#disabled monica

[fuck-it-icons]

Excuse me while I gaslight the entire Danganronpa fandom about Monica cause almost no one played UDG so I can confuse them. Monica is not able bodied, she's disabled! That's why she's in a wheelchair!

Side note: I'm disabled and I use a wheelchair and I really loved Monica as a villain because no one treated her differently due to her disability, no one looked down on her or tried to force help on her, everyone respected her and no one said ableist slurs, she wasn't made evil due to being disabled and her disability wasn't centered in her identity as a villain... It was just a part of her that was neutral. It didn't make her more evil and it didn't make her more sympathetic. It was just a fact about her. Then the fucking devs had to fuck up the pretty good representation like they always do in Danganronpa and make her abled as well as being an abled person who claimed her disability status actually gave her privileges and she never saw any negatives about being disabled as if ableism dosent exist. She was even worse than a bad disabled villain troupe, she was a fake disabled ableist abled villain and the only canonically disabled character in the whole fucking franchise. Anyway us disabled people are reclaiming her and she's actually disabled now and her disability isn't misused or over enunciated and we Stan a disabled person who is evil but not evil due to their disability.

[osatokun]

I still love these pretty old concepts of Glinda and Monica I should design more, now when Monica is older hmmmmmmm

[tequilaasquared]

So I totally agree with the sentiment that S6-9 was painful without Mickey because I almost gave up myself. But I’ll be an Ian Gallagher defender to the end and I really hate when his own stans dismiss his storyline because Mickey wasn’t there and they hated his love interests.

Him becoming an EMT was arguably one of his most important story arcs throughout the whole series and it was crucial to his character development. And more importantly (for me anyways) it was such positive representation of life after a bipolar diagnosis. Watching someone deal with a life changing diagnosis and not be villainised by the narrative and see them make something of their life and have a career and stability, was so inspirational to me.

(I’m not including the s8-9 gay jesus storyline in this rant because I acknowledge that it WAS objectively poorly written despite it having potential)

I totally understand if Mickey is your fave and you aren’t interested in Ian’s arc without him. I get that the show would be boring and a waste of your time if your fave is gone and none of the other characters are interesting enough for you to continue watching. But to see Gallavich stans call Ian’s development trash and outright invalidate it is always so disheartening to me. Especially when I’ve seen the same people praise the other Gallagher sibling storylines just to purposely dismiss Ian’s. Like you can just say you weren’t interested because Mickey wasn’t with him without shitting on him.

[covid-safer-hotties]

The US Government Is Shutting Down A Key Covid Website

Tomorrow the US government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research, The National Institutes of Health, will shut down its Covid-19 ‘special populations’ website.

This site hosts a huge amount of information about how to treat covid and long covid in the immunocompromised and in people with HIV, cancer and similar immune supressing conditions - so-called ‘special populations.’

The site is going totally offline.

It’s a shameful dereliction of duty by the NIH which, behind Harvard, is the second largest publisher of biomedical research papers in the world. Doctors and clinicians all over the world use the NIH site for advice and treatment ideas.

And it’s going offline during a massive summer surge of covid infections in the US, a surge that is now topping 1.3 million infections per day. (One of whom was Anthony Fauci, who was infected for the third time last week). A surge killing 750 people a week in the US. Many of whom will be precisely the type of people this website is intended to help clinicians treat.

It’s a scandal.

The message it sends to vulnerable people could hardly be clearer - when it comes to covid, there’s nothing else we can do for you. Sorry. That’s it. We’re done.

It’s so terrifying.

It also sends a terrible signal to the medical community about where we are with covid

and will be materially damaging in efforts to treat vulnerable people, both in the acute stage of the disease and those with long covid.

The move to shut the page down is premised on an entirely false assumption: that we already know everything we’ll ever know about how to manage covid so there’s no point keeping a live web resource because they’ll never be anything to update it with ever again.

This is simply not true. While we know a lot about treating covid four years in, we absolutely do not know everything, not by a long stretch. As evidenced by the hundreds still dying every week in summer 2024. And as for long covid, we know very little about how to treat it. For a start, there is no agreed treatment plan. Absolutely none. But apparently we also know so much about this disease we can start shutting down online resources dedicated to it.

Please imagine for a second if a Trump administration rather than a Biden-Harris administration was doing this.

There would be an outcry.

But this move has so far been greeted by media silence.

It is left to a few disability activists and the covid aware to shout into the social media void.

Not that this is a surprise. This is how it has been for the last two years at least, guided by the business as usual, vax-and-forget strategy. More people have died of covid under the Biden-Harris administration than died under Trump. Despite having vaccines since 2021. You’d never know it by mainstream media coverage.

Some people have written to the director of the NIH, Monica Bertagnolli, and asked them to keep the advice live and up-to-date. If you want to do this her email address is:

monica.bertagnolli@nih.gov

Long Covid Action has archived the site here

Maybe if enough people write to her and enough noise is made the decision will be reversed. Worth a try.

Overall it’s just another grim episode in the handling of the pandemic by the current US administration, an administration who, we should never forget, won power in large part due to the outrage at Trump’s handling of the first nine months of covid.

Solidarity to everyone still trying to protect themselves and their communities from covid against all the odds.

At least we can keep fighting for each other.

[bergdorfverse]

Monica & Essex Collection feat. Off-Line & Dust Bunny

Download the Dress by Off-Line HERE

Download the Festive Headbands by Dust Bunny HERE

You will get:

Essex Bag

10 Swatches

2 Shoulder Placements ( L & R )

Decor Version

Essex Boots

10 Swatches

Elevated Base Game Version

Decor Version

Monica & Essex Collection for Blender ( Shop Only )

Original HQ textures included

Separated Materials for Extra Customization Options

Please use this for renders

All LODs // Disabled for Random // Custom Thumbnail

Conversion // Do not recolor or convert without permission // Do not re-upload

Base Mesh Credit: 3DMonk

SUBSCRIBE

SHOP

Instagram // Pinterest // Patreon // Tumblr // Simsfinds

[they-are-a-prolife-autist]

“The unborn" are a convenient group of people to advocate against. They never make demands of you; in fact they can't even speak. They can't confront your ignorance when you call them tumors or parasites. They're powerless to denounce your lethal ableism when you suggest it's better to never live than to live with disabilities, or to condemn your classism when you imply it's better to not be born than to be born poor. They can't ask you to reckon with your racism when you tout higher abortion rates for PoC as empowerment. They can't implore you to step up and support mothers who feel they have no choice. You can forget about the unborn, mute and helpless to remind you they are here. You can advocate for abortion without substantially challenging your power or privilege to have been born yourself, to get to experience life in all its pain and beauty. You can advocate for abortion without reluctance or remorse - on demand and without apology - and never have to face the humans whose lives you've deemed worthless.

The unborn are, in short, the perfect group to dehumanize with no risk to yourself. They can't. fight back. They're stuck in a small space, forced to die in silence.”

— Monica Snyder, pro-life atheist

[kvetchlandia]

So...

I went today to see "A Complete Unknown," the new James Mangold flick about Bob Dylan's early years in the Village, from his arrival in New York City in Jan, 1961 until he went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in July, 1965.

I've been a Dylan nut since I was a little kid. This, I'm sure, has little to do with any genius or musical/artistic insight on my part. Rather, it's probably just a bit of luck that fell my way in having an older sister with excellent musical taste who first turned me on to Bobby.

Don't worry, I'm not going to give away anything, for those of you who might find yourself reading this and who want to see the film but haven't done so yet. I'll limit my comments to a few, very general points.

I've read some reviews that are critical of the film for compressing some events, combining others and flipping some chronologies, as well as for leaving out some people who were important parts of the Village scene in the early 60s. I think such criticisms are silly. We're watching a piece of dramatic art based in reality, not a documentary on that reality. Four and a half years of life can't be squeezed into a bit more than two hours of screen time without taking such license. We're not going to sit through those years in real time. The screen writers and the director have to make choices and they did so in order to tell the story they wanted to tell.

The only criticism I'll share, and I feel sharing it won't in any way way interfere with anyone's enjoyment of the film, is that I wasn't particularly happy with the way Suze Rotolo was portrayed. For those who aren't Dylan fanatics and who don't have a clue who Suze Rotolo was, she was Bobby's first love and muse after arriving in the Village. In fact, at Bob's request (he was involved with the making of the film), Suze's name wasn't even used, because even though she has passed, she was always a very private individual and all these years later, Dylan still wanted to respect that privacy. In the film, she's known as Sylvie Russo. In any case, Suze was a very strong, politically active young woman, a red-diaper baby (as am I), an activist in the Congress of Racial Equality and an artist in her own right. She's the person who introduced Bob to politics, getting him so involved that he was both a participant in the Freedom Summer integration and voter registration drives in the Jim Crow South in 1963 and a singer at Martin Luther King, Jr's March on Washington for Job's and Freedom, also in 1963. It was though her influence that Dylan wrote many of his most powerful early political songs. Due to their rocky relationship and ultimate breakup, she was also the subject of some of his most beautiful ballads from that period. I just don't think any of that comes through particularly well in the film. The writers and director chose to focus more on his time with Joan Baez. I understand why they made that decision. I just think they could have managed to do so without giving such short shrift to Suze.

As far as the acting goes, Monica Barbaro is fantastic as Joan Baez and she also does a superb job of singing in Joanie's style. Edward Norton is very good as Pete Seeger. Scott McNairy is heartbreaking in his few scenes as Woody Guthrie, already deeply disabled by Huntington's Disease when Dylan first visits him shortly after arriving in New York in 1961. Timothée Chalamet, of course, has to carry the weight as Bob. He's pretty effective. He doesn't have Dylan's charisma nor is he as stunning looking as the Dylan of 1965 was, but he still pulls it off.

All right, I've said enough. Go see it. You'll like it.

[car-o-line]

About me <3

Hi!! My names car-o-line, I use she/her pronouns and I’m 16, I will be so real that I only made this account because I feel like I’ve read everything and none of my favorite posters are not posting :(

MATCHING WITH OUR BESTIE MELLOWWDANN🎀🎀💕💕

Okay so let’s get with the rules and whatever🥳

Rules:

No, no, no, no, no smut or nsfw stuff! I am a minor and I don’t have experience writing or feel comfortable writing that stuff. I will write romantic stuff tho, just nothing like weird weird- No rape, noncon, incest, pedo stuff, proshipping or anything like that(I doubt anyone would ask yet I still will put it) AND if I do write for like a SA’d reader all details will be vague and would have a trigger warning at the top.

Okay! Now that’s out the way we’ll discuss violence🤯 I’m fine with violence if it’s in a request and has a purpose or is like a disability but I’m not just gonna let something be like “reader lost a nose, a eye, a whole leg, all at the same time blah blah blah” I don’t know how to take care of a wound let alone allat. I have a right to decline a request because I said so(very rarely tho) Don’t be mean to me, please😀 I will also mostly do head canons, not that I won’t do anything else but like.. Always gender neutral reader til specified. Everything that includes a child!reader with an adult will be strictly platonic, same thing with an adult!reader with a child. Also I’ll mostly do x!reader stuff. Other than that please always feel free to give me requests!💕

Fandoms:

Kny/Demon Slayer:

Humans: All Hashira, swordsman, nurse inhabitants.

Demons: All lower moons and higher moons + Muzan, Tamayo, Yushiro.

Tbhk/Jshk:

Hanako/Amane, Nene, Kou, Mitsuba, Teru, Tsukasa, Sakura, Natsuhiko, Yako, Mr.Tsuchigomori, Aoi(girl), Akane(boy), and Mei.

Omori:

Headspace: Omori, HS Aubrey, HS Basil, HS Kel, HS Hero, HS Mari, Sweetheart, and Captain SpaceBoy.

Real World: Mari, Sunny, RW Basil, RW Aubrey, RW Kel, RW Hero, and Polly.

TPN:

Kids:Emma, Norman, Ray, Phil, Connie, Gilda, Don, Nat, Anna, Barbara, Vincent, Cislo, Hayato, and Zazie.

Adult: Smee, Peter Ratri, Isabella, Sister Krone, and Oliver.

Mad Father:

Aya, Robin, Monica, Alfred, Maria, Ines, Orge, Snowball, and Girl with no eyes.

Fnaf/Afton Family:

Animatronics: All FNAF 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 animatronics.

Afton Family: William, Mrs.Afton, Michel, Evan(that’s his name for me), Elizabeth

Others: Henry, Fritz, Susie, Charlotte, Gabriel, Jeremy, Andrew, Cassidy, Gregory, and Vanessa.

Danganronpa 1, 2, 3, USG:

Everyone from THH, GBD, UDG(except Haji🙄), and KH.

The Evil Chronicles:

Story of evil- Riliane Avadonia, Allen Avadonia , Kyle Marlon, Michela Arklow, and Germaine Avadonia

Evil food eater Conchita- Pollo, Arte, Banica Conchita, Carlos(Josef)

Night Series:

Butler, Doll Girl, Doll Boy, Maid, Lady, Village Girl, Mistress and Master.

Little Nightmares:

Kids: Six, Mono, RK, RCG, all comic kids, The Pretender, and The Bullies.

Adults: The Janitor, The twin chefs, The Hunter, The Teacher, The Doctor, The Viewers, The Lady, and The Thin Man.

Poppy Playtime:

Toys: Huggy Wuggy, Poppy, Kissy Missy, Mommy Long Legs, Bunzo, Mini Huggys, PJ, Smiling Critters, Catnap, Miss Delight, Doey, Yarnby, Baba Chops, Nightmare Critters.

Humans: Leith Pierre, Sawyer(Doctor), Elliot Ludwig, Jack Ayers(Doey), Matthew Hallard(Doey), Kevin Barnes(Doey), Stella Greyber, and Theodore Grambell(Catnap).

Project Sekai:

Literally everyone and anyone, also the vocaloids from each sekai as well(I’m too lazy to write all there names)

Okay that’s all I have to say!! Have a wonderful week!!😘

[yesbutmakeitgay]

Caught Red Handed

GIF by sersi

Carol Danvers x Reader

We’ve Loved A Thousand Lives

Same beginning, different story every time.

Part 10

Fury!R, Light angst, Fluff.

Beta'd by @cordeliasdarling 💜

Word count: 1.1k

Masterlist | This collection | AO3

Carol enters her ship after another successful mission wanting for nothing more than to relax and rest, until she senses someone else’s presence in her space home.

She walks slowly, pointing one of her lit up fists in a general forward direction, but before she becomes too alarmed, you decide to make your presence known by stepping closer to her.

Once she sees you, her body stops glowing, but her muscles remain just as tense, "I don't like where this is going," she says as she notices your very official uniform and your unwavering posture.

"I haven't even said anything." You tread carefully.

"But you will." She steps into the living room while taking her gloves off. You can only give her a sympathetic look, following behind her and deciding to rip off the bandaid.   "Agent Danvers, you're fired," you state firmly. Even though she knew it was coming, she still makes a pained expression.

"I already apologized, are you sure there is nothing I can do?" she groans in desperation.

"Pleading with me is useless, I’m afraid, I’m just the messenger here."

"Can I at least talk to Fury again?"

You feel a pit in your stomach, "I disabled your comms, and your ship is permanently on manual mode," Carol slumps on the couch with a big sigh, you remain standing on the other side of the room, staring at her, "I know I’m not supposed to say this, but I’m really sorry," you tell her genuinely.

"You should be! This is all because of you," she weakly snarks.

You were waiting for her to bring it up, "Well, you shouldn't have let Fury catch you," you taunt her.

"How was I supposed to know that you're his daughter?" Her tone is aggressive, but it doesn’t carry any venom.

"You never were the sharpest tool in the shed."

"I didn't even know your name then!" she defends herself.

"Oh, wow, maybe don't let him know that."

She side eyes you, "Like you're the epitome of morality."

"I mean, I knew your name," you point out smugly as you walk closer to her.

"Everyone on Earth knows my name."

"Not for long," you take a seat beside her, "you’re still fired."

"I cannot accept this, who's gonna take over my job? Has he thought of that? It's not like any of the Avengers are fit to do it."

You bite your lip, "Monica was interested."

"Really?" she asks in shock.

"It was either her or Kamala, but then Fury said, 'over 21.'" She reminisces for a bit, as much as she trusts her, it would be too dangerous for Monica to do her job.

"Why couldn't he come fire me himself? He doesn't have the time for his most dedicated agent?" There’s a slight acidity in her words.

"He was going to," you concede.

"And?"

"I, uh, insisted on coming myself." Your heart starts beating faster.

Her brows furl, "Why?"

"So I could do this one last time." You grab her by the back of the neck and pull her into a slow, passionate kiss, she leans in for more, but you pull away connecting your forehead with hers as you breathe heavily.

"I hate you," she whispers with a grin on her face.

You shake your head, "You love me."

"Love?" She raises an eyebrow.

"You don't seem to have much else going on, so…" you shrug.

She gently laughs, "You’re gonna be the death of me."

"Get away from her, Danvers." A deep voice comes through the ship, you lazily peck Carol's nose and stand back completely, a knowing smile growing on your face as you turn to look at the source.

"Hi, dad," you greet the hologram.

"I thought you disabled that," Carol asks you.

"I lied," you mumble back.

"So, my ship is still—?"

"Yup," you quickly admit as you turn back to Fury.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you with this," he scolds you, you stand up to meet his gaze properly.

"You gave me the job, now you accept the consequences."

"What do you even see in her?"

"Are you kidding? She's gorgeous!" Carol exclaims proudly, the compliment makes you feel like a giddy high schooler.

"Wasn’t talking to you, Danvers," he clarifies with a stiff jaw.

"Oh, well, it's still true." She remains on her spot on the couch to let you two talk.

"You’re the one who said I should get out more, meet new people," you try to object to your father’s displeasure.

"Yes. New. People. You've known Carol since you were five."

Your lips curl into a huge smirk, "And that's how I know she's the hottest woman I've ever met."

"Stop being disgusting," he rolls his eye, making you chuckle, "did you do it?" He proceeds with the conversation.

"Yes."

"Then, what are you waiting for? Get back here."

You’re about to oblige when a sudden burst of confidence takes over you, "No."

"What did you say to me?" He is startled by your stunt.

"I said no."

He squints his eye daringly, "I am your boss and your father, when I give you an instruction, you follow it immediately."

"Or what?" You cross your arms defiantly.

"Do not challenge me, young lady!"

Your tough expression melts into a softer one, "Dad, I love you, but I’m not twelve anymore, you have to let me be my own person."

"Yeah, let her be a person, Fury," Carol repeats provokingly.

"Don’t help me," he growls.

In an instant, she realizes, "You just had me fired, I don't have to listen to you anymore," she smiles, Fury is offended by her words, "but, as a friend, I'll tell you what I’m gonna do," she stands up behind you and protectively wraps an arm around your waist, "I am going to hang up this call and let your daughter disable my communications system, I’m gonna take her on a date, probably stargazing, then, I’m gonna make her dinner, we'll have some fun, and afterwards we'll go to sleep together, sound good? Good, bye!" And with that, she ends the call.

You remain frozen in place for a few seconds, "A date?" you repeat tentatively.

"If you’ll have me."

"That sounds nice."

"Wait until you see what I have planned after dinner." She shoots you a wink that makes you blush.

"I can't believe we just did that."

"I can't believe he fired me." Carol is still outraged on the inside.

"Don’t worry about it, give him two weeks to realize literally no one in the universe can fill your shoes and he'll come back begging," you turn to her and wrap your arms around her neck, "as for me, though, I think I’m gonna have to take refuge here, indefinitely."

Your exaggeration makes her giggle, "You’re always welcome to stay with me."

"Thanks." You stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment.

"I love you."

"You do?" you gasp.

"Mhmm, aren't you gonna say it back?" She’s smiling so big, the corners of her eyes wrinkle.

"I love you too."

[jeanvanjer]

Hi, I hope you don't mind the question, but do you have a list of (historical) romance novels you recommend somewhere? I'm pretty new to the genre and would like some recs to start off with.

Thank you!

Of course I dont mind! I dont have a list here (but if you check the book recs tag or reading romance im sure youd find books ive read or books friends have recommeded) so I'll just post a few here.

Fair warning! I am horrible of keeping track of the books I've read so my recs will be a just a bunch of random books I like. @mermaidsirennikita and @triviareads are far more organized in their book recs than I am so you can always check their pages.

Please let me know if you'd like specific tropes!! Or more importantly if you have any TWs!

The Chief (the entire Highland Guard series actually) by Monica McCarthy. Tor MacLeod is a highland laird very much focused on helping Robert the Bruce with his secret plan to free Scotland from English Rule but his sudden marriage to sweet Tina is distracting him. They're forced to marry after she's found in his bed (her dad blackmailed her into getting herself ruined instead of her sister). The entire series is honestly a banger. It marries actual history with romance in a very clever way. The Chief is 1 of 12 so you have a lot of different tropes and stories to choose from if this one isnt for you!

Convergence of Desire by Felicity Niven - A TRULY WONDERFUL book with great disability rep. Harry (Harriet) is probably the biggest STEM heroine Ive read in HR (I know you love those based on your writing) and is on the spectrum. On paper Thomas is a rake that cannot fathom committing to only one woman but he needs to marry for money fast and she just wants to solve Fermat's Last Theorem. They enter a marriage of convenience and this book is just plain lovely. The very few books that have made me cry. Its emotional and the relationship that builds between these two is just🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽

The Winter King and The Sea King by CL Wilson. CL Wilson is an amazing writing imo. I haven't read romantasy since high school and these books were the first ive read and enjoyed after such a long time. The first book is a marriage of convenience/ forced marriage situation. Her brother killed his brother and fiance?? I dont remember the specifics. But he wants a bride as payment and Thasin (our herione) father is an ass and decided TW there is dubcon. The first sex scene is the wedding night and there are aphrodiacs involved. Second one Dilys is a merman. Thats always fun. Super feminist too. Dont remember the exact details but did have a great time reading this one too.

The Duke Gets Even by Johanna Shupe. Shupe is a great writer and from the very few books I've read of her, The Duke Gets Even is probably my favorite.

Anything by Lorraine Heath but the most recent book I remember reading is The Duchess Hunt where the hero appoints his secretary (who secretly loves him) to find his a wife. Preferably one who is as organized, wonderful, and knows him as much as she does LOL. Lorraine one of the best writers in the genre and they always hit emotionally. You won’t go wrong with anything by her.

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas. An all time favorite book of mine. Think Persuasion but with a revenge plot. Aline drives McKenna away when they were younger to save him and he comes back a rich ass bitch ready for revenge. The chemistry between Aline and McKenna is insane. One of the few times I truly believed the “soulmates” thing. These two are definitely soulmates. And there’s a wonderful secondary romance as well.

What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long. An Age Gap romance where Alexander plans to seduce Genevieve as revenge against her brother (who slept with his mistress) but she susses him out quickly from there they become sort of friends? he helps her win over her crush, he tells her she has stars in her hair, and along the way they fall in love. Alex is one of my all time favorite heroes.

Lord Of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. As much as I love the hero of this book, Dan I recommend this book a lot solely for the heroine. Jessica Trent has my heart. She is that bitch.

Heartless Duke by Scarlett Scott. An intense romance between Leo, an agent for England and Bridgit, a fenian rebel. Lots of angst and sexual tension. So good.

Lost in Your Arms and That Scandalous Evening by Christina Dodd. These books were one of the first books I read when I started my own reading journey so these hold a special place in my heart. LIYA is about Enid who’s living her life as a widowed caretaker but then someone comes to tell her husband is alive and on the brink of death so she’s forced to nurse him back to health. The love confession that happens is honestly one of my favorite confessions of all time. TSE is about Jane who is back from self imposed exile after a scandal that ruined her ten years back. Ransom, the cause of her scandal and her last crush, suspects of being a spy and tries to stop her. With his heart (and dick).

[softpine]

working on the next post was frustrating me so i made more of coco's family to relax!! let's hear it for beautiful brown eyes

nico (33), nicole "coco" (23), monica (22), jasmine "jazzy" (18), amir (12), xena (1)

their family situation is very complicated but if you're interested:

nico was an oopsie when their mom was young. she got married and then quickly divorced nico's dad. coco looks up to her brother a lot. he's the kindest, most generous person you'll ever meet (gives you the shirt off his back kinda guy) and he loves coco so much, but he has an intellectual disability as a result of a complicated birth and he was never given the support he needed. he's had problems with substance abuse for a long time. growing up, coco always wanted to be around him, and unfortunately he didn't always do a good job of sheltering her. even though she doesn't blame him, he'll always blame himself for exposing her to his lifestyle.

when coco's mom met her dad, she didn't want to ruin things by getting married again. nevertheless, coco was planned. she was supposed to be the last baby (hence the cute matching names: nico and nicole).

monica came along so quick after coco that they were basically raised like twins, but coco was still very much a protective big sister to her because monica started losing her eyesight as a toddler. by middle school, she could only see light & shapes. she continued to go to the same school as coco, but she didn't get much in the way of accommodations, so coco was the one who helped her the most. she made sure monica never fell behind or felt different – she learned from nico that if she didn't support monica, no one would. they're the only 2 that share both the same birth parents, though monica always got along better with their dad than coco. oh also she's the sister that used to listen to danny's music fjkjsds

jazzy was from their mom's 2nd marriage which didn't last long. she spent summers with her dad in indiana, which made coco so jealous until she actually visited indiana herself lol. she goes to college at purdue so coco doesn't see her much. it also makes coco feel weird that they both started college at the same time though coco is 5 years older. she wants to be the big sister giving advice and helping jazzy through college, but jazzy has her life together more at 18 than coco ever has. she won't admit it, but she does judge coco for her life choices, and she has a lot of valid reasons for doing so. sadly jazzy had a front row seat to some of coco's worst moments. neither of them really know how to move on from that.

their mom is still married to amir's dad. he's the only kid still living with their mom. coco actually spends quite a lot of time with amir; he likes to stay at her apartment when he needs a break from his step siblings (who coco barely knows, since they moved in after she moved out). they also like to get out of the city and go exploring together / hiking

xena is....... complicated. she's the only one here that doesn't have the same birth mom and that's really all i can say. (btw i'm not bringing back the 2018 extreme red blush, the poor thing just has eczema)

[shslquestionmark]

i disabled most of the traps, are you suuure you don't want me to give the ship some big guns? or automation?

Hi, Monica! I'm happy to see you. How are you doing?

As for the ship... I'm trying to keep a low profile. I think guns and automation make us more conspicuous. Think of it like drawing aggro in a videogame

[democracyunderground]

The House’s sweeping budget plan to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda could result in steep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, putting a key group of Republicans in a politically difficult position ahead of a potential vote next week in the narrowly divided chamber.

There are a handful of House Republicans who represent parts of the country where sizable shares of the populations receive government assistance from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to an NBC News analysis of the most recently available Census Bureau data.

The lawmakers from the 10 GOP-held districts with the highest percentages of Medicaid or SNAP beneficiaries span the ideological and geographical spectrum. They include members from deep-red districts, such as Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and veteran Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky, as well as those in competitive battlegrounds, such as Reps. David Valadao of California, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Monica De La Cruz of Texas.

While Democrats represent more districts with the largest portions of adults receiving federal assistance, the prevalence of constituents who are dependent on anti-poverty programs in GOP-held seats could test Republicans who are on the hunt for steep spending cuts and under pressure to implement Trump’s agenda. And it underscores why the issue has become such a sticking point in the budget talks.

“There’s a little bit of frustration among those of us who do have large Medicaid populations that we have not been engaged [by leadership] as much as some of the members of the Freedom Caucus in this process,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told NBC News.

“And therefore, we are undecided on how we’re going to be voting,” she continued, referencing the GOP holdouts with concerns about Medicaid.

The House’s budget blueprint for a tax, energy and immigration package, which the Budget Committee advanced last week, calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. That includes $880 billion in spending cuts from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has Medicaid in its jurisdiction, and $230 billion from the House Agriculture Committee, which oversees SNAP.

House GOP leaders are aiming to bring the Trump-endorsed budget resolution to the floor next week and, if it passes, committees will begin drafting the policy portion of the package.

Medicaid covers health care costs for those with low incomes or disabilities, while SNAP provides food benefits to low-income Americans. Republicans are considering imposing work requirements and other policies that would raise the bar to access benefits for Medicaid, as well as attempting to eliminate instances of waste, fraud and abuse, in an attempt to find savings and pay for other pieces of their agenda.

Census data lumps its estimates of people receiving coverage from Medicaid in with those receiving other means-tested public health coverage. But Medicaid, which had more than 72 million enrollees as of October, is far and away the most popular type of means-tested public health coverage.

While Trump has insisted that Medicaid won’t be “touched,” a Republican lawmaker on a key committee and a senior GOP aide said they believe it’s mathematically difficult to achieve the goal of $2 trillion in savings without making substantial cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Party leaders may seek to sell any changes to Medicaid policy as an attempt to reform the program rather than one to slash benefits. Still, even under that scenario, there could be an impact on services.

Valadao, who represents a key swing seat for Republicans that could determine control of the House in 2026, has been one of the loudest voices in the House GOP warning against potential cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

In Valadao’s San Joaquin Valley district in central California, 38.5% of adults under the age of 65 use Medicaid or other forms of means-tested public coverage as their sole form of health care. That makes Valadao the member of Congress who represents the second-highest number of Medicaid recipients in the entire country, only behind Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York.

Meanwhile, 27.9% of households in the agriculture-rich district, which is majority Hispanic, receive food stamps.

Valadao — along with Maltiotakis, Bresnahan and De La Cruz — signed on to a Congressional Hispanic Conference letter this week urging Johnson to protect Medicaid benefits, Pell grants and food stamps. All of them represent districts with large Hispanic populations. Valadao and Bresnahan, who is from a district where 19% of households receive SNAP benefits, are already getting hit with attack ads back home over the possibility of Medicaid cuts.

The Congressional Hispanic Conference is expected to meet with Johnson when they return to Washington next week. Johnson and other members of his leadership team have spent this week, with the House on recess, working the phones to see where members stand and win over potential holdouts, according to Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who has been on the receiving end of such calls.

The issue also presents a unique dilemma for House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., who would be in charge of finding the requisite cuts. He represents a district with the 14th-largest share of Medicaid recipients of any Republican: 18.3% of non-elderly adults in his district rely on Medicaid or means-tested coverage as their only form of health care.

Guthrie’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. But he, too, has been working to assuage the concerns of skeptics: Malliotakis said she was scheduled to speak with Guthrie on Thursday as she seeks more clarity about their plans.

If the final bill fails to include substantial cuts, the wafer-thin GOP majority risks losing decisive votes from conservatives who have made that a condition for their support.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a Freedom Caucus member, said his decision on the bill will hinge on: “Are we going to get enough cuts, and how real are those?”

“You’ve got these Medicaid work requirements, potential SNAP work requirements,” Roy told NBC News, describing several spending cuts on which Republicans can agree. “And then there’s other issues that are a little bigger that we got to go wrestle with.”

Congressional Democrats plan to make potential Medicaid cuts a centerpiece of their attacks on the GOP budget plan.

“They’re cutting your Medicaid. Why? Why would they do that? Tax breaks for the rich,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. told NBC News. “It sort of hits them on both sides. And it has the advantage not only of being true, but the American people believe it.”

He argued that the impacts will be felt beyond the beneficiaries.

“The Medicaid cuts cut right to the bone,” Schumer said. “Medicaid cuts affect poor people … It also affects middle-income people, because about a third of all Medicaid goes to elderly people in assisted living and nursing homes.”

[kristencsummerlin]

Soul Eater Head cannons lol

1: Maka is a role-player. (This is mostly because Laura Bailey her voice actress is a major role-player) oddly enough her characters tend to be magic users because playing a heroic witch just fills her.

2: Maka drinks Dr Pepper mainly because she happened to randomly leave Tsugumi one at the top of the stairs in Soul Eater Not. Which fills my day because I fucking love Dr Pepper.

3: Soul loves and hates Billy Joel. He loves the guy's music and everything but he knows for a fact that everyone sees him as their Piano Man and it annoys him.

4: Kid has both OCD and OCPD because he shows signs of both disabilities.

5: I've stated this before but I'm 99 percent sure that Excalibur plays everything he does up because he doesn't want anyone to wield him. Hiro passed everything and when it was basically long enough for the sword to know enough of the kid he suddenly was dealing with a sneeze fit.

6: Blair ships Maka and Soul which is why she goes out of her way to flirt with Soul just to make Maka angry. She thinks it's proof that Maka has feelings.

7: Ragnarök is overprotective of Crona like an older sibling. The whole "I'm allowed to pick on them as long as I want. But if someone else does it I'm going for their heads."

8: Blackstar is the glue to the group. He has formed a bond with at least everyone in some way. If he got hurt their will be an army of angry people wanting to revenge him.

9: Kid and Monica from Friends are soul siblings and you can't tell me otherwise. Like I see Kid having a vacuum for his vacuum in case he needed to vacuum his vacuum.

10: The Group watch bad horror movies together to play their own home version of Mystery Science Theater. However Kid mostly gets annoyed and fumes over the movies while everyone else makes jokes.

11: Soul and Liz share music playlists and songs on Spotify. Or the Soul Eater version of it. Like Skullify.

12: Sid plays father figure to all the orphans that join the DWMA. Possibly because he was one and knows how it feels to not have a parent in one's life.

13: Kid has a list of mother figures. Which he's honored and annoyed by.

14: Hiro had a weapon partner but they got injured and or went home which is why he's looked at as the worst meister because he hasn't done any missions sense joining the E.A.T. classes.

[malfiora]

I just saw Venom 3 so I have to rant about it. Specifically about the side characters, so there shouldn't be major spoilers, but still be warned. I'm also talking about race as a critique of white feminism, so be doubly warned.

Rant below the cut

I'm so sick of being expected to identify with white femme characters in film, especially when they aren't all that interesting.

Dr. Payne is the least interesting and useful character in this whole film, yet we get egregious flashbacks to her childhood trauma of losing her brother, which has become motivation for her to do alien research. But she just...does nothing except kinda hit on one of the symbiotes Shape of Water style.

Meanwhile, Strickland (a black man), Dr. Christmas (a black woman), and Martin (white man) are all fascinating characters with actual agency who help progress the plot and help Eddie and Venom achieve their goals. Martin gets a funny one-liner about cashing in his savings to take his family to find aliens, and another about working in IT. Christmas has her one moment about the pin her mother made for her. Strickland gets nothing unless you count the degrees hanging from his wall in his office in one scene. Interesting characters – no development.

The one positive thing I could have said about Payne is that she was pretty cool representation for disability (her arm is paralyzed from the accident that killed her brother) but even that gets undone at the end. Because, you know, a disability is a curse to be lifted as a reward for being good 🙃

The movie itself was fine but I just wanted more of the other characters and way less of one. And this trope isn't exclusive to Sony or even Marvel. For example, a friend of mine made a good point that in the show WandaVision, Monica is expected to get over her loss so that she can shelter Wanda. While I wanted that to be an empowering moment of women united in grief, it's just chafing to know that Monica will never get to grieve the way Wanda did. Another example is Bella Swan being the least interesting character in all of Twilight.

I don't have a problem with white femme characters, per se, but their character exploration shouldn't come at the expense of other characters, especially when they're bland or shallow.

[injaws]

jenna ortega, twenty-three, she/her   ⟡   —   is that ESMERALDA HEROUX i just saw walking around kilmer’s cove? i heard they’re a TOURIST who’s been here for TWO MONTHS. it slipped my mind, since they just tend to hang out at THE LIGHTHOUSE. at face value, they’re said to be INTELLIGENT and RESOURCEFUL, but i don’t know… some people have said they can be quite BLUNT and STANDOFFISH. just don’t get on their bad side, i guess! don’t tell them i told you this, but i’ve heard they DO  believe in all the ghost stories around town. who knows what the future holds for them! 

mention of child abandonment.+ disability (vision)

BASICS:

full name: esmeralda genesis heroux nickname(s): esme, es age: twenty-four gender: cis woman pronouns: she/her sexuality: bisexual biromantic date & place of birth: december 31 in el monte, california occupation: paleontology doctorate candidate & researcher at the tanya b. heady museum faceclaim: jenna ortega piercings: so many. six on each ear, a belly button piercing, and a nose stud traits: reserved, polite, observant, cynical, meticulous, blunt, curious, stoic similar to:  kat stratford (10 things i hate about you), elphaba thropp (wicked), prue halliwell (charmed), gayle weathers (scream), camilla saroyan (bones), monica geller (friends), nancy wheeler (stranger things), beca mitchell (pitch perfect) aesthetics: coffee with an ungodly amount of creamer, humming songs while cooking dinner, going outside at 3 am to look at the stars, accidental 5 hour long naps, an earbud always in one ear, an array of rings on each hand, bitten lips, over the ear headphones notable characteristics: wide, boring eyes, typically shaded by lenses; constant eye bags accompanied lips bitten red; hair hastily chopped at the shoulder with the claim of it being "easier to manage"; chunky soled shoes to make up for the lack of height otherwise; a near-permanent suspicious scowl

BULLET POINTS:

— born as one of two twins. her parents, who didn't know they were having twins, gave her up because they didn't prepare for two children. -- esme, who had been born legally blind, was chosen to be the one given up — was fostered and later adopted by parents aksel and sarah heroux in manhattan, new york. — found her forever home with the two, later coming to have younger siblings of her own (her younger brother aleksei is very close to her heart and practically her best friend) — growing up she was always known as an “old soul” (read: autistic), and on account of both her disability and a personality that favored blunt (but observational) remarks, esme was teased a bit relentlessly — grew to be quite reserved and tightly wound as a defense mechanism, building strong armor in the form of poisonous words and evasiveness (no she will not process any of this please dni) — leant into books, music, film, and poetry to help her escape throughout the years and cherished the time she had with her family (homeschool kid ass energy…) — went to columbia to get her bachelor's in geology, and stayed to begin her doctorate program in paleontology — special interest in dinosaurs and yes it is ridiculously serious — applied to work at a research site in scotland (where dinosaurs actually effing existed), got sent to kilmer instead. not happy about it, only staying because she thinks the museum is actually quite cool — currently maybe getting a bit too curious about finding out what the fuck is happening in town/its history … maybe she should watch where she steps :O 

HEADCANONS:

— wears special glasses that correct the little vision she had – can now see pretty much 20/20 with them on, hates them and sometimes doesn't wear them — when not wearing their glasses usually uses a form of echolocation through little tongue clicks or snaps and wears sunglasses to cover her eyes (has very fun shapes i must say) — autistic special interest is dinosaurs. sleeps to dinosaur jungle asmr. please do not engage unless you want to have your ear talked off. ---  baby loves to cook. always trying new recipes & loves to host dinner parties. she did many a cooking classes as a kid. she also danced for a while, but uses it now more as stress relief than anything else. — always tired. 9/10 if she isn’t replying it’s because she’s sleeping. insane concealer budget — loves film and movies and thinking way too deep into them. her letterboxd goes crazy. that being said, their standards are questionable — big fan of animal crossing. terraforming beast. her sims house goes crazy — she has a black leopard gecko named honey, a black cat named milagro, and an array of fish, including a small leopard catshark named buddy. — collects bugs in amber as well as other small fossils — maximalist and has a bajillion stuffed animals — favorite season is winter — always wearing chunky boots — always cold — wicked sweet tooth — rides a motorcycle (her dad hates it she keeps giving him a heart attack) — never found without her cherry cola flavored vape <3

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

guh. check back l8r.