#and sure this ship isnt of my more engaging self ships since people in the community tend to interact more with popular and familiar fandom

[candyheartedchy]

Self shipping with a character that only a tiny handful of people recognize even though the show the f/o is from had not only two seasons but also a theatrical movie and sadly no active fandom is kinda sad since there’s literally no one to ramble about this franchise to. And I know the self ship itself would be confusing to folks since the series is apparently obscure to most and you would have to watch the show and movie to understand the lore. But at the same time I don’t have to deal with fandom drama so I guess it’s a win-win situation.

[tomatograter]

May I ask why are you so fond of Jake?? I've seen that one anon who said that they are grateful that you won't excuse Dave's shitty behavior but I feel like you do this but with Jake? Jake was a really shitty friend and was hella selfish most of the time, so how is he any different to Dave? Yeah, Jake has his issues, but like everyone else in hs. I'm not sure if I remember correctly but I'm pretty sure you did point out some of his flaws at some point and you're aware that he's not perfect, but why you dislike so much some characters that are as dickish as Jake? Bc of the fandom? Or bc of they are popular? I swear I'm not trying to excuse Dave or something, he can be a real asshole sometimes lol, I'm just using him as an example. Sorry for the long message, but I'm really curious.

So. I feel like its worth noting here that Dave is the character that most attracts hyper defensive or offended asks whenever i talk about him or mention him in passing, and it's a bit of a comical phenomenon because i don't even... dislike... dave...? But neutrality, disinterest or even mild critiques directed at him earn you full on psychoanalytic paragraphs from anons, and while this isnt personally directed at *your* ask, its one in a reign of many, so you'll have to forgive me for putting the long delayed interjection here.

This isn't really an ask about jake, and I'm not going to pretend it is, so let's talk about dave again. Or rather, why I'm not davelikers.com when by all means i Should Be as a good homestuck reader and faithful fan: eh, idk.

I get the appeal of Dave, i comprehend the general concept and manpain, but there's nothing particularly vexing for me to prod at there. He's already been done.

Dave is perhaps the Homestuck character most benefitted by the story; the one that gets the most clear-cut and self-fulfilling arc, complete with the satisfaction of an ending and settling down with his newfound sweetheart. He's so perfectly serviced by it he gets to tell Rose Real People Don't Have Arcs (despite the fact he just completed his). Dave is also one of the Homestuck characters that personally chews up his own arc and delivers it as a verborrhagic red paste, mother-hen to baby-chick-like, for all readers to easily internalize and reproduce, copyright-free.

THE POINT BEING: Dave is safe. Dave is likeable. Dave is deeply beloved. He's the archetypal fan-favorite. Dave is, on the realm of normal, as regular of a dude as it gets. And i'm not hugely invested in regular dudes. Dave, above all, won't be missing me or my patronage here, let's be honest.

I get why people may be frustrated by this, but after a certain point his story stopped being engaging and started to be the safe bet to drag around and expect the public to place all their emotional tokens on. I've already talked about the surplus of dave in the epilogues before, and it's a trend that's continued into hs2, apart from the deluge of fanworks that have been coming out since the dawn of Time. (Up to 2017, Dave ranked twice in A03's top 100 ships—there isn't a 2018 record, but i bet he was in that one too)

If you really want to ask me "why i like jake's issues but not dave's" the answer is a very simple "because why not." or if not satisfied, the more polarizing "dave is just some guy". I really hope people aren't thinking I'm saying dave is 'problematic' here, because that'd be hilarious. I don't think he's 'morally damning' or 'a bad boy' or even 'mildly interesting in that vertex of discourse'. I'm not ranking characters i like based on how unproblematic they are, but rather how interesting i find them to be.

I mean, i really like Vriska. Dave is as far as you can get from a Vriska. Hope this helps.

[literalbuzzkill]

Below I'm gonna vent so y'all can ignore that XD

I'm basically making this post as a timestamp/reminder for myself about Covid2020 and what I had to deal with during it (even though it's still a relentlessly ongoing problem, as of Jan2021, yikes)

Below is my personal experience in switching from working everyday as an essential retail worker to now a stay at home unemployed/leave of absense person. Don't feel bad about not reading it, it's long, boring, and I can't really expect anyone to actually be interested because the struggle is real and who wants to be reminded of the grim reality we can't currently escape? XD

[The Start:]

I was still working retail up until a few months ago because most people left. And being short staffed already before covid at my store, things became an even worse unmanageable nightmare because they started to work the remaining staff to death because no one really knew what to do which sucked and everyone was rightfully afraid of what was happening all around them, plus everyone internally was hoping that this would all blow over in a decent amount of time and we could all return to normal and never speak of it again. Considering Covid started around late January/early February in 2019 and today's date (for my future reference) is Jan 4th 2021, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it certainly has not blown over in a decent amount of time like originally hoped for. Oof.

I was a closer but because of covid my job turned into 'every position at the store and everything/anything that you can possibly get done'. All the stuff from morning team, mid shift, and nightshift rolled into one. Cashiering, phone calls, cleaning, ship from store, backroom, covering multiple breaks, and every department on hardlines salesfloor,

(I did everything except for guest services, food service, clothing, and hr)

you name it XD because most people abandoned ship and Yeeted (which I dont blame them for, t'was a big mood) our store did not hire replacements until literally a few months ago. After I left. Nice.

We were not getting paid any extra, having to stay late, running around with an unending unfinishable list, having to deal with rude customers and cranky bosses, full 8+hour shifts having to wear a mask (even in the break room, and sometimes missing breaks all together because of the large work load) Another problem, my job did not supply masks, proper cleaning supplies, gloves etc to us until an unacceptable amount of time had passed since the start of the virus. Now I didn't expect them to be stocked and fully prepared immediately, obviously.

It was also pretty frustrating getting reprimanded by customers when supplies were low everywhere and some things necessary for existing safely could not be bought anywhere due to high demand, which was only natural, but some people actually acted like it was our personal fault for the store for being sold out of things like hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, toilet paper, and even accused us for holding it in the back for ourselves (which wasnt the case, customers are top priority at our store so the workers usually got nothing to take home or buy, even if we had pulled it from the truck or stocked it ourselves.)

Aside from the excessive draining from normal retail where we already suffer from Karen's and the often unpleasant general public, the Rona made the daily grind even more intense, as if we already thought it couldn't get any worse.

Straying away from that for a second, personal lives were now also affected greatly. Added on top of this new fear/caution/lifestyle was not being able to see my fiance or his family for months because they are all at very high risk. (Unfortunately I am too, but I really needed the paycheck so I thought I had to keep working until the inevitable, which was not looked forward to, but as long as I was potentially exposed with my job we all had to be apart unless I decided to quit and risk not having enough money to pay my bills or survive.)

(Side note for context: My fiance and I have been very lucky enough to see eachother almost every day for 4 years. Surprisingly we have not gotten sick of eachother yet and kept up with that regularity. And though we are engaged, we dont live together, but we do only live 15 minutes away so we just drive over to eachother everyday. Anyway, point being that going months without seeing him at all killed me internally hardcore. This was before zoom was popular and we were not about to resort to Skype. His parents are older and closer to me than my own family and were not comfortable with any form of in-person visits so we usually just did phone calls.)

And eventually I gave up,

I made it halfway through this pandemic working everyday, not seeing the only people I considered family, and I couldn't do it anymore. It literally didn't feel human.

Not to mention this did not help whatsoever with my pre-existing problems, bad depression, anxiety, ptsd, Self h, etc... it was all just getting way too out of hand with more stress piling up daily and taking too big a toll on me to the point where I couldn't deal with my regular lifestyle anymore. I needed a break and a change to severely turn myself around.

So a few months ago I finally went on leave of absence and it was the hardest thing for me to do but honestly the best thing I did. Because everything was so uncertain and I worried about how helpful unemployment would be towards my bills, if I'd lose my job for being gone too long due to an open ended leave of absense for the sake of my health/safety, and honestly I loved my job and my coworkers, but many of them had already left so at that point it became easier for me to leave.

I'm currently making more on unemployment than my job was paying my bi-weekly and doing leagues better mentally, emotionally, and physically, than before when I thought I could last the whole time working through covid hoping I wouldn't catch it and probably die because my health is not 100% gucci in the first place. I was too stubborn to quit until I got to a breaking point and then realised that putting my health/life on the line when I'm at risk during a pandemic for literally no reason other than feeling bad for my one really kind boss (who ended up leaving for a better job anyway right after I left)

in my brain the whole time I figured "eh if I die then I die" but there was a major upside to saying "you know what, fuck this" and leaving.

I've gotten to take up hobbies and do things that I've wanted to do for like 10 years, I improved my financial situation, bought my dream car(A 2004Crossfire), got engaged to the love of my life, had more time to read, write, learn, create, help my fiance record his first official music video, support smaller businesses, get back in better physical health, regain stability, and a new respect for life, health, friends, family, acts of kindness, and how easy things used to be before covid and how it was unintentionally taken for granted.

Not gonna lie, at first I was pretty mad that people on unemployment made more than essential workers, but I also knew that it wasn't their fault for their personal situations or reasonings for needing it. The problem was mainly that many Companies/jobs could have done more, treated essential workers better, given more help, compensated financially, offered forms of protectionagaint the virus, or done literally anything extra at all to help employees who were struggling or who stay to continue working there during a terrible pandemic, and some companies/jobs have done good things for their workers in response of the outbreak which is awesome.

Workers should absolutely be compensated for their extra efforts, time, and pleasant attitude in this difficult time, and treated better than they are. Some things should 1000% be different but some things in this world are still a work in progress.

And also, for people with health issues that are at risk but working anyway for whatever reason, there shouldn't be any shame felt for taking care of yourself or by the people who have to go on unemployment, those who can't work, lost their jobs, need help or a break, or just can't do it anymore, because it hits hard when you realise that even though your effort is important and you're doing your best, playing an important role in society, you could also be risking your health/life or even possibly someone you live withs, for a company that will replace you pretty easily if you're suddenly gone.

I worked at my store for 4 years, was extremely hard working and did everything and anything I could to stay as long as I could during this, but I realised that I'd rather not risk myself and be treated how I was.

Ultimately, the sad reality is that covid has some people forgetting that humans (whether working or not) are humans too that can die or fail at any time given the current circumstances. Some situations are unavoidable like a pandemic, but we can do our best with whatever reality we meet, whether it's being essential the whole way through like some are able, and knowing your health well enough to be able to judge what's best for you individually for now.

but regardless making sure you're not taking yourself for granted in the process.

I'm lucky enough to not have gotten covid yet, and I hope it stays that way.

If your job isnt doing what it can for you in this time, dont be too stubborn about staying

Its not worth risking yourself for your job honestly, and I really hope peoples jobs do as much as they can for those they employ.

If you aren't working, do something with your time that you'll remember (safe things obviously) and if you are still working keep up the awesome progress, stay safe, and be blessed. ❤