#Ambiguous Insurance

[nationallawreview]

Massachusetts SJC Rules in Favor of Insureds for Ambiguous Insurance Policy Term

In Zurich American Insurance Company v. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (and a consolidated case[1]) (Docket No. SJC-13535), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled in favor of insureds in a dispute over an ambiguous term in two policies insuring Norwood Hospital in Norwood, Massachusetts. A severe storm with heavy rain caused damage to the hospital basement and to the hospital’s main…

[fromtheseventhhell]

I can tell I'm Arya-pilled to the max because I'll see other Arya stans talking about the questionable morality of her executing Daeron and I'm just like "That was so Lady of Winterfell-coded"

[toopunkrockforshul]

Just got home from dinner. don't think I want to write tonight, I did get most of my packing done, I should finish the rest right now (aside from stuff that needs to be packed the day of cause I'm still using it) and put that in the car. And then never stop blowing up and bed I think.

[attor]

terrible possessing cramping craving for gata rn. been since last july that ive been off wheat and it has NOT gotten easier nor do i think has it improved my quality of life greatly...less joint pain but god at what cost.

[forthegothicheroine]

I've made a post about great lesser-known noirs, but it occurs to me that some of you might not be familiar with the classics, and might want to know where to start. This is a ridiculously short list- I have a million more to talk about- but here are some of the big stars of the genre.

The Maltese Falcon: Sam Spade, a clever but callous private detective, gets wrapped up in intrigue relating to an artifact that is functionally cursed. If he's an unscrupulous character, just wait until you meet everyone else. The whole damn cast is electrifying, lending charm and cruelty in equal measure.

The Big Sleep: Philip Marlowe, a kinder and more poetic detective for Humphrey Bogart to play than Spade, is called upon to deal with a wealthy, dysfunctional family, and it keeps on getting weirder from there. Is the sharp-tongued Vivian Sternwood the femme fatale she seems, or is she just another person trying to find the right thing to do in desperate circumstances? And will she and Marlowe keep their hands off each other until the plot has had its last twist?

Double Indemnity: Rich housewife Phyllis Dietrichson and sleazy insurance agent Walter Neff are, by their own admission, rotten people. It's only natural that they should plot a murder together, and that they should turn on each other the very second things go wrong. Every single domestic murder movie since 1944 has ripped this off.

Kiss Me Deadly: This is nominally an adaptation of a Mike Hammer story. Screenwriter Bezzerides hated Mike Hammer. As depicted here, he is one of the worst people in the world. Depending on the cut of the film you see, he may inadvertently cause the nuclear apocalypse. (For once, the theatrical cut is darker.)

Sweet Smell of Success: Cruel, all-powerful columnist JJ Hunsecker wants his sister's boyfriend out of the way (for reasons that are, um, ambiguous.) To accomplish this, he enlists the biggest weasel in New York, Sidney Falco, and the two completely deserve each other as they spend the rest of the movie trading elaborate insults. Popular on tumblr for its dialogue and chemistry between the leads.

Sunset Boulevard: Broke screenwriter Joe Gillis thinks he can con a has-been into hiring him as a script doctor, and that's the last free decision he ever gets to make. From then on, his life is in the hands of Norma Desmond, silent film starlet turned crazed recluse, terrifying yet intensely pitiable. This is as much gothic horror as noir.

Ace in the Hole: The story of a man trapped in a cave is turning out to be a big hit in the newspaper, and if the publicity will make a reporter's career, then what's the harm in delaying rescue just for a little while? This is as vicious as noir gets, but damn it, you've just got to see what happens next. (Watch Jacob Geller's video Fear of the Depths after this.)

Sorry Wrong Number: Of all the films on this list, this is the one that really scared me. In the days of switchboards, a rich hypocondriac woman is connected to the wrong phone line and overhears a murder being planned. It doesn't take her long to figure out she's the intended victim, and each call she makes or recieves makes the situation darker. But how can she escape her fate if she can't- or won't leave her bed?

The Asphalt Jungle: The heist movie. Maybe the only heist movie ever made. Every line is quotable. Every member of the team is an unforgettable personality. When things go wrong, they go horribly wrong. One minute you're laughing, and the next minute you think you'll never laugh again.

Gun Crazy: Laurie and Bart, two practiced sharpshooters, are perhaps the most perfect match in all of noir- and that's a bad thing. When one half of the duo gets a criminal idea in their head, the other can't say no. When the opportunity to ditch her man like a sap comes up, the femme fatale throws it away to be doomed at his side. He fell in love with her when she first aimed a gun at him. Quentin Tarantino kissed star Peggy Cummins's feet at a showing of the film, and I hope she kicked him in the head.

Laura: Everyone was in love with Laura Hunt, and somebody killed her- or did they? Did they get the right person? Is the cop on the case in love with a dead woman? Was her columnist mentor just her gay best friend, or was there something darker beneath that facade? And what would Laura think of all this? A big inspiration on Twin Peaks.

In a Lonely Place: Bogart isn't at all heroic here, as a screenwriter with a drinking habit and a violent temper. He's obviously a bad idea to date, but just how bad an idea? He's not the type of guy who'd kill a woman, is he? Bogart and Gloria Holden give perhaps their best performances here, and they'll wound your soul.

Touch of Evil: A Mexican cop (played, unfortunately, by Charlton Heston) finds out a nasty secret about the big hero cop Hank Quinlan: he's framed the culprit in most of his cases. Not because he's crooked, but because his intuition tells him they're guilty. Director Orson Welles as Quinlan is frightening, grotesque, and a little bit tragic in what some consider the last classic noir.

The Killers: The first twenty minutes or so are an adaptation of a Hemingway story, where out of town hitmen gun down a man so depressed he won't even bother to run from them. The rest of the film is an investigation into how he got that way. It had something to do with a radiant gangster's girl, and something to do with a few botched crimes. Sometimes a man can die before the bullets even touch him.

The Third Man: Everybody is lying about the whereabouts of an American expatriate named Harry when his friend comes looking. Did they do something to him? Or, more frightening still, is he the one who's been doing things to other people? Orson Welles is a more charming monster than he was in Touch of Evil; the light and shadows on his face cast him as a vampire, while his fingers sticking up through the sewer grate look like something terrifying emerging from the earth.

[notakugelblitz]

DELORES PART 1 • Five Hargreeves x Fem!Reader

something sweet to soothe your anger dearest brellies 🥰 takes place during season 4 episode 1, no warning all safe. enjoy !

Y/N had worked with Five at the Commission. She was with him on the day of JFK's assassination, and when he mentioned the possibility of escaping the company, she thought, why not? The Handler still hadn't given her the promotion she'd been promised 15 years ago, and the health insurance was worthless by then ...

Y/N followed Five through three apocalypses, becoming a teenager again. At least she no longer had the beginnings of arthritis, which she was more grateful for than her colleague. The Hargreeves quickly took Y/N under their wing, appreciating her a lot, especially since she had the gift of shutting Five up.

Y/N and Five became very good friends. Once the umbrella Academy lost their powers in this new timeline, Y/N chose to open a bookstore, while Five became a CIA agent. They met from time to time, enjoying each other's company over a black coffee on a terrace. In six years, nothing ambiguous had happened between them. Y/N wasn't sure if she wanted it to or not—it was a strange feeling. But now, with her new life started, she had time. If Five was interested, he would make a move; if not, so be it. But this was the calm before the storm...

Five entered the secret meeting set in an apartment with a classy, dimly lit atmosphere. The place was spacious, hosting about thirty people. Five smoothed his mustache, grabbed a glass of champagne from the buffet, and scanned the room. Just as he thought he recognized Lila, another young woman caught his attention. She was leaning against the balcony, her face hidden as she stood with her back to him. She had long, straight auburn hair, styled with a yellow beret. She was wearing a white shirt with black polka dots, neatly tucked into her pencil skirt.

Five felt a drop of sweat trickle down his temple and took a deep breath before joining her. He also leaned on the balcony, just like she did, barely daring to look at her.

"Beautiful night, isn’t it?" Y/N murmured, a simple smile on her lips.

She didn’t meet his gaze either, which slightly irritated Five. He finally turned his head and recognized Y/N.

"What the hell are you doing ..."

The words escaped his mouth when he noticed the name on her nametag : Delores. Five almost choked on his champagne.

"Yeah, the champagne is disgusting, I agree. But the hors d'oeuvres are delicious though. You should try them!" "What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re part of this ridiculous support group ..."

Y/N burst into laughter, shaking her head.

"Oh no, no ... I came with "Nancy" so Diego wouldn’t ask too many questions. But this wig is seriously itching. It's awful." Y/N explained, amused, scratching her scalp.

She then turned her attention to Five and looked at his nametag.

"Jerome? That doesn’t suit you very well. I wonder where you got that name..." "It wasn’t my choice. And where did you get yours?" he retorted, frowning.

Y/N raised an eyebrow, surprised by his sudden cold and somewhat aggressive tone.

"I like that name." Y/N simply said. "And that shirt—do you like it too? It’s hideous." "I found it in a thrift shop—it seemed nice... hey! What’s gotten into you?" Y/N finally exclaimed. "Bullshit." "Five what the hell!"

Y/N seemed sincere. She had no idea what her cover name meant to him. After all these years, he had never told her about Delores. Instead of apologizing, he downed his glass of champagne.

"So, those hors d'oeuvres?" Five asked.

Y/N laughed lightly, understanding it was his awkward way of apologizing. Just as she was about to praise the treats, Jean and Gene appeared, announcing the start of the meeting.

What followed was a very eventful evening. The Umbrella Effect, interacting with Jean and Gene, dining with Lila and Five, Viktor's kidnapping... it felt like the old days! And throughout it all, Five kept giving Y/N odd looks. Why had fate embedded the love of his life so clearly in his friend and colleague? Five didn’t believe in coincidences; he never had.

Y/N had noticed those supposedly discreet glances, which intrigued her a lot. Especially since she could feel her cheeks flush like a 16-year-old girl.

Despite everything, the Hargreeves ended their evening at an Asian restaurant to debrief. Having retrieved the Marigold thanks to Sy, most of them decided not to take it. This surprised Y/N a lot. Powers... that was the dream, wasn’t it?

While Ben was in the bathroom, Y/N leaned toward Five.

"Imagine what you could do for the CIA with your teleportation..." she whispered. "Shut up, Y/N." Five murmured. "No, but seriously! I don’t know what I’d give to be special like you guys were! If it were up to me, I’d drink that jar dry!"

Five chuckled sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"If you think this is one of those stupid Marvel movies, think again. Having powers comes with great responsibilities, sure—the responsibility to control them and not cause an apocalypse." "Killjoy..." Y/N sighed. "And for your information..." Five hesitated before continuing in a lower voice, leaning a bit closer to her. "You don’t need that to be... special."

Coming from his mouth, it sounded weird. Reaching her ears, it sounded weird. Y/N sat up straight and silently thanked some higher force when Ben arrived with a tray of eight shots. While everyone found an excuse to leave, Ben convinced them to drink. "For old time's sake," he said.

Everyone gave in, and when Y/N realized she didn’t have a glass, she felt disheartened.

"Can’t I celebrate our reunion?" she asked. "You're not part of the family." Ben snapped. "Wow, Ben, that’s rude!" Luther exclaimed. "Y/N is more family than you ever were." Five groaned, pointing a threatening finger at him. "No, it's fine, let it go, Five." Y/N sighed, though Five’s words had touched her.

She stepped aside, letting them toast. Just as everyone raised their glasses to their lips, Klaus nudged Y/N and handed her his glass.

"OnJanuary 15th, it'll be 3 years that I am sober. Tonight’s not the night I’ll mess that up, and certainly not for old time's sake." Klaus whispered. "I can’t accept that ..." Y/N politely refused. "Oh, come on, down it or I’ll tell everyone you slept with Five at Luther’s wedding."

Y/N gasped, grabbed the glass, drank it down in record time, and handed it back to Klaus. No one seemed to notice the trick, and that was just as well.

Y/N still had that awful taste in her mouth. Maybe she shouldn’t have drunk that glass. After all, Klaus was lying. Wasn’t he? It was true she had a total blackout that night, but... her and Five? No... right?

Once outside, everyone said their goodbyes. As Y/N tried to figure out where Klaus had gone so she could question him, a car pulled up next to her. The passenger window rolled down, and she bent down to see the driver. It was Five.

"I’ll give you a ride." "No, it’s okay, I’m not far..." "That wasn’t a question," Five said, leaning over to open the passenger door.

Y/N sighed but couldn’t help smiling. She got in, buckled up, and Five started the car.

"Be honest with me, Y/N." he said seriously, focusing on the road. "Mmh?" "Why Delores? And why that damn polka dot shirt?"

Y/N widened her eyes.

"You're still hung up on that!" she exclaimed. "I’ve changed since then..." "Stop it right now, Y/N. This isn’t funny," he growled. "Look, Five, I don’t understand! You’re completely crazy!" "Why Delores?" "I don’t know, okay?" she yelled back. "I don’t know."

She repeated the sentence silently to herself.

"The name just came to me, and the shirt was the cheapest... I swear, Five, I’ve never been more honest with you..."

Five finally looked at her and realized she was telling the truth. When they arrived at the bookstore, he parked on the side of the road.

"I’m sorry, Y/N... it’s just that... I knew a Delores a long time ago, and... she looked just like you."

Y/N, surprised, met his gaze and tilted her head to the side.

"I never thought the famous Five Hargreeves had a romance," she breathed.

Five nodded , locking eyes with her sparkling ones. He had always loved that color, though he would never admit it. He looked away, eyes fixed on the steering-wheel. Fortunately Y/N didn't know Delores was a mannequin. Five kept silent, thinking about this damn coincidence and its probable meaning.

Y/N didn’t know what to say so she got out of the car, feeling unsettled. As she headed towards the bookstore, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked back to the car, leaning against the window on Five’s side.

“Be honest with me, Five.” she said seriously.

Five chuckled softly, amused by this ongoing joke, and nodded, signaling her to continue.

“What happened at Luther’s wedding?” she asked suddenly.

Five frowned. Why was she asking about that now?

“They got married,” he said simply. “Haha, very funny. No, seriously, between us... did something happen?”

Five discreetly swallowed and started the car.

“You should go home, it’s getting late.”

Y/N groaned and walked around the front of the car again so that he couldn't leave, suddenly opening the passenger door and sitting down.

“What are you doing…?” “You agreed to be honest with me. And you’re not. So I won’t move until…” “Fine.” "Oh, that was quick."

Five immediately started driving and continued in silence.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” “No.” “So, is this a kidnapping?” “Call it whatever you want. You learned how to jump out of a moving car at the Commission, so if your ass is still in that seat, it means you don’t really want to leave.”

Point for him. The silence was fine at the beginning, but it grew heavier and heavier minutes after minutes. Y/N was relieved when she recognized the streets as they were arriving at the parking lot of Five's apartment. He turned off the car and slumped further into his seat. Y/N could tell he was hiding something.

“So. Did we sleep together that night?” she asked bluntly.

Five’s eyes widened.

“What! Who told you that nonsense?” he exclaimed with an amused tone. “Klaus… he…” “You know Klaus always exaggerates, Y/N…”

Y/N lowered her eyes, embarrassed for having believed it so easily. Five noticed her distress and sighed. He rummaged through an inner pocket of his jacket, hesitating before pulling out a Polaroid photo. He handed it to Y/N nonchalantly. She looked at him, then at the photo, which she took with apprehension. It was taken at Luther’s wedding. Y/N and Five were on stage. A microphone stand separated them, only a few centimeters from each other's face. They looked completely drunk, which explained why they were singing so close and why Y/N had no memory of it.

“Just imagine eyes like moon rise, a voice like music, lips like wine.” Five muttered, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Y/N looked up at him. Those were the lyrics to a love song by Frank Sinatra, yet it sounded oddly different coming from his mouth.

“Please, tell me…” she whispered.

Five sighed, knowing full well he had reached a point of no return.

“We overdid it on the alcohol that night. And with the apocalypse looming... it makes you do things you wouldn’t normally be capable of.”

He paused, but Y/N smiled, encouraging him to continue.

“You seemed different that night. You had no filter. You never had one when it came to annoying me, but for saying nice things, well... and you were really beautiful. And without thinking, I grabbed that mic and sang that stupid Sinatra song. And you looked at me with those eyes. They sparkled like… like the Kugelblitz. Almost more. And you joined me, and we made quite the duo, I must say. I can't fucking remember the name of the song as we were only babbling incomprehensible lyrics.”

Y/N was speechless.

“So…” “No sex. Pure fluff, even though it’s a disgusting word to say.”

Y/N chuckled.

“And you kissed me,” Five finally said, emotionless.

Everything seemed so unreal, yet he looked sincere.

“Why didn’t you tell me for six years?” she asked, shocked. “I… I chickened out. You didn’t remember, so it gave you the chance to start fresh.”

Suddenly, Y/N slapped him across the face, the sound of the slap echoing through Dallas. Five didn't blink, feeling like it was deserved somehow.

“You’re such an idiot.” “I know.”

They remained silent for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes. If any member of the Umbrella Academy had the power to read minds, they would’ve run away, given the turmoil that stirred within them.

Y/N thought back to all those moments spent with Five, and of course, they had a different flavor than those shared with an actual colleague. Despite their constant teasing, Five had always been there for Y/N, and vice versa. They understood each other, given their age and experience. Everything suddenly became clear.

And then, in perfect synchronization, they kissed passionately, Y/N placing her hands on Five’s cheeks while he firmly gripped her waist. It was a fiery kiss, making up for all the lost time due to misplaced pride. Out of breath, Y/N pulled back slightly to look at him, a smirk on her lips.

“What? Don’t make me regret what just happened…” Five chuckled. “Firsy things first, secretly keeping a picture of me is weird. Secondly, the song by Sinatra ... It is named Dolores. Just saying…” Y/N laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear that had fallen over his bright eyes.

"Shut it." he groaned, pecking your lips to make you silent. But then , he approaches his lips to your ear, whispering.

“It seems that no matter the timeline, I’m destined to have a Delores getting in my way.”

Y/N burst out laughing, and Five couldn’t help but smile sincerely. It felt good to come out of his shell, especially for Y/N. Five invited Y/N to spend the night at his place. This sudden happiness seemed surreal, yet it was very real. The idea of a normal life together seemed so pleasant. If only they knew ...

here it is, i really hope you liked it ! sorry if you spotted some mistakes, English isn’t my first language.

would you be interested in a part 2 now that Y/N swallowed up a shot of marigold ? just sayin’ … 😏

[theminecraftbox]

There’s something compelling and tragic to me about how, while Punz’s loyalty to Dream is self-evident, it’s also true that Punz is never able to meet Dream at his own level and be the kind of ally Dream needs. Punz is the guy who supported the harebrained scheme that was staged finale; he was the piece of insurance that made Dream feel secure enough to go to his death, not just once but many times, not just literally but metaphorically. The revive book experiments weren’t possible without Punz, nor was Dream’s imprisonment. This ambiguity deepens in LN5, where Punz’s obvious personal investment in revenge on Dream’s behalf nearly turns deadly: it’s not the kind of intervention a deeply traumatized Dream needs, but it’s all Punz can offer (it’s all anyone offers).

Punz can’t admit that the Plan is a poison and a suicide, because he embodies that plan. There was no way out for Dream while he remains committed to their way forward as the only way. Punz can’t get Dream to leave the prison. All he can do is resurrect him inside.

this is why c!drunz slaps btw (and all that’s without even touching the professional ambiguity: the boundaries of their relationship and the vulnerabilities Dream won’t allow even when Punz has his life in his hands.)

[creamflix]

biker! boyfriend aventurine headcannons ; — part two here – masterlist here ☆～（ゝ。∂）

biker! boyfriend aventurine who customizes his bike like a portfolio: constantly tweaking parts, not for style but performance. every modification feels like a risk that pays off, much like his job.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who’s always calculating risks: before long rides, he checks the weather, road conditions, and traffic. but he leaves it ambiguous if he’s being cautious or just considering the potential thrill.

biker! boyfriend aventurine with a high-end bike with minimal flash: his bike is sleek, built for performance, not showing off, but the subtle design choices scream expensive taste. think matte black ducati with customized rims.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who picks routes like investments: loves back roads where the stakes feel higher—tight curves, unpredictable weather, and long stretches without traffic, all calculated risks that add excitement.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who prefers night rides: there’s something about the quiet risk of riding under dim streetlights that mirrors his mindset—when the world’s not watching, that’s when the biggest plays happen.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who keeps his bike documents like business files: everything is in order—insurance, maintenance logs, and modifications—just like he keeps tabs on his investments. if there’s ever an issue, he’s got proof ready.

biker! boyfriend aventurine negotiates for every part: he’ll walk into a dealership and haggle like he’s closing a business deal. when the salesperson starts sweating, he knows he’s won.

biker! boyfriend aventurine whose jacket is tailored: a leather jacket, form-fitting, almost as if it’s part of a well-fitted suit. it’s never over-the-top, but always catches the eye with its understated quality.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who never checks the map twice: takes detours and risks on unfamiliar roads because he’s confident the payoff will be worth it—even if it’s just a more scenic route.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who takes bike risks like a gambler: he loves testing the limits of his bike's engine, calculating how far he can push it before something breaks—but he always knows how to pull back just in time.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who keeps an emergency fund: not for the bike breaking down—he always expects things to go wrong, but for when they do, he’s got spare cash stashed in his trunk.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who views every ride as a bet: he tells you that every ride is a gamble with fate. “how much thrill can we handle today?” he’ll ask, revving the engine with that same sly grin you’ve fallen in love with.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who takes you to high-end biker spots: not your typical diner but upscale spots where other risk-takers and business types gather—places where deals are made over drinks as expensive as his tastes.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who keeps a low profile in the biker community: no flashy tattoos or loud boasts, but the way he handles his bike and his cool demeanor gains him respect silently.

biker! boyfriend aventurine who avoids sentimental conversations: mid-ride, when you try to get him to open up, he’ll dodge your question with a smooth shift in speed.

biker! boyfriend aventurine keeps his cards close: even with you, he doesn’t let his guard down fully. you’ll catch him glancing at you after a long ride, smile hiding the deeper thoughts you’ll never fully uncover.

produced by creamflix on tumblr. all rights reserved. do not copy, steal, modify, repost — support your writers by liking and reblogging. ♡

[jpitha]

If Humans tolerate a greater amount of ambiguity than other Sapients, their risk tolerance is off the charts. Even a baseline human's risk tolerance would make any non-deathworlder sapient excrete themselves with fear and run the other way.

Timothy the human is with his friend Selleg, who he has offered to take to Earth for a week to "see the sights." They are at the spaceport, having just disembarked.

Selleg struggles with his new wheeled luggage. "Ugh, it's so heavy here."

"I'm sorry. I forget that you're not used to Earth gravity. Do you need me to wheel your luggage?" Timothy looks on with genuine concern for his friend.

"I'll be fine. I just hope we don't have to walk too far."

"Nah, the car-rental booth is right here, I'll get us a car and we can drive to my parents."

At the rental booth, Selleg is fascinated with the whole process. Timothy and the clerk go through the options and different kinds of vehicles available. Timothy is asked if he wants "the extra insurance" and he agrees immediately. He exchanges payment and with keys in hand, they walk to the lot.

"I had no idea there were so many different cars to choose from." Selleg remarks. Back home, everyone takes mass transit. Personally owned vehicles don't really exist."

"Really? Huh. I'd love to check it out someday!" They approach a red, low slung vehicle. It has that look that most human machines do of being alive and ready to pounce. Leave it to a predator species to make everything look like it's also a predator. "Okay! Here, I'll put your suitcase in the trunk and we'll set off."

They get in, and Timothy shows Selleg how the seatbelts work. "Just across your body like this and then click the silver part into the slot with the red button there. With a satisfying clunk, the seatbelt is secured. Selleg stares at all the buttons and dials and screens and switches. "Why are there so many displays?"

"What? Oh. Some tell me things about the car, and it's speed, temperature, mileage, things like that, others are for the entertainment system, and still others are for the heating and cooling."

Selleg stopped "The operation of the car is not automatic?"

Timothy shook his head "Nah, it's all manual. Don't worry, I know how to drive."

"You. Operate. This. Vehicle?" Selleg was clearly nervous.

"Sure! I've been doing it since I was 16. Only had one bad accident that whole time." Timothy pushed the start/stop button and the car roared to life. It settled down into a burbling idle. "I sprung for the sports car. It's been a while since I've driven, and I probably won't get another chance for a long time, so I decided to treat myself!"

"You haven't driven in a long time and decided to get a more powerful car anyway?"

"I'll be careful." Timothy promised. Let's go!" He put it in gear and pulled out into traffic.

****

"THAT WAS INSANE! YOU ARE INSANE!" Selleg was yelling.

"That was a perfectly normal drive!" Timothy pleaded. "Selleg, there was nothing unusual about it."

"You were driving less than two meters from the other cars!"

"It was heavy traffic."

"You were going over 100kph!?!"

"All the other cars were too" Timothy answered weakly.

"We passed three crashed cars!!"

"Yeah? Cars crash. Usually it's the drivers fault. I didn't see any ambulances, so everyone was probably all right."

"DON'T YOU THINK THEN THAT MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T ALL BE DRIVING???" Selleg's fur was bristled and he was pacing.

"I'm sorry you were worried Selleg, it was a perfectly normal drive. I thought you'd be nervous about your first car ride so I drove carefully."

"That was carefully?" This is normal for humans?"

"Driving? Yes. that was by all accounts a perfectly normal drive. Some humans even like it"

In the high gravity of Earth, Selleg sat down heavily. "What have I signed up for?"

Timothy looked at his friend. "I'll just go ahead and cancel the skydiving tickets." he said sadly.

[rubyroboticalt]

Minecrafters grab your pickaxes, and catch up on the QBLR QUATERLY!

What's up guys, update just dropped! It sure is something to try and decipher, huh. We've got pages of new stuff to go over, so let me learn you a thing about all the events and mishaps that happened on the server this week!

This week, we missed last week, and I messed this part up in the video. oops.

A quick recap of last week: Ghost, Andor, and Katie completed a full 24 hours online playing! Ghost also got possessed and killed all her spouses except Clenex. Mozzarella got maimed at the school and is suing for an insurance payout.

Gummy's new body is looking pretty good! At the statue garden, the white baby's statue book reads like a twitter hate thread. Seren ate a deadly amanita muscaria mushroom and died. Snowball had a dance party with their carers!

The backpack organization ratings begin, and while the news must remain a neutral source of information, I personally am making some judgements.

Mozzarella throws a popular party that a ton of people totally came to. The school goes on a field trip to the Nether! Tonmy builds a very pretty glass gazebo and invites some friends over to hang at it!

Through the power of dark magic and ritual necromancy, Dollie's family is complete again. Teivel thinks of only the best names for pets. Popcorn and their family find Zephyrous in a beautiful Radiant Crypt! I mean, look at that palette! Ignore all that stuff about the Radiant Swarm I'm sure it's nothing.

Nightmare has some sort of awful Food Boy style incident with pies. That is a lot of pie. The Void Sanctum is once again safe for visitors though if you ask me, anywhere is safe for visitors when you have a clipboard and high-vis vest. Gummy invites Nightmare over to see the kids and through an unfortunate series of events, a hole is broken in the wall.

Berry finds a prism geode that isn't even buried underground. How can this happen? Is it true a geode can form in this way? More at 6.

And now, some autistic Minecraft behaviors.

Apple shares some lovely photographs of their beautiful base. Val and Kia finally find tables big enough for their 18 children to share a meal at. Splat uses stacks and stacks of glass to make a roof for a greenhouse even though this house looks pretty white to me.

And now, a reading from r/malelivingspaces. Cherry plank floors. Pine walls with dark oak baseboards. Cinder(?) brick wall on the left side of the room. Single doorway leading to identical room on the back wall. No door. No furniture. Ambiguous dim light source. Bug hiding in a cranny on the left side of the room. Swamp staring at the brick wall. This has been a reading from r/malelivingspaces.

And this week on the server ends with the bite of 87?

[hacash]

hickey's smugness as he boasts to crozier of 'turning' hodgson is so fucking funny to me because...what exactly did that accomplish? how did hodgson in any way contribute to hickey's Deviously Evil Plan? i love that damp bug-eyed religiously-ambiguous weirdo dearly, but he's not the brains, he's not the muscle, he contributed exactly one (1) thing to the mutineers, and that was a haunting catholic monologue.

when the hunting parties set out, did hodgson use that time as a chance for some light conspiring with hickey? did he hell; he fucking ran away from the guy (and left irving to be turned into a colander). nor does hodgson's backing up of hickey's lies come across as particularly treasonously motivated on this part: this is some excellent meta of how hodge genuinely believes that the inuit slaughtered irving, so probably the paranoia induced by irving's murder would have been the same with or without hodge's turning.

and you can't tell me hodgson was insurance against hickey being punished for treason: the man did absolutely jack-shit at hickey's trial, he was hardly going to rush the gallows and save hickey before he was hung. you could, potentially, make the argument that hickey knew his plan needed the validity of an officer's presence because of Ingrained Victorian Morals, but hodgson does absolutely zero leading in the mutineers. everyone and their (dead) dog knows hickey's in charge of the mutineers. even the idea of it being a symbolic 'fuck you' to crozier by having one of his lieutenants betray him is kinda let down by the fact that hodgson's 'betrayal' is...not all that much? he freaks out about the perceived inuit attack (which he likely would have done anyway), he gets lost in the fog, and then ends up with hickey's mutineers because they're literally the only people he can find. it's not exactly an et tu brute moment from poor old hodge there.

so what exactly was the point? what is hickey boasting about? all he managed to do in turning hodge was give himself another mouth to feed. and it's even funnier because hickey's whole spiel in the scene with hodgson is basically: it's all a matter of numbers, the three of us here can have a nice meal of this dead dog, if it gets shared out among forty-odd sailors we get barely a mouthful each, dividing our food more than we need is going to screw us over. and then he consolidates this argument by...giving valuable protein to Lame Duck hodge and dividing his food more than he needs. he could have shared neptune's flesh quite easily between himself and tozer and very very little would have changed. literally all hickey achieved in the tent scene is to give himself a nice little power trip of having an officer agree to do what he says and reduces his own food intake substantially for no good reason. machiavelli my arse. what the fuck are you boasting about, hickey? giving away a good meal?

[nostalgia-tblr]

Like a good girl I am going to NOT put this on the post that prompted the thought in case that seems wanky, but re: this scene:

I need to ask if this is another scene in this (surprisingly ambiguous/confusing) film that I read differently from many other people, because to me Loki was being hilariously insincere throughout, presumably just for the fun of fucking with Sif and the lads who have no idea what's going on (Asgard has no news service, apparently). Which I enjoyed! But it's deliberately provocative in a way that frankly I too would be unconvinced that everything here was above-board and being run according to the constitution that I shall generously assume Asgard has (with their no news service).

It's like if you attend a funeral and the widow is wearing a fantastic black outfit and a lot of expensive jewellery and keeps saying things like "Oh, what a shame my husband died in that mysterious accident only days after signing that insurance policy." In this case the widow has committed no crime (other than perhaps being a natural troll but I for one would respect that) but you'd still be a bit... surprised? Right?

I am willing to accept that this scene merely demonstrates Loki's inability to say things normally and how this does not mesh well with the distrust of people who didn't watch the news (or check the constitution to find out who's supposed to run things while Odin's in a coma), but either way it's like... well. I too would have questions if I were Sif or one of the not-Sifs except I'd quickly check the headlines on my phone that runs on magic.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Aaron Kimberly

Published: Dec 18, 2021

Between 1995-2006 I was a part of the butch lesbian community. During those years, despite my life-long and sometimes intense gender dysphoria, I hadn’t given any serious thought to medically transitioning. It wasn’t even on my radar as a possibility until after 2000. The idea of medically transitioning seemed fringe, far-fetched, and risky.

Most of the butches I knew also had gender dysphoria (GD) or rather, Gender Identity Disorder (GID), as it was called then. Many butches I knew in Winnipeg, Halifax, Toronto, and later Vancouver, were strong, stoic people. I admired many of them. I know that their lives weren’t always easy, but they carried themselves with dignity. They had butch “brotherhood” and femmes who adored them. Many were “stone” which meant that their GID made it difficult for them to relate to their female anatomy so didn’t allow themselves to be touched by anyone, or rarely. They were often harassed and abused for being masculine women, as I was. It was often stressful using female public washrooms, because our gender ambiguity made people so uncomfortable. There was a term “butch bladder” to reference the ways we’d avoid using bathrooms in public.

In the early-mid 2000s, more and more FTMs were appearing in the community, alongside the butches. Many lesbian spaces welcomed them, some didn’t. It seemed to me at the time that butches were presented with two options: we could choose to be butches, or we could choose to be FTM “trans guys”. Why people chose one or the other...that was very individual and personal. It really came down to which option solved a problem and made life easier. The problem could be homophobic parents, fatigue from being harassed, differing degrees of dysphoria and bodily discomfort, not understanding what GID is, poor social or occupational functioning, trauma, other mental health challenges like depression or the anxiety that seemed inevitable for us. Some transitioned but still identified as butch women. They chose medical interventions to look more masculine, not to identify as men. Some trans guys said they never had GID at all. I don’t know what their motivations for transitioning were. Some said “political reasons”. There were some who were big fans of Queer Theory icons like Judith Butler and Judith Halberstam. Those women adopted male personas - intentional “female masculinity” - as an expression of Queer Theory, not to be men/male. I chose to transition soon after a gay man was beaten to death in a nearby park.

If kids with gender dysphoria today are anything like who we were 20 years ago, I feel saddened by their trajectory. Others see benefits: Access to medical interventions has been made easier. They no longer have to do a “real-life test” (live their life as the opposite sex for 2 years without medical assistance). They don’t have to go through months or years of therapy and assessment. More is now known about the effects and risks of hormones. The surgeries have improved, are easier to access and now paid for by insurance. (I paid for my own mastectomy out of pocket, and was on the SRS surgery waitlist for 10 years.)

But, what have we done? Have we eliminated all of the conditions for why a butch girl would find their innate masculinity hard to live with? Have we made the lives of butch women better and safer? Have we eliminated homophobic families, communities, employers, clinicians and policies? Are we educating young people what gender dysphoria is, in evidence-based terms, supporting them to integrate that into a healthy identity and self-image? Do we tell masculine girls how attractive they are? Do they have an abundance of healthy role models? Are they fully embraced and integrated into their workforces, educational settings, faith communities… or, are butches still getting weird looks from strangers? Are they still getting yelled at in public bathrooms? Are young, obnoxious young men still yelling slurs out their car windows as they drive by a butch woman? Do gender non-conforming women still fear for their lives in some places? Can they get Brandon Teena out of their heads? Can they travel the world freely? Can they find clothing they like that fits their bodies well?

I’m not convinced we’ve made any real progress at all. I think we’ve just made it easier for people to jump ship, younger and faster, and gave it a different spin. We now call that “self-actualization”. We’ve facilitated a better illusion. We’ve convinced more and more people that the illusion is real. We continue to push for better surgeries. Penile and uterine transplants are on the horizon. Young people are flooding into clinics. They can’t keep up with the demand. Activists have pushed Queer Theory as an explanation for our difference, displacing evidence-based clinical definitions of GID/GD. It’s no longer talked about as a condition that requires treatment but a natural human variation that requires affirmation in whatever form we demand (often life-long medicalization). I’ve travelled that road to its end, and its hurt just as much as it’s helped.

The surgeries available to FTMs right now are awful. A double mastectomy and phalloplasty or metoidioplasty are gruesome procedures to go through. The US surgeon I went to for metoidioplasty boasts low complication rates, but the anecdotal evidence I’ve witnessed (myself and everyone I know who had the procedure there and elsewhere) is close to a 100% complication rate. One guy at the surgical recovery centre I stayed at started to hemorrhage and was laying on the floor unable to reach the call bell when another FTM patient found him and advocated for him to be rushed to hospital. Fistulas and strictures are the most common problem. I chose metoidioplasty because it’s thought to be the less risky of the two options. I immediately developed two large fistulas (meaning that my urethra burst open in two places) that needed additional surgery to repair. I couldn’t bathe or go swimming for a year until those openings were repaired. I have chronic perineum pain, altered bowel function due to changes in my pelvic muscles, and no sensation in most of my chest. When we have complications, local physicians and surgeons don’t know what to do. So we have to wait, and travel to whoever can help.

Listen, I don’t doubt that sometimes medical transition is helpful for people. It’s not my place to say they can’t or shouldn’t. But let’s not sell this like it’s a Disney park ride. The marketing of everything trans is ridiculously misleading. Don’t put sparkles and rainbows over real pain as though that helps at all. It’s insulting.

If we really want to help these kids, we need to make it easier for lesbian kids. Butch kids. All gender non-conforming kids. The quirky and awkward kids. Kids who feel they don’t fit it. Let’s get better at working with parents and preserving families. Be honest about what medical transition is really about. No one really changes biological sex and these procedures are really hard to go through. Why are we putting all of our resources into escaping brutality rather than eliminating brutality? We’re cutting up our bodies because our lived reality is worse. Why do we celebrate that?

Medical transition is but one option for those with GD. We need to reclaim our understanding of GD as a condition so that we can have reality based-conversations and solve real personal and social problems. “Trans” as a concept, masks many underlying issues. A queer theory-based understanding of myself worsened my GD. Medical transition became an addiction. The illusion only works if we’re lucky enough to pass and everyone else plays along perfectly. It’s an exhausting game of whack-a-mole to dodge the reminders of my female past and female biology. How is that kind of dissociation desirable? Some people may benefit from medically transitioning, but we still need a reality-based understanding of ourselves, to keep our feet on the ground.

Our children deserve better. If this sounds transphobic to you, you’re a part of the problem. Owning our reality for what it is isn’t self-hatred. It’s self-acceptance. Having different ideas and a different vision of how to move forward isn't hatred. Hatred was the skinheads who circled around us at the small 1992 Winnipeg gay and lesbian march, long before Pride was a parade. Hatred was the men who drove from the suburbs into Vancouver with the intent to "kill a fag" and murdered Aaron Webster in Stanley Park. I’m well acquainted with phobia. This isn't phobia. This is love.

[eddiegettingshot]

can you talk more about your thoughts on shannon? i don't how to feel about the way they're kind of rewriting history a bit and mythologizing her and eddie's relationship in s6 and s7. i also really don't like acting like eddie "abandoning" them (i.e. offering financial support, health insurance, and remaining in contact while at war) and shannon abandoning them (basically no contact for years from what we know, no financial or any other kind of support, only re-entered the picture after eddie reached out) are equivalent; ik a lot of that comes from eddie who i can understand feeling that way (esp bc of how he felt about his father) but the show doesn't really challenge that view in any way. also the divorce conversation seemed a bit ambiguous on whether she actually planned on staying in chris' life but maybe i'm misremembering.

i have pretty much zero sympathy for shannon because i don't think there's any excuse for abandoning your child without a word, especially not because his disability made you feel Guilty and everything was just too hard to deal with and it was just too hard to come back. her actions made sense given the situation, but i don't think any of it was justifiable. the divorce discussion was weird - i took it to mean that she was planning on taking things slow with her reentry into chris's life, instead of the three of them jumping into being a family? working out some kind of custody agreement after divorcing, etc? i know there are less generous readings that suggest she was just going to run again, but i'm not sure the conversation itself necessarily supports that.

and yeah, it actually is really strange to me to act like eddie's service and shannon's leaving were remotely the same thing, and it's also really strange to act like eddie was obligated to leave texas three months after returning from war, where he had been GRIEVOUSLY injured. there was obviously a solution here but she ran before they could even attempt to figure it out. and then when she came back, she was judgmental and honestly pretty manipulative. whatever their marriage was before, i don't think she was treating eddie right when she came back.

i'm not sitting here trying to be like, eddie did nothing wrong - he was a bad husband. he made assumptions about what shannon wanted from him, didn't make any effort to communicate, made broad decisions about what was best for them, etc. they were absolutely not on the same page and i don't think he was making any effort to get on the same page. even when they were "together" again you see that he's not really talking to her about important stuff, like their finances (in oceans 9-1-1 when she asks about the surfing lessons he just tells her not to worry about it).

their marriage was bad because of the circumstances surrounding it: they were too young to have a kid or be married, eddie went to war presumably because (he felt) that was his only option to provide for his family, going to war just fucking sucks for everyone because war sucks and the military fucking sucks, it fucking sucks to navigate medical care in the u.s., etc. etc. i don't think shannon was at fault for finding any of this difficult. but the solution was... not whatever she actually did, and i do think that she turned a lot of the blame and frustration she was feeling onto eddie in a way that was unfair, if a somewhat understandable impulse.

but. literally nothing makes up for the fact that she left her, what, five year old son? because shit was just too hard. that's not how that works! and eddie has internalized everything that happened here to the extent that i don't think he even recognizes it as a trauma. it's just a part of him. he sees himself as shannon saw him. he's spent the last five years trying to make amends to a ghost. and i think that acting like they were both equally culpable is just taking eddie at his word, when his word is famously Not Reality.

[cairt]

I think that Evelyn and Mirage bring out the best and the worst in each other in turns

Part of the appeal of the ship for me at least is that I think that there's a lot of mystery surrounding Mirage as a character and her motivations while she was working for Syndrome.

She's got these really distinct lines regarding human life that aren't entirely clear or at all explained. She's really upset about the jet explosion with Helen and the kids but is aware of and enables all the intimate details of the Superhero genocide plot with Syndrome.

She is very heavily composed and plays things very close to her chest, unlike Syndrome we don't get any sort of flash back scene or monologues discussing her involvement and motivation in the operation. She's super competent at what she does and goes unnoticed in Bob's insurance office at the start of the film and is crucial in convincing Bob and probably every other super to go off to Nomanisan and die fighting Omnidroids. And why?

It's never explained.

She is in five minutes of the film but is one of the most important characters in it.

Let's get into what she does do. She's critical to the operations of project Kronos. She does recon, spying on Bob and Lucius and blending in to the office to track them and communicate back to Syndrome and pick their next victim.

She reaches out to them, and feeds him the lie about being a top secret government agency, testing out an "experimental robot". The government agency bit is debatable, but the experimental robot is an outright lie. There is no way that Mirage is as involved as she is with Kronos and considers her work to not be about death battles with superheros.

She finds Mr. Incredible when Helen activates the honing signal. This means that she's had access to the computer room all along, further evidence of her knowing involvement in Project Kronos.

We next see her when Bob is trapped in Syndrome's energy torture device, sitting at one of the two control chairs with a different flunky that is in the uniform that we see all the other cronies in. Both of their podiums are identical, with the unnamed technician being directed to torture Mr. Incredible throughout the scene by Syndrome pointing to him.

It's not entirely clear to what extent Mirage is ok with the torture that's going on in the cell but it's clearly not a deal breaker despite Syndrome not asking her to do it this time because she could easily be doing so from her desk.

Syndrome reaches over her to launch missiles at Helen and the kids and we get to hear Mirage at her most upset when she says that the hit was confirmed, no survivors. So she has the capability to launch missiles for her boss but again, Syndrome wouldn't ask her to launch them at kids.

Despite believing Syndrome to have murdered children Mirage still pushed him away from Bob, at great risk to herself.

So there's possibly romantic relationship with Syndrome but eh? We don't get a lot of scenes with them together and while it's pretty visible from his perspective, he's very physical while trying to reassure her that he has the situation under control, she just seems disgusted by this. This is the only moment we see them be at all physically intimate.

But there is one other moment that I think indicates some level of intimacy between them. Right after Mr. Incredible threatens to crush her, Syndrome taunts his old hero.

"Mirage drops to the floor. Syndrome looks at Bob and sneers.

SYNDROME:I knew you couldn't do it. Even when you have nothing to lose. You're weak. I've outgrown you."

Mirage is following Syndrome out of the room while he says this and her eyes widen when she hears this.

This kind of ambiguous moment leads to the incredible scene where she tells him off for what he did to her.

Mirage: Valuing life is not weakness

Syndrome: Oh hey look, if you're talking about what happened in the containment unit, I had everything under control.

Mirage: And disregarding it is not strength.

She has more total moments of flirtation with Bob, but we can infer that much of the flirtation with Bob is a ruse, part of the Omnidroid plot. So we're left with very little information.

So a round-up

She supported super genocide, if not in purpose, definitely in action.

She's willing to be in the same room while torture is happening and has the ability if not the will to engage in murder and torture for Syndrome.

She's not ok with civilian or child murder.

She has some level of intimacy with Syndrome.

She was willing to risk her life to save him from Bob

She ultimately swaps sides because of Syndrome 's callous disregard for life, including hers and risks his wrath to rescue the Incredibles super family

And I think that all of this leads to a super interesting character who would empathize with Evelyn.

[transmutationisms]

insure being used for ensure is always a mistake ime. didnt even know enquire existed though. there doesnt seem to be an actual definitional difference like insure and ensure have?

im way too baked for this right now but i have to come back to it because i think it's wrong yeah so i've always understood inquire/inquiry to be more formal or official than enquire/enquiry. i've noticed people use them differently to me, so it's possible that was never a real rule and was just a pattern i thought i noticed as a kid, but that is what i think the difference is. insure/ensure is more bizarre to me because i always though insure was much more restrictive and only had to do with the act of purchasing insurance, whereas ensuring something is making sure of it in any other or more general manner. this is what every style guide i've ever read on this has said. but i think the stylebooks are losing this one because i see people using these words interchangeably all the time, including like, the search committee for a postdoc i was applying to yesterday lol. my prediction is in 50 years these words will be close to interchangeable in common parlance.

also i checked and neither of these pairs is in my edition of strunk & white, which i thought was funny. maybe there was no ambiguity about them in 1979 idk