#and i know I'm the only one who will be attending who cares about covid precautions

[lcrk]

.

[blorbocedes]

It's probably time to admit Nico's monaco based youtuber days are over 🥲

in 2023 he only posted 1 video, 8 months ago. In 2022, when he got his rimac his videos popped off among car enthusiasts with over a million views (he was the very first! that's where the monaco based youtuber headline came from lol) and he promised a bunch of stuff he was gonna film with it, like drag racing and 0-1s accelerations but he never did. nicotube was always a passion project, he never did ads or sponsors. in 2017/2018 he was using it to find his post f1 career footing, those videos were more car porn, driving around in fancy sportscars, vlogs of boats or even f1 race vlogs and recaps, starting his own karting team (which kimi antonelli raced in!), and finally dipping his toes into sustainability with greentech festival. he started doing one hour podcast sessions with f1 and then other notable figures, which really popped off during covid. also doing f1 simulator races of every track and talking about the best ways/corners to drive and optimise the track. even tracks he never drove, like he did the sim for Miami in 2022, but not vegas. f1 is ofc his childhood love, he talks about the sport and his career fondly but even that with his sky commentary duties he only attends like 5 races, and no more race vlogs or his driver rankings of the season.

these days, his most used social media is linkedin actually. he's big on tech, startups, and specifically sustainability. esp with Rosberg Philanthropies where he's funding scholarships to phd grads in Oxford who research in sustainability and environmentally friendly tech. so making videos of ferrari car porn doesn't really align with the brand unless it's to promote electric cars.

does that mean his YouTube channel is over? no. I wouldn't be surprised if he drops another video whenever he feels like it, but the olden days of a bunch of sleekly produced videos every other week are long gone. he's moved past it and gotten into other projects he cares about and knowing the rosbergs I wouldn't be surprised if he slowly transitions into more projects where he's not the public facing front of it anymore.

I loved nicotube. i probably wouldn't be as big of a fan if I hadn't discovered it because it allowed a glimpse into nico outside of f1 driver, outside of sky sports narrative, just nico rosberg the person who is genuine in his enthusiasm of explaining how car wings work, who is cringe and funny and endearing and embarrassing. there's some absolute gems there. I'm sad there won't be more but hey, people change and people grow. 🥹 nico especially f1 fandom at large likes to box into unchanging, fixed category, like he was f1 driver til 2016, then monaco youtuber from 2017-♾️, but that's not exactly true and I'm acknowledging one of the changes.

[pilvimarja]

Why do people hate Miles Teller? I am not trying to be cheeky! I really have no clue! I never heard about him being hated. Has it to do with shipping or are they jealous because of his wife?

I don't think it has anything to do with any shipping or fandom related things, and I don't think most people even know who his wife is because she's not a celebrity. Based on my personal observations, there's a handful of "key reasons" that tend to come up time and again when people say they hate Miles Teller.

The first one and the origin of the "Miles Teller is an asshole" rep seems to be the infamous interview he gave to Esquire magazine in 2015. You can find the whole interview and the reactions to it just by googling it. I get the feeling that Miles and the interviewer weren't on the same wavelength, Miles' sense of humor rubbed her the wrong way, they clashed from the moment the interview started, and both of them ended up looking like jerks.

There's also been some reports that Miles (allegedly) was difficult on the set of F4 and War Dogs, but in hindsight, knowing what we know about the nightmare production of F4 and its problematic director who barely has a career anymore, and Jonah Hill who was Miles' co-star in War Dogs, it's probably safe to assume that Miles at the very least wasn't the only asshole on those sets and maybe had a reason to bitch.

The third big reason seems to be the assumption that Miles and his wife are Trump-loving Republicans. I think his wife's parents are Republican, but the only time I've heard Miles himself bring up his own political views is when he mentioned attending Robert De Niro's (who, as far as I know, is a vocal Trump critic and a Democrat) election night party in 2016. So we can probably assume that he and his wife don't support the Orange One even if some people in their families do.

The fourth and the most recent reason is the assumption that Miles didn't care about Covid and caused the entire production of The Offer to shut down because he (allegedly) refused to get vaccinated. As far as I know, the production was actually shut down and Miles did get Covid, but he also gave a statement where he said that both he and his wife had been vaccinated "for some time" when that happened. So I guess you either believe him or the anonymous "inside source" who claims he's anti-va**. And I'm not defending him, but I was vaccinated three times, always wore a mask and did several tests, and I still managed to get Covid twice, so you can get it even if you're careful.

So that's my nutshell take on his negative rep. I think most people don't care to find out what he's actually like and which things about him are true, which is valid. I don't go around doing deep dives into celebs who I have no interest in. And I admit that I myself spent years under the impression that Miles Teller is an asshole because I had only seen unflattering headlines about him on Oh No They Didn't and various other gossip blogs. But I don't think Miles himself cares enough to make an attempt to fix his reputation. It's been almost nine years since that Esquire interview, but the fallout from it is most likely permanent.

[painterofhorizons]

Rant about mask wearing and trying to avoid getting sick under the cut

BIG FUCKING CLOWN FACE. That is how I'm feeling rn.

We got a conference upcoming the next two days. You know, the one for that I'm very much trying to avoid catching sickness before since last week. I'm trying to avoid getting sick so I don't miss the work thing, but much more I'm trying to avoid getting sick because being sick sucks, and because last year on my winter work trip I caught covid the second time. Don't have to make it a third time, right?

So, of course I wore a mask during the train ride. As I always do.

Just had a call with my boss about some last orga stuff for the conference. For the context: boss is sick since last Friday. Still sick today. Plans to do the conference because we're half the people who run the conference.

I mention I'm probably skipping dinner tomorrow because it isn't logical if I'm wearing a mask during the conference and then go for dinner with the same people in the evening without mask.

Boss be like "oh you're gonna wear a mask on the conference?"

I'm like "sure thing, not gonna risk catching covid again"

Boss be like "you can catch covid at home on the bus, too"

Me: "sure thing but guess what, I'm also wearing a mask on crowded busses at home"

And I was so, so, so much trying to not just yell in her face "boss you are the one who is fucking sick fucking right now and you're making it an issue that *I* am gonna wear a mask?" so like, I'm reading that as boss is not planning on wearing a mask, while she's going to a conference knowingly while she's sick. Because." were all gonna catch it anyways so why bother"

And like. Okay. Goodness. Let me entangle that.

First. Im not only trying to avoid covid, im trying to avoid the flu, a cold, whatever other shit is flying around. The country is currently on a high of respiratory sicknesses, so yes, I'm trying to avoid them all.

But it's not just about me, right?

Attending a social event while being sick and not at least masking is shitting on the health of everyone else. Who cares, it's just a cold, right?

Right???

BIG FUCKING CLOWN FACE

I'm just tired, y'all. Did we learn nothing. Did we learn nothing.

How can educated, mindful people be like that.

I'm just so tired of this.

(and fuck yes, I will wear a mask during the conference, and I will not sit close to my boss, and I don't care what people think about that)

[fireheartedpup]

I think my birthday has become a trigger for me. There's no one to invite. It's nice that my parents still want to go all out, but I don't know what to tell mom because I don't want to do anything.

No one here cares about the pandemic and I'm not even sure how much to care anymore because they stopped caring when it was still in full swing. I haven't gotten covid even though I haven't avoided my family, who stopped taking precautions a few months in and think masking is stupid, so what have I even been doing? Has it done anything at all?

I'm still happy that I haven't gotten sick other the built in body issues in... how long has it been? Five fucking years? But I miss feeling normal.

I don't want to live here and I don't want to do this and I don't know what to do even when I know what to do. The only thing that really motivates me is being angry. I hate being angry.

I don't want to live in this reality and I don't have enough money to move and whenever anyone tries to change things here, they're met with a bunch of people saying you can't change things here because we haven't changed things here so you can't change things here.

I think my dog deserves better and I don't have enough money to pay off my debt, much less a specialist. She's not neglected or anything I just have higher standards now. I'm probably still alive because of her. If I die, no one will know for days. Maybe a week or more. No one's coming to check on me.

Mom might come eventually but mom comes sporadically because she tries to give me space. I flip between wanting to cut my parents out entirely and just wanting to see them. They're still conservative and I can never trust them the same way again, but they've supported me the entire time.

I did beg for some of it. But they have supported me.

Dad's cranky because prices are going up and he didn't plan on supporting me this long and he's in the same position I am. I inherited the no friends disease. I'm fucking pedigreed in mental illness. He likes drinking wine even though eating makes him throw up now. He doesn't want to see a normal doctor.

His mom has had many cancerous growths removed. I should probably get ready to deal with his stuff.

Mom clearly wants to leave and doesn't feel she can. It's tough when being with someone makes your life harder, but you can see them actively getting better. I think it's one reason she wants to keep her flight attendant job even though she's becoming less and less physically able. She can just pick up and leave whenever she wants.

I feel stupid and useless for not earning enough by now. I know that's not entirely realistic because I read it takes two years to get over an abusive environment and it's only been one. My parents love me, but living in that house put me in fight or flight mode every time I went to the kitchen.

I feel paralyzed and when I try to look up jobs I want to break down entirely. I've made half-hearted attempts to build my own thing but it feels like I'm never able to pick the right thing, that I'll always burn out, that I can never tell what's going to work, that every thing I'm actually excited about is doomed to fail.

Sometimes I don't even want to support people because it feels like my support is the death knell for their cause.

I'm trying to restructure my thinking. I spend almost all of my time doing that. It's difficult to escape the social media whirlpool when social media is so attached to so many different forms of monetary income these days.

I thought I could get free therapy with my insurance so I could bounce this off of a therapist instead of tumblr or a random person but I'm not sure anymore so I gave up.

I feel like I'm overwhelmingly tired and negative and hurt and angry and that no one should have to deal with that.

I'm trying to make friends with my neighbors, but either I don't text back in enough time or they just don't respond. I don't know why or where or when it goes wrong. I start avoiding everyone because I'm waiting for it to go wrong.

I want to get on medication but I just saw that thing about the autistic licenses in MY state. The government doesn't want me. They don't even want me to exist. I don't want to give them the option of using it against me in any way.

It's very hard to get myself out of a spiral. I should probably look into ocd help a bit more. I don't know if that's me or if this is an offshoot of something else, but either way it's connected.

The recent blog thing has just reinforced me feeling stupid and isolated. I'm very grateful for the people who've been here for me. I don't want anyone to ever feel obligated to support me. But I'm having a really hard time.

And it feels stupid to be having a hard time. I have more than most.

I want to live in a different reality.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

I'm the anon who confessed this one, so sorry if it reads like I was bragging about my dolls. I have never sold any doll from my collection (sentimental reasons) and I do try to pamper each as much as I could. I don't have online presence as well, I used to have Flickr but I forgot my password already (old age Imao). So local bjd groups and meetups are the only places where I get to meet or talk to people in the hobby. I was just disappointed by the experience l had, it was my 1st meet after COVID too. It's ok to not like other peoples' dolls, you don't have to mean about it. The girl from that meetup could have just phrased her words better ("They're not my type."/"They're not to my tastes.") instead of slinging insults. I took it personally admittedly since as I said, I really try to take good care of my resin crew, so it felt like a personal insult to me, you know? I haven't actually attended any recent meets from that group, I'm back to just lurking online and trying new stuff out for my dolls. Any tips on dioramas? I finally have the space to invest in/create them, I'm so excited. :)

~Anonymous

[antiadvil]

Hi. 14 year NHS employee/phannie here (in ophthalmology actually).

Where Dan went does allow someone to attend. Waiting room space is premium and so it is discouraged to bring the whole family and if you can be alone it's useful for them. But you are allowed someone with you. (All of this is with no infection control rules btw, in that case it all changes). 

Outpatient appointments also allow others to attend as you say. The person does not matter. A+E and urgent care is the same. Though will usually be limited to one person if possible. 

Inpatient settings have visiting hours. In that time, most wards will allow 2 visitors at a time unless the person is end of life, then they will increase the number. 

Day case/procedures usually have no visitors (unless exceptional circumstances) and someone just has to collect the person. 

In the UK, marriage/civil partnership does beat everything else for care decisions generally, but families can still disagree and the hospital would then have to have an independent advocate involved and not automatically go with a spouse.

You put a NOK when registering with a GP, and as such the hospital can contact GP to find out who it is if admitted unconscious. 

The safest thing is to have a power of attorney which means they get to make the choice, no matter relationship, and family etc do not get to join in. There are 2 types of PoA, finance & property and health & welfare. You can appoint anyone you like (I am my friend PoA shared with her brother, but also my mums).

In this case, if hospital only knows phil as a friend, he wouldn't be able to do much and family would be contacted. 

Anyway, hope that helps a bit. Honestly, most people who work in the NHS don't understand all the rules so the general public have no clue. 

(context)

oh interesting thank you for sending this in! it's interesting that Phil said they don't allow friends and family to visit, maybe he was there when COVID precautions were higher (or they're just lying, lol). it wouldn't surprise me at all if dan and phil did have a health & welfare power of attorney set up in case something happens to either of them, though who knows, a lot of young people don't think about that. i must be getting old if the idea of setting up a medical POA is making me all misty eyed lol.

it's interesting that you mention that you register a next of kin with your GP because that didn't come up at all when I was researching, I found a few pages that said you name one when you're admitted to hospital (like this one for example). googling how many GPs there are for every person in the UK though... I'm guessing a good chunk of people if not most don't actually have a GP which might be why that's not mentioned as another way to name your NOK.

also yeah! there are a lot of rules and it seems like a lot of this is technically up to hospital discretion or the hospital has some discretion to interpret overarching NHS guidelines so I'm not surprised that so many people don't know the rules. I was surprised though by how many people thought marriage was linked to hospital visitation rights, though, like a good number of people on reddit or whatever talk about marriage and hospital visits in a very vague sense but I've been completely unable to find any hospital visitor policies that actually restrict visitors this way.

[usedpidemo]

Do you think K-pop concert ticket prices are too expensive now? What do you think should be the threshold, and what can be done to give all fans, whether casual or diehard, a great experience?

I could go on an entire rant/tangent on what I think concerts as a whole should be like, but it would be the length of a regular fic, so I'll spare you every issue and thought I have about them. I've only been to one concert in my whole life, so I don't have the experience or depth that other concertgoers have, but let's just say the streaming and COVID economy fucked up everything.

Prices: I believe the terrible royalties from streaming, as well as the increased demand for live shows in general has caused these ticket prices to skyrocket. Like you can't just buy a ticket for a decent seat for less than $70 now, that shit only gives you nosebleed seats. Not to mention the deliberate collusion of scalpers by ticketing sites. Those resale tickets and third parties directly cooperate with Ticketmaster so they can punch a bit more money from consumers. And don't even get me started with Dynamic Pricing and those terrible service fees. I'm fortunate enough to live in a country where such things don't exist, but with HYBE openly expressing their intention to enable dynamic pricing and finding alternatives in places where it's not available, you can bet they'll find a way to punch up the prices too.

I understand why they charge this much. Fans will go out to see their favorite artist, regardless of how much they complain about it. FOMO. You don't know if they'll come back to your country or city, or when. Not to mention, the typical K-pop concert is a much grander production than, say, your average pop star. You got backup dancers, large stages, numerous costume changes, sometimes a live band, and of course, multiple members with dozens of staff managing a group. Concerts are the biggest revenue/income drive now for a majority of artists because of how music is distributed today, so they have to break even. Doing world tours are costly; consider the VISA and other costs on a country-to-country basis. No wonder they'd rather tour the US and Japan only to save a few thousand dollars.

It's difficult to gauge the threshold because popularity and demand is fickle, especially in K-pop. However, if there has to be a limit, I personally would stop at around $1000-sub range. There's not a damn singer or artist on planet earth, dead or alive, that's worth over a $1000 ticket. Even MJ. The economy isn't looking good, inflation keeps jumping year by year, and concerts have become basically rich people havens too.

Personally, I do think it'll eventually die out. There's a touring oversaturation right now that it dries people out and we have to pick and choose who we want to attend.

There's a few things I really want to see happen in the future, ideally:

• Rookies shouldn't be pricier than their seniors. I don't care if its NewJeans, IVE, or Le sserafim, they really shouldn't be more expensive than say, a 3-4 year old group. It's ridiculous how NMIXX and IVE were more expensive than The Boyz or ATEEZ.

• Announcing ticket sale literally right after the tour announcement. This is something I absolutely hate. Why are you selling tickets for a show six-eight months away like two weeks after announcing it? Fucking insane! It gives us little to no prep time to gather up resources and plan accordingly. Also, what if something happens that causes a concert to be canceled or delayed? It'll be much harder for us to get refunds back, which is exactly why they pull this shit off. Normalize selling tickets at most two months-a month before the show.

• Make the ticket prices worth it. This is my biggest gripe with concerts, more than the prices: that you're basically paying for the seats and nothing else. I'm not gonna lie, I likely wouldn't have gone out to my one and only concert if I wasn't guaranteed anything else besides a nice seat. Pre-pandemic, the price of the ticket I bought would have given me a group/solo pic with the group and some other cool perks like maybe signed merch. Now? Most concerts give you the show and nothing more. You have to justify paying that hefty tag beyond just a close view of your favorite artist. I remember when pop stars like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd had photo-ops before the show for those VIP tivkets. COVID ruined all of that. It's such a damn shame, because at best, you're getting soundcheck, which I'm not fond of, in my opinion. It forces people to bait for interactions and not enjoy themselves during the show cuz they aren't guaranteed artist engagement (though this won't really change anything if we're being real lol). I personally would be a lot more comfortable and have a greater time if I knew I could greet them before or after the show instead of trying too hard to get their attention.

[childofserpents]

please ignore if wanted, this is only venting out my thoughts 💭💭

Is anyone else sometimes forgetting who they are?

There are days where I forget I'm 22 years old, who used to draw her favorite characters, immerses herself in books such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, who stayed up as a child and to sneak into the kitchen and make herself strawberry milk, wanting to be a singer when so young and absolutely adored in going to playgrounds.

Whenever I see myself now, I forget that I was someone of my choice. Now, I only wonder what I'll make for dinner for my siblings, which of them are going off with friends and the time they'll be back, if there were days marked for parent-teacher conferences or upcoming performances and their schools, appointments for check-up or needing medicine for fevers, using any money I was gifted whether from birthdays or to buy myself something to get what my siblings need.

I can remember as a child, asides from attending school or visiting families, how normal it is to know how to make a bottle for a baby, to change diapers, to burp them, knowing what they can have and taking care of them whenever the adults were busy.

How normal is it that I learned to know so much for my siblings ever since I was a child, growing up knowing how to raise them, that I don't know what I like for myself anymore?

Do I still draw my favorite characters or whatever comes to mind?

Do I still read those thick books I used to carry everywhere?

Do I still just lay on my back with music playing in the background?

Do I still drink strawberry milk?

Ride bikes?

Karaoke with my cousin?

Why is it that the coffee I first took a sip of as a child now became a refuge to the hereditary migraines and headaches?

Why is it that I can take so much care for others but deny any sickness I'm undergoing to continue chores?

Is it because I'm scared of failing my siblings? Is it because I've grown so use to doing so much that it's unsettling for myself to be able to have time for myself?

Why am I only gaining help now, after my other relatives watched my breakdowns, my sickness from stress to heaving up whatever I had in my stomach, my grandmother whispering poisonous words about my mother to me whenever alone?

Why didn't I have help sooner? Why didn't they help when I had to switch to homeschooling because of my mental health declining and bullying I endured? Why didn't they help when I panicked for my siblings whenever sick, especially one with hydrocephalus? Why didn't they help when they saw me starve myself to give plenty to my siblings?

Why are they acting as if it's all in my head when I mentioned how my siblings and I keep to ourselves, staying out of their way because our mother wasn't allowed back in the house because of their own fault and hers?

I remember sitting in the darkness of the bathroom, hands clenching over the lower half of my face to muffle my crying, eyes burning and ears ringing because of all that I've been through. I remember tears in my eyes the second one of my cousins started yelling at me for something out of my control, nearly attacking me while an uncle watched and did nothing to stop her— only for another cousin to stop her and comfort me after while my siblings watched me.

I felt so pathetic and ashamed, having my siblings' eyes on me as I curled myself on my bed, fingers digging into my face and palms clamped over my lips as I felt my chest buzzing endlessly at the thought of my cousin, the one I considered another sibling, nearly punched me— my uncle watching, arms crossed and body relaxed, didn't move a muscle to intervene, the same man my relatives claim doesn't hate me or my siblings.

How I practically became a mother, unable to finish schooling during COVID-19 lockdown because all of my siblings had their classes, the younger ones needing someone to watch over them. I was 16, maybe 17 when I became their mother, called one by the last born child and sought for by my sibling with hydrocephalus for comfort at night to sleep in my bed and curl to my side.

At the first parent-teacher conference, I broke down because one of my siblings' elementary teacher saw how tired I was and helped with getting on my feet for GED.

I can't talk to the friends I had in highschool before transferring to homeschool because I'm no longer knowing who they are or become. Having no chances at dating with being so focused on my siblings and the social anxiety I have, not even knowing myself as I used to.

"You're over exaggerating."

"Learn to trust people."

"You're so independent."

"Your siblings are so dependent on you."

Words upon words, statement after statement, criticism after criticism.

I get so overwhelmed, overstimulated by stress and trying to do everything but then get told off as exaggerating what I do for my siblings.

I can't trust my relatives for my mom's side because so many have hurt me verbally, emotionally, mentally and nearly physically— I take so much from them to avoid it ever reaching my brothers and sisters, to where only tidbits of their nastiness reached the older ones.

I didn't want independence in the way it came. I needed others to see me drowning, see me reaching out to them when it became too much, shouldering and balancing too much on my plate, only to be dubbed as independent and thought as not needing assistance in any shape or form.

My siblings are dependent on me because they kicked out their father, they kicked out their mother, they never attended their conferences, they didn't see their first steps, they weren't the someone who cooked their food, did their laundry, showered them, cared for them when sick.

Hell, they only started helping now, only one of them is attempting to gain guardianship approved by our mother, only they have helped with getting what my kids need, their appointments, checking their grades.

I try to get back to writing, by gods I try, my mind spiraling with ideas of characters I break myself into pieces to create.

I try drawing again, each sketch lighthearted and faint in the light.

I try sewing to repair my clothes.

I try so much that it strains my aching body to relax and understand only now I'm getting the help I needed so long ago. I wonder if that small child from so long ago, who'd run for ladybugs and sing to the songs their mother grew up with, would ever come out to the light where there's no screaming aimed our way,

no argument so loud they'd cover their ears and clench their eyes shut,

no dizziness when having to get up and missing chances to eat for others to have,

no buzzing in their chests from the anxiety of the outside world.

Would we ever have a chance to build ourselves? Would we ever meet someone who'll stay by our side, grow to understand the meaning behind the eye bags and trembling hands, scratched knees and overstimulated thoughts? Would we ever get back to reading those books again, finding ourselves daydreaming of what'd it be like to be in those pages?

Sorry again for the long rambling and spouting, but I just needed to have it all typed out for now before anymore is thrown my way.

[ebdanon]

Hey Allie, sorry I'm so late with this I caught a cold and basically passed out when I got back home yesterday. I'm feeling a bit better now, so here's the wedding lore. I don't remember some chunks of it because it was downright traumatic so I apologize for any gaps. (part 1)

My husband ordered a ring during the pandemic. As soon as it arrived he told me about it and made me look away while he tried putting it on my finger to check if it fits (no one knows this btw). He told his parents he got a ring and how they should start preparing for a wedding. He told me he was not proposing until we moved out of our hometown (we both lived with our parents - it's normal in our culture) because he didn't want me to deal with the crazy in his house. A year and a half later, we had moved out and he proposed 6 months into our living together. We'd booked a vacation and were leaving the morning after he proposed. However, when we shared with our parents where we were going and when, my parents made sure to book a vacation around the same time, in the same location, in a hotel 20 minutes away from ours. And so the drama began. Engaged, we called parents and siblings, and since my parents were already on their vacation, they promised to visit our hotel once we arrived the next day to congratulate us in person, which I asked them not to do as we would be exhausted. This made my husband's parents upset, and they created a whole conspiracy that my parents knew about the proposal ahead of time, which is why they booked that vacation there. Even though they knew about the ring a year and a half in advance, they found a reason to be upset. So the trip takes around 8 hours but it's during the night so when we get there, we just eat and crash in our room. To our surprise, the front desk woke us up with a phone call a couple of hours later saying we had "guests in the lobby", which were, of course, my parents. They were on a video call with my soon-to-be-in-laws, showing us entering the lobby, and then giving us gifts, and showing the ring. They spent about an hour with us and went back to their hotel and thank god, we didn't see each other again until the plane ride back to our country. Now, COVID was still a bit of a thing back then, but many people had stopped caring, including my parents. On the plane, my husband and I were the only ones with masks on. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For that week-long vacation that we took after years of being locked up at home to protect ourselves and our families (we still got COVID 4 months before the engagement, from a coworker who refused to isolate or wear a mask), we were bombarded with phone calls from both sets of parents and the grandparents about "what we were planning on doing about the wedding". To every question, the answer was "We plan on relaxing during the first vacation in three years, stop asking" which no one respected. The situation started escalating as our parents started calling each other trying to figure out who knows/knew what, and to push their own wedding ideas on the others. It blew up when I got a call from my sister a couple of days in, saying my narcissistic grandma booked a church for me. This woman went to the church, picked out a time and date, and put only MY name down because she didn't know my in-laws or anything. The date she chose worked for her, as her son would be in town. What she didn't know was that her son was already scheduled to attend a wedding on that date. This woman also managed to somehow find my MIL's phone number, call her, and also tell her the church was handled, which of course set her off, so she called me and just said "Handle your grandmother" and hung up. What my husband and I learned later, after chatting to his sister, was that my dad actually asked his mom to do all that shit. Our parents had also been going back and forth on the guests they were going to be inviting, and wanted to outdo each other. So when we learned all this, we called up everyone and told them there would be no wedding, there would be nothing, we would just get a marriage certificate and be done with it because they were out of control. They calmed down for all of two days, and by that time we were on the way back home.

hi bitey sorry im just getting to this now work is rough today :/ will post my full response to part 2 hehe

[thebiballerina]

Honestly, a lot of people do know the people that are being killed and crippled. But they have convinced themselves that the collective lack of responsibility that is hurting these people is somehow entirely unrelated to their own lack of responsibility.

I started out the pandemic already chronically ill, and I have become progressively more disabled every time I am infected with COVID. I am the most careful person I know, and the people around me know this. Many of them will shame me for this or act like I am being a stick in the mud.

Then they turn around and act shocked and sympathetic when I become infected again, while fully vaccinated and boosted, and masking and limiting my in-person contact. Rinse and repeat. I have to listen to my relatives criticize my university's vaccination policy and then berate me for "ruining Christmas" because I refuse to spend time with a completely unvaccinated (by choice) relative. (If any of my followers are thinking to themselves, 'Aren't you Jewish?' Yes. Yes, I am. The only reason I attend Christmas celebrations at all is as a courtesy to some of my Christian relatives. And no, they apparently do not see the irony in telling a Jew she is ruining Christmas.)

This is also the same side of the family who has had four COVID-related deaths in the past two years. I went to those funerals, with these same people.

As a fun bonus, these people who objected to my efforts to remain healthy will also tell me that I'm disabled because I am not trying hard enough to be healthy.

So. People know. Not everyone. But enough. They just… don't care. Or maybe they have forced themselves into denial so they can pretend their actions don't have consequences. That they aren't doing the same things that collectively led to the death of someone they know, or that is disabling a loved one for life.

I don't even know if I can put into words how heartbreaking it is to watch people who claim to love you just… not care. To not just be ignorant, but to keep doing the same thing over and over again after they know you have been hurt by it.

If you are someone who has let COVID preventative measures fall to the wayside, I'm not blaming you. I'm not shaming you. We have had a lot of governmental, corporate, and societal forces actively try to push us into complacency. I get complacent sometimes, too. I'm just asking you to think about what this looks like to the people being disproportionately affected by the pandemic. What it looks like when you don't even try to prevent some of that harm.

And remember: you are never that far away from being one of vulnerable people. Most chronically ill people were healthy once. Scientific research has indicated that COVID is leading to more and more long-term effects for many people. You always think that it will never be you or someone you love, until the day it is.

it occurred to me I think a lot of people on Tumblr in particular maybe don't know anyone personally who has died of COVID because they don't know that many people and I'm losing so many just because I'm super social in terms of online at least. like I know and talk to literally hundreds of people a year, I keep up with them monthly or every few months. professionally I do have a career that involves like actually knowing people mostly online so I just hear about it when people die. and I think that has made it so I find out about those excess deaths personally a lot more often than a person who has the average number of social contacts.

this is why I am on here every single day begging you to wear a mask. you don't know the people you're killing or crippling unless it happens to you, but I do. and I'm going to tell you about them.

this is the biggest "push this button to kill one stranger" experiment you'll ever be involved in. except you don't get a million dollars when you push the button you don't get anything. you're just an asshole

[born-to-lose]

I hate how Germany is seemingly the only country that doesn't differentiate between people who don't want to get vaccinated and people who can't get vaccinated for health reasons. Like, I'd take it too if I didn't have an illness that would prevent me from doing so but go off I guess

[queenwinry]

so a group of my classmates are trying to band together and get our school to do the early graduation thing that some of the northeastern med schools are doing and I feel like I'm on a crash course for having perpetually intractable anxiety 

[sebscore]

Hey I saw your reply about the leclerc fics, could I request an imagine of say 16yr old sister reader getting her wisdom teeth out, and charles picking her up, getting her to stay in the car, etc? Sounds so random but I feel like it would be the funniest and cutest thing. If you could add an instagram story au of a photo that charles had taken of the loopy reader that would be amazing haha, thanks!

THANKS FOR NOT KILLING ME | CHARLES LECLERC

pairings: charles leclerc x sister!reader / arthur leclerc x sister!reader / lorenzo leclerc x sister!reader

warnings: mention of surgery. dentist. anesthesia. food. mood swings.

author's note: thank you for the request, I had fun writing this one! sorry if the ending seems rushed, I just didn't know how to properly end it. hope you enjoy it and let me know what you thought of it!

• • • • • • •

''Can you pull over? I have to pee.'' Y/N asked Charles, who was focused on the road.

Her older brother glanced at her through his rearview mirror, already done with the entire drive. ''No, you're gonna have to wait.''

Their mother had asked the second oldest Leclerc sibling to accompany her and his younger sister to the dentist, to get the youngest's wisdom teeth removed. Pascale already guessed that she was going to need some help with the teenage girl once her surgery was done.

He hadn't been too ecstatic, just wanting to hang out with his friends or play some video games. However, his mother had been very adamant on him joining and he found it hard to say no to her. Meanwhile, Arthur had volunteered to tag along, not wanting to miss his sister's reaction to the anesthesia as he had seen countless funny wisdom teeth removal videos online. The eldest brother, Lorenzo, had other businesses to attend to, but promised he would help take care of the girl once he was home.

''Honey, I told you to go slow on the pineapple juice.'' Her mother kindly scolded her, recalling her daughter's determination to only consume the drink as she had heard from friends that it would lessen the pain.

Y/N sighed, uncomfortably shifting in her seat. ''I'm hungry and thirsty, Maman!'' She complained, not having eaten anything in the last 8 hours.

''We'll get something afterwards, chérie,'' her mother assured her, ''how about ice-cream?'' Pascale turned around, looking at her daughter. ''Sounds good, thanks.''

''We're here.'' Charles pulled up to the parking and safely parked their car in the right spot.

Arthur snickered. ''Ooh~ I can't wait for you to get back.'' He teased her, rubbing his hands together.

''Shut up, you idiot!'' Y/N slapped his arm, resulting in a loud yelp from her older brother.

''Auw! You little shit!'' Arthur tried to hit her back, but his arm was pushed away by his mother. ''Stop it!''

''Maman!'' Arthur exclaimed, appalled. ''She started it!''

''You provoked her, Arthur.'' Pascale opened the car door and got out, adjusting her clothing.

Charles turned in his seat, looking at his sister. ''Y/N, good luck and we'll see you in an hour.'' Since the youngest sibling was still a minor, a guardian had to be present during the extent of her surgery, and with covid regulations still intact, the brothers couldn't wait for their sister inside the building. So, Charles and Arthur would fill up their free time until their mother had notified them when the surgery was done.

''It's not scary, right?'' She asked them, not making eye-contact with her brothers.

The two men glanced at each other, amused by the sudden behavior change. ''It's gonna be okay, you're not gonna feel a thing when they're removing the teeth.'' Charles comforted her.

Arthur opted to tease her, but seeing her obvious anxious expression, he didn't and followed his brother. ''Yeah, you have nothing to be scared about.''

Pascale had made her way around the car and opened her daughter's side of the door. ''Come on, we don't want to be late.'' Y/N nervously smiled at her two brothers, before getting out of the car.

''It's gonna be okay, you're brave!''

''Don't worry about it, munchkin.''

Their words of encouragement send a smile to their mother's face, touched by how her sons comforted their baby sister. Pascale put her arm around her daughter's shoulders and guided her into the dentist's office.

Her brothers watched them going in. ''She's gonna be fine, right?'' Arthur asked Charles, not entirely sure.

''Of course, you know how she doesn't like to embarrass herself in public.''

''I'm dying!'' Y/N cried out to her mother, once she had regained consciousness.

Pascale shook her head, already knowing it was going to be a difficult task. ''You're not, my love.'' She took out her phone and sent a quick text to Charles, informing him she had woken up and that she would need their help to get her into the car.

''Maman! I can't see anything, I've gone blind!'' Upon hearing her daughter's words, she looked at her. ''Chérie, that's because your eyes are closed.'' Pascale, along with the dentist and his assistant, had a hard time not to burst out laughing at the sight of the young girl.

''Oh.''

With some help from the assistant, Pascale got her daughter out of the chair. They each held one of Y/N's arms over their shoulders until they made it to the front entrance of the building, where Charles and Arthur were waiting for them. As soon as the two Leclerc's noticed their mom and sister, they took over.

''See? We told you that you would be fine.'' Charles immediately reassured her, his sister mindlessly staring at nothing.

Y/N whined in return. ''I'm not fine, I'm dying!'' She loudly exclaimed, her mother trying to shush her straight away.

''And I'm dying to get out of here, let's go!'' Arthur commented and made a move to start walking back to the car.

Pascale thanked the assistant for the successful surgery, just loud enough for Y/N to hear.

''Thank you for not killing me, Doc!'' She yelled out, causing some heads to turn at the noise.

''That's my job, thank you, Y/N.'' The assistant took it all in good fun and smiled at the young girl, her whole day made because of the interaction.

Eventually, the brothers got her in the car. Arthur put her seatbelt on, but stopped midway once he saw her looking wide-eyed at him. ''What is it?''

''Since when did you get here?'' She asked him, confusion written all over her face.

He simply chuckled and made sure her seatbelt was put on safely. ''Me and Charles were waiting for you to be done.''

''Charles is here?'' Y/N reacted astounded, gasping when Arthur pointed at the man in the driver's seat. The Ferrari driver had a huge smile on his face, endeared by his little sister. ''I'm here, Y/N.''

The teenager mirrored his smile until she noticed something. ''Wait, he's driving the car?'' She looked at her mom, who nodded.

''No~ he can't drive!'' Y/N whined, trying to take her seatbelt off.

Arthur stopped her right away. ''No, no, no! You have to keep that on, it's for your safety.'' He held his sister's arms to prevent her from doing anything further.

''Why can't Charles drive, honey?''

''Because he's stupid.'' She made a reference to the infamous Baku qualifying when he planted himself into the barriers.

Their mom and Arthur cackled at the comment, while Charles just accepted it. He drove out of the parking lot and the family was on their way back home.

''Where's Enzo?'' Y/N asked them, noticing the eldest brother wasn't in the car.

''He's at work, he'll be at home soon.'' Pascale answered, staying as positive as she possibly could.

Arthur pulled his phone out, grinning ear to ear. ''You wanna FaceTime him?'' He searched for his brother's contact and handed the phone to her. Y/N took the phone and pressed the FaceTime button, excited to speak with her brother.

However, he didn't answer and his little sister didn't like it one bit. ''Huh?'' She stared at her own reflection on the phone screen, a puzzled look on her face. ''Why isn't he answering?'' Her voice wavered, an indication she was going to cry.

''No, chérie, he's probably just busy.'' Pascale immediately tried to comfort her, not wanting to deal with that at that moment, but her daughter wouldn't hear it. ''He hates me, he doesn't want to talk to me.'' She continued whining, wiping non-existent tears away.

''Y/N, he doesn't hate you, he loves you! More than anyone else.'' Charles helped his mom, being reminded of when his sister was a toddler and she would whine the exact same way.

She fell more quiet at his words. ''Charles, do you love me?'' The whining had died down and the question came out more genuine.

''Of course I do! You're my baby sister, you're my favorite person!'' Charles wasn't lying when calling her his favorite person. The two had a very close bond and she always brightened his gray days. If she wasn't busy with school, she was always there for him during the Grand Prix's. Maybe he had to tell her more that he appreciated her always being there for him, he didn't say it enough.

She smiled at his answer, but wasn't satisfied yet. ''Do you love me more than Arthur?''

Charles simply laughed at the question while Arthur expectantly looked at his older brother, also curious about the answer.

"What's that kind of a question? I love you both equally." He put an emphasis on the last word, glimpsing at both of them through the rearview mirror.

Arthur's attention went back to the phone, but the youngest still wasn't content. "Why? I'm so much better than Arthur and I'm also prettier than him." Y/N summed up the reasons why Charles should love her more, almost in a childish manner.

"You're lucky you just got out of surgery, Y/N" The youngest Leclerc brother semi-threatened the girl.

"You know, I would stick my tongue out at you, but I can't feel anything." She shot back at him, gathering some laughs from Charles and their mother.

It didn't take long for them to arrive back home. However, it did take a long time for them to get Y/N in the house. Arthur joked about the ground being lava and she refused to get out of the car.

''I'm gonna go to the grocery store and get Y/N her ice cream. Charles, you're in charge of your sister!'' Pascale didn't waste anymore words and was out of the door before her second oldest child could even respond.

Charles sighed loudly, but still made his way to the living room and sat next to his sister, who didn't seem to have a thought behind her eyes. ''You kinda look like Carlos right now, Y/N.'' He laughed, her stare reminding him of his teammate.

''I look hot?'' She asked him, her voice a little higher than usual.

He made a disgusted face, that wasn't what he meant. ''No, you just-''

''So you think I'm ugly? My face feels all swollen.'' Her emotions were all over the place. A few seconds before she was all excited about being compared to Carlos and now she looked like she could burst out in tears.

Charles slightly panicked. ''No, no! You're pretty, Y/N! You're beautiful!'' He put his arms around her, feeling bad for making her cry.

She slowly blinked her eyes at him. ''Really? Oh, Charlie! That's so nice! You're pretty too!'' The tears in her eyes were gone and a bright smile had returned to her face.

Her older brother giggled, entertained by his sister's actions. He flinched when the front door suddenly closed very loudly. He glanced behind him to see Lorenzo entering the living room.

''Hey, how did it go?'' He asked them, appearing in front of them.

Charles answered for her. ''Good, no complications at all.''

''Unlike Ferrari…'' Y/N mumbled, a smirk present.

Lorenzo chuckled at her words. ''Ah, see! The anesthesia didn't do anything to her, she's still the same.'' He sat down on Y/N's other side, so she was sat in-between them.

''Enzo! Oh my god! How did you get here?'' His sister looked at him wide-eyed, like she hadn't just seen him walk into the house.

He confusingly glanced at Charles, who continued to be amused by his sister. ''I took my car and I drove home from work.'' He answered, matter-of-factly.

''I missed you, but you didn't pick up when I called.'' She told him, Lorenzo's confusion grew even more by the sudden mood swing.

''You didn't call me.''

''She called from Arthur's phone.'' Charles clarified for him.

''Ah~ I thought it was Arthur, so I didn't pick up, but if I had known it was you, I would have definitely answered, Y/N.'' Lorenzo figured he had to be as optimistic as he could be, that way he couldn't upset his sister in any way.

Y/N blushed at his words. ''That's so sweet! I knew you liked me more than Arthur.''

The youngest Leclerc brother must have sensed he was being talked about as footsteps could be heard coming down from the stairs. The door opened and he gave the three of them a suspicious look. ''I heard my name.''

''You must have a very good hearing.'' Lorenzo teased.

''Whatever,'' Arthur brushed it off, ''I'm going, can you tell mom when she gets back?'' He didn't look at his siblings, focused on getting his shoes and jacket on.

''Where are you going?''

''Friends.''

Charles and Lorenzo were satisfied with the answer, not particularly interested in who these friends were. However, their sister was a curious cat. ''Are you gonna see Mick?''

Arthur looked at her for the first time since he came downstairs, frowning. ''Mick? Who? Mick Schumacher?'' He asked her, to which Y/N nodded with an innocent smile on her face.

''No, why? Do you like him?'' The three brothers focused on their sister and how her face became more red. ''I think someone has a crush.''

''Mick's too old for you, Y/N.'' Arthur concluded, grabbing his car keys. He bid them goodbye and was off to meet his friends.

Y/N watched him leave, an offended expression on her face. ''He's not too old for me.''

''He's like 7 years older than you, that's too much. There are plenty people of your age who would love to date you.'' Charles said, not even wanting to think about his sister dating any of the other drivers on the grid.

Lorenzo agreed with his younger brother. ''Yes, by the way, you are way too young to have a boyfriend,'' he told her more sternly, ''or girlfriend.'' He doesn't discriminate.

''And if you're gonna date someone, don't date people who do motorsport.'' Charles added.

''So, no Mick?''

Both brothers shook their heads at her question, amused by her disappointment.

''How about Sebastian? He's retiring.''

"..."

''I'm not even gonna answer that one, I don't want that image in my head.''

''What's it with you and older guys?''

charles_leclerc added to his story !

[anyroads]

Preamble: I've had long covid since 2020, which became severe after a reinfection in 2022. I'm still recovering, still disabled, have read countless articles from reliable sources and peer reviewed studies, and attended UCLH's lecture series on long covid run by their post-covid team.

I need to talk about OP saying this:

"if covid doesn't kill you it will permanently disable you."

Please be careful with the language you use because this is alarmist. Covid may disable you, and there's no evidence to show that the damage will be permanent. I've had one of the worst cases in every long covid support group, workshop, and group therapy I've been in, and even I've had a steady recovery and significant improvements, they've just been slow (and that's likely because I had pre-existing PoTS and thus was already primed for the autonomic dysfunctions long covid causes). I take issue with the alarmism here because it will actually make people more skeptical of the information you're sharing, instead of listen to it - and because I believe in the importance of giving accurate and vetted information. And it's important that people understand that covid can severely affect people's health long after their infection, but there are some easily found statistics on how, and who is more likely to suffer.

About 25% of people who get covid experience post-viral malaise, which can include fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness, and high blood pressure and/or heart rate. Pre-vaccine about 10% of those people would continue having symptoms past 12 weeks, which is considered Long Covid. Post-vaccine that rate appears to have dropped to 3%, but since confirmed data is only available from 2022, it's only considered likely based on emerging data that this rate has stayed consistent since then. There's more information in the British Medical Journal's 2023 article on the subject. This article also says that "31% of people who had symptoms after 12 weeks recovered within a year of their infection." If you have certain disabilities or chronic conditions, you're more likely to develop either post-viral malaise or full on Long Covid, but it can also affect perfectly healthy people and it's still unknown why or how this works, just that it seems to be due to a response in the immune system that affects autonomic functions.

While I agree that anyone who can get vaccinated and mask should do so, the UK is actively hostile to protecting people from covid and to people with Long Covid. Even though studies show that people will Long Covid have a 70% likelihood of their symptoms worsening on reinfection, and that covid vaccines significantly reduce the risk of Long Covid, Long Covid patients aren't entitled to covid vaccines and boosters in the UK since the government restricted them to only people classified as vulnerable or immunocompromised. Antivirals are also almost completely unavailable (although it's still worth asking your GP if you test positive for a covid infection, because you never know, and also because the higher the demand the more likely it will be made available - antivirals can also significantly lower the risk of developing Long Covid).

Last year, boosters were available to carers and partners living with immunocompromised people, but by the spring booster this year they weren't. Obviously these are important, because a vulnerable person sharing a household with someone unvaccinated is more at risk. If you have Long Covid, a simple cold can also cause a setback (I got a cold in May and it took four months for my average resting heart rate to return to what it was before). Barely anyone masks in the UK, and like I said, there's no access to boosters. Our own practice is to ask people to test before coming into contact indoors (as in, if we meet up with friends, obviously I'm not asking entire restaurants to test before I walk in), and this is unusual. No one keeps covid tests at home anymore. The NHS is underfunded and it's become general practice for doctors to conflate a resource being limited with it being unnecessary, further compounding the complications and barriers to safe practices in hospitals and GP offices. My Long Covid physios and consultants have almost all expressed frustration at their limited ability to keep their patients safe, and those who haven't done so openly implied strongly that they feel this way but are restricted from saying so due to the fact that the NHS is overseen by the UK government (this was especially bad during Boris Johnson's term as PM).

@ruffboijuliaburnsides if your symptoms have lasted more than 12 weeks, you can ask your GP to refer you to a long covid clinic if you're in the UK. They can monitor your symptoms, refer you to a local physio to support them, and give you medications that can help. If you're not in the UK, you can look up local resources but most countries have Long Covid specialists. Also, if your wife is immunocompromised, then anything you might pick up while you're unmasked in public is something you can pass on to her. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but you can use basic logic. If you get the flu while unmasked at Tesco, you will almost certainly expose your wife to it. If you get covid while unmasked at Boots, same. And this goes for anyone: you might not have symptoms, but you can still be contagious.

If you're able to mask, please do. Covid has an incredibly low rate of spreading outdoors and in fully ventilated spaces, but the rates get suddenly very high in indoor spaces with little to no ventilation. Masking is a very easy way of limiting the spread, and it makes public spaces like grocery stores and public transit safer for the vulnerable people who have no choice but to frequent them.

Finally, some resources for those interested:

it's still jarring to see people not get like, genuinely scared for someones wellbeing when they say they have covid. one of my classmates has covid and i am so worried about them and everyone else is just like get better soon and i get that most people don't get it but GOD.

[xiaq]

I think i might want to become a teacher and help kids who are having a tough time and all that, and i really like reading your posts about it, but i’m not sure if i actually want to be one or if i want to be the Idealized Version that i have in my head you know? What’s being a teacher actually like?sorry if this doesn’t make any sense i’m tired

I am also tired so please enjoy what is sure to be a stream of consciousness mess:

I mean. I'll be real with you: it's hard.

A brief overview: I start my day on campus at 8am and go home at 5pm. I get 2 of 7 periods off, and a 30-minute lunch break. I try to plan/grade during my off periods but I usually don't manage to get it all done which means an hour or so of additional work each night when I get home or several hours on the weekend.

I write about the good stuff because the good 100% outweighs the bad for me, at least right now.

But every day I come home exhausted because I've taught the same lesson 5 times and I've been "on" all day because the higher my energy/excitement is, and the more I'm moving around, the more likely it is that I'll maintain my students' attention. And I admittedly make it a bit worse for myself because I don't get a break at all: I let students come hang out during lunch and I let the counselors designate my classroom as a safe space during my off periods so students who are struggling (with personal stuff or learning stuff) can come to my room and draw on the wall or sit and decompress or (often) just have a quiet chat.

And because we're understaffed, I have to take on additional duties that I shouldn't have to, and I'm not getting paid for.

And because we're understaffed, admin and IT are basically useless, so I feel like I'm trying my hardest but no one is interested in supporting me.

And the students are...a bit feral.

They're freshmen, but the last normal year of school they had was 7th grade. So they're a bit socially inept and a bit resentful and bit jaded. And most of them were already "behind" the standard benchmarks because they're ESL students and economically vulnerable students and Covid has just exacerbated all of the existing things they were dealing with. Their lives are hard right now, and it's fair that they're less interested in school work because it feels so disconnected from the immediacy of their other concerns: their family can't afford to make rent, their family members are dying from Covid, their family members are being deported. I wouldn't care about my Chemistry homework either.

But this also makes them so damn focused on short-term immediate gratification. They're all addicted (and I do mean ADDICTED) to their phones. Getting them to focus for more than two minutes is a constant struggle and often I have students who try to do the bare minimum to pass so that they can turn in the assignment and then spend the last ten minutes of class scrolling through TikTok and snapchatting their friends. They're not good with big-picture stuff. And I don't blame them.

But all that aside--it's so completely worth it, at least to me. And I'll probably get burnt out in a few years, but it will still have been worth it because when I took on the class, nearly half my students were failing. Now, out of my 105 students, only 3 are currently failing and over half of them have a B or higher. It's worth it because I have dozens of students who went from silent and sullen to now talking in class, from turning in one-sentence responses to turning in paragraphs. I have notorious skippers who have perfect attendance and "problem children" with 0 disciplinary issues. I have students who are turning in poetry that make me cry because they are so full of feelings and don't know what to do with them and, worse, didn't think someone cared about their feelings up until this point.

I think to be a genuinely good teacher you have to care more than is probably healthy. Because the minute these kids showed up on my roster I felt a responsibility toward them--not just to get them through the semester and on to the next level of English, but to make sure that they feel seen and heard and respected and loved and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it, even if I'm not able to give them all the tailored education and attention I'd like to.

But every time I have a student who comes to me for help or empathy with a family issue or asks me to advocate for them to another teacher who isn't respecting their pronouns or who turns something in that they've worked really hard on and asks if they've improved with a little hopeful expression, and then light up like a Christmas tree the moment I give them a tiny bit of validation, I'm like. Jesus. Why would I want to do anything else?

My high school English teacher not only made high school survivable but likely changed my entire life for the better. I can only hope I have a similar impact on some of my kids, and that's what makes the job worth it, I guess.