#i found a somewhat recent review...

[batz]

QUESTION does Anyone have a cintiq 21ux and is it good?

my mom brought one home after finding it for free, its just missing the pen. i wanna know if its Worth saving up for a pen or if the tablet is ass and its not worth th trouble...

[therealcocoshady]

Kinktober - Day 13 - Daddy

Kinktober 2024 Masterlist

A/N : hey guys ! Here is the 2nd prompt for Kinktober Day 13. This time it’s « Daddy ». I only recently got done with it without realizing I would be posting it on the day of his birthday 🙊. I could have made something birthday related but… oh well. Another time, maybe 🙈. I hope you enjoy it. I made it cute & fluffy.

CW : Daddy kink - Pregnancy announcement - Fluff

Marshall Mathers doesn’t have a daddy kink. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite. Maybe it’s a parent thing, but as far as he’s concerned, there are only three persons in the world allowed to call him Daddy : his children. Any woman he is dating g trying to call him that immediately gives him the ick. You sort of learned it the hard way. Being younger than him, you playfully and somewhat threw in the nickname on one occasion when he was being directive. It wasn’t even in bed and, in hindsight, thank God it wasn’t because it would have been that much more awkward. It was one night, you were in his kitchen, making dinner, telling him about your day while you were slicing and dicing some vegetable for the meal you were cooking. « Careful with the knife, babe. Look at what you’re doing or you’re going to cut yourself.  » he gently warned, ever so caring. « Ok Daddy » you chuckled with a grin.

His mood immediately changed and the soft smile on his face was quickly replaced by a frown and an air of disgust. « What did you call me ? » he asked. « Daddy » you repeated « come on, it’s not that deep » you don’t added with a shrug. « Just… don’t » he said. You stopped what you were doing and put the knife aside. « You don’t like it ? » you asked with a raised eyebrow. To you, it wasn’t a big deal. You didn’t have a daddy kink but you were guilty of calling some of your exes « Daddy » in bed. No daddy issues on your part, just some appreciation for someone who could be a little authoritarian in bed. So, to you, playfully using the nickname didn’t sound like anything weird at all. Him, on the other hand, seemed to find it creepy. « Like it ? It’s fucking weird » he scoffed. « you really want to call me Daddy ?! ».

He genuinely seemed disturbed by the thought. Horrified, almost. You giggled and cupped his face. « It was just for fun. Chill, babe. » you said softly. « No but while thinks about their dad when they’re with their man ? » he continued. You couldn’t help but laugh and shook your head. « First of all… I like it when you refer to yourself as my man » you said seductively. « And second of all… it’s not about actual fathers. It’s a vibe, you know ? » you tentatively explained. He hummed but still didn’t seem convinced. « Yeah, well, feel free to come up with any other nickname but… not this one. The only people who are allowed to call me that are my daughters. » he said as he rolled his eyes. You chuckled and agreed before giving him a peck on the cheek.

In the following years, you didn’t fall short when it came to finding cute names to refer to him, some of them being more ridiculous than others. Most of the time, you used classics such as « my love » or « babe » but, every so often, you spiced things up with something ridiculous like « sunshine » or « honeybun ». He often laughed at your antics and, honestly, he didn’t mind the cheesy pet names. If anything, he thought it was kind of funny and cute. As long as you steered clear of « Daddy », he could put up with anything. On the days where you wanted to use a nickname that highlighted his authoritative nature, you tried to find options such as « Boss » or « Top Dog », which never failed to make him chortle.

However, one evening, you just had to go back to using « Daddy ».

You went to find him in his home office, where he was reviewing some visuals for his upcoming album. As the drop date was approaching, he was putting in more and more hours. When you entered the room, you found him with his head in his hands, clearly exhausted. You stood behind him and placed a kiss on his cheek, prompting him to look up. He gave you an exhausted smile, one that showed your intrusion was most welcome. You knew that, as much as he loved the writing/producing/recording part of making an album, the rest sometimes felt like a pain in his ass. And these days, it seemed like it was all about photoshoots, picking visuals, anticipating promo. All the things he didn’t really care for, really.

« So… What’s up, Daddy ? » you asked softly and innocently.

He turned to you and you immediately saw him cringe. You could see the instinctive reaction, as if he had just eaten something sour. His eyebrows shot up, arching sharply in disbelief, while his eyes went wide with a mix of shock and confusion. A slight twitch pulled at the corner of his left eye, as if his brain was desperately trying to process and reject what he'd just heard. His lips pressed together into a thin, tight line, then curled downward in the most uncomfortable grimace imaginable. His jaw clenched visibly, and his nostrils flared as if he was physically trying to hold back whatever retort was forming in his head. For a moment, he looked utterly frozen in place, caught between laughter and utter discomfort, before he finally broke the silence with a sharp shake of his head. “Nah, nah, nah,” he muttered, his voice a mix of strained disbelief and unease, his whole face still scrunched up like he was trying to physically repel the word. The look in his eyes was pleading, practically begging you not to ever do that again.

You couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. It had been at least a couple of years since the « Daddy » incident but his reaction said it all, he still found it insanely cringy. Too bad, though, because he’d had to get used to it. Marshall’s face shifted from that initial cringe into something more serious, his eyes narrowing as he shook his head, setting his laptop aside with an exaggerated sigh. He turned to you, his lips pressing together tightly, clearly trying to rein in his frustration, but there was no hiding the exasperation in his voice.

« Babe, we’ve been over this already, » he said, gesturing with his hands like he was trying to lay out something obvious. « I told you, no calling me ‘Daddy.’ That’s for my kids. I can’t- »He paused, searching for the right words, but all that came out was a mix of disbelief and irritation. « I don’t even know how to explain it, but it just feels… wrong, alright? ». His tone was firm, but not angry—more like someone who’d had this conversation one too many times and couldn’t believe they were having it again. « You think it’s funny, but no. It’s weird. We’re not doing that, » he added, his brows furrowing in a way that made it clear he was serious. He looked at you, waiting for some sign that you got the message this time, his expression softening just a little as he ran a hand through his hair. « Just… stop, » he finished with a sigh, giving you a look that said he hoped this would be the last time he had to talk about it. Twice was enough already.

« I don’t think I can stop » you said with a grin, waiting for him to connect the dots. « In fact… I think you’re going to get used to it… Daddy» you continued as you placed a hand where, soon enough, a bump would be visible. At first, your man didn’t seem to fully register it. He sat there, still caught in the loop of his usual reaction to your teasing, eyes narrowing in confusion.

But then, slowly, the meaning of your words and the gesture sank in. His expression shifted, eyebrows furrowing as his head tilted slightly, like he was trying to replay your sentence in his mind to make sure he’d heard it right. « Wait... what? » His voice was softer now, disbelief lacing every word. His eyes searched your face for any sign that you were still joking, but instead, he saw the familiar glow in your eyes and the warm, expectant smile that told him this was different. His whole body seemed to freeze for a beat, and then his face changed entirely. His eyes widened first, and his mouth dropped open just a little, like he had to catch his breath. His brow furrowed, but not in confusion anymore—it was the weight of emotion hitting him, the realization dawning in full. « You’re... for real? ». His voice cracked slightly, like he didn’t trust himself to fully believe it yet, but his eyes were already glistening with the first hint of something deeper.

When you nodded, his lips parted into a stunned smile, a slow, almost incredulous laugh bubbling up from his chest. He looked down at your stomach, then back at your face, a hand running over his head as if trying to make sense of the moment. « You… you’re pregnant? ». The words came out softer this time, almost in awe, his eyes never leaving yours. After months of hoping for a positive test that never seemed to come, this was it, finally.

There was a long pause, where all he could do was stare at you, a mixture of joy and disbelief playing across his face, before a laugh finally broke free, a genuine, almost disbelieving laugh, as if he couldn’t wrap his head around it. « I’m gonna be a dad again? ». His voice was filled with wonder now, his hand reaching out to touch your stomach gently, like the reality of it was finally hitting him in waves. His whole face softened, his eyes shining with that rare, unguarded emotion he kept hidden from most. He pulled you into a tight embrace, pulling you to his lap and burying his face in your neck for a moment as he let the weight of it all sink in. « Finally, » he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. He pulled back just enough to look you in the eyes again, a wide, almost boyish grin breaking across his face. « We’re having a baby. ». You nodded with an emotional smile and wrapped your arms around his neck before kissing him.

As the reality of the moment settled in and the initial wave of emotion began to subside, you couldn’t help but tease him, that familiar playful glint dancing in your eyes. You leaned back slightly, still smiling as you ran a hand over your belly, letting your words hang in the air for just a second before speaking. « So, hum, does this mean I finally get a pass to call you ‘Daddy’ now? » you asked, raising an eyebrow with a sly grin, clearly enjoying how the tables had turned on the long-running joke.

Marshall’s reaction was instant. His face immediately scrunched up, that familiar look of playful disgust returning for a moment. He groaned, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe you were still going there, especially now. « Oh, come on, » he muttered, though there was a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked at you with mock exasperation, but he couldn’t deny that this time, it felt different. He let out a deep breath, his hand running over his face as if to brace himself. « Alright, alright… » he started, but then his expression became more serious, his eyes locking with yours. « Only when you’re talking to the baby, though, » he added, pointing at you with emphasis. « Like, when you’re telling her something about me, sure, you can say ‘Daddy.’ But otherwise, no. That’s still fucking weird. ». He laughed, shaking his head again, and gently placed his hand over your stomach, the playful moment shifting into something more meaningful. « But yeah, » he added quietly, a softer smile forming. « You can say it… for them. »

His gaze lingered on your belly for a moment longer, the weight of what that word meant now sinking in fully. « I guess I’m gonna have to get used to it, huh? » he said, looking back up at you with that familiar mix of humor and tenderness in his eyes.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for asking my partner not to interrupt me while I'm streaming?

Asking on here because she has Reddit and I don't want to upset her further while I ask for an outside consensus.

I stream video game content as a profession. Playthroughs, mods, tutorials, reviews, ect. I found streaming to be more profitable than pre-filmed video content. I'd say on average I can "work" for 10 - 30 hours a week.

She works on an alternating schedule where she does a week of full time hours then a week of part time hours. All in all, we work pretty reasonable hours between us, I feel, and we are agreeably not lacking in spending time together.

We routinely go on dates, we more often than not have dinner together, and I typically don't stream for more than 2-4 hours consecutively, so its not as if I'm locked up in my office for the majority of the time.

However over the last few months my partner has developed the habit of simply walking in whenever I'm streaming and starting up random conversations with me, playing her own games loudly in the background, constantly interrupting me to read out chat comments or ask questions about the game, ect.

Sometimes it isn't so bad, but generally its pretty disruptive. I wouldn't mind if it was just occasionally or if she just popped in now and then, but its grown to the point where its almost every single stream and I've noticed I've lost a handful of frequent viewers over it.

It came to an unpleasant confrontation over the weekend, when I was streaming a highly requested tutorial walkthrough for a recently released game and she decided to come in, try to sit on my lap and start a conversation about a client's dogs she met today.

I was trying to figure out a polite way to ask her to give me another 40 minutes so I could finish the quest line and shut it down for the day when two people in the chat began to make jokes about how she never leaves me alone and said it 'gave cam check vibes.'

I pretended not to notice, but she did, and clearly it hurt her feelings and she mumbled about having some things to do and left. I felt awful that her feelings were hurt so I closed the stream early and went to find her.

She was pretty upset about the comments and tried to get me to validate that she wasn't disruptive or unwelcome. I assured her that I don't mind the occasional visit or if she wants to play her own games in the background on mute/low volume/with earphones in, but that I have actually been meaning to ask her to give me a little more curtesy when I'm streaming because its hard to have dynamic engagement when I can't actually talk to anyone because she's talking non-stop or her own game volume is distorting the sound.

I tried to say it as gently as possible but it was clear that the more we discussed it, the more upsetting it was for her. She called time on the conversation by abruptly saying she'll just 'never so much as walk past the door' when I'm streaming, and that she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

She was only working a half-day today and I was streaming between mid-day and the early afternoon. When I said goodbye to her this morning she made sure to somewhat sarcastically assure me that she wouldn't dare interrupt my stream today, and she hoped it went well.

She refused to discuss it further when she came home, or over dinner, and since dinner she's shut herself in the conservatory and has been on the phone to a friend.

I'd like to discuss it further because I'm discontent with her being upset about it, but I'm also not particularly agreeable with me being in the wrong here. Streaming is my job. We pay equal expenses, so its not as if this is just a silly little fake job or hobby for me while she foots the bills. I rely on viewers to get paid, and when quite a few of them leave because I've had to stop playing for 20 minutes to listen to her chat, it could negatively impact my ability to bring home a reasonable contribution.

Ordinarily we can resolve any conflicts or disagreements quickly and fairly. We've never been the sort of couple to spend days being passive aggressive or refusing to talk.

With her being so resolute in being upset and not communicating, I'm at a loss for if I'm actually in the wrong or not for asking her to be more mindful of interrupting me and causing disruptions while I'm working.

What are these acronyms?

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hi everyone,

I found a somewhat disturbing study that was done by Kingson University about euthanizing autistic people in the Netherlands. I’ll the link to the article here if anyone wants to read the entire thing.

I’ll leave some excerpts below. View discretion is advised.

Several people with autism and intellectual disabilities have been legally euthanized in the Netherlands in recent years because they said they could not lead normal lives, researchers have found.

The cases included five people younger than 30 who cited autism as either the only reason or a major contributing factor for euthanasia, setting an uneasy precedent that some experts say stretches the limits of what the law originally intended.

In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to allow doctors to kill patients at their request if they met strict requirements, including having an incurable illness causing “unbearable” physical or mental suffering.

Between 2012 and 2021, nearly 60,000 people were killed at their own request, according to the Dutch government’s euthanasia review committee. To show how the rules are being applied and interpreted, the committee has released documents related to more than 900 of those people, most of whom were older and had conditions including cancer, Parkinson’s and ALS.

[sgiandubh]

What happened with Barbour ?

Dear Barbour Anon,

My favorite kind of Anon, even if I know the question has recently been asked again and not in this corner. Never mind, I think it's time to talk about it, too.

I bought my first Barbour (entry-level, so olive) Bedale wax jacket 25 years ago, from their (long gone, now) shop on Boulevard Raspail, in Paris. It was a mandatory clothing item to own if you wanted to properly mingle with the law school crowd (it still is) and it ended up being one of my most prized possessions, possibly a part of me. I still have it somewhere, back home. Two more followed, along with a fetishist array of shirts, scarves, beanies and even one of those sturdy crossbody bags you can fit half a house in. So you can imagine my absolute thrill when I found out, very very late, that S had had a rather substantial collaboration with them, from 2016 and until 2019.

I am very bad with timelines, as you probably know and possibly even cackle about, but still: S was appointed as the company's first ever Global Brand Ambassador on July 16, 2016. His mission statement was very precisely defined by the brand and for some reason we'll analyze a bit later, this is important:

(Source, heh: https://www.astonbourne.co.uk/is-barbour-a-luxury-brand-unraveling-the-mystique-of-classic-outerwear/).

A shirt and vest signature collection followed in 2017 and 2018, with the contract being renewed. Advertisement was absolutely gorgeous and designed to shape a very positive image, both for S and the brand. Last autumn's SS Gin promo retained some of that irresistible aesthetic DNA and I discussed it at length.

See for yourself, Anon. The fandom endlessly discussed the first long clip (with the chocolate labrador), but I have no idea if these two have been seen, let alone debated. If they did, let that be my nostalgic mistake.

Spring/Summer 2018:

Fall 2018:

And then disaster stroke, with S's trip to Ha-wa-wee 1.0, in the spring of 2019. A short reel, featuring a rather agglomerated boat trip, was posted on socials. Unfortunately for S, it also featured an allegedly horrifying scene involving the 'traditional' bludgeoning to death of a tuna fish. Emotions ensued and as it often happens here, they spun out of control. Many people, including some of the most vocal S haters, tagged Barbour in their diatribes, filled with environmentalist indignation. They suggested this guy (who did not participate to the savagery and I would be even unsure he realized what was going on) was, by no reasonable means, a proper 'embodiment of the brand's identity, values and aspirations' (remember that mission statement?).

Tone deaf as ever in the midst of a serious PR crisis, S put friendship above anything else, and publicly praised the boat's owner, calling him 'the heart and soul of the island', if I remember well. I still would like to think he has no idea what the hell exactly happened. And then, when somebody finally (August 2019) asked Barbour on Insta about their collaboration with S, they got this politely dry, but clear answer:

"We don't have any plans for a collaboration with SH in the near future" means, in my book and to my understanding, "we are never going to work with this guy again". Truly, some people in here who dare to give morality lessons to others, should be proud of themselves: they did it knowingly and in a very organized way, using multiple sock accounts, to give the impression of a collective retching reflex. To cut the story short, the dread of any ad campaign on this planet.

The effort was genuine. The result of that collaboration was very good. Take, for example, this somewhat heartbreaking customer review by an American guy who has no idea who SRH is and who bought one of those jackets from a Barbour factory warehouse, in 2021, with a hefty rebate (70% off). Clearly something Barbour wanted to get rid of at all costs - what a pity and really what a SHAME on all those hypocrites who will never admit to a public assassination by the book:

This time, I am absolutely not sorry for the length, Anon. This is something that still makes me boil. Unfairness and cheap nastiness simply disgust me.

(Thank you, sweetheart, for the screenshot, always. You know who you are 😘😘😘).

[yellowbunnydreams]

Bunny Ears (Part 13) ~William Afton X F! Reader~

~POV: You finish your paper and have it reviewed only to recieve 30+ comments on it dragging it through the dirt and lighting it on fire. Edit; Finished and submitted, flipped off my computer~

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Want more or something different? *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tag List: @ruh--roh-raggy @h4nluv @sleepy---head @do-double-g @confiscated-peaches-main @dij-ology @viviennemuerte @robin-the-enby @shari-berri @randymeeksisafinalgirl @hallow1090 @aponia-yue @likoplays @dilflover-3 @oak-leafs @phd-in-fuckery @weirdoartist21 @nicolezghostz @fauine

Sorry if I missed you on the tag-list!

CW: Minors DNI, (18+ ONLY), Female Reader, legal age gap (Reader- 20's, William - 30's), divorce/processing divorce, Afton being a sarcastic hot ass, Henry being such a dad, grumpy x sunshine . Faz-Fuck TM. Cringe scenes ft. Henry.

The knocking at your door on your day off stirred you from your sleep. Groggily heading towards the door and opening it whilst rubbing sleep from your eyes with the heel of your hand. The knocks were too light for William, and you weren't expecting any packages, so there was some trepidation as you answered.

Blinking against the bright light, you were surprised to see the petite and lithe figure of Sarah Emily on your step. Blonde hair tied up neatly into a ponytail and wearing jeans with a white t-shirt, looking like a casual woman around your age unless you looked closely and could see the crinkles around her eyes from years of smiling.

"H-Hey! Um...Hi Sarah." You said after a moment of confusion, looking down at yourself and realising that you were wearing William's hoodie again and some shorts. Blushing at the fact this was the second time you had answered the door to somebody you knew whilst dressed in such a state.

"Well good-morning sleephead! I thought I would stop by and come see you." She laughed, giggling more as you gestured for her to come inside and shut the door behind her. Padding into your kitchen and taking out two mugs from the draining board next to your sink, turning on the kettle and finding your instant coffee and tea.

"Tea, coffee?"

"Coffee, milky with two sugars please." Sarah replied, amused at seeing you still somewhat out of it and wearing Afton's hoodie. She recognised it from the similar one Henry had, tucked away back in his closet somewhere in case he wanted to wear it one day. Not that he, nor Afton wore those kinds of things often anymore since the opening of Freddy's.

"So um...how have you been?" You asked, waking up a bit more as you grabbed milk from the fridge, making coffee for Sarah and yourself as you placed them on the counter. Leaning against the cool lino and feeling your attention wandering as you realised that Sarah had a slightly mischievous look on her face. "And I'm guessing this isn't entirely a 'I was in the neighbourhood' call."

"Good good, Charlie's been a little terror recently, but she's sweet otherwise. And you caught me! I wanted to know if you wanted a girly day out, and then, we go on that double-date I mentioned last time?" She asked, making you choke on your coffee slightly, nose burning as the action nearly made it come up through your nose. Coughing to gather yourself, you found yourself looking at your hand and the mug.

"I don't think I've ever...had a girly day? But I'd like the date later!" Sarah raised an eyebrow before she looked incredulous, her slender hand resting over her heart as she looked at you.

"You've never...NEVER... had a girly day out?"

"Nope."

"Get some pants on and get in the fucking car, we are rectifying this, now!" She exclaimed, downing her coffee and making you do the same, wincing as the heat slid down your throat before you half-ran to your room. Throwing on some deodorant, a subtle body-spray and some somewhat clean jeans and a t-shirt over your underwear. Dragging a brush through your hair and huffing as you almost tripped over yourself trying to pull on your socks and boots. Sarah standing by the door and your door keys dangling from her fingers, grin plastered on her face as you grabbed them from her.

"Why did we need to rush again?"

"Oh, no reason, but it was quite funny to watch." She laughed as you locked the front door, laughing harder as you gave her a stern look. Heading to her car and climbing inside, sighing as you rested your head against the seat and closed your eyes briefly.

~~

"William! How're you doing buddy?" Henry called as he opened the office door, making William jump slightly as he was disturbed from his intense concentration on some of the blue-prints in front of him. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, he sighed and looked towards the smaller man. Noticing how his hair was loose and wild despite his professional appearance.

"You only call me 'buddy' when you need something Henry, what is it this time?" Henry placed a hand over his heart and pouted, dramatically leaning against the door frame and sinking against it like he'd just been shot before he stumbled into the office.

"You wound me! I don't do that! You are my buddy!" William scoffed and rolled his eyes at his dramatic business partner before looking back down at the plans in his hand. Scribbling on a separate piece of paper to note some measurements and calculations whilst he heard Henry lean against the desk. Almost hearing the smile in his voice as he spoke again.

"Anyway, me and Sarah are going on a date tonight and we were wondering if you and your little girlfriend would like to join us and make it a double date?" William sighed and set the papers down on his desk, looking over his glasses to see Henry's wild grin. Afton sucked on the inside of his cheek before replying, going to pick up the paperwork on his desk once more.

"Absolutely not, the last time you attempted something like this Henry, Sarah practically bit Clara's head off and you got so pissed you walked half an hour down the high-way before we found you."

"That was college! And secondly, you'll let your girlfriend down if you don't show!"

"I'm sure she also said no to this stupid idea."

"Actually, Sarah's gone to her house and they're having a little trip to get all dolled up for this date tonight." Henry smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as William dropped the papers and rubbed his hands over his face. Groaning loudly and leaning back in the chair, making it creak under his weight.

"You mean to tell me that Sarah, your wife, has kidnapped my girlfriend and is playing dress-up with her?" Running his hands through his hair whilst glaring at Henry, who nodded with the same, stupid grin plastered on his face. Afton groaned again and put his head in his hands.

"Fine, you sick bastard, I'll come. Just leave the address on my desk and tell me what time to be there."

"Don't forget to bring a condom William, I'm sure that afterwards you'll-"

"HENRY, DON'T BE A FUCKING PERVERT." Henry cackled at his friend's outburst, holding his hands up in defence, laughing harder as William reached into the drawer and chucked balled up paper at the man as he retreated. Leaving William to hide his face in his hands and groan in frustration, wishing his friend had at least asked him before kidnapping you via his wife.

~~

"What about this one?" Sarah asked you, showing you a swatch of an eyeshadow on the back of her hand and you hummed in thought as you looked at it. Shaking your head after a moment. "Oh come on," she groaned your name slightly as she put back the little tester tub. "you have to like something I show you!"

"I'm sorry Sarah, I'm just not...I don't really even do my own make-up. I wear mascara and some lip gloss occasionally, I don't do..this." You gestured to the large make-up counter that you were both at. Glancing over the bold and bright colours that Sarah seemed to favour, brow knitting together as you picked up a container and opened it, looking at the dark green shade inside before closing it and putting it back.

"Maybe we're doing this in the wrong order!" Sarah clapped her hands together before grabbing one of yours, dragging you behind her and almost tripping over your feet with the force the small woman was surprisingly able to move you with. You supposed that she was a mom, so perhaps it was from having to move a reluctant child...or Henry. You could also see Henry having to be dragged away from stores a few times by his wife.

She pulled you into a boutique in the mall, blinking as you adjusted to the new lighting inside and looked around. Spotting plenty of dresses lining the walls and making you groan. You couldn't remember the last time you'd found a dress you would even consider wearing, let alone wearing one, and they all seemed so formal, you'd hoped that you could get away with a nice top and some cleaner jeans for the date. Sarah seemingly had other ideas as she began browsing the racks.

Under encouragement, and a few teasing words, from Sarah, you began looking too. Hands idly flipping through the dresses and cringing as some of the material felt awful under your fingers, others just a plain ugly colour that you wouldn't be caught dead in.

"Can I help you find something?" The voice made you jump and you turned to see an elegantly dressed shop assistant standing near to you, heart pounding in your chest as you looked back at the dresses for a second, brow furrowed and a soft sigh escaping your lips as your shoulders slumped.

"I um..I'm going on a double date tonight and apparently I have to wear a dress..so..yeah. Just trying to find something I like honestly." You say, speaking quietly as your fingers scanned through the materials before the woman cleared her throat again, grabbing your attention once more.

"Well, what colour does your date usually wear?" They asked, making you pause only for a moment before you answered.

"Black."

"Well, I'm guess you're newly together, so matching might be a little much. But I can suggest some colours that work well and we'll figure out style from there." She smiled, making you give a polite smile back as she gestured towards another part of the store. Practised eyes scanning through the dresses and flickering back to you before her hands darted out to pick out a few dresses before taking you back to the dressing rooms, where Sarah was already admiring herself in a dark green dress that hugged her figure perfectly, a long slit up her leg and showing it off.

The assistant handed you the dresses and shooed you into a dressing room, pursing your lips together before you obeyed. Hoping that there would be at least one thing you liked amongst the pile.

~~

Sarah carefully brushed your eyelids with a careful precision that you were unsure you would have ever been able to manage. Feeling what felt almost like a brush-pen moving against your lid and out before you heard the click of a lid closing. Her slender hand grabbing your chin gently before you heard another lip pop, your eyes closed as you let the older woman manoeuvre you and do your make-up as she saw fit.

You jumped slightly as you felt a cool wetness against your lips, making the woman tut disapprovingly as she tightened her grip slightly and coated your lips, letting go of you as she spoke. "Press your lips together for me dear." Following her instructions and feeling some of the stickiness dissipate before your eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly as you glanced up at her.

"Go on, check yourself out little lady!" She squealed, helping you to stand up in the tiny kitten heels she had somehow convinced you to wear as well. Focusing intently on walking as you walked up to the mirror that Sarah had placed on the floor so that you could get a better look at yourself.

Your hair had been set loosely around your shoulders, styled to perfection and looking glossy, healthy. You were surprised by how lovely the dress looked, a soft purple chiffon with translucent sleeves and a 'v' shaped neckline, allowing the swell of your breasts to be visible as well as the dip of your collarbones. The middle wrapping tight to your body to show off your waist before the skirt flowed down, coming to your knees and floating slightly like something you saw in fancy prom movies. It looked almost a similar shade to purple that you were sure you had seen William wearing before. And Sarah had masterfully applied winged eye-liner to your eyes, darkening your lashes with mascara and the faint shimmer of nude coloured eyeshadows could faintly be made out. Your lips glossy and tasting like almonds.

Stepping behind you, Sarah's blonde hair was tied up into a classicly braided updo, two curled strands framing her face as you noticed she had similar make-up to how you had it. The dark green dress from earlier looking stunning on her as she placed her hands on your shoulders, smiling brightly.

"You look gorgeous, dear."

"I feel like I'm a little girl playing dress-up." You sighed, smoothing your hands down your dress carefully and frowning slightly, making her tut as she took your hands, bringing them up and smoothing over your knuckles with her thumbs.

"You don't look like it. William is going to not know what hit him when he sees you." She smiled, making you blush and smile back, nodding your head as you allowed her to guide you through the house and out to the waiting taxi. She'd driven her car back home and gotten a taxi back to yours, calling for one to pick you up and take you out to the restaurant that apparently William and Henry were waiting at.

You shifted nervously in your seat, watching the streets blur past before Sarah gently nudged your bag towards you, smiling as you opened it and took out a little bottle of perfume. The only expensive one you owned, it was your signature one for more 'formal' occasions, and it seemed like as good a time as any to use it. Carefully applying it to your pulse points, the smell comforting and exciting as you put away the bottle. Sarah applying her own perfume and touching up her gloss a bit as the ride seemed all too short and all too long at the same time.

You made out Henry's car parked up, frowning as you noticed you didn't spot William's, stomach sinking as you climbed out of the taxi whilst Sarah paid before she linked arms with you.

"I told Henry to pick up William, they're both at the table and waiting for us." She reassured, noticing your worried expression with a comforting squeeze of your hand. Heels clicking against the concrete as you both headed inside.

It was far more formal than any place you'd been before. And your silly plastic bracelet felt out of place in there. You felt out of place in there. Waiters in white shirts and black pants ran about with towels over their arms, the walls wood panelled and the floor a beautiful, rich patterned marble tile. Your heart pounded in your chest as you allowed Sarah to drag you along.

Henry spotted the pair of you and gestured for William that you had arrived. Watching the pair of them squeeze out of the booth as you approached, your breath catching in your throat slightly.

Henry had his hair loose, revealing all it's fluffy, curled glory that was still cropped somewhat close to his head. Clearly freshly shaven and dressed in a dark green suit that matched Sarah's dress, crisp white shirt and a black tie, he looked ecstatic that he had matched his wife, seeing him tear up slightly as he caught sight of her.

But you lost your breath with William. Dressed head to toe in black. he had put on tailored black pants that seemed to highlight how long his legs were, as well as how strong they looked. Sleeves rolled up on the black shirt, tight across his broad chest in a way that made you afraid he would pop buttons if he flexed in the wrong way. His greying hair slicked back and his eyes slightly wide behind his glasses as he drank you in. You smiled as he raised his hand and you spotted the bracelet still on his arm, feeling comforted that he had continued to wear it despite the more formal setting.

His jaw fluttered slightly as he watched you approach. Wearing one of his favourite colours and the slight way you wobbled when you walked as you clearly tried to get used to moving in heels. He found himself feeling relief that you had worn the bracelet too, but his heart was pounding too fast in his chest as he took you in. You were a picture of beauty, and he reached out his hand as you came closer, taking your softer hand in his before he half-bowed to plant a kiss onto the back of your hand. Breathing deeply as he smelled your perfume and feeling his body aching with want.

"You look gorgeous, bunny. I should perhaps let Sarah have you more often." The teasing tone in his voice evident for the second part as you giggled, blushing and feeling the heat rising in your cheeks as he kept ahold of your hand.

"I-I don't think I need anymore make-up or dresses. But you look really nice." You swallowed, trying to change the subject back onto him. Seeing his cheeks heat up despite the stubble across his face. A lopsided grin being given to you as he gently guided you into the booth, still holding your hand as you settled in, his thumb running over your knuckles adoringly.

Henry called your name and you glanced at him, seeing his eyes still watering as he looked between you and your held hand. "You look great. I hope this isn't too short notice or strange, but I wanted to take Sarah on a date and then it occurred to me, I should invite you guys along too!" Chuckling and sniffling as he tried to not be too emotional as William remained close to you. Sarah rolled her eyes slightly, but the smile on her face told you that she wasn't really annoyed, kissing Henry's cheek before she picked up a menu to glance over.

"Thank you for inviting me, I really appreciate it. And I hope that it's as fun for all of us." You smile, seeing Henry's lip quiver at your words. Nodding his head before he looked at the menu, trying to distract himself.

William brought your hand to his lips again, giving your hand a squeeze as you leaned in and gave his knuckles as kiss in return. Smelling his warm, spiced cologne as you got closer, making you feel dizzy as you turned your attention to the menu. Still holding onto him as you browsed the options.

It was going to be a long night, but you felt a little more confident to face it with William by your side.

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

i almost bailed on new year’s because i was sleepy and the weather was horrendous, but it was three short blocks from my apartment and i’d said i’d go so i really had no excuse; when i got there for a moment i was worried it was populated exclusively by Fashionable Gay People, but then i peered into another room and found the mutual aid contingent and was relieved even as i remembered with amusement a few parties ago, back in october, someone remarking, not harshly, on our collective habit of going to parties to talk to the same 10-20 people we already know. the first thing i did in 2025 was go see no, the gael garcia bernal movie about the campaign to vote no on the 1988 plebiscite on pinochet; the second was family brunch; the third was watching the shop around the corner and confirming i am truly jimmy stewart pilled now. thursday i got a great haircut and hung out in the mulberry street library reading js&mn (i have most recently arrived at the portion after strange comes home from the war) and met a friend for dinner before seeing teeth, my second time getting around to a michael r. jackson musical just in time for closing week; not a perfect show but a wild time and i’m very glad he gets to be out there doing his thing. friday i got pleasantly fucked up and went out dancing until 3:30 in the morning with like ten people all of whom once again know each other because we like making it possible for people to get free stuff, which i guess one day i will accept is just my life now but on some level has not yet sunk in. i thought a lot as i have been thinking a lot about how for my entire twenties and then some loneliness was the defining color in my emotional landscape and i am still awkward and neurotic and shy but that just isn’t true anymore, when i thought it would be true forever. an absurdly cool trans girl i know told me she loved my hair and i went to sleep having achieved my step count for friday and saturday mostly in the span of about four hours. saturday i thought was to be for laundry and sleep but n. said a movie was playing he remembered loving so i made it into the city (after laundry) to watch todo mudo, a 1976 political thriller with a somewhat inscrutable plot (to me, knowing nothing about italian politics after the fall of rome other than that mussolini happened) and impeccable vibes, and back at home i managed to muster up the will for full body day to hit my fifth workout of the week, because i am very tough and brave.

today i tutored for the first time in two weeks and screwed up what was supposed to by my second by forgetting my own schedule, but it’s fine. i reviewed & resolutioned & brought my mom a change of clothes at the hospital and made a little page i can duplicate in my planning app that looks just like my little notebook weekly log pages except it lives in my ipad :) i have had an extremely good staycation and already have a series of nice things to look forward to in the days ahead. i feel very lucky here at the dawn of 2025. i keep thinking that, over and over.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Study puts understanding of long COVID and vaccination into question - Published Sept 4, 2024

This article highlights why I haven't been celebrating about recent findings that vaccination reduces long covid:

We still do not have a solid definition of what long covid is.

We still don't know how long it takes some people to develop long covid: Some people develop long covid symptoms months or even years after infection.

Many are undiagnosed with long covid because of a lack of understanding in the medical community.

The reduction stated in initial studies on vaccination and long covid cited about 30% reduction: That isn't enough for me to take off my mask.

Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly has been somewhat off his game in recent months, giving in to hope and showing signs of pandemic fatigue. His desire to be done with the pandemic may be tainting what he writes, in my opinion. As there is no cure for long covid (and we still don't know exactly what causes and perpetuates it), it seems silly to suggest that vaccination is a long covid silver bullet while cases continue to skyrocket worldwide.

I'm a non-medical observer, but I keep track of the latest studies and news, so I'm not totally uninformed, but take this blurb with a gain or two of salt. I could be wrong, but it doesn't look that way yet.

A new study from researchers at the Mayo Clinic suggests that being vaccinated against COVID-19 does little to prevent long COVID.

The findings contradict what has become conventional wisdom in the last 3 years—that vaccines offer a chance to significantly reduce the risk of long COVID, or new or persistent symptoms 3 months or more after infection, most likely by reducing the severity of infection.

Melanie Swift, MD, MPH, was the lead author of the study, which was published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. She said despite the current thinking that vaccines reduce the risk of developing long COVID, she wasn’t surprised she found no association.

"A lot of the early literature on long COVID was really defining long COVID through patient surveys," Swift told CIDRAP News. Swift’s study instead relied on participants having received a long COVID diagnosis from a physician after having a documented case of post-vaccination COVID-19 infection.

6.9% developed long COVID The study was based on the electronic records of 41,652 people aged 5 years or older with SARS-CoV-2–positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests between February 2021 and December 2022 and a diagnosis of long COVID 30 days to 6 months following infection.

The average age of patients was 41 years, 55.2% were female, and 90.7% were White. At the time of initial infection, 9,744 (23.4 %) were vaccinated with two doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, and 7,658 (18.4 %) had received more than two mRNA doses.

A total of 8.2% of patients required hospitalization for COVID-19, and most infections occurred during the Delta and Omicron eras (39.8% and 47.1%, respectively).

In total, 6.9% of patients were diagnosed as having long COVID, with no observed difference between unvaccinated patients, those vaccinated with two doses of an mRNA vaccine, and those with more than two doses.

Long COVID was associated with older age, female sex, and hospitalization for the initial infection. It was inversely associated with infection during the Omicron period, the authors wrote.

Swift said that vaccines still play a role in preventing long COVID. “If you don’t get COVID, you don’t get long COVID," she said. "It remains the most important medical tools in our arsenal by virtue of not getting COVID and severe COVID, but we can’t stop there and say ‘if you were vaccinated, you don’t have to worry about long COVID.’”

Confounding factors and health behaviors Clifford Rosen, MD, a senior scientist at the MaineHealth Institute for Research, has reviewed studies on long COVID and vaccines. He said the current study may be skewed because of its sample size.

"It’s a small cohort that is relatively homogeneous and likely has different healthcare behavior than other EHR [electronic health record] studies," Rosen said. Instead, he said long COVID studies done based on Veterans Affairs (VA) data offer a more heterogenous cohort.

Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, chief of research and development at the VA St Louis Health Care System and a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University, has been behind most VA studies on long COVID.

He just published a review of evidence showing that vaccination reduces the risk of long COVID. While the effect size varies by 15% to 70%, there is an estimated average reduction of 40% to 50%, almost universally.

He said he found Swift’s study surprising and said it likely suffers from one main confounding factor: The type of patient who seeks out a long-COVID diagnosis likely uses healthcare and is vaccinated.

Al-Aly said vaccination may help reduce some clusters of long-COVID symptoms better than others. Fore maple, his work has shown a "profound effect in pulmonary symptoms of COVID, and less on metabolic effects on long COVID.”

Though more research needs be done on long COVID and vaccination, Al-Aly remains confident that vaccines play an important role in reducing the risk of long COVID.

[thethirdromana]

Books I read for the first time this year - 2024 edition

I did this last year, and even though no one read it, it was fun so I'm doing it again.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins I loved The Woman in White so much that I had to have more Wilkie Collins right away. It is aggressively of its time, but very readable and gripping all the same. And I found the ending deeply satisfying. I should read more Wilkie Collins.

Julia by Sandra Newman This is the story of 1984 retold from Julia's perspective, with extra bleakness and a somewhat odd take on the ending. I think this would have benefitted from me having read 1984 more recently. I'm glad I read it; I don't think I will ever read it again.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells I merely liked this, and feel oddly guilty for not loving it as much as the rest of tumblr seems to. Possibly this would have benefitted from me bingeing the series instead of stopping at one.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen In the spring I decided it was time to read the two Austen novels I hadn't read before. I enjoyed Mansfield Park, though it's not destined to replace Sense and Sensibility as my favourite Austen novel. This is because Edmund, unfortunately, is a drip.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro I loved Remains of the Day so much that I thought I should read more Ishiguro. There's the usual unreliable narrator and glimpses of hidden darkness that you'd expect from Ishiguro in Klara and the Sun, but it's a lighter read overall, which is to say it didn't devastate me in the way that the Remains of the Day did.

Persuasion by Jane Austen One of these novels that's so totemic it feels weird to review it. It's like saying I quite liked the ocean; the ocean doesn't care.

I quite liked it, though.

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik The first of several recommendations from tumblr. I read the whole series one after another without a break. The amount that I enjoyed each novel was directly proportional to how much it was the Aubreyad with dragons - so the first and final books were my favourites.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Lots of people have this as their favourite Andy Weir novel but I am not among them. It was just a little bit too cuddly for me, I think, and I was also well into Time To Orbit: Unknown at this point (a web serial, so I've not included it on this list), which is in a similar style but better. The title pun is great, though.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume This is an early detective novel from before people had really figured out how the genre should work. An interesting read but not a particularly satisfying one.

The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin An incredible book, but I found myself wishing I could have read the version of it that Le Guin might have written later on in her career, when she came to focus less on male characters.

The Riverside Trilogy by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman This was another tumblr recommendation and I loved these, with the sole exception of the ending of the Fall of Kings. Queer love, sword-fighting and some of the most lavish and enticing descriptions of food that I've ever read - this is a significant percentage of I want in a novel.

The Documents in the Case by Dorothy Sayers and Robert Eustace I can't believe I hadn't read this earlier. I love Dorothy Sayers, I love the way she observes people, and I particularly love the way this novel brings a slice of the 1920s bohemian world to life. This means I have now read all of Dorothy Sayers' novels and should probably getting cracking on the short stories.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland Another tumblr recommendation! This felt a lot like reading fanfic - the tropes (enemies to lovers!), the writing style, the way the characters bounced off each other. I enjoyed it, though I did find myself wondering how readers who weren't used to fanfic norms would feel about it.

Spirit Level by Richy Craven This was a debut novel by someone who I've followed on Twitter (and subsequently Bluesky) for ages. It's a comedy novel about a man who can only see the ghost of his dead friend when he's drunk. I found it more sweet than funny.

Jeeves and the King of Clubs by Ben Schott Jeeves and Wooster fanfiction, but with an official licence! Entirely readable, but the best of AO3 is better.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller A gorgeous retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus. The prose is lovely; the ending, a little wobbly.

Tall and Dark by Suzannah Rowntree Sometimes I download novels onto my Kindle, forget any of the context, and pick them up without any prior info. Usually that's great, but it served Tall and Dark badly. I thought that it was going to be the kind of novel that the opening made it seem (a governess who can see spirits fakes being a medium in a non-fantasy setting) instead of what it was (a romp with fantastical monsters). The monster romp was fun, but I'd probably have enjoyed it more if I'd read the blurb and been prepared for what to expect.

The Night Raven by Sarah Painter More women who can see ghosts, but this time in an urban fantasy context. I was not really in the mood for urban fantasy when I read this, which did a disservice to another readable book.

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro This was Ishiguro's first novel, where he hadn't quite figured out the fine line between an unreliable narrator who hides things from the reader, and just not telling you what the fuck is going on.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro I did not finish this, but I got about two-thirds of the way through before giving up, so it's going on the list. This is where I went from "I like Kazuo Ishiguro" to "I like some of Kazuo Ishiguro's novels". Amazing that it's possible to make an Arthurian romp set in the early Middle Ages (two of my favourite things!) so dull.

On the Beach by Nevil Shute This was the best novel I read all year. It's the story of a small group of people in Australia, waiting for a cloud of nuclear radiation that has already killed the rest of humanity to reach them. Other writers might have shown people having crazed reactions to the end of the world; Nevil Shute shows ordinary people responding in dignified and quiet ways. It was utterly devastating.

So Disdained by Nevil Shute This was a lot lighter than On the Beach and generally fun, though the heroic role played in it by Italian fascists was uncomfortable.

Circe by Madeline Miller Good, if a little bit less well-constructed than The Song of Achilles, though some of that has to be down to the source material.

The Autobiography of Mr Spock by Una McCormack It's a truly impressive feat to synthesise the assorted contradictory Spock lore into something that makes coherent sense. Una McCormack sees the world of Star Trek as a darker place than I prefer to, and as a dedicated Spirk shipper, maybe I was never going to be entirely happy with this. It's very well-written but perhaps not quite for me.

The Anglo-Saxons by Marc Morris I realised I'd got to nearly the end of the year without reading any non-fiction. This was a great way to address that. I already knew a fair bit about the Anglo-Saxon period but this was a very enjoyable way to fill in the gaps.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir I gave in to the need to know what everyone on tumblr seemed to be raving about. Lesbian necromancers in space was always going to be a winner with me, though at times it was a bit Warhammer 40k-esque (mountains of skulls! rivers of blood!) for my tastes.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Overtly feminist fiction is usually my bag, but I didn't vibe with this. It's patronising towards its autistic-coded protagonist, and I wish it didn't spend quite so much time emphasising how hot she is. I could have done without the sapient dog, too.

Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue Lesbian historical fiction featuring Anne Lister? Obviously on to a great start. The plot was a little constrained by the messiness of historical events, and there were a couple of bizarre modern references that threw me out of immersion when I reached them, which was particularly odd given how meticulous most of the research was. But I'm nitpicking: this was a gorgeous novel overall.

[rei-ismyname]

From The Ashes - Mystique

So, Mystique has her own book once more with issue #1 dropping on October 16th. Given the state of the Marvel world at the moment (or at least the X-books, everyone else seems focused elsewhere while mutants are being slaughtered and imprisoned... again) it really feels like Raven Darkholme's time to shine.

Looks cool but feels like something's missing

She hasn't had a solo book since 2004 - 20 years - and a lot has changed since then. She was quite the breakout character during the Krakoan age - she got her wife Destiny back, she found a sort of understanding with their son Nightcrawler (and we all learned the truth of the retcon in a pretty slick way), and perhaps most importantly we got a sense of her interiority. I'd be remiss in not mentioning Rogue, but they weren't really in each other's orbits until Fall of X. YMMV, but she became sympathetic for the first time ever. We got to see her interact with almost everyone as an uneasy ally while still being her bad bitch black ops self. Not friends, but on the same team with the overarching investment in keeping their shared home working. There was a foundation of connective tissue there right until the end.

Be Gay, Do Crime?

Alas, the wheel has turned again and Krakoa is no more. The connective tissue is gone. However, out of the three people she was closest to narratively - Destiny, Kurt and Rogue - the relationship I'm truly invested in seeing more of is her and Destiny. The book isn't called Mystique and Destiny, and she's not in any of the solicits or preview artwork, but surely they wouldn't do a Mystique book without her, would they?

My favourite sapphic terrorists

Yeah, I think they would tbh. Destiny is a very complex character to write and she was so entwined with Krakoa from the start in HoxPoX due to the nature of her gift - seeing possible futures. As the narrative pulls away from Krakoa, as we look for those pieces of connective tissue, as character growth is left by the wayside or undone, the world and stories are getting much smaller. Destiny had reached the promised land and her gift was focused on survival - of the married couple and Krakoa itself. I'm just not sure where she'd fit in a From The Ashes world.

Such a strong partnership too - Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.

The elephant in the room is that the pair are very popular and I'm pretty sure the Mystique-buying demographic would have something to say about Destiny being absent. I'm thinking the Magneto treatment is likely, some contrived way of keeping her in the margins of the run or even depowering her. We know Mystique is going to be more of a face than she's been in the past, 'protecting mutants.' That is a good thing as her motivations were often baffling pre-2019. Her behaviour was often handwaved with 'craziness' which is not good for any character, especially a woman.

Destiny in her distinctive mask is visible in this header, although...

This was somewhat explained in Fall of X that Xavier's (consensual) memory tampering knocked something loose, for lack of a better term. I'm hoping the growth we saw sticks, and I don't think that's unrealistic, it's the rest of it. What prompted me writing this was the AIPT review of the first issue. It all sounds exciting but the only other character mentioned is Nick Fury, nothing on Destiny. Any reviewer worth their salt should have a sense of expectations, and the absence feels meaningful.

Obviously this is all speculation, which is fun, though I'm not going off nothing here. I'm trying to be mindful of being the 'Krakoa was the best and this shit sucks' person, but Krakoa WAS the best and I really don't want From The Ashes to suck. I don't have any control over that, though I do have control over my expectations.

Bling! knows what's up, leaning on the fourth wall.

The last thing I think needs consideration is that the couple got the Wedding Special very recently. It was pretty good, though I thought the best parts were the Claremont interview and Anole's ongoing protest. But it was popular!

Mystique would LOVE that. Bisexual Menace for life.

He ended up putting it on a t-shirt. I need one!

As fun as it was and as much hype it got at the time, remember that it was a Pride Month thing. Ever the rainbow capitalists, Marvel picked a winning focus but I don't think they'd have done outside of Pride Month. Sadly, that might apply to their relationship as well. I think it would be a miscalculation, but the signs point to it being a solo book. As I often say in my doomsaying posts, we shall see and I hope I'm wrong.

They're just too iconic and work so well together. Don't get me wrong, good writing can make anything work. Aside from my ongoing mourning of Krakoa, WLW rep is important and for all their faults they deserve love like everyone else. Maybe a Sisterhood of Evil Morally Ambiguous Mutants is on the cards?

[bittermarching]

(I've said this before but,) It's annoying to me how so many people feel compelled to spread disinformation and present every situation as completely black and white, regardless of the facts, to manipulate other people into agreeing with them. This happens all the fucking time, especially online.

A recent example: M. Williams, the man who was recently executed in Missouri (not putting his full name bc I don't want a bunch of illiterate keyboard "prison abolitionists" telling me to kms). Lemme first preface this by saying I Do Not think he should've been executed. Just to be clear.

There are a million zillion posts on this site claiming that there was "overwhelming forensic evidence definitively proving his innocence" and that the "only evidence" linking him to the crime was the testimony of two cellmates who were rewarded for their testimonies. Both of these things are false.

What linked him to the crime was a) the victim's stolen items were found in his possession (obviously he could have just been a fence, but the items found were a ruler and a calculator, which have no value so why would a fence have that?); b) the testimony of his girlfriend who said that he confessed and had scratches on his neck and blood on his shirt and the victim's laptop in his car; c) the victim's stolen laptop was recovered from a man who said Williams sold it to him; d) the alleged jailhouse confession his former cellmate claimed he made. Neither Williams' girlfriend or the man who bought the laptop received any reward for testifying, as far as I could find. The gf was awaiting trial on an unrelated crime, but it doesn't seem like she got a plea deal or anything for testifying. The cellmate did receive a reward, so that imo makes his testimony somewhat less persuasive. There was also the fact that he had a history of armed robbery.

However! And this is why his death sentence should have been overturned (regardless of whether you support the existence of the death penalty at all), there were several serious issues with how the crime was investigated, the trial, and post-trial handling of the case.

First, regarding the forensic evidence, the DNA of an initially-unidentified man was found on the knife. It turns out, that DNA belonged to one of the prosecutors who contaminated the evidence by repeatedly handling it without gloves. (This is where people seem confused, claiming that the DNA belongs to the real culprit, but that is false). The fact that the evidence was mishandled alone should have been enough imo to overturn his sentence bc the jury did not have this info when they convicted him.

Second, the prosecuting attorney handling voir dire (jury selection) had a Very Clear racial bias, as he eliminated all but one Black juror, and the reason he gave for eliminating one of them was that he "looked too much like" Williams. Which, I mean. Come on, that's just insanely clear anti-Black racism.

Third, the bizarre, intentional mishandling of this case post-trial. First, the former governor stays the execution and forms a panel of judges to review the case. But then, the new governor suddenly dissolves the panel before they finish their investigation and just decides to lift the stay on the execution. A lawsuit was pending to have another trial into Williams' innocence, given all the new evidence about the mishandling of the trial, but the state supreme court found that they didn't have the authority to withdraw the execution order. Williams accepted a plea deal devised by prosecutors that would have his conviction commuted to life without parole. The state sup. ct. blocked the plea deal. The governor denied his plea for clemency. Basically, the people in positions of final authority seemed absolutely determined to go through with this execution no matter what.

I might've missed some details here, I read a bunch of articles and tried to piece things together, but the length of this post was already getting away from me.

But the point is, I hate how ppl feel the need to oversimplify complex issues and events in order to convince others of the point they're trying to make. It is true that there were actual, material pieces of evidence linking Williams to the crime and that he did have a history of armed robbery. But it's equally true that the investigation and trial were biased and mishandled and that the governor and state supreme court seemed hellbent on having this man executed. Honestly, I don't think he was innocent -- it's undeniable that he was at least involved in the crime in some fashion. HOWEVER, if there is any doubt at all about a person's guilt, the death penalty should be off the table. And there was absolutely doubt. The evidence did not conclusively 100% show that no one else could have committed the murder and the investigation, trial, and post-trial were all very messy to say the least. And that should be enough to make people outraged at his execution! You should be able to accurately present the facts and let people decide whether they agree with you. And yet every post I've seen on this case falsely claims that there was definitive evidence proving that he was completely innocent, portraying him as just some random man the state decided to target despite having no connection to the case.

Even when I agree with the point being made, the disinformation people spread to manipulate others into agreeing with them really pisses me off. It's like we're all mini-politicians nowadays willing to say anything to accomplish our own agendas and I can't trust anything without verifying it with 15 separate independent sources. (I mean I've always done that bc I'm a full time skeptic, but still). This case is just one example, but it's constant and it drives me insane.

And, for the record, I'm not some death penalty fanatic who just loves throwing people in prison for no reason. I have done volunteer work for the Innocence Project, including their death penalty divison which aims to get inmates off of death row. Which is more than most of y'all can say, so.

[raving-raven-writing]

Love and Leashes--Review and Thoughts

So I am still on my Asian films/shows kick and I recently watched a Korean film that has been on my to watch list for awhile.

It is on Netflix, titled "Love and Leashes". About two colleagues Jung Jihoo and Jung Jiwoo, who initially have a D/S relationship, but eventually it turns out that they also have romantic feelings for one another as well. On a bit of a deeper surface, they both struggle in love. Her with the fact that she has a "resting bitch face" and if she wants a man, she needs to stop glaring and frowning. Him with the fact that the person he dated before was highly unwelcoming to his BDSM side and doesn't want to be in another relationship lest he get hurt the same way.

I have never personally experienced a D/S relationship. I only know from what I have read online, but I like the way they approached this relationship. It seemed very healthy. Compared to something like 50 Shades of Grey, I never once got any uncomfortable/cringe vibes from any of the "play scenes" they had.

It was something that was new to each of them. Jiwoo did her research before she tried anything on Jihoo and the agreement they made with one another was for a trial period, terms were made clear, and both agreed to them. They came up with a safe word in case something went wrong and there was aftercare after everything. Initially, they were to keep things as just a D/S relationship...but obviously, both of them end up catching feelings for the other. Also, all the different kinks shown in the film had me squealing in excitement--rarely do you ever see movies (excluding porno) that have anything like that. To list some of the kinks; -Dog/pet play -Feet/Heels---being stepped on -Whips/Impact play -Wax play -Bondage -Verbal Degradation/Dirty Talking -Shibari (Japanese Rope Bondage)

But there were moments in this movie that made me just go "Aww". Like when Jiwoo found Jihoo crying bc he thought that she was referring to him when she was muttering about "He's disgusting" but was referring to their boss. (And idk why, but I enjoy seeing men cry, it always gives me "Aww, let me hug you" urge). Or when they had gone out on a date, and she had handcuffed them together and was feeding him while they had lunch (depending on the situation, feeding another person is just so sweet and endearing to me). And at the end, when they were in a disciplinary meeting, Jihoo stands up to the HR and is defending Jiwoo and how she did nothing wrong---this was also where he confessed his attraction to her and no longer seems to care as much if other people think of him as a freak or pervert.

There were also moments of humor too. Like when they had their first session at a love motel and were trying pet play, and they can hear the couples on either side moaning, so Jihoo starts barking at them to try and drown out the noise (or to tell them off via dog speak?). And this resulted in them they get kicked out because of a noise complaint! Not to mention when he was being punished and asked for her to at least curse at him. And she's calling him a "stupid dumbass" and he cheerfully agrees with "Yes, I'm a stupid dumbass!".

I also liked the ending, of how the message was that there is someone out there for you, who will accept and love you as you are, "without the mask on". And, coming from someone who is chronically single, this is a nice message and is somewhat hopeful.

If you're comfortable with watching a bit of kinky content, with humor, romance, and fluff, I would highly recommend this movie! It was really good; made my night!

[mentalknot]

Mathematical Memories #1:

TW: Mental Health Topics

During the spring semester of my freshman year at college, I was hospitalized for a mental health emergency, and let me tell you... the worst part was easily the lack of chalkboards in the facility.

Questionable jokes aside, a conversation with a couple friends today reminded me of a brief memory from stay:

As I sat at the small table, trying my best to comprehend the printout of an academic paper my mentor had given me to review at the start of our project, when one of the other patients called over to me,

"Hey math girl, can you explain the Good Will Hunting problem?"

I was quite rusty on the specifics of the film, and also knew better than to claim understanding of what could possibly be a problem on par with some millennium problems (given my vague understanding of the math Hollywood finds interesting). Nonetheless, I told him to find the movie, and I'd try my best.

The rest of the patients gathered around as the man who asked the question, Alan, located the film, and paused the screen so I could see what was written on the chalkboard in one of those early few scenes... graph theory, thank god. The first few questions were as follow:

Find the adjacency matrix A of the graph (the graph had four vertices, not horrible)

Find the matrix giving the number of three-step walks (also not terrible, but ramping up)

Find the generating function for walks from point i to point j. (getting more interesting...)

Find the generating function for walks from point 1 to 3. (similar to the previous question... probably worse)

Although I knew about the core pieces of the questions from my recent combinatorics course, I knew better than to test my chances on 3 and 4. Still, there were people staring at me eager to learn math, and I couldn't disappoint them.

"Have any of you taken a course in graph theory -- networks maybe? No experience needed, just gaging the room..."

Silence. I grabbed a piece of paper and a colored pencil to begin regardless.

"Ok, let's start with the basics: a graph is a mathematical structure built from vertices and edges. Vertices are these 'dots' or 'points' I'm drawing here, and edges are the 'lines' connecting them. If two vertices, say A and B, are connected by an edge, it shows some sort of 'relationship' between A and B."

I scribbled a quick simple graph on the page, and with the group nodding in agreement, moved on to multigraphs, explained that an adjacency matrix is one tool we can use to understand whether any of our vertices share an edge or not, and finally I threw in trees for fun.

Trees got them. They loved trees. Walter, who was a college freshman as well, inquired

"Is there such thing as an 'infinite' tree, like one with infinitely many leaves?"

I'd never thought about such a thing before, but saw no reason why such a graph couldn't exist... and imagined that 'spreading the leaves out evenly' would yield a depiction that looked somewhat like a circle... only one way to check.

We ran over to the communal tablet and started looking up "infinite trees, graph theory" much to the amusement of the nurses on duty for the evening. We never found an image that exactly matched what we head in our minds, but discovered enough to convince us that the idea wasn't baseless. The rest of the group had since dispersed, and Walter and I soon did the same to prepare for sleep.

Reflecting back on that day, I can't help but wonder... what is it about early career mathematicians getting fixated on wacky graph theory ideas?

referencing no personal experience of course...

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I confronted my BF about not ordering from my store?

My bf (nb they) and I (m he) have been together 3 years, and have lived together half of that. I moved across states to be with them, and I am very happy being here with them.

Since moving here, I've worked at a fast food restaurant about a mile away from our house. It used to be one of my boyfriend's favorite places to eat, and they still order there sometimes. However, recently, the past year or so, they've been ordering from the location about three miles further away.

They DO still sometimes order from my location, but it is very rare. Usually when they have to pick me up from work. But outside of that, they order exclusively from locations that are further away and even more inconvenient to get to.

I think there's one main reason for this. Before I moved and began working here, they had a bad experience at my location, and this bad experience led to them (drunkenly, stupidly) leaving a couple of bad reviews. (Which was stupid of them.)

About six months into me working here, I sprained my knee, and my boyfriend met my boss and I at the urgent care. Turns out, my boss remembers those bad reviews, and she called them out on it! I think she's a total bitch, mostly for reasons unrelated to this, but her animosity towards my boyfriend explained a lot of her animosity towards me in the following months.

Anyway, my boyfriend was thoroughly embarrassed. I can't really say I blame them. But I was embarrassed too! Almost every time my boss acted like I was scum of the earth (when it couldn't be explained away by my own mistakes, which was often, because I'm actually really good at my job!) I found myself wondering if it was because of my boyfriend.

But I had to move past it, because this is my JOB. and I LOVE this job. I love the work I do, no matter what people think of it. I love everyone I work with, aside from my boss. I love learning new skills. I love the thrill of the lunch rush, and the thrill of working on a giant catering order and thinking "There's no way I'll ever finish this" until, all of a sudden, it's finished. I did office work before this, and this is so much more satisfying to me.

Anyway. All that to say, I moved past it. But my boyfriend, however, is still stuck in that stupid stage of embarrassment. No one who worked there while they made a fool of themself is still working there. No one knows or notices or cares, except for them. And I've told them this. And I'd really PREFER for them to order from my store, because it makes me feel valued and important to someone close to me. (Plus, any tip they leave is money directly back into our finances, which is good, IMO.)

I want to talk to them about it, but I know they'll just say how the embarrassment is too much for them. (Also, somewhat related, they've been trying to get me to apply for a new job further away, which is a pain because I can't drive and walking just a mile from the shop is too much for me, because I'm out of shape.)

I think they really don't want me to be here, but I WANT to be here. I think they don't like the work I do, but I LIKE the work I do. I would really appreciate it if they supported me by, at the very least, ordering from my store.

Would I be the asshole if I confronted them about this?

(Last couple details: my boyfriend always orders the club sub, which comes with bacon. They say our bacon is mid. I think they're full of shit, I've eaten so much of our bacon and think it is literally the best. I don't really see how another store could have better bacon. Also, when I first made sandwiches for them, I tended to show my favor by giving them extra meat and stuff. They said it messed with the "ratio" so I stopped doing that. Could that be why they don't order from me anymore? I don't see how that could be, since I took their feedback to heart and stopped doing it. Idk.)

What are these acronyms?

[masterdetectivexx]

Hi mtx hope you are doing well

what are your thoughts on last case? who do you think that old woman and who she is focus on is it amuro or conan? and what abt the baby is it possible for him to be KARASUMA ?!!

File 1126-1128 Review

I think this latest case was very refreshing, similar to the Butler shinkansen case, where we revisited classic DC mystery themes and settings that aren't often used. You immediately get a classic kidnapping case with the added trait of a seemingly gory and highstake threat from the start through the reveal of a head in a jar (File 1126).

The twist that the gory atmosphere was ultimately a fakeout is such a callback to the very old Ayumi kidnapping case (File 83), where the head she was stuck with was a prop as well. It was also a neat trick on how to create the illusion of a 3D head out of a 2D paper.

The trick of opening a lock with a mini-explosion using matchsticks (File 1128) was also quite genius and I hadn’t thought of such a way to actually work (as expected of Gosho).

Another revisited theme was Masumi and her protective and watchful gazes against anyone with potentially ill intent towards Conan, which I always love to see more of. Her noticing Amuro's nosiness towards Conan (File 1126) took me immediately back to Yusaku cold case in Bourbon arc (File 814), where she started glaring the same way towards Subaru after he alluded to figuring out Conan's true identity discreetly.

As for whether her eventually revealing to Conan, that Amuro is investigating him (File 1128), is gonna lead to any actions from Conan's side is all up in the air. Since Conan already views Amuro as an ally, he most likely wouldn't be too concerned of it, since unlike his Bourbon worries in File 1009 (after his recent Kudo Shinichi publicity) he has no reason to suspect the BO is onto Edogawa Conan.

One thing I somewhat got right was something I speculated in regards to one of the suspects that Ran and Sonoko found so familiar. I had speculated that Kanamaru was an employee who has worked in Poirot since before Amuro & Masumi intro, based on the clues that were given in File 1127 (Knowledge on behind-the-counter, familarity, etc).

I was convinced, but mainly hopeful, that we were finally getting the reveal of the mysterious never-appearing owner of Café Poirot. It seems however unfortunately that, while the line of thought was correct, it was rather a former employee who covered for the owner when he was hospitalized in the past (File 1128).

It was however cool to learn that Kanamaru had previously appeared as a background Poirot employee in the anime, making his general design and official manga debut pretty cohesive in the DC franchise.

Now... as for the important question of yours, who is the old lady that looked unique in how she appeared as a witness with a mysterious toddler in a stroller and who also appeared once again at the very end...?

She is none other than: Karasuma Renya's mother pushing her shrunken Boss son in a stroller!!!

Jokes aside, she did pretty much catch every other fan's attention the moment she appeared and it was a running joke that the boss has finally made his appearance xD

As for what I really think, I'm not really entertaining the idea that the Boss would have first of all shrunken into a younger age than our main protagonist (a 7-year-old), since it would lose any air of suspending disbelief and start becoming more comical than serious (especially since a toddler boss would be too vulnerable as a threat). The old lady also looked quite generic for a character design, which of course doesn't need to mean she isn't important, but it does ultimately lessen the chance that she is a major player in the story. What I however entertained was the possibility that she could be another named, but unrevealed, old woman character in the story, who has the best timing to appear in this stage of the ongoing plot. I'm talking about Haneda Kohji's mother, Haneda Ichiyo.

Considering that Gosho is very likely already setting up the introduction of Haneda Yasuharu (Kohji's named father in the marriage registration in File 947) through the mystery of Vader (respirator elder), it couldn’t be more fitting to have the also-named wife being setup to get introduced in such a discreet way that once she eventually appears in association with Vader (assuming it's Haneda Yasuharu), it will leave a bigger and better impression on the reader than a simple worthless appearance of a new character.

As for her motives for appearing around Poirot Café, it could be that similar to Vader, who this old lady is actually being watchful of is neither Conan nor Amuro, but rather Sera Masumi. Vader has had his eyes on Masumi and Mary (which again fits with him being Yasuharu) and seemingly realized that Akai Mary has become a middle-schooler (File 1096), so in a similar fashion, this could be Gosho sprinkling in some hidden continuation of that plot thread, but with the twist being that Ichiyo (Kohji's mother) is trying to confirm her husband's (Vader/Yasuharu) crazy findings by borrowing one of her housemaids' baby as a part of her cover as a passerby, rather than glamorously appearing in a vintage/expensive car that shows her status of being from the powerful Haneda family.

The ending of the chapter had a sidenote mentioning that many premonitions were swirling around Café Poirot, which is ultimately enough that it is referring to what Masumi brought up about Conan being investigated by Amuro, but it could also indeed covertly be including the looming old lady literally outside the Café hearing the rom-com commotion inside. What is however the most exciting is that the awaited Osaka Heizuha likely-confession case in Naniwa has been teased even in the to-be-continued note to be the next big 5-chapter case coming in Aug 7. I can't wait to finally see more development of not only the main characters of this stage (Heiji & Kazuha) but also Rum arc's new stars of this subplot that have thoroughly been a joy to follow (Momiji and Muga).

[ifthesewings--couldfly]

My Long, Spoilery Review for Inside Out 2

Despite me having decided to wait for Inside Out 2 to drop on Disney Plus before seeing it, the quantity of clips circulating on social media made it absolutely impossible to stay spoiler-free until the next three months or so, and since critique and public alike seemed to really like this movie, I decided I wanted to see the whole thing before I got spoiled for good. I know I probably played the Big Mouse Game by doing so and I’m not happy about it, but from a storytelling standpoint, Inside Out 2 did deserve to be enjoyed as a whole.

‼️ATTENTION SPOILERS AHEAD‼️

The movie is as good as everyone makes it out to be. The new emotions didn’t feel like they came out of nowhere like I initially thought (except for Nostalgia, which I found forced and mildly annoying) and the new concepts, like Riley's Sense of Self, are brilliant. One of my favorite scenes was Joy visiting the place where the Sense of Self is kept along with Sadness. I liked how the topic of Anxiety was handled in a non-clichy way, and how she wasn’t made to be the villain, but in the end, she turned out to care about Riley just as much as Joy and the other emotions did. The only reason why she bottled them up was why she genuinely believed they were getting in her way of helping Riley. The pacing of the movie seems a little fast as first, but the idea of setting it during a three-days hockey camp is the perfect timeframe for the story they wanted to tell: a new situation, but still, not one that could have consequences in the “real world” if you get what I mean. I found it to be the perfect scenario to tell how things that might seem “the end of the world” to us, in the end are not actually that serious. In the end, this isn’t one of those movies that makes you say “I like the sequel better than the original” but rather “this continuation is so natural, it feels like first and second movie are two parts of a whole.” Pixar is building a way more solid franchise than anything Disney has done recently - I consider the two studios two separate entities - and if this level of quality is being kept, I actually wouldn’t mind an Inside Out 3.

Now, for the things I liked less.

The emotions were too “personified” if this makes sense. I didn’t like the fact that emotions can somehow feel emotions themselves (e.g. Anger stating that “He can’t always be angry”, or Joy stating that it’s hard for her to be positive all the time). I didn’t also like the fact that emotions can apparently have feelings for each other. I perceived an unsettling intention of pairing up Riley’s emotions from the creators of this movie. Sadness with Embarrassment, Joy with Anger, heck even Fear with Anxiety (“I can change her”? Really?) I don’t know what the creators were trying to do here. Non-canon ships are fine, they’re the soul of every fandom, but when they’re being fed to you by the creators themselves, it comes off as weird. Disgust simping over Lance Slashblade was a fun gag, but trying to imply the emotions could get together as couples was really not. And speaking of forced things, I feel the inclusion of mixed-technique animation to be somewhat forced and proof that both Disney and Pixar are falling behind in terms of technical innovation. At this point, it’s clear they they are no longer the standard for Western animation.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5