#during a pandemic that everyone pretends is over

[carcharadroid]

Starting my MS medication tomorrow. :') Trying not to freak out too much and largely failing.

Uuuhhhhh reactions to said medication could be anything from "kinda sleepy" to "flu-like symptoms" to "I am literally not able to get out of bed because my legs stopped working, get back to me in a week or few"

Not actually expecting that last one lmao but still. There is a chance higher than zero that I won't really be,, available to chat much at all this month while I deal with my loading doses of this stupid medicine

[fingertipsmp3]

‘Yet another mean girl from secondary school joined an mlm’ incident leaves local woman laughing in her home

[drtanner]

I'm angry today so you're getting a Rant™.

There's not a single day that's gone by in the last four years where I haven't been viscerally, incandescently furious that so much of the awful bullshit we're suffering through today and will continue to suffer through for the foreseeable future could have been prevented. We could have had cheaply and widely available vaccines for COVID that were distributed rapidly to everyone all over the world, but we didn't get those because a handful of rich cunts didn't want to waive their patents for those vaccines. We could have had a proper lockdown that kept everyone safe for long enough that those vaccines could become effective and the virus could die out, but we didn't get that because it would have made the line of rich people feelings go down too much for a little bit. We could have knocked this on the head in less than six months, we had the opportunity to do that, but that opportunity was stolen from us because the rich couldn't stomach losing even a tiny shred of their profits.

During the one meaningful lockdown we did have, the smog cleared up from a few places but global emissions didn't change at all, because global emissions are almost entirely generated by industry and industry didn't stop during that lockdown. We discovered that remote work was incredibly beneficial to thousands of people and that productivity even improved in many cases while people were working remotely, but now our governments are badgering people to get back to the office because they don't want their corporate rent portfolios to lose value or for Pret a Manger to go under, except in the case of disabled people who are too sick to work, for whom remote work suddenly does exist and means they're lazy and workshy if they don't "do their part". Speaking of which, there are now thousands more disabled people than there used to be, because this virus that we're now pretending doesn't matter anymore is turning out to have devastating long term health consequences like brain fog caused by leaky blood vessels and permanently reduced physical condition similar to that caused by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. We've had waves of strikes in the last couple of years, which tracks with workers' rights movements in the wake of other, previous pandemics like the Spanish Flu and the Black Death, which were able to take off because so many workers had died or become too disabled to work that those who remained were able to bargain more persuasively for better pay and conditions, but that's the extent of actual change that's happened in the wake of this ongoing global disaster.

We could have knocked all of this on the head back at the start, but this shitty Pandora's Box is now irreversibly opened and we are never going to be able to close it again. We're continuing to be ravaged daily by a disease that is still killing and permanently disabling people but our governments really want us to pretend it's all gone now, while the world around us is actively on fucking fire.

I would like it if people rioted about this.

[masonmontz]

heeey, how are you? english is not my first language but i really wanted to write something about mason, so if you see something wrong, i’m sorry ):( hope you like it

funny + hot (just some acts and thoughts)

While on Tiktok you saw again that trend where someone sends a dirty text to their partner in front of family or friends to see their reactions. It's an old trend and you used to watch the videos that people made during the pandemic, but now they are doing again and you laugh so much watching all those videos.

And this is a perfect night to tease Mason.

Just because he likes to tease you. He deserves.

Debbie invited you two for her birthday in London and taking advantage of the fact that Mason has a few days off, you decided to travel from Manchester to his parents house.

You and Mason moved to Manchester and most of the time is just you two there, since your family lives in London too. Tonight you attended your mother-in-law's birthday and tomorrow your parents invited you two for lunch, and you will have no rest until you return home.

You are standing next to Jaz in the stairs, paying attention to what she says about Summer’s new school, and you can see Mila sleeping on the couch while her big sister colors the princess book that you and Mason bought for her.

Debbie is sitting next to Mason talking happily, probably happy because her baby boy is home again after a long time. Tony and Lewis are sitting with them on the couch, and you can see them laughing about something Lewis is talking about, maybe one of his crazy travels.

You pick up your phone when you see Mason taking his, but you can’t see what he’s doing because he is sitting in front of you.

You turn off your phone and put it back in your pocket, looking at Mason to see his reaction.

You can see perfectly when he is reading the message, because he paralyzes for thousandths. You see him gulp and he turns his gaze to you.

You send him a shy - and false - smile, pretending like you didn't send him a dirty text twenty seconds ago while his mom is by his side.

Mason shakes his head and can’t hold back a smile, picking up a pillow and placing it on his lap, so no one can see his hard crotch under his pants.

“What are you doing?” You can see his lips move, but you shrug, still looking inocent.

You turn to Jaz and answer her about Summer’s birthday next month. You look again at Mason and he pretends paying attention about what his mom is saying but you can see perfectly how he presses the pillow against his crotch.

He raises his gaze to yours once again.

“I need to go to the bathroom” You say to Jaz and she agrees, moving herself to the couch with everyone.

You laugh alone because of Mason. He always try to tease you in public or anywhere else, but it's so funny to be able to get revenge knowing that he will be embarrassed for getting a hard-on around his family.

You pass through the hallway and go to the bathroom, knowing that your boyfriend will appear in a few seconds. You stare yourself in the mirror just to check the makeup, and when you are are washing your hands, Mason appears.

“What the fuck you think you’re doing?” He says, closing the door and pulling you by the waist. He presses his hard cock against you and you can't help but sigh.

“Have you lost your mind, Y/N?” He kisses your shoulder and rubs his hips against you again. “I’m so hard, I hope none of them saw my pants tight because of my dick.”

“Well, good luck getting this over with.” You say and move away from him.

“What?”

“You know, just a trend I saw on Tiktok.”

“You better be kidding me.”

“Sorry, Mase.” You smile at him, watching him run his hand over his pants to ease the pain. “I wanna suck your dick and maybe be fucked in the bathroom, but right now is just a revenge for all those time you teased me in public.”

Mason closes his eyes and he lets out a laugh. You approach him again and help him, running your hand up and down his dick quickly.

He's so hard that you get turned on, but you take your hand away when you hear him whimper.

“I have to go” You open the door and smile at him one last time. “Lock the door, please.”

“You will definitely kill me, Y/N.” He says and walk to the door. “You better prepare yourself ‘cause I want to fuck you all night.”

[kp777]

By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

Sept. 5, 2023

"We are prepared to do whatever it takes, even get arrested in an act of civil disobedience, to stand up for our patients," said one Kaiser Permanente worker.

Dozens of healthcare workers were arrested in Los Angeles on Monday after sitting in the street outside of a Kaiser Permanente facility to demand that providers address dangerously low staffing levels at hospitals in California and across the country.

The civil disobedience came as the workers prepared for what could be the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history. Late last month, 85,000 Kaiser Permanente employees represented by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions began voting on whether to authorize a strike over the nonprofit hospital system's alleged unfair labor practices during ongoing contract negotiations.

The current contract expires on September 30.

"We are burnt out, stretched thin, and fed up after years of the pandemic and chronic short staffing," Datosha Williams, a service representative at Kaiser Permanente South Bay, said Monday. "Healthcare providers are failing workers and patients, and we are at crisis levels in our hospitals and medical centers."

"Our employers take in billions of dollars in profits, yet they refuse to safely staff their facilities or pay many of their workers a living wage," Williams added. "We are prepared to do whatever it takes, even get arrested in an act of civil disobedience, to stand up for our patients."

Kaiser Permanente reported nearly $3.3 billion in net income during the first half of 2023. In 2021, Kaiser CEO Greg Adams brought in more than $16 million in total compensation.

According to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, the hospital system "has investments of $113 billion in the U.S. and abroad, including in fossil fuels, casinos, for-profit prisons, alcohol companies, military weapons, and more."

Healthcare workers, meanwhile, say they're being overworked and underpaid, and many are struggling to make ends meet amid high costs of living.

"We have healthcare employees leaving left and right, and we have corporate greed that is trying to pretend that this staffing shortage is not real," Jessica Cruz, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, toldLAist.

"We are risking arrest, and the reason why we're doing it is that we need everyone to know that this crisis is real," said Cruz, who was among the 25 workers arrested during the Labor Day protest.

A recent survey of tens of thousands of healthcare workers across California found that 83% reported understaffing in their departments, and 65% said they have witnessed or heard of care being delayed or denied due to staff shortages.

Additionally, more than 40% of the workers surveyed said they feel pressured to neglect safety protocols and skip breaks or meals due to short staffing.

"It's heartbreaking to see our patients suffer from long wait times for the care they need, all because Kaiser won't put patient and worker safety first," Paula Coleman, a clinical laboratory assistant at Kaiser Permanente in Englewood, Colorado, said in a statement late last month. "We will have no choice but to vote to strike if Kaiser won't bargain in good faith and let us give patients the quality care they deserve."

A local NBC affiliate reported Monday that 99% of Colorado Kaiser employees represented by SEIU Local 105 have voted to authorize a strike.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

[ineffectualbookseller]

It just really GRINDS MY GEARS the way Crowley is keeping so much from Aziraphale this season but also I TOTALLY understand why he's doing it

The thing is we saw Aziraphale keep a huge secret from Crowley in season 1 after he got his hands on the Nice and Accurate Prophecies and went to heaven with the information about Adam rather than telling Crowley, but then we saw him grow from that mistake. He realized how wrong a decision that was and that's why he's SO committed to them working as a team in season 2. The way he immediately goes to Crowley when Gabriel shows up and keeps him updated whenever he talks to heaven and even calls from Edinburgh to tell him about the new Clue (and maybe to brag a little because he's feeling proud)

and YEAH Aziraphale lies. I'm not saying he doesn't. He's a liar. Lies to himself, to heaven, to hell, to god's face, and sometimes to Crowley. But in my opinion, the biggest lie he tells Crowley about the occult/ethereal goings-on this season is not telling him about Shax on the drive back to Edinburgh. And I think the reason he doesn't is the same reason he's SO nervous to tell him about Gabriel at first; he's afraid Crowley will overreact - will totally freak out when he realizes Aziraphale is being threatened. Which is, frankly, justified. He would.

But then Crowley is over here lying about SO MUCH all season. And some of the lies are about his own pride (i.e. not telling his self-described bestie that he has been UNHOUSED for YEARS during a GLOBAL PANDEMIC) but mostly he does it because he thinks it is protecting Aziraphale. Because he is so obsessed with saving Aziraphale.

Everyone knows it - Demons are using threats against Aziraphale as a way to intimidate Crowley all over the shop (a good tactic tbf, far more effective than threatening Crowley himself), and Aziraphale openly speaks it.

But the actual reason he does it is because he's so concerned about proving his worth to Aziraphale. We know Crowley has self-esteem issues. He's all smoke and mirrors - not a man (nb) just a flashy jacket wrapped around a bundle of insecurities and anxieties. He still thinks he needs to prove himself to Aziraphale, that he needs to make himself worthy of his partnership. He cognitively knows they should be equals, a team of the two of them on their own side, but he just can't shake the notion that Aziaphale needs a reason to fraternize with a demon.

And of course, Aziraphale doesn't. He loves Crowley as he is and sees just as much worth in the small acts of bringing him chocolates at the bookshop opening or clearing them a table at the Ritz. True, he does love that Crowley loves saving him, but not because he actually needs it, because it's part of the flirty game they play. But he's not honest enough to tell Crowley as much clearly (not that speaking it would solve Crowley's self-worth issues).

The thing is, "Saving me makes him so happy" is so much cuter when you're fully PRETENDING to be stuck in the Bastille and don't know any other way of asking your crush out on a lunch date. Because now the forces of heaven and hell are knocking on THEIR bookshop door and all they have is each other but Crowley hasn't been honest with Aziraphale about the seriousness of this threat and Aziraphale didn't warn him about Shax BECAUSE he knew he would be overprotective. Crowley needs so badly to be the hero he's undermined their power as a team.

And that's the dramatic irony of it all. As an audience, it is spelled out so clearly for us that they are at their best, their most powerful, as a team. They are a whole greater than the sum of its parts. The fact of Crowley's incessant need to prove himself, to be the hero, to "protect" Aziraphale from all this information that he has been choosing to lie about all season - it's just making them weaker.

TLDR; Crowley is lying to Aziraphale to keep him safe because he still feels like he needs to prove himself to be worthy of Aziraphale's partnership but this makes it impossible for them to truly work as a team and is hurting them both

[covid-safer-hotties]

Biden Quits While Sick With Covid, Says We Overcame Covid

Joe Biden just quit the presidential campaign.

In his withdrawal letter touting his achievements, he says we ‘overcame the pandemic.’

A letter he wrote while literally sick with the pandemic virus.

For a third time.

Does this mean we overcame the pandemic?

Some might argue (indeed some have argued in response to a tweet I wrote) that he’s unlikely to die now, whereas he might well have died in 2020.

By this logic, the thinking goes, we overcame the pandemic.

This is the logic the world has been running on since about mid-2021, so no points for critical thinking for those regurgitating it I guess.

(All people who no doubt consider themselves Extremely Critical Thinkers).

Maybe they should try asking the families of the 540 people in the US who were killed by covid last week. Or the families of the 33,140 killed so far this year. Or the 310,000 people covid has put in the hospital in the US in 2024.

How many of them would agree we overcame the pandemic, I wonder.

For Joe Biden, the vast majority of Democrats, and to be honest the vast majority of politicians everywhere, we overcame the pandemic by absorbing thousands of new deaths weekly around the globe.

By absorbing thousands of new cases of chronic illness triggered by the virus.

Deaths and illness that mostly wouldn’t have happened in 2019.

We overcame the pandemic by believing the lies we were told and the lies we told ourselves.

We overcame the pandemic by breathing a sigh of relief when it was no longer in the headlines.

We overcame the pandemic through the normalization of extra suffering and death.

We overcame the pandemic by turning away.

We overcame the pandemic by accepting a worse world.

We overcame the pandemic by pretending our responsibilities to each other ended with a vaccine.

We overcame the pandemic by trampling on the vulnerable.

If the pandemic overcomers would just say this, would just be honest that overcoming the pandemic meant all the above, I’d have some respect for them.

But claiming we overcame a pandemic without any of the context around ongoing deaths, without mentioning long covid, WHILE YOU ARE LITERALLY SICK WITH THE PANDEMIC VIRUS, is different levels of gaslighting.

And let’s be real, Biden did nothing Trump wouldn’t have done.

The Democrats said everyone should get the vaccine, and that was it.

Then they opened everything up as quickly as possible to satisfy the corporate donors. Getting the capitalist machine back up and running was the over-riding priority.

Biden subsequently oversaw far more covid deaths than Trump even with the advantage of the vaccine. And as people died, he said nothing, and he did nothing. Not even when winter surges were killing thousands a week.

How hard would it have been to call for masks in hospitals? To say that you’d always said you’d follow the science and the science was saying that we need new measures during covid surges?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for “pretending” to be someone’s friend?

So I (28F) became friends with A (29F) during our first year in college, over ten years ago. I had very bad social anxiety at that time and she was pretty much the only friend I made in college.

After we graduated, we’d meet every few months to catch up and it was ok. During the pandemic, we kept in touch but didn’t meet for a while for obvious reasons.

Then come this past year. Every time we met it was awful. I don’t want to get in details, but she’s acted rudely in a number of times. We went to a professional convention together and she was very unpleasant to be around, I was extremely annoyed by her.

Here is where I think I might be TA. Every time we meet I complain to my friends and family about her and everyone says to just stop meeting with her. I definitely do not consider her a friend anymore since I don’t like being around her. The problem is I feel like it’s important to maintain the “friendship” for professional reasons. Like I mentioned, she was my only friend in college and I’m an autonomous worker, this means I don’t have coworkers and networking is very important, to recommend clients and everything. I have met other people and I’m friendly with them, but not friends friends. I feel like ending the only friendship I have with someone in my professional area would be a bad idea. But when I mention this people look bothered and I feel like it might be an asshole move to continue hanging out with her when I don’t like her much? Because she thinks I’m her friend and I’m just putting up with her because I do not want to lose her professional contact.

What are these acronyms?

[writing-for-life]

Considering this is a site where so many people have aspirations to become professional authors or artists, I think it’s really astounding that many (often the same) people encourage book piracy. And by that I mean: They don’t just do it behind closed doors (whatever, do what you have to do and keep it to yourself)—they actually package it as some act of immeasurable kindness in the name of “social justice”. And I’d say: If you’re not a professional author and have no experience in or with publishing, hence don’t really understand what it means to make your living as a writer, maybe just… don’t? And if you ever want to sell your books, maybe also just… don’t?

It’s not some cool subversive thing in the name of social justice you’re doing. You’re really hurting authors with it, and it’s in no way comparable to “fighting the big bad streamers.”

Yes, Neil Gaiman will be okay, but if you’re saying it’s okay to do it to him, you’re also saying by extension it’s okay to do it to lesser known authors. And those authors make up the vast (and I mean vast!) majority of authors. But maybe you’re one of those people who think that all artists are minted and picture them in La La Land, entirely possible. If that’s the case, maybe educate yourself what the median income of authors is, be very surprised and wake up. Sometimes, it really helps to think before hitting post. And if rants are not your thing, this is the exit sign because I’m not going to mince my words…

Here are a couple of really good comments from *that* post that people should maybe inwardly digest before they prioritise being oh-so-understanding and supportive of every Tom, Dick & Harry who “can’t afford the book” via piracy (how about buying them one instead if you care so much. No? Thought so) over supporting authors, artists and, yes, libraries:

(Re the last comment: Or use online libraries—they’re also free. That was also part of above post btw. Libby, Hoopla etc exist for a reason.)

If that’s all too hard, then let’s at least stop pretending on here that we care about supporting authors and artists while vocally supporting book piracy. Because really, it’s the same in all arts, even if the symptoms are slightly different—take it from one who is both a published author and used to be a stage performer.

And to say it quite frankly: These “ideas” are probably held by the same people who were tearfully blabbering about the arts being what kept them going during the pandemic and then forgot about it all when lockdown was over. Or maybe they are the same people who think that art is a “jolly pastime”, and that everyone should just be content to “do it for the love of it and give their art away for free because awwwww, so amazing, here, buy food with my exposure bucks.” Go on then, write and consume fanfics and create fanart, problem solved. Just don’t ever ask for the pro art that inspires it again. Ah no, I forgot, it’s all made for money and soulless anyway, innit? Why oh why then do you want to consume and pirate it though?

You’re not progressive and/or supportive of artists. You just have no clue how making a living in the arts works and think your comfort (= “I have to have all the things even if I can’t afford them”) matters more than someone’s livelihood (namely that of the people who devoted their lives to creating that art for you), and it really shows.

I don’t care about anyone’s Google history and even said so several times on here when people asked (this is the latest one, and yes, I see the people who had a “reaction” to this one or the reblog above, but I bet that’s “coincidence”). Do whatever you want to do, it’s your choice, keep it to yourself. But stop pretending that piracy means “caring about the noble cause”, because repackaging entitlement as social activism is performative crap…

[funnuraba]

Biden did not have "a cold" during that debate lol it's midsummer. He had Covid as a result of his administration deliberately pretending the pandemic is over so they could score points. I left this in drafts & now Harris' husband is Covid positive lmaoooo "the President has a cold" my ass, that's what they get for buying their own bullshit and giving up on mandatory PCR tests for everyone who comes near Biden

[hellowhisperingstars]

The Question

Summary: After starring in the fourth season of Stranger Things, you are at convention and get asked an awkward question at a Q&A. Cue Jamie and you pretending to almost fight over Joe.

Pairing: Joseph Quinn x Costar/Fem!Reader 

Words: 869

Warnings: Fluff, Jamie being a dork. Brief mention of nudity. Awkward questions.

A/N: This is the second one shot I wrote for Joe! Please let me know what you think!

You can find more of my stories on my Stranger Things Masterlist!

Or read this story on AO3!

It was an early Saturday afternoon at the convention that you and a few of your castmates are currently at. Right before the pandemic, you had been cast in Stranger Things where you played Francine “Frankie” Lewis, the love interest to Joe's character Eddie Munson. Your time on the show had shot you and your costar Joseph into the bright lights of fame right alongside all of your other costars and to say it was overwhelming was an understatement. Everyone has been so kind, from the cast and crew to the fans. This was your first convention and you were shocked to see how many people had come to see you, given you little trinkets that you will treasure forever, and some have even cosplayed as Frankie. After having spent some time talking, taking photos, and signing autographs for fans you were pulled into a Q&A that also had Jamie and Joe in it. The boys had kept you laughing the whole time easing some of the anxiety you had been feeling.

You threw your head back in a gleeful laugh as you listened to the story Jaime was currently telling about what the weirdest experience he’s ever had on a set was. “I was just laying there, naked, and there were just so many hands.” 

Joe laughed as he slouched in his chair giving you an amused look as the rest of the audience laughed with you. Bringing the microphone up to his lips he quipped, “I don’t think anyone's story can beat that one mate.”

“We need to stop letting Jamie go first.” The interviewer said with a laugh as she flipped through a couple of cards in her lap. “Our next question is on the left, I believe. Hello!”

The young lady who stood at the microphone was nervous, her stance told you so. “Hello, my name is Lucy. My question is for Y/N.”

“Hello Lucy,” You leaned forward in your seat, your elbow resting on your knee with your hand holding up your chin as you brought the mic to your lips with your other hand. “I am so ready. Bring it on.”

The girl giggled a bit as she looked at your eagerness to answer her question. “Your character Frankie and Joe’s character Eddie are very close in this new season and even start dating towards the end. I think the chemistry between the two of you is just amazing, so I was wondering if you would ever consider dating Joe?”

The question made your eyes widen for a moment before you blinked your shock away. Of course you had considered dating Joe. You had a crush on him since you both had met at your chemistry reading during the audition process. Taking a deep breath you bit your lip trying to think of something to say. 

“You’re awfully quiet Sweetheart,” Joe chuckled at you into his mic. “Making me nervous.”

“I mean,” You laughed scratching the back of your neck as you looked over at Joe. “If Joe was into it. Of course, I would consider dating Joe. Have you seen the man?” You asked, gesturing to Joe who was sitting next to you, making him blush a little. “But unfortunately, if I did it would then become a Scott Pilgrim vs the world situation. Where instead of Joe’s evil exes. I would have to fight Jamie.”

The entire room went up in laughter at your words. Jamie leaned back in this chair as his own laughter joined those around you. Joe was chuckling at the situation you had found yourself in. 

“And Jamie has like four feet on me.” You continued with your own laugh. “I mean I’m scrappy but I don’t think I have what it takes to take down Jamie.”

“I’ll give you a fair fight, love.” Jamie said into his mic as he got up off his chair mimicking his rolling up his sleeves. 

“You wanna go?” You asked laughing at Jamie as you stood up as well, “Okay, let's go.”

Joe laughed loudly at the display in front of him before he got up stepping between you two holding his hands up. “Alright, alright. Put them away.”

Jamie pointed at you in fake warning, before he smiled at you and Joe before taking his seat. 

Joe turned towards you giving you a hug before he pushed you gently back towards your seat. Looking behind him he winked at the girl who asked the question, giving her a smirk. “You almost started something Sweetheart.”

Turning back towards you Joe moved his and your mic out of the way before he leaned down to whisper in your ear. “And for the record. I would be extremely into it.”

You felt your cheeks heat up as you looked at him with a shy smile. Giving you a little nod he kissed your cheek and sat down in his chair again looking over at Jamie with a grin. “You’re a troublemaker.”

“No one’s touching my Joseph without a fight.” Jamie said in a playful way as he looked over at you with his own wink. 

Oh these boys. Giggling, you looked back over at Lucy. “Thank you for your question.”

[spade-riddles]

So . . . "thanK you aIMee".

I know we're supposed to think it's about Kim Kardashian. Some people think it's about a high school bully, or an ex. I don't think it's about either.

It's about Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Taylor has clashed with her before - she was a big part of the impetus for Taylor speaking up politically in the Lover era. I think this song is about her and the small town homophobia she represents - but also specifically about the homophobic comments she made, devaluing lesbian motherhood, at a time Taylor was building her family with Karlie.

In May of last year MTG made comments about a lesbian union leader who is a stepmother of two, saying she wasn't qualified to speak about school closures during the pandemic because "she's not a medical doctor, not a biological mother, and really, not a teacher either". She's made plenty of similar comments over the years.

Taylor pictures her hometown with a bronze statue of her bully - small towns erect statues of politicians

"And it was always the same searing pain" - small town conservative homophobia always hurts the same

"All the time you were throwing punches I was building something" - against the backdrop of MTG's bigotry, Taylor and Karlie were building their family

"and I couldn't wait to show you it was real" - to be able to stand up one and day and prove her wrong, with the evidence of a loving, healthy, functional family no-one can pretend doesn't exist

"and then she wrote headlines in the local paper, laughing at each baby step I'd take" - laughing at same sex parenthood

"but I can't forget the way you made me heal" - in inspiring Taylor to stand up and advocate for LGBT rights with YNTCD, MTG inadvertently helped her find pride and be more out than she was before. Ironically she set her on the path to a more open life

"one day your kid comes home singing a song only the two of us know is about you" - MGT has a college age daughter. The song was probably You Need To Calm Down?

If this was North singing LWYMMD, like people think, EVERYONE would know it was about Kim, wouldn't they?

I think Taylor just used Kim's name as a diversion and a way to get attention on the song. And because she wouldn't feel any guilt about throwing Kim to the wolves like this, after everything Kim did. But I don't think this song is actually about her. I think it's an allegory for MTG and people like her

This a is sure an interesting take …

[rebel-moons]

The worst mass shooting of the year, and it’s barely a blip in the national news coverage. Americans have become so desensitized to this kind of tragedy that the loss of 18 lives - 13 more injured, 8 still fighting for their lives in intensive care - doesn’t even make national noise anymore. This man is still out there - considered armed and dangerous, going on day 3 of this manhunt - and still, just another Friday in America to most people. There are people who aren’t even aware this happened!

This is my community. We are grieving. This has affected us across the state - cities and towns in lockdown, schools are closed, businesses are closed. It’s a beautiful warm fall day, the weekend before Halloween, and my state is a ghost town. Other than tourists, everyone is home. All events, sports and celebrations and parties, have been cancelled.

Maine has never faced a tragedy like this before. And because of that, I think we feel this hurt so much deeper and personally than the rest of the nation. You may have seen Maine described as “a small big state” and it’s so true. We’re spread out geographically but the sense of community and loyalty we have for our neighbors - 3 mins, 30 mins, 3 hours away - is unmatched. This is hitting our community so hard because we haven’t been desensitized to this sort of violence here.

I don’t want the victims to be just another number lost in the conversation. These were my neighbors, people in my direct social circles - friends and family of the people in my life. Right now, we only know a few of the names. But these people deserve to be remembered, their loss is being felt across the state.

Joey Walker was the manager of the bar that was hit. He grabbed a butchers knife to try to stop the shooter. He died trying to save lives. On Wednesday night, his father, city councilor Leroy Walker, told the local news he knew in his heart his son had been murdered that night. He asks that people keep sharing Joey’s story, “to keep him alive”.

Bob Violette led a youth bowling league at Just-in-Time. He died protecting the children he taught, standing between them and the shooter.

Payton Brewer-Roses loved Superman; he had an extensive Man of Steel tattoo. We would’ve been friends. He was a father to a beautiful two-year-old, who now has to grow up without her loving, funny, caring father.

Trisha Asselin loved bowling and golf and worked at both Just-In-Time and the local golf course. She raised thousands for breast cancer research in her lifetime. She died trying to call 911.

Joshua Seal was a comforting face to so many during the worst of the pandemic. He worked as a sign language interpreter, and made it his life’s mission to end the solitude and isolation of many in the Deaf community. He was there for a Deaf cornhole league - where know at least one other Deaf victim, Bryan MacFarlane, was also attending. Reports say they didn’t know what was happening because they couldn’t hear the shoots.

Aaron and Bill Young, a high school freshman and his father. Aaron loved bowling, had recently received recognition in the youth league.

These aren’t even half of the victims who were murdered on Wednesday night. Over and over again, you hear stories of how the victims put themselves in harms way to save others, because that’s the kind of community we have in Maine. We look out for each other, even if we don’t know you.

They should be alive right now.

Please don’t let them get lost in the news cycle. We can’t pretend this is normal or acceptable. Enough is enough. If the FBI can call Maine “the safest state in America” on Monday, and two days later the worst mass shooting of the year happens, it’s not a matter of IF it will happen to you and your loved ones, but WHEN.

We cannot continue to live like this.

Eighteen lives lost, and countless lives shattered by this night.

If you can, please donate to the GoFundMe for the victims and their families in Lewiston.

[giriduck]

I put off starting BotW for five years for various reasons, including many IRL hobbies, knowing that the game would suck me in and consume all of my free time as I played through it, and various concerns over the direction they took the world and lore.

In the end, I loved that game. I enjoyed that version of Hyrule and—because I had started playing it during pandemic lockdowns—I used it to replace various local adventures I had enjoyed in The Before Times. The open world and nonlinear aspects of BotW were exceedingly well done and an interesting change for the series.

Although I enjoyed both the present-day and fallen Champions and a glimpses into the life and times of The Saddest Zelda Yet, most of the characters of BotW did not resonate with me until I played Age of Calamity.

I loved that game. It is a ridiculous and lovely fix-it fic that paid attention to the details of the original and expanded on it in such a marvelous way. You could experience more of pre-Calamity Hyrule, spend more time with literally everyone (including some WILD surprises), and see a nice “what if” arc for Zelda herself. The game made me really like the older Champions, Sidon, Master Kohga, and I adored that take on Zelda.

With TotK, I feel none of the connection that I had the first two games. Hyrule is largely the same—except for the addition of caves—so the thrill of exploring is dampened. It’s like returning to your childhood city and discovering an odd blend of nostalgia and sadness when you see how parts of town had changed in vaguely unsettling ways.

The Depths—while really cool press-your-luck-in-the-darkness is interesting (it kind of feels like running to the BotW shrines in unfamiliar territory), it’s exhausting to explore. There is so much of it and it’s relatively empty of both interesting things to see and lore. Give me lore! Tell me more about what this place even was! What happened here?? Meanwhile, traversing the sky kind of stresses me out in a water temple kind of way, and so many of the islands are duplicates and simply repetitive.

While catching up with literally hundreds of NPCs in TotK was truly delightful (especially playing BotW rather recently beforehand and seeing how much genuine care they took with continuity), the TotK content on the characters we had spent the most time with in BotW and AoC was rather light, as were the new characters. It was difficult to emotionally attach to anyone and cheer for them. It felt weirdly retrospective, both in the ancient era and the present era. It felt like a game all about catching up with people and then doing a million little tasks for them.

And—as much as TotK is proclaimed by the dev team as a supposedly non-linear story, it’s not. Instead, it’s a linear story carved up and then scattered nonsensically onto a map, and—while it was an interesting experiment—it was a poor experience. They should have had a waypoint lead to the next in chronological order instead of pretending that it is a fully open world and therefore the order you unlocked the memories didn’t matter. While it was frustrating to people returning from BotW, I can only imagine that it must have been bewildering to new players.

All this is to say that AoC really made me appreciate the BotW era, and I really hope that Omega Force makes a TotK Hyrule Warriors, because I would love to see how they expand the otherwise sparse lore and help me learn to like these characters more.

Also playable TotK Ganondorf when.

[z-h-i-e]

The Reality of Responding to Comments Left on Fanfiction

Or, a rebuttal to a Tumblr post I was going to comment on, then thought, why not just start a whole new post?

So I happened upon a post recently which compared not replying to comments to not holding open a door for someone.

Firstly, I want to point out, I'm in the midwest of the US of A. Even during the middle of covid, when people were very careful about touching things, we are so trained to open doors, we were still doing it. Hell, we try to hold open doors for each other when it's an automatic door.

Commenting back to comments, though. In theory, sure, very nice to do. In practice, no. That's the short answer; buckle up for the long one.

It's February of 2020. I'm already starting to suspect shit in the world is going down soon--while everyone else is watching the impeachment here like it's the next big reality TV series, I'm stocking up on canned goods, cereal, and cheese. (Yeah. Cheese. I'm from fucking Wisconsin. I had a mini fridge just for cheese. Judge me. I can take it.)

Once a month, during those 'pre-pandemic' days, I would take one long lunch hour -- I would use comp time, I'd drive out to Panera, I'd sit in the area upon which I based part of Salgant's house, and I'd answer comments. It was a happier time. I had time to do it. It was nice to go through all the interesting things people noticed or the bits they liked. Hell, I even like a good flame--keeps me warm, lets me roast a few marshmallows, and then I go fucking Feanor in Formenos on them. But I digress.

That was the last time I had a chance to do that. Because then, and sorry, forgive me if this is new information, but there was a fucking worldwide plague that occurred. And during that catastrophic world event, not all of us recovered to a point where we're back to normal yet. I don't know about the rest of you, but wondering each day if I'd ever get to hug my parents while they were still alive? Kind of stressful. See, my father has major medical issues (kidney failure and on dialysis, cancer survivor three times over, osteoporosis, diabetes, diverticulitis, and sleep apnea), and my mother has a few doozies, too (COPD, macular degeneration, also a cancer survivor, and a whole fucking messed up thing with her spine). With all the concerns of previously mentioned plague, the doctors at the time advised that no one else was to go into their house until there were viable covid vaccines. I would come over, drop off groceries and medications on their porch, close the door and call on my phone, then air hug from the street thirty feet away.

I remember all the stuff I did to try to keep my brain happy. I watched my way through 'If Google was a Person' and 'Epic Rap Battles of History', over and over. I found museums who had 360 views to pretend I was on field trips, and I found a bunch of virtual rollercoasters to 'ride' on. And I listened to Hamilton so many times if it was vinyl I'd have worn a hole through it.

I had coworkers who died from covid. People who seemed generally okay, people I would not have thought would be hit so hard by it. We lost several pets since 2020--two dogs, two cats, and a rabbit. In the case of our beloved Trotter, who went through more surgical procedures than I can recall, I would have to hand him off to a technician, then sit in the car for three or four hours, wondering if he would be okay, if he would feel better afterwards, if he would wake up after each procedure, if his already damaged heart could take another.

I had my share of medical bullshit throughout the past nearly five years. The big 'well this is bullshit' of them all is that I had a pretty good life plan going, along with 'we all going to do all the things to try to make a smol human in the 2020/2021 range' and, well, let me tell you folks, as soon as pandemic got volleyed around, that was a big nope. That nope was followed by so many additional 'did my warranty expire?' moments, but I have to say, the highlights of the instant replay real would be the intercostal muscle tear which has still not healed completely correctly, so it is physically painful to push a grocery cart around in a store for more than thirty seconds, the whole episode when my pancreas decided to stop working for a hot minute but it was covid city in the hospitals so I was sent home with meds and a 'best of luck' sort of thing, and the secondary infection when I did eventually catch covid despite so many precautions (funny enough, from my father when we finally had the first in-person Christmas again in 2022--so, while the concern was I could end up giving it to him, he ended up giving it to me).

But the most frustrating, the most enduring, has been my failing vision. When I was 8, and at a public school for the first time, they did vision screenings, and realized 'wow, this one does not see well'. Now, in theory, someone should have figured that out sooner -- I had jabbed myself in the eye no less than three times (possibly more) that I remember before the age of five from accidentally getting things too close to my face. So glasses and I have been pretty tight now for nearly four decades. But it was during the pandemic that I started to think I must have been dealing with some strain from computers or needed a new prescription or something. Words were far more difficult to read. I would sometimes stare at pages in books or on the screen and just see...nothing, really. (Kind of not helpful in my profession.)

I went years with terrible distance vision, but great vision up close. Now that had failed, too. But it wasn't just that. At least with distances, I could still generally see things. Up close--sometimes yes, sometimes no. So I kept getting tested and retested and asked questions and went to different doctors and described things--

--and finally, sometimes, you find someone who listens, and wants to figure it out, and does. And then you have an answer. But answers don't always mean solutions. And when I asked how we fix it, I got an answer, but not a solution.

The answer is, I can't.

And to the follow up, will it get worse, that answer is, maybe.

But it won't get better.

So as I'm still processing this, having days where I want to write but can't even see the words, I think about all of the stories I still don't have posted on AO3. I think of things on floppy disks--not just the hard floppy disks, fucking floppity floppy disks, where the only backup is on dot matrix printer paper--and I think about things that are handwritten, and stories on old flashdrives, and the words from the musical that got me through the pandemic play through my mind.

Why do you write like you're running out of time?

Because.

I am.

I'm not the biggest fan of mortality--I fucking write about elves, friends. Elves, and more elves, and after that, a few additional elves, just in case. I've rooted myself in Valinor, for the most part, over the last few years.

I am very aware that I am more likely than not on the downward slope of life's journey at this point. For anyone who has ever been sledding in the midwest during winter, you know you go way faster on that downward slope.

So I've got some pretty solid goals in mind. I have stories I need to finish. I've got art and other things I want to make. I have items I want transferred to a place that stands a decent chance of still being around when I'm not, or when I'm not able to do the moving of things anymore, from personal websites I have. I completed one really big accomplishment over the summer--I sat down and wrote my scientific paper on the Silmarils. I really wanted to get that written, and I'm very happy I did.

I've lost too many fandom friends over the past five years. People I'd known for decades, people I knew by their legal names, people I'd exchanged mail with and in some cases met in person.

So, I'd like to go back to the Panera days of having a sammich and one of those salads that are practically dessert because it's more than half fruit and take a few hours each month to answer comments. Trust me, there are no awards for four digit unanswered comment boxes. If there were, I'd have seen one by now. Every comment is immensely appreciated. They make me think about things, and reconsider things, and sometimes sneak in a character or two based on what someone says.

And I'm hoping that someday, maybe when I'm retired or at a point when I'm able to get down to working just one job or something, I'll be able to get back to the older comments I haven't answered yet. But right now, I've got a few other higher priorities in life.

Today was my father's 69th birthday. I suppose I could have answered a few comments today, but instead, after working a ten hour shift, I went to hang out with my dad--which is basically just us sitting and talking, but it's amazing because I spent so many sleepless nights over the past few years wondering if he and my mom would make it through the worst of the pandemic.

I regret nothing.

I hope that for now, you can take my word on the door opening. In fact, this morning when I got to work, I got the door for someone, then I noticed a moth on the ground that looked a bit dazed like it had just gotten itself out of a spider web, so I bent down and I managed to get it onto my finger so that no one stepped on it, then I walked back down to where there are plants and grass and deposited the moth (who at first wanted to crawl about on me, which I allowed for a moment before getting it safely onto a leaf) then came back up again, saw to a large cricket so that no one stepped on it either, and finally got in. Please accept for now the sharing of stories as the holding of the door the first time; I'll try to get it for you again if I can later on, when I'm on my way out--but I have some business to finish inside first.

[hello-nichya-here]

Do you think Lula might try to patch things up with Israel considering the rally that just happened in Brazil?

Let's make one thing clear here: the rally was not pro-Israel. Not really. The flags had a pentagram instead of the star of David, and people in said rally were saying shit like "We support Israel because they're CHRISTIANS like us."

The rally was really about a bunch of useful idiots that sympathize with fascism and straight up neo-nazis (some of which were friends with or direct descendents of the actual nazis that fled to Brazil after WWII, including the monster JOSEF MENGELE himself) who support the wanna-be dictator, and sadly Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, PRETENDING to give a shit about the Israel situation solely because Lula finally grew a pair of balls and called out the genocide against palestinians - and thus the supporters of Bozo the clown are now trying to use that as an excuse to impeach him, as yet ANOTHER attempt to ignore the results of the elections in which Lula defeated the fucker in 2022.

There's video recording of Bolsonaro (who has never been shy about wanting to turn Brazil into a dictatorship again and actually said the words "I'm pro torture, and this country won't be fixed until at least 40.000 people are dead") full on saying "We can't allow the elections to happen, otherwise I'm gonna lose."

The police tried to prevent people in the northeast region of Brazil (where nearly everyone is pro-Lula) from voting, to try and tip the escala in Bolsonaro's favor. They STILL claim Lula's victory was a fraud.

Finally, on January 8, 2023, his supporters tried staging a coup, fully inspired by the shitshow the USA had when Trump lost (and something that Bozo the clown had ALREADY said he wanted his supporters to do were he to ever lose an election) by invading government buildings. They stole and destroyed lots of valluable art-pieces - lots of which were from jewish people that either fled from nazi Germany before they were sent to concentration camps, and some that actually BEEN in said concentration camps.

And this was not a case of "Maybe they just didn't know what it was", not fully at least, because like I said, Bolsonaro's supporters have VERY strong ties to the nazis. They have done the sieg heil in his homage, say Brazil should have a nazi party, and have tried to make schools say the holocaust never happened. Some of Bolsonaro's ministers have also said shit like "Brazil's economy won't get better until we get rid of all the jews" and a fucker actually copied one of Hitler's speeches, on camera, wearing a nazi-inspired uniform, with one of Hitler's favorite classical pieces being played in the background.

As for Bolsonaro, the slogan he chose for himself "God above everything, Brazil above everyone" is clearly inspired by "Deutschland über alles" (Germany over everything). After his victory in 2018, SBT, one of the TV channels that supported him the most, used the slogan "Brazil - love it or leave it" which the dictatorship Brazil was under used for 21 years as a not so subtle threat to exile people who opposed them (and exile was the KIND fate they could be given, considering the people tortured daily in prison, or full on murdered).

So no, I don't see Lula trying to patch things up with Israel to try and win the support of these people, because they don't actually care about Israel. This was an anti-democracy rally, filled with nazis, and if they were to rise to power again, and not destroy themselves from the inside like they did during the pandemic, it would be the worst case scenario as it'd mean one less government calling Israel's genocide against palestinians AND a bunch of antisemites in power trying to make their own reich, putting all the jewish communities of Brazil in danger.

Remember folks: Israel does not represent all the jews in the world, no matter how much it desperately tries to pretend that it does. Calling it out for commiting genocide is not antisemitic, and supporting it does NOT mean making sure jewish communities will be safe - as you could see, in my country's case, it could mean nothing but a stepping-stone in making said communities the targets of actual nazis, pushing them to exile or something way, way, way worse.