#who's gonna be inflammatory now

[thebanishedreader]

love how conservatives will get angry at people talking about Banned Books because "the books aren't completely inaccessible" which makes them "not completely banned", and that calling them banned is inflammatory and predisposes people to be hostile by using extreme rhetoric, and then call people who run banned book blogs pedophiles

[alongtidesoflight]

i think the funniest thing about this established titles scam is that literally none of all these youtubers shilling the company to their userbase saw any kinda issue with people "buying" and "owning" a plot of land to begin with as if parts of scotland could just be handed out to people who have never and will never set a foot in the country like a pack of skittles during recess

like. what was the thought process here. it's especially nerve-grating to watch "investigative" channels vomiting up half-hearted apologies now that the cat's outta the bag. what, you can do enough research to make up a two hour character assassination piece on a person but you can't type established titles into google and take a look at the first couple of results that warn about it being a scam? and don't get me wrong, those results were there way before they got "exposed". where are your investigative skills now. have they ever been there to begin with or are you just perez hilton'ing it and leaning into gossip and rumors that sound spicy.

[gentlethorns]

fuck dude i have got to find a job where i can be self-employed and creative. i cannot be in fucking retail hell anymore

[chunky-chee]

Okay, so I know a solid 40% of the new Fantasy High was about Tracker "There's still deep attraction here" O'Shaughnessy, but HERE ME OUT

Gertie Bladeshield is the perfect woman for Kristen Applebees.

Cause, like, look, there was a lot of talk in episode 11 about impulsivity and chaos as an aspect of Kristen's character, mainly in how it's mirrored in Princess "Kristen if she had money" Naradriel, but it's also been a general focus this season, especially in how she often uses it to guard her emotions. Think back to "That's what you think", an incredible improv moment, but if you look at the big picture, Kristen's estranged parents make an incredibly inflammatory statement about her religion right after actively bullying her little brother, and instead of honoring any of the actual negative emotions she's being filled with in that moment, she pirouettes away. It's brought up in the adventuring party after this exact episode how Kristen is a cleric, a high-wisdom class that is naturally insightful, but uses these silly deflections to hold other people back from being insightful into her (hence Mac & Donna's lifetime insight disadvantage)

This isn't just limited to small moments, too. To take a broader look at the season so far, Kristen's chaotic, shrimp-jumping, wrangler-wearing, salsa-dipping, middle-school-campaigning, steel-workers-union-supporting bid for class president is often shown explicitly as a distraction from her existentially important job as the only cleric of Cassandra. Even when trying to earnestly apologize to Cassandra and prove to them that she's gonna prioritize her over class presidency, the only way she can articulate it is "You're the meat, mama." Her emotions are always guarded by some amount of chaos and impulsivity.

Now, how does that relate to Gertie "I've had a crush on you for a really long time" Bladeshield?

In both of the two scenes we've gotten of The Best D20 NPC (/j (but I do really like her)), Gertie has shown a pretty similar propensity for making bold, chaotic decisions in the heat of the moment. However, in my observation, these decisions do NOT come from a place of emotional suppression. Quite the opposite, actually.

Think back to her Grand Entrance into the narrative. Gertie, being one of the last people awake at Fabian's party, gifts her longtime-crush a jar of honey, something that connects directly to her passion/special-interest of beekeeping, in a homemade container designed as a pun on Kristen's last name. (in hindsight, the crush was very obvious) Then, in the middle of her infodumping to her about honey, Kristen's rich friend makes an incredibly dismissive remark about her good-natured gift. This obviously pisses her off, but unlike Kristen "That's what you think" Applebees, Gertie "I don't give a shit who's kid you are" Bladeshield lets herself feel those emotions very loudly, immediately starts a duel with possibly one of the most accomplished sword-fighters in the history of Aguefort, and declares him a life-long nemesis. She acts very brashly and impulsively, but in a way that doesn't hide her emotions, instead expressing them.

(I know there's a lot of talk about outbursts of anger being tied to Ankarna, but not only does the scene not really seem like foreshadowing to me, it's more interesting to see it through the lens of being Gertie's actual actions)

This trend continues with the 12th most noteworthy thing to have happened in episode 11 (which incredibly high acclaim), where after being explicitly asked to talk about bees by her crush, and being placed inches away from her face, kisses her on the lips. Now, excusing the albeit upsetting lack of consent, it once again shows Gertie acting very impulsively in a way that exposes her feelings to the people she likes. With these two instances of characterization being literally the only two scenes we get with her, it poses her as a very interesting parallel to Kristen, someone who shares in her willingness to make impulsive decisions, but differs wildly from her in the way she uses them to react to strong emotions.

However, does this really make Gertie the Autism to her ADHD?

(idk if Gertie really shows autistic traits, I just wanted to say that) Well, part of what Tracker a good companion for Kristen was that, as a fellow cleric, she naturally had very high wisdom, meaning she had enough insight to look past the layers of shrimp and salsa and engage with her on a deep level. However, clerics aren't the only class that cast spells with wisdom, so do rangers, including swarm-keeper rangers, which is a subclass that both has a good few abilities focused on spell-casting and was confirmed to be Gertie's subclass in an adventuring party. While her highest stat still could be dex (which, come to think of it, is a hilarious contrast to Kristen), there's no doubt that Gertie has a higher chance than most at being able to look past Kristen's barriers and see the complex hive of sweet, buzzing emotions underneath.

Hell, maybe that's where Gertie's crush comes from in the first place. Maybe, seeing this popular, proudly sapphic cleric be incredibly playful and chaotic on school grounds, she not only saw a bit of herself, but a little more. Perhaps, the type of mind that dedicates itself to allowing small, harmless critters to prosper even when no-one cares to join her club, is also the type of mind able to recognize when someone isn't allowing their truest emotions to prosper, making her wonder if they might have something to gain from sharing some of that chaos, using it not to hide, but to be free.

Or maybe it's just cause her last name has "bees" in it, idk.

[benedictscanvas]

saved you a seat - jamie tartt x reader

pairing: jamie tartt x reader

word count: 3.1k of pure fluff

a/n: no warnings for this one except language, obviously. i just wanted to imagine having a fluffy little coach trip with jamie tartt so i hope there are others out there who want to imagine the same. requests are SO open for jamie/roy/sam/ted please do send some ideas <3

---

You weren’t quite sure how you’d managed to engineer this situation, but you were worried that if you thought about it too hard, you might end up losing it. Somehow, on a coach to Amsterdam, you’d ended up wedged between a window and Jamie Tartt and despite that being the stuff of nightmares only about a year ago, now it was something you couldn’t have hoped for in advance.

“I said I’d save a seat for ya, didn’t I?” he’d claimed proudly when you shimmied past him to sit in the window seat.  He’d been smiling hopefully at you as he patted it when you’d walked down the aisle of the coach. You’d thought you’d be sitting with Rebecca at the back until he’d tugged at your wrist to stop you in your tracks.

“To be totally transparent, I thought you were joking,” you murmured to him once you were settled, bag tucked underneath your seat, “You also said the same to Roy yesterday, and I heard you saying it to Sam this morning.”

“Yeah, but I was fuckin’ with them,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “Besides, we have a whole conditioner campaign to plan, right? Now’s as good a time to start as any.”

You tried not to let your heart sink a little. Of course it was work-related. You’d just have to be happy with the grin he was sporting as he nudged your arm.

“You’re on,” you grinned back, then, with a show of boldness, “But only if you promise not to complain when I inevitably fall asleep on you later.”

If anything, his grin grows wider.

“Shoulder’s all yours, love. I’m told it’s pretty comfy.”

“Who’s told you that? Roy?”

He rolls his eyes, but it’s too fond. You busy yourself trying to manoeuvre your laptop out of your bag, but a hand on yours stops you in your tracks. When you look up, Jamie’s face is soft and he’s tucking your laptop away again.

“Relax. The coach’ll take hours yet. We can get comfy first, yeah?”

“You’re right,” you concede, shuffling into the back of your seat again with a content sigh, “Don’t know why I’m pretending to be eager to work.”

He laughs and you join in. You want to tell him he’s got a downright infectious laugh these days, because its lighter than ever and always filled with genuine happiness, but you don’t. Too much. Instead, you push up on the back of the seat in front of you to tap Dani urgently on the shoulder, then sit down quickly and turn a fake-reprimanding glance at Jamie.

“What is it, amigo?” he directs his question towards Jamie who’s looking incredulous, “Or are you playing a cheeky prank?”

You tut and sink further into your seat as you shake your head at Jamie. He begins to point at you, but Dani is already ruffling Jamie’s hair and turning back around as he mutters happily in Spanish. Jamie turns to you, brows furrowed.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, eh?”

You shrug, as playful as you can manage with your heart beating a little harder in your chest. He narrows his eyes at you, then settles into his seat, and you know he’s plotting revenge. You can’t wait.

---

It’s been an hour and a half, and you and Jamie have been going back and forth almost the entire time, the very idea of doing any work on his new ad campaign buried in favour of having fun. Jamie had snuck your phone from your lap and prank called Ted who was sat at the back of the bus. You’d then somehow managed to do the same with Jamie’s phone, but decided to send a rather inflammatory text to Jan Maas, which was followed by a half hour argument between the two men that was incredibly entertaining.

Most recently, Jamie had made a terrible noise putting his mouth to his elbow and blamed it on you, but luckily Sam had seen him do it and you’d been able to clear your name. It had been a stellar effort though, so you were giving it some time before you found something perfect to retaliate with.

“Can I ask y’ something?” Jamie spoke suddenly, but his voice was softer than you’d heard it on the journey so far. You turned to him and nodded encouragingly, “I was jus’ sat here wonderin’ - and please don’t take this the wrong way - but why y’ decided to come with us? I’m happy about it, ‘course I am, but-“

“I get it, Jamie,” you said quickly, because you could see how much he was struggling. It was heartwarming how earnest he was when he’d said he was happy you’d come with them though, and you were fighting an urge to lean in and kiss his cheek to stop his rambling, “I’m not exactly essential personnel for a trip to Amsterdam.”

“Fuck, that’s exactly what I was tryin’ not to sound like - wait, y’ don’t really think that do ya?”

“Jamie, seriously, stop worrying! It’s sweet but so unnecessary. Hannah, you know the one that usually handles socials? She couldn’t make it so Rebecca asked if I’d fill in. I’m not one to turn down a free trip with some of my favourite people.”

His smile was genuine until the last sentence, where it morphed into something cocky as he puffed his chest.

“You wanna name any of those favourite people of yours?”

You bit the inside of your cheek as you pretended to think about it. God, it felt like it would be so easy to admit that you’d jumped at the chance to come because you jumped at any chance to spend time with Jamie these days, but you couldn’t. There were hours of this bus ride left to sit in awkward silence if he didn’t take it well.

“Well, Ted’s gotta be right up there,” you began, shifting in your seat to look around the bus, “Sam, of course, and, god, Colin is a must. Rebecca, obviously-“

“No one who’s last name might happen to rhyme with a part of the body, or somethin’?”

You scrunch up your face in fake confusion. It’s easy to imagine doing this forever, just playing pretend with Jamie Tartt for the rest of time, and you’ll play along as long as he lets you.

“Ohhh you mean Jan Maas? Rhymes with ass, very clever. Didn’t know you were such a poet.”

“I dabble, me,” he deadpans, but neither of you can keep it up as you dissolve into giggles. Jamie pulls his cap further down his forehead to hide just how much he’s cracking up and you tuck your face down - no need to have the rest of the bus trying to get in on the joke. When you both calmed down, he turned, looking back up at you from under his hat, “Very quick by the way. Jan Maas, ass. You’re good, you are.”

“You’ve only just noticed?” you asked incredulously, intent on teasing him just a step further, but he takes his hat off to look at you properly when he answers, running his hand once, twice through his hair first, of course.

“Nah,” he replied, voice that soft whisper that you’d come to crave, “Y’ wanna know when I noticed?”

You swallowed thickly, leaning into him in the same way he had, all conspiratorial and close.

“I dunno. Do I wanna know?”

Jamie ignored you and continued, eyes flitting from your face to a thread on his joggers he was picking at.

“It was when I’d just come back to Richmond an’ everyone was mad at me. Rightly so, I know. But I was sat in me car, havin’ lunch cause no one would eat with me yet. You were walking past with Rebecca going to lunch and you waved at me, with this mad bright smile on your face y’know?”

“I may have a vague memory of that,” you said, as if seeing him alone in his car hadn’t broken your heart at that time.

“An’ then the day after, when you ate in your car an’ invited me to join. I knew y’ were only doin’ it for me, but I didn’t care. I jus’ remember being so grateful. So, so grateful. That’s when I knew you were…”

He trailed off, but he was stuck staring at your face. You could feel the heat sparking down the length of your spine as he seemed to search your expression for something. His own was unreadable.

“…good?”

It was like you had snapped him out of a trance and somehow you wished you hadn’t said anything.

“Good, yeah, that’s what I mean,” he murmured, then seemed to let that cocky mask fall back into place, “You wanna tell me when you realised I was good now so I don’t just sit here like a prick? Or, let me guess, you’re still waiting for it to happen?”

Despite the teasing tone, you somehow knew this wasn’t an opportunity to joke. There was a newfound vulnerability in Jamie that you were always careful not to tread on; it was such a welcome change after all.

“Nope, I know exactly when it was. I walked past the boot room one day, a couple weeks before we had that first lunch I think, and you were making sure things were tidy enough for Will to sort. There was nobody to watch you do it, either. I just knew that you were a different Jamie. That you were…good.”

Good didn’t cut it at all. You’d sworn then and there that you were going to help him find his way at Richmond whatever it took, and eating lunch in your car just so that he could join you a few weeks later felt like a good start. It had been. As Jamie worked to gain the love of his teammates, he had you as a constant sounding board, willing lunch partner and occasional movie night holder. He wasn’t invited over often, not wanting to seem too eager, but he’d never turned you down.

Yes, that was the moment you’d realised he’d changed, but there had been a million moments since that had turned him into the first person that came to mind when he’d asked you for your favourite person on the bus.

Now he wasn’t meeting your eyes at all, fully trained on that thread he’d been picking at. You sighed and flicked his hand to stop him ruining his favourite pair, and he finally looked up at you, wide puppy eyes that always made you melt when they showed up.

“You really mean that?”

Rather than replying, you hold out your pinky to him and watch his smile grow as he twists his own around yours. You let it linger then lean in to kiss your own hand and gesture for him to do the same. He does it so tenderly you think you’re getting lightheaded.

“Every word,” you assure him, settling back into your seat and untangling your hands from each other, “Now that I’ve been so nice to you, think I can cash in that shoulder offer from earlier?”

It was easier to revert to the easy banter than continue down this sincere path. And even though it was only just beginning to get dark, you couldn’t look at him any longer. Maybe if you were resting on his shoulder, you could grin for a bit without him wondering what was wrong with you.

He patted his shoulder invitingly and you snuggled down into it, until your cheek was smushed into his jacket and you could smell the cologne radiating from him. You threaded an arm into the crook of his elbow without thinking, just because it was more comfortable, but when you moved to take it away, he rested his hand on yours to keep you there. That same hand then came up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind your ear, staying to cradle your head for a moment.

You held your breath.

He quickly thought better of leaving his hand there, squeezing your head for just a moment before dropping his arm back to his side.

It took a while to breathe naturally again, especially knowing he’d feel every painstaking inhale and exhale against him, and it took even longer for your eyes to close and to finally drift off.

---

When you woke up again, you had to squint as your eyes adjusted to the almost total darkness of the coach. It had to have been a couple of hours. You wiped your mouth to ensure you hadn’t drooled on your very kind seat partner then risked a glance up at him without moving your head too much.

He looked asleep. His chin was tucked against the crown of your head, and his whole body was turned into yours in a way it hadn’t been when you’d fallen asleep. There was nothing that would make you want to move and disturb the moment, except for the unfortunate cramp in your neck you were simply going to have to stretch out.

You tried to gently ease your head out from under his but his eyes fluttered open immediately as he looked at you in concern.

“Y’alright love?”

 That voice. Huskier and broader than ever in its newly woken state. You smiled up at him and whispered back, noticing that the rest of the bus were either asleep or resting as you stretched your neck.

“Didn’t mean to wake you, sorry. You can have my shoulder now if you like, ‘s only fair.”

“Nah you’re alright. If you’re awake, I’m awake. What kind of seatmate would I be if I left you on your own, hm?”

“A normal one?” you offered, but he shook his head, holding a hand to his heart as if wounded.

“I will not have myself being described as anythin' but fuckin' extraordinary, please,” he insisted quietly, making you chuckle, “Did ya sleep well?”

“Very. Whoever told you that you have a comfy shoulder was annoyingly right.”

There was a note of jealousy in your tone that you didn’t expect to be there when you started talking. If Jamie noticed it, he didn’t say anything, even though you could have sworn you saw a smirk pass across his features.

“Well, I’ll let Colin know you agree with him,” he said matter-of-factly, and you wondered if he was telling you it was Colin on purpose. It was so difficult to second guess your every interaction with him, feelings getting stronger every minute you spent with him. Really, you were tired of it and tired in general and it was enough. Your usual caution had been left behind. You opened your mouth to speak, to maybe finally confess, but he was talking before you could begin.

“Actually, can I tell ya a secret?”

It took you a moment to recover from what you had been about to say and respond to him. 

“Uh…yeah, of course. Anything, you know that.”

“I do, yeah. Yeah, that’s part of it actually,” he was so in his head, but he was looking at you like he had earlier, searching for something. Nowadays, he looked so soft all the time, but there was a selfish part of you that hoped maybe he was especially soft with you, “It’s about what we said earlier. I lied to ya, and I’ve been fuckin’ kickin’ meself for it ever since.”

“You lied?”

“Yeah. I said the day we had lunch in your car was when I realised you were good. That’s not true,” he admitted, as if he was saying something shameful, “I already knew you were good, way before I was done bein’ a full-time prick. Anyone could tell you were good.”

Your heart was hammering away in your chest, in your throat, in your ears.

“That day in the car park was actually when I realised you were just…fuckin’ incredible. Like, the most beautiful person I know. Not just fit, I knew you were fuckin’ fit, I’ve got eyes, but like- y’ were just somethin’ else. You are somethin’ else. Special, like.”

You felt frozen in your seat. It was hard to tell with how 'Jamie' the whole speech had been, but you were pretty sure there was a confession in there. It didn’t sound like something he’d say to any of his mates. Still, you had to be sure.

“Sorry, Jamie, I might be being thick here but are you saying you’re like…into me? Like, romantically?”

You cringed instantly at your choice of words but he didn’t falter. This time, when he laid his hand over yours, he kept it there, stroking a steady rhythm into the back of your hand.

“I’m saying I’m into you in like…all the ways y’ can be into someone. I’m fuckin’ mad about you, Y/N. The only one who doesn’t see it is you, but you fell asleep on me shoulder and I was in fuckin’ heaven so I’m telling ya. Look, I’m not expectin’ anything-“

“Well, you should. Expect things, I mean,” you cut him off, because you can’t go another second without reciprocating, “I thought you saved me a seat to talk about your conditioner campaign.”

He scoffed loudly then glanced around to check he hadn’t woken anyone as he lowered his voice again.

“I couldn’t give a shit about all that,” he said as firmly as he could whisper, “I give a shit about you. A lot of shits.”

You let out a breathy chuckle as you reply.

“God, I give so many shits about you, Jamie. Too many shits. Have done for fucking forever, I was just about to tell you.”

“What, before I did?” he said, making a face, “As if I’d let you steal my thunder.”

You take an opportunity and a boldness you can’t help but seize as you take his face in both hands and pull it towards yours until you’re both a breath apart. He closes his eyes and pushes towards you but you keep him just a moment away, stroking a trail along one of his eyelids.

“Well I think you’re fucking incredible too. Prick,” you mumble, without any venom. It sounds like the most loving pet name in the world, the way you utter it for his ears only.

“Yours,” he counters quietly, winding his arms around your waist until he can pull you fully onto his lap and you have to bite back a squeal. You both glance around for onlookers and find none, “Think the coast is clear, babe?”

“Crystal,” you insist, surging forward to press a searing kiss to his lips, gratified when he responds just as enthusiastically, pushing back into you, both hands clutching at you like you were about to disappear any moment.

There were still plenty of hours left on the coach, however, and you were content to stay exactly where you were as long as Jamie would let you.

And there was no chance of him letting you go anywhere.

[stil-lindigo]

Hello, very confused and overwhelmed outsider here. Looking at posts here and on news sites I see such pradoxical views, one saying to not support Palestine is to support genocide and the other saying to not support Israel is to be antisemitic. I wonder, and I am going around asking people on different sides of the war, do you believe it is possible to support both the lives of Palestinian people and the lives of Jewish people?

Feel free to ignore this ask or to point out any ignorance on my part. I hope you have some peace in your day/night, I can only imagine how stressful it is to have so many people asking so many serious questions.

hi anon. I’m gonna try to make this is as concise as possible, since I’m technically writing this on my lunch break. Yes, it is possible and in fact very easy to support the lives of Palestinian and Jewish people because - and this is the important part - Israel and Zionism is not Judaism. Depending on who you may ask, Zionism began as a pure-hearted desire for Jewish people post-WW2 to create a place that would always unequivocally be safe for Jews, but as I am not Jewish myself I feel like any description I might give comes off as insincere and not fully grasping the scope of that mission. But no matter what Zionism once was, it is now the belief that Jewish people have the right to commit genocide against indigenous population so that they can establish their ethno-state. And you can split hairs all you like, but after the past four months, my belief in that has only solidified.

Perhaps the strongest opposition to Israel comes from Jewish people themselves, who’ve popularized “not in my name” as a protest chant. Holocaust survivors have come out in droves to protest the actions of Israel, and they’re often the strongest front of any protest action since - yes, you’re right - mainstream news is very committed to selling the idea that this “war” is Jews vs Muslims which is just inflammatory racist garbage. There’s more to it than I can easily get into right now, but just for a start, it completely erases the existence of Palestinian Jews or Palestinian Christians, and also ignores Israel’s historically abusive and degrading treatment of their own Holocaust survivors in their population.

This “war” is not a war. It’s a genocide, where the total amount of bombs dropped on Gaza is officially over twice the impact of a nuclear bomb. One side is asking for a stop the fighting, for aid to be allowed through, they are asking for clean water and food as their women have been forced to rip off scraps off tents to use as menstrual products. One side has had all 35 their hospitals bombed (a war-crime the first time, and it continues to be a war crime every time it still happens), over 100 of their journalists have been targeted and murdered (more journalists than were killed in all of WW2, and btw this is also a war crime). And the other side films TikTok’s levelling apartment buildings, looting houses, kicking Palestinian hostages, stripping them naked and urinating on them. Israel has rained white phosphorus down on Palestine, they have bombed Palestine indiscriminately, they have destroyed archives, historical locations, they have done their best to rob Palestinians of their dignity and empathy and still, they’re not done.

Oh and the excuse that they’re just doing all of this to save the hostages? Hamas offered them all back in exchange for a ceasefire. And the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, said no.

In the future, try to get your news from trusted news sources like Al Jazeera, and following journalists on the ground like Bisan and Motaz.

[cyberpunk-20xx]

Hey hey

Hey

Johnny Silverhand's not cool

Johnny's disabled. Johnny had a military issued chrome forced onto him. Johnny treated himself like shit and probably smelled like shit too for it.

Do you think he got therapy for it? No I don't mean mental therapy I mean physical therapy, for the arm, I mean do you think he got physical therapy for a metal arm shoved onto a wound (I don't expect the wound was taken care of anymore than what was strictly practical no of course not), no no he wasn't given therapy, he wasn't given time to adapt, his trauma at losing a trustworthy friend on the field was just stacked with the trauma of just being weaponized even more before being put back on the field for a fucking pointless war, so that means-

I mean you know about amputation? No? No, right, of course not, it'd be weird, right? To know about amputation and implants and prothesis and the psychological impacts in detail you'd need to have read up on it, pretty obsessively at that, too, that's not normal, normal people don't do that, what kind of weirdo has hyperfixations about that because of OCD right? Right.

Well amputations are so fucking traumatizing even if they save your life. Of course they are. It's a part of your body. Your body is not supposed to see its insides and it's not supposed to lose parts either, your brain can't actually compute that, like let's say, cutting your nails?

They put a metal arm on him like cutting nails, they didn't care, he wasn't a person to them he was a tool.

He never got physical therapy for it. He never went to have it recalibrated or maintained. Why would he? I don't even think he knows what model it is. Do you think they bothered telling him? Do you think they gave him a little booklet for "how to take care of your new implant"? Ahahahah of course not that'd be so fucking silly and kind and thoughtful. Of course not.

Johnny needs his addictions. Do you think he has prescribed medicine for the chronic pains that the arm causes him? No of course not. Do you think he started drinking and taking Lace because it was fun? Because it was cool? Because he was gonna be a rockerboy? And he wanted to impress girls.

In the real world, as of 2020, the first cause of mortality in the USA is opiates, and the main demographic is white men, aged 30 to 60, roughly, a large amount of those men war veterans, cumulating psychological trauma even prior to the addiction, even prior to the army itself, cus the majority of people who join the military do it to escape poverty and a dysfunctional household. It's a well oiled machine because at worse they go back to the motherland and die quietly of OD or something else, or best case scenario they have kids! And some of those kids are boys, and out of middle class recrutes, a good part are from military families!

It's a system that works just as designed really.

America, abuse and neglect of your chronically ill and chronically in pain is part of your DNA currently.

Johnny's not cool. He runs hot, he's a fucking spoonie who ran out of spoons before he even joined the military so now all he's got is knives. Knives knives nothing else nothing but knives. Johnny's a man overheating on constant, he's been dying for years, he likely has fevers from his port inflammatory's issues due to neglect, he doesn't know how to take care of himself, he wasn't taught, it's not expected of him, no one in his entourage sees him as what he is, do you remember for one second someone treating him like he was disabled and needed accomodation?

Disabled people whose chronic pains are not given the deserved care are most likely to develop the hardest addictions to cope with it, with the physical pain, and the psychological consequences- namely, psychosis, psychosis is a common consequence for having your pain ignored because this kind of neglect breaks your psyche at its core, at its sense of self.

Johnny has all the symptoms of a man in pain but because American soft power made drug abuse cool people think he's cool for drinking and fucking and killing and coking himself up until he blows himself up. Johnny's not cool, he's a tragedy, he's hurt, he's self-medicating, no he's not going to go cold turkey because he loves Kerry or because he loves your V, love isn't going to fucking save him, if you just erase Johnny's addictions because you think love fixes that honestly fuck you, because I'm tired of people just treating addiction like a bad spot to bleach out of sight, like it's got no roots and it's got no continuation, to no longer need self-medication Johnny would need reparation and better treatment, especially if he's brought back with that fucking arm, why do people not get that he didn't reclaim the arm, he let it take over, for fuck's sake he canonically blames all HIS bad deeds on The Hand, that's not reclaiming, that's self-sabotage.

Johnny dies like a pathetic pawn in Blackhand's plan, and even among people who were supposed to be his own, he's not seen as anything but a hero or a monster. No inbetween. He's not a man to them. He's something to workship, and if he doesn't grant them miracles he's the Devil.

What a load of bullshit.

Fuck, Johnny's not cool. Johnny needed help but didn't even want it because he was so full of violence and hatred he killed himself. But he deserved better nonetheless.

[aealzx]

The quiet of the infirmary was welcomed, but Leo also didn’t miss it when it was broken by Mikey bursting into the doorway with his hands holding an item above his head. “Leo! Mama and April brought strawberries AND watermelon!” Mikey announced, the huge melon balanced in his rocking hands.

“Two watermelons!”

“TWO watermelons!”

Mikey could barely contain his excitement, repeating April’s comment that filtered in from the other room and causing Leo to laugh. “She’s gonna see if Raph can fit a whole one in his mouth! You gotta come watch!”

“What? No way! There’s no way!” Leo sputtered even as Carol winced before rolling her eyes with a sigh. Leo was about to scramble off the bed, but stopped and turned back when he remembered he was supposed to watch after Donnie. Crouching close to his brother, Leo rested a hand on his shoulder and lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Hey Dee, you wanna come get some strawberries?”

With all the noise being made it was safe to say Donnie was already awake, but he appreciated Leo being quieter to talk to him. Normally he loved strawberries, but right then it just felt like too much. So with a scratchy cough he just twitched his head to decline and buried down in the blanket.

Leo seemed a little concerned at the reaction, and moved his hand to rest gently against Donnie’s forehead again. “Okay. We’ll just save some for you for later,” Leo promised, nudging his own head against Donnie for a moment before squirming off the bed. “Can you keep an eye on him, Mom?”

“Of course, honey. Go have fun and enjoy the snacks,” Carol assured, not wanting to keep Leo from being the teenager he was. She wasn’t really in the mood to watch Raph shove an entire watermelon in his mouth anyway. Leo just flashed a bright smile before he gingerly hobbled out the door.

—--------

“Coming to you live from Subway Hamato, this is April O’Neil about to witness the beginning of a new record. ONE entire watermelon, carefully cut from its disgusting rhine prison, is about to be devoured in no more than two bites by none other than Raphael Hamato.”

April’s phone was swooshed dramatically between the lair’s kitchen scene, to herself, then to the red orb of one of the watermelon’s she and Carol brought, before swooshing back up to Raph, who just gave a big smile and wave.

“Blue! Where are your crutches?” Splinter’s voice came from off camera as Leo hobbled gingerly over to them from the infirmary.

A brief flash of fear from a teenager getting caught crossed Leo’s face before he brushed it off lightly. “It’s fiiine pops. It’s just bruised,” he waved, flopping onto the stool next to Raph.

“Don’t you downplay it Blue. It’s something worse, isn’t it?” Splinter scolded, pointing the blunt ended melon knife he had at his son without fully realizing it was in his hand.

That caused Leo to roll his eyes, avoiding the concerned look from Raph. “What? Psshhh, nooo. I was just sitting on it wro-.”

“Considering the way you were walking, it’s probably one of your ligameeeennnttts- um… am I cutting these right? I think this is the first time I’ve seen a strawberry,” Casey’s interrupting commentary about Leo’s injury was steered to a different topic when Leo gave the lad a pointed stare.

“You’ve never seen strawberries??” Mikey blurted, mouth dropping. “Oh mi gosh, you have to try one, now!”

With the conversation being torn away, Raph just made sure Leo saw his concern before he turned back to April’s camera and brought his smile back. Splinter just continued to narrow his eyes at Leo though, so Leo finally broke down and hunched across the counter to whisper rapidly. “Okay, it’s a slight ATFL tear. But I’ve already taken anti inflammatories, I’m still wearing the brace, and I’ll portal back instead of walking and get ice on it after. Alright?”

Splinter kept his eyes narrowed for a moment longer than necessary so Leo would squirm slightly, but then just passed a slice of the second watermelon over to him before patting his head gently.

Giving Leo a quick wink, April shifted her phone back into view to return to her mock reporting. “Spectating with us are Raphael's younger brothers, Leonardo and Michaelangelo, his esteemed father Splinter, and the newest addition to the family, Casey Jr.”

The introductions earned a dashing smile and mask tail flip from Leo, and a toothy grin and double hand wave from Mikey. Splinter just gave his trademark grin and wink, while Casey just looked confused. Something that only increased when April stayed on him for her next question. “What are your thoughts Casey Jr? Will history be made, or will we be cleaning watermelon from the floors?”

“Uhhhhhh…,” Casey’s blank answer was reflected on his face openly, gaze moving from April, to Raph, then the peeled watermelon orb.

“An astute answer, my boy! Who can say? Such a feat has never been attempted before, being deemed too unfair for the annual Lair Games. Raphael, are you confident in your performance?” April adapted to Casey’s non answer easily, swooshing the camera back to Raph.

“Raph is gonna eat this melon in one bite. Like a BOSS! I can fit my fist in my mouth, and this thing isn’t even as big as my fist!” Raph responded, pumping his arm and holding his closed fist next to the melon for comparison.

“There you have it folks! A man of confidence ready to take on his foe. If you’re ready, we’ll begin in three, two, one!” April cheered, figuring she shouldn’t delay them any longer since Leo and Mikey were already shoving their slices of watermelon halfway into their own mouths, and Raph already had the melon orb in his hands.

By the count of one Raph shoved the melon into his mouth and chomped down, the fruit being crushed and squished out from his cheeks even as juice poured down his chin. Leo and Mikey were belting out their laughter within seconds, only getting louder when Raph smiled proudly and cupped his hands under his chin to catch the falling fruit pieces. Mikey’s laughing ended up mixed with pained chirps though as his bruised ribs protested the rough treatment, and he slid off his stool and circled around his chest.

“Yu khey M’kee?” Raph asked around his mouthful, causing Leo to give a loud honk before he fell off his own stool, and April had to put her phone down so her own roaring didn’t shake it while it was still recording.

“HA - AAHHOW! SHUT UP!” Mikey howled, wheezing and slapping the floor while his other hand pressed against his side. And after a quick glance at Splinter to make sure the teens were actually okay, being met with loud laughter from Splinter, Casey gave a soft huff of amusement before he allowed himself to add his own voice to the raucous merriment.

--------

Previous

____________________

some silliness for you guys >U<

(leo's mask being pushed up for eating was directly inspired by this headcanon from thesofgengar )

[terraco-07]

HSBC direction and character writing

So the team has released the writer's commentary early to the public most likely because they know how inflammatory the last update is/has been and wanted to get the reasoning behind it out there. Going to be going through it piece by piece here. Disclaimer: None of my opinions and thoughts are directed at the people as individuals and any criticism is directed at the writing itself. With that said, lets start off. Haven saying “this is the update where we’re gonna see if people are really rockin’ with us or not.” Lmao yep and I can assure you that I'm not one of them. I think we're seeing the end results though of a years bleeding fandom here though. Most people who enjoyed Homestuck either didn't read the epilogues or HS2 because they knew it was something they wouldn't like and didn't care for the direction of taking away the kids victory and giving them some new battle to fight while hurting each character. Those remaining are primarily people who are curious, neutral, or liked the official releases after Homestuck ended. Among them I'm sure a fair amount have liked this because this is already a work catered to them and what they want for better or worse. Anyways, moving on. So the next part just goes over everyone liking Yiffy and her getting a voice and all that, not much to comment on here. Which is a non issue except still making Rose and Jade call their kid a type of porn and keeping that was such a choice, but hey silly candy timeline right? Okay moving on to the conversation that matters. Okay starting with Floral: "Kanaya has long earned this confrontation and she’s not going to accept anything less than the truth." JAMES: This is the funniest line in Homestuck. This is so fucking funny because she gets cut off half way through and then the you fucked my wife being memed to hell in back both took any bite out of it and visibly made me cringe to read. Kanaya is mad here but there are other ways to write it. Would have loved to see a rant about "If you loved me so much Jade why would you betray my trust? Why would you not speak to me. Now you choose to spit in my face like this?" Etc etc. I may genuinely re-write every Kanaya part in this log at some point. I did do an alt version already but that's neither here nor there. Compliments for the art which deserve it! BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP GOING "Pretty art" AND EXCUSE BAD WRITING. I've had to read "I'm just using it as a picture book" and "I skipped through the logs" way too fucking much. JAMES: This one was for the sapphics. The most important demographic that exists. ... saying this while obliterating the biggest endgame sapphic romance? But hey guys!! Kanaya's hot right? This makes it all better :) Especially considering compared to Homestuck proper the epilogues and HS2 have just felt actively hostile towards sapphics FLORAL: This scene is also only one small part of the larger puzzle, bridging between what already existed in HS2 to what we want to do deeper into HS:BC. A puzzle that most of us aren't going to want to figure out. The question of if something is bad for the first 500-1000 pages is it worth consuming will always be no. Also points of expanding the border of Homestuck 1 BUT WE NEVER GET TO SEE THIS. I'm going to hit more on this later but Rose specifically there's so little or no direct foundational build up to her current character choices.

MILES: Yeah, seriously.  I felt viscerally going in that it was really important that Kanaya get some time to just be a stone cold bitch, both in the context of this particular marital fuck-up and in general.  She deserves it. So I'm on my hands and knees begging you guys to learn how to write badass powerful women that doesn't involve them just getting angry because their wife cheated. Hands and fucking knees. This goes for any writing in general but if you have to develop a character through purely negative experiences I'm not sure you should be writing. This whole entire scenario with Rosemary is such a cheap drama soap opera point to begin with (like a lot of HS2). Why can't we let Kanaya be her own fucking person and have shit going on, do something in the war, get to have moments like this in relation to Jane.

FLORAL:  Was so excited for this panel when we were first outlining the update. I had a lot of feelings about how we should move forward from the initial Yiffy reveal, but justification for these narrative choices only matter inside of the text itself, and this is only a tip of a much larger iceberg.

That said, what has always appealed to me the most about Candy in Beyond Canon is that it’s an opportunity to explore alt. selves to the max and start finding the missing “Meat” to Candy’s unbalanced and unsatisfying narrative. The irony for me on this is it was written about the fucking Jojo ass posing Rose which is in my opinion the worst panel in the update. Rose being turned into a comical villain for the sole reason of shaking things up in Candy. Justifications in the text is a great way of putting it and before this we had very very little. The idea of telling us afterwards well it was all apart of the grand plan when barely any time ago we have Rose thanking John for how happy she was to have her life the way it is here. Rose suddenly going ahh apathy my true love and going from a loveable and complex character to this flat cardboard cut out is the biggest crime of this update. The I knew you would forgive me part too. Just. GIRL HOW?? Rose Lalonde who first lost her seer powers in Candy, second the same girl who couldn't even see her friends all dying and her failing in game over. This girl? She saw 15 YEARS INTO THE FUTURE and knew Kanaya would just get it. Roll over like a good wife and be okay. I didn't know she was a seer of time now? This is the worst line in the entire update simply because it implies that Rose has gone off the deep end in the least interesting way and is now an unreliable narrator or that Kanaya is actually going to forgive her and holy fuck that would be the actual worst way to take this. Not beating the NTR kink allegations HS2 writers. Also spoiler alert it's unsatisfying because everyone in it gets fucked over by writing choices as baseless and useless as these. You're perpetuating the problem.

HAVEN: The world hasn't felt real to Rose since she was 16, this life is like a game to her. For her, a war is just “something to do.” Also man while this was a route that I didn't like for the epilogues either there are so many other ways to handle this than the one chosen. But that would require a rewrite from the start of HS2 which already put on this shit show. I still wholeheartedly believe that none of the things listed here justify Rose's behavior to Kanaya. As the one anchor point she's had her entire adult life. FLORAL: It’s a little sad that even during a Rosemary moment, it's never really about Rosemary, huh? Then later- "There really needed to be a joke here, too, to sell the emotional drop the next page brings" Kettle, meet pot. Whatever could be the cause for nothing ever being about them and the pair being relegated to background bullshit? Who's to say indeed. But hey! They're at the forefront now, and only for the most basic and cheap drama ways. Also I loathe this mentality about there needing to be a joke. You're clearly writing this for adults at this point a joke isn't required a real look at the situation is. The gag at the end where the convo gets ended is enough to break the tension for the reader.

FLORAL: There’s catalyst events, sure, but ask a few questions and it becomes apparent everything rides on the history of smaller fights, disappointment, sweeped away passive aggressions, miscommunication and unsaid hurt feelings.

This is why writing characters in their 40’s is great and why there is so much to do in Candy. Behind all the patented Homestuck misdirection and narrative unreliability, you’re left with an offshoot full of alternate selves at their lowest, layered in apathy and evidently not saying what they think Once again we aren't shown this. We just get told about it later and that's incredibly unsatisfying as a reader. Explaining it further down the line and doing more justification later does not help this either. I think also the idea that everyone in their middle aged years is jaded and apathetic is such a lame ass direction to go in. The idea that no one is allowed to be happy after everything they went through in the game is still one of the most frustrating things. I'm asking anyone why would someone want to read that? Why do you think the fandom imploded after this and that the people left mostly enjoy either soap opera trauma or torture porn (which HS2 is both)

like sitting down with a highschool friend you lost touch with 20 years ago and have only known about through concerning Facebook posts. So we're fully aware of the problem and just going this is a feature. Got it. So the commentary ends there and I'm just kind of left feeling as hollow and empty as before. I have zero faith that we can dig into any of these characters in a meaningful way but especially the more complicated women. This reads as coming back to them 20 years later so we can write them how we want or how we envisioned them without having to come up with in text validation. Reminds me of late season Game of Thrones writing. Guys how we got here is important. Anyways in summary HS2 remains a dour, unfun read of characters going through a perpetual state of torture and emotional suffering while we forever get told "Wait but there's more!" But hey. Happy Rosemary, glad they won that poll. Maybe the little thing James is going to do for the fandom is just kill them off to save them from this torment. As a writer myself it's just painful to read and I want to re-write it all times

[acesbelovedwife]

Warmth part 1/?

Portgas D. Ace x fem reader who can't feel heat

8,1k characters

Part two here!

Masterlist

It was cold...

Way too cold

You never felt warmth throughout your whole life, but this time it was way worse than any other time. You were just walking on the beach when the coldness hit you, you saw a pirate ship in the distance so you wanted to get a closer look but seems the world decided to finally end you suffering. Your eyes started closing as you fell on the sand. You thought you heard footsteps but it's not like it mattered anymore. You could feel your life was slowly coming to an end...

"Her temperature is way too low, how is she even alive right now?" Marco muttered partially to himself while Ace just stared at your unconscious body "it's gonna get lower than it already is she'll die for sure-" "what if I warm her up?" Ace cut him off. Marco thought for a minute thinking of any other way but this one seemed like the best one to help you at the moment "yeah it should work, just don't do it rapidly we need to take it slow so the body will get used to the temperature in a healthy way" Marco replied. Ace quickly sat on the inflammatory bed pulling you close to him. Your body was cold as ice so he hissed at the contact, but you needed him right now. He didn't even know you. He didn't know what made him so determined to help you, but he didn't bother thinking about that, for now he needs to help you. Maybe it was the feeling that he was needed to someone..

Hours later you were still unconscious but your body seemed to warm up "her temperature seems to be normal now, you can lay her down" Marco told Ace. But as soon as he stopped touching you the thermometer showed once again that your body heat seemed to low down to a dangerous level "what the hell... Why can't her body hold heat on its own?" Marco was confused, he never seen anything like that, he couldn't even give you any meds since he didn't know what was wrong with you. The only thing that seemed to help was Ace, who was keeping you close once again seeing your state worsen. "I'm gonna go find some books, maybe one of them will help. For now, keep a close eye on her. If anything happens come get me" Marco told Ace who nodded actually looking like he payed attention for once which surprised Marco a bit but he decided to ignore it.

You felt weird, comfortable, but in a weird way. You never felt anything like that, without thinking much you wrapped your hands around the 'thing' that was emitting the weird feeling. Was it warmth? No it couldn't be... You heard a grunt in response making you freeze in place scared to open your eyes "huh?" Ace looked down and saw you clench to him for your dear life as if you were about to die if he was to leave. It took him a minute to realize what's happening "oh shit, you're awake! Are you ok, does anything hurt?" He asked you worried "...I'm ok" you whispered into his chest "I'm gonna go get Marco, he needs to check up on you" he spoke fast trying to stand up but you wouldn't let him go. He looked down at you and you looked like you were about to cry "please don't go... I haven't left so warm in my life" you whisper-begged him, he didn't understand. You didn't feel warm? "What do you mean?" He asked confused sitting down again allowing you to hug him close "since I was born I never really felt warm. I could even spill boiling water on myself and wouldn't feel it..." You explained. He didn't know what to do, if he doesn't get Marco he's gonna get his ass kicked by him, and if he does go to get him your state will worsen. He didn't want to take you with him since it was cold outside already, he thought for a second "I'm not going anywhere, don't worry" he reassured, you were so happy you couldn't stop yourself but kiss him on the freckled cheek making him blush furiously. "Thank you thank you thank you!" You kept on repeating hugging him tighter while he shyly hugged you back.

Soon both of you fell asleep considering it was the middle of the night. Marco came back to the inflammatory room to tell Ace he wasn't successful in finding anything when he saw you both cuddled up on the bed. He checked your temperature making him sigh in relief seeing it's normal, when he pulled away the thermometer he saw you move you hands around Ace making him happy to see you're not completely unconscious anymore. Though most of his happiness came from the fact he has now more stuff to tease Ace about with the others. He pulled covers on both of you and went to his room to get some sleep, thinking of what his next course of action should be.

You woke up cold again "maybe it was a dream.." you thought to yourself. You sat up scanning your surroundings, no, it couldn't be a dream the room looks exactly the same. You stood up immediately walking towards the door opening it up, it was cold, but you were desperate to find him again. He can help you, you saw some people staring at you "isn't that the girl Ace found last night?" "I think so-" "where is the guy with freckles?" You cut him off "oh, you mean Ace? I believe he's with Marco and Thatch in the kitchen right now, but you shouldn't be walking around the deck you're sick aren't you?" You didn't bother listening to more and decided to find the kitchen running away, you didn't know where the kitchen was but you didn't care. You just needed to find him, you felt a bit dizzy but decided to ignore it for now "it'll get better when I find him" you thought.

You were opening doors one after another until you finally opened one of them seeing three guys staring wide eyed at you, and one of them was him, the freckles. "What are you doing out of your bed?" The pineapple head started speaking "I told you I shouldn't have left her, why won't you believe me?" "Because it makes no sense!" Both freckles and pineapple started arguing while you started feeling dizzy again "hey girly, you hungry? I can cook for you anything you want-" before the other guy could finish you started falling to the ground, before you could hit the floor though Ace caught you and lifted you up. "Shit, are you ok?" He cursed under his nose, you didn't bother replying and just nodded, you could feel warmth coming from his body making you feel at ease. Marco quickly ran up to you putting his hand on your forehead feeling it get warm rapidly "what the hell, Ace I told you to not warm her up that fast!" Marco scolded him "but I'm not doing anything! I'm just holding her right now!" Ace defended himself, Marco put his hand on his forehead then Ace's, it wasn't hotter than his own "huh-" he was even more confused than earlier "you can't think on an empty stomach, how about we all eat and then think?" Thatch suggested and both of them nodded in agreement while you nuzzled yourself into Ace's chest making him blush and the other two smirk.

You all ate and you got to know all of their names making you feel stupid you didn't think of Ace's name earlier considering he has a tattoo of it. Soon enough Marco started bombarding you with questions while Ace kept you in his lap "so basically you can't feel heat since you're born and the only one you're feeling it from is Ace?" He asked in shock "pretty much yeah" you shrugged "so what do we do?" Ace asked "well, her state got so bad to the point she will die if she won't feel your touch for too long, we don't really have too much of a choice here do we" Thatch spoke while Marco nodded "it's all up to you Y/n, would you like to join Whitebeard pirates? I'm sure Pop's will understand your situation" Marco said, it nade you think for a bit. It's not like you have anything to keep you in your home, everyone always bullies you for your disability, so.. "as long as I can be with Ace I don't mind" you blantly said making Ace cover his face with his hand at your choice of words. "It's decided then, let's go to Pop's!"

Whitebeard was reculant at first but he quickly took a liking to you "I can't fight but I can do other things I can cook too!" You said as Whitebeard laughed at your determination "As long as you don't bother Thatch I don't have anything against it. Now, let's have a banquet for my daughter!" Whitebeard announced laughing as you hugged Ace's arm feeling cold yet again. "Welcome abroad" he smiled making you smile back at him. "Now that I think of it" Marco started catching everyone's attention "how are you gonna sleep?" he finished making Ace's face drop at his words and making Thatch laugh like a maniac while you were standing there confused at everyone's reactions. "She'll need a separate room that's for sure, but considering she needs to keep warm she could just sleep with Ace in his room" Marco continued smirking at Ace making him blush furiously "y-yeah I guess" he stuttered avoiding eye contact with everyone.

The evening came fast, everyone was enjoying the banquet drinking and laughing "Ace is one lucky guy to have such a beauty stuck to him~" one guy said, he was completely wasted just like most of the crew. You laughed with everyone else while Ace had more confidence in his drunken state putting his arm around you being on the verge of passing out after so many drinks "I'm gonna put him in his room, he's gonna pass out any minute.." Izo said being the most sober person along with you. He picked up Ace while you followed them to his room "if you need anything feel free to ask" Izo said smiling while putting Ace on the bed. You giggled at his soft snores, he looked cute "good night y/n" "good night" you replied as Izo closed the door behind him. You looked around, you didn't expect the room to be so clean, you looked at passed out Ace on the bed, he was still in his pants "it must be uncomfortable to sleep in those" you thought, you took them off along with his hat and necklace and pulled covers over his body. You looked around the room and decided to search for any shirts, with no avail "I guess he really doesn't like shirts" you thought to yourself taking off everything except you panties and bra joining Ace under the covers cuddling up to him and soon falling asleep.

Part two here!

I think I'm gonna do like 2 or 3 parts of this but I'm not 100% sure so I'll say with the question mark. Sorry for any mistakes, english is my second language. I hope you enjoyed reading ♡

[matan4il]

That CUPE poster is fake. I don't know why someone would try to frame a Canadian workers union like that, but that is NOT the kind of thing they post, ever. They are in support of minorities and deal with Canadian issues and working conditions, not international conflict. And they would absolutely NEVER make a horrific poster like that. See for yourself: instagram . com/cupeontario/ and instagram . com/cupe_scfp/ and they're on Twitter and stuff too. The pixelatedness of that poster speaks to how fake it is too, none of their other material looks anything like that. And while Fred Hahn has posted/retweeted some stuff about the conflict on his twitter, he has never posted anything inflammatory like that and the reply of his that is in the screenshot is replying to something completely different.

Hi Anon,

I'm gonna reply to you and to the following ask together.

https://www.tumblr.com/matan4il/742531713829404672 This is a faked image; CUPE may have problematic opinions, but it doesn't help anyone to falsify atrocious posters when the reality should be more than enough.

Here's the post in question, showing a poster with the photo of Shani Lock's stripped, raped and murdered body being kidnapped into Gaza. The poster has CUPE's logo, as well as a text that legitimizes the Oct 7 massacre. CUPE, as mentioned above, is a Candian workers union.

Here are the links to the two IG accounts of CUPE from the first ask. To fthe first anon, you're right that the poster in question does not currently appear on either, you're wrong that they don't touch upon international conflict, they def weighed in on this one (more on that later in my reply).

The poster does use the pink filter and the CUPE logo with the right font, but it's true that someone skilled enough with photoshop can fake that. At the same time, if that person was good enough to be able to copy that well CUPE's visuals, I doubt they would be "exposed" through pixelation, so rather than proof of photoshopping, the pixelation seems to be a result of zooming in on the poster to show just a part of Shani's body along with the text. That would make the pic appear pixelated, and then a screenshot was taken that way.

So far, I would say nothing's conclusive one way or another. The poster isn't on the IG accounts, but it could have been there and deleted, or could have been posted on another social media site to begin with, the visuals being the right ones doesn't prove anything, and neither does the pixelation. BUT since I noticed the dialogue about the poster seemed to have taken place on Twitter, I went to have a look there.

I found the post where someone quote retweeted Fred Hahn, asking him about that Oct 7 poster, along with Hahn's reply that CUPE had nothing to do with it, and then he added the false accusation of genocide, telling people to "focus" (because apparently Jewish pain is never the main focus, not even when we talk about the Holocaust, which is the term for the genocide of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis... there's a reason I mention this, I'll get back to it later). I will keep my mouth shut about how many ignorant, antisemitic, anti-Israel tweets I had to see as I was scrolling in order to get to the relevant one, I'll just say that workers unions that want to be safe for Jewish workers as well should do better than that, including when the heads of these unions post on their "personal" accounts (since they're not posting as a private person, they're posting as the head of said union). Here's the exchange, dated Feb 14:

But the person who challenged Fred Hahn did mention where this poster was supposedly originally shared:

Apparently, CUPE has local branches, with numbers, and each has their own Twitter account, so I went to CUPE 3906, and went all the way back to their tweets around Oct 7. Needless to say, this official account is full of anti-Israel, antisemitic propaganda, too. Now around the relevant date, what does their timeline look like? There's one last pre-war tweet on Oct 6, a general anti-colonial one re-tweeted on Oct 7 (even though the timing makes the context obvious, the wording doesn't explicitly mention either Israel or Gaza), and then the next, VERY interesting tweet is on Oct 11. Here's the relevant segment (obviously the tweets appear with the latest at the top, older below):

Here is that Oct 11 tweet, which is a statement made in response to backlash they got for a tweet that they say was "made in solidarity with Palestinians."

Only the first paragraph is truly relevant, but the last one is also telling. "As the death toll rises," they said, just a day after Israel's counter action started, and while Israel was still counting its dead from the deadliest day in the history of this conflict, and the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Still, the more important part is that if there had been nothing wrong with the tweet they refer to in the 1st paragraph, it should have still been up on their account, but it's not. Something was there and deleted, because there's now NO TWEET between Oct 6 and this statement, that could explain getting backlash... Deleting the tweet indicates they KNOW something was wrong with it, and they no longer wish to be publicly associated with it. But what was it? Have a look at this tweet, replying to CUPE 3906 on Oct 11:

It explicitly mentions rape. If the above poster was a fake, photoshopped and shared online in February 2024, how did someone posting in October 2023 know to mention rape specifically, and not just CUPE 3906's general justification of the massacre?

I can't prove anything one way or another regarding a deleted tweet, and with the progress of fake images, no one else can either. But I feel like the general progression of events indicates to me that it's more likely the poster is real, CUPE 3906 realized they won't get away with it, deleted it, and then they all closed ranks, claiming the screenshot is fake. Again, whatever they posted in the deleted tweet had to be real bad for even people as one-sided as they are (with all of the anti-Israel and antisemitic stuff they do proudly still have up on their accounts), that they were compelled to delete it. And justifying not just the massacre, but the rape specifically, might just do that.

Now let me get back to the IG accounts that the first ask pointed to, because even though they post less frequently than the multiple Twitter CUPE accounts, they're still very clear regarding this union's bias, and I'll also get back to that Holocaust mention, as promised.

I did not find a single post of solidarity with or compassion for Jews on either IG account following the Hamas massacre. I did find, on the Ontario account (and cross posted to Twitter, too) shared on Oct 10 a post that states they stand with the colonized over the colonizer, while the image (as well as their anti-Israel tweets) makes it clear they're erasing Jewish history and native rights in the Land of Isral and Jerusalem. The image could have been inclusive, show both mosques and the Western Wall, but nope. Jews are excluded from this image of our holy city and historical capital.

I also found a post about Holocaust Remembrance Day, which presents the Holocaust as including Jews. To make it clear, as someone who works in the field of studying this: "The Holocaust" is a term which is meant to reflect the Nazi intention to fully annihilate the Jews, something that didn't characterize their policy with other minorities. This is why we distinguish the Holocaust, the genocide of the Jews, from the persecution of other minorities by the Nazis. BOTH matter, and we talk about and educate against both, but they do have different characteristics, and so these are events, which are related, but CANNOT be reduced into one framing term. It is so problematic, talking about an event that was specifically about the Jews, as 'including Jews.' But let's say maybe that was ignorance, a lot of people don't get this distinction. CUPE's text doesn't mention antisemitism once, in a post about the most extreme antisemitic event in history, at a time when antisemitism is reaching its peak since WWII. When CUPE posted nothing else about this rise in Jew hatred, this text is just NOT good enough.

And what makes it even more obvious that CUPE is not treating Jews as it does other minorities, is that the same account DOES include posts that are specific to other communities, and does center the term for their hatred and persecution. They shared a post about a mosque attack that occurred in 2017, and in the text, they don't hesitate standing in solidarity specifically with Muslims, and against Islamophobia. So, to CUPE, 6 murdered Muslims are worthy of centering in the post about them (rightly so), but at least 6 million murdered Jews are not. Worse, the post then goes on to repeat the false claim about a genocide in Gaza. It also mentions the rise in Islamophobia following the war, even though they posted NOTHING, on NONE of the accounts I looked at, which recognizes the much greater rise in antisemitism we've seen over the same period of time, and which was launched by an attack on Jews.

The bilingual account, which I guess is a national one, didn't even mention Holocaust Remembrance Day. But on the very same date (Jan 27), it did mention the 2017 mosque attack, as well as Islamophobia, anti-Palestinians, but not a word on antisemitism.

All of this together is so upsetting, shows such a deep lack of concern for the well being of Jews, such a strong bias against the Jewish state and Jewish identity, that I honestly wonder whether that one poster is truly an issue. If it was posted by CUPE 3906, as I tend to believe by all signs I've seen, it seems to be a continuation of everything CUPE is completely unashamed of. And if they didn't share that poster, well... I guess there's a certain amount of poetic justice about being accused of something you didn't do, and no one listening to you protesting against the lie, eh CUPE?

You're welcome to do with this what you will.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[rederiswrites]

So ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and fibromyalgia are two syndromes (collections of symptoms often found together, with unknown causative mechanisms) with largely overlapping symptoms. They're currently classified as different diagnoses, but there are plenty of people who aren't convinced that they're actually different things. The biggest diagnostic difference seems to be whether the pain or the fatigue is the biggest problem.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who, like me, couldn't possibly say which of those is ruining my life more. I, like many, fulfill all the diagnostic criteria for both. I have the specific patterns of pain and inflammation characteristic of fibro, but I also have the postural orthostatic problems (Stand Up Feel Real Bad disorder) and extreme fatigue of ME/CFS. There's no test; diagnosis is an inherently subjective thing.

This is just gonna keep being about medical problems, so have a cut.

I also have problems that may be related or may be separate or may be part of the constellation of physical issues associated with ADHD, like loose tendons that lead to terrible core strength and janky joints. So while generally the pain spots for fibromyalgia are considered to have no actual material cause, I am pretty sure that my right hip and shoulder are in fact fucked up, and fibro is just making it experientially worse. I've also got a rib that spends more than half its time in just slightly the wrong goddamn place. I have multiple friends who have hypermobility problems that make mine look like a papercut, but combining them with fibro isn't a lot of fun.

A few months back, at my bestie's prompting and with his help, I started eating keto, which is essentially just restricting carbohydrates so harshly that they represent less than 20% (or less than 10%, this seems to be bioindividual) of your diet, at which point your body begins building energy transport molecules out of fat (ketones) instead of glucose. This has a history of treating several conditions (originally, seizures, but now also diabetes and inflammatory conditions), well before it became popular for weight loss.

It was an experiment. Believe me, I have mixed feelings about the fact that it worked. At first, it worked really, really well. I went from mostly bedbound to up and working full days outside. I've started to hit diminishing returns and having to nap more often, but it's still a radical improvement. I just forget how bad it was too fast. I hate how fast we forget how far we've come.

I haven't talking about it though, because I am so conflicted about restrictive diets as a thing. This started as an experiment, and as an experiment I could sell myself on no apples no potatoes no rice no crackers no no no no etc for a few weeks. After a few weeks I could decide whether it was worth it. And now here we are and it works.

But I've gone through So Much food restriction, starting when Phantom was two and we discovered that gluten fucks us both up. Then the Boy was sensitive to so many things as a baby that I cut out the entire Top Eight allergens (let's see, can I remember? Milk, eggs, peanuts, gluten, corn, soy, uhh....others...) for a year while he was nursing. Once you've cut wheat AND eggs AND corn out there is almost no commercial product you can eat and you have to prepare everything from scratch. With a toddler and a baby. I was literally starving. I used a calorie tracker for a while and found that I was nearly a thousand calories short per day, on average. I could barely think.

It's become a huge depression trigger for me. I tell people that my last major depressive episode was triggered by not being able to eat dairy, and I'm not kidding. I'm struggling with it now, too. Most of the time I'm good, but still, despite medication, I get very low and I just want to be able to fucking eat something tasty and comforting and EASY. I just want...cheese and crackers. A whole piece of fruit. A baked potato. Rice with my stir fry. But then I eat too much fucking watermelon and I can tell the difference in my wellbeing the next day.

Food becomes a minefield. Every meal becomes a struggle. You question every bite, every symptom. At least once a day the whole thing is just too annoying and I decide to just not eat, because fuck it. I dunno if it reaches eating disorder levels, but it's certainly maladaptive. I hate that I've gotten here because what you eat actually DOES matter. it's like the question of how you talk yourself out of anxiety when the world is objectively falling apart.

But I can do the things I love. I owe all this garden progress to not having had a glass of juice or a bowl of pasta in four months. Not to mention the abrupt cessation of all my dermatitis problems, frequent "silent" heartburn, a ton of digestive problems, migraines, most headaches, and more. "Nothing is worth risking depression" but is it though?

I'm holding on to the hope that these changes will allow me to heal. That I'll be able to make long-term progress, as many people say they have, and reintroduce restricted foods gradually. That I'll be able to cement the opportunity diet gave me with regular movement and conditioning and slowly claw my way up the spiral.

But on days when I feel like shit anyway, and I can't have some fucking chips about it....yeah. It's not great.

[iam93percentstardust]

Welp it's been almost an entire year since the last hate comment in my inbox, so I figured I was due for another one (and trust me, dear nonnie, you have nothing on the three months of targeted bullying and hate I went through at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023). But I think this is a good time to spend some time talking about authorial intent. Now, don't get me wrong, I think there are many, many things wrong with this comment, but their complete misunderstanding of what I wanted to accomplish with this fic is indicative of a wider problem that I'm seeing in fandom at the moment, so we're gonna talk a bit about critical thinking and authorial intent.

So I could point out that this comment sucks because the fic they're complaining about is a gift fic and the giftee loved the fic so anyone else's opinion doesn't matter, and thinking that your opinion matters more than the giftee's is the height of entitlement (but let's face it, being called entitled doesn't matter to this person).

Or I could point out that this fic was tagged with "Infidelity" so they had to have known what they were getting into when they first opened the fic and shouldn't be so horrified that the cheating fic contained cheating (but let's face it, we all know that they didn't read the tags, and I'm not even sure they read the fic since both characters were cheating, not just Tony).

But what I really want to focus on is how badly this person misunderstood what I was writing. This is a smut fic masquerading as a breaking up & making up fic. I wrote this fic specifically so I could write 6 sex scenes (which was the original prompt anyway). I didn't really want to focus on the feelings. They're there, they're present, they get mentioned to set the stage for the sex, but I don't spend thousands and thousands of words talking about the feelings and mental states of Steve and Tony.

Which means that for the parts where Steve and Tony are being "toxic" and "shitty," I don't go into a whole lot of detail as to why they're being toxic and shitty. I have a personal headcanon as to why they're acting like this, but it doesn't actually matter. What matters is that I made a deliberate choice not to include the justification for their actions so I could write the smut instead. I knew that I was writing Steve and Tony as toxic and shitty because that was the entire point.

Now, let's be honest here, this commenter doesn't care about any of this. "Disgusting" and "grossness" are a deliberately inflammatory word choice, and as my friend pointed out, they're being puritanical and moralistic. In other words, they're like any other of the growing number of pearl-clutching members of fandom I see these days.

But this post isn't really for them. This post is for everyone who's only reading fic through their own lens and forgetting that the author also had a purpose when they wrote the fic in the first place.

This isn't the first time someone has completely misunderstood what I was trying to do with a fic. It's one of the meanest, but it's not the first time. It happened with the professor/student fic I wrote in 2022 where I argued that just because two people were wrong for each other when they were younger that doesn't mean they're still a mismatch when they're older. The pining Tony/serial one-night stand Steve where almost all of the early comments were about how it should be switched and missed that that was the entire point (that Steve is the obvious choice for pining, and I wanted to explore what would switch that dynamic). The Christmas fic in 2021 where someone straight up told me I tagged it wrong just based on the summary.

So here's the thing: death of the author is only one interpretation of literary criticism, but it's by no means the only. Authorial intent is a perfectly valid way to interpret a fic, and in this case, it's arguably more valid than looking at it through the lens of death of the author because if the reader isn't considering my reasoning behind why I wrote the fic the way I did, then the point of it will go right over their head. Getting so hung up on my intentions, my background, my style of writing not mattering, on only their interpretation mattering, means that they only read the surface level of this fic. And that works just fine in other fics, but it doesn't work here. At all. Because the entire point of this fic is my intentions. I intended to write a smut fic that glossed over the feelings of the two characters involved. I intended for it to look like a toxic relationship from an outsider's perspective. I intended to write the prompt I saw for the person who prompted it.

And if you're not looking at it through what I intended, then all you're going to end up with is dissatisfaction and the belief that I made a mistake somewhere instead of realizing that I achieved exactly what I set out to do.

[beardedmrbean]

Question for you. How do you feel about the one CEO saying Endometriosis isn't a gynaecological condition? I mean it technically is, isn't it?

https://news.yahoo.com/trans-ceo-charity-founder-says-210134975.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=0_00

Oy vay, what now, lol. Gonna use my psychic powers to say we're entering a world of equality where women can have prostate cancer as well.

Gonna tl:dr at the end

Endometriosis is not a gynaecological condition, the founder of a charity supporting women with the disease has suggested, after appointing a transgender woman as its chief executive.

Jodie Hughes, the founder of Endometriosis South Coast, recently appointed Steph Richards, a trans woman and activist, as chief executive.

Ms Hughes told BBC Woman’s Hour on Wednesday that referring to the disease as a “gynaecological disorder” may be the reason medical research into the issue has not progressed further.

Endometriosis causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow outside of the womb, often causing severe pelvic pain. It can also affect fertility.

Another charity, Endometriosis UK, describes it as “the second most common gynaecological condition in the UK”. It affects around 1.5 million women in the country.

Appearing on the BBC programme alongside Ms Richards, Ms Hughes said: “Endometriosis is a systemic inflammatory condition. We need to move away from the gynaecological side of things because you don’t have to be born with a womb to have it.”

She also claimed endometriosis is “not a reproductive disorder”, adding: “It’s being seen as a gynaecological disorder maybe is the reason why the past 200 years research and medicine isn’t progressing.”

Ms Richards, 71, whose appointment drew criticism from some women’s groups, was asked on the programme if she could fully represent women with endometriosis when she previously had not used the word “woman” to describe those suffering from disease.

She said she was “happy” to use the word but did not want to ignore how endometriosis could also affect trans men and non-binary people.

Men diagnosed

Ms Richards also claimed that endometriosis was not only seen in women because 29 men had been recorded as being diagnosed with the disease.

“I look at women but I also look at the issue of trans men and non-binary people. There’s something like 5,500 trans men who had endometriosis who probably feel rather left out and also non-binary people,” Ms Hughes said.

The charity faced a backlash this week after appointing Ms Richards to the role.

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, told The Telegraph: “Endometriosis is a disorder that involves cells from the womb lining finding their way to other parts of a woman’s anatomy, and it can cause infertility.

“So, of course, it’s a women’s reproductive issue; it’s absurd and offensive to the many female sufferers of this debilitating condition to say otherwise. Yes, women who identify as men or non-binary can have the disease – how you identify obviously doesn’t change your biology. And, yes, there are a handful of cases in the literature where biological men suffer from something similar, but these are ultra-rare exceptions.”

Ms Joyce said that Ms Hughes’ remarks suggesting endometriosis should not be framed as a gynaecological issue were “offensive”.

“Endometriosis is poorly understood and researched precisely because it only affects women and our reproductive systems. This is part of the systemic lack of research and funding for “women’s issues”.

“The answer is for the medical profession to step up and do more for women – not to rebrand women’s disease by pretending they also affect men. People can’t in reality change sex, and men won’t start suffering from endometriosis even if we pretend people can change sex (and no man should want this disease; it’s horrific).” _________________________________

This entire article is lunacy.

For the first bit it's a gynecological condition because it's people with uterus's that get it

Endometriosis causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow outside of the womb, often causing severe pelvic pain. It can also affect fertility.

until they get the uterus transplant thing down this is something that will hit AFAB people and telling transmen this also almost sounds like telling them they don't need to go to a gynecologist to me.

It's not sexist or transphobic to say you need a gynocoligist if you have, vulva, vagina, uterus, cervex, fallopian tubes, ovaries and any bits I didn't mention, they're the doctors that specialize in those body parts

I'm very trans positive and supportive, this woman is an idiot however, and people are going to get hurt as a result of her being an idiot if she keeps going with this shit.

If you have a uterus you can get endometriosis.

If you have a uterus you go to a gynecologist to get those bits looked at, you can pull the gender away and be fine with it, gynecologist is a doctor that works on parts that 50% (or so) of the human population have.

Issues dealing with those bits are gynecological issues, make it gender neutral in your head if you need to.

We're getting dangerously close to a trans woman threatening to sue an oncologist because he said she has prostate cancer.

TL:DR; whole thing is insanity and will wind up killing people if they don't knock it off, you can call it whatever you want to call it but don't tell the professionals they're wrong on this one.

if it's a job for a OBGYN then it's a gynecological issue

[normal-internet-user]

NORMIE!

I just went to the orthopedic doctor today and apparently the flexibility in my arm has loosened my scapula(shoulder blade). Now I have to take Anti-inflammatories and see a physical therapist! I was wondering if I could turn this into a request for my comfort character and have 2012 Mikey with a gf who all of a sudden stops visiting them and he gets really upset and then after like 5 months the reader comes back and has to explain that she was in a different state to see a well known physical therapist so she'd be able to do simple tasks with soreness again?

I was originally gonna do headcanons, but I felt a small fic was a better option 💕 <33

HONEY I'M HOME

♡~~♡~~♡~~♡~~♡

Summary: After being in another state for 5 months for your health, you surprise your boyfriend with your homecoming.

Warnings: None!

Requested: @lemonadae-caekie

Female Reader!

....................................

Long distance sucked as much as people always said it did.

You missed your boyfriend and his family, and you hardly ever had anytime to talk on the phone, and when you did, it couldn't be for long since your physicak therapy was exhausting.

It was definitly taking a toll on your relationship, and you wanted nothing more than to cuddle up to Mikey's side while the two of you played video games.

Which is why, after 5 long months of seperation, you were so excited to be on your way back to New York.

April and Casey were supposed to meet you at the airport and accompany you down to the Lair. They were the only ones who knew of your homecoming, since you wanted it to be a surprise.

You waved your arm gently to greet your two friends, doing your best to not strain the limb.

Casey pulled you in for a side hug, "Hey there, (Name), long time no see, huh? Hey did you get a haircut?"

You laughed, "No, Casey, I did not get a hair cut." You patted his arm, "Nice to see you too, Jones."

April smiled, taking your suitcase from you, "Mikey's gonna be so excited to see you, he misses you alot ya know."

Casey scoffed, "Seriously, your all he talks about. 'I miss (Name)', 'I wish (Name) was here', '(Name)-"

You cut him off, blushing slightly, "I uh, I think I get it, Jones."

He shrugged, and the three of you made your way out of the airport and towards the infamous hippie van.

You first went back to your apartment so you could drop off your things, after that, your friends helped you down into the sewers, and it was all you could do to not take off down the familiar tunnels.

"Oh, just go already." Casey said, and you squealed, rushing as fast as you could into the Lair,

"Marco!" you called, you heard a crash, and the sounds of someone knocking things over from Mikey's room, "Polo! Polo!" he shouted, rushing into the main room to pull you into a tight hug and pepper your face with kisses.

You giggled, "Mikey! Mikey calm down, missed you too!"

The orange clad terrapin stopped his affectionate onslaught, and with the widest grin you'd ever seen, you picked you up and started to spin you around, "I missed you sosososososo soOOOo much, Sweets! How did the physical therapy stuff go? Is your arm better, oh shoot, did I hurt you at all?"

Mikey set you down, and you placed a hand on his cheek, "The therapy went well. My arm is still needs some healing, and it's still kinda sore, but I'm fine, babe." you kissed him on the cheek, and he pulled you in for a hug.

"Can we cuddle now?" he asked, burying his head in the crook of your neck.

You laughed, "Sure we can, babe. Just watch the arm, ok?"

....................................

Here you are my friend! I know this isn't exactly what you asked for, I hope that's ok. I'm sendimg you my well wishes, and I hope your physical therapy goes well!! <333

[jeanmoreaux]

hi friend! wanted to ask you smthn

ive been thinking and wondering why Snow didn't have Katniss (and everyone she loves) killed outright honestly or staged it somehow.

i'm remembering how Haymitch won and i still don't see it as a way of 'mocking' the capital. but Katniss' stunt with the berries was far more openly rebellious to me as a reader yet Snow sat on this decision to take care of her but murdered Haymitch's family within 2 weeks

im just contemplating hmmmm was it because others were already rebelling as well and if he took her out ASAP then it might've just added fuel to the fire ?

you got me wanting to revisit the series!!!! curse you (affectionately)!!!!!! i need to find a thesis topic send help OTL

hi there! well, you're definitely right in your assessment that haymitch's defiance was less inflammatory in the grand scheme of things. idk if you have read tbosas but i think that book gives you a good idea of how snow is not just obsessed with power but also control. and haymitch doing what he did took some of the capitol's control over the narrative of what makes a victor. it wasn't that he won because he proved himself to be the stronger, more ruthless fighter. he won because he was smart. and while you can easily manipulate a victor who wins the games on the capitol's terms (and is basically a capitol drone), a victor who defies this traditional victor narrative and uses the capitol's weapons against them poses much more of a threat (at least in snow's eyes). and i think, at least to a degree, snow was worried that if given a chance, victors like haymitch would use their status to rally people behind them. so he made an example of him. he didn't have to kill all of haymitch's loved ones, but he did. simply to show that he can. (not just show haymitch but every living victor and all the victors to come.) in the end, i don't think that it had much to do with haymitch and everything to do with the possibility of what some like haymitch could represent. the kind of stories you could spin around someone like haymitch.

and then katniss comes around, and unlike haymitch, she isn't reaped. she volunteers for her little sister—a blond, pretty little thing that half of panem becomes enamoured with over the course of katniss's games. the people do not just fall in love with prim, they also fall in love with katniss, the girl that keeps showing a lot of compassion for the people around her. and she does draw attention with that. people know her. people support her. oh and what a story she makes! oh what a narrative! the girl who volunteered! the girl on fire! and then she does the most rebellious thing by pulling out the poisonous berries and threatening the victor narrative that has been so carefully established over the years. the girl with the berries! she flips the script in the most radical way, and if she didn't have all of panem's eyes on her before, she does now. and the people look at her and her compassion and begin to stir. they begin to see that change is possible, so they rebel. you mentioned it already, but killing her AFTER the stunt with the berries was impossible. not just because people would have known why and by whom she was killed, but because it would have added fuel to the fire. snow, much like coin later on, realises that the rebellion will only co-opt her image and make her a martyr. snow definitely sees that katniss alive can be used in a way that can potentially help his cause, whereas katniss dead will always gonna end up helping the rebels in their cause. and killing katniss's mother might have been possible without raising many questions, but killing prim? no way he could have had her killed without making people suspicious. there is also a big chance that the rebels would have co-opted prim's death as well (or at least bank on the suspicions swaying some people). and without her family, how would snow have anything to control katniss with?

and the thing is. while haymitch was an incovenience he was never a real threat. not the way katniss is. killing haymitch's family was a means to an end, but nothing more. snow didn't need to control him beyond making him fall in line because haymitch had absolutely no social power to rival snow's. but katniss has. she has many of the district citizens at her back. and the only way to contain her (in snow's eyes) is to hold the threat of hurting her loved ones over her head. take that away and snow has nothing to stop her from leaning into the role the rebellion has assigned her. which is also why he doesn't kill peeta in mockingjay. again, with peeta gone there would be nothing holding katniss back from working with the rebels.

the social power that haymitch and katniss wielded after their respective games is basically what makes all the difference (in my opinion). and that's why, with katniss, snow's hands were tied by circumstance (in a way). retaliating against her directly (either by harming her or by harming her family) would have resulted in more problems than solutions, while killing haymitch's family & girlfriend was a quick and efficient way to stop an inconvenient victor in his tracks AND use him as an example that saves snow the time to put every victor in their place individually. in a cruel way, haymitch simply had bad luck on top of his bad luck.