#and find the local homeless population

[crayonurchin]

27 & 30 for Crayon/Cammie, and G for yourself.

27, What causes them to feel dread?

His missing posters, anyone saying his deadname, what was in the ponyverse as Canterlot would, in the human world, probably be a very affluent area of central London, and rejection. That kid is terrified of rejection.

30, Who do they most regret meeting?

GOD that's a good question. It's small but it'd be a taxi driver that picked him up when he was maybe one week into running away. The guy looked at his expensive clothes, assumed he'd be collected in due time by equally rich people, and charged him about ten times as much for his travel fare than he should have. Cammie, being entirely ignorant, just paid, because he was high on freedom and life. It was only after he started realising the actual value of a coin that he realised he'd been robbed, and moreover, robbed without enough money to get anywhere that could help him, beginning his entrapment in homelessness.

That driver probably doesn't even remember the 'brat' he 'taught a lesson to'. Cammie can't forget him and the trust he broke in adults helping him out.

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

His stubborn ideals. He can't accept anything without 'earning' it. And I wrote the damn character so I can just change it but I CAN'T, it's his toxic coping mechanism to feel like this entire misadventure was worth it. But MY GOD does it annoy me XD

like BRO THIS IS BAD YOU ARE IN A BAD SITUATION TAKE THE HANDS REACHING OUT TO HELP YOU and in that same breath I write him doubling down to do it without any aid and I'm like "hehehe mnyes explore the themes of coping with abuse" while also screaming because I'm so frustrated by it XD

[alvie-pines]

cannot express the pain and disappointment of going from tmnt (which has themes that are fairly left-wing) directly to transformers and being like ah. so this is the right wing propaganda show,

[homunculus-argument]

Character concepts that would be funny:

Some dude who's known around the city for being a complete public menace, obnoxiously loud, zero regard for traffic rules, laws in general, or basic manners. Nobody knows where he lives or what the hell he does for a living, he seems to always be wandering around the streets but as random as his clothes are, they always seem to be at least somewhat neat and the local homeless population doesn't know him and as far as they know he's not one of them.

Everybody knows he'll steal your shit. That's what he's known for, and what people warn each other about. Shoplifting, snatching your unattended coat off the back of a park bench, taking the fries from a fast food order that wasn't his. But somehow, only ever food or clothes. You forget your phone next to your kebab while going to a diner bathroom, and you come back to find that your phone is still there but your kebab is gone. And so is that guy.

Nobody knows what this guy's deal is. Well, his deal is that he is a shapeshifter. His true form is a seagull. He doesn't give a shit about integrating into human society, he just got sick of being harrassed by dogs while trying to eat from the trash can one day and decided to shapeshift to the biggest animal he could think of - having never been outside of the city, that would be human. Which naturally freaked out the dog, which was the goal in the first place.

And it then turned out that being around the city as a human had some other unexpected perks, which were convenient. Like cars swerving around him when he's standing in the middle of the road. He shrieks at them anyway, just to keep safe. He's learned some curse words but has no interest in learning any more of human language.

[bet-on-me-13]

Danny is the Crazy Old Man™️ of Gotham

So, the events of Danny Phantom happened decades ago

Like, Phantom Planet was one of the first instances of Superheroes in HISTORY. Early 1900's, just the Fentons were Insanely Ahead of their Time!

Danny is still a Halfa, but has allowed himself to grow old and live his best life before fully dying so he can accept his Throne in the Infinite Realms. He decides to experience Life in the fullest way possible, partying, drinking, making long lasting friendships that shape the lives of everybody he meets, all that!

Eventually, Danny's Party Life leads him to Gotham. And this place is just amazing!

It has all the comforts of Home, with so much more! He can Party! He can Fight! He can do anything he wants and nobody bats an eye, because a crazy old man getting into a fistfight in the middle of the road is just another Tuesday for Gotham!

He decides to spend the rest of his Mortal Life there. And this is still Early On in the DC Timeline, like, Batman Year 1 is happening Right Now.

He hangs around, befriends the local Homeless Population, and mostly just has the time of his Life! And he takes up the stereotypical Homeless Old Man look because why fight it? That's literally what he's going for!

He also unintentionally sets up a bunch of future events

He teaches Kid!Jason on his to steal Tires as repayment for driving off some muggers with a Baseball Bat (honestly he was looking forward to being mugged, it's a new experience after all)

He pulls Kid!Tim into an Alley after Tim gets caught out at night and gets chased by some Punks. He hides Tim behind a Dumpster and tricks the Punks into mugging him instead (Yay! He finally got mugged!)

He becomes kind of well known as the Old Man who wants to experience everything before he dies. He says as much too, not like he really has a reason to hide it. He just tells people "I want to live my life to the fullest, it don't matter if I live 10 more years or 10 more minutes, I'm gonna experience every second of it!"

He once walked into a Cloud of Fear Gas to see what it was like. Later he said it was a 6/10. "Not the worst thing I've had injected into my body!" He says with no Context.

He traded places with a Hostage during an active Crime Scene because he wanted to know what it's like.

He was once dared to take Batmans Utility Belt by another Homeless Guy as a joke, so he walked up to Batman later that night in full view of everybody else and just asked for his Belt. He gives up after a few minutes, and one guy asked "Why not fight him for it? It's an experience after all.". Danny replys "Nah, I've fought Vigilantes before. It was fun though, gotta say!"

...

This got away from me, but all this to say: Imagine the Bat Families Reaction when they find out "Crazy Old Danny" is PHANTOM. You know, THE FIRST SUPERHERO!

I imagine Constantine is having a stroll though Gotham after finishing up some business with Bruce, and just bumps into a homeless guy by accident.

Later that night:

Batman: Constantine, Why are you calling? Is it to do with the-

Constantine: Why the fuck is there a Homeless God in your City?

Batman: Wait wha-

...

Or imagine they know before Constantine meets him, and it goes instead like this

Constantine: Why the fuck is there a Homeless God in your City?!

Batman: You mean Old Man Danny? He's just a homeless guy? What do you mean?

Constantine: I swear on what's left of my Soul, that is a God.

Batman, a little shit: I don't think so, I would know (fully knows)

[bowtiepastabitch]

Historical Analysis: class and injustice in 'The Ressurrectionists' minisode

Alternate title: why we're tempted to be upset with Aziraphale and why that's only halfway fair

Okay so first off huge thanks to @makewayforbigcrossducks for asking the question (and follow-up questions lol) that brought me to put these thoughts all together into a little history nerd ramble. That question being, Why is Aziraphale so clueless? Obviously, from a plot perspective, we know we need to learn some lessons about human moral dilemmas and injustices. But from a character perspective? A lot of this minisode is about Aziraphale being forced to confront the flaws of heavenly logic. This whole idea that "poverty is ineffable" basically boils down to 'yeah some people are poor, but their souls can be saved just as if not more easily that way, so it's not our problem and they probably deserve it anyway for not working hard enough,' a perspective that persists in many modern religious circles. Aziraphale isn't looking at the human factor here, he's pretty much purely concerned about the dichotomy of good and wicked human behavior and the spiritual consequences thereof, because that's what he's been told to believe. His whole goal is to "show her the error of her ways." He believes, quite wholeheartedly, that he's helping her in the long run.

"the lower you start, the more opportunities you have"

So here's what we're asking ourselves: Why did it take him so bloody long to realize how stupid that is? Sure, he's willing to excuse all kinds of things in the name of ineffability, but if someone in the year of our lord 2023 told me he was just now realizing that homelessness was bad after experiencing the past two centuries, I'd be resisting the urge to get violent even if he WAS played by Michael Sheen.

Historical context: a new type of poverty

Prior to the 19th century (1800s), poverty was a very different animal from what we deal with now. The lowest classes went through a dynamic change leading up to the industrial revolution, with proto-industrialization already moving people into more manufacture-focused tasks and rapid urbanization as a result of increasingly unlivable conditions for rural peasantry. The enclosure of common lands and tennancies by wealthy landowners for the more profitable sheep raising displaced lots of families, and in combination with poor harvests and rising rents, many people were driven to cities to seek out new ways of eeking out a living.

Before this, your ability to eat largely would have depended on the harvest in your local area. This can, for our purposes, be read as: you're really only a miracle away from being able to survive the winter. Juxtapose this, then, with the relatively new conundrum of an unhoused urban poor population. Now if you want to eat, you need money itself, no exceptions, unless you want to steal food. Charity at the time was often just as much harm as good, nearly always tied deeply up in religious attitudes and a stronger desire to proselytize than improve quality of lie. As a young woman, finding work in a city is going to be incredibly difficult, especially if you're not clean and proper enough to present as a housemaid or other service laborer. As such, Elspeth turns to body snatching to try to make a better life for herself and Wee Morag. She's out of options and she knows it.

You know who doesn't know that? Aziraphale.

The rise of capitalism

The biggest piece of the puzzle which Aziraphale is missing here is that he hasn't quite caught onto the concept of capitalism yet. To him, human professions are just silly little tasks, and she should be able to support herself if she just tried. Bookselling, weaving, farming, these are all just things humans do, in his mind. He suggests these things as options because it hasn't occurred to him yet that Elspeth is doing this out of desperation, but he also just doesn't grasp the concept of capital. Crowley does, he thinks it's hilarious, but Aziraphale is just confused as to why these occupations aren't genuine options. Farming in particular, as briefly touched on above, was formerly carried out largely on common land, tennancies, or on family plots, and land-as-capital is an emerging concept in this period of time (previously, landowners acted more like local lords than modern landlords). Aziraphale just isn't picking up on the fact that money itself is the root issue.

Even when he realizes that he fucked up by soup-ifying the corpse, he doesn't offer to give them money but rather to help dig up another body. He still isn't processing the systemic issues at play (poverty) merely what's been immediately presented to him (corpses), and this is, from my perspective, half a result of his tunnel-vision on morality and half of his inability to process this new mode of human suffering.

Half a conclusion and other thoughts

So we bring ourselves back around to the question of Aziraphale's cluelessness. Aziraphale is, as an individual, consistently behind on the times. He likes doing things a certain way and rarely changes his methodology unless someone forces his hand. Even with the best intentions, his ability to help in this minisode is hindered by two points: 1)his continued adherance to heavenly dogma 2)his inability to process the changing nature of human society. His strongest desire at any point is to ensure that good is carried out, an objective good as defined by heavenly values, and while I think it's one of his biggest character hangups, I also can't totally blame him for clinging to the only identity given to him or for worrying about something that is, as an ethereal being, a very real concern. Unfortunately, he also lacks an understanding of the actual human needs that present themselves. Where Elspeth knows that what she needs is money, Aziraphale doesn't seem to process that money is the only solution to the immediate problem. This is in part probably because a century prior the needs of the poor were much simpler, and thus miraculous assistance would never have interfered with 'the virtues of poverty'. (You can make someone's crops grow, and they'll eat well, but giving someone money actually changes their economic status.) Thus, his actions in this episode illustrate the intersection of heavenly guidelines with a weak understanding of modern structures.

This especially makes sense with his response to being told to give her money. Our angel is many things, but I would never peg him as having any attachment to his money. He's not hesitant because he doesn't want to part with it, he's hesitant because he's still scared it's the wrong thing to do in this scenario. He really is trying to be good and helpful. So yes, we're justifiably pretty miffed to see him so blatantly unaware and damaging. He definitely holds a lot of responsibility for the genuine tragedy of this minisode, and I think Crowley pointing out that it's 'different when you knew them' is an extremely important moment for Aziraphale's relationship with humanity. Up until now, he's done a pretty good job insulating himself from the capacity of humans for nastiness, his seeming naivity at the Bastille being case in point.

In the end, I think Aziraphale's role in this minisode is incredibly complex, especially within its historical context. He's obstinate and clueless but also deeply concerned with spiritual wellbeing (which is, to Aziraphale, simply wellbeing) and doing the right thing to be helpful. While it's easy to allow tiny Crowley (my beloved) to eclipse the tragic nature and moral complexity of this minisode, I think in the end it's just as important to long-term character development as 'A Companion to Owls'. We saw him make the right choice with Job's children, and now we see him make the wrong choice. And that's a thing people do sometimes, a thing humans do.

~~~

also tagging @ineffabildaddy, @kimberellaroo, and @raining-stars-somewhere-else whose comments on the original post were invaluable in helping me organize my thoughts and feelings about this topic. They also provided great insight that, in my opinion, is worth going and reading for yourself, even if it didn't factor into my final analysis/judgement.

If I missed anything or you have additional thoughts, please please share!!! <3

[conkreetmonkey]

Splatoon 3 is wild because imagine if you were living in Japan due to a recent economic and cultural boom, and suddenly a space shuttle with a mutant house-sized T-rex riding it suddenly burst from the center of Mt. Fuji and disappeared into space without explanation, and all you ever find out about what the fuck that was about is that Zuckerburg mysteriously disappeared the same day and was never seen again, but still "officially" ran Meta through an open secret Queen-Elizabeth-being-in-good-health gaslighting campaign, and everybody kind of suspected he may have been connected but never figured out anything conclusive.

Also the T-rex is now orbiting the earth in the fetal position like the guy from Jojo, and there are rumors of a substance that, if touched, turns you into a half-dinosaur monster. Nobody understands any of this but Meta employees just keep going to work and pretending Zuck still exists. The same 12 prerecorded voicelines constantly squak from the PA system.

Oddly, the statue in front of Meta HQ of a T-rex eating a human changes overnight into one of a giant human eating a tiny T-rex. Nobody noticed the switch, despite the statue being in a constantly bustling area. It happened shortly after the shuttle incident.

Jack Black's tiny clone, Lil' Jack, now wears a headset at all times and has been acting really shady since the incident. Also they're both hyperintelligent, immortal velociraptors found in an ancient cryogenic chamber who spend their days judging college football and eating the legally harvested flesh of hillbillies. Lil' Jack is probably plotting to kill Big Jack, but Big Jack doesn't seem to care, growing fat and lazy, sleeping on public benches in a bed of throw pillows. Also, he's very open about the fact that, as a velociraptor, humans look delicious, but he hasn't actually eaten anybody aside from the aforementioned hillbillies because he's civil.

Everyone is just expected to move on with their lives after this. This is normal to you.

The local art school was recently attacked by giant sea serpents, which were actually hideously bioengineered hillbillies, fulfilling a biblical doomsday prophecy, and they were driven back by Meta's army of minimum wage, part time child soldiers armed with warcrimey jury-rigged weaponry. The sea serpents had giant frying pans grafted into their mouths, which launched primitive tactical nukes made by filling garbage bags with their explosive blood. They still exist, and occasionally defend their comrades, but spend most of their time in the deep sea.

The local homeless emo twink everyone's attracted to is a closet millionaire who sells bootleg clothing in exchange for live rats, which he messily devours behind closed doors. He's also 8 feet tall and British and only has one eye.

North Korean refugees now flood the western world, after a greasy 14 year old hipster, under the guidance of Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, beat Kim Jong Un in a mech battle, and the EDM remix of the Japanese national anthem they performed caused like half the soldiers to immediately realize North Korea sucks ass and defect. One of these individuals, 7 foot tall hypergenius, becomes a newscaster alongside a nepo baby rapper with dwarfism who likes to eat entire jars of mayo, and also they're a popular band. Also also, they may or may not be gay. Almost the entire population is gay, so this isn't a huge deal.

The new local newscasters are a famous Japanese lion tamer, an Indian girl with a bloodline trait allowing her to control snakes, and a Brazillian man the size of a smart car who exclusively communicates via grunts.

Gods, souls and zombies are objectively real, and you're effectively immortal because real-life respawning was invented a while ago. It works like a Keurig, but with mucus instead of coffee. Submersion in water kills you.

A good deal of the population is a hivemind. They pretend to be individuals for no reason.

Almost all men are now femboys.

Despite all this, you still have to go to work at 9 tomorrow.

[twstfanblog]

Woooow Jamil jr really out here framing his dad for a crime he didn’t commit lol

HEHEHEEH, the first meeting story of the Evil Dad AU unlocked!

Yeah, Jamil kicks off the search because THERE'S A WARRENT FOR HIS ARREST. Kalim: Kalim: So…we should look into this right? Jamil: OBVIOUSLY

They get to the city and everyone they suspect of being a part of the gambling ring gives Jamil answers so easily. Because they think he's their boss and he looks pissed, nothing good comes from a pissed-off boss. they manage to get led to the main hideout building of the gambling ring on their first day in the city. But things can't be that easy right?

They get to the back table, both of them stunned to see a perfect copy of Jamil working a table and winning big.

Kalim: Kalim: Jamil? "Jamil": JJ under his UM, looking like Jamil, just bolts after catching Jamil's expression of pure murder. It's chaotic chase scene that ends with Jamil losing the fake in an alleyway. Jamil has no idea where the bastard went, so their stay extends until they can catch him. This happens on and off for like a week. Then, after one failed chase, Jamil noticed that there's a small opening in the wall. He takes note and goes back to the other alleys he lost the fake in. They all have small openings pointed to the walled off center of the city. Jamil: Hey…what's on the other side of these walls? NPC: Oh. That's all abandoned houses back there. They put the walls up so tourists didn't have to look at them.

Kalim and Jamil go in the middle of the night to explore the abandoned part of the city, not really sure what they're looking for other than scenes of life. Which they do find in the form of the local homeless population. While Jamil talks to them Kalim keeps looking through the houses. Kalim manages to find Yuu's hideout for JJ, noting how everything in the house looks decently new and well taken care of. Walking around, he finds actual JJ on the couch asleep. Kalim notices he really does look just like Jamil but much younger. Kalim isn't very bright but boy does have eyes Kalim: Kalim: By the seven. Jamil has a SON….

A statement that wakes JJ up and he instantly pulls a knife on Kalim. Jamil shows up to find 'Fake Jamil' with a knife to Kalim's throat JJ: Stay away or he's dead! Jamil is about to use deadly force. Impressed or not, he needs Kalim to maintain control over the Asim's trade lines but Kalim calls out to stop him. Kalim: Jamil no! He's just a kid! JJ: Shut up!? Kalim: It's an illusion! He's like 9! JJ: FUCK YOU, I'M 11-Damn it. JJ goes for broke and shoves Kalim at Jamil to make a run for it. Final parkour chase scene of Jamil chasing down JJ in the abandoned city. It ends with JJ trying to scale a building o escape Jamil, only for a part to break off and he goes falling down. Jamil manages to save him and now he's got an armful of a tiny version of himself. Jamil, thinking: 11...11 Years ago. Who was I even with 11 years-? *Flash of Yuu in a belly dancer outfit asking him about the 'fabled' snake scepter that she stole the ruby eyes out of * Jamil:

They take JJ with them back to the house they're staying in and interrogate him. The first question being, 'Where's your mother?'. To which they find out that JJ hasn't seen Yuu in about a year, but she still sends JJ his monthly allowance to buy food and do general home upkeep, so he assumes she's still alive. And Kalim asks the most burning question he has.

Kalim: What's JJ stand for? JJ: JJ: I wanna talk about something else- Jamil: No. What does it stand for? JJ: JJ: Jamil Junior- Jamil: REALLY???? JJ: LOOK- Jamil: YOU KNOWINGLY FRAMED YOUR OUR FATHER!? JJ: LOOK

JJ spends the night at their home, Kalim and Jamil prepping to bring JJ back with them. This is Jamil's kid! Kalim can't leave him to fend for himself and Jamil plans to use JJ to try to lure Yuu out of hiding so he can FINALLY put her in a cage himself. Only for the two of them to wake up the next day to find JJ GONE. Luckily they both know where he is and it's back in the fucking illegal gambling house, disguised as Jamil, AGAIN.

Jamil: JJ! JJ, counting his money: I'm busy- Jamil: Get over here. Get over here, right now. JJ: In a minute. Sorry folks, my brother and I gotta talk about something. Back in a few! JJ shoves Jamil and Kalim out into one of the alleys and drops his UM; an angry, small 11-year-old boy glaring up at Jamil. JJ: WHAT!? Jamil: Don't you fucking raise your voice at me... Jamil states that they are LEAVING, JJ is coming with them whether he likes it or not. JJ counters that while it's nice having such a 'loving father', he doesn't plan on leaving. He will try to not get another warrant sent for Jamil's arrest though. Jamil, counter-counters by just picking JJ up and tucking him under his arm. Which while the fastest move was not the best move. JJ is screaming and kicking the whole way out of the city, Kalim beside them all smiles and saying how much JJ is gonna love their house and how much new stuff they'll get him. At a point, Jamil Snake Whispers JJ to sleep, so that he'll stop pitching a fit. Cue JJ waking up nearly a day later in a new city, in his new room, all decked out like a mini Scarabian prince. Sleepily glaring at Jamil bringing him some food.

Jamil: Jamil: Good morning- JJ: You motherfucker- Jamil: That's right. I did fuck your mother. That's how you got here. You're welcome. From there, it's multiple failed escape attempts. But, JJ is getting harder to keep trapped and then Kalim delivers the news that Yuu's been captured and an execution date has been set.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Spider-Punk x Black Cat: Punk!Cat Headcanons

Yes, I'm doing this. Every Spider-Man needs his Cat.

First of all, they'll be the first to tell you they are not dating.

If you ask, they'll both say 'We hate labels'. It's their thing.

If Hobie is the king of all things anti-facist then Felicia is the monarch of rage fueled feminism and anti-capitalism

Hates all things classist, racist and sexist and has a 'k!ll your local rap*st' patch on her battle vest

And her weapon of choice is spiked-out brass knuckle claws

Hobie towers over her (like he does everyone), but Felicia's ten times louder and twice as confrontational. Felicia in any universe talks bold with no filter, and Punk!Cat is that turned up to eleven

Which is probably why she's on vocals in the band

She has a mouth like a sailor and an accent as thick as Hobie's, so mixed with his slang, their conversation are literally British-dipped jibberish

Her style sits on the border of old-school punk and trad goth. She's usually in all black and white, compared to Hobie's red and blue, and sometime her domino mask is swapped out for trad goth style eyeliner

The motives align more than any other Spider-Man, at that makes things a lot easier.

Hobie loves a girl who can do a little direct action, and his anarchist beliefs align more with hers than any other Spider-man.

Though they did have to get over the fact he's an anarchist and she's a communist (she constantly says to him 'i dont believe in private property')

Of course she likes to steal, and she's real good at it

To most Spider-men this would be annoying, but Hobie actually finds it fairly impressive.

She steals things for him constantly, and he keeps every single thing she gives him. Lots of times they turn out to be useful, especially in his builds

Punk!Cat steals shit from museums to return objects back to their native countries and defaces pieces from racist, sexist artists

Steals from banks to handover the money to grass-roots resistance movements

And since Hobie is one of the only Spider-men to hate cops (blue laces people) he's always there to happily protect her from the pigs

She's still herself, but a bit different than most Felicias

Every Felicia is a little 'not normal' about Spider-Man, and Punk!Cat is the same, but approaches it from a different angle

She'll call Hobie a hero only because she know it bugs the day lights out of him

But unlike a LOT of Felicias, Punk!Cat outright hates Spider-Man merch and imagery

She thinks it's incredibly exploitative of Hobie and everything he stands for.

And she hates their totalitarian J.Jonah more than anything because if theres one thing she hates, it's misinformation and propaganda

Although most Fe's love their jewlery like no other, Punk!Cat takes another slight deviation -

Punk!Cat knows that things like diamonds, pearls, and gold has been used as items of oppression for literal centuries. Instead of a taste for items of bougeois lust, Felicia is much more into punk jewlery

She loves everything pinned, spiked, and covered in soda tabs. Her hero uniform is covered in chains, and even her canon 3-claw grappling hook is replaced with a heavy chain and hook she fashioned herself. Scavanged, of course.

She's really close with Gwen and Pavi

Community outreach is everything to a punk, ya'll

Her and Gwen get along immediately. Felicia is never one to be quick to jealousy and she accepts Gwen with open arms.

Gwen turns up to Hobie's universe distraught and homeless.

She teaches her about squatters rights and how her and Hobie keep a roof over their heads, always made sure she had toiletries and someone to talk to, because she knows what it's like to have a strained relationship with your dad

Pavi takes to everyone quickly, but when he and Felicia are together, it gets LOUD

The Spider-Society hates her

And Felicia and Hobie love it

Hobie had no idea how controversial dating Felicia would be. Not for band fans, but for all the other Spider-people

Turns out, Felicias aren't very popular with the Society

The both of them thinks it hilarious

They tell him Spider-people are suppose to be with their MJ's. That's how it's meant to be.

Dating a Felicia or saving a Gwen is an anonmaly waiting to happen.

But neither of them care, and if anything, that only eggs them on. If everyone thinks they're 'bound' to breakup eventually then thats even more reason for them to stick together.

Hobie has absolutely made Felicia her own watch

One which she uses to crash the Spider-Society every now and again

Because of this, Miguel hates her and Jess is just so done with the both of them

Even if Hobie and Peter.B are in no way close, Peter seems to be the only adult in their corner. As a Spider-man that didn't have the most conventional story with his MJ, he's more than supportive of Hobie and his unconventional story with Felicia. He figures if he and MJ can make it work, so can they.

Her and Gwen bond over the awkwardness of being variants of the dead or ex-girlfriend of most of the Spider-society, and how Spider-men see them because of it

And when it's time to take the Society down, she's the first in line (after Hobie, Gwen, and Pavi of course)

[dxmedstudent]

I haven't been on Tumblr in a while but wanted to check how you're doing! How is married life treating you and how is work- I remember last time you were applying for GP training! I'm just coming to the end of F1 :)

Me neither, Anon! Honestly? I have been meaning to come back to Tumblr a while ago, but life has been busy! I had tried to spend less time on socual media so i could focus on my membership exams, and that went too well.

Time flies, I can't believe it's been more than 10 years since I joined tumblr or graduated from med school.

I can't remember which updates I've already shared, so I'll make a list.

Married life is great - pretty similar to pre-married life. Because we started off in different cities due to my training and covid, it's honestly just a joy to live together and be able to hang out. I've been meaning to post a couple of anonymised wedding photos. It still feels amazing that we managed to get all the people we love together. We also managed to fly out to my birth country so that DxDude could meet my relatives...most of whom don't speak English. It was hilarious and lovely and he took being mobbed by an army of Eastern European Babushkas very well.

We adopted a cat! His owner died suddenly and my parents sort of got left with the cat. It was at a difficult time, as it was around the time my beloved cat passed away last year. I still miss her. But I couldn't let someone's baby, a lovely senior cat, live out his last days in a shelter. He's a little 14ish year old man called Sherlock. He loves being held and sitting on my shoulders and he drools when he gets excited. We've been trying to discourage his habit of nipping you when he wants something.

My houseplants and balcony plants may be slowly getting out of control, but I'm happy I have lots of them, and i would have more if we weren't running out of space. I'm currently waging a war against mealybugs. Send thoughts and prayers.

I did get into GP training! And it was local to where I wanted to be, which made it much easier to finally move in together. In fact, I JUST finished GP training a couple of weeks ago and am now living my GP dreams working in one of the practices that I trained in. It's very inner city London. Our patients have complex needs, and I'm honoured to ve in a team that have a lot of experience serving patients affected by substance abuse, homelessness and refugee populations and other complex issues.

We went on Honeymoon to Japan! It was amazing, and I'd still love to go again. I was bold enough to arrange my Honeymoon to be barely a month before a postgraduate exam, but I passed!

This past academic year has been filled with sitting exams and jumping through the hoops required for my eportfolio. On top of working full time as a GP. I didn't think I would do it all first time TBH, but my supervisor had more faith in me than I did. It's honestly been amazing to work for a few jobs in GP training where I felt seen and wanted and where my hard work was appreciated. I can't believe my supervisor offered me my current job, and wanted me to stay on, but they did!

I finished a diploma in sexual and reproductive health and trained in fitting contraceptive implants. I'd like to train up to fit IUDs also to try to improve local access to sexual health services.

I went on strike these past couple of years, when the junior doctors went on strike again. I'm still processing the pay offer and the new government. But I'm relieved we're no loner under the Tories.

We'd like to move house, but we've not gotten around to trying to do this seriously, because my life was already stressful enough. We do need more space, and I hope we'll find somewhere modestly nice that we can afford.

We're trying for kids, and it's sadly taking much longer than we hoped. Being a patient is...a slow and frustrating experience because it already feels like I've had to work harder than I should to advocate for appropriate care. I could say a LOT about the postcode lotteries that come with UK fertility care but I'll leave that for another post.

I've finally accepted that my hair is wavy, and I'm trying out different products to lean into the natural waves and bring them out without leaving it a frizzy Hermione-esque mess. It spent tge past years mostly in a plait or cadet bun, but I'm finally giving my hair a bit more freedom. I have NOT yet accepted that my hair is mostly white at this point. I alternate between wanting to go grey (because that would look cool) and wanting to stay brown because that's kind of how I've imagined myself for the past 35+ years.

I finally get to indulge in painting my nails. I've loved it since I was like 13 and seeing my nails sparkly and colorful brings out my inner 13 year old and she is thrilled. Every time I make my nails glow in the dark, I show them off to DxDude before bed.

My laptop died and then I inherited an old laptop from my parents which is also dying. Which is part of the reason I haven't created much art in recent years. I should probably just bite the bullet and buy a new one, but my exams and diplomas have been expensive so I've been putting it off. To be fair I also made the decision to use my limited free time to keep up with friends and family IRL and try not to feel bad about taking a break from creating. I felt like I was blaming myself for not managing to do everything I wanted to do. I've slowly accepted that none of us can do everything.

I think that's it for now. Looking forward to catching up with what medblr are up to 😃

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

Any tips on creating monsters? Especially if these monsters are simply some of the native life forms of an isolated location our heroes find themselves on? I mean sure, I think of whatever creepy and scary idea you can think of and chuck it in... but there would probably be reasons they evolved that way naturally and it isn't to terrorise outsiders.

Also, if I have one of those monsters secreting a toxin, how possible is to to have one of my humans someone be immune to it, or otherwise has minimal effect on them?

Addy: If you're looking to make something fit an ecological niche, start with what already exists and work from there. Not necessarily a cut-and-paste, but take inspiration from it.

For example, there's something to be said about the simple bear. Bears are scary. They're big, they're tough, they're pretty fast, they can climb trees, they're reasonably clever, and they're very hard to kill. The word "bear" basically means "the brown one," as people used to be so scared of bears they wouldn't say their name, in case a bear got summoned.

Also wild boars. Pigs are freakishly big, and wild hogs are worse. Boar spears have a crossguard to keep the hog from just running the spear through its whole body as it runs at you. You also get into jaguars (they're like IRL drop bears in the shape of cats), crocodiles, and all sorts of kinds of things. Even hippos.

You want somewhere to start? Take a large, bulky predator (or omnivore or big herbivore) and give it some weird traits. Adapt it to the demands of your local environment. Give it a niche to fill, with a lot of the basic premise/heavy lifting done for you by nature. How about a giant bat? Or a coyote with mange (likely the origin of the capybara tale)? Or a cannibalistic giant lizard? Then add spooky and scary stuff, go for it. But remember - some of the creatures that we find very normal and commonplace? They were once considered monsters too.

For toxins... it depends on what the toxin is. If it shuts down specific metabolic processes, then your characters could be totally immune, as they have different biology. Or maybe it's like how alliums (garlic, onions, and leeks) are super toxic to most pet and livestock species, but not us. Our blood is just a bit different in a way that makes n-propyl disulfide (the compound that makes alliums toxic) wayyyy less toxic. The toxin could also be intended for birds or reptiles or whatever else, and therefore have a lesser effect on mammals. Or maybe humans are just special.

Also, threat displays are very much a thing. They're big, they're flashy, they're scary. You can have a critter that hisses and growls and blows up a neck pouch for intimidation, and the intended purpose of that is to scare off creatures that would try to steal its food.

Feral: I’m gonna take a slightly different approach to monster making than filling an evolutionary niche. Classic horror monsters often derive from thematic or symbolic exploration. Vampires are a seductive Other; although they come from older folktales, the vampire of today was born in the early 19th century to explore the racist, xenophobic, and homophobic anxieties of English society.  Werewolves also have much older origins than the common version in modern media but have always blurred the line between a civilized human and a primal beast. 

Looking to the horror King, It fed on fear, taking the shape of the children’s fears - monsters from B-movies like werewolves, a clown, a woman from a creepy portrait, a syphilis-infected homeless man, a zombified Georgie - which the narrative used to explore more abstract fears - leaving childhood and going through puberty, not to mention the overall terrorizing effect of racism, misogyny, and homophobia on the population. The Shining doesn’t even try to pretend it’s not about alcoholism and the effects of substance abuse on a family.

You mention that this story will take place in an isolated setting. Isolation is terrifically thematic. How can you lean into it? What if everyone who dies seems to be totally alone when it happens? And even after they realize they’re in danger, they keep putting themselves in a situation to be alone? Pair that with your monster’s evolution to better survive. Does the monster have some way of peeling one person off from the pack as part of how they hunt - maybe they have some form of vocal mimicry like some birds or a cat that makes the person think they are going towards a crying baby or wounded animal? Does it have exceptional camouflage so no one suspects they are not alone when they’re in a vulnerable position? You mention there being a toxin - instead of killing, can it produce hallucinations or paranoia that would cause a person to split from the group? These could all help the monster hunt whatever its normal prey would be while still tapping into much more abstract fears that you want to explore.

[thenixkat]

Mundane AU!Laios thoughts

Note:

Probably contains spoilers

Mundane au= no magic and no fantasy 'races' (like... little people are a thing, they exist in reality, some people just have dwarfism. The elves are just skinny racist and xenophobic Europeans like? And there's already parralells made with the demi humans so if I do anything the orcs are Afro Native and Kobolds are somewhere African or Arab. And for the ogres... gigantism is a thing that exists in real like and totally a teen girl would just wear some horns.)

Thoughts:

The Toudens are European-born. From somewhere cold as hell, really isolated and conservative, that's close to some mountains, that's racist towards the local indigenous people.

(The sibs, but especially Laios got chewed out about some shit and has been trying to be better, slips up every now and then but takes criticism well so long as folks tell him what he did/said wrong).

Local weird kids put off vibes that the rest of the village didn't like, Laios and Falin grew up bullied and ostracized. Falin got sent off to schooling in the big city and later to a university in Italy where she met Marcille.

Laios dropped out of high school and joined the military as soon as he was able to b/c he wanted to get the hell out of dodge. Served for a few shitty years b4 just... deserting and backpacking across Europe just straight up homeless and working whatever odd jobs he could find. Man was going through it. Wound up in the same city where Falin was studying at a university in and decided to visit her. She took one look at him and refused to let him just go back to what he was doing, so Laios started couch surfing with her (very much against dorm rules but he looked terrible and Falin wasn't about to let anyone stop her from making sure her brother has a roof over his head and food).

Eventually, she takes him with her when she does a work-study in the USA for her ecology degree and they ended up staying/Falin kinda maybe sorta dropped out and got a job with a vet near where she was doing her work-study.

Laios and Falin are technically illegal immigrants but they're white so no one really questions their citizenship (their working on getting citizenship/papers)

Laios gets a GED. Does some self-study from Falin's textbooks and online stuff but that's about it for his schooling.

Laios definitely, like, lives in Falin's basement. Falin is the primary breadwinner in this household, Laios is aware of this and has learned to accept it even tho he would like to take care of his baby sister and sometimes feels bad about not being able to. They used to share a room in a cheap apartment but after building up enough savings they managed to buy a suspiciously cheap house in a rural town bordering a reservation and not far from a national park.

Laios still works odd jobs, mostly physical labor and stuff where they won't ask for a degree. Has worked retail, where his customer service was trash but he's darn good at just stocking and shelving shit.

Met Chilchuck while working retail, Chilchuck introduced him to the concept of a union which Laios thinks is really neat.

The town where the Touden's moved has a sizable population of people with dwarfism, Chilchuck is a notable member of the little person community in the area. The Touden's go to Chilchuck for help with paperwork (they pay him a small fee) and he doesn't ask too many questions about why they don't have this or that piece of documentation.

Laios enjoys doing citizen science and bird watching. During the tourist season, he runs a small wilderness guide giving campers and hikers tours in the local national park.

There's a hermit that lives in the national park illegally (Senshi) that Laios and Falin made friends with. They love his cooking.

Laios is active in the online furry community. He does commissions, mostly of digital and physical art or people's fursonas and vore stuff. He does great ferals, and decent anthros, but his human art is not good (he's working on it).

Laios is decidedly chubby in this, his weight goes up and down depending on the season and how much physical activity he's doing. But ever since he reunited with Falin, she's been making sure he doesn't skip meals if they can afford to eat. And ever since he met Senshi he's gotten heftier since he loves that man's cooking.

[celestialtrolls]

Alternian Locations Summary

Contents: A summary of all the Alternian locations I've created, with the full version and all details being visible on >>THIS PAGE<<

All locations will have it specified how well known/accessible they are, please feel free to use the bigger ones in your own worldbuilding/stories, and if you'd like any of your characters living there please please please feel free to ask!

Will likely be edited as time passes, but the most updated version will always be the toyhouse world settings page linked above.

Important context: For real world equivalent locations where I talk about the middle of the ocean, I often treat Alternia like it looks like this: The Inverted World (because I think it's an interesting way to parallel Earth)

Druzhale

Northern North Atlantic Ocean, Very Well Known, High Accessibility

A large military funded city with carefully planned and managed infrastructure, constantly under new development and seen by some as the military capital due to it's fleet-sponsored university and cosmodrome. There is a large police presence divided between currently-serving fleet members and subjugglators that have a very low tolerance for trouble and rebel activity. It is very prosperous with low homeless rates and comparatively good living conditions for all castes due to being a propaganda megaproject to encourage people to join the fleet.

Duskguard Encampment

Romania/Black Sea, Locally Known, Somewhat Accessible

A walled estate with a central castle, enough room for small farms and livestock that is able to be locked down and completely self-sufficient. Acts as a base for a locally known group of undead-hunters and most residents are people who have lost their homes due to the undead or wishing to train to fight the horde.

Ecclesia de Inanis

Algeria/Alboran Sea, Hidden and Inaccessible

An underground cave system of chambers and tunnels created by a deceased carnival, now inhabited by those who split off from Suits Carnival when Solitaire was usurped. The entrance is somewhere in the desert, and extremely difficult to find without assistance.

Enlightener's Bounty

Brazil/North-East coast of South America, Rumoured, Accessible Only to flying trolls

Large settlement spanning across the canopy of a dense rainforest. The base of operations of a religion led by 'the Enlightener', a safe haven for trolls with insect-based mutations like wings and carapace. There are a few tunnels beneath the trees, mostly for storage and emergency medical treatment, but regular flooding prevents access often.

Minanporo

East China Sea, Very Well Known, Accessible

Large and densely populated metropolis with a high crime rate, formerly a prosperous city with major contributions to the entertainment industry, political corruption and gang crime tore it down. Many high rise buildings, but most are in some state of disrepair and some are uninhabitable. The air is thick with smoke and fires are common from the unmaintained infrastructure. A tunnel system exists underground, but it is extremely dangerous, more so than travelling along the roads.

Novahurst

England/North Sea, Unknown

Small European-style suburban village with low population and unusual magical phenomenon.

Palace of Fuchsine

Far-East Mediterranean Sea, Well Known, Inaccessible

Large castle suspended far above the sea, tethered to the ground by magic and featuring a space elevator. The Grand Emperor lives here with his attendants and other people deemed important to have gathered there. It is almost impossible to reach without being specifically bought there via teleportation.

Plegeus

Saudi Arabia/Persian Sea, Regionally Known, Difficult to access due to inhospitable weather and terrain

An arid and mountainous desert region with very little life of any kind, with a small population of dragon-worshipping trolls living among the silent volcanos deep within.

Suits Carnival

West Northern Atlantic Ocean, Regionally Known, Accessibility Varies

Formerly travelling carnival which has now settled into a city with population in the thousands, almost entirely comprised of purple-blooded subjugglators, former subjugglators and those closely affiliated with individuals within the carnival. A large wall surrounds the entire city, with one main road leading in and through to the city centre. There is now standard housing and buildings, but a lot of citizens still have caravans or semi-permanent cabins. Infrastructure is in progress, but everyone has access to running water and electricity. Once a perigee, an event is held that invites those who live in nearby cities to visit for a festival and trade.

[Subject to change]

Tirnan'Maell

Ireland/Irish Sea, Regionally Known, Accessible during Spring/Summer

A large natural area of lake, forests and mountains that was mysteriously restored from a biohazard/waste dumping site. All urban developments on the site since have failed, and it is now a common vacation site for those seeking a break from the city, with small cabins and camping areas near the lake.

[evidence-based-activism]

Any sources on prostitution where the interviewees aren't pulled from shelters/help centres? I saw someone talk about how a lot of studies purposefully pull the most vulnerable women to include in the study so that results are negatively skewed. It's a silly argument to me because it doesn't take away the fact that those women literally exist, but I am interested to see other studies

Yes! Honestly, I think this is more of a "ask for proof studies are purposefully pulling only from shelters" situation, because while there are definitely some studies that do this (and that's a good thing! studying this subset of prostitutes is important!) I can find no evidence that this is a common theme in this field.

Unless you mean to exclude research that involves contacting participants through various outreach agencies. This is fairly common in prostitution research, but it's not a unique phenomenon; it's a common technique for studying any relatively small and/or "underground" population (i.e., contact via an established organization that has already established themselves as legitimate). Further, these agencies often aren't just helping women who self-select into a program, they are deliberately reaching out to the local prostitute (and/or other vulnerable*) population(s) in order to offer assistance. As such, this is essentially the same procedure that any research study would start with (contacting a sample of the population), it's just been done in advance of the research starting. (It's similar to snowball sampling, which is an accepted sampling technique when probability sampling is impossible.) There is still some research that doesn't use this strategy, some of which I list below, but it is less common, again due to the size and secrecy in this population.

(*Another thing to note is that the "help centers" researchers recruit prostitutes from aren't always specifically about prostitution. Instead they may be focused on homelessness, substance abuse, job training, health clinics, or other government services.)

---

That being said, here's some examples of the research I think you're looking for:

To start, one of the most frequently cited studies I see, "Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries" [1], is the origin of the of the "89% of people in prostitution want to leave prostitution" statistic interviewed people (mainly women, but also occasionally some men and transgender women) in help centers in only 2 of the 9 countries, and even then they didn't exclusively interview women from help centers in those countries. There's also good reason to believe that in Thailand - one of the countries where they interviewed women at a help center - the results were actually positively skewed. Specifically, they were unable to interview many women on the street as they "found that pimps did not allow the prostitutes to answer our questions". The country estimates of individuals who want to leave prostitution ranged from 68-99%, excluding countries where interviews were primarily conducted in either help centers or medical centers changes the range to 68-97%. (This study covered a lot of other topics as well, including current and past experiences of violence.)

A non-exhaustive list of other studies that didn't pull (at least not completely) from shelters/help centers:

200 female street prostitutes in the San Francisco Bay Area; study found 62% were physically abused as a child, 60% were sexually abused as a child, 62% started in prostitution before age 16 [2]

1,969 women identified via "information on prostitute women identified by police and health department surveillance"; study found a standard mortality ratio (mortality compared to general population) of 1.9 for active and inactive prostitutes, 5.9 for active prostitutes only, and 7.9 for homicide of active and inactive prostitutes, and 17.7 for homicide of active prostitutes only [3]

193 legal prostitutes in Zurich were recruited from "different locations, namely outdoors, in studios, bars, cabarets, parlours, brothels and escort services"; study found 63% had at least one mental disorder, notably this study did not represent "women who were forced [in] to sex work and women who were working illegally" [4]

A research review [5] - albeit one fairly limited in scope, as they looked only at research on adult female street prostitutes in western countries - summarizes various physical health, mental health, and violence studies; samples ranged from street interviews to help centers to medical centers

This research review [6] examined dissociation in various work (street, brothel, club, etc.) settings, prison, and help centers; methodological limitations prevented a meta-analysis, but they found high rates of prior trauma, violence, and dissociative behaviors/symptoms among prostitutes. They also note that "The more accessible and thus most studied [female sex workers] are those acting on the street, in public brothels, in clubs or in windows."

134 female porn actresses recruited via an online survey; results poorer mental health and increased experience of multiple forms of violence including childhood sexual abuse [7]

An analysis of the content on a website for escorts to share information found "physical violence and electronic abuse are common experiences" [8]

222 women in indoor and outdoor prostitution settings were interviewed, most were contacted outside of a shelter or treatment center; high rates of violence were reported across all settings [9]

And, of course, none of this addresses all the other issues with prostitution such as the relationship between prostitution and human trafficking, the negative societal effects (e.g., perpetuation of misogyny), etc.

I hope this is what you're looking for! Let me know if it isn't!

References below the cut:

Farley, M., Cotton, A., Lynne, J., Zumbeck, S., Spiwak, F., Reyes, M. E., Alvarez, D., & Sezgin, U. (2004). Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries. Journal of Trauma Practice, 2(3–4), 33–74. https://doi.org/10.1300/J189v02n03_03

SILBERT, M. H., & PINES, A. M. (1982). Entrance into Prostitution. Youth & Society, 13(4), 471–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X82013004005

Potterat, J. J., Brewer, D. D., Muth, S. Q., Rothenberg, R. B., Woodhouse, D. E., Muth, J. B., Stites, H. K., & Brody, S. (2004). Mortality in a Long-term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 159(8), 778–785. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwh110

Rössler, W., Koch, U., Lauber, C., Hass, A.-K., Altwegg, M., Ajdacic-Gross, V., & Landolt, K. (2010). The mental health of female sex workers. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 122(2), 143–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2009.01533.x

Love, R. (2015). Street Level Prostitution: A Systematic Literature Review. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 36(8), 568–577. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2015.1020462

Tschoeke, Stefan, et al. “A Systematic Review of Dissociation in Female Sex Workers.” Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, vol. 20, no. 2, Mar. 2019, pp. 242–57. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2019.1572044.

Grudzen, Corita R., et al. “Comparison of the Mental Health of Female Adult Film Performers and Other Young Women in California.” Psychiatric Services, vol. 62, no. 6, June 2011, pp. 639–45. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.62.6.pss6206_0639.

Davies, Kim, and Lorraine Evans. “A Virtual View of Managing Violence among British Escorts.” Deviant Behavior, vol. 28, no. 6, Sept. 2007, pp. 525–51. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620701316830.

Raphael, Jody, and Deborah L. Shapiro. “Violence in Indoor and Outdoor Prostitution Venues.” Violence Against Women, vol. 10, no. 2, Feb. 2004, pp. 126–39. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801203260529.

[memphisfoodnotbombs]

In this video, the Memphis chapter of Food Not Bombs faces harassment from the Blue Suede Brigade (BSB), a seemingly subservient apparatus of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC). BSB targeted and disrupted our compassionate service under the pretense of requiring a permit for sharing food in a public park. This incident occurred during a picnic at Court Square Park on Saturday, 10/14/2023, at approximately 2:05 pm.

The DMC, a business entity supposedly responsible for governing residential and business areas in downtown Memphis, receives public funding based on property value assessments and utilizes the BSB as the “eyes and ears of the business community.”

The requirement of a permit to offer a basic necessity further highlights the systemic injustice endured by our community.

This incident is not isolated but represents an ongoing problem concerning the DMC. We have attempted to engage with the DMC and elicit a plausible explanation for their legal authority to impose permit requirements on non-vendors in a public space. Despite sending a letter to the DMC over 11 weeks ago, their response has been evasive and unsatisfactory.

Memphis mayor-elect Paul Young, President/CEO of the DMC, vaguely suggested that the issue would be addressed internally through comments on our social media pages. Why then was the Blue Suede Brigade officer unaware of this supposed resolution?

The persistent harassment we face is a direct result of the DMC's failure to provide a satisfactory answer to our legitimate question: "We ask the Downtown Memphis Commission to immediately clarify its legal authority to require and issue permits to non-vendors."

When will the DMC cite its legal authority?

The recent harassment exposes the negligence and indifference of the DMC towards addressing the legitimate concerns we have raised. We question the DMC's reluctance to cite their legal authority and establish a justifiable basis for impeding acts of compassion and the sharing of food in public parks.

During the incident, one of the individuals seeking food assistance was a homeless veteran who had not eaten in over 24 hours. Another unhoused person recounted being denied access to local shelters due to not possessing the "proper" identification simply because they hailed from another state. These stories reflect the dire situations faced by the unhoused population in Memphis while exposing the failure of the existing system to meet their basic needs.

Unhoused individuals are our neighbors. It is our collective responsibility to support and uplift them, rather than subjecting them to further harm and exclusion. It is not a crime to extend a helping hand, enjoy a picnic in a public park, or share food with those in need. Compassion and solidarity should never be trumped by bureaucratic restrictions.

The Memphis Flyer

We invite you to read our open letter to the DMC for further details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19xCJbdgkjPBVw-r6oC_m9tuNPfIVixHFAz-KlX0MZ9E/edit?usp=sharing

Find more videos, press articles, links to socials and information in our Linktree: https://linktr.ee/memphisfoodnotbombs

Link to this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MNxS11bK87c?si=8bzqe2du6ZpECWfg

In this video, the Memphis chapter of Food Not Bombs faces harassment from the Blue Suede Brigade (BSB), a seemingly subservient apparatus of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC). BSB targeted and disrupted our compassionate service under the pretense of requiring a permit for sharing food in a public park. This incident occurred during a picnic at Court Square Park on Saturday, 10/14/2023, at approximately 2:05 pm.

The DMC, a business entity supposedly responsible for governing residential and business areas in downtown Memphis, receives public funding based on property value assessments and utilizes the BSB as the “eyes and ears of the business community.”

The requirement of a permit to offer a basic necessity further highlights the systemic injustice endured by our community.

This incident is not isolated but represents an ongoing problem concerning the DMC. We have attempted to engage with the DMC and elicit a plausible explanation for their legal authority to impose permit requirements on non-vendors in a public space. Despite sending a letter to the DMC over 11 weeks ago, their response has been evasive and unsatisfactory.

Memphis mayor-elect Paul Young, President/CEO of the DMC, vaguely suggested that the issue would be addressed internally through comments on our social media pages. Why then was the Blue Suede Brigade officer unaware of this supposed resolution?

The persistent harassment we face is a direct result of the DMC's failure to provide a satisfactory answer to our legitimate question: "We ask the Downtown Memphis Commission to immediately clarify its legal authority to require and issue permits to non-vendors."

When will the DMC cite its legal authority?

The recent harassment exposes the negligence and indifference of the DMC towards addressing the legitimate concerns we have raised. We question the DMC's reluctance to cite their legal authority and establish a justifiable basis for impeding acts of compassion and the sharing of food in public parks.

During the incident, one of the individuals seeking food assistance was a homeless veteran who had not eaten in over 24 hours. Another unhoused person recounted being denied access to local shelters due to not possessing the "proper" identification simply because they hailed from another state. These stories reflect the dire situations faced by the unhoused population in Memphis while exposing the failure of the existing system to meet their basic needs.

Unhoused individuals are our neighbors. It is our collective responsibility to support and uplift them, rather than subjecting them to further harm and exclusion. It is not a crime to extend a helping hand, enjoy a picnic in a public park, or share food with those in need. Compassion and solidarity should never be trumped by bureaucratic restrictions.

No one needs permission to share the gift of compassion. Food is not a privilege but a fundamental human right that must be secured for all individuals.

We invite you to read our open letter to the DMC for further details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19xCJbdgkjPBVw-r6oC_m9tuNPfIVixHFAz-KlX0MZ9E/edit?usp=sharing

Find more videos, press articles, links to socials and information in our Linktree: https://linktr.ee/memphisfoodnotbombs

Link to this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MNxS11bK87c?si=8bzqe2du6ZpECWfg

#FoodNotPermits #FoodNotBombs #FoodNotBombsMemphis #MemphisFoodNotBombs #PermitPaul #PaulYoung #Memphis #MemphisTennessee #MayorOfMemphis #MemphisTN #PleaseShare #DowntownMemphis #DowntownMemphisCommission #BlueSuede #BlueSuedeBrigade #FoodIsARight #FoodIsAHumanRight #Love #Compassion

[weatherman667]

How Japan Hides Their Homeless Population

He’s butthurt because the Japanese solution works because of shame, and not aid or control.

Japan has liberal zoning, i.e. mixed usage at every level.  You can build almost any business in almost every area.

While the US has temporarily-embarrassed millionaires, Japan has poor people.  They shop at the poor people store.  They live in 4 and a half tatami apartments.  What this means is that it’s perfectly valid to live a life of low means without assistance.

They have capsule hotels, and even have people living in internet cafes.  Not because of any government programme, but because the government simply allows it.  They also have public baths, making it easy to stay clean while living on the street.  If you want to have a living room, you rent a karaoke bar.  Some even offer unlimited alcoholic drinks for an extra $10.

Their shame for the homeless causes the homeless to keep themselves clean and (relatively) presentable.  They will abandon public areas when people will be around, buy coffee at a 24 hour restaurant to keep out of the cold.

And Japan actively arrest any homeless they find.  They then set them up in long-term shelters, as they do not have sort term shelters.  Yes, you have to share your tiny 1 room apartment with 4 other people, but you get a bed and a roof.

Because the cost of meagre living in Japan is so low, the government only has to lift them up to living in an internet cafe.

They also did not close down their insane asylums, which keeps most of the crazies off the street.  They also harshly punish any drug use, which keeps the number of people who have even tried drugs down to single digit percentages.

Note:  Most homeless in the West either have mental illness or drug addiction.

His argument is that people without longterm homes are almost homeless, but “almost” means a lot when you don’t have to sleep in the rain or freezing cold.  When you can spend $20 per day for roof, a bath, and a basic meal, living a meagre existence is much easier.  Fuck, even Subway is up to like $15 nowadays.

Japan also have long traditions of:

Public Decency

I didn’t see anything.

They basically have a social contract where the homeless don’t make a nuisance of themselves, and they don’t nuisance the homeless.

Whereas in the compassionate West, she shut down insane asylums and dumped them onto the street.  The place I work at is adding a well, but needs a sign off from the local health authority, and the owner has been trying to get them to look at it for 8 months.  You kwno what this means?, we barely have enough water to operate.  Very - fucking - compassionate.

Runtime:  15:41

[wilcze-kudly]

The (old) announcement for the new earth Avatar series in 2025 is making the rounds on twitter with so many reactions being wishing for a Bolin-like mankisser Avatar, which has led me & my maladaptive daydreaming to concoct this speculation/wishlist/fanfic, hope you enjoy:

Technology has evolved to be somewhat modern day tech with majority population no longer very spiritual & dismiss bending & spirits as being "old head" stuff & glorified pretty animals & weird martial arts, and now the Avatar isn't considered a big deal anymore. This is part of the main conflict with the new Avatar

Korra dies at around 80ish, mostly b/c I want old lady Master Jinora to be the new Avatar's main spiritual teacher

Show starts with Jinora copying her dad's lead and summarize the end of Korra's life before zooming in on her and the White Lotus going around the Earth Kingdom searching for the new Avatar. Unlike w/ previous generations, there's hardly any Avatar claims, which is nice b/c no random false claims, but Jinora gets annoyed at how un-spritual and downright flippant people are about the Avatar cycle nowadays.

This search goes really wrong though... b/c 20 years after Korra's death and they still haven't found the new Avatar 😨. WL members begin wondering if the cycle is broken, but Jinora doesn't give up hope in finding Korra's reincarnation.

Jinora may be an old lady, but she's very spry and agile and credits the Air Nomad lifestyle for how she doesn't slow down at all in the search.

Scenes begin getting interspliced during the Avatar search, cutting to some ”random” Earthbender (obvs the Avatar). He's some big buff brown athlete dude who is trying to make it to the big leagues of pro-bending... but he struggles a lot. Backstory: he's dirt poor and kicked out by his family after being such a failure in school, turning to sports to try to live out his dream is a last ditch effort. Very last ditch b/c if he doesn't win tonight's match money, he's not gonna make rent and end up homeless, so he's very stressed.

Cut to some of the younger While Lotus guys who pass by the local small-town arena and then ask Master Jinora if they can take a break this weekend and watch a local pro-bending match. Honors was at first gonna say no, but her gut/spiritual connection to the previous Avatar suddenly tells her that going inside might be a good idea.

They walk in to see a pro-bending match in progress, and it's pretty neck&neck with our Earth Avatar looking like he might be able to pull out a close victory..... until the enemy's team's earthbender sends him flying back, and instead of falling normally, our Avatar gets genuinely scared that he's gonna break his neck and experiences a slowmotion "life flashing before my eyes" near-death moment where he gets sad b/c.... he's kinda a loser and his life sucks!

That's when he suddenly airbends and catches his fall.

Jinora & the WL are overjoyed to see this and it's a big huge moment..... until they zoom out and it turns out nobody else in the arena gives a single fuck outside of the fact that airbending is cheating ”yellow fan! move back 1 zone!" even our new Avatar's teammates are pissed at him

Jinora gets really mad "Um, hello? That's the Avatar!" but nobody cares beyond the game. Jinora starts grumbling abt "young folks"

Our new Avatar doesn't even care much either and just pleads with the ref that he just did it on accident, but the yellow fan goes thru.... and it ends up costing the match!

new Avatar leaves the match dejected and kicked off the team "if you hadn't done that Avatar mumbo jumbo, we would've won the prize money!" and new Avatar leaves teary eyed and cursing this "stupid Avatar stuff"

Jinora & the WL drop in on new Avatar (literally, Jinora is too excited and just flies down from the sky) and new Avatar yells abt "I don't have any money, scary airbending Grandma-mugger! Please don't rob me, I'm already homeless!"

It takes a while for Jinora to convince him to come with her (turns out, he doesn't know much abt Avatar stuff either, Jinora really starts grumbling abt "young folks" now) but in the end the White Lotus win him over by pointing out that the Avatar gets free room & board from the WL.

scene break to the following day, preparing to take a Sky Bison to the Fire Nation, & the new Avatar asks why they're going there

Jinora explains that the WL has contacts with the traditional Sun Warrior pueblos who have agreed to train the new Avatar in Firebending (Jinora then wonders aloud if the offer still stands after being 20 years late in finding him)

new Avatar guy then asks why Fire first, & not Air. Then Jinora starts lecturing him abt having to go in the order of the Avatar cycle ”It's Earth Fire Air then Water. How do you not know this?"

While she's ranting abt this, some dude shows up and new Avatar tries to hide by earthbending a hole into the ground... it turns out to be his dad. Somehow, his dad found out abt him being a late bloomer Avatar (new Avatar bragged on corny Instagram-parody abt being the new Avatar, it wasn't as popularly received as he had hoped, most ppl called him a liar)

NA's dad, same dad who kicked him out of the house for being a jobless loser dropout, suddenly wants to schmooze up to the White Lotus, after confirming that his son wasn't lying

Argument ensues, but ends with his dad at least being concerned abt his son travelling overseas and insisting that the WL take his number and give him updates. While climbing onto Sky Bison Jinora takes some grandma-ly pity on NA and tells him that they won't update his dad if he doesn't want them to.

Fast forward to NA meeting a Sun Warrior Master (their people are one of the few civilizations still keeping the traditional bending and spiritual practices alive, part of why Jinora picked them) and NA begins his training... poorly

The SW Master gets very frustrated at how blockheaded this guy is and how little he pays attention (on more than one occasion, NA pulls out his phone and desperately tries to convince social media that he really is the new Avatar, but everyone keeps accusing him of using a greenscreen filter or something to look like he's on vacation)

Sun Warrior guy ends up dragging Jinora aside and having an outburst and saying some... not so nice things about this new Avatar. He starts asking Master Jinora if it's possible that intermixing between nations has somehow produced multi enders, maybe he just has an airbender & earthbender parent. Jinora tells the SW Master to stop being ridiculous, and then he escalates as says that even if NA is the Avatar, he won't teach him b/c he's ”a lost cause"

NA accidentally walks in and overhears this, and it hurts his feelings and he starts getting existential b/c "it's happening all over again! o sucked at school! I sucked at probending! now I suck at this too! my dad was right.... I should just go home" 😢

the Sun Warrior Master feels bad & tries to retract what he said, but Jinora says that she'll talk to the NA

Jinora decides to change up the schedule the rest of the day and train the NA herself. He gets excited at first b/c he thinks it's for airbending"at least know I can airbend!" but turns out Jinora just want to do some simple spiritual meditation stuff as something (hopefully) easier for him to help build his confidence

Meditation practice goes similarly awful (he can't concentrate or relax to save his life) but the conversation does turn to Jinora talking about the spiritual aspect of Avatars and asking him if he's ever connected to any past Avatars

Jinora decides to try something, and takes NA to a shrine that she had once visited with Korra in her later years. Jinora hopes that this place might help him connect to Korra (possibly for selfish reasons b/c Jinora misses Korra)

It's late at night at this point, and the NA just ends up falling asleep rather than meditating. Jinora sighs and reasons that it's only his first day.

But ... turns out that during his sleep, NA does make contact with the spirit of old gray Korra... and she slaps the NA's spirit awake

NA freaks out "Why are you blue & glowy? Wait why am I blue & glowy?"

Korra doesn't have time for his questions and starts getting into it "Finally! It's been 20 years! You're old enough to be a fully realized Avatar, so why is this the first time I finally made contact with you? You've gotta be a bigger spiritual blockhead than when I started out!"

NA confused and explains that he's not a realized Avatar, it's just his first day

Spirit Korra freaks out and starts shaking NA's spirit like a ragdoll "You just started!!? We don't have time for this! I need to warn you about something! Here, it'll be easier if I show you!"

Spirit Korra touches his forehead and shows him a vision of a worldwide apocalyptic event that's like a climate change fueled by the modern-tech world's disconnect & mistreatment of the spirits hanging around the material world.

After the vision Korra lets him go and yells at him to hurry up and finish his Avatar training. And then before she wakes up him again she asks him to send her regards to Jinora btw.

Cut to the waking world, Jinora is concerned over where NA's spirit went and shaking him. Then he wakes up screaming and asking if being an Avatar always means that "scary old ladies are yelling at me... Oh... she told me to tell you that 'Korra says hi'"

And that's where my maladaptive daydream decided the 1st episode of this hypothetical/speculative show would end, but here's also 2 other "scenes" I daydreamed where the new guy's Team Avatar forms.

1st scene is him perhaps going on a trip away from the Sun Warriors' remote traditional village and going to a semi-rural fishing town and ending up meeting some bronze-skinned rough-and-tumble looking firebender dude seaside restaurant that he flirts with.

The NA wonders if he could flex his Avatar status to help with flirting with the fellas, but his recent failures w/ Avatar training has him feeling down and ending up losing his nerve and goes to leave. But the firebender guy sees the depressed NA first and invites him for a bowl of this town's specialty noodles.

They hit it off well, and NA enjoys getting to forget abt Avatar training (Jinora will yell at him later when he ends up missing the whole day's practice). NA asks firebender guy what he does, and he says he works on his dad's fishing boat as the chef ”stereotypical, right? they always ask the firebender to cook. I'm good at it though" And when he in turn asks the same question, NA tiptoes around the Avatar stuff (after how everyone else in his hometown and his old probending reacted, he thinks it probably won't be "cool" to say he's the Avatar)

But turns out, firebender guy thinks it's awesome, and NA is like "You're the first person other than Master Jinora to think me being the Avatar is cool😊" "Who's Master Jinora 🤔?" "One of the old ladies who yells at me 😐"

2nd scene is the waterbender & Airbender girlies of the team being introduced.

the waterbender is a traditional southern water tribe student who's doing field research for her thesis on Sun Warrior culture. She doesn't use waterbending much for combat at first (she mostly just uses it to create ice magnifying glasses to read ancient texts)

But she ends up getting roped into Avatar business after running the airbender girlie, who is Jinora(& Kai)'s granddaughter!

She flies over to the SW pueblo to see how her old granny is doing

she has a sort of funny half-camaraderie half-antagonism relationship with Granny Jinora, b/c she's a master Airbender who genuinely cares abt Air Nomad culture, but she also likes new untraditional modern tech social media fashion stuff too, and that part kinda annoys Jinora since her granddaughter kind of runs a nomadic travel page and takes lots of pictures

Jinora's granddaughter and the water tribe thesis writer meet at the Sun Warrior village, and the water tribe student complains that there's practically nothing to make a thesis on since the Sun Warriors are very protective of their culture to actually let her study anything beyond some old statues at the gate. She rambles aloud that the other grad students were doing much more exciting theses, and that the only novel thing she could do was either try (and fail) to convince the secretive Sun Warriors to let her do a paper on them... or do a paper on the mystery fate of the Avatar in the 20 years since Korra's death

Jinora's granddaughter ends up being a big blabbermouth and spilling every abt why her granny is here with the Sun Warriors

They both get roped into Avatar destiny stuff as a result

Some other random thoughts I had: it'd be cool to do another southern water tribe festival arc at some point, except this time with nods to Korra and Katara in the festival and an update on the spiritual connection there far away from the big metropolises.

Plus, it'd be cool to see Tenzin's kids and grandkids at some point, with a joke about Rohan being forgotten, b/c he was just a baby while his whole family saved the world a million times, so a self aware jab abt Rohan being old and still salty abt missing out on the adventures w/ Korra 😤

OH my gosh i love that! Babe you've got some spectacular ideas, write a fic! Granny Jinora oml 😍 and I genuinely feel for the new avatar. Its easy to feel like a failure and i think a lot of us could relate lol