#in this economy i might add

[userparamore]

bless you, paracunt and other lovely gifmakers for giving all of us paramore updates on tumblr. I hate going to twt and insta so much cause so many paramore fans there have a problem with everything 😭 I've seen so much discourse and arguments between paramore fans and swifties that the photo updates don’t show up on the timeline anymore

The band is full of 30 year old adults, why are fans babying them and acting like taylor swift forced them to be openers. They chose this and they seem to be enjoying it. The most logical thing I could think of is that their decision to open for Taylor is just a mix of both their longterm friendship with tswfit and also it’s much more convenient for an independent band that has their own very new record label to just join someone else’s tour rather than planning their own headlining one, especially since their last headline tour which was funded by Warner was their most successful one and it had the highest budget so it will be hard to try to top that

Idk why they didn’t make sure to include Europe and Asia while under Warner contract for tiw tour and will be forever bitter about that (I haven’t seen them in 7 years) but at this point there’s just no use in complaining constantly and acting like we’re better than swifties cause a lot of paramore fans are being as condescending and acting all high and mighty as those old rock fans that would make fun of hayley when she features on rock sound or rolling stones magazines

thank you for this lovely message! <3 i'm trying my best to keep up with updates and unfortunately need to go on twitter to find them. but luckily i use it so rarely and follow too few account to see much discourse.

but there is a reason why i'm still here on tumblr in the fandom, and that is bc it is the lovliest community here. i have expressed my criticism of the band and their decisions, and always appreciate that we can have an adult conversation about paramore without fighting or being nasty. i have always thought it is important to recognize that just bc you are a big fan of someone, that they are capable of making mistakes or do things you don't agree with– and that is okay.

the whole taylor swift tour is unfortunate and i think there wouldn't have been so much discourse around it if they had done their own solo tour in europe/asia, and completed this is why with a full world tour. i get that there are other factors involved aka the new label, and that they are in a little bit of an uncertain part of their career as it is the beginning of independent paramore. fandom "wars" have always been present on the internet, and honestly i try my best to stay out of it. it is easy to get sucked into it, wanting to defend your fave or whatever, and i can admit that i've been a condescending paramore fan lol

in the end i'm happy for the european paramore fans who also are swifties, and i hope they have a great time this summer. and it's not like swifties aren't welcome into the parafamily- i'm happy that paramore have the opportunity to grow their fanbase and that new people will be able to discover paramore.

i think, just for my own personal opinion on this, as a long-term european fan, it does feel a little like a betrayal. there is no secret that paramore are a very us-american-centric band, and all the stuff they do will always be with the us in mind. and like you said "i haven’t seen them in 7 years" while the us have had two full tours in 1 year feels.... well not great (and honestly i become a bad person when i see americans complaining that "they didn't come to my state" 😭 stfu). i do think that disappointment bleeds into this eras tour situation where a lot of the negativity we're seeing are just disappointment bubbling to the surface.

[phantasy014]

yay sakuragi yayyy

[stellar-collective]

been a bit busy, take this Zor design i sketched out earlier

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

✏️ Writing Dialogue That Sounds Like Real People, Not Theater Kids on Red Bull

(a crash course in vibes, verbal economy, and making your characters shut up already)

Okay. We need to talk about dialogue. Specifically: why everyone in your draft sounds like they’re in a high school improv group doing a dramatic reading of Riverdale fanfiction.

Before you panic, this is normal. Early dialogue is almost always too much. Too polished. Too "scripted." So if yours feels off? You’re not failing. You’re just doing Draft Zero Dialogue, and it’s time to revise it like a boss.

Here’s how to fix it.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎭 STEP ONE: DETOX THEATER ENERGY I say this with love: your characters are not all quippy geniuses. They do not need to deliver emotional monologues at every plot beat. They can just say things. Weird, half-finished, awkward things.

Real people:

interrupt each other

trail off mid-thought

dodge questions

contradict themselves

repeat stuff

change the subject randomly

Let your characters sound messy. Not every line needs to sparkle. In fact, the more effort you put into making dialogue ✨perfect✨, the more fake it sounds. Cut 30% of your clever lines and see what happens.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎤 STEP TWO: GIVE EACH CHARACTER A VERBAL FINGERPRINT The fastest way to make dialogue feel alive? Make everyone speak differently. Think rhythm, grammar, vocabulary, tone.

Some dials you can twist:

Long-winded vs. clipped

Formal vs. casual

Emojis of speech: sarcasm, filler words, expletives, slang

Sentence structure: do they talk in fragments? Run-ons? Spirals?

Emotion control: are they blunt, diplomatic, avoidant, performative?

Here’s a shortcut: imagine what your character sounds like over text. Are they the “lol okay” type or the “okie dokie artichokie 🌈✨” one? Now translate that into speech.

─────── ✦ ───────

🧠 STEP THREE: FUNCTION > FILLER Every line of dialogue should do something. Reveal something. Move something. Change something.

Ask:

Does this line push the plot forward?

Does it show character motivation/conflict/dynamic?

Does it create tension, add context, or raise a question?

If it’s just noise? It’s dead air. Cut it. Replace it with a glance. A gesture. A silence that says more.

TIP: look at a dialogue scene and remove every third line. Does the scene still work? Probably better.

─────── ✦ ───────

💥 STEP FOUR: REACTIVITY IS THE GOLD STANDARD Characters don’t talk into a void. They respond. And how they respond = the real juice.

Don’t just write back-and-forth ping pong. Write conflict, dodge, misunderstanding. If one character says something vulnerable, the other might joke. Or ignore it. Or say something cruel. That’s tension.

Dialogue is not just information exchange. It’s emotional strategy.

Try this exercise: A says something revealing. B lies. A notices, but pretends they don’t. B changes the subject. Now you’ve got a real scene.

─────── ✦ ───────

🔍 STEP FIVE: PAY ATTENTION TO POWER Every convo has a power dynamic, even if it’s tiny. Who’s steering? Who’s withholding? Who’s deflecting, chasing, challenging?

Power can shift line to line. That shift = tension. And tension = narrative fuel.

Write conversations like chess matches, not ping pong.

─────── ✦ ───────

✂️ STEP SIX: SCISSORS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND The best dialogue is often the second draft. Or third. Or fourth. First drafts are just you figuring out what everyone wants to say. Later drafts figure out what they actually would say.

Things to cut:

Greetings/closings ("Hi!" "Bye!"--skip it unless it serves tone)

Exposition disguised as chat

Obvious thoughts spoken aloud

Explaining jokes

Repeating what we already know

Readers are smart. Let them fill in blanks.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎧 STEP SEVEN: READ IT OUT LOUD (YES, REALLY) If you hate this step: too bad. It works. Read it. Mumbling is fine. Cringe is part of the ritual.

Ask yourself:

Would someone actually say this?

Does this sound like one person speaking, or a puppet show with one hand?

Where does the rhythm trip? Where’s the breath?

If you can’t say it out loud without wincing, the reader won’t make it either. Respect the vibe.

─────── ✦ ───────

🏁 TL;DR: If you want your dialogue to sound like real people, let your characters be real. Messy. Annoying. Human. Let them interrupt and lie and joke badly and say the wrong thing at the worst time.

Cut the improv class energy. Kill the urge to be ✨brilliant✨. And listen to how people talk when they’re scared, tired, pissed off, in love, or trying not to say what they mean.

That’s where the good stuff is.

—rin t. // thewriteadviceforwriters // official advocate of awkward silences and one-word replies

P.S. I made a free mini eBook about the 5 biggest mistakes writers make in the first 10 pages 👀 you can grab it here for FREE:

[dduane]

Just a quick note...

To let folks know that all the prices on our Ebooks Direct ebook bundles are still holding at Black Friday levels (pretty much 50% off, and in some cases more...).

This is locally germane just now because we're hoping to sign our new lease this week, and we've got some rental arrears to deal with... so some extra incoming funds would be extremely useful.

Want to help out? The Whole Store bundle is right here, and honestly, it's ridiculously cheap at $39.99.

And you can see the other available series- or universe-specific bundles here.

As usual: all our bundles are DRM-free, so they're yours forever to keep and move around as you please. And they come with our lifetime free replacement guarantee.

If you've already participated in these offers, or aren't interested, perhaps you might feel inclined to reblog this anyway, for others' attention? It'd be very much appreciated.

(I keep forgetting to add this, probably because i hate it: UK friends, please note that we can't sell directly to you any more, because of Brexit. Dammit. But still: sorry.) :/

Also, something new: want to support the local economy a different way? We've got a Ko-Fi now. (And they don't care about Brexit at all.) :)

Thanks, all!

[yanyandam]

hi! i hope you're having a nice day! it's my first time requesting here :> can i get a scenarios wherein the bonten is babying the reader or comforting her because she's so stressed from work (it's me, im so stressed huhu) it can be fluff, suggestive, anything hehe. you dont have to rush, and thank you very much in advance if you ever granted my request. i love your works so much. take care always <3

HEYYY thanks for requesting. I genuinely hope you'll feel better, im also bad at handling my stress...This is sadly pretty rushed, I wrote it during my economy class (mfs will write bonten ffs instead of focusing on money problems.) Didn't know if you meant bonten separately or not so I did both lmao, there's a scenario w the whole gang down there

WARNINGS: None, except that this is pretty out of character omg Idk how to write FLUFF with BONTEN in the same dimensions without it seeming like a comedy show from the 80's

Manjiro doesn’t talk about emotions, but he understands exhaustion deeply. -If he lets you stay close to him despite his dark impulses AND doesn’t let them make him hurt you, that alone means he cares. -He’ll silently take action, making sure your workload disappears without admitting he did it for you.

You come home late, your body aching from work. You barely manage to take off your jacket before collapsing onto the couch with a groan. Your head is throbbing. He’s sitting nearby, eating Dorayaki, his face blank as usual. He barely acknowledges you, but after a few moments, he finally mutters, “Tired?” You exhale sharply. “What do you think?” There’s a long silence. You expect him to say nothing else, he usually doesn’t. But then, in a slow, detached voice, he mutters, “Go to sleep. I’ll handle it.” You blink. “Handle what?” No response. But the next morning, your biggest work problems have mysteriously disappeared. Someone “took care of it.” You don’t ask who. You already know.

Sanzu’ first instinct is to eliminate the problem. If he can’t do that, he’ll take control of you instead, not in a bad way -If you mean something to him, he’ll make sure you survive, even against your own exhaustion -He’s trying. OK?

You’re sitting at the table, rubbing your temples, your head buried in your arms. You’re so drained you barely notice him watching you. "What’s wrong?" His voice is low, flat, like he’s assessing a problem to be solved. "Just… work. It’s killing me." He doesn’t blink. "Then quit." You huff a laugh. "I can’t just quit." He stares at you for a long time, his face unreadable. Then, without warning, he reaches over and takes your phone. "Hey..! what are you doing?!"

"Making you rest." He shuts it off, slides it into his pocket. "You’re not getting this back until you stop being pathetic." You glare at him, but before you can argue, he places something in front of you, a plate of food. "Eat," he orders. His tone is sharp, but there’s something close to concern deep down. You don’t fight him this time.

-Kakucho’s way of helping is subtle, he won’t say much, but his actions speak louder than words. -If you push him, he might give the laziest, most half-hearted comforting words, but only if no one else is around. He’s not the same sweetheart he used to be.

You’re hunched over your laptop, typing furiously. Your eyes sting from exhaustion. He walks in, glances at you, then sighs. He disappears into the kitchen for a moment, then returns and sets something on the table next to you. A cup of coffee. You blink up at him. “Thanks.”

"Whatever." He turns to leave, then pauses at the doorway. There’s a long silence. You can feel him hesitating. Then, barely above a mutter, he adds, "Don’t overwork yourself." It’s simple yet so genuine.

-Kokonoi doesn’t believe in emotional support anymore, but he does believe in efficiency. He somehow decided you were worth protecting. -His way of fixing your stress? Throwing money at it until the problem disappears. I hate to limit Koko's character to 'the god of money', but really: unfortunately, he has no idea how to show his 'affection' otherwise.

You’re pacing the room, venting about your workload. "It’s just so much—I can’t even keep up. And my boss is breathing down my neck and—"

"Enough," he interrupts. You pause mid-rant. He pulls out his phone, taps a few buttons, then looks up at you with that same unreadable, calculating expression. "It’s handled." You frown. "What do you mean, it’s—"

"I mean I paid someone to do it for you." He tilts his head, watching your reaction. "Now sit down and stop acting pathetic." You want to be mad. You should be mad. But when you check your phone, your workload has been cut in half. He smirks. "You’re welcome."

-Mochizuki  actually wants to be supportive, but he doesn’t know how, so he does what he knows best: feeds you. He’ll act like it’s not a big deal, but deep down, he hates seeing you miserable.

You’re slumped on the couch, groaning. He walks in, glances at you, then disappears into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he plops down next to you and shoves a takeout box into your hands. "Eat." You groan. "I’m not hungry." He glares. "That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Just eat." You sigh, but take a bite. It’s really good. He smirks. "See? I know what I’m doing."

-Ran doesn’t understand emotional suffering, but he knows how to fix problems: pampering you

You’re buried in paperwork when he suddenly snatches it out of your hands. "What the—"

"You’re taking the week off," he states. "I already paid your boss. If he refuses…Let's just say he's going to have some serious problems with my subordinates.” You stare at him. "…You’re joking."

"Try me." The next day, you’re sitting in a luxury hotel suite, all expenses paid.

-Rindou  pretends not to care, but he actually does. -His way of helping is dragging you away from your stress and forcing you to relax.

You’re staring blankly at your laptop when he suddenly grabs your wrist and pulls you up.

"What—"

"We’re going out."

"I have work—"

"I don’t care. You’re boring when you’re stressed."

He drags you outside. Club, restaurant, spa…Whatever is your preference. You protest at first, but hours later, after a fun distraction, you actually feel relaxed. He smirks. "Told you."

BONUS: ALL OF THEM

You were sitting at a round table in one of their private lounges, elbows on the polished wood, face buried in your hands. The stress of work had hit you hard today, your boss was an idiot, the deadlines were impossible, and the thought of going back tomorrow made your stomach twist. You let out a long sigh. "I think I'm gonna snap and kill someone."

"Wouldn’t recommend it. You don’t have the balls for it," Kakucho muttered, lighting a cigarette, his usual calm expression unreadable. "I could get rid of the body for you," Sanzu said casually, tilting his head. "If Mikey allows it."

Manjiro, who was slouched in the armchair across from you, exhaled a long drag of smoke, watching you with that dangerous, unreadable gaze of his. "They pissing you off that bad?"

"Beyond." You groaned.

Mochi, sitting beside you, leaned forward. "Maybe you should just quit. I mean, you don’t need that job. You could just… open a café or something." Ran scoffed, swirling a glass of whiskey in his hand. "What a naïve thought. This is real life, not a fucking dream."

"You’re the last person who should talk about real life," Rindou muttered, rolling his eyes before turning to you. "You should take tomorrow off. Sleep in, eat something decent. You look like you’re about to pass out."

Kokonoi, who had been watching you in silence, finally leaned forward, his sharp gaze locked onto yours. "Your boss… give me a name."

You blinked. "What? No—I'm not getting you guys involved."

Sanzu smiled "Too late. We’re already involved."

Mikey sighed. "No one's killing anyone. Yet." He gestured for you to come closer, "You just need to relax. We’ll handle the rest." Mochi grinned and pushed a plate toward you. "Here. Eat. You can’t complain about life on an empty stomach." Rindou smirked slightly "Might as well drink too. You won’t care about your job after three shots."

You exhaled, looking at the ridiculous group around you. Dangerous men, criminals, killers… but somehow, tonight, they were just a bunch of idiots trying to make you feel better. And it worked.

[etraytin]

Emergency Preparedness On A Budget

Hey all, just a reminder that even though many of us are looking at a warmer-than-average winter this year, warm on average does not mean we won't see winter storms! In fact, warm winters can produce some really unusual weather patterns that are even more likely to produce severe storms. The best time to prepare for a winter storm, or any other natural disaster, is well before it happens, ie, right now.

"But wait," you might say, "the economy is stupid and everything is expensive! I'm afraid my survival bunker is just going to have to wait until my lottery numbers come up, which will take awhile because I also can't afford to play the lottery." First off, good job not playing the lottery, and second, preparing for a disaster does not have to be expensive. In fact, if you start early enough, disaster preparedness can be done a few dollars at a time without much of anything in the way of special supplies.

In order to not make a single post that is a billion lines long, I am dividing my advice into a few different posts and will link them together when I am done. The links will be right here: Part 2: Medicine and Power

Food and Water Preparedness

FIrst and most important: food and water. The motto of disaster preparedness is "The first 72 is on you." In a major disaster situation, if the situation has not resolved itself within three days, that's about the amount of time it takes for outside help to get itself organized and start arriving in a meaningful way to a disaster area. Objectively three days is a pretty short period of time, subjectively it is a small eternity if you are not prepared.

Preppers (people who do disaster preparedness as a hobby, to greater and lesser levels of unhingedness) spend a lot of time discussing the best types of food and water prep for long-term storage and/or end of the world scenarios. We are not going to do that. We want cheap, easy, effective preparations that we can ideally do while grocery shopping in a Walmart. The easiest, simplest and cheapest way to do your food prep is this: Buy one or two canned, jarred or tetrapacked (that waxed cardboard box pack) meal items every time you can afford it, then set them aside. Find a little space in a closet, a cupboard, a shelf, whatever, and just keep those foods there until you have three days worth for everyone in your household, including the pets.

"Fine," you might say as you look skeptically at the back of your cupboards, "but that doesn't seem very specific. There are a lot of canned goods out there!" And that is fair! The basic rule of thumb is "Buy something you will eat, ideally without heating it up if necessary, that doesn't require much prep or cleaning." For example, my family is two adults and one adolescent, none of us with major food allergens or aversions. If I were trying for a 72-hour food prep for us on the cheap with no cooking available I'd probably go with six cans of chunky soup, which I get for a dollar each on sale, three small jars of applesauce (smaller jars are better if you have no way to cool food), a box of saltine crackers, three cans of tuna, and a big box of granola bars if I could keep them out of reach of the kiddo long enough.

It's not fancy and it may not provide great long-term nutrition, but it's enough food to keep us alive for three days in a form that will hold in storage for 1-2 years without needing to rotate. Even on a very tight budget you can probably accumulate this much food in a pretty reasonable amount of time (and a lot of it is the sort of thing you might get from a food bank anyway!) For pet food, pack up three days worth of your pet's food, ideally in a glass jar but any sealed container will do, and add any cans of wet food they'd get as well.

Water is another big prepping topic that we're going to go easy-peasy on. You need, at minimum, a gallon of clean water per person per day, plus extra for cleaning and washing. Water is annoying to store and takes a lot of room, so for a quickie 3-day prep, minimizing water use is ideal. If you can scare up enough paper plates, cups and utensils to last you three days, you save ever having to wash dishes. If you can get hold of a pack of wet wipes, you reduce the amount of water for washing your body. If you can bring yourself to pee in the woods or at the very least let urine sit in the toilet unflushed, you save a HUGE amount of water on flushing.

For your water prep, you can use the bit-at-a-time strategy again. Every time you get groceries, try to bring home a gallon or two of purified drinking water. They should be very cheap, usually around 1.25 in my neck of the woods, and they last for awhile. If you have a few extra dollars, buy a flat of bottled water until you have at least three gallon containers and one 12-pack for each human member of your household Tuck them away somewhere out of direct sunlight, and rotate them regularly, taking out an old gallon and flat and replacing them with new every couple of months.

Once you have your basic setup, you can start thinking about getting fancier. There are ways to find things like camp stoves and water filters fairly cheaply, usually by hitting up garage sales or looking in the clearance sporting goods section when camping season is over, but that's basically gravy when compared to just having something to eat.

Next Time: Medicine and Power

[aibidil]

I've decided I want to restructure my life to be as year 2000 as possible. Not fashion; everything else. So far I have the following, please reblog and add more ideas.

Buy CDs and DVDs (preferably from the grottiest little local shop you can find, run by a 60yo man who chain smokes and has an encyclopedic knowledge of all music/film), go to Blockbuster with friends on Friday night, for the rest, Napster illegally download

Start carrying the good camera again, not relying on the phone for photos

No subscriptions for delivery of basic items (Deodorant? Toilet paper? Electrolytes?). No, you cannot have a recurring transaction on my credit card, fuck off

Don't use AIM social media when out of the house (texting is ok, reading is ok)

Doctoring photos is ok but only if you use your illegally downloaded copy of Photoshop (and your self taught Photoshop skills) to do it

Web 1.0 supremacy; fuck apps. Bring back kitschy animated word art on websites

Insist that politicians like George W. Bush are the worst and do not allow relativism to make you forget or temper that basic truth

Amazon.com is a pretty cool website you might've heard of? For finding books you can't get locally, like books by indie authors who only publish there. It isn't anything else.

Browsing local bookstores and going to bookstore release parties whenever possible

The average amount spent on cable TV in the US in 2000 is $60/mo, and if you can afford it, that's what's reasonable to spend on cable/streaming, no more (video rental/DVD purchase not included)

Going to the movies (sneak in the snacks to save $)

Desktop setup: the ultimate computer setup involves a huge fucking monitor (ok if it's huge in width now, rather than depth as it was then), a computer that doesn't move around the house with you, a full size clicky keyboard with separate number pad, and components that never need charging. Ideally this is in a shittily renovated basement or even in the middle of the house/kitchen

Magazine subscriptions are sweet. Might I suggest Wired or Teen Vogue?

Queer rights: legal/marriage equality is important, yeah, but more important is challenging heteronormativity. Fuck it all up. Have you read Michael Warner's The Trouble With Normal?

Taxis and public transit and asking friends for a ride to the airport. Fuck the gig economy

Big pants

No ChatGPT. If you need help writing something, ask a friend

Reality TV can be fun, but only if you're watching with a group and being really unhinged about it together

The News is something that happens max twice a day (newspaper in the morning, up to an hour of evening news, preferably PBS NewsHour, which is free on YouTube)

There's no such thing as a weight loss drug

Going to a friend's house to play video games together

Things I'm keeping from 2025:

GPS

Tasty non-dairy options

Medical breakthroughs

Wearing a mask when sick or when illness is prevalent

High-rise trousers

Neurodiversity as a concept, and improvement in our understanding of disability

The limited strides we've made wrt fatphobia, transphobia, ableism, racism, homophobia, etc

Indoor smoking bans

[hamadisthings]

BAD CALIFORNIAN INTERNET BILLS

While it is good that KOSA is now dead in the House (for now) I would like to ask for people's attention on AB1949 and SB976, which could push for Age verification by showing your ID.

There was a third bill named AB3080 that had similar goals, but luckily it received revisions so it is no longer a threat or require ID verification to access websites. So it would be possible to get AB1949 and SB976 to be revised so they aren't dangerous anymore.

You can read the text for AB1949 right here

AB1949 doesn't explicitly ask for ID verification anymore, as it used to, due to a revision, but there is a provision stating if they deem a website "willfully disregards" the age of the user they will be deemed to have actual knowledge of the user's age.

This broad part could be left to abuse, which is why it needs to be revised before passing, in order to confirm ID verification is not required. FIND YOUR REPS HERE!

For AB1949, you can find your Senate representative with the link above as I said, and check to see if they're a member of the CA Senate Appropriations Committee. Then call them to tell them you oppose this bill. Try to add reasons you think this bill would negatively affect California financially because that's what this committee focuses on.

As for SB976, which you can read here

Its goal is to "keep kids off social medias and addictive feeds" But the concerning part is that "it would make it unlawful for the operator of an addictive internet-based service or application, as defined, to provide an addictive feed to a user, unless the operator does not have actual knowledge that the user is a minor; commencing January 1, 2027, has reasonably determined that the user is not a minor; or has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to the user who is a minor."

How are you supposed to know that you have "verifiable parental consent" without ID and age verification of both parents and child?Even then, holding the ID of a minor feels pretty illegal given how sensitive how an info this is, in case of a data breach (which will happen) this would endanger kids even more, and no one in general want to give their ID to access a website or an app.

The bill would also make it unlawful for a website or app to send notifications to a minor according to a certain timeframe.

For SB976, find your Assembly representative using the link below and check to see if they're a member of the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee. Then call them to tell them you oppose this bill. https://apro.assembly.ca.gov/members

You can tell them how this is terrible for privacy, and the safety of children, and that it would be terrible for the economy of California, as they seem to focus on it. You can try sending faxes for either bills, but calling IS MUCH MORE efficient. https://faxzero.com/

Here is the time schedule, bills must be taken care before the end of August so it is a matter of time crunch:

You may use the following scripts for the respective bills, you can try to trim it if you deem it too long!

Might be worth a shot to contact Gavin Newsom (Californian governor) here to voice your concerns for these bills

[cerastes]

So how *is* Hundred Line anyway? I never really gave it much thought at first but now that half the people I follow are playing it I was wondering what it's about and if it's any good.

It's pretty good and outrageously ambitious, the premise of which I would normally say "oh this game is going to be halfbaked, ok" except Uchikoshi is involved so I believe anything can happen whenever that madlad is involved.

It's mainly a visual novel with SRPG elements. It plays less like a traditional SRPG and more like a puzzle game with resource management: Your economy of action per turn is very limited, via AP, but can be extended by killing stronger enemies in the map, which grants +1 AP. AP carries over from turn to turn, so basically, any AP obtained is an action even if you don't use in that turn, you can use it the next, and it's key to actually being able to fight the huge numbers of enemies. There's no terrain whatsoever to consider and it all amounts to enemy type, formation, and your own counterparts. It's done well, it's fun.

The VN aspect is the main meat of the game, and, mm, I can't really talk about the game much without spoiling, but basically, you have what basically is a 40 hour 'prologue' before the game really opens up in the Select What Happens And See The Consequences Of Your Decisions department; That 40 hour prologue is basically an entire game in and of itself, which is very very fun, because it doesn't skimp or try to rush itself, the pacing is exactly right: There's always something happening, but it doesn't overwhelm you, either.

Imagine if Persona 3 was less of a simulator and more of a story-driven experience and that's a pretty accurate way to describe Hundred Line, in my opinion.

Mind you, I've mainly played Uchikoshi games, and I'm a big fan, of the other guy, the Danganronpa guy, I've only played Danganronpa 1, which I liked very much, so I don't really KNOW much about his writing, but it is very much his DNA in the writing as well as Uchikoshi's, and in the presentation: The entire setting is presented as a subversion of the way the first Danganronpa opened, and it was very cool to experience: Buncha high schoolers wake up in a classroom, a mascot tells them they have bombs in them, and the windows are closed.

Then, the mascot tells them that they gotta work together and become tight as hell, and then he opens the windows: There's a huge wall of fire that surrounds the school... But it's not to keep them in, they can freely leave whenever they want. It's to keep something out. The high schoolers are functionally immortal as long as they are in school grounds, but can die for real if they go out. The mascot initially withholds information for one day, but then fully agrees to divulge everything, and had been withholding information not because he wanted -- he did want to reveal everything -- but rather because he couldn't if not all the characters were on board with fighting.

It's a very knowing subversion of everything that made Danganronpa, Danganronpa. Add to that deeper character writing that can count of not having to thin the headcount by necessity due to the very nature of a Killing Game setting, and you got some robust writing for some bigger than life characters that feel surprisingly organic and like someone you could possibly know in real life, with their fun quirks that, depending on the character, might define them or not, but even those defined by their quirk, are not just their quirk. In this regard, I can tell you that's a signature move of Uchikoshi, but there's enough that I patently can tell isn't Uchikoshi to know the other guy is also writing his pussy out and having a good one, I assume because he finally gets to write a cast that doesn't need to get 80% Killed for the purposes of the genre.

All in all, Fun. I am having a blast with it.

[daisywords]

some misc worldbuilding questions to get your gears turning:

Do they have germ theory or some equivalent? How do they conceptualize the spread of disease and infection?

Is the everyday economy based more on trade/barter or currency? Is the currency valuable in its own right, or is it just something agreed upon to have value (eg. salt or gold vs. paper money)

What is their main method of lighting? What resources does this use?

Primary mode of transportation? How much does this vary based on things like purpose of travel, social class, etc.?

How much of a knowledge/education gap is there between social classes? Is there a baseline of education that everyone gets/is expected to have?

What are the most popular modes of storytelling? Is everyone telling campfire stories? Are they going to plays? puppet shows? are they going to the cinema? are they reading novels or epic poetry? Are there any folk characters or pop culture things that most people are familiar with?

Where does most people's moral framework primarily come from? Religion? Philosophy? Are there different schools of thought? How much do they vary?

Is there anything considered scandalous/improper/taboo that's normal in your own culture? and vice versa

Do most people live and die where they are born, or is it common to relocate and travel widely? how much does this vary by class/profession/region?

What do they do with criminals? Do they have an extensive prison system? If so, who funds/runs it? If not, how is crime discouraged/managed? Are there specific punishments for specific crimes?

How rigid are their class boundaries? How possible/common is it for someone to change social classes?

Is there anything that people get dangerously addicted to in your world? How accessible is it?

How easy is it for someone to do research/look up information they don't know? What is the primary method of doing this?

What holidays do they have? Any weird traditions? Fun traditions? Are they universally celebrated, or only by specific groups of people?

How do they dispose of their dead? How do they honor their dead?

How much exchange is there between cultures? Do people of different groups intermingle, or do they mostly stick with their own people?

How common is it to speak more than one language, and who is most likely to be multilingual?

How much do regional dialects/accents vary within the same language? Are there any dialects/accents that are stigmatized? Do different accents have different associated stereotypes?

This isn't meant to be taken as a checklist that you have to completely fill out btw. Just things that might help add flavor to your world and characters. (Also mostly things I end up thinking about logistically anyway as they become relevant to the plot or a character's frame of reference.) Enjoy!

[lucius-i-ran]

Red. Comfortable red. The warm red hue of flesh, all that Nico could see, lids shut and back to the sun. 

White hot rays, puncturing and battling against the fresh armour of the 50 sunscreen his boyfriend had to basically force on him.

Nico definitely did not give in to the struggle, just so he could feel the alarmingly feverish digits of Will Solace, pressing down on his shoulders, scapulas, down in the faint gaps of his ribs, down on the bumpy road of his spine, to his narrow hips and on the small of his back. And Nico did most definitely not turn his head from the boy now resting on the fresh grass besides him, just so he could squish his face on his crossed forearms, concealing a blooming tint of embarrassment. Poorly concealing, might we add, because - Nico knew - his flush would not just rest on his face but stain up to the tip of his ears and down to the back of his neck. Nico could basically hear the annoyingly triumphant smirk, annoyingly pulling on the annoying lips of his annoying boyfriend. 

"Just so you know." Will had said, shooting some sunscreen onto his palm and down on Nico's back, following the same motion and routine some would do to get something out of a dog's mouth "I'm doing it because finding actually good aloe vera in this economy is a pain in the ass "

Liar, Nico would've rebutted, hadn't he been to focused on grumbling and cursing his boyfriend away. Liar, liar, pants on fire he would've actually said. He knew Will too well and he knew how much - a very normal amount, really - he enjoyed teasing and taunting Nico especially on sunburns, with his perfect amber skin, pearls of freckles, free from the angry punch of the sun. And Nico could not help but stare as his glazed skin moved and shimmered under the summer heat, following every shape of his perfect form, which was definitely not one of the reasons Nico had been fighting for his life for the past ten minutes, trying to sink in his own arms.

A thrush behind Nico's head told him his restless boyfriend changed position, again. 

"Can you put this on me?" 

Nico did not even raise his head "Frying oil?" 

"Sometimes you're so funny, I forget to laugh."

Nico hid a smile.

A gentle poke on his ribs wiped it away at an alarming speed. "Nico" Then another poke. "di Angelo" And then another one. "Wednesday Addams" One more "Pete Wentz" One more. Nico grabbed Will's wrist, knowing to well that it was just the start, that he had a whole list and that he will force him to hear them all. Nico finally rose from the comfort of his pillow - forearms - and scowled. Before he even could articulate some clever comeback in his mind, Will's eyes wandered down his frame and widened, a loud gasp parted his lips.

"Oh my gods, Nico."

And Nico knew damn well that in Will's dramatic language that could mean either a giant tarantula had crawled on his back or that he noticed a new mole. So he waited for a cue to start going absolutely ham or roll his eyes. Fortunately for him, it was neither a ham or a roll of eyes day. Well, maybe jut a bit of a roll of eyes, but very tiny.

"You have a birthmark!" Will exclaimed with the glee of a child on Christmas's day.

"You've been spreading sunscreen for like- ten fucking minutes, and now you're noticing it?" 

Nico couldn't fight an endeared smile off of his face. By then, it was already common knowledge to Nico, but it would never cease to amaze him how the same person with sharp blades of sapphire and steady voice of a commander, could coordinate an infirmary full of teenagers (and trust, that takes talent; a miracle even) and heal away a mortal wound in the same breath, also wouldn't notice if he was walking straight into a cliff with a warning sign planted an inch from his nose. 

"You knew?" Will asked, bewildered.

"No, I've been living in this body for just like sixteen years, so it's all pretty new to me." 

Will stuck his tongue out, a little pink glow resting on the apple of his cheeks "It's not like you could possibly know every inch of yourself.." he mumbled. His face relaxed for a while, but his eyes still tense and squinted, studying the silver shine on his boyfriend's back or pondering something, now lost in the deep deep end of his thoughts. Then slowly but surely, bit by bit, tooth by tooth, his lips parted again. This time, it was one big smile. One of the rare ones. One that displayed carelessly the crooked path of his bottom canines or the slight diastema of his incisors. One of those Nico so dearly loved and yearned for. 

"You know," Will said, bringing one callous index to caress the mark on Nico's skin, casting lighting in his muscles, causing shivers down his back. "It's in the shape of Texas." that cheeky smile just kept growing and growing.

Nico was sure that at some point it would reach his ears. "Stop messing with me, Solace." he shook his head. 

"Nico."

Nico could see just how hard Will was trying to battle that smile off of his face "I'm dead serious. I do not lie when it comes to the the land of Whataburger and Chicken Fried Steak."

Nico snorted.

"And! And- and-" 

"Conjuctions?"

"Cardiovascular grafts." Now Will was dead serious.

"Texas did not invented cardaviscu-- that."

Will nodded, like he had been dying to say that and honestly, Nico was dying to hear it. He loved when Will got all jittery and exited when it came to pour down medical informations down his ears almost as much as he loved grim medical fun facts. 

"Huston, 1954. Which was also how we found out nylon disintegrates too fast in our body."

Nico was genuinely tuned in for his rant and waiting for Will to dwell on that but an uncharacteristically sappy thought flashed through his mind. 

"You swear that it's shaped like Texas?" 

Will solemnly put a hand on his heart. "I swear on Mama Solace" and that was all Nico needed. Yeah the oath on the Styx was fatal if not fulfilled or whatever but an oath on Naomi Solace was the highest honor Will could grace him with.

"Okay. Belly down" he ordered and Will complied, a little puzzled look knitting his brows together.

Nico straightened himself up and carefully started studying the patterned backside. He also took the opportunity to linger just one second more on the constellation of his freckles, drawing invisible connections between them, admiring the slow rise and fall of his ribs, breath so relaxed under his touch. An implicit trust fall that tugged a little red string on Nico's heart. His eyes fixiated. A little, irregular splotch. An adorable and indelible coffee stain, painting Will's skin. A nebula, adding to the caramel starry night gently resting on his back and there was no need for Nico to be an astronomer to know that that was the last sight he wanted to see if he was ever doomed by the blinding light of the sun.

"You're not gonna believe this" the soft scratch of a voice told Will "You have a brithmark too."

"I've been living in this body for seventeen years." Will promptly mocked him, earning a well planted smack on his head. Then he stiffened, his breath hitching, like he suddenly remembered something. "Oh my gods don't tell me. It's in the shape of Italy." he guessed 

A light chuckle shook Nico's bony shoulders. "Better." he said and jolted backwards to avoid Will's forehead smashing his nose. It would've ruined the moment. 

"It's in the shape of Venice?" he said, so loud that some distant anrgy thrushing of bushes told them he had startled awake some poor nymph. 

Nico shook his head again "It's in the shape of Veneto "  "Is that were the Vatican is?" 

Nico's shoulders dropped, unsure if his smile should also drop in disappointment or he should give in to the laugh bubbling in his belly. So with unsteady voice he said "No, ding-dong. It's the region where Venice is, you know? Like Austin is in Texas, Venice is in Veneto." 

"Yeah, alright, I got that."

Will looked in the distance, probably registering the information that Nico just dropped. Nico knew it landed when another soft but unnecessary dramatic gasp rattled Will's chest.  A grin stretching to the side, Nico watched, careful not to miss the endless cracks and bite marks on those full and perfect heartshaped lips. "We're soulmates" soft like summer breeze, it came out of his mouth, the realisation of another red string. Another yarn line that wrapped around their pinkies, that pulled them closer and tightened every time they swayed apart. 

Bright red like the warm, comfortable hue of flesh under the sun.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 28, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Apr 29, 2025

There has been a change afoot in the Democratic Party for a while now as its leaders shift from trying to find common ground with Republicans to standing firmly against MAGAs and articulating their own vision for the United States.

That shift burst dramatically into the open last night when Democratic Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker gave a barn-burning speech to Democrats in New Hampshire. After walking out to the American Authors song “Go Big or Go Home,” Pritzker urged Democrats to stop listening to “do-nothing political types” who are calling for caution at a time when Americans are demanding urgent action, and to “fight—EVERYWHERE AND ALL AT ONCE.”

Pritzker highlighted three ordinary Americans who are opposing the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” by building communities to protest, hanging an upside-down flag on the face of Yosemite National Park’s famous cliff El Capitan, and welcoming Vice President J.D. Vance to Sugarbush Resort in Vermont with a snow report calling attention to the administration’s attacks on veterans, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ Americans, immigrant workers, and people of color. He urged Democrats to lead with the same passion.

He listed the positions on which he wants Democrats to stand firm, beginning: “It’s wrong to snatch a person off the street and ship them to a foreign gulag with no chance to defend themselves in a court of law.” This is not about immigration, he said, but about the Constitution. “Standing for the idea that the government doesn’t have the right to kidnap you without due process is arguably the MOST EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN SLOGAN IN HISTORY,” he said. “Today, it’s an immigrant with a tattoo. Tomorrow, it’s a citizen whose Facebook post annoys Trump.”

Pritzker tore into the MAGA myth that Democrats want rapists and murderers on the streets, saying that Democrats do not want undocumented immigrants who are convicted of violent crimes to stay in the country. He called for “real, sensible immigration reform.”

But, he said, “Immigration—with all its struggles and its complexities—is part of the secret sauce that makes America great, always. Immigrants strengthen our communities, enrich our neighborhoods, renew our passion for America’s greatness, enliven our music and our culture, enhance understanding of the world. The success of our economy depends upon immigrants. In fact, forty-six percent…of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.”

Trump’s attacks on immigrants, he said, are likely to make the U.S. economy fail.

Indeed, he suggested, making America fail is the point of the Trump administration's actions. “We have a Secretary of Education who hates teachers and schools,” he said. “We have a Secretary of Transportation who hates public transit. We have an Attorney General who hates the Constitution. We have a Secretary of State, the son of naturalized citizens—a family of refugees—on a crusade to expel our country of both.

“We have a head of the Department of Government Efficiency— an immigrant granted the

privilege of living and working here, a man who has made hundreds of billions of dollars after the government rescued his business for him—who is looking to destroy the American middle class to fund tax cuts for himself. And we have a President who claims to love America but who hates our military so much that he calls them ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’ and who can’t be bothered to delay his golf game to greet the bodies of four fallen US soldiers. And we have a Grand Old Party, founded by one of our nation’s bravest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln—who today would be a Democrat, I might add—... so afraid of the felon and the fraud that they put in the White House that they would sooner watch him destroy our country than lift a hand to save it.”

He called on Democrats to “stop wondering if you can trust the nuclear codes to people who don’t know how to organize a group chat. It’s time to stop ignoring the hypocrisy in wearing a big gold cross while announcing the defunding of children’s cancer research. And time to stop thinking we can reason or negotiate with a madman. Time to stop apologizing when we were NOT wrong. Time to stop surrendering, when we need to fight.

“Our small businesses don’t deserve to be bankrupted by unsustainable tariffs. Our retirees don’t deserve to be left destitute by a Social Security Administration decimated by Elon Musk. Our citizens don’t deserve to lose healthcare coverage because Republicans want to hand a tax cut to billionaires. Our federal workers don’t deserve to have, well, a 19-year-old DOGE bro called Big Balls destroy their careers.

“Autistic kids and adults who are loving contributors to our society don’t deserve to be stigmatized by a weird nepo baby who once stashed a dead bear in the backseat of his car.

“Our military servicemembers don’t deserve to be told by a washed up Fox TV commentator, who drank too much and committed sexual assault before being appointed Secretary of Defense, that they can’t serve this country simply because they’re Black or gay or a woman.

“And If it sounds like I’m becoming contemptuous of Donald Trump and the people that he has elevated, it’s because... I am. You should be too. They are an affront to every value this country was founded upon.”

Pritzker called on Democrats to be “bold and our ideas fearless…. And we must deliver on that agenda for working families and for the real people who truly make America great.”

“I understand the tendency to give in to despair right now,” he said, “But despair is an indulgence that we cannot afford in the times upon which history turns. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.

“These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soap box, and then punish them at the ballot box. They must feel in their bones that when we survive this shameful episode of American history with our democracy intact—because we have no alternative but to do just that—that we will relegate their portraits to the museum halls reserved for tyrants and traitors.”

“Cowardice can be contagious,” Pritzker said, “But so too can courage…. Just as the hope that we hold onto in the darkness, shines with its own...special light.

“Tonight, I’m telling you what I’m willing to do...is fight—for our democracy, for our liberty, for the opportunity for all our people to live lives that are meaningful and free. And I see around me tonight a roomful of people who are ready to do the same.”

“So I have one question for all of you,” Pritzker said. “Are you ready for the fight?”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mothyandthesquid]

The Greater Spotted Woodpecker is a striking British bird, known for its black and white plumage with a bright red patch under the tail. Males have an additional red patch on the back of the head, while females have a black nape.

I will be flying from Ireland to Scotland on Thursday, and then driving down to England and setting up for Spring into Wool on Friday. I’ll be on my own, and it’s the first time I’ve done this show.

If you are coming, please consider bringing cash as well as card. It’s a great way to control your budget, frees you from reliance on technology, and means you aren’t giving 1.69% of your hard earned money to the card machine provider. That might not seem like much, but it adds up for small businesses. Plus keeps every penny moving around our local economy instead of being siphoned off overseas.

If you’d like to vote for which ones I should re-dye for Spring into Wool, please use this form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=KVxybjp2UE-B8i4lTwEzyAiurQQEF2RItYLsARkvbSVUQlU5Q0hCSTVKOTI4UllOOTlTSEY1OUc5OS4u I will only be doing four because of time constraints.

Mothyandthesquid.com

[spaghettioverdose]

people are discovering I'm an evil tankie lmao

anyways the second one is particularly dumb. you speak of the concept of ml transfems like they're this wacky sort of weird rare position that no one really has. are you aware how many popular posters on this site are transfem MLs or transfem ML adjacent? moreover, based on what do you know that MLs are the most transphobic people on the left? like not talking about a subreddit or a discord server, or even CPGB. I'm talking about the movement as a whole. and if there is, a trend where marxism-leninism is especially transphobic (hint: there is not) is that due to the ideology itself being inherently transphobic or is it the people living in particular material conditions that lead to them holding out reactionary ideas?

I could bring up a million arguments to refute this like the incredibly progressive new family code in Cuba, or East Germany's progressive LGBT policies, or how people were already lamenting how many rights they were going to lose from the reunification, or the general trend of modern socialist states to make gains when it comes to LGBT rights and protections, but this has been brought up a million times and you are all still stupid.

Tell me anon, who am I, as a transfem, supposed to side with politically? Liberals who have all shown to be willing to throw us under the bus in record speeds if they believe it might get them three more votes? Anarchists who are utterly incapable of forming any kind of cohesive movement, incabable of holding powe for longer than 2 years, and incapable of organising the economy in any that helps anyone? Am I meant to become a trotskyite or a leftcom so I can whinge about stalinism all day and never do anything useful? What ideology should I fucking be anon? I've was a liberal and I was an anarchist and they both were shit. And believe it or not, anon, anarchists aren't as inherently good to transfems as you think either.

But besides even all this, you deeply misunderstand why I'm even an ML. I believe that marxism-leninism provides a scientific lens through which economy and politics can be analysed to produce analysis with actual predictive power. This is a quality that is very much absent from every non-marxist ideology. Every newer liberal economist that suddenly discovers a basic function of capitalist economy and who is then lauded as a genius, has been playing catch-up with Marx and they're still very far behind. Keynes discovered the concept of "in an economy that runs on commodities being bought, when no one has money to buy said commodities, the economy collapses" is something that scientific communists knew for since the later half of the 1800s. Marxism-leninism is the only form of leftwing ideology that has been effective. Marxism-leninism, when applied, has almost universally raised the standards of living, industrialisation, life expectancy and women's rights. I'm not an ML because I think of ideologies as sports teams, cliques, or fun little labels to add to myself.

[a-twistedheartslonging]

IM LOVING UR NONHUMAN AU.

Do you think Crowley would be protective of us? Maybe fend off the beasties that try to court us?

That's a cute thought.

Realistically, Crowley is a dick that often leaves the protagonist to fend for their self and pushes them to take care of dangerous stuff that they really shouldn't have to.

But on the other hand…hehe birb dad.

One of the reasons he avoids us is because of the whole us “wanting a way home thing.”

Imagine his surprise when you tell him you would rather stay. Maybe you don't have a family, maybe the family you have is horrible, or maybe it's because our world is a polluted mess with a cruddy economy. Regardless it means he doesn't have to (pretend) to put in the work of sending you home. 

Well, as long as there's a place for you to stay that is. He is sort of your guardian and it would be in the best interest of himself and the entire school if you stayed.

Now a thing I like to think about…this man is likely lonely. I mean, a lot of people don't like the guy. (for good reason) The students and teachers are tired of his shit, though he and Trien seem to be homies and have tea together, the guy’s cat still hates him. Crowley also doesn't have a mate or any hatchlings waiting at home for him.

Combine the guilt trip of having nowhere else to go, add his loneliness, and then butter the guy up. I would say you have a good chance of getting him attached.

Imagine he sees you heading his way and is about to screw off cuz he doesn't want to deal with whatever thing you need to get fixed or have to complain about, you catch the sleeve of his coat before he can, and so he braces himself. But instead of asking him for something or scolding him you simply ask him about his day and how he's doing.

Birdman is shook.

Bit by bit the tasks and chores he gives you are ones where you'll be around him or he’ll randomly pop in to check in on you while doing them. Soon you end up being the preferred person for making and bringing him his tea. He pretends to nap on his office couch while you do his paperwork. May even ask you to help him file his claws on occasion. If it wasn't so dire for you to take care of things at the school he would be half tempted to bring you along on one of his vacations. If you give him anything it's going on his desk and he will brag about it to anyone who enters his office.

His cheap ass isn't going to spoil you but he will bring you small gifts. Usually the random shiny thing and small souvenir from his trips away. You might start finding loose feathers around Ramshackle and more crows around who also bring small things.

He starts thinking up plans for you to stay on as official faculty of the school once graduating. Of course, it's only because you are super useful and not because he’ll miss you or anything…

It doesn't really hit him until after he sees one of the teachers getting all father figure-y with you and he gets jealous.

Displeased bird noises.

Even before he started to get attached to you he did keep an eye on you, your easy prey amongst beasts after all, but he does develop a habit of popping in more when a boy happens to show his interest in you…or anytime he thinks someone is trying to sneak in and swipe his unofficial dad role…he does a lot of that with Crewel and Trien in particular.

Still, even with his affection for you, he’s still very much…him and the boys know this. Not long till he finds the more well-off beasty boys in his office offering donations to the school in exchange for certain things. More info about you, making you a member of his dorm, ect. A few have learned that the best thing to butter him up with is to talk about what a kind and generous father figure he is and how lovely it would be for Crowley to give the perfect away on their wedding day.

As a result, he, and probably Grim, are going to nudge you toward certain preferred suitors.