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With more and more Ao3 authors restricting their works to the archive (due to AI scraping), they're going to be losing guest interaction. And probably generally feeling down because. You know. AI is stealing their hard work.

So! Now is a great time to stop by your favorite authors/stories and drop them some comments! They really appreciate it!

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If I got a time machine, I'd want to go see all the neat little very very very firsts of random little things. I want to see the first time someone braided their hair. I want to see the very first time someone figured out eggs are really good if you scramble them up and cook them over a fire. I want to see the very first successful kill with a bow and arrow.

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how the super wealthy purposefully lose money to make money

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"I'm not skilled at gardening and i don't have the time/energy to learn, but i really want a pretty garden, so i hired a gardener"

That makes a lot of sense, it's nice to experience that beauty!

"I love writing music, and I can play a few instruments, but my playing skills don't cover the breadth or depth of what I want my songs to sound like, and none of my usual partners were available for recording this month, so I hired someone who's good on sax and another musician who plays an upright bass to help me record my new stuff, and they added a lot of depth to the experience!"

Good call, when you really want the right sound right now it makes sense to bring in people who are available and talented!

"I'm a decent cook and my friends love the food i make, but sometimes I enjoy a really high-quality meal in a carefully curated atmosphere or i don't want to do dishes, so i go to a restaurant and pay a chef and cooks and waitstaff and dish washers to make me a fantastic meal in a nice setting without any of the chores."

Of course, we all love a good time without the usual work sometimes!

"I love music and I play the piano really well, but sometimes I want to hear it played by someone who's really dedicated their career to it, or who plays in a style I'm not experienced with, so I go to a concert and pay a musician for their music, or I buy their albums so I can listen to it at home."

Yes, getting to experience an expert in their craft is a real treat!

"I've been way too busy to take care of myself or my living space lately and it's been taking a toll on my mental health, so i hired someone to help me tidy up this week and then went to a salon to get spiffed up so I could feel better about myself, and i paid those professionals for their work and education and experience and skill."

Good on you, self care is so important!

"I'm not very experienced with sex and and would like someone else to show me what it can feel like, or I want to enjoy sex at a time when I don't have anyone available, or I enjoy sex and am pretty good at it but I want to experience it a dedicated atmosphere with someone who takes it seriously, or I want to see what all is possible when someone is really an expert at it and treats it like a set of skills they've spent a long time working to master, or sex makes me feel good and i could really use that good experience in my life right now, so I paid a sex worker to help me achieve that goal."

...

If you think the last one is somehow fundamentally different from the others, that hiring a professional to provide a service that you want or need for any reason is suddenly immoral because it involves sex, you should probably reflect on why. Because really, at the end of the day, it's not.

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an interaction im very tired of in online autism spaces. aka when you don’t have a special interest / when your special interest isn’t [character] or [fandom]

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I have been waiting all year to post this.

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always remember, friend,

now go in peace

This meme was inspired by the piece "Lucky 10,000" by Randall Monroe.

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It drives me crazy how much ecofascist rhetorical of overpopulation has woven itself into the mainstream

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TikToker @bdylanhollis exuding Chaotic Pre-Serum Steve Rogers energy.

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For fresh options, you can see if you have a local farmer's market or just local farms. You can talk to the farmers and see what their sanitation practices are. I know it's more expensive and not feasible for everyone for regular shopping, but getting something fresh now and then as a treat is good for the soul. And possibly more importantly, building community at local places like farmers markets is the one of the best things we can do to survive this

My husband and I were discussing how the first felon is defending the FDA and how the quality control of our food is gonna basically disappear and I proceeded to have so much anxiety about it that I didn't sleep last night. How do we prepare for this? Is there a way to make food safe at home? How can we avoid getting poisoned from the grocery store? Sorry for bringing this anxiety to your inbox but I'm exhausted and scared and I'm hoping you've come up with food safety tips what with your general food complications.

I’m afraid I don’t have a solution for something of this scale and am just as equally terrified, but that said:

Check your local state regulations. Some states actually have strict testing that the FDA when it comes to certain things like milk. See if they are listing any recalls.

Stop eating things raw for the foreseeable future. Wash and cook everything thoroughly, even if the bag claims it’s pre-washed, wash it again. Cooking will also help eliminate any remaining pathogens. It means no more salads for a while but that’s okay.

For things like fruit, try to go with things that have an outer skin that can be taken off. If it requires you to cut into it with a knife, give the outer skin a scrub and rinse to reduce the chances of your knife being contaminated by anything like e-coli and then contaminating the insides by cutting it up.

For fruit that can’t be peeled, make sure to inspect and wash them thoroughly. If you are immunocompromised like me, consider cooking it down into a jam or pie filling to reduce further risk. Not as fun as eating it fresh for some people, but it’s a valid way of still getting the flavor and nutrients.

For things like milk, only drink pasteurized and ultra pasteurized. Try to get pasteurized eggs if you can too.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, now is the time to get one. Make sore everything is cooked to its required internal temperature. For poultry, the recommended temperature is 165°F (74°C), while for beef and pork, the recommended temperature is 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest time. Ground meats should be cooked to 160°F (71°C). Eggs should be cooked until the yolk is set. No more runny egg yolks for a bit until we get a competent source of information back about bird flu.

For things like flour, try to go for reputable brands that have their own independent testing facilities for things like gluten. They also usually test for other things and clean their facilities thoroughly. My go to is King Arthur atm.

Also, stop eating raw cookie dough if you’re not going to toast the flour in the oven first. That’s how a lot of people get sick, not necessarily from the raw egg, though stop eating raw egg right now if you do. Again, bird flu.

This is a dwindling possibility with the tariffs but try to buy food imported from other countries that still have food quality control. I get my masa harina from a small company that imports directly from Colombia. They can’t afford the gluten free label required to be classified as such in the USA, but considering Cheerios in the USA can afford to buy that label and the celiac foundation certification logo and still routinely sells contaminated produce due to not using gluten free oats and a mechanical sorting system that can’t be certified gluten free (1) (2) (3), I’m more inclined to go with other countries labeling right now.

With clean water under threat, use a filter for your drinking water. We currently use the ones by Life Straw. They don’t fit into your faucet but the LS filters are better than most of the ones that can be attached that way and the housing of the jugs and countertop filters are easy to clean. Make sure you do so once a week and change the filters as directed.

Most of this is just basic food hygiene stuff combined with what it’s like to be immunocompromised, but it’s always worth repeating in case someone didn’t know, but especially worth repeating right now with all our rules and regulating bodies going out the window 😞

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We've all gotten just a bit too comfortable being jerks to strangers on the internet I think

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a society that allows people to starve when there is food has failed. like. that’s it.

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Hate how lighting a candle does wonders to my mood. Like wowwww. Grug like fire? Grug not sad anymore because Fire in Cave? Wow. Real predictable of Grug.