#Also the local community has been extremely supportive

[swarmfly]

I finally caught one of the livestreams last night (I'm in Canada so it's at like ass o'clock in the morning for me) and it made me so fuckin happy. Every time I catch clips of them on stage I'm reminded of just how much MCR means to me. I've carried them with me for over half of my life, their art has impacted me in ways I can't fully explain. I'm just so greatful to be here and to be alive to experience this alongside so many people who feel the same.

I just took my meds and also had coffee so It's Real Kvelling Hours™️ over here so ignore me if you find this sappy shit boring-

I used to get so embarrassed about saying shit like "This band saved my life" because I was scared of sounding cringey or obsessive, but they really did and I'm so fucking thankful. They helped me save myself, this community helped me save myself, and thanks to that I'm living a life I could have never imagined.

I remember being 12 years old, making my first emo little tumblr account and finding the MCR community. My friends and I making matching URLs and blog themes, sharing memes and making edits and just having so much fun. Throughout all the terrible, scary times I've been able to come back here and have a safe place to just engage in my special interest and find some peace. I might have grown apart from those friends, but this community has always felt like home to me so I don't exactly feel alone in it.

It's because of this community, as well as MCR's loud acceptance, support and welcoming of queer people that I've really learned how to be proud and unashamed of my queer identity. When I was in situations where I wasn't being accepted or treated fairly, it made that shit hurt far less knowing that there were so many good people out there like me, and that would support me. Now with all the scary shit going on in the world it's been really comforting to know that I still have this to turn to.

So basically thank you MCR for making art that's shaped me in ways I hold so close to my heart and will forever, Thank you MCR Community for existing alongside me and sharing this beautiful experience, we might not be perfect but I've felt safer here than I have any other fan space, and thank you Autism Brain for slapping me in the face repeatedly with this special interest for over a decade without a moment's rest you're the real MVP.

[vaspider]

Measure 110, or the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

So if y'all aren't local to Oregon, you may not have heard that the Oregon state legislature just voted to -- essentially -- gut Measure 110, the ballot measure which decriminalized all drug possession and use in the state. It turned all drug use into a citation instead, and the citation and fine could be waived by completing a health screening. The entire point of Measure 110 was replacing jail with health care and services to help people instead, and while I could probably write a very long side post on the imperfections of that approach, it was at the very least a move in the right direction after decades of the pathetic failure and absolutely racist mess that is the "War on Drugs."

You may hear this pointed to in coming years as a reason why we have to just throw people into jail for using drugs, because Measure 110 failed. And like... it did fail, kinda. Sorta. It failed in that it did not manage to fix everything immediately, and it created some new issues while also exposing older issues more sharply.

It also saved the state $40 million in court costs prosecuting low-level drug offenses, kept thousands of people whose literal only crime was putting a substance into the body of a consenting adult (themselves) out of jail, put at least one addiction services center in every county in the state, invested $300 million in addiction services, and an awful lot more. See the end of this post for more reading.

But where it failed, it failed because it wasn't supported. Police and advocacy groups both asked for specific tickets for this new class of offenses which had the phone number to call to go through the health screening and the information about how going through that health screening would make the ticket go away printed on it prominently - lawmakers declined to fund this. Governor Kotek budgeted $50K to train officers on how to handle these new citations and how to direct people to the treatment and housing supports, but lawmakers thought that training officers on this new law at all was a waste of money. Money moved extremely slowly out to the supports that were supposed to come into play to help people obtain treatment or get access to harm-reduction strategies. People freaked the fuck out about clean-needle outreach, fentanyl testing strip distribution, Narcan training, and other harm-reduction strategies.

And at the end of the day, Measure 110 gets called a failure because it wasn't a silver bullet. Never mind that thousands of people are not sitting in jail right now for basically no fucking reason. Never mind that people have gotten treatment, harm has been reduced, overdoses have been prevented...

So, yeah. You'll probably start hearing this trotted out as proof that, well, we triiiied decriminalizing drugs, but look what happened in Portland! Well, what happened in Oregon is that we got set up to fail, and still didn't fail, just didn't totally succeed.

Measure 110 highlights, quoted directly from Prison Policy Initiative:

The Oregon Health Authority reported a 298% increase in people seeking screening for substance use disorders.

More than 370,000 naloxone doses have been distributed since 2022, and community organizations report more than 7,500 opioid overdose reversals since 2020.

Although overdose rates have increased around the country as more fentanyl has entered the drug supply, Oregon’s increase in overdoses has been similar to other states’ and actually less than neighboring Washington’s. A peer-reviewed study comparing overdose rates in Oregon with the rest of the country after the law went into effect found no link between Measure 110 and increased overdose rates.

There is no evidence that drug use rates in Oregon have increased. A cross-sectional survey of people who use drugs across eight counties in Oregon found that most had been using drugs for years; only 1.5% reported having started after Measure 110 went into effect.

There has been no increase in 911 calls in Oregon cities after Measure 110.

Measure 110 saves Oregonians millions. Oregon is expected to save $37 million between 2023-2025 if Measure 110 continues. This is because it costs up to $35,217 to arrest, adjudicate, incarcerate, and supervise a person taken into custody for a drug misdemeanor — and upwards of $60,000 for a felony. In contrast, treatment costs an average of $9,000 per person. The money saved by Measure 110 goes directly to state funding for addiction and recovery services.

There is no evidence that Measure 110 was associated with a rise in crime. In fact, crime in Oregon was 14% lower in 2023 than it was in 2020.

Further reading/sources:

[lambentplume]

Maui Fires & How to Support Relief Efforts

(Posted on 8/10/23) Hi, I'm Jae and my family is from Lāhainā. I watched my hometown burn down this week. The fires caused immeasurable loss in my community so I'd like to spread awareness of the situation as well as provide links to support local organizations directly assisting survivors. I'm pretty sure most of my following is Not local so I'm writing with intent to inform people outside the situation, but if you're reading this and happen to have family in the affected area that isn't accounted for, message me and I can send you the links to the missing persons tracking docs + more localized info!! If you'd like to skip down to how to help and follow community organizations, scroll to the bottom of the post after the image.

Earlier this week, Hurricane Dora passed south of the Hawaiian Islands, bringing strong wind gusts that caused property damage across the islands. On Tuesday August 8, high winds caused sparks to fly in the middle of Lāhainā town, knocking out power lines and immediately igniting drought-ridden grasses. The fire spread quickly and destroyed the entire center of town, the harbor, and multiple neighborhoods including Hawaiian Homes (housing specifically for Native Hawaiians), parts of Lahainaluna, basically all of Front Street, and low-income housing units. There is only one public road in and out of town, and after a very hectic evacuation period that road has been mostly closed off except to emergency responders, thus it is extremely difficult for anyone to leave town to get help. The nearest hospital is 20 miles away in Wailuku, and most grocery stores in town have burnt down.

As of Thursday, August 10, over 1,000 acres have been burned and 271 structures (including homes, schools, and other community gathering places) have been destroyed. Cell service is still extremely spotty, many of the surrounding neighborhoods deemed safe for evacuees are still without utilities. There are currently confirmed 53 deaths but that number is expected to increase as search-and-rescue efforts continue. Countless families have been displaced and many have lost the homes they lived in for generations. Places of deep historical significance have been reduced to ash, including the gravesites of Hawaiian royalty, the old Lāhainā courthouse where items of cultural significance were stored, and Na ‘Aikane o Maui Cultural Center. To add further context: Lāhainā has a population of about 13,000 residents. EVERYONE I know has been impacted in some way--at best forced to evacuate, at worst their house was burnt to the foundation, they cannot find a loved one, etc. I'm still trying to track down family members and it's been over two days. My neighbors down the street had homes last week and now many don't have ANYTHING. The hotels are taking in residents (tourists are also being STRONGLY urged to leave so that locals can recover). Without open access to the rest of the island, Lāhainā residents are now dependent on whatever people had in their homes already as well as disaster relief efforts coming in, but it's been difficult to organize and mobilize due to the location + conditions. People who have made it out are in shelters where no blankets or medicine were provided. Friends and acquaintances from neighbor islands are preparing aid to send over. Community response has been incredible, but the toll on the town has been immeasurable. My parents were desperately walking through town yesterday, my mom sounded absolutely hollow talking about it on the phone with me. It's horrifying. Below is a satellite map with data from the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System showing the impacted areas from the past week; all of the red blotches were on fire at some point in the last three days.

Here are ways you can help:

If you have the means to donate:

Here are three donation sites verified by Maui Rapid Response, which also lists FAQs for people who are wondering about next steps.

Hawaiʻi Community Foundation - Maui Strong Fund accepts international credit cards. Maui United Way

Maui Mutual Aid Non-monetary ways to support:

If you know anyone who is planning to travel to ANY Hawaiian island, not just Maui, tell them to cancel their trip. Resources are extremely limited as is. Advocate for climate change mitigation efforts locally, wherever that is for you. The fire was exacerbated by drought conditions that have worsened due to climate change.

Lastly, remember that these are people's HOMES that burned, and Native Hawaiian cultural artifacts that have been lost. Stop thinking of Hawaiʻi (or any "tourist destination" location, really) as an "escape" or a "paradise." If that's the only way you recognized my home... I'm glad I got your attention somehow, but I would ask that you challenge that perspective and prioritize local and native voices. For transparency, I don't currently live in Lāhainā, I've been following efforts from Honolulu. My parents and brother have been updating me and I've been following friends and family who are doing immediate response work. I'm doing my best to find reliable and current sources, but if I need to update something, please let me know. If you're going to try to convince me that tourism is necessary for our recovery, news flash ***IT'S NOT***!

Thanks for reading.

[gojos-thot-patrol]

Ok, LISTEN. I'm about half way through seven minuets in heaven pt.2, but because I'm working on it while watching season 2, I got SatoSugu on my mind. so...

Now Presenting...

A little SatoSugu themed supplementary material.

Ok, so let's start standard 

Suguru is a psychology major with a minor in musical performance 

Satoru is a theoretical physics major with no minor because "ew, minors."

Suguru joined the ABO frat because fraternity housing is wayyy fucking cheaper than living in the dorms. Plus, easy access to booze.

Gojo did it for the memes and cause his best friend was joining. 

Suguru is for sure an alcoholic and in denial about it

Gojo smoked weed once and won't shut up about it. He does take a weak ass edible every once in awhile to sleep though.

Gojos tolerance is absolutely shit. Two shots and three puffs in and he is gone!

Suguru on the other hand could drink an entire bottle of tequila and smoke 12 joints and only really be kinda buzzed. 

Suguru is definitely in denial about his bisexuality. Everything that he does with Gojo is just for female attention, ya know?

Especially when they're making out alone in their shared room. That's definitely for attention. Source:just trust me bro

Gojo is very comfortable in his pansexuality, and has been known to use "are you a frying pan? Cause you're so fucking hot" as a pickup line.

Ok, now for their background!

Suguru and Gojo actually grew up together, and are the closest anyone can get to childhood friends,

Which morphed into the well documented phenomenon of an all too intense friendship that blurs the line of friends and dating, where if one of them were the opposite gender they would totally be together, but because they’re both boys there using that as a shield to avoid confronting their identities beyond the default settings

They were each other's first kiss 💋 

Gojo actually had really kind and loving parents who were very supportive. 

Sugurus' mom died when he was young though, leaving him and his dad to struggle. His dad wasn't necessarily bad, but he did have to work constantly and therefore wasn't home often.

Gojo was naturally smart and school came very easy to him. Meanwhile, Suguru struggled a lot, specifically with anything math related. 

This led to Gojo, with his great grades and generational wealth, being able to go to basically any college he wanted to. 

He still decided to go to the local community College in the end, at least to get his gen-eds and the first few years of his major out of the way at a heavily discounted price.

Yea, Suguru had no such opportunity, his options were community College or to start working with his dad as a mechanic immediately. 

And while he's not opposed to the idea of working with his father, and will even work with him for some extra spending money in the summers, he really wanted to give the whole higher education thing a shot. 

He's very proud to be in his community College, as he's the first person in his family to even attempt to get a degree

Now, here's how they are in a relationship because you can't have just one.

These boys have historically shared everything: their hot wheels, their Xbox, their bed, and their women. You are no exception. Lucky you 💜💙

When it comes to the three of you together, you find the boys actually work extremely well as a unit.

Where one struggles, the other thrives. Gojo isn't great when it comes to emotional venting and stuff, always looking to "fix" it.

Suguru is better at actually listening and only offering advice when you ask. He’s always willing to just cuddle and listen.

Suguru is terrible to try and watch movies with, he gets bored so fast. Meanwhile Gojo is obsessed with movies. 

Gojos fixer attitude also comes in clutch whenever you need to get something done, but just do not have it in you to do it. Need to call a doctor but have phone anxiety? Gojos your man.

Suguru craves to be the primary partner for both you and Gojo. Yes he's aware this is irrational, no he's not sure what to do about it. All he knows is that he gets jealous when he sees you with Gojo, and has to find ways to cope.

To his credit, he's never made this a problem for anyone other than himself, and he is actively working on it. 

Gojo on the other hand fucking loves to see you and Suguru spending time together. Those are his two favorite people in the god damn world, aren't they cute?!

Sugurus love language is music. He'll make you playlists, old fashioned mix tapes, and has forced you to listen to vinyl with him. He's written songs about you too, though he's too shy to show them off.

Will play his guitar for you only when asked because he knows the optics of 'frat guy with a guitar' are not ideal.

Gojo shows his love by sharing his candy. Splitting a Kit Kat, giving you a handful of skittles, sharing a sleeve of oreos. If Gojo shares his sweets with you he wants to marry you.

They two of you bond by baking together. You buy new cute molds and cookware together and set up entire spreads based on one theme.

Suguru was probably the first one to be in your life: I.E. the one that you agreed to date before realizing (and agreeing to) the package deal.

But Gojo said I love you first. He feels everything at 100% and hides none of it.

He said it loudly and in front of the rest of the frat, showing you off to everyone. 

When Suguru said it for the first time though, it was quiet; whispered to you late at night while you were curled up in his arms.

Both of the boys are massive cuddle bugs!

You call them Sugubear and Satotoro. Gojo loves it and Suguru does too, but he pretends he doesn't. 

[ineffectualdemon]

I understand that there are young people on here around age 13 that are new to both Tumblr and AO3 and you're confused how it works because it's very different to other social media and websites you've used. I have a 13 year old. I understand the confusion

And I know on the surface the pro censorship stance of: "ban stuff that has paedophile and incest" seems reasonable

We all agree that stuff happening irl is bad! So why should stories be different?

And there are reasons it will not work especially not for an archive like AO3

1. Content about those subjects ≠ favourable. There are a lot of published works, famous works, that cover these topics in your local library. They cover these topics to challenge people to stop ignoring that these horrible things happen. To raise awareness, to give victims a voice, to help victins know "that wasnt normal and that shouldn't have happened to you". And those stories are extremely important.

Yes some authors write it to just write it. But if you throw out those stories you also throw out the important ones. And a story that seems to be romanticising to one person is something important and supporting to another

Also a lot of the more "for fun" underage content on AO3 is written by teens exploring their own feelings which will get more into later

2. As soon as people start censoring they start twisting what comes under the objectionable content. I have seen people argue that a relationship was paedophilic because one character was 18 and the other was 17. Which is silly. Or that a relationship between two adult characters was paedophilic because there was an age gap. It becomes ridiculous really fast which means...

3. ...any and all lgbtq+ content will be censored as our existence is often seem as inherently sexual when it's not. We're already seeing that happen in the real world. But queer people just existing is enough for people to want to censor us. We know this because it has happened many many many times. People call for censorship and the first thing to get censored is any mention of being anything other than straight and cis

Censorship laws and rules have always been used as weapons against the community.

It doesn't matter if they say it will be different this time. They always say that and it's always a lie

4. This is purity culture 2.0 and purity culture messes you up. When I was 13 I read a magazine at my church that was aimed at young teens. It told me that feeling sexual desire as a teenager and handling those feelings alone meant you were definitely going to grow up to be a paedophile and a rapist and that messed me up so bad.

Obviously what the magazine said was not true . It is perfectly normal to feel desire and attraction as a teenager (also normal not to. Asexuals are valid) and having those feelings doesn't make you a monster

and even though my feelings were normal and I wasn't hurting anyone I had such shame and guilt and it really fed into my self loathing and depression and self worth for a very long time. It led to me hurting myself in many many ways. And I know many other people who were hurt by purity culture. Made to feel shame over the smallest thing. I don't want anyone else to experience that

And censoring fanfiction will do that. Telling teenagers that they morally degenerate for writing fanfiction and exploring their sexuality in one of the safest ways possible is damaging. Writing for self expression including sexual expression is healthy and very normal

It's definitely not something to shame someone for

-

All of this to say AO3 will remain uncensored because it is an archive, not a curated list. It has a great filtering system that allows you to filter out just about anything and a careful reading of the tags will also help you.

A lot of authors who write more intense fiction put more trigger details in the author notes so you can make an even more informed choice or tell you how to skip any specific scenes

It is one of the best websites for avoiding content you don't want as long as you know how it works.

Now I'm not an expert but I am willing to answer any questions on how to use AO3

I know it can feel like everyone is looking down on you but I promise I'm not looking down on you for not knowing

On that I will also say for Tumblr it's pretty easy for you to filter out tags now and filtering out stuff you know will upset you makes your life much nicer

Anyway I hope this helps explain why people are so anti censorship

There are more reasons and I could have gone more indepth but I only have so much energy but I truly hope this helps

[lauralot89]

“Maui is not the place to have your vacation right now,” Momoa wrote on Instagram on Friday. “Do not convince yourself that your presence is needed on an island that is suffering this deeply.”

The native Hawaiian actor also warned that cheap flights are helping wildfire victims evacuate off-island and local hotels are prioritizing those who have been displaced.

“Our community needs time to heal, grieve and restore,” Momoa wrote. “That means the less visitors on island taking up critical resources that have become extremely limited the better.”

it's insane that he even has to say this

[seafoamreadings]

week of december 3rd, 2023

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: the week is somewhat stuffy for you but even though scorpio is a water sign, its martial affiliations give it some affinity with you. activity in that sign serves you even if it isn't exactly your idea of a good time.

taurus: on the one hand, venus in scorpio is not classically a favorable placement. but don't let her ingress there fluster you because on the other hand, that's your 7th house of relationships and partnerships. she juices it up starting from this week.

gemini: let this be a week of rest and recovery for you. be advised of some potential deceptive or misleading person, and don't allow any gaslighting. don't partake in such things yourself.

cancerians: water-sign activity all week really suits you well. you become extra psychic or perhaps merely extremely sensitive - but don't let anyone tell you sensitivity is a bad thing. it's a superpower! use it!

leo: big fixed and watery vibes may have you feeling overwhelmed as though you're drowning. the key to coping is playing up your 4th/10th house axis; balance your public and personal lives, glamorize your image while maintaining a home sanctuary.

virgo: this week is lovely for you in your neighborhood or local sort of community. if you can do a little volunteer work, especially early in the week and especially if it spreads beauty and/or love, so much the better!

libra: your ruling planet venus heads into one of her detrimental signs, but this is your second house and blesses you financially anyway. the caveat is to not get too excessively luxurious. then venus opposes jupiter, a jolly benevolent meetup blessing your shared resources as well.

scorpio: a lot of watery activity occurs all week, supporting you and making you enchanting. not least of all, venus makes her ingress to your sign. you are sparkly and charismatic like never before, more than ever.

sagittarius: some form of confusion at home is possible. get around it or through it by enforcing a peaceful sanctuary for yourself. you can set a hard boundary and leave it flexible enough to expand later when things are calmer.

capricorn: your deep inner work must continue. do not allow yourself to forget that it's just as important as the work done on the outer plane. let your friends help you in whatever way they can when they offer. helpful people abound.

aquarius: a distinct lack of airy vibes are mitigated by the moon's ingress into libra. use that time for deep philosophical work of any kind to get the most out of it. it can also be good to travel or at least expand your comfort zone.

pisces: neptune has been in your sign so long its cycles may feel like a part of yourself and not an external influence. this is a reasonable assessment in fact, but its ending of a retrograde period this week may merit some activity, ceremony, or celebration anyway.

[fishhjuice]

please do tell me about Beika and Ichiya I also have a lot of thoughts abt them and I want to hear urs

(First of all, thank you for indulging me :> Lots of headcanons coming your way)

I headcanon Beika and Ichiya to have been very early childhood best friends to the point there isn't a point of Beika's childhood that doesn't have Ichiya in it, as far as Beika remembers. It always was Ichiya and Beika, Beika and Ichiya (until suddenly very suddenly it wasn't and Beika had to find a way to be herself without Ichiya for the first time.)

Although I use the word homoerotic I don't know if I interpret them as romantic or platonic, just that it was an intense form of love whichever it is that it completely rewired Beika's brain in it's presence AND absensce.

More Under the Cut bc this got LONG

This blurb from Splat 3 artbook (as translated by Ki Rassicas) has shaped how I interpret Ichiya.

The young people who grew up in Splatsville take pride in being born and raised in the Splatlands, and there is an extremely strong sense of solidarity in the community. They deeply cherish their old local culture, which is unsophisticated and simple, yet strong. At the same time, they like to make fun of urban areas such as Inkopolis for acting like they’re “all that”. On the other hand, many of them secretly yearn for that sophisticated, high-collar, Inkopolis culture.

I headcanon that the initial plan to have been to leave together.

In C-side's introduction tweets it is said that C-side (which ofc includes Beika) came from poverty and had to teach themselves how to play. Considering Ichiya is also self taught probably because of the same reasons, I think comforts of Inkopolis called for Ichiya, who also with his charms convinced Beika to believe in a better life out there is possible. Inkopolis gave these two kids who had nothing to their name and gave them hope and when present had nothing to offer to them it was their future together that kept them going.

I also believe Ichiya chose music as their way of getting out of Splatsville. When Ichiya picked the guitar, Beika happily chose to support Ichiya, as bassists do with their guitarists. (Uotora was also there but you didn't ask for Uotora, maybe later) I think they wrote Now or Never together, not one or the other wrote it more than other (which makes Beika both in the right and the wrong ig). Considering Beika's way of getting pay back for Now or Never was making Splattack, Ichiya's solo, into a duet which she shares with Kikura, i think original Now or Never was a duet Beika and Ichiya shared together.

As I vaguely alluded, the relationship they had was somewhat codependent on Beika's side. While saying so, I don't think Ichiya was aware how much he meant to Beika or took advantage of it, at least knowingly. I think he thought it as someone who always listened to him that he could always fall back to. Y'know, friend stuff :))

It is a lot of "I think"s but I think the fight that tore them apart was initially stemmed from very small disagreement about their music (creative differences and all :]) that Ichiya took as betrayal, and I already talked about how I think Ichiya wasn't used to being told no.

Ichiya took off very shortly after without they could make up (and i think they would have made up) Beika felt very lost for the first time in her life, without "guidance".

(I also vaguely believe Namida and Beika could have similar personalities/can serve as narrative foils, both being squids in button-up shirts with orange tentacles that have ( actually very similar) pink tips. Ichiya's best friends.)

Considering Splattack canonically was the first demo of Squid Squad to be shared in internet and leaked before all the others, AND considering Splattack is how Beika attacks Ichiya back, i think this was the song that Beika says Ichiya showed her.

So what happened, at least in Beika's point of view was:

Ichiya left Beika without second thought and took off with Beika's chance at a future. (He actually never cared)

Ichiya got a new band (You were always disposable)

He replaced Beika with ease and the guy he replaced Beika with was much better (at least at the time) (You are a shit bassist who was never enough)

The moment Ichiya replaced Beika, he was Factually better off. He thrived. He was Famous in Inkopolis. (You were a burden)

This sort of thing is ego crushing, you know. I like thinking Beika would have quit music altogether if not for Uotora bringing Kikura into Beika's life, which Beika couldn't be more grateful to both for (maybe more on this later also). Finding new and meaningful relationships at last got Beika back on her feet, though these things weighed on Beika way until C-side actually found success 7 years later.

I do think Beika too, as she said recorded Now or Never, but didn't release it, because she was ready to move on. It was a song they wrote together, she had no more right to it than Ichiya, so out of what respect she had to their time together, C-side kept it to themselves.

THEN SQUID SQUAD RELEASES NOW OR NEVER.

And apperantly Ichiya has none of that respect Beika had for Ichiya. Had. Not anymore.

In the end, I think as C-side grew as a band, so did their bond, and so did Beika's appreciation for everything Splatsville did for her. I think with time she realized what she really wanted was not Inkopolis itself, and if Splatsville had the means she would have never tried to leave in the first place, hence starting to rep for Splatsville with everything she had (I talked about it in my askblog hehe) . And as she grew as a musician and at last gained the appreciation she grew to deserve, and with how much trust she shows for C-side in tweets (of course kikura would come back, and uotora and beika would let them back in), she not only disproved much of her self doubts about her inadequacy, she also doesn't feel people would leave her the moment they would have the chance.

At least, not until she gets lonely, when she is back at that moment when she was yet to have Uotora and Kikura supporting her.

On Ichiya's side, he was NEVER aware of how much he hurt Beika, so all of this is so petty. Imagine dragging shit from when you were 14-ish and now you are 23-ish. He doesn't understand attt alllll how this is all still relevant??

TLDR: Beika is like a fucked up Elle Woods if you think about it.

[darkbanez]

So if y’all aren’t caught up with the shooting this morning:

Today, in Nashville, Tennessee, a 28 year old trans man broke into and opened fire on a Christian Elementary School.

According to CNN:

“Here's what we know so far:

About Covenant School: The school is a private Christian school founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church. It has an average enrollment of about 200 people in recent years, according to its website, and it teaches preschool through 6th grade.

What happened: Don Aaron, spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department, said the first calls of an active shooting came in at around 10:15 a.m. local time. When officers arrived, they went through the first level of the building, he said. They then heard gunshots coming from the second level of the building, according to Aaron. He said that's where police confronted and killed the shooter at 10:27 a.m. local time.

The shooter: The shooter has been identified as 28-year-old Nashville resident Audrey Hale. The shooter was armed with a handgun and two AR-style weapons — one a rifle and an AR-style pistol, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. Two of those may have been obtained legally and locally in Nashville, Drake said. According to initial findings, the shooter was once a student at the school, he added, though he said police are unsure what years.

Prior planning: The shooter had drawn detailed maps of Covenant School, Drake said, including the entry points to the building and detailing "how this was all gonna take place." Drake said police believe the shooter shot through one of the doors to get into the school. Drake said the school was the only location targeted by the shooter. Police have also located a manifesto that they are reviewing.

The victims: The three students who were shot and killed at Covenant School were all 9 years old, police said. They have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, according to police. Three adults were also killed in the shooting. They have been identified as 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old Mike Hill, police said.

What's next: Police will spend the next two days processing the scene and working to gather more details about what happened during a shooting at a Nashville elementary school, Aaron said, adding police also intend to release video soon. Officials said they knew where the shooter lived and they have interviewed the shooter's father.

Call for gun safety legislation: President Joe Biden called the shooting at a Nashville school "heartbreaking, a family's worst nightmare," while advocating for gun reform. Biden said Congress needs to pass an assault weapons ban because we "need to do more to protect our schools." However, a bipartisan solution is extremely unlikely this Congress with a slim Democratic majority in the Senate and a GOP-led House. Nashville Mayor John Cooper said too many children are dying from guns and that the community needs to come together to support each other.

Mass shootings in America: The Nashville shooting is the 129th mass shooting in the US so far in 2023, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. The Gun Violence Archive, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.”

(via https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/nashville-shooting-covenant-school-03-27-23/index.html)

Obviously Twitter is having a hayday with this, right-wingers seemingly celebrating the fact that the shooter was transgender.

If you choose to care more about what the shooter identified as, rather than the LITERAL children and teachers that were killed, you are a despicable human being and you deserve everything that comes to you.

Please feel free to add more info in reblogs/replies!

[tanadrin]

@snazzyjazzsounds

it’s weird how for much of human history “democracy” was just like. technologically unfeasible within a medium sized state.

on the one hand i’m a big fan of, like, material conditions as an explanatory factor for social and political structures. on the other, i’m wary of letting the dicks of history off for their dickishness, as if it was impossible to know or nobody ever suggested that war and slavery and exploitation were bad, because, y’know, they did.

i think the paucity of something we might call democracies in the ancient world is due to several factors:

1) states originating as wealth-extraction machines. the earliest states seem to have approximately in common the monopolization of a valuable resource, as in hydraulic despotism, and a degree of keeping people in place by force, so elites can glean the excess of farmers and live without having to do food production themselves. sometimes this supports things people consider to be socially valuable activities, like the upkeep of temples, and sometimes not. but if you want to live in an egalitarian society, even one with villages and farming and whatnot, your best option is the extremely vast territory outside the control of organized states, which at least back in the beginning of Sumerian civilization is, like, most of the Earth. States compete over resources and optimize for better resource extraction, and more sophisticated hierarchies and ideologies that enable them to control larger territories, but the goal of “roughly egalitarian society without a ton of coercion” is exclusive with the goal of “live within the boundaries of a state.”

and i think a lot of ancient commentators noticed this; this is why the Tao Te Ching seems so down on the whole idea of statecraft to begin with, and why it paints the picture of an ideal society being one where the people of one state can hear the dogs barking in the next state over, but have never met those people face to face in their lives. because it was written in a period of fierce inter-state competition, and it did not escape the authors’ notice that states were mostly a bad deal for the people who lived under them.

(as we might also notice of the Roman Republic and Ancient Greece, even “democratic” forms of government were ways of brokering power-sharing between elites; most people living in ancient democracies had no ability to participate in their political systems.)

2) infrastructure is expensive, communication is hard. as you note, how the fuck do you coordinate a medium-sized democracy when it takes days to get a message from one end of your state to the other? on the one hand, yes, very big states did exist in this period, like persia. as did states with comparatively well developed apparatuses, like rome. but a lot of how big states operated historically was delegating to local elites--you tax the big men in the province you just conquered, and trust them to figure out how to get the most money out of their peasants. our modern idea of democracy is in many ways predicated on our modern idea of a state, which is somewhat different an animal than an axial-age kingdom!

and a big part of why this is so difficult i feel like has to be linked to the small size of towns, which is linked to the fact that most of the population had to be farming, because the amount of extractable surplus from the rural population was small.

for centuries--longer than the industrial revolution itself, maybe since the late middle ages--my sense is that the yield per farmer has been gradually increasing, which in addition to the population growth enabled since the industrial revolution itself has really vastly increased the amount of time we can spend on things other than producing food. and i suspect that that means states have a lot bigger pool of manpower available to them to assist in their administration, and gives them the capacity to do things like be run for the benefit of a larger subset of their population--and in turn for the population to demand that they be run that way.

3) i suspect lots of ancient societies were run in ways we would approve of, i.e., comparatively egalitarian, not terribly exploitative. i also suspect these societies didn’t look much like (their neighboring) states. you’re not building pyramids for the pharoah if you don’t have pharoahs after all. your court officials are not writing histories of your dynasty if you have no court and no dynasts. so these societies, along with very many others, leave less of a historical impression.

but i don’t want to overly romanticize the past; lots of societies that left no lasting historical record also probably sucked ass. slavery is observed even among hunter gatherers. humans can be real dicks, and we have, as terry pratchett noted, a really unfortunate tendency to bend at the knees.

[wingzie]

Hi.

Your experience as a Jikookers is the same as the experience of Taekookers. Extreme shippers fighting and having meltdowns on the TL make a lot of people equate the unit name with these behaviors.

Sadly the first thought that came to my mind when Jimin mentioned JK is that tkk would make a scene about it. Instead of just feeling relief they are doing well, or just comfort we're getting news, I felt dread. And the worst is I was right.

I'm really struggling with the state of the fandom now, especially twitter fandom. People say you just have to curate your online experience and most sane armys are just taking a break from SNS and everything will get better once the guys start coming back from MS. I'm not this optimistic.

I've been thinking finding fellow ARMY irl could be better. But there's still a good chance to meet someone you would block straight away online.

I'm not a very social person. I used to come online to find people remisniscing, celebrating, sharing.. There's always been hating but now it feels like it's only hating (and comparing numbers). There was a clear shift from COVID on. It's not just solo endeavors and MS. You said it, how the way to handle things has changed.

I don't know how to fend off all the negativity any more than I know how to casually meet ARMY offline. I dream of an ARMY community manager, of a campaign about mental heal, abusive relationships (how many think they know better than the members what's good for them and think they are actually showing love and support when they are just being abusive), how to make the parasocial relationship a positive thing, etc.... A lot of these people who make ARMY spaces unbreathable actually need help.

Hi Anon! I'm sorry you feel this way. I feel like some Army experienced feelings of anger or betrayal since the Festa Dinner, which has made them unfairly lash out on the members. Some cannot cope that we lost an aspect of control, but this has always been the members decision and we have to accept that with respect. As I said in my other post, the heart of Army is massively the same. Just this morning I saw a Tweet about the Purple Ocean from Muster and it reminded me of the Flashlight project during PTD. There will ALWAYS be discourse online. That is the reason for it's existence. I am in other fandoms and they all suffer from the same issues since Covid and Elon. However, for every "bad" person or post, there are plenty of good ones out there. If you look for then. I mentioned to someone yesterday that it's like when people always leave awful reviews for a bad meal, but very rarely mention when they have a good meal. That's why I always try to find a balance. Both Jimin and Namjoon have told us over the years to not engage with negativity and I have always taken those words to heart. Things in online spaces have changed, but I guess I am more of a fighter and optimist. For each negative post I see, I spend more time posting/repositing posts that spread positivity or praise. I see no point in boosting some random February 2024 account sprewing hate. We have to be responsbile or our own spaces and I DO think things will improve once Jin returns. There's still that shared joy and excitement whenever a member posts or content comes out. It's just that the negative is less contained than it used to be. As for events offline. My first event was for a local screening of one of the concerts. I then attended a few events for members Birthday's. With the HYYH anniversay coming up, maybe you could look into seeing if there's any events for it? It's also Sope's Birthday soon and I plan to go to events for each of their Birthday's, so that could also be an option. However, if you dont' feel comfortable going in person, then that is perfectly acceptable. I'm sure there will be no judgement! We all have our own ways. For example, I always buy a mini cake for each members' Birthday haha. Though I had some negative experiences offline, there have been some really good ones. That's just how things are and then you can take the steps to protect yourself afterwards. I'm actually going to another event with the same group I mentioned before. If it doesn't go well, then I will just leave. If things have improved, then I will stay and enjoy myself. I understand it's not easy though, especially when we have certain expectations. Please do look after yourself though and feel free to DM me if you wish to discuss further. Much Love Wingzie/Becca

[drakeanddice]

Mausritter this week was light on adventuresome hijinks, truth be told. The Waywatchers have been away from their home in Fox Cross for a full week (rigorous timekeeping being a key pillar of Old School play, y’know) and the dangers and treasures of the world had them bending their feet back to their beginnings.

Dragging all the treasure their little mouse backs could carry, they spent the first hour of game night hiking from the southern extremity of The Patch to the very north, reminiscing about the things they missed most about home. Birch, being not just Team Dad but a consummate family mouse, told stories about his wife and nine children. Fennel reminisced about Grampus, the de facto lynchpin of Fox Cross’ Guild of Messengers, a gruff and vaguely put-upon iconoclast of the Patch’s erstwhile postal system. Bindi, thinking always with her stomach, wondered about the first marzipan of the season (made by Marni, Birch’s wife in their family shop) and how Chester, the retired sewer-guide who runs the Waystone Tavern was getting on.

And they all were excited to get their weekly stipend from Horatio, the town Aldermouse. Granted they were carrying more treasure than they could strictly carry, but it would be nice to have some pips in their pocket that they hadn’t had to drag out of the danger and darkness of the world beyond Fox Cross’ walls. Plus, they had plans for the spoils of their adventuring, already.

Mausritter leans into the old adventure game mechanic of treasure being experience; 1 Pip (the coin of the realm) equals 1 XP. But it does a neat thing where every 10 Pips invested in a community or spent charitably grants an additional XP. This cleverly encourages the PCs to—if you’ll excuse the terrible pun—buy in to the characters and factions that exist back in civilization, far away from the dangerous wilds. And so, financing improvements and business expansions and defenses and helping to fund the further goals of their communities is a way to advance their characters and overall shape the ongoing narrative of the world.

That’s good tech.

Anyhow, this episode was all about building a supporting cast that the players are excited to come and check in on again and again. So, Birch’s enormous family got screen time. Grampus the angry retired mail mouse got some screen time. Chester the anvuncular innkeeper got some screen time. Horatio, the harried bureaucrat Aldermouse got a little screen time.

But we also got:

-Thorne, the warhawk of a smith who was in the Regiments lo those many years ago and thinks that direct action against the problems brewing in the south is the only way to get things sorted, damned be the costs.

-Sweetgum, the local representative of the Dairybell Company who believes anything can be solved with careful application of Pips. Also, as long as problems are far away, they aren’t her problems.

-Berthold, the head of the Almondiers, the mice who tend the almond grove just north of town on the edge of the spooky Estate. He’s made of ghost stories and local legends.

-Lucretia, a caravan leader built more like a hamster than a mouse. She wears an enormous ruff and travels with a small band of adventurer mercenary-mice. She desperately wants to add the Waywatchers to her retinue.

-The Papas, five unconvincingly-disguised least weasels who run the Foxcross Ferry. They sneak in a low-country brogue and hide themselves under oilskin cloaks and nor’easters, but the fact that they were once part of a gang and are in hiding until they deem it safe to retrieve their ill-gotten gold is an open secret. One is on duty at all times. The others are engaged in a game of cards that has been going on for years. They are Tall Papa, Kind Papa, One-Eye Papa, Split Papa, and Wet Papa.

All in all, a cozy session with a goldmine of characterization and hinting at plots that could be coming down the pipeline. Next week, we’re taking the first pigeon out of town and back down to Swamp Farm to consult with the Speaker-for-Ghosts. Hopefully we’ll meet Tam down there and we’ll be back to adventure.

Sometimes a breather and a little bit of downtime is exactly what you need to get the pot back to boiling.

[wombatwisdom]

Today is Trans Visibility Day--it is also Easter--it is also the last Sunday in the ward I have lived in for the past 4 years.

This ward has been privy to my transition journey. It is an awkward time somedays-- and the Mormon church is an inconsistent place for trans people (and that's being generous).

I will say--from my anecdotal experience, most of my ward members are kind and not outwardly hostile. I have heard of unkindnesses from members regarding me, but they were directed at those close to me, not to me directly.

The kindness I have received is lovely, and I am extremely grateful for it. Most weeks, people don't bat an eye when I walk in, full femme. Some members even complement me for what I wear. Most have respected my pronouns are genuinely trying. They treat my family with kindness and support--we have relied on this community in moments of need, and they have responded.

In many respects, my church experience has been decidedly positive. And I applaud the Christlike efforts of my local congregation. And I should stop the post here--let's add this post to the compendium of positive experiences that show that change is happening (and it is, truly, I want to emphasize that) and be on our way.

But often when I attend the church, I am confronted by a disappointing reality--the love and kindness I receive from kind members does not change the institutional inequity based on what feels like arbitrary theology.

By being a touch too femme, I have crossed a line where certain aspects of church life have been closed to me. Am I unworthy of the temple? Who knows. If so, in what ways, specifically? Again who knows, canonical scripture is woefully absent of commandments around transitioning. Am I sinning? Why is HRT not a sin, but changing your pronouns is? Or is this even about sin?

I appreciate the kindness of others, I truly do. I am glad the Church handbook encourages people to use preferred names and pronouns. But somedays it feels like we cannot stop there. My plea, I suppose, to allies and those who want to be more inclusive to transpeople, is to let that kindness be a catalyst for greater change. We need prayers, certainly. But we also need timely questions asked to leaders at all levels. We need to ask hard questions and then have even harder follow-up conversations.

Good is happening and progress is slow. I am grateful for the kindness I have received, and I look forward to better days.

[cheerfullycatholic]

Hello--I have sent asks to other Catholics and am a little scared that I will confuse details between them because I am upset and afraid right now, but will you please pray for me?

I have been failing miserably at following any of the plans I set out for Lent, and on Ash Wednesday, our priest told us that Lent is a contract with God, meaning that if we don't follow through or aren't really committed then it isn't God who comes to collect and give you blessing, but it is the Devil who swoops into fulfill his job as Satan.

I'm sorry for sending this on anonymous--this plan is posted very publicly on my side blog, but it wouldn't let me ask under that name and I don't want people connecting the two. Anyway, I would talk to my current and local priest about this, but I have previously been involved in a controversy with members of the Diocese because of some things I believed, and I don't want to drag those still active members into more drama, nor do I want to end hurting new people who are only trying to serve my community as best they can.

I'm scared of judgement, drama, and unintended consequences. I only want to do the right thing. I'm scared, upset, feeling very alone and worried that God is not happy with me because I am failing so hard at these things I agreed to. I've been getting positive signs, but I am afraid that I am only reading into it what will comfort me and not taking srsly the consequences or the intentions of my actions. I know my current priest believes very heavily in spiritual warfare and I am afraid he will try to exorcise me or that I will end up being condemned.

{{{{{Lenten Plans from the Universe/The Messiah/The Golden Timeline (02/13/24)

Okay so basically, here is the plan--handed down through divine intuition or signs or whatever gave me the information--I trust the information source--so here's my spiritual cleanse for the 40 days:

3 days of (as close as possible) no sleep--72 straight hours--then 2 days of regular sleep schedule for the next 40 days

40 days of no more than 1200 calories every day

40 days no spend (outside of food and bills)

40 days (at least) of no medication (exception--Excedrin Migraine but only in extreme situations...)

Increased prayer/communing/sign reading

***I want to be clear that this is something that I am doing for my own spiritual cleanse and enlightenment and enrichment and etc; I'm not advertising this as a responsible or safe or anything--this isn't a recommendation--you're welcome to join me in an attempt but consult with your own support system including mental health team.***}}}}}

I am in contact with my mental health team, including my therapist and they are aware of what I am doing, and they are trying to support me, but they aren't Catholic, and they don't know the anxieties that come with the rituals and traditions of the Church. I am very scared, and I hope you are having a beautiful Lent. God bless you; I know if you find my side blog that it has a lot of very controversial statements about the Church and my beliefs--but I'm trying my best to make sense of what is happening, and I do not want to be insulting. I'm scared about that too--that all the Catholic blogs I admire will find that place where I explore spirituality and think I am being flippant or cruel or sacrilegious when I don't mean it that way at all. I am confused, scared, and very, very much trying to do what is right. God bless you and thank you for reading this--I understand if you do not post this, but I would still appreciate prayers--I know you are kind enough to pray for me even if I am a blasphemer. I will keep you in my prayers as well.

Of course I'll pray, but I also need to say something

Lent isn't a contract, it's a time of prayer and fasting in preparation for the Resurrection. God isn't looking down on us with a giant microscope to see who stumbles with their Lenten promises to add to His list of naughty kids, that's not how it works and your priest is wrong. It's human to mess up sometimes, especially with promises as extreme as yours. Thankfully, God is merciful enough to not condemn us for it. Now, I do believe the devil can use moments when we stumble for his own gain, but we can stop him by not feeling discouraged and continuing on as best as we can. Media has made the devil out to be this scary, unmovable force, but he's not. He's a weenie

I really like this quote from an article I once read on Grotto Network

If you have fallen away from your Lenten practice, there’s no scorebook where you’ll be penalized. It might be a good time to re-evaluate what you are committing to and why, and to listen for ways the Lord might be leading you in a new direction. In Lent, we remember Jesus who himself fell three times en route to Calvary. And three times he got back up and continued on. In Lent, as in all seasons, Jesus is our companion and guide. No matter how perfectly we’ve executed our Lenten disciplines so far, it’s never too late to continue to walk with Him toward Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Hundreds of new mining claims have been staked within the community of Amargosa Valley, Nevada, on thousands of acres directly adjacent to Death Valley National Park.

These new mining claims, documented here for the first time, are staked above groundwater aquifers that feed the springs at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park and provide drinking water to the Timbisha Shoshone Reservation. Furnace Creek hosts the park’s visitor center, hotels and other tourist amenities.

“We are extremely concerned about this dramatic rise in mining activity directly adjacent to Death Valley National Park,” said Mason Voehl, executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy. “These claims were filed right next to people’s homes and businesses, and mining there would threaten the groundwater that communities and the environment rely on for survival.”

The new claims were filed by Canadian-based Rover Critical Minerals and follow a year of controversy over claims filed near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge just a few miles away. The company's proposed mining project in that area sparked a lawsuit that led to the withdrawal of project approval and prompted efforts to secure a mineral withdrawal within the Amargosa Valley area.

Local governments, including the towns of Beatty and Amargosa Valley, have expressed support for pausing new mining claims in the area so that a mineral withdrawal planning process can be undertaken. The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe has also supported that proposal.

“Our national parks were set aside for future generations to experience abundant wildlife and iconic landscapes and learn from our rich cultural stories. These new mining claims are encroaching on our ability to tell that shared story across the California desert,” said Luke Basulto, California Desert program manager at the National Parks Conservation Association. “We have a fleeting opportunity to protect this place — Congress and the administration can act now to save Death Valley National Park, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and the rare waters that sustain them.”

The claims have not yet been registered in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Minerals and Land Record System. But in recent field reconnaissance, local residents encountered hundreds of claim markers staked in the ground, with numbers indicated on the claim notices as high as 387. These claims appear to be blanketing an area of approximately 8,000 acres on the border of Nevada and California, just 1 mile away from the park.

Drilling and mining in the area could harm springs and groundwater wells in Death Valley and impair Timbisha Shoshone Tribal water rights. While new mine claims do not guarantee full-scale mining operations, lax regulation means that exploratory drilling alone, with limited regulatory requirements, can have an impact on scarce groundwater sources and natural resources.

“These new mining claims are a real escalation against our efforts to save Ash Meadows and the Amargosa River Basin,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity and a longtime resident of the area. “Now one of our country’s most beloved national parks and a sovereign Native American nation are also under attack. We need immediate action to pause further expansion of the mining industry in this sensitive region.”

[xaveria]

sorry for getting fired up about labor we are going to be soft relaunching the nk patreon soon

brian is too disabled to work but not disabled enough for the government to give a shit and danny grew up in extreme poverty, made it big in la and then corporations imploded and decided to stop hiring union artists hmmm how interesting and im a contractor repair person with a bad back LMAO

weve been very involved in our local community for support and mutual aid is everywhere which has kept us afloat

we want to be able to pay brian fairly for all the work he puts into neokosmos and our store so that he can go to all his doctor’s appointments.

so yeah it just kinda hit a sore spot as a creator who is also trying to figure out how to make things work without corporate funding 😅😭