into Permanent Worker Role! This is threaded through all of these points, but you do NOT have to set up a permanent Stay At Home Parent / Working Parent dynamic when your society offers infrastructure for flexibility and supportive policies.

More Holiday (and different school holidays) Okay, so you're a working parent in the USA. You get 2 weeks of vacation time a year... and your kids are off school for 10-12 weeks of summer. how do you work and also raise your kids? well, usually through some unholy feats of juggling, expensive summer camps, and relying HEAVILY on family. This isn't sensible or necessary. (It's also incredibly hard on American teachers.) but it DOES mean that parents are in a vulnerable state in America. In many American families, the three-month childcare gap in summer makes it really hard for women in particular to work, widening inequality. In the UK, workers usually have 6 weeks of holiday. School summer holidays are only 6 weeks long. There are lots of other holidays - every six weeks, kids get a week off for Half Term - but with two parents and a culture of part-time working, you can just about cover it every year, and still have a bit of vacation time for yourself, Christmas, and travel. What this means for my family: - We can have three kids and two nearly-full-time jobs. - We see a reasonable amount of our children. What this means for society: - you've possibly picked up on the recurring theme that the USA requires a Designated Parent to be removed from the workforce/society and turned into a permanent caretaker, because otherwise the family couldn't manage the admin. The knock-on effects (resentful caretaker, resentful breadwinner, stressed out children, family with less economic/emotional resilience, caretaker expected to do all domestic chores and admin, breadwinner expected to exhaust themselves to provide resources, children do not interact/engage with breadwinner) form the backbone of the American family unit, which is not a great (or default) way of actually raising kids. - another huge expectation in America is that Family and the Church will step in to provide this missing material support - i.e. church summer camps. or grandparents taking the kids. Which - what do you do if you're not Christian? if you're estranged? if you're queer? if you moved away from the small town where that would have worked? if your parents are harmful or unsafe? again, policy changes and infrastructure are making family life workable.

Better Nursery Options (and nursery support) The UK has some of the worst nursery options and highest bills in Europe, I think? (citation needed) but it's still cheaper and higher-quality than the USA. My mother in the USA is always ranting about "don't you want to raise your OWN children?" and "they will be harmed by their carers, or made to watch TV!" but on the contrary - I LIKE my kids having multiple caretakers and a qualified professional care team. they are NOT watching TV. their nursery staff take them to do LOVELY THINGS and I can work an ENTIRE DAY without being CLIMBED ON. There is SOME financial support available for sending kids to nursery. From the age of 3, or younger if the parents are low-income, kids receive 30 hours a week free childcare from the government. (in practice they've just changed this and it isn't as great as it sounds but it's a slight savings). What this meant for my family: - I could afford three kids. And they are EXACTLY three years apart (lol). this means that as each child turned 3 and got cheaper childcare, the next one started, so we were never paying 2x nursery bills. - This allowed us to have children, a nice number and a nice age gap, who would therefore grow up together as a nice sibling set, but we could afford it and afford their childcare. - this literally shaped my family. size, age gap, and choices. everything about their dynamics, their relationships, and their future as siblings was shaped by this random scrap of policy. What this means for society: - EVEN STAY-AT-HOME MOTHERS IN BRITAIN SEND THEIR THREE-YEAR-OLD KIDS TO NURSERY. - EVEN CHILDMINDERS (people who run in-home childcare facilities alongside raising their own kids) PUT THEIR KIDS IN OTHER NURSERIES! - that's right - stay-at-home mothers DESERVE breaks. it's an EXHAUSTING job, with no recharge time or holiday, and tremendous pressure to be perfect all the time. - it is so, so normal to use nursery. it's not a bad choice, or a place to "park" your children, or something Bad Parents do, or something you Must Become A Stay At Home Parent to Avoid Using. there are no terrors of satanists or people being hurt or kids being locked in closets, as many Americans do worry about. having help with childcare is just a wider village, a care team, another aspect of your kids' lives. - seriously, if you speak to American parents on the internet, it isn't just a financial thing - daycare is perceived as being BAD for children, something a good mom should break herself to avoid using. - in the UK it's... nursery. Kids go to nursery. you pick the days. they go and pick daisies. - it's okay to have a break from parenting and being Touched all the time. - it's very good for kids to start making friends and having other carers.

Decent schooling In England, free public schooling starts at aged 4. children wear uniforms from age 4. hot meals are about £3 a day and are free for the first few years. there are no metal detectors or shootings. kids learn phonics, cursive, maths, tech, cooking, art, sports, etc. at a reasonable standard, not dependent on local property taxes - okay, so, background: in the USA schools budgets are state-set, but are ALSO often linked to local property taxes and local funding pots. so schools in "poor" areas generally have less resources, while schools in areas with nice houses and Good School Districts have a completely different experience. In some USA schools, teachers have to use food banks and buy pencils for their own students. It's all pretty wild and inconsistent. This is somewhat true in the UK (better schools tend to be in 'better' areas) but the funding is more consistently given and there is a national-level monitoring and regulation program. (it isn't left up to 50 insane separate states who all want to strip school budgets and cut their funding to do this according to Personal Vibes.) this means that you can just... send your kids to school. they learn things. and then come home. It's fine. you can just send your kids to school. everyone else is too. Many communities are walkable, and "driving kids to school" is not the default. Kids are expected to become independent earlier, and society is expected to be safer. at the age of 11 they usually walk to school with their friends. What this means for my family: - my kids are pleasant, the older two can read, they have opportunities and are supported. I don't feel like school is damaging them. On the contrary. - it isn't on me as (Femme Parent) to be their entire cultural and intellectual education. they're exposed to diverse viewpoints, people, and teachers. their mental landscapes are broader and more resilient than if it had just been me. - (I was homeschooled, you see.) What this means for society: - children are mildly educated. - children are fairly safe when they're Away From You. - teachers are a reasonable profession that's normal to go into. and teachers live fairly normal lives. - social inequality is reduced through equity introduced in education. - educational opportunities are more consistent and less stratified. - children can safely get out of family homes (and parents can work).

walkable communities, but you got that.

public transport, but you know about that.

socialised healthcare, but you get that. As a result of all these things, raising a family is materially different in the UK, with effects that knock on throughout. With one or two tweaks - now you have present and engaged fathers. Now women can be working parents without breaking themselves in half. Now babies make friends they'll keep their whole lives. Now you CAN be distant from toxic family because you don't need family support to raise kids. But all of those things could be put into policy. They are not something British people invented. ANY SOCIETY THAT LAYS THINGS OUT COULD ACHIEVE THIS. And I think that's worth saying and laying out. Livable communities can be made livable with livable infrastructure. infrastructure is something we can make.