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TAKEAWAYS:

We are in the biggest Covid surge in the US in at least two years

Time to wear a mask in crowded spaces (personally, I'd recommend one in all indoor public spaces and crowded outdoor spaces)

Immunity has waned and the new variant is 'distinctly more challenging to our immune system'

Updated boosters should be available the week of September 1st

The US needs to invest more in nasal vaccine programs, and should have already - this is the thing that could help actually get us out of the woods.

We are continuing to see more folks develop Long Covid even from mild infections

You should just read the article it's not that long but that's the run down

Me Editorializing: Let’s protect and care for ourselves and each other!

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perhaps silly, but what does /nf mean? ive not seen it before and i cant figure out whqt it means, the only two that come to my head are "no fair" or "no fighting", but i dont think thats what it is?

/not forced! Basically means like, no pressure! People often use it when asking someone to do something so I get a lot of em in my inbox sixizisis here’s the list of tonetags I usually use.

/s = Sarcastic

/j = Joking

/hj = half joke

/lh = light hearted

/t = teasing

/srs = Serious

/gen = Genuine

/pos = Positive

/neg = Negative

/nbh = nobody here

/nm = not mad

/p = platonic

/r = romantic

/qp = queer platonic

/li = Literally

/ij = Inside joke

/hyp = Hyperbole

/th = threat

/m = metaphorically

/npa = not passive aggressive

/op = optional

/neu = neutral

/gs = genuine suggestion

/ci = caring intent

/nay = not at you

/lu = little upset

/f = fake

/b = bitter

/ref = reference

/cb = clickbait

/c = copypasta

/ot = off topic

/rhq = rhetorical question

/apa = apathetic

/ncm = not comparing

/v = violent

/fu = furious

/q = quote

/ny = not yelling

/fam = familial

/sym = sympathetic

/cj = coping joke

/np = no pressure

/hsrs = half serious

/aff = affectionate

/lyr = lyrics

/nf = not forced

/nav = Not A Vent

/info = information. For when you’re just proving info and aren’t trying to be rude about it

/md = melodramatic (afaik, we created this one? Our protector 0 came up with it one day because “it” didn’t like /hyp and it’s caught on in our discord so I like to include it)

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There IS a Tone indicator carrd that lists a lot of them, but from what I’ve heard it’s not really complete and a lot more have become main stream since its creation. I’ve considered making my own that I will constantly update but I feel a little bad since One already exists and I don’t want to step on any toes iscidisidisis 

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Thank you both so much for helping preserve access and word of where to find this.

Archive.org: "I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter" by Isabel Fall

were you aware that the short story that got Isabel Fall bullied all the way off the internet and into fucking inpatient was truly brilliant? I was too grossed out by the twitter shitshow to read it when it came out and thus managed to only read it now. it was a Hugo finalist for a reason. I hope she can find it in herself to write again bc she's got really interesting and creative stuff to say. would recommend it if you haven't read it yet. 7726 words.

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B. said that it was difficult to distinguish civilians from combatants in Gaza, claiming that members of Hamas often “walk around without their weapons.” But as a result, “every man between the ages of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist.” “It is forbidden to walk around, and everyone who is outside is suspicious,” B. continued. “If we see someone in a window looking at us, he is a suspect. You shoot. The [army’s] perception is that any contact [with the population] endangers the forces, and a situation must be created in which it is forbidden to approach [the soldiers] under any circumstances. [The Palestinians] learned that when we enter, they run away.” Even in seemingly unpopulated or abandoned areas of Gaza, soldiers engaged in extensive shooting in a procedure known as “demonstrating presence.” S. testified that his fellow soldiers would “shoot a lot, even for no reason — anyone who wants to shoot, no matter what the reason, shoots.” In some cases, he noted, this was “intended to … remove people [from their hiding places] or to demonstrate presence.”

This paints a picture of a military force that is not only undisciplined, but also poorly trained, possessing low morale, and of little use in actual combat, and as such is relegated to second line "anti-partisan" activity. In short, the IDF ground forces operate in exactly the manner of the SS Einsatzgruppen. Of course, their conduct is also reminiscent of the French or American forces in Vietnam with the use of "free fire" zones, but even then, those armies both had units that were still able to put up a real fight when called upon. The Americans could still achieve tactical or operational victories, even if they ultimately lost the war. I don't think that the IDF is even capable of that. I've seen too many videos at this point of Al-Qassem and Al-Quds guys running up and placing shaped charges against tanks (completely unsupported by infantry) like something out of a Battlefield game. The Russians learned that unsupported armor in an urban environment is just asking to be blown up after the first battle of Grozny, I'm not sure if the Israelis are learning the same lesson.

At this point I almost want to see the Israelis take on Hezbollah head on by invading Lebanon because they would lose, badly. The maniacs in the Israeli cabinet like Smotrich and Ben Gvir desperately want to open that second front because they want revenge after getting shellacked by Hezbollah back in 2006. The thing is, Hezbollah has only gotten more competent and well armed in the intervening years. A fight like that would end the IDF as an effective force for decades, and that would be a good thing.

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casual inclusion of diverse sexuality is fairly easy to write, you just have your characters sometime fuck other people who aren't the opposite gender and not make a big deal about it. even some netflix shows manage this without launching into a full moralizing tirade about equity

casual inclusion of any gender diversity is much more difficult though. if you're not stripping your characters naked for other plot-related reasons or specifically writing an exposition on someone's backstory (which really discards the whole casual dimension) it's hard to get across that someone *is* trans at all without leaning into uncomfortable caricatures or abjectly having them fail to pass.

but maybe this isn't necessary. characters don't need to be assumed to be cisgender until stated otherwise! maybe the assumption of a lack of diversity and accompanying demand of more explicit diversity is what needs to be unpacked, and maybe people should learn to be more comfortable with ambiguity, both in their interpersonal life and in the media they enjoy.

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Plurality & Otherkin

Sooooo, found out I'm still Plural. Some of the characters in my sBrier story aren't just 'facets of my past/personality' they are in fact their own personalities. I knew I'd had a plural experience in the past, but recently my headmates learned some things that scared them, so they spoke up loud and clear for the first time in 20 years. Most of that fear boils down to 'we don't want to be forgotten'/'we don't want to stop existing'.

Turns out some of my friends already knew I was plural. People in the plural community knew I was still plural. Yeah. It's been about a month now that I've known.

As for Otherkin, I accepted that many years ago. I've long known that I hate being human and I wish I was a furry naga cat snake alien thing, often with spectral wings. That's who 'me' is inside. But some of my headmates are other things. Two of them are more like eldritch gods. One is currently a god of water that made his body to be like an anime surfer version of Captain Jack Sparrow. One is currently a nanoswarm that takes the form of a boy. One is a goblin.

If you've read any of the sBrier story you might recognize some of these characters. Thorny'Anto, Ark of the Giggling Void, The HIVE, Alex, Thyme, Poppy. One is also claiming the name of Rakzdyn, but they don't talk much. I suspect they are also embracing the identity of The Unknown Curator, one of the deities of Shulma (which is where some of those characters are from in my other stories, I don't go into that in sBrier).

We are getting along just fine. It is taking getting used to some of them being more vocal, and it feels odd that some are more nebulous, coming in and out of 'existence' at times. Apparently the Plural community calls that 'blurry' headmates. Makes sense.

Right now, GigglingVoid (who is also behind Maxixe) & Thyme (who is also behind Michael, Thorn, & Dick to varying degrees) are the only ones who are very active. Alex sometimes pipes up, and Rakzdyn is always 'there' but never talks, only ever responding when I 'poll' everyone, and even then, often chooses a sort of 'I don't care' option.

Yeah, that's who we are right now. We haven't felt like writing much lately, but I have written more sBrier since my past post, it just hasn't been in a form/presentation I feel needed updates. Anyway, thanks for following, or reading, or whatever, if anyone even is. Bye! Love you all.

Oh, yeah, our System Name is The Muniverse.

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Very relevant for my story as well, since I have Jeffrey Ashraf Singh, a Pakistani-American of mixed heritage (not yet sure what his mother is/was) and someone who, in one of their origin universes is African-American/Northern Irish (which is why they attended Hogwarts) and while this version isn't a major character, that other version matters to someone who is and has to interact with the one who is a mix of two otherworldly heritages with the same physiological result (who attends an Imperial Magic school in his universe), both versions of which are trans-wizard vampires which confuses the fuck out of their common were-phoenix friend who is also different-but-the-same in each universe. I think Sharan was some kind of mix, but I can't remember what (though, I think it might have included Polynesian, maybe Maori?), before she sacrificed herself and had her dragon husband place her soul into a runestaff.

And I'm doing both human & non-human mixes (I have way too many main characters, but I'm not cutting back). I have a hybrid species character raised at different times in their two species cultures and had to find their own place between them. Then, I don't know how to classify Jenny Doctor, since her fucked up regeneration can cause her to be literally two different races at once while the 'old self' dies and is replaced by the 'new self' and she's going to die a couple times. In her case, for a significant part of the story she'll look like she has vitiligo or some kind of human-chimerism. She's technically a Galifrayan/human hybrid due to the QuickClone process, but... other than an extra heart and some extra temporal senses, being able to live for a lot longer, and regenerating a few times, they aren't much different from human anyway. And there's Dabby, who's a lot of things, but started as a mix of feline alien, canine alien, and giant four armed brute alien (Densadron) before incorporating mutagenic insectile hivemind physiology (Zerg) as well.

I've also got characters 'adopted' into other cultures. A dragon adopted by an Ojibwe tribe before Canada was colonized (he still tends to shapeshift into the form of his old Chief who he viewed as his father), and a four-legged feline person adopted by a wealthy human who kept hir from getting to learn much about hir own people, stunting hir growth for many years and forcing hir to go through quite a culture shock when shi finally went to hir people's 'designated home world'. Hmm, and a nanite swarm who chooses to look like his adoptive father's son (as algorithmically derived).

Then there's the characters who I don't know their actual heritage, only some of the characteristics. The Black Flag has 'copper skin' and 'unruly black hair', and given that she's in a 'wild-west' type setting, I assume she'd be played by someone of a 'plains Indian' heritage if her story were a movie/series. I know RetroSpecter is black, but that's about it for her so far. Since Thorn & Dick are very much me at different points in my life, they'd be some kind of English/Dutch/French/Scottish meld. And all I know about Michael's human form is that he's something white that isn't Irish (so he could be a friendly foil for Caleb talking about the Troubles) and he's spent many years in the USA before going to Hogwarts.

I don't think I ever decided on what Clair looked like before she became a brain in a jar, and thus, what she projects with her holograms/virtual reality avatar.

And I don't think earth heritages are still much a concept after thousands of years of the Orokin Empire for my Tenno character Reyvan.

Yeah, I think that's all my human presenting characters, and a few non-human presenting. For any of the others, these considerations just don't make sense to apply at all.

Hi there this is a psa by your local mixed kid

Mixed rep in the media as a whole is kinda a fucking disaster so I'm definitely encouraging people to write more diverse mixed race characters!!! That being said give this handy dandy little guide a read to make sure you have a basic idea of what you're doing. And also. Y'know. Maybe dont make your mixed characters nonhuman. Just a thought

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Going to need this for my Jenny Doctor, since for most of this story (and the art I'm making of her) she has an Afro. I used a Homestuck doll maker a couple years ago to make this starter image for her. She's my Mule of Stage (originally Light, which is why I had the yellow around her hands).

You can find the Mule TRANSPORT class and the Aspect of Stage in my Extended Titles Guide (and other shit) on Ao3. Basic summary of the combo, she's focused on moving herself and objects around the session and needs to play whatever Role the story requires of her at the time. She can use her abilities anywhere that is not currently visible to anyone, making her a great 'slight of hand' magician, teleporting things from anywhere to right behind her back, or even inside her Afro. She is also an Enforcer of other people's/NPCs Roles, punishing them for acting out of character or violating a rule she created for the given scene.

Oh, yeah, I'm trying to learn to draw my characters. It's been a long time since I last drew, so I'm really rusty, and I wasn't ever great.

Natural Black Hair Tutorial! Usually Black hair is excluded in the hair tutorials which I have seen so I have gone through it in depth because it’s really not enough to tell someone simply, “Black hair is really curly, draw it really curly." 

The next part of Black Hair In Depth will feature styles and ideas for designing characters and I will release it around February. If you would like to see certain styles, please shoot me a message!

[Patreon]

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> Role Call

This is just a portion of my characters introducing themselves in their transtemporal memo.

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Re: The Prophecies

I changed the name of 'The Prophecies' to 'The Augurphiles'.

The only 'cannon' character from the original Homestuck actually making an appearance is Obama, the Hope player. Or, technically, the local version of himself, which is connected to all other versions of himself.

Main reason I'm posting this is to say that I am still working on this, I just took about a two-year break from it due to getting married, having depression, writing another novel (still WIP), leaving my old job... you know, life stuff.

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I’ve been writing a bunch of stuff as cyclicPortalization on Ao3 lately, this is my longest one. So far, it’s up to 12 chapters posted, but more are written and coming soon. I figured I’d explore these Classes and Aspects before I use them in sBrier directly.

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I'd forgotten about this post, but I did write a chapter of the story idea. Rescue Aid Society: The Next Generation (2270 words) by Thornbrier Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (Cartoon 1989), The Rescuers (Disney Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Chip/Dale (Disney: Chip 'n Dale), Gadget Hackwrench/Original Character(s) Summary: The Rescue Aid Society isn't what it used to be, Bernard & Bianca are nowhere to be found, and their daughter is trying to keep things going with her girlfriend as Fat Cat tries to enact an evil plan started by Ratigan.

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i hate how they market alexa as a ‘member of the family’ like that’s SO fucking blatantly insidious and terrifying also if i wanted an untrustworthy/cold/emotionless machine in my life i’d just talk to my fuckin father 

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she deserves kisses :) 

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I supose that is what I'm writing here, huh? And with my other fan-fics I still need to upload to Ao3.

every day i am percieved™️

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I really need to watch more Adventure Time, but this is super adorable.

proposing on accident just sounds like something PB would do