#because they wanted to defer the payment

[racefortheironthrone]

Nobody is making anyone go into scriptwriting. No one is born in a Netflix company town where their dad takes them into the script mines at age 12. Fuck writers who want to get paid more than once for the same job. They should only get residuals AFTER all the people who do REAL WORK, like construction, grips, costume, makeup & animators etc. Most of them are much better at their jobs than writers especially for streaming services, and they are what screenwriters can lean on & novelists can't.

People need to realize that the unions for white collar people like WGA or SIEU or NEA (public sector unions are why cops who kill the people they were supposed to serve & protect remain employed get pensions) is not the AFL-CIO or any other historical union fighting for the lives of the people who built the country's industry and made it run, any more than the NRA are the Minutemen of 1775 New England.

First, go fuck yourself, you fucking scab. No, seriously - you don't come to my blog and spout off about what workers deserve unions and decent pay and what ones don't, like it's your fucking decision. The intellectual labor that writers perform is just as real as any other work done on a film set - "all who labor by hand or brain" is the inherent logic of industrial unionism for a reason.

Second, writers aren't asking to get paid more than once: residuals are deferred pay, you absolute moron. In Hollywood, whether it's writers or actors or voice talent or whatever, you get a small fraction up front - it's usually an ok check, depending on the union's day rates and so forth, but you can't make a living off stitching these together - and then most of your pay comes from monthly royalty checks that provide you with the income you need to live off when you're between jobs.

The problem is that, historically in Hollywood, residuals have been structured with a very long "tail" - the payments start out relatively low and then get more generous over time as the show has more seasons and (presumably) goes into syndication. This doesn't work with streaming's new business model, where increasingly shows are getting 2-3 seasons max and streaming services have become increasingly quick to not just cancel shows but yank them off their servers in order to avoid paying residuals.

So what WGA writers are fighting for is a system that ensures writers (but also actors and other creative workers, because the unions pattern bargain) get a fair share of the show's revenue, even if the show is only given 2-3 seasons.

Third, the U.S labor movement would not exist today if it wasn't for white collar workers and public sector workers. About half of the U.S labor movement - 7 million workers - is public sector, and those workers are overwhelmingly women of color, mostly working as either teachers or postal workers. Likewise, about half the U.S labor movement is made up of white collar workers, and we're graduate students and adjuncts and lab researchers, teachers and social workers, administrators and IT departments.

I'm both public sector and white collar, and I'm a member of an NEA union. I'm an adjunct professor who earns $6,000 a course and it's my job to get working adults with jobs and families who've never gone to college or who've been out of higher ed for a decade to graduate with a bachelor's or a master's. If you don't think that's real work, you're free to research and write all the lectures and powerpoints, deliver those in an entertaining and educational fashion, answer a flood of questions from students who need help navigating academia, and then grade all the midterms and finals and research papers.

[itsjustelian]

BEEFLEAF THOUGHT (Mainly He Xuan thought but fuck it he's intertwined with Shi Qingxuan and therefore all He Xuan thoughts are beefleaf thoughts)

So so so, in my readings of tgcf and the wonderful mess that is all of the internet thoughts on it I've come to the personal conclusion that to become a supreme you have to have *big* feelings. Very big and very deep feelings.

Our big-brained, obvious example of this is Hua Cheng. Man's big feeling is devotion, love. He is absolutely besotted for Xie Lian. Would do anything for his God. We're so proud of him for it too.

But He Xuan? He's the only other real supreme we have aside from Hua Cheng (Jun Wu, I'm sorry, you're wonderful but Godhood fucks with a man) and the idea that his big feeling that turned him into a supreme was rage and hatred never sat quite right with me. It's not that hatred and rage aren't powerful enough emotions to make a supreme, and those being his emotions on the surface make him a wonderful parallel to Hua Cheng. But rage isn't really what fuels him. If it was, he'd have dissipated after the Blackwater arc. Taken his revenge and called it a day.

Yet, he sticks around. He *never* dissipates. He just sits at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity. Which doesn't sound like rage or hatred. I mean, you'd assume a calamity built on hate would continue his revenge path until all of heaven is gone and no one can have godhood because he couldn't. But he doesn't. He just... waits.

This isn't to say he wasn't angry, btw. He was absolutely angry, and he had every right to be. His desire for revenge had to come from somewhere, let alone the emotional payment to actually planning and pulling it off. I just don't think that was his greatest regret/feeling/desire at death. I mean, He Xuan had his whole life taken from him. All of it. His family, his fiancee, his passions, his work. Everything he worked towards and for got stolen from him by others. And while it's clearly very rage inducing for him (I mean he has a mental breakdown and kills everyone who's ever wronged him), the underlying feeling through it all was probably despair. He probably just wanted things to go back to how they were when his whole family was around and alive.

And this despair and longing doesn't just go away when he learns the truth of what's been done to him. He's still a person. He can't just throw away those emotions because new ones have taken center stage. But rage is a way easier feeling to work with than misery, so He Xuan defers to it. He jumps on the bandwagon of revenge against the people who wronged him once again and goes with it. And it gets him through Mt. Tonglu and up into heaven and right where he says he wants to be. Right up until he can execute his revenge. And then he just stops? And decides that he's going to be best friends with Shi Qingxuan for a few hundred years first? I'm no rage expert, but that doesn't sound very revenge like to me. Which leads very neatly into the point of this post, took me a while I know.

He Xuan's reason for sticking around is he wants to be loved.

I mean, look at it. He says he hates Shi Qingxuan's guts and wants him and his brother dead more than anything, but also spends hundreds of years hanging out with this person he hates so much when revenge is right there? He could have done it whenever. There was no logical reason I could wait to wait as long as he did. Unless he was enjoying Shi Qingxuan's companionship. And Shi Qingxuan clearly loved him (even just platonically. We love our friends in this house). And He Xuan hadn't had someone care about him that much since his death. It was probably insanely overwhelming and equally as wonderful.

And then he fucks it all by actually going through with the revenge but feelings are hard and he's clearly not great with them so oops. But but but, his great famous line during the Blackwater Arc is him telling Shi Qingxuan that they've used the wrong name. He, even if it's just subconsciously, wants Shi Qingxuan to see him as He Xuan, not Ming Yi. He, in some capacity, wants Shi Qingxuan to see and love He Xuan, not the mask he had on.

But then, after the revenge, he doesn't disappear. He straight up goes out of his way to return Shi Qingxuan's fan to them. To make something right. To return something to how it was before.

Except this time, he can't blame the people around him for the change. He can't turn his rage at the rest of the world because he's the one who ruined the only thing he wanted for himself. So he finally, *finally*, has to face this sadness and longing that's been plaguing him from the start. He got his revenge, he got all the anger out, and it still wasn't what he wanted. Because from the beginning, all he wanted was to be appreciated and loved and wanted and not have that torn away from him.

And he fucked it for himself in the end because lets be honest if he had a civil fucking conversation with Shi Qingxuan and didn't literally threaten their brothers life things would have gone SO MUCH BETTER.

Anyway, I'm crying now. If you read through my jumbled 2 AM thoughts all the way, thank you. I will edit this when it's not 3 am. and post it.

---

Editing me: wtf was I on? I don't remember half of these thoughts??? I'm posting it because somewhere in this hot mess is a point I'm trying to make, and I'm not going to deny 2 AM Elian the chance to share it.

[unladyboss]

WHAT SYDNEY WAS GOING THROUGH. APOLOGIES EPISODE. SEASON 3 THE BEAR

This is only a part of what Sydney has been going through

Imagine on your day off, you're sitting at home in your unfurnished apartment because you don't have money to buy things.

You took a six month deferment on payment and you're on month two

No real communication with your supposed partner about the menu

You're basically getting stressed out by your partner

You can't really go on food tastings because no money

All that's in your fridge is frozen pizza and waffles and cream cheese

And in the couple months you've been open, profile after profile after profile on your partner ALONE, on the internet

Stressed my girl out.

Meanwhile she's had an offer from Adam Shapiro.

The offer itself is not the important thing

It's the validation of her existence as a top chef that's being sought after, that's most important.

It gets Sydney thinking about what's important to her and what she wants to do in this life

I'm so tired.

I'm almost done this rewatch. This episode made me sick because it opens with Carmy and the Faks breaking down boxes and talking about Claire being piece of A**, or PEACE.

I'm so sick of the Faks, Claire and now Carmy.

I need a break from them at the bear and IRL.

[queer-ecopunk]

Re: blood donation

If you are concidering donating blood, awesome! It is a worthwhile, often pretty easy thing to do that can have a huge impact. This is especially true in the summer, when the number of blood donations is lower.

There are many things that may get you denied or deferred for donation, some of which have been and still are influenced by fear and prejudice. However, here in the US, some restrictions have recently been changed. I've listed many of the common denial/deferment reasons below. If you are ineligible to donate for a temporary reason, concider doing so in the future! And for everyone, eligible or not, I would encourage you to encourage others to donate. Even one donation could help save someone's life.

Common reasons people get denied in the US

- weight. You must be at least 110lb, so that you have enough blood to safely donate.

- low iron. If you are under the donation limit but not severely, you will be deferred and can donate later, once your iron increases. If your levels are extremely or consistently low, you will not be able to donate.

- recent vaccinations. Depends on what it was. With some, like flu and covid, it is fine to donate after as long as you are feeling well. Others, like hepB, monkeypox, or tetanus may have you deferred for a specific amount of time, then you will be eligible again.

- tattoos / piercings. The restrictions depend on what state you had the mod done, but it may be a 3 month wait before you will be eligible again.

- medications / illness / disabilities. Some will disqualify you, check online for your specifics. With some things, like diabetes or high/low bp, you are eligible as long as it is well managed. Others will disqualify you entirely, or they may defer you based on current health. It is highly dependent on the condition and meds you take.

PrEP for HIV prevention will disqualify you (for 3 months after last dose of pills and 2 years w/ injection). This is because in rare cases, PrEP can cause false negatives, meaning that someone can have HIV but be at low enough levels from the medication that the test doesn't detect it. This would be dangerous for a blood recipient, so they do not want to take the risk with folks on PrEP.

Additionally, if you are HIV+, you are ineligible to donate. Even if you are on ART and are at undetectable levels, there is a risk of transmission with blood transfusions.

- injectable drugs. If you have used injectable drugs that were not prescribed to you within the last 3 months, you will be deferred.

- sex.

There are several ways your sex life may get you deferred, which are based on what the powers-that-be have determined to be higher risks for STIs, particularly hepB and HIV. We can discuss all day if these concerns are reasonable, but the restrictions exist regardless. However, they have changed recently in the US regarding men who have sex with men. The following rules are now gender neutral.

• if you have had a new sexual partner and have had anal sex in the past 3 months, you will be deferred.

• if you have had multiple sexual partners and have had anal sex in the past 3 months, you will be deferred. This includes if you are in exclusive, committed relationships with multiple people.

• if you have exchanged sex for money, drugs, or other payment in the past 3 months, you will be deferred.

• if you have had sex with a sex worker, someone who is HIV+, or someone who has used non-prescribed injectable drugs in the past 3 months, you will be deferred.

If you are eligible and planning to donate

- do not do so if you are sick or feel unwell. Wait or reschedule until you feel healthy.

- do not donate while under the influence of drugs, including weed and alcohol.

- hydrate!!! Before and after!!!

If you are eligible, please concider donating. If you are not currently able to, check if you can in the future and spread the word on how important blood donation can be! ❤️ 🧛‍♂️🩸

[winterfergerart]

So I'm gonna make a personal kind of post here. TW for death in the family and my own post-covid symptoms.

Last year my grandfather died. He was the man who raised me, so he was more like a father than a grandfather. As he was getting close to death I was asking my family if there was going to be an inheritance which, I specifically said at the time, I need to know so that I can know what to do about my SSI disability and plan ahead.

People just said I'd get a 'tidy sum' or 'deferred comp' at best. No steady numbers. So without knowing what I'd be getting I had no way to prepare. I think they just thought I was being greedy and wanted to know selfishly. Not that I needed regular medical coverage.

He died without having said anything about being proud of me, but the family found a box of all my pictures growing up in his closet. Other people too, but mostly me, and I didn't know what to do with that because he never really said that he was proud of me or anything.

Because of that his death hit me really hard. Like, the entire span of his slow decline, from the year before to the day he died, I kind of withdrew from a bunch of my friends. Years ago someone put it in my head that wanting help when you're troubled is manipulative so I took it to heart. I pulled away from a bunch of people that made me happy because I didn't want to stress them out with my problems. I pulled back from my hobbies 'cause I didn't trust myself to engage anymore. I was hurting too much.

After he passed, other than a few people, I was all alone.

I received notification concerning my inheritance in December and I filled out the paperwork in early January, specifically requesting that I be given some time to prepare before receiving payments. They didn't listen. So I had to get off SSI, lost my insurance, had to loosely plan to buy some. It's not a lot of money, but it is too much to recieve public assistance.

But I thought, maybe I can do something that makes me less dependent on the government now. I can get married. Maybe I can go back to school. Maybe I can start a small jewelry and miniatures business. Maybe I can invest. Maybe I can start volunteering at domestic violence shelters.

Then two months ago, I caught Covid for the first time in 4 years.

The S.O.? Oh he was fine. It seemed like a bad cold. But me, first it was the fever, and then my lungs deteriorated for two weeks. Doctor round one? "It's a Covid cough, it's expected." Doctor round two? "Yeah, Covid cough can go on for a while. Here's sudafed and cough pills."

It took my blood oxygen to drop into dangerous levels (90%) for anyone to take me seriously. And despite that doctor trying so hard and giving me great meds, I just had a massive relapse and today I'm struggling to breathe again. I'm sitting here crying and coughing up chunks of god knows what. All this being paid out of pocket, because I don't have insurance and no one listened to me. About the inheritance, about the deferred comp, about the insurance, about how badly my lungs were doing post-Covid.

I had been exercising every single day for two years. I was actually starting to lose weight. I was so proud of myself. Now that's all been set back. I was gonna get married. But SSI is holding me in this sort of limbo where I'm not covered but I'm also not free.

I miss my support system. I've loosely tried to reach out but I've not been very good at it because I always sucked at social anyway. I'm sorry that I threw it away while it felt like I could only radiate badness and loss. If any of you are still out there I miss you and I'm sorry I abandoned you. I thought I was doing us both favors and we'd be better off without each other. So I'm throwing it out there that either I'd love to hear from you again, if you're still watching this account, or please just know I'm sorry I let you down.

PS. I don't want money. I just want to see a bright spot again when every time I get ahead I get knocked back.

[your-talos-is-problematic]

WIP Wednesday!

I feel like we’re all burnt out rn so no pressure to participate as usual, but tagging @thequeenofthewinter @skyrim-forever @trickstarbrave and @throughtrialbyfire.

Here’s a random snippet of the BG3/Skyrim crossover that I may or may not eventually get around to writing. Featuring Neloth being funny :D I would really like to write more of this at some point because I really like writing interactions between Afonya and Tilia.

————————————————————————

“So, Afonya. Do these… vagrants carry any extra parasites with them?”

Oh no. This could not end well. “I… do not believe so, master,” I lied.

“You do not believe so or you know for sure?” he asked.

“I do not believe so.”

“Well then, find out. You should know not to waste my time,” he said. It was so difficult to take him seriously, but I walked over to Tilia.

In a whisper, I explained, “Neloth wants me to ask you if you have any extra parasites.” She started to open her mouth, but I widened my eyes and shook my head. “And I know you do, but you are going to pretend you don’t, and you are going to do it loudly. Unless you want to watch Neloth turn himself into a mind flayer.”

She was clearly fighting to keep her facial expression blank. “No, I’m sorry, there’s no… extras,” she said loudly. I turned to Neloth and shook my head with a mask of disappointment. He waved me back over.

As soon as I was near him, he sighed dramatically. “It’s quite thoughtless of them to demand help from me with their problem and not bring a parasite as payment.”

I nodded, but added, “Apologies if this oversteps any bounds, master, but I don’t believe becoming a mind flayer is the correct life path for you.” I tried to cover the laugh in my voice by piling on the deference. I don’t think it was working.

He rolled his eyes. “Obviously not for me, s’wit.” He tilted his head to the other side of the room, in the direction of his apprentice, who was currently pretending to do work while staring at Tilia.

Oh no. “Well, I don’t think it’s the correct life path for Talvas, either.”

“Don’t tell me what to do with my apprentice.” He glared at me.

“Apologies, master. I didn’t mean-“ I cut myself off. It was clearly a lost cause, so I switched paths. “I will contact you if they find any more,” I said.

“Fine. Now stop bothering me.” He’d started the conversation, but I neglected to tell him that.

[rtfics]

A reminder to writers & illustrators.

I'd post this on my writblr, but it's dead, so I'll do it here.

DON'T submit work to Cricket Media LLC (which includes these publications).

Cricket's standard contract has no pay-out clause. It's open-ended. Which means if you sign they can defer your payment until the End of Time.

A short story of mine was published in Cricket last year, and I still haven't been paid. I knew what I was getting into, but signed anyway, because I wanted the publication on my CV: Cricket's mags still have excellent quality. But when they wanted more stories from me I refused unless the contract added a pay-out date.

Writer Beware has an article concerning this.

Cricket Media only gets away with non-payment because there's a dearth of publications for short stories for children. Which is why I don't write them any more (just mystery short stories, and there are good publications for those).

I don't recommend other writers and illustrators choose this route. We pros deserve compensation for our hard work.

The best thing a writer can say is:

[amanitaphalloides]

Please give me all your unemployment, job hunting, interviewing, etc tips!

hi unemployed community member <3

I am so sorry in advance for the length of this. I’m coming at this as someone who got laid off from a corporate job and is basically looking for the same job again, so ymmv with how relevant this is, but here’s a random array of tips I have found helpful.

MY GUIDE TO BEING UNEMPLOYED!

Getting your shit together after losing a job

Things you may need/want to do quickly if you have just lost a job (ie my week 1 unemployment to do list):

apply for unemployment benefits

review, negotiate, and sign your separation agreement

make an unemployment budget

take advantage of your final weeks of employer-sponsored insurance by having last-minute doctors appointments and getting your prescriptions refilled

look for new health insurance

contact student loan servicer to request a deferment/update your payment plan

More about this:

Unemployment benefits

If you’re eligible for unemployment benefits, apply to them right away. Different states are different, but you may need to have an in-person meeting at the unemployment office before you get any money. Scheduling this can take weeks. The world will look so much brighter if you have a little income. So if you qualify, do this first!

You will typically qualify for benefits if you got laid off or fired, but you also made qualify if your contract ended. Also you can usually freelance and still get benefits depending on how much you make.

Budgeting

Making a budget was really important to me so that I could concretely see whether I needed to panic about money and so I could give myself permission to relax. My goal was to stretch my severance and unemployment as far as possible while also doing stuff I enjoy.

Here's my budget template just in case our brains work the same way. This template is based on an old budget of mine - there are items on here that I set to $0 once I got laid off. I literally did budget in movie tickets because that has a massive impact on my joy in life.

Severance

If you are getting severance, it is possible to negotiate how much you get! I was able to get a few extra weeks basically by saying “this is bad timing and my income also supports my family."

Negotiating severance is like negotiating salary in that your former employer will probably give you less than you ask for. It's unlike negotiating salary in that you usually have zero leverage so honestly you might as well do an emotional appeal. IMO

Putting together an unemployed life

Stuff I consider absolutely non-negotiable aka things I MUST do not to spiral:

Make plans with friends. Write all your social plans down in your calendar and treat them as seriously as work.

Do something other than job hunting. Pick up a hobby. Give yourself a really specific reading or movie watching challenge. Volunteer. This will allow you to feel like you have a life which is absolutely critical to your self esteem, your ability to socialize, and your ability to function. You are going to have days when you NEED to feel cool. That will be way easier if you volunteered a few days ago than if you haven't done anything joyful for weeks.

Try to take care of your physical health. Move your body, eat full meals, go to bed at a regular time. I have really realized that sometimes the difference between me feeling good and despondent is truly just like, have I slept well and eaten and exercised recently.

Do things you like doing. I think it is very common to become unemployed and feel like you have to strip away everything in your life that's not focused on the job hunt. But you cannot stop doing everything that brings you happiness and expect to be okay. You will love your life if you fill it with things you love and you will hate it if you don't.

More tips....

Make a list of free or cheap things you can do for fun and then do them! Being unemployed is a great time to go to free days at museums if there’s anything like that near you. It’s also a good time to try a new recipe, check out a new walking path, FaceTime with a friend, write your grandma a letter, make diary comics, listen to new albums, watch movies you always meant to watch... for me though getting out of the house is especially important. I am constantly googling "free things to do in chicago this weekend" lol it pays off especially in a city!

I literally make Google calendar events for myself that are like "free museum day." I need to protect that time and treat it like an appointment to make myself actually do things.

If you have friends who wfh, go hang out with them and job hunt while they're working!

Applying for jobs

Tell everyone that you are job hunting. Post it far and wide. A lot of people get referral bonuses so they'll be trying to help you!

Job boards I use most heavily: Idealist, Otta, Built In, LinkedIn

This is so obvious but a lesson I really learned recently: only apply to places if you would take the job. If you're like "realistically I would not do that for that salary range" do not apply. you are gonna get yourself in Situations @ me two months ago

If you have a 1st or 2nd LinkedIn connection at a job you’re looking at dm them and say you'd love to hear what they think of the company!

I have also had success messaging random people on LinkedIn. Basically following this format: "Hi [name]! I came across this job at your company - I'm really interested and I'd love to hear more about what it's like working with the team. I'm sure you're busy, but is there any chance you have 15 minute this week or next to chat with me about the company before I apply? Thanks either way!"

Not everyone will want to talk but sometimes people still give you good insight into the hiring process.

It is really important to me to have boundaries around my job search. This has varied a bit depending on my schedule but the best thing I've found is telling myself I apply to jobs 9am-12pm. At noon I am DONE.

Interviewing

My interview prep: practice my elevator pitch with a focus on why it lead me to this company, pick out a few anecdotes from my past jobs I can share (a time I messed up, something I worked on that had a good result, something that didn’t go as expected, a time I had to deal with conflict), read the job's website and any news items I can find about them, and do a little quick review of the industry.

Most commonly repeated questions I've encountered recently: what's a time you made a mistake, what kind of management style do you like, why should we hire you.

This is the first time in my life I've ever genuinely practiced an elevator pitch and I hate to say it but it's really helped

After an interview (especially a panel interview) immediately take a few notes on what people said so you can write personalized thank yous.

I hope something in that was helpful and if not I'm sorry for the wall of text LOL but hugs and kisses it is all gonna be ok!!!

[girlactionfigure]

*ISRAEL REALTIME* - "Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime"

🔹Rockets from Gaza… short range, 1 round, near-Gaza town.

▪️GUNS IN INCUBATORS… not in the baby basket, pistols in the heating element controls.  Essential medical equipment.  Found in a Gaza hospital.

▪️HERO SOLDIERS FALL… 3 fall, one killed in a Lebanon border suicide drone attack, two in Gaza fighting.

▪️PM NETANYAHU… Netanyahu on the question of why he did not cancel the Oslo Accords: 30 years you accused me of preventing a Palestinian state, now you accuse me of not?

▪️RETURN TO NEAR-GAZA TOWNS?  Defense Minister Gallant: The evacuees of the south will soon begin to be returned to their homes.  Heads of Near-Gaza towns:  "We will not return until the threat is removed."  ME: Rockets this morning at near-Gaza town (and literally daily, multiple times a day).  These are the towns being considered: Zikim, Karmia, Yad Mordechai, Erez, Nir Am, Kfar Gaza, Alumim, Bari, Magen and Nir Yitzhak.    The heads of the towns are furious about the intention to return residents soon because the threat has not been removed, they have not yet restored security or created new security protections, nor provided any funding for recovery or safety! 

▪️AMIT SEGAL, CH. 12, FOR THOSE PROTESTING AND DISTRAUGHT HOSTAGE FAMILIES… a message from the facts department:

* The kidnapping deal was a major Israeli achievement. The negligible payment in released terrorists (only 3:1) shows how much the military pressure had an effect.

* No one in the cabinet blocked the deal.

* There is no realistic offer on the table.

* It is possible that "there is no victory without the return of the hostages” but it is clear that the return of the hostages in itself does not constitute a victory, merely a reduction of a humiliating defeat.

* Victory will be the eradication of the Hamas murder organization's ability to launch rockets and carry out murderous campaigns within our borders, and then when we have returned our hostages. It would be a sad victory without parades and fireworks, but without it our lives here would be hell.

(( He writes “lives here would be hell”… too mild.  Nobody will voluntarily live near the Gaza border nor near the Lebanon border if Israel doesn’t have a strong victory and major deference.  Or in other words, 30% of the country becomes uninhabitable. ))

▪️HAMAS SAYS… Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, last evening:  There is no prisoner exchange deal before the ceasefire and acceptance of the "resistance" conditions.  The senior official of Islamic Jihad, Ali Abu Shaheen:  We are ready for a prisoner exchange deal only after a ceasefire and we stand by this condition.

▪️GOOD DOGGY… IDF publishes video of IDF K-9 identifying an explosive device and saving soldiers from an IED attack in the Gaza Strip, causing a storm and outrage among Muslims on social media.  Why?  The doggie’s name is Aisha, a name of one of their prophet’s wives.  Wikipedia “A preponderance of classical sources converge on the prophet’s wife Aisha being 6 or 7 years old at the time of her marriage, and 9 at the consummation.”  

▪️JUDEA-SAMARIA NIGHTLY ANTI-TERROR ACTIVITY CONTINUES… Drone strike against terrorist squads in the Noor al-Shams camp in Tulkarm, after which they fired at our forces and threw explosives. According to reports, several wanted terrorists were killed or wounded.

[ear-worthy]

SmartLess Podcast Welcomes Presidents Biden, Obama & Clinton

SMARTLESS’ UNITES PRESIDENTS BIDEN, OBAMA, AND CLINTON FOR HISTORIC PODCAST INTERVIEW

While one former president is in court defending himself against hush money payments to a porn star and to a Playboy playmate, three other Ex-POTUS's discuss gun violence, foreign relations, Biden’s re-election campaign, what they miss about being in office, the State of the economy, passing the baton Between Presidencies, and more on the Smartless podcast.

SmartLess hosts Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes have brought together three U.S. Presidents, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, for a historic podcast interview.

The momentous episode is available early on Amazon Music/Wondery+ here. It will be wherever podcasts are available on Monday, April 29.

The podcast interview was recorded in-person recently with the hosts and the Presidents in New York City.

SmartLess with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity.

The award-winning podcast was launched in July 2020 and is consistently among the top five most listened-to podcasts monthly. Guests have included Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Don Cheadle, Larry David, Greta Gerwig, Idris Elba, Kristen Stewart, Pedro Pascal, Selena Gomez, and many more.

INTERVIEWS CLIPS AVAILABLE HERE:

Sean Hayes: Do you all miss something specific about holding office, obviously except for you because you’re in office, but do you guys miss something?

President Biden: I miss not having an office.

President Obama: Well, look, everybody talks about Air Force One.

Sean Hayes: Yeah, sure.

President Obama: Marine One. It’s pretty convenient, I won't lie. But I’ll tell you the thing I miss the most. Remember those music concerts I used to do at, you can basically invite anybody, and you have this concert and I mean we got you know Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney.

Sean Hayes: Everybody will show up.

President Obama: They’ll show up. And they do these rehearsals the night before a lot of times and you can kinda sneak down and could just sit there and watch Mick Jagger practicing with BB King or something on a blues night. I do miss that.

President Clinton: I miss the fact that they don’t play a song when you walk in a room anymore.

Sean Hayes: We should’ve done that today.

President Clinton: I was lost for three weeks when I left office. But let me tell you something serious, this is one reason that I so badly want President Biden to be re-elected. What I really miss is the job. Not doing it, I'm glad, I believe in the two-term limit strongly, but what I learned was on the worst day, when nothing was going right, problems are everywhere, there was still something you could do that would make somebody's life better. There is no job like that on earth.

Sean Hayes: I love that.

Clinton: And I want somebody..

President Obama: Who appreciates it.

President Clinton: …that I trust to make the most of that every day. Cause they’ll be bad days no matter who gets elected. But he’ll get up and he’ll start thinking about that. And I think his opponent will be thinking about…

President Obama: Himself.

President Clinton: …yeah, who I can get even with, who I can send away. Joe Biden will make the best of the bad days.

Jason Bateman: And the team that you have assembled and your comfort with deferment. For me personally, I love leaders that have the confidence to hire those that they respect, that might make them a little nervous.

Will Arnett: And also not to think that you're the…

President Obama: That you’re the smartest guy…

Will Arnett: Yeah, that you’re gonna have every…. We had leaders like that in the middle part of the last century who were put into government by presidents of old, and they made a lot of decisions that they thought they were right about, and they were terrible people. And when that happens, when you think that you’ve got all the answers, is the moment you don’t.

Jason Bateman: Like Ron Klain, bringing us out of COVID. It’s just on and on and on, the way in which you’ve surrounded yourself with the absolute best this country has to offer.

President Biden: I made a commitment, having an administration that looks like America. I have more women in my cabinet, I’ve appointed more Black Circuit Court judges than every other president combined in American history. I’ve kept my commitment about putting a Black woman on the Supreme Court. I’ve had an opportunity to go out and get the best people - and by the way, I sometimes pick up the phone and ask these guys who they think are the best people. And I’m looking for people that most of all, not just are good, but care about what they’re doing.

Jason Bateman: Whereas the other guy is only hiring people that won’t talk back and that’s…

President Biden: Oh mine talk back.

CLIP 2 - Download Here

Sean Hayes: What are the issues coming up that people are focusing on that you believe are the wrong things, or they may be the right things, and what should they be focusing on?

President Biden: I think they should be focusing on a couple of things. Number one, we’re gonna, in the second term, God willing, we’re gonna make sure that we do something about gun violence in this country.

Will Arnett: Yes.

President Biden: The idea that we allow assault weapons to be sold, and magazines with 100 rounds, is just bizarre.

Will Arnett: Well, President Biden, I’m so glad to hear you say that because that was gonna be my other question. Which is, the Democrats never say we want to take your guns away.

President Biden: Absolutely not.

Will Arnett: You never said that, you said we gotta be smart about what’s going on.

Jason Bateman: You don’t need to kill a deer with an AR15.

Sean Hayes: Right.

President Biden: The Second Amendment, when I taught law school, the Second Amendment wasn’t absolute ever. You weren’t able to have a cannon when you were, you know, the liberty is ordered with the blood of patriots. I mean, it’s a bunch of crap.

This episode of Smartless will be available wherever you get your podcasts on Monday, April 29.

[inqorporeal]

Today one of my customers became That Customer. You know the type: they make unreasonsble demands and demonstrate an astonishing lack of awareness of how the world functions, and are generally a pain in the ass.

She came in about two months ago to ask about framing two large mirrors she wanted to install in her home renovation. She was working with a designer on the rest of the house, but the quoted price for the mirrors was too high (in her estimation) so she took matters into her own hands by coming to me and to the glass company up the street for the mirrors themselves.

It took her over a month to decide on the frames. I checked on the measurements with her a dozen times because one mirror is going into an alcove over a sink. I coordinated with the guys from the glass company regarding their needs, and when the frames were ready we dropped them off right there and sent the lady a message asking her approval.

Here's where she became That Customer. Twice over.

She said the frames were great and gave the glass guys the go-ahead. I replied that that was fantastic; would there be a time when it's convenient for her to pay the balance?

"Can we hold off on that until the mirrors are installed, to make sure everything fits?"

I am a nice and accommodating person, but no. We are not contractors; this is *retail*. If you got a suit fitted, but asked the tailor if you could defer payment until after you get to wear the suit in public, they would laugh at you too. By chcking the frames, sending me an email saying so, and giving the glass guys approval to proceed, she effectively claimed the frames. You can't just walk out the door with an item half-paid.

I called the glass guys to let them know we needed her to pay the balance before she could take the mirrors home, and wouldn't you know? She was pulling the same thing with them! They are also not contractors, so until she pays the balance due to both companies, she's getting no mirrors.

The irony is that if she had just worked with her designer, it would have gone through contractors, which job would have included installation.

[5feet-of-anxiety]

I know it's pretty unhelpful to offer unsolicited advice to donation posts but for those in the US who are going through a hard time I do want to at least make sure people know some options they may have available to them that have helped me and friends out over the year.

Call everyone you pay bills to and ask about hardship plans or assistance options. Try and avoid any long term reduced payment plans but short term are generally fine. One or two month deferments are fine too. If it's a long term (1+ years) sudden situation then ask about settlement options. It's not the best for your credit but it's better than late payment reports ending up in a charge off.

Do not use a DSC unless you have a lot of stuff in collections/different accounts to pay and don't have the time or energy to deal with them yourself. Dsc's charge you to settle on accounts usually one by one as accounts fall more and more delinquent. You can do that yourself. If it's already charged off save it for later

Don't wait until savings are gone to ask for these assistance options. The minute you don't have income reduce your expenses as much as possible.

Unless it is an expense you are 95% you can pay off without issue do not take out a loan

Apply for unemployment the same day you lose a job and keep up with the paperwork. I've lost out on potential unemployment earnings 3 different times because of how confused I get from it so don't be afraid to call and ask for help or explanations.

Car auctions can be your friend for a vehicle . Police auctions are not great but see if there are any other auctions nearby and you can generally get a car for the same price as a down payment. If you have car knowledge great if not try and bring someone that does. Even if you don't check that it starts, pop the hood and make sure nothing's missing, and look up the car model for common issues.

Need a job fast and can't stand fast food? Call centers are always hiring. Like any job they do suck and some are worse than others but they tend to pay more than minimum wage and they're not physically demanding if that's an issue. Also try storage facilities as they tend to have benefits and may provide housing or at least a discount on a storage unit if your living situation demands one.

This isn't important financially but it's something that affected me for a long time. But if you're feeling lonely and looking for a community or even just someone to connect with then do participate in book clubs, low cost classes or social events, strike up conversation with others at the parades, bars/clubs, library, store wherever. Even if it's just a connection in passing it will enrich you. And if you don't put yourself out there those connections will be harder to come by.

Therapy isn't cheap and journaling isn't a replacement but it can cost less than 2 dollars and it at least helps to get the thoughts and feelings out somewhere.

Goodwill sucks. Look for smaller donation shops a lot of them do actual community outreach.

That's all I got and this is not a list of cure all solutions that will work for everyone or solve problems 100%. These are just things that have either helped me in the past or I wish I would've done differently. There's a lot of tips out there and it sucks to live in survival mode like that but always choose what's best for you.

[unluckyxse7en]

This is old news now, with the newer cookies released since, but I've been thinking a lot about how the fandom kept comparing Affogato to Pomegranate - for better or worse - because something about it seemed really... Off, you know?

And I finally figured it out: Pomegranate and Affogato are almost nothing alike in actuality. Superficially and aesthetically? Yes they carry similar vibes. But as characters, motivations and backstories go they're almost entire opposites.

Note- A lot of this is conjecture from taglines, defeat sprites, and reading up on wikis, so bear with me.

Affogato's story is one of trying to claw his way up from rags to riches. From being the servant taking orders to being the king giving them. It's heavily implied he's been mistreated and pushed around all his life for his background, and he knows he didn't do anything to deserve it but exist.

His response to this situation is to take charge of his life. He's due a backlog of respect and good treatment, and he fully intends to demand immediate payment, with interest. He is snarky and backstabbing and conniving and manipulative, because he is tired of being trod on and dismissed and abused all of his life. He has been taught that to get good treatment, he has to be underhanded, hard to read, manipulative.

Even so, he is quick to defer to others as a survival mechanism. If you push, he falls over, deliberately. He will surely take revenge later for it, but when push comes to shove, in the moment he will take his hits with a stoic face and avoid further escalation. It could be calculation, but also is likely a trauma response.

So then how does Pomegranate compare to this? Well, it's been harder to analyze her upbringing, any specific traumas or lack thereof, because there's not a lot to go off of for her backstory in crk. A lot of it is 'once upon a time she was a priestess foretold to fall to darkness, and she did the end'. You could argue it either way, as perhaps being foretold to betray her village led to being a social outcast, or that the lack of detail implies her life was pretty bland before Dark Enchantress arrived.

Either way, there's a few key differences between her and Affogato:

1) she has not, cannot and will not experience the exact trauma he went through. She fit in perfectly with others in her village physiologically and had a place she 'belonged' -and from her pov, went from there to a place she Belonged when she joined DE.

2) she is a willing and truly, wholeheartedly Devoted servant. She does not demand or ask to be DE's equal nor superior. She is consumed with the desire for nothing more than to be of some use to DE, to perhaps be praised and seen positively by her, but Pomegranate does not ask for more even if more would be nice. This leads to the next points -

3), unlike Affogato she is not very underhanded. Manipulative? Yes. But a lot of her tricks are done in the open and are not about subtlety or pulling the wool over your eyes, so much as hitting where it hurts emotionally or threatening your safety using DE's reputation. This also ties into:

4) Pomegranate is not actually very self-sufficient or self-motivated. This is where being Affogato's opposite comes into play.

See, Pomegranate and Affogato are two ends of an unhealthy spectrum in this area. From their tactics and backstories to even their attacks and functions in their teams, Pomegranate operates Solely on externalized motivation and power, while Affogato Exclusively sticks to whatever he can do with his own hands. Capitalistic society might argue Affogato's way is 'better' somehow in that he is Always capable, but is he? Did not having anyone to truly rely on or trust work out for him in the end? Not so much.

And in a game like Cookie Run, a game where all challenges are crafted for Teams of cookies, to work together with various strengths to overcome obstacles.... Affogato really isn't going about any of it in a way that will get him where he wants long term. He's a loner in a 'friendship is the true power' narrative world. He has his reasons, but ultimately will not achieve his goals as a result. He'll always have the motivation and drive, but never the means.

Pomegranate also suffers from this construct, but in a different way.

Pomegranate is not looking to be equal to or superior to DE. She places her on a pedestal and is otherwise content serving her, so long as she gets recognition. However, in her drive to get that recognition, she does seek out being above everyone else. Not equal to. Above. She sees herself as a channel for DE's wisdom and while she can never be above or equal to DE as a result, DE's wisdom and intelligence trump all else, in Pomegranate's world. So she places herself above the others, peers and foes alike, and distances herself from all of them.

Even if that weren't a factor though.... Pomegranate dwindling herself down to nothing more than an extension of Dark Enchantress also means she is never truly Capable. She does not function independently the way Affogato does (although the wedges she intentionally drives don't help). But over-reliance is another loss of freedom, even in the 'Friendship Conquers All' narrative.

Pomegranate has no drive on her own, where Affogato has nothing but. She only does what she understands DE wants, and will only cooperate with others just enough for that purpose. If you take DE out of the equation.... What would remain of Pomegranate? What would she even do with herself?

And this is part of why these two are so different. When you take everything from Affogato, his fire continues to burn. He will lose and get beaten up, but he will cut his losses like a lizard with a decoy tail if it means he lives another day, because as long as Affogato lives his drive and purpose remain.

Taking everything from Pomegranate would mean taking away Dark Enchantress, too. You could take anything else and she'd barely bat an eyelash, too unattached (or acting like it) to be impacted. Because so long as she has DE she has all she needs. But if you took away DE?

Obviously it would depend on how you took DE out of the picture for her. If Pomegranate thought she could get her back and that's what DE wanted? She, like Affogato, would stop at nothing. But if she thought she couldn't, or worse that DE fully rejected her?

It's possible Pomegranate would try to take DE's plans into her own hands. But it doesn't feel as nearly a sure thing. Even her role in a team is to support others quietly, bolstering them so they can fight for the cause. She does not take matters into her own hands unless she thinks that's what DE wants.

So tl;dr - back when Affogato came out, the fandom kept comparing the two, and especially used their superficial 'sketchy advisor' shared tropes as a form of discourse on hate of female characters in fandom (???).

But I really think it's a disservice to Pomegranate to claim she's the same character as Affogato if anything. So I had to write out their differences because really when you push aside the superficial traits, they're more opposite than alike. It's only natural some people would like one more than another when they're so different, in either direction.

[mono-black-menace]

this is not a kink post

girls (me) who spent their lives shoving aside their boundaries and their wants and their needs and their fears and just all of their feelings to please the people around them because they know that if they don't they'll be all alone, and they start to sexualise being raped because they push down their own feelings so much that they have sex with people they don't want to have sex with just because any company is good company when you feel like you don't have a choice in the matter.

i fetishise being mindless and being a toy and being raped and being used and power over me and all of this shit because i'm so used to doing sexual shit that i don't want to do because im scared of being alone that sexualising my lack of desire for it makes it easier to push my feelings down, it makes it easier for me to sacrifice myself for others.

it makes me more palatable. it makes me less likely to be alone.

rape and physical violence and being drugged and restrained and even killed are all sexualisation of my biggest flaw;

i don't consider myself worth prioritising.

i'm scared that if i don't bend to the needs of everyone around me, that i'll end up alone, because i don't see myself worthy of genuine love.

i just keep chopping off bits of myself leaving myself less and less happy with each relationship, and at some point i realise that i hate my entire life and i don't even know why.

i left my wants and needs and fears and dislikes and everything behind so long ago that all i feel is the ache of ripping them out of myself.

and i look at my relationships like.

what am i doing? am i sacrificing myself for them? would they do the same for me?

who am i anymore?

what do i like? what do i want?

is every fantasy of mine just a sexualisation of my self-hatred?

am i so lonely, so sure that i'll never be loved that ill put up with sexual relationships i don't want, sexualise the fact that i don't want them, let go of myself, form my entire identity around my relationship with them and what they want me to be?

what am i?

why does it feel so selfish, so cruel to deny sex to others? it's my body!

why does it feel so selfish to not always be able to be the shoulder to cry on?

why does it feel selfish to want anything for myself?

why would i rather put myself through this, and sexualise the pain im going through, than stand up for myself?

is bad company really better than being alone?

is it worth the cost?

and now i'm in a situation, the safest i've ever been.

loved. cared for.

and i feel like if im not constantly sacrificing myself it'll go away.

my needs are wrong, and if i can't let go of them, it's because im a horrible person, so why not embrace it? why not be horrible?

i need to be there for everyone, i need to grab hold of them and let them know they're loved, and if im not able to, because of emotional issues, then im a horrible person.

i need to have sexual relationships with people, because why else would someone be my friend? at least if i send them nudes or suck their dick or something they'll put up with me talking about things i enjoy. at least they'll hold me when i cry. they'll feel obligated. it's payment. sex for conversation. sex for a shoulder.

i have to defer to people because if i need anything, ill be abandoned.

if i need, people will be mad at me, and ill remember how worthless i am.

at least if i have sex with people i'll have a use.

at least if i show my body to people who ask, i'll have a use.

and if i have a use maybe one or two of my needs will be met.

it's better than being alone.

it's better because i'm getting company, but i'm not being selfish about it.

why would anyone want to be around ME? what is there in ME?

it's a chore to be around ME. i'm not worth the attention. i'm not worth the love.

that's why i have to be sexually available. that's why when i stop being available sexually everyone leaves.

it's because i'm not worth more than that.

and because of that, wanting someone's company is a crime.

i need to pay for it.

sacrifice bits of myself for it.

ache for it.

i can't approach them first, that's selfish.

but then they only come to me for sex.

but isn't that the whole thing? if they only come to me for sex, it means my payment isn't enough for what i'm asking for.

if they don't care about me until they're horny, then i should listen. maybe they just need more payment.

maybe we can pretend i'm being kidnapped.

maybe they can get me intoxicated first.

maybe i can pretend it's all roleplay.

maybe the hurting is part of the roleplay.

maybe they can beat me.

maybe they can hold a knife to my throat

maybe they can cut me. maybe they can choke me. maybe they can humiliate me. maybe they can degrade me, beat me down, maybe if we make it kinky maybe if we just keep adding more and more on top it'll stop hurting.

maybe sex just hurts now.

maybe i can only cum if i'm being choked or bitten or slapped around or called worthless or drugged or tied up is because i can't think about sex as something i enjoy anymore.

maybe it's something i do to make other people happy.

maybe that's why i get so horny when im upset.

when i dare to have emotions, dare to have needs, i want to show that i can pay it back, i can fuck you, please don't leave me.

look, i'll suck your cock, please don't be mad at me for crying.

please don't go, i'll let you choke me, please.

please please please please please.

i don't want to be alone you can do anything you want.

i don't need anything please don't leave me.

there's nothing left of me but you, please don't leave me.

all i want is to make you happy.

please don't leave me.

i don't know who i am anymore.

please don't leave me.

ill let you choke me until i pass out this time

please don't leave me.

i'm sorry i can't cum.

please don't leave me.

i'm sorry sex hurts me.

please don't leave me.

please.

i'm a good toy a good girl i'm a good pet.

i don't have wants or needs.

i don't have thoughts or emotions.

my life revolves around you.

please don't leave me.

we can have sex whenever you want. i'll try not to cry. i'll try not to hesitate. i'll try to be good. i can do it, i swear.

please don't leave me.

[fleshwerks]

deep mushroom for lea surana and spiridon pls!

Deep Mushroom :: What act does your character consider morally foul but practically necessary? Does your character condone morally foul actions for practicality’s or necessity’s sake at all?

Spiridon Lavellan: just about everything that goes into governing. He was all about seizing a position of leadership when his advisors had planned to prop him up like a puppet, on top of a lifetime of grievance towards the magocracy of Dalish clans where some people were born to be put in positions of leadership not necessarily through merit, but by the simple act of being born with magic. He hated it, especially seeing firsthand that even the clan's Hahren, a secondary leader who might've been born without magic still ended up deferring to the Keeper. Knowledge was power, and Lavellan mages took full advantage of hoarding ancient elven knowledge and disseminating it to their subordinates through their own prism, however they pleased, to suit their own agenda.

And then he became the Inquisitor and promptly fell under the wheels of the trappings of leadership. It's the lying, manipulating. It's a person's, any person's, willingness to trample over everybody. The realisation that just about everybody has it in them, all you have to do is dangle a bit of power in front of them. It's about then that he realised that whilst leadership is necessary, people who are good will never become leaders and politicians or leaders. Good leaders and adept politicians are all rotten to the core. Even if they cry into their pillow at night, complaining about the pressure of leadership to their lover. Even an army commander who presents themselves as no-nonsense, scoffing at 'politicians' is cut from the same cloth as the politicians they so hate. It's just that politicians at least tend to know when to wear velvet gloves as they slap ordinary people across their cheek, whilst someone who openly resents politics is nothing more than a brute. To be a good leader is to be an immoral person. Because good people would never survive leadership.

Unfortunately, order is necessary, and politics and leadership provide for a somewhat functioning society, so he doesn't just have to just condone in foul but necessary actions, but partake. It hasn't been easy, being painfully idealistic and believing that people can and should govern themselves entirely, and realising that people don't actually want to do that, that all they really want to do is someone to follow, someone to fuck, someone to kill, and someone to blame for that killing. They want a leader who reflects them, and given what kind of people leaders inherently are, it speaks poorly of all sapient life.

Lea Surana: Lea Surana really resents bad bosses. He's generally morally ambiguous. Being Surana of Kinloch Hold, he's a relatively rare breed in that he doesn't really think that mages inherently deserve freedom precisely because they're people, and people have flaws, they have selfish desires, and ultimately a person who can shatter the sky with a single concentrated thought and a good gulp of mana will always be inherently more destructive and dangerous than a bad guy with a butter knife for a weapon. He's known to have admitted that Greagoi's and Irving's worst mistake was setting him free. Not that he plans on going back, even though he retains close ties with the Circle of Ferelden.

The big fucking problem is when your overlords are bullies. When one has a lot of power, they are obligated to be fair to those beneath them. It works out well for him, being a good boss. Sure, sometimes a subordinate's behaviour or mistake will have to be rewarded with death, but by god Lea Surana will stand by his word to set up the deceased's family for life, offering them protection and bi-yearly payment. No excuse to be a bad boss. The world is what it is, and it's ugly and beautiful for it, but you caaaaaannnnoooottt be a cunt of a boss. Forbidden! Punishable with extreme prejudice!