#except cdr

[wizardofgaysex]

soundcloud needs to get ahead of the curve on how it classifies breakcore. im looking for post hyperpop breakcore 4 trannies. STOP SHOWING ME APHEX TWINS CLONES

[roxy206]

OMG I just noticed something !!

I’m rewatching All stars 2 and I’m at the episode where all the eliminated queens come back. While Phi Phi and Alyssa are arguing, you can see Katya in the middle of them look up at the ceiling with tears in her eyes. Our girl!!! Omg my heart hurt seeing that, I never noticed before. The rest of that whole argument she’s just staring down silently. ☹️ someone give her a hug

☹️ oh no

I have been dying to rewatch AS2 basically ever since I finished it. It’s such a fabulous season overall & I think it’s such a great showcase of Katya

I don’t recall that so I don’t think I had noticed it either

[sallytwo]

what kind of academy are you going to?

merchant marine. also called a maritime academy. we’re run like the military but arent. it’s great 😐

[chronicallyaunline]

Neurodiversity in Star Trek TNG S3 E20: “Tin Man”

Tam Elbrun: It worries you that I can’t read your mind?

Data: Perhaps there is nothing to read. Nothing more than mechanisms and algorithmic responses.

Tam Elbrun: Perhaps you’re just different. It’s not a sin, you know, though you may have heard otherwise.

Many autistic Star Trek enthusiasts see themselves in Lt Cdr Data, an android who was designed without the ability to experience emotion (though there is plenty of context to suggest that he merely experiences emotion differently from other people). While Data and certain other characters are widely considered to be neurodivergent by fans, the earlier series are rarely so explicit about neurodivergence as in the TNG episode “Tin Man.” This episode introduced Tam Elbrun, a Betazoid who is unusually proficient in negotiation with sentient non-humanoid organisms. It is made abundantly clear that Elbrun is considered neurodivergent among Betazoids, as he possesses a telepathic ability that is so powerful it becomes debilitating.

Counsellor Troi states that Betazoids normally come into their telepathic abilities in adolescence, but a small minority are born with their abilities. Troi also says that those children require early diagnosis and intervention so that they can be taught to manage the overwhelming experience of being aware of the minds of others before their own brains are capable of handling it. At least in the case of Elbrun, that power seems to continue to grow with age. By the time we meet an adult Elbrun, he experiences the emotions and thoughts of others so powerfully that he is disabled by being in the presence of large numbers of sentient minds. The one exception is Data, as Elbrun is unable to read his unique mind.

Data and Elbrun have opposite experiences of emotion. Data cannot feel emotion in a traditional capacity, and Elbrun cannot stop experiencing it. Neither one is capable of experiencing normal social bonds because of the intensity of their differences, yet they find some companionship through their similarities. Ironically their opposite experiences are both representative of autism. Autistic people tend to experience much lower or much higher empathy than the average person, both of which can prevent us from socializing normatively with others. To me, the most important part of this episode is that it is so ahead of its time in how it approaches people with unusual brains. Difference is not wrong, and it does not cancel out your basic humanity. Star Trek TNG aired years before I was born, but there are plenty of modern shows that would do well to treat their characters more like this.

[homemadegirlbossbattle]

ROUND 2 / SIDE B / POLL 7

Poppy (@stobotnik) vs. Bianka Andromeda (@axolotlfied)

Poppy info:

Description: Octoling MILF who traversed the deepsea metro and all she got out of it was this loser robot husband. You can't spell 'unethical cephalopod experimentation' without all the letters of cute!

Crimes: Assisted Cdr. Tartar in omnicide, world domination, brainwashing, and eugenics. Allowed her daughter to destroy a world monument to also take over the world and assists them in their drug ring. Stole a cadaver to revive a rogue AI and allow it to continue living. Scrolls Pinterest on the clock at Grizzco while her co-workers get their shit rocked by flyfish.

Other notes from the submitter: Autism be damned my girl can work industrial machinery

Bianka Andromeda info:

Description: Bianka is a martian girl with a Napoleon complex and an intense hatred for everyone and everything with very few exceptions. She's a hacker for hire turned mercenary living in the slums of an alien planet with nobody to depend on but herself. She cares a lot about her appearance and has a passion for old earth tech (and anime, but she'd never admit it)

Crimes: Cryptocurrency related scamming, hacking related cybercrimes, lots of murders including her ex, a few more attempted murders, being a huge bitch to literally everyone including her non murdered exes and the only dude who actually likes her, various kinds of fraud

Other notes from the submitter: She's from my comic Exofall. Also despite martians in this universe being bug people with no real genders she realized she identified as a woman and considers herself trans

[eyeslikewatercoolers]

Hot Takes/Unpopular Opinions (in no particular order)

To preface this: none of these opinions reflect my thoughts or feelings on the queens mentioned (I felt the need to put this here bc this is still the internet) I was going to put my shipping opinions on here too, but I might save those for another day.

US seasons (mostly s15)

Season 15 was very predictable, and Sasha was a very predictable winner

Irene’s shade and reads to the other queens felt mean-spirited. It came off like she was being rude most of the time.

Aura was the correct winner for the Girl Groups episode. Her and Sasha were about the same level in the challenger, but Aura’s runway was better.

Anetra should have been in the bottom for the Girl Group challenge instead of Jax. Jax (minus the runway) was safe, at least

Luxx should have won the 50/50 challenge.

Marcia was kinda dragged along for most of the season.

The wrong twin was sent home first (if we disregard the lipsync). Sugar could of made it to at least the comedy challenge.

Some (not all) of Sasha’s runways were overhyped. Specifically the Beyoncé and Tye-Dye runways weren’t as on-par with the rest of her looks

The fact that Anetra made almost all of her runways herself isn’t talked about enough

The drama was overhyped. Most of the time it felt like watching people fight for no reason

They should film the finale in Vegas for all seasons like they did for s14

The unpredictability of s14 was a good change. It kept the engagement high and it’s fun to talk about.

Just because s13 had great runways and lip syncs, doesn’t make it a good season

Gigi isn’t really as much of a fashion queen as queens like Violet and Gottmik. She’s more modelesque

S11 is better than fans give it credit for

The ‘what would you say to your younger self’ is a total Emmy grab. It feels forced and doesn’t really add anything to the final judging decision (I skip it every time)

DRUK

UK1 is severely underrated, it gets overshadowed by the other seasons. Whether it be for better or worse

UK2 is better on first viewing than rewatch. The rewatch loses that extra something special

UK3 had a phenomenal cast, but the worst production

Jonbers is definitely a fashion queen. Her looks are more suited for editorials than live runways

DRDU and CDR (there’s not many so I’m combing them)

Kita gets overshadowed as a winner, due to how bad DU1 was

Spankie is the most underrated winner. She has some of the most charisma out of any other RuGirl

DU2 is very slept on

CDR2 drags on a bit since there’s pretty much no drama. The queens seemed like they were avoiding causing any drama (except Eve)

Lady Boom Boom should have stayed over Kimmy

And I don’t really have any for other international seasons, but I’ll give some random non-Drag Race ones!

No matter if you’re living on your own or not, you aren’t an actual adult until at least age 22 (emotionally and socially)

Grown adults that refuse to eat fruits and vegetables are immature (besides special exceptions like autism, afrid, allergies, etc)

Colleges shouldn’t pressure undergrad students to go to grad school

People that refer to their pets as their actual children (like a son or daughter) are weird

English food isn’t bad, it’s just bland most of the time (I’ve go to the UK every few years to see family, for those that didn’t know)

And the last, pineapple is amazing on pizza

I know some of these aren’t that big of hot takes, but I just wanted to share my opinions:)

[fennecthunderfox]

Do you have any details about your Swap and Fell aus? I am curious about it!

Hey, sorry it took so long for me to respond to this. I had meant to answer way sooner and then I got sucked into other projects and meant to work more on this and then just… forgot. But I’m here now and I’m just gonna sum it up as best I can. It may be a bit scatterbrained, so I apologize in advance. 

It's been a while since I’ve worked with them, but I can give a basic rundown on them! They’re part of my “False AU Trio.” In which all the AU names have a prefix that means or implies “fake” so people know upfront they’re different from the typical swaps and fells on purpose. 

QUASISWAP

With QuasiSwap, my personal twist on it is in the environment. In QS, it’s not just the characters that swap, the area aesthetics swap too. 

-The Ruins become monochrome like New Home and are now called “Old Home.” 

-Snowdin Forest/Snowdin became cybernetic like The CORE and is now called “Loggedin.” 

-Waterfall is still dark, but instead of pretty cyan waters it’s now crimson red magma making this location “Magmafalls.” 

-Hot Land is now “Hot Springs” due to its proximity to Magmafalls heating up the water. 

-The CORE is now called “The Nexus” which is not a name that means much of anything, but it is VERY cold here. CDResort (MTT Resort) is actually built somewhat inside The Nexus because CDR likes the cold better than the hot. 

-And finally New Home- which I can’t remember the fun name for- is purple and plant covered like the Ruins. It might just be called "The Capital" sorta like how "The Ruins" is very self-explanatory as a name.

Character swaps are about what you’d expect. And while they all have codenames, they call each other by their real names with a few exceptions. Those exceptions are the skelebros and the ghosts, but I will list all swaps and codenames below.

-Chara with Frisk. Code named Chipper and Fable. Chipper because they’re generally a happy kid- usually smiling and Fable because you hear stories about them. 

-Asgore with Toriel. Code named Usher and Arch. Usher because he’s the one guiding Chipper through the Ruins and Arch is short for monarch.

-Papyrus with Sans. Their code names are P and CSG, and while it’s rare for anyone to actually call Sans CSG, it’s a lot more common for people to call Papyrus P. This is because my take on Swap Sans is basically just Brian David Gilbert- BDG for short. For an example of the energy this swap sans has, watch this compilation I found on YouTube.

-Alphys with Undyne. Codenamed Alpha and Psi-- after Greek letters. Alpha cause she’s a leader and Psi cause it looks like a trident and also is used as a symbol for “Water potential in movement of water between plant cells,” says wikipedia. 

-The Ghost Cousin Trio does a Rotation Swap. Napstablook takes Mettaton’s role, their name becomes CD Rob and Cyber Duke [REMIX] depending on their form. (While “duke” is typically a masculine word, CDR is still a nonbinary character. Duke is just a title I chose.) Mettaton takes Mad Dummy’s/Mad Mew Mew’s Role and is called Shining Dummy and Shining Wan Wan after possessing a life-sized vocaloid-style statue. (He becomes a dog boy instead of a cat girl.) And Maddy takes Napstablook’s Role, known to her friends as Rabbit, but her full name is Rabenant (A port-man-teau of Rabid Revenant.) These three go by these names in the story.

-Flowey/Asriel is too important to swap roles with anyone. He still changes, however. Instead of saying “Howdy” like Asgore he says “Greetings” like Toriel. And instead of a golden flower, he’s a crimson flower to match up to the red leaf aesthetic the Ruins have in the actual game. Flowey’s codename is “Leaf” and apparently I never gave Asriel a proper codename in this AU. I’ll give him one later.

-Temmie gets swapped with the Annoying Dog because both of these characters represent an actual person and it’s good to remember that Temmie- while not the creator of Undertale- made a lot for the game. 

PSEUDOFELL

PseudoFell is interesting, because instead of the codenames being an out of universe thing for me to differentiate who I’m talking about, the pseudonyms are actually a feature of the AU. Every pseudonym (should) start with the same letter as the character’s real name. 

Fray (Frisk)*, Facet (Flowey), Treason (Toriel)**, Sin (Sans), Punishment (Papyrus)***, Uproar (Undyne), Naething (Napstablook), Mauled Doll (Maddy), Macabre (MTT), Apathy (Alphys), Agony (Asgore), Axiom (Asriel), and Cairn (Chara). 

*Used to be spelled Frey, but I have since changed to the correct spelling.

**Considering changing her name.

***Sin will absolutely shorten Punishment’s name to “Pun” and he HATES it. 

As a bonus, Annoying Dog and the Tems are Toil and Trouble. AD used to be Toil, but I think AD being Trouble while all the Tems are Toils would be better. They can say “TOi!” and I have no doubt that Pun would consider AD to be nothing but Trouble. 

The reason the pseudonyms happen is because of trust issues and an old belief that giving someone your real name gives them some sort of power over you. Therefore, if someone actually trusts you enough to tell you their full name, it’s a real big deal. 

The main difference, however, is that I’ve introduced a special 2nd form monsters can take called a “Phobos Form.” The Phobos Form is typically a sharper, scarier version of the monster. Final Froggit would be the Phobos form of Froggit in this universe rather than a stronger, separate monster. 

The more powerful a monster is, the bigger, scarier, and stronger their Phobos Form is. The bosses in the game basically become Kaijus. I used to have concept art of these Phobos forms-- and you can still find them if you look hard enough-- but I find them to be… not great designs these days and would rather not present them as if they’re definitely canon to my AUs still. 

FAUXSWAPFELL 

You didn’t ask about this one, but of the trio I have talked about this one the least so you may not have known it existed. 

FauxSwapFell takes the location swaps of QuasiSwap and the pseudonyms and phobos forms of PseudoFell and combines them into one AU. 

The character swaps are mostly the same, however the Ghost Cousin rotation swap rotates counter to the QuasiSwap rotation. So Mad Mew Mew becomes the idol, Mettaton becomes the ghost snail farmer, and Napstablook becomes the dummy/doll. 

The other thing is that rather than becoming big scary kaijus, the Phobos Forms in FauxSwapFell are more like cryptids or scary on an unsettling level. Some forms may not have one distinct shape and shift between two forms. 

As for the pseudonyms in this AU, there is no theme for the characters’ names. Sans and Papyrus are named Neon and Argon in this universe and are color coded orange and purple respectively to match the colors of those two noble gases. (Gaster is Krypton and Corsiva- if you know who that OC is- is Xenon.) 

All this being said, most characters in this AU don’t have a codename yet. This is the least developed of the 3 AUs and the only reason it’s developed at all is because of being a combo of the other two. 

On the subject of color schemes, in my head the whole world is really desaturated except for the bright pops of color the characters have like Neon’s orange or Argon’s purple. Because of this I sometimes refer to FauxSwapFell as "Swapfell NEON" because they only standout colors on the characters are the bright highlight color.

Aaaaaand that's about it for now. I'd love to do more someday, but at the moment I sadly don't have time to really do much of anything with these AUs. There is a glimmer of hope that the overtime at work will end soon, so maybe I'll be able to get back into fun fanworks next year. Until then, thank you for listening~

[littleladykae]

WELCOME TO:

20 years of Build a bear's golden retrievers!

Let's begin with introductions! From left to right we have:

Ballyhoo

Fava

Toffee

Brownie

Red

Each of these pups holds a special place in my heart and now serve as a handy timeline of build a bear's history!

What a difference a few years makes! They were pretty common when first released and even reasonably obtainably second hand. All except for one, my newest addition, Red!

He was a custom edition build a bear for promotion of the contracting company CDR (hence why the personalized vest).

The closest comparison in design I could find is Brownie, the most recent of the dogs. Red is unique in color, fur, and design meaning most likely he was designed specifically for company promotions (much like company shirts/merch).

His vest bears a striking resemblance to build a bear's official "service dog" vest, only darker in color. Red was purchased secondhand through ebay where I saw other promotional build a bears with CDW themed clothing.

Now there is just one pup missing in my collection, but for good reason!

It's @0x0kyuubi0x0's 2013 golden retriever, Copi! She is a remake of the original kennel pal golden retriever (that's ballyhoo!). Between us, we have a whole history of a dog thats so special to me.

[recordofabrokenrobot]

THE BUREAUCRATIC HIT JOB

or

WHAT BROKE ME THIS YEAR

This post is publicly shareable and contains discussion of suicide.

The defining legacy of my year is the five months I spent appealing a discontinuation of my disability benefits. It was a life and death paperwork battle I just barely survived. It has been over since June and I am still debilitated.

I had very few words while it was happening. I have these, now.

I have received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) since 2018. SSI is a last-resort benefits program operated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for disabled people who do not have sufficient work history to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

SSA conducts Continuing Disability Reviews (CDR) every three to five years to determine if beneficiaries still meet the impairment eligibility requirements.

All SSI eligibility processes involve mailed questionnaire packets. They arrive with no warning, are often more than ten pages, require handwritten responses to complicated and irrelevant questions, provide insufficient response space, and have very short deadlines for return.

They demand to know how each diagnosis listed specifically limits one’s ability to lift, squat, bend, stand, reach, walk, sit, kneel, climb stairs, concentrate, and use their hands. This question provides four lines for response.

My conditions fatigue the muscles in my hands and arms quickly. Any writing longer than my signature causes my hands to cramp and tremor. The section on medical providers and appointments only provides space for six entries. I see a dozen doctors in a good year. The additional response page at the back of the packet is unlined and supplemental pages are not accepted.

By the time I won my first SSI award I had completed over a dozen of these packets. They haunt me.

For people ensnared by bureaucratic agencies with this much control over their basic survival (such as in immigration, disability, and court systems) the arrival of agency mail can itself be a panic trigger. Disabled people in the United Kingdom created the term Brown Envelope Syndrome in reference to the characteristic brown envelopes used by the Department for Work and Pensions.

SSA uses white envelopes but the concept applies. Every sight of the SSA eagle logo in my mailbox raises my heart rate. Often it’s just general program information or notice of the calendar year rate changes. Sometimes it’s death threats. This is the death threat kind of story.

I received my first twenty page CDR packet in April 2021. The response took all of my strength and all of my time for three weeks. I did this instead of eating.

The CDR packet includes a waiver to allow providers to release medical records to SSA. Due to the limiting structure of how CDRs collect provider information, SSA only requested records from a few of my providers. Not all of those contacted released records.

In December 2021 I received a duplicate packet from the New York Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). While SSI is a federal program, SSA can delegate information gathering and disability determination tasks to state offices.

I now know that this packet came because of the lack of response from my providers to the initial CDR request, but there is no way to get that information out of SSA except in retrospect. The state packet asked similar but not identical questions, meaning I had to go back to my notes from the federal version but couldn’t simply copy answers over. This packet took a week and wrecked my hands for the month.

Under the authority of SSA, ODTA made the determination sometime in early 2022 that I no longer met the impairment criteria for SSI.

I found out late on the night of February 16th when I went for the mail and found a notice of benefit discontinuation.

“Your claim is being reviewed because we expected your health might improve. You said you have not returned to work. Your health has improved and you are able to work starting February 11, 2022.”

As if it were that easy.

I have survived the explosive impact this letter had on my life. I am surviving. And still, reading those words drags me to the edge of doom.

In addition to comprising my whole income, the SSI disability determination is the basis upon which I receive federally subsidized housing and internet, subsidized utilities, Medicaid, food assistance, and student loan dismissal. I have no other source for any of these resources. I am estranged from my family and have no local support.

With this letter I was forced into a fight for my life that depended on my ability to quickly and correctly parse a very strict and illegible system.

SSA timelines are a paradoxical cruelty. They move extremely slowly but we must move extremely quickly. The system has been so deeply neglected that basic administrative tasks take many follow up calls from beneficiaries across several months and even that is not a guarantee.

I have spent enough of my life listening to SSA hold music to know these failings well.

My eligibility for Medicaid is based on my status as an SSI beneficiary. As such I am not allowed to contact the Medicaid office directly. I have to wait for SSA to log account changes in their system and communicate them to Medicaid.

In 2018 my mailing address changed in May and again in September. I called SSA with both changes as soon as I had them. I made follow up calls at minimum weekly from May until the problem was resolved in January.

It took them three months to process the first address change and longer for the second. Because New York forces Medicaid patients into privatized managed care plans and each insurer only covers select counties, I lived in Orange County for four months with insurance that only covered providers in NYC. I had to drive two hours into the city to fill prescriptions.

This is the system that decides matters of life and death for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

SSA frequently backdates communication. A document may be dated a full week before its postmark and two weeks before it reaches the recipient. An unexpected arrival with a return deadline of ten days, including postal delays, is a full sprint to answer.

My denial letter was dated February 11th. It contained incomplete, inaccurate information about appealing the decision including that I could request to receive conditional payments through the appeal process if I communicated my request within ten days.

I received the letter in the final hours of the 16th, halfway through that interval. The deadline was February 21st, on which the SSA office would be closed for Presidents’ Day. They would also be closing halfway through the workday on Friday the 18th and closed the 19th and 20th for the weekend.

I had one day from receiving the initial denial to have a formal payment request typed, printed, received by SSA, and processed into my file or I would lose my income entirely.

SSA uses incorrect, incomplete, and conflicting information to confuse vulnerable people into failing their traps. The appeal information attached to my denial letter listed a form I would need to submit and stated that I had sixty days from the denial date to submit that form.

The deadline is actually halved to thirty days if the individual is requesting continuing payments. I only learned this incidentally. After hours on the phone I was told by a different worker that the request for continuing payments can’t be processed unless the appeal form is attached or already on file, meaning the ten day deadline applies to both.

If they were any more competent, I’d think SSA is staging an elaborate scheme to evaluate whether it’s more difficult to get information into or out of the administration.

SSA field offices sometimes just trash documents sent to them via USPS unless they are sent in SSA-provided envelopes or by certified mail and with every page listing the individual’s social security number. I have had multiple hundred page packets of medical records fail to make it into my file via this method.

Faxes can’t totally be trusted, but if they are received during office hours and at least half an hour prior to closing, and you call the office directly after sending the fax and make a worker physically retrieve the document from the tray, they usually get filed.

The most reliable method is to bring documents in person because they get scanned while you are at the desk, but offices were closed at this time. Before the pandemic it regularly took six hours of sitting in a packed, loud waiting room to have one page scanned into my file.

An hour before close on the 17th I typed a letter including every identifying detail I could think of, filled in a notice of intent to appeal, and drove halfway to the Pennsylvania state line before I found a working fax machine. I sat in the parking lot on the phone with the field office until they clocked out. My letter hadn’t been scanned in yet but I was assured it had been logged as received and would count as under the ten day deadline.

I called back when they opened on the 22nd and kept calling for weeks.

Repeat calls are essential because the only way to get close to accurate information is in aggregate; case workers regularly give out information which contradicts other case workers in the same office and often make assurances that turn out to be false. I do not trust anything a single worker tells me and I trust information repeated by multiple workers only tentatively.

The SSA phone systems were significantly malfunctioning throughout spring 2022. Both the national call center and field office lines were commonly either not picking up, distorting so much that workers hung up, or dropping calls. Sometimes the field office never turns the phones on for the day.

When I was able to get through I was told by many workers in daily calls through the rest of February and March that my request for continuing payments was received and that I would be paid. It was received. I would not be paid, as it turns out.

There is literally nothing more I could have done in February or March to ensure I would be paid as requested. The paradoxical timelines are integral to the stress - I had a single day to complete my work but it took over a month of calls in order to confirm that they’d scanned in a single piece of paper.

Along with my appeal I submitted a request for a copy of my medical file - an opportunity to see what medical information SSA had received from my providers prior to finding me not disabled. This file is a crucial step to any appeal and yet only one of dozens of workers informed me the ability existed, and only after I’d explicitly asked.

Also, this request takes months to process and people are allowed to make this request only once ever.

In February one worker told me I just needed to write down my request for this file and fax it. In March another told me it would be denied unless I submitted a specific SSA form. I submitted that too, and in April got yelled at by a different worker for wasting resources with a duplicate request.

But I got the file, which looks like a cross between a terror threat level chart and the world’s worst pride flag. I was able to see which providers had been contacted for records, who had submitted them, and what had been decided by the worker’s comp doctor I had to see for SSA’s in-person medical evaluation. That doctor called me “a well-developed, obese female, who was unaccompanied” but on the whole did agree I am significantly impaired.

Once I received my file and learned which medical records they had considered in the initial decision, I had a very short and indefinite window to acquire, process, and submit all the records they had not received. In one week in April I completed and submitted nine release of records requests to seven hospital systems covering care by thirty-two providers at twenty-seven office locations.

The work was with dual purpose. First: collate the specific records I thought would be most effective evidence if my case progressed to the hearing and court stages. Second: bury SSA in as much paper as possible to increase the likelihood they would reverse the fit to work assessment based on totality of evidence. I processed, read, and sorted thousands of pages of records to build my hearing argument.

Both the time pressure and the ill-defined deadline are classic SSA tactics. Because it was OTDA who made the initial fit to work assessment on behalf of SSA, the reconsideration stage of appeal involves the case being handed back to OTDA for review. The accompanying documents I needed had to be sent to SSA who would, at some future date they couldn’t specify, send on whatever they had received. I was not allowed to contact OTDA directly about my case.

Medical records departments work slowly. SSA works slowly. Rural internet works slowly. USPS works slowly. My brain and body work slowly. I had to drop everything and devote every waking second so that as much of my medical record as possible would get to the SSA field office and be processed into my file before the deadline which could have been literally any day in a months-long timeframe.

The discontinuation of my SSI benefits took effect in May. Although the denial letter incorrectly stated which payment would be my last. May was my first month as a conditional payee rather than a full beneficiary.

May 2022 payments disbursed on Friday, April 29th. I received no payment that day. I had no recourse until offices opened on Monday May 2nd, at which point the payment would be three days late and I would be behind on rent.

I spent that weekend refreshing my bank app and thinking of nothing but death.

My stress levels had been toxic and rising for three months. I wondered daily whether the process would end with my victory or my suicide. But once I had been repeatedly told my request for continuing payment was received, I did not think the end was so imminently near. I had just been through my file which clearly included the continuing payment request with processing stamps from the field office showing it was received before the deadline.

I called the national number when they opened at 8:00. They hadn’t turned the phones on for the week. I called the field office when they opened at 9:00. Somehow they received and processed the request but never added me to a payment list. The worker told me to type and fax the letter again, give them one to three weeks to receive it, and then call about getting paid.

When I brought up the very relevant facts of a) it was their own fault and b) rent was due yesterday, he called me too emotional and hung up. I called back and got a worker who repeated the same thing and told me I could only get a stat payment or speak to a manager if I could bring proof of eviction proceedings to the office.

My housing situation is not stable. When I was homeless in 2018 and applied to every subsidized housing program I could find (including programs in every single county of New York) this was the single unit I was offered. And even then I only got it because I was allowed to jump a years-long waitlist by being a wheelchair user.

I work so hard at staying in the good graces of my housing provider because this is literally all I have. I will not be homeless for a third time. There is no life if I lose this place. Things would not need to progress to formal eviction proceedings before they killed me.

The worker kept saying it was my choice to be polite and fax the letter again or to get emotional and call it an emergency unnecessarily.

I only survived this day because SSA field offices had recently reopened for in person business. I printed the page out of my copy of the file showing they had received the letter in February, grabbed my fifty page federal lease, and drove an hour there. It’s harder to physically ignore a person in front of you than it is to hang up on someone for crying.

I was able to successfully prove the mistake was their fault and get onto the payment list but they still couldn’t hand me a check without eviction papers. I had to wait on direct deposit and hope that it would come through before I was charged a late fee on rent.

It did, but that week was the tipping point into burnout I still haven’t recovered from. That level of existential stress fundamentally changes a person, and I will never not remember the way my brain marinated in the fear of that moment.

Those five months were the most I have thought about dying since the last time I tried to.

There are four possible stages at which to appeal a disability determination. The first is to request a reconsideration from the office which issued the initial decision. The fourth and final appeal stage involves suing SSA.

Bluntly, I knew immediately upon opening my denial letter in February that if I fought all the way to court and still lost, I would make no attempt to live through it.

This was the first time I considered lethal means in over a decade. Every day for five months I thought about the fact that I had a plan. I didn’t want to act on it. It was only ever a plan of last resort. But once I’d made it, I couldn’t ignore it.

It is difficult even now to say publicly, and to so many people who have directly kept me alive through past struggles, how prepared I was to end my life if I exhausted my ability to appeal.

The five months my appeal was in process were the most acutely stressful of my life. The memories are an emotional blur. In equal parts: the depressive urge to give up, the anxious urge to run, the terrified urge to avoid sleep and ignore the finite limits of my body. The phrase ‘you are able to work’ haunted me. I had panic attacks nearly every night. I cried so much my eyelids chapped from the salt. My heart rate was dangerously high all the time.

The stress exacerbated all of my symptoms and the time I spent working on my appeal was time I wasn’t working on keeping myself alive. My hands cramped and shook from the paperwork. My arms suffered so much from the writing and typing stress that it was difficult to transfer in and out of my wheelchair. I developed a new musculoskeletal problem that made sitting in my wheelchair, and eventually sitting at all, extremely painful.

I set myself a rule in February that I would take on no other projects - medical, administrative, or hobby - until the appeal was done. By March I was in such excruciating pain for so much of the day that I broke that rule and started the process to be fitted for a new wheelchair cushion. The bulk of my appeal paperwork, calls, and medical record processing was done from bed, in intense pain, or while sitting on ice to fully numb my legs.

The notice in June that my appeal had been successful was an immense relief. I would not need to spend my summer suing the federal government. I was so broken by then that I could not engage emotionally with what I had survived.

For the entirety of the appeal I knew I was on the cliff edge. I knew this fight was life-or-death and that every tiny detail could be lethal. I knew the strength behind the process the government was using to save money by killing me.

I am recognizing now as I begin to process the experience that while I survived, the wounds I escaped with are extensive and they are deep. Some of this is damage I can work through. But I know some of it is permanent. I have been fundamentally changed by this.

In the weeks that I have been thinking about how to describe this experience I have been thrown back into the emotions of the spring so completely that I have to remind myself daily it is actually over. I dug up the victory letter to prove I hadn’t imagined it.

My heart rate has been elevated since the moment I first began to organize my thoughts and keeps spiking dangerously high while I sit still and write. The panic attacks in my sleep are back. I am shaky, distracted, and on edge constantly. I needed to write these words, if only to get them out of my head.

I had to work harder in order to prove I’m too sick to work than I ever have as an employee. If I were capable of supporting myself via employment I would be doing so. No one enters, endures, or survives the hell of fit to work assessments because it’s the easier way to get paid.

The misconception of chronically ill people as lazy and entitled is completely at odds with the reality of our lives. Forced poverty is not luxurious. I live alone in the woods on $800 per month. My social life at this stage of the pandemic consists of a library card and a dying laptop.

The entwined tropes of disabled people as societal burdens and fear-mongering about fraudulent benefits-seekers are timeless and kept alive by capitalist systems.

Hatred of and discrimination against disabled people are everywhere. It is particularly disappointing to see ableist perspectives about non-working people perpetuated by those who are otherwise progressive and anti-capitalist. When occupational history is used to communicate someone is more deserving of basic rights or when non-working people are called grifters for survival crowd-funding, the capitalist metric behind fit to work assessments grows stronger.

Capitalism does not endow worthiness. There are no undeserving poor. My life is worthy because I am living it. I am no more worthy for having a work history or less worthy for being unable to work now. It does not benefit society to have subjected me to all this scrutiny to prove I’m really sick. It does not benefit me that others will be excluded from benefits programs in which I have been included.

I have previously ascribed my bureaucratic survival to luck, as forms of privilege do factor in all points of these decision trees. Here it feels insufficient relative to the number of times I would have failed if not for my own precise and unrelenting work. I survived because I knew from the first minute it would take a mountain of intricate effort. I survived because I knew not to trust SSA communication.

Because I knew each of their many potential points of administrative failure. Because I knew I had no chance unless I prioritized this fight over my short and long term health. Because I was willing to destroy my body in the process. I succeeded this time because I have failed before.

The biggest threat to my life in 2022 was not the third year of plague, the medical equipment safety recalls, the violence of poverty, or the genetic mutation disintegrating my body. It was the governmental assertion that I am healthy enough to maintain a career. Or die trying.

I have these words. And none more.

[knowone08b]

DREAM SMP OVER. Chommy cubbo cranboo and everyone else that i like (EXCEPT CDR**M) lives on the moon now happily. Karlnapity is happily married and have a space themed casino. Wilbur relocated to a gas station on the moon and Benchtrio visit him often. Niki owns a successful bakery. Egg is dead everyone is freed. Chommy murders cdr**m and never forgives him. Life is good.

TLDR: Dsmp ended vol 2 isnt real Lame smp wins at lore

[xxdeadjhonnyxx]

do you have a hq upload of mindless self indulgence's sex for homework? (I mighta missed it on yt)

Any other obscure msi media?

Thanks!!! I love all your archived content on youtube, I bet you have a lot more saved than posted.

Thanks!

Wait, Is there really not a hq version of that track? I checked and it seems not, lmaooo. maybe I'll upload it or idk lol O__o

Some obscure media from MSI, I guess it would be: Alternative Press mystery CD, Fuck Dyin' (unreleased FGWSSS? track), Pink's original demos, Several On It remixes (There was a contest where your remix could appear on the single CD, I only have the original document about the contest), F*ggot's Lost remixes, Secret Songs (A very limited edition CDr created by Jimmy and Chantal Claret) and anything about MSI's first official concert (07/09/1995)

::Note: unfortunately I don't have all this, except for the On It remixes contest document::

and Thanks, I have some other rarities without uploading, I will upload it soon, xoxo ;D!!

[resowrites]

Top Gun: Maverick - Bravo Zulu (oneshot).

Summary: Lt. Casey Lambe, callsign ‘Dash,’ has been accepted to the SFTI programme, or Top Gun, when another Lieutenant crashes out. Although her skills are somewhat lacking as an officer, Casey hopes to make up for it with her exceptional piloting skills. But as there’s more than one officer vying for the top spot in class, will she manage to come out on top, and without stepping on the toes of her class mates?

Characters: Most of the Top Gun: Maverick cast and OC!Lt. Casey ‘Dash’ Lambe.

Warnings: Occasional threats of danger, misogyny, Fanboy being a creep, the beginnings of a scuffle, language.

WC: 3754

My work must not be copied, reposted, or translated elsewhere. Likes, follows, reblogs and comments are thoroughly welcome and appreciated! No copyright infringement intended, gifs/pics not my own. I hope you all enjoy and thanks for visiting!

Bravo Zulu - a Top Gun: Maverick oneshot.

The alarm rang out loudly for what was the second time in the last forty minutes. Shit. In another twenty minutes, Casey was going to be late. She shot out of bed and almost slammed into the bathroom door. She probably wasn’t going to be on time but she was damned if she wasn’t going to try. She brushed her teeth at the same time as combing through her hair and within the next five minutes, she was already halfway dressed. By the time she made it out the door, she had only eight minutes to get to the hangar. As expected, most of her fellow aviators were already seated and had gotten out their books and pens. Cdr. Marcus eyed her with a sigh and crossed his arms.

“Nice of you to join us, Lt. Lambe, would you mind taking a seat so we can begin?” Most of the rest of the class turned to look at her, many of whom were smirking, though a few of the more serious officers glared at her with disdain. Unfortunately, there was only one seat left, right at the front towards the left. She quickly slunk to her chair and busied herself in her manual. It was the first class in the programme and she’d already got off to a bad start. To her right was Lt. Jake Seresin, callsign ‘Hangman.’ 

“Well I guess now we know why you were given the name Dash, are you gunna continue being late to the rest of your classes Lieutenant?” A couple of the other officers snickered in response. Casey ignored him, she found out as early as basic training that the best way to deal with loud mouths like him was to ignore him completely.

“Leave her alone Hangman, so she overslept… no biggie.” Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, or ‘Rooster’ as he was otherwise known, shot her a mischievous grin. She ignored him as well. When she didn’t reply, Hangman scoffed in disdain. Never unprepared, he'd boned up on all his fellow crew members. He mostly wanted to find out who was the competition so he could unnerve them any way he could. He figured Casey would definitely rival his own abilities. Not that he put a lot of stock in female pilots. However, her record was exemplary, even if she wasn’t exactly a model officer. Something he had little respect for. He took all areas of naval life seriously and had no time for anyone who acted otherwise. 

Casey meanwhile couldn’t believe that not a minute into her first class, she was already drawing ire from one of the best pilots around. Hangman’s reputation preceded him and it seemed, unfortunately, so did hers. She was an excellent pilot, one of the top of her class. It was everything else that was a problem. Bar her exemplary flying skills, she simply wasn’t suited to military life. Her time management skills being the worst of all. But she was trying to be better. Had Lt. Stiles aka ‘Boomerang,’ not flunked out of the programme, she wouldn’t have been offered a place. She had to prove that she deserved to be here and if all she had to improve was her conduct as an officer, surely that was easy enough?

“Now class… you all know why you’re here. You have been picked as the best pilots from your respective squadrons and are here to learn the art of combat in a manner you won’t have otherwise experienced. The key to exceeding at-" Cdr. Dempsey, or ‘Key,’ as he was known for starting almost every sentence by saying ‘the key to’ or ‘the key is,’ droned on and on. Casey quickly snuck a look back at her fellow officers. Every one of them was hanging onto the Commander’s words as though they were spoken from scripture. “Your performance will be evaluated between your combat missions and classes. You’ll experience different and subsequently harder sessions each time-“ she gazed back down at her manual. She’d read it over and over again during the summer. But however good she and the rest of them were in theory, it would be nothing compared to actually getting out there and putting theory into practice.  

Later that night.

Casey could hear the shouting and laughter echoing out from The Hard Deck, the bar frequented by everyone at the base. She knew it was better to try and ingratiate herself with her fellow officers. Although the Top Gun course was only thirteen weeks long, often the bonds forged on the programme lasted a lifetime. Of course, she didn’t expect to return as an instructor. She felt she just didn’t have it in her. To be honest she was ambivalent about advancing her career. She did what she did for the love of it. She’d wanted to be a pilot since she was eight years old and although her family was endlessly supportive, her scatterbrained nature and at times, clumsy mannerisms, meant few had any real faith in her. But that was fine, she wasn’t one to seek the approval of others. 

Apart from a handful of friends she knew from grade school, she was a bit of a loner. This worried her superiors given that successful squadrons, not to mention squadron leaders as they hoped she’d become, relied on interpersonal effectiveness and teamwork. Casey wondered if she should wander in for the final round. Instead, she started making her way back to her dorm. Just as the bar was out of sight, she heard someone call after her. “Hey... Lieutenant... Casey!" She recognised the voice and quickened her pace, in no mood to talk to him or anyone else at that moment. But Lt. Bradshaw, or Bradley, came running after her. He grabbed her by the arm and swung around in front of her. "Hey... where are you off to in such a hurry?" She smiled briefly at him but shrugged off his hand and carried on walking. 

He quickly ran up to her side and slowed his pace, shoving both hands in his pockets. "Are you ok? Don't let that asshole get to you... Jake gets on everyone's nerves, just ignore him." He smiled helpfully but Casey was looking toward the ocean. Bradley tried another tactic. "Hey... why don't you come back to the bar, I'm about to beat Jake at pool and I sure love a big audience." She didn't turn to look at him. Instead, she stopped and sighed. 

"That's nice of you to offer Bradley but I think I'm just gunna hit the sack... we've got a long day of training tomorrow." But he wasn't about to give up so easily, not when he could also see the warm golden light of the setting sun reflected in the pale blue of her eyes. 

"Aw come on... Cdr. Dempsey's as drunk as a skunk and already singing songs at the piano, you wouldn't want to miss that." But again Casey smiled and turned to keep walking. "Hey... we're supposed to be a team you know. I know you don't feel like you fit in but you do... just give us all a chance. Jake aside, we're a solid group of guys." She stopped and felt the sand heap over her feet. 

"You're not going to let this go are you?" She shielded her face as she looked back at him. Bradley just grinned in reply. "Alright... but fifteen minutes, no more..." he offered his arm for her to hold onto but she shook her head and walked with her arms folded instead. 

"Ha... you're a tough nut to crack Casey, but I will trust me..." she didn't need to look at him to know he was winking at her. The crowd in the bar was dense and the din very loud indeed. Luckily no one turned to look at them both enter, which made Casey very grateful indeed. It's not that she was shy, she just knew that women were still often treated like spectacles in the military and she wanted no part of it. The pair made their way to the pool table, passing Cdr. Dempsey as he was hunched over the keys of the piano. Either he was singing very softly or the accompanying voices were drowning him out. She turned to see Vice Admiral Simpson drink quietly from a glass at the bar. He didn't turn to look at her but she swallowed nervously as his steely eyes were focused on the view ahead. She hoped her continued struggles to adjust to military life wouldn't come to his attention anytime soon.

They came to a pool table which seemed to draw most of the attention in the room. Jake looked up from his conversation with Reuben aka 'Payback,' and smirked. "Wow... so you're even late to a bar Lieutenant, is there anything you're on time for?" Bradley quickly stepped in front of her to pick up the cue he'd left resting on the edge of the pool table. "Oh give it a rest Jake, Casey's done nothing to you, just let it go..." Jake shrugged though he kept his eyes firmly on Casey. She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. Bradley had only two balls left to sink, and he managed to do so in one fell swoop. He let out a whoop as the rest of the men gathered around him and cheered. Jake put his head in his hands, not quite believing he'd been beaten. He had only three balls left to sink himself. They were near enough equal in ability and had Bradley not gone first, he was pretty sure he could have won just as easily.

"You got lucky Bradshaw, that's all. Alright... who's going to play winner?" It was no coincidence that his gaze once again fell to Casey. Bradley followed his eye line and quickly waved his hands in protest.

"Hey come on Jake, I said leave her alone, she doesn't have to play if she doesn't want to." But he felt her move past him and towards Jake. She smiled sweetly as he struggled to let go of his cue.

"I don't mind playing Bradley..." he looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to join in given her reluctance to come to the bar at all. She broke quickly and took up position at the bottom of the table. The men had moved in closer, one, to get a look at her ass as she bent over the table, and two, to take bets on who would win. The match took barely any time at all, Casey sunk at least two balls at a time with every turn. Even Bradley, the best pool player in the room, had to admit he was impressed.

"Man, no wonder you were so quick to take me on... where'd you pick up such tricks?" But she ignored him as she leaned over low for a particularly tricky shot, it was at that moment that Casey felt a pool cue sliding up the underside of her ass. She quickly snapped back up and walloped Mickey, aka 'Fanboy,' on the arm. He stared at her open mouthed as the rest of the crowd fell silent.

"You try that again Fanboy and I'll stick this cue right up your ass..." he raised his hands in submission and jokingly apologised, clearly half drunk. The rest of the crowd started laughing and jeering so loud it drew the attention of VADM Simpson, who craned his neck to see what was going on. He quickly looked back at Penny, who was rushed off her feet trying to pour drinks and whispered a couple of things in her ear. Casey swallowed and tried to return her attention to the match. She was in the lead by some way but as her Father was often quick to remind her, things aren't over until they're over. In less than another ten minutes, it really was all over and the men tried to haul Casey onto their shoulders for the purposes of a victory march. She quickly fended them off with her cue once again and instead they offered to get her drinks. When she was followed by an elated Bradley to the bar, VADM Simpson was gone and the rest of the crowd had also thinned out.

It was near closing time and Casey had stayed well over her allotted fifteen minutes, much to the delight of Bradley. "So... aren't you glad you took me up on my offer?" She smiled slightly as she chugged back a beer. The atmosphere had grown stiflingly hot and she would have much preferred a glass of cold water. "You don't talk very much do you?" He spoke more quietly now, trying to unpick the puzzle that was Lt. Casey Lambe. She raised her eyes and smiled at him, the closest he was gunna get to a reply. "What's your deal, intimidated by us studs?" She nearly choked out her drink. 

"What exactly is there to be intimidated by?" Bradley scoffed at her response, though he had to admit she'd handled herself pretty well against Mickey. He considered her seriously for a moment.

"You nervous about tomorrow? I hear you're a pretty exceptional pilot..." she pursed her lips and said nothing. But Bradley was undeterred. "All I hope is that bastard Jake doesn't win, he's insufferable at the best of times..." and is if by magic, the man himself walked by, bringing Reuben in tow. 

"You better rest up for tomorrow Dash... piloting's no game of pool..." he sneered as he conferred with Payback. 

"For you perhaps..." that drew his attention as well as Payback's, who at that moment tried to hide his laughter. But Casey didn't stick around to chat further. She downed the rest of her beer, got up from the bar, shot Bradley a wink, and slapped him on the back. In a blink of an eye, she was gone. 

"Well... guess that told you, Jake." Bradley tried not to look at Payback for laughing. Jake just gritted his teeth.

The following morning. 

The Pacific shone against the two bogeys that had levelled out at five thousand feet. They each split off, with Hangman sweeping to the left to pursue the first bogey. Dash hung back to provide him with cover and at first Hangman managed to stay on bogey one but when it looped down, he struggled to regain his angle.

"Keep those turns tight Hangman or you're gunna lose him..." Dash tried to keep her voice calm, not wishing to piss Hangman off this early into the flight. 

"Bogey at three o'clock Dash!" Lt. Brigham Lennox, or "Harvard," as he was known, yelled out from behind Dash. She quickly jerked left and up into a high vertical. "What are you doing dash?" It then clicked for her Rio that as Bogey Two hadn't flown past, she was forced to engage.

"Engaging bogey two Hangman, good luck." Dash then looped the F-18 down onto Bogey Two, quickening her angle though it quickly managed to take off. She veered into a hard right.

"Hangman's got a good position, he'll have him in the diamond soon..." but Dash was barely listening, she was quickly closing the gap between her and Bogey Two, but it still had a fair few tricks up its sleeve. They were now pushing towards zone five, using full afterburners. But she kept on its tail through every hard turn, roll, and flip. 

"Range Harvard?" She was close to getting Bogey Two in the diamond. It jinked one last time before Dash's tone finally went wild. "Atoll on Bogey Two, they're outta the game!" Dash let out a whoop before being cut off by Harvard.

"Bogey One at nine o'clock! Break!" Dash cut back and forth, trying to avoid Bogey One from getting a lock on, but it managed to stay on her tail. "Try a high g roll, break out the bottom!" Dash strained her head to track the other jet as it streaked passed at mach one. Bogey one was now in direct line with the sun, their canopy blinded by the glare. "They're blind! You got 'em, unload, unload!" A few moments later, Dash lined up the gunsight. 

"In the envelope... we did it!" Both pilots cheered in victory as Dash swept up into an Immelman turn.

Back at the base.

Casey and Harvard climbed down from their jets to the uproarious applause of their classmates. Bradley was the first to dive through the gathering crowd and throw her up into the air. "Wow! Two bogeys and leaving Hangman in the dust... those were some moves, Casey!" She chuckled politely as this time he lifted her up onto his shoulder and paraded her around the tarmac. She caught Hangman out of the corner of her eye.

"That was a chicken shit move Dash!" He yelled out over the crowd. They all stopped and turned around to look at him. Bradley carefully lowered her to the ground.

"What are you talking about Jake?" Casey looked up confidently, knowing that she was dealing with nothing more than a bruised male ego.

"You were supposed to cover me, what do you call going off to chase after the other bogey?" Casey tried not to roll her eyes.

"Oh please, you know I had to break cover, if it had got me then you would have been without cover anyway." She turned back round to rejoin the group. But Hangman wasn't going to let the matter drop quite so easily. He chased after her, gripping her by the arm to swing her around. This was enough to make Bradley snap.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing? Let go of her man!" Bradley shoved him in the chest and Hangman quickly rebounded. Close to each other's faces now, the situation was quickly going to escalate into a fight. Or it would have had Cheif Warrant Officer, Bernie 'Hondo' Coleman, hadn't run towards them, a harried look in his eyes.

"Alright crewmen, break it up, break it up that's an order!" He managed to pull Bradley and Hangman apart, though they still circled each other, breathing hard and puffing out their chests. "Dash, the VADM wants to see you, now." The crowd, which had switched from cheering her to cheering the upcoming fight, was now dead silent. Casey swallowed and made her way through the throng as several crew members slapped her on the back, and once on the ass. That must have been Fanboy. She looked back to shoot him daggers though he smiled and winked in response. The VADM's office was pleasantly cool and had the blinds drawn to provide even more shade. Hondo quickly made introductions and then departed, leaving the Lieutenant standing squarely in front of the large oak desk. VADM Simpson looked up casually from a file. 

"Be seated Lieutenant..." Casey grabbed the chair in front of her though it raked across the floor slightly too hard and let out a sickening screech. She screwed up her eyes at the sound and quickly sat down. "So... two bogeys in under twenty minutes... not bad. Tell me, if you were one of the top of your class, why weren't you first choice for the SFTI programme?" She cleared her throat and tried to sit up straighter.

"My... my skills as an officer, left... something to be desired, sir." VADM Simpson nodded slowly and eventually returned his gaze to the file he held casually in one hand.

"Mmm... so it says in your file. Think you can straighten up enough in time? You'd be one hell of an instructor..." he gazed at her steadily, as though her reaction would be more important than whatever she said in response. 

"With respect sir, I'm not interested in teaching. I became a pilot to fly planes." She bit her tongue, realising what she'd just implied.

"You think I became an Admiral just to sit behind a desk? But them's the breaks kid, you'll have to progress one way or another, you can go far if you want to... and I wonder if your struggle to adapt to military regs is to purposely prevent that." He eyed her as though she'd been caught in the crosshairs.

"My... difficulties aren't deliberate, sir. I do want to do well, but I also want to continue flying..." she didn't know how to end her sentence. The Admiral just smiled.

"Then your best bet is to come back as an instructor. The way you're going on... you could easily win the TopGun cup. I hear Hangman was mighty displeased at being taken out, not one bogey to his name..." Casey tried to recall when Hangman must have taken a hit. She had a habit of occasionally blocking out incoming transmissions at critical moments.

"I could no longer cover him, sir... I didn't disengage willingly." VADM Simpson held up his hands to motion her to stop.

"I know Lieutenant... you follow the book, even if you do fly a little too fast and hard. The envy of some of your crewmates, however... is something you'll have to come to terms with. Believe it or not, male pride is easily hurt..." he looked at her mischievously. Casey just sighed.

"I'm well aware sir, my crewmates don't bother me, it's just..." she trailed off, colouring deeply at the fact she'd already said too much.

"You don't know where you fit? Believe me, Lieutenant, I know the feeling. All you can do is your best. But trust your crew mates, become a team, up there..." he motioned to the ceiling with his index finger, "They're all you've got." Casey stared at her hands in lap. "There's no use trying to keep yourself separate... sure, there are always going to be disparities. But you more than proved yourself today. Give teaching some thought, I think you have a lot to offer - and your squadron will always be waiting. Oh... and try and let your crewmates win at pool a couple of times, you can't have all the fun. Alright Lieutenant, dismissed." She smiled and quickly climbed to her feet, not wishing to take up another second of the VADM's time. She was halfway out the door when he called her back.

"Oh and Lieutenant... your callsign, I'm guessing it actually refers to your activities up there?" He motioned again towards the sky. Casey just smiled and ducked out of the room. 

A/N: Hi guys, I know I’m a little late to the party but as a massive Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick fan, I thought I’d try my hand at a oneshot. Any feedback is appreciated and if you’d like more of these sort of stories, shoot me a line! I hope you all enjoy!

To be updated on when I post please follow @resowrites and turn on post notifications.

[stellacordis]

Military students at the Garrison fall into one of two categories: officer cadets ( referred to as junior officers/JOs ) and enlisted cadets ( referred to simply as cadets ). Upon graduation, JOs move on to become COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, and cadets are officially promoted to ENLISTED personnel.

In the United States, cadets typically refer to students in training to become commissioned military officers. However, the in-canon worldbuilding fails to note ( or realize ) that the military would fail without enlisted personnel, who are the the deck plate workers, with the officers focusing mostly on supervision and leadership. This is why I decided to include them here.

ENLISTED CADETS.

The enlisted cadets are the backbone of the Garrison and the largest group of students. They are the ones who will be trained to become SPECIALISTS in the various supporting fields.

All enlisted cadets receive the same initial training — eight weeks of boot camp the summer before their first semester at the Garrison, followed by three semesters of base classes — before moving on to take the core classes of their assigned specialties ( which will be their assigned rates ).

The most prominent rates are pilot ( sub-divided into fighter, cargo, and commercial classes ), engineer, scientist, medic, infantryman ( ground forces ), electronics technician, analyst, and communications specialist.

All cadets’ specializations are preliminarily assigned to them during their first semester and are based heavily on an initial screening exam, high school records, and boot camp performance. The prospective cadet’s personal preferences are taken into account but don’t weigh as heavily as their records.

In my ACE PILOT verse for Keith, even though he scored very highly on his screening exams and fared well in boot camp, his tarnished ‘problem child’ high school record lost him an initial assignment as a pilot. During his first semester, he was assigned to ground forces instead, which made him absolutely miserable and only fueled his rebellious nature. Later, based on his simulator performance scores and obvious natural talent, he was reassigned to pilot by Commander Iverson.

For PILOT-assigned cadets, their academic performance and sim scores are evaluated at the beginning of their fourth semester in order to sort them into their respective classes. Only cadets with the highest academic performance ( top 5% ) and simulation scores are selected for fighter class.

Upon graduation, enlisted cadets will be officially awarded their rates and will then advance as follows:

E-1: Airman Recruit

E-2: Airman Apprentice

E-3: Airman

E-4: [Rate]* Third Class

E-5: [Rate]* Second Class

E-6: [Rate]* First Class

E-7 and above: Chief [Rate] and above

*[Rate] depends on the enlisted personnel’s specialization. For example, an E-4 engineer would be Engineer Third Class, an E-6 electronics technician would be Electronics Technician First Class, and so forth.

E-7 and above are considered uncommissioned officers and are granted the same treatment as commissioned officers.

OFFICER CADETS.

Junior officers are the minority and are trained to be the leaders, problem solvers, and key influencers in the military.

They receive similar training to the cadets except more intensive, competitive, and with a focus on developing their leadership, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

Their rates are instead assigned as SPECIALIZATIONS upon promotion to a commissioned officer. The majority of officers become pilots as they are expected to lead the Garrison fleets.

Upon graduation and commissioning, officers will advance as follows:

O-1: Ensign (ENS)

O-2: Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG)

O-3: Lieutenant (LT)

O-4: Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)

O-5: Commander (CDR)

O-6: Captain (CAPN)

O-7 and above: Rear Admiral and above

I predicted Shiro being an early promoted O-3 in canon when I first came up with this post years ago and having him be an actual Lieutenant when he was assigned to the Kerberos mission was quite the validation! Shiro then goes on to receive field promotions to Commander and, subsequently, Captain of the Atlas in the heat of battle. Following Admiral Sanda’s death, he is the highest-ranking officer in the Garrison fleet, making him the most likely candidate for Admiral promotion.

For an in-depth explanation of advancement requirements, check out the accompanying ADVANCEMENT post (coming soon)!

ENLISTED-TO-OFFICER PROGRAM.

As they near their graduation date, exceptional enlisted cadets can apply to become officers via the Airman-to-Admiral (ATA) program.

Candidates selected for ATA will undergo an intensive two-year program focused on bridging the gap between the enlisted and junior officer curricula.

Upon completion of this program, trainees will be promoted to O-1 and advance through the commissioned officer ranks with slightly higher pay to account for their prior time in the military.

For more Garrison worldbuilding, check out my masterpost (coming soon)!

DISCLAIMER: Due to the nature of the Garrison’s military force, I based my military rankings on those of the NAVY since that was the military structure ( and titles ) observed in canon. While I have taken many creative liberties, I’m intimately familiar with how military ranks and advancement ACTUALLY work so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

[drageverywhere]

I truly do not want any of my favorites to sign up and/or tour with Voss.. The Voss M&G’s are shit, WTW is not what it used to be a few years back, everything Voss just feels like a shitty money grab. It’s also very telling many queens do not want to sign up with them. Even production wise this summer’s M&P tour War on the Catwalk was literally miles better than WTW. Better M&G, better more personable show. That’s why I am super happy B does not really do Voss tours except the really short CDR ones.

Also with Voss you are never sure which queens will be on the show in your city, like you can buy your ticket just to see a couple of the girls or even just for one of them and then at the last minute you find out they won’t be on that stop or leg of the tour, that’s very fucked up bc the tickets aren’t cheap at all.

[tx-828]

clone oc reference post

bc a post is easier to edit than a blog page and i’m going to end up editing this a lot probably. it’s bare bones rn bc this is all i have energy for! writing is hard

i’m going to make a separate one for the non-clone characters and have it linked here. it just doesn’t exist yet

these are all part of anais’s unit (which is a brigade or a battalion. idk. i need help) except miles and the pilots. miles died before it was formed and the pilots belong to the navy. 

cdr herald

(he/him/his) 

surepp squad

this is the squad anais ends up working with most often. they’re not elite or anything, she just made friends with them incidentally

sgt agate

(she/her/hers or they/them/theirs)

cpl klaxon

(he/him/his)

sharps

(she/her/hers)

squad medic. close with her remaining batchmates klaxon and skip but does her best to uplift the younger clones too

skip

(he/him/his)

clown

02 (”ohtoo”)

(she/her/hers or any)

she’s here and she’s probably listening. she’s not gonna say any words though

tranq

(they/them/theirs or he/him/his)

fleck

(he/him/his)

glint

(he/him/his)

dizzy

(he/him/his)

glint’s twin. mildly force sensitive and keeps having prophetic nightmares. prayer circle for dizzy

bantha squad

lucasfilm has forsaken bantha squad so i’m adopting them. they’re a specialized squad for scouting and taking out hailfire droid tanks so they are some jetpack scouts and heavy cannon operators. i might change the name of the squad and also they have a captain instead of a commander

cpt wake

(he/him/his or they/them/theirs)

the kind of guy with stylized flame tattoos on the side of his face

rodeo

(she/her/hers)

jetpack scout. hold her beer

xesh

(they/them/theirs)

engineer

sawtooth

(he/him/his)

cannon crew. usually an asshole for no reason

pock

(he/him/his)

jetpack scout. cheerful baby bro with dermatillomania

brace

(she/her/hers)

sniper. black lipstick and zero tolerance for sawtooth’s bs

pilots

auro

(he/him/his or she/her/hers)

squad leader. kind of a grump and is probably going to punch anais in the gut if she doesn’t stop being friendly all the time

charms

(he/him/his)

stereotypical superstitious pilot who needs all his amulets and rituals before he goes anywhere. his astromech is a patchwork nightmare but he’ll die before he accepts a new one

space waffle

(he/him/his)

yes that’s his name he thinks it’s hilarious

crush

(he/him/his)

watch out he’s a hugger

other

dodge

(he/him/his or they/them/theirs)

flight crew. the only person who can contain charms’s deeply disturbed droid. also the only mf on this venator that auro respects

miles

(he/him/his)

agate’s best friend, who rescued her on geonosis.

beacon

(he/him/his)

corrie deserter who lives in the lower levels with a few others and is building a network to smuggle clones into hiding on safe worlds. also spreads anti-war and clone rights messaging wherever he can

daylight

(they/them/theirs)

corrie. fell in love with a local and needs beacon’s help now that their partner is pregnant and all they want is to start a life together somewhere safe and peaceful

[kitchremod753]

Kitchen Remodeling Weatherford

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