#is there a severance community on this site?

[ms-demeanor]

The way you've been describing your job woes really sounds like... your efforts and ultra-competence are the sole strands of duct tape holding this ship together

The thing is, they're not. I'm not actually all that competent, I think my efforts are being wasted, and shit is falling apart.

I am really upset about this and having trouble functioning today. I'm shaky, I'm emotional, my attention and focus are shot.

I can't even look around at the problems and figure out what needs to be done first. We need to set standards. We need to document our current systems. We need to do a per-client cost analysis. We need to do a license audit. We need to do a security audit. We need to get our billing straightened out. We need to get spares to all client sites right away. We need to get our processes dialed in. We need to define roles. We need to set up an escalation structure. We need to standardize our maintenance. We need to stay on top of tickets for customer satisfaction. We need to prioritize communication.

This is a tire fire. Everything is broken and it's broken *right now* and it's very clear that management is trying to fix that but I don't know that this is fixable before the company implodes.

And I'm not holding this together. Nobody is holding this together. I'm keeping a couple of tires from falling into the fire but I can't put this out. There are several other people who are also keeping a few tires out but they can't put it out either. And right now the policies that management has put in place to help have resulted in our three team leads taking on a sudden enormous work burden and we're watching those policies fall flat because two of those team leads called out this morning.

[hope-for-the-planet]

This underground coal seam fire had been smoldering since possibly as early as the late 1800s, but was finally fully extinguished thanks to recent excavation and restoration of the site. The surrounding area can also now return to vegetated wildlife habitat, as before the fire was extinguished the vegetation had to be severely cut back to reduce wildfire risk.

Coal seam fires contribute to climate change by releasing methane and carbon dioxide, and they can potentially spark forest fires which are a particularly high risk in dry, fire-prone climates like much of Colorado.

From the article:

“We all remember so well the devastation of the Marshall Fire not too long ago, right here in our community,” said U.S. Representative Joe Neguse during a press conference. “And to know that this particular threat will now be resolved long into the future is an important preventative step that I think the state of Colorado and our local government partners should be deeply proud of.”

[littlethingwithfeathers]

If you're like "But I don't know what to do!!!" Here's some ideas of where to look/go for ideas. Your local radio station(s): Especially whatever the nearby NPR/public/community station is. Often they do free advertisements for local groups and there will be some niche fuckin' stuff in there. Concerts, hobby groups, performances, cultural stuff. Give them a listen or check their website... ours has a community calendar! The library: Ours has several book clubs and hobby circles that meet there, plus there's community rooms available for outside groups to meet for free. Go bother a librarian! They'll be happy to help you find out what's going on at the library. (Get a library card and check out a book while you're at it... give them some traffic!) Local college/university art and performance programs: Often performances by university groups are free or cheap. Instrumental ensembles, choirs, theatre, you name it! Sometimes there will be classes and lectures that are open to the public! Check nearby national parks: Often there will be a calendar of guided tours, walks/hikes, and classes! Local museums, historic sites etc: Art museums, botanical gardens, zoos, historic monuments and buildings. Often in addition to tours, these places offer classes or lectures. Sometimes there's even clubs associated with these places.

I’m going to the conservatory and the zoo tomorrow; treating myself like a blue-haired senior who needs to be bused from her retirement home to on weekends for cultural enrichment.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Ancient Greece (1000 B.C.–1 A.D.)

TIMELINE

Geometric period, ca. 900–700 B.C.

Archaic period, ca. 700–480 B.C.

"Age of Tyrants," Athens, ca. 650–510 B.C.

Classical period, ca. 480–323 B.C.

Age of Perikles, Athens, ca. 440–429 B.C.

Rise to power of Macedonia, 359–323

Hellenistic period, ca. 323–31 B.C.

Roman rule, Greek mainland, 146 B.C.–330 A.D.

OVERVIEW. Following a period of sporadic incursions and large movements of people, demographic and economic changes in the 8th century B.C. lead to overseas colonization, spreading Greek language and culture across the Mediterranean and Black seas. Communities throughout the Greek world evolve into city-states, laying the foundations for democracy. Literature, science, and the arts flourish for several centuries, and new genres of artistic and intellectual expression evolve.

KEY EVENTS.

ca. 776 B.C. The Olympic games are founded. Held once every four years, the games honor Olympian Zeus. A list of victors from this year to 217 A.D., drawn up by the historian Julius Africanus, has been preserved for us by Eusebius. The earliest games are held in one day and consist of running and wrestling. In the seventh century B.C., they are reorganized to include chariot races and single horse races.

ca. 750 B.C. According to tradition, the blind bard Homer composes the Iliad and the Odyssey.

750 B.C. The Greeks begin to venture overseas and establish colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. Greeks from the island of Euboea (northwest of Attica) establish the first known of such colonies at Pithekousai on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples. Many of the colonies in southern Italy and Sicily eventually become city-states in their own right. Greek-style temples are built at Agrigentum (ca. 430 B.C.), Selinus (sixth–fifth century B.C.), Segesta (fifth century B.C.), Syracusae, and other sites.

743 B.C. The Corinthians establish a colony at Syracusae (modern Syracuse) in Sicily. Within a century, the colony increases so rapidly in power and wealth that it is able to found three subcolonies at Akrai, Kasmenai, and Camarina. Syracuse eventually rivals Athens as the largest and most beautiful city in the Greek world.

ca. 650 B.C. The earliest Greek lyric poets are active in Greece. Archilochos, an iambic and elegiac poet of Paros, is regarded as a great innovator in meter and language. Tyrtaeus, an elegiac poet from Sparta, exhorts the Spartans to fight in the Second Messenian War.

ca. 610 B.C. The poetess Sappho flourishes on Lesbos. Her poems are personal, reflecting her reverence for Aphrodite and the Muses and her affection for her friends.

ca. 594–593 B.C. The Athenian archon Solon replaces the Draconian law code and lays the foundation for democracy in Athens. By canceling all debts, he releases the peasants from serfdom and redeems those sold into slavery. He also introduces coinage to Athens and a corresponding system of weights and measures, and grants citizenship to immigrant artisans, all in an attempt to stimulate trade and industry.

mid-6th century B.C. The theater at Syracuse is constructed. Enlarged under Hieron II, it is one of the largest known Greek theaters in the ancient world, and the largest in Sicily.

ca. 525 B.C. The red-figure pottery technique is pioneered in Athens. This technique is the direct opposite of black-figure since the background of a vessel is painted with a black slip and the figures and other details are left in reserve as the color of the clay. Contour lines and some interior details may be added with a dilute slip.

508–507 B.C. The Athenian statesman Kleisthenes furthers efforts made by Solon and establishes a democratic constitution at Athens.

490 B.C., 480/479 B.C. The Greeks repel two attempts by the Persians to conquer Greece.

477 B.C. The Delian League is founded after the end of the Persian Wars.

449–432 B.C. The Greek architects Iktinos and Kallikrates design and build the Parthenon, the temple of Athena Parthenos on the Akropolis at Athens. The temple is the principal element in Perikles’ building programs overseen by the sculptor Pheidias. The Parthenon incorporates the Doric and Ionic orders and is made predominantly of Pentelic marble. It houses Pheidias’ gold and ivory cult statue of the Parthenos.

ca. 420–410 B.C. After the Temple of Athena Nike on the Akropolis is completed, a parapet is begun around the bastion. It is carved with processions of Nikai bringing offerings to Athena. They are clothed in near-transparent garments that cling to their bodies like wet linen or silk.

404 B.C. Lysander, an admiral of the Spartan navy, installs the Thirty Tyrants, a pro-Spartan government, in Athens. They are overthrown the following year.

ca. 403 B.C. Dionysius of Syracuse founds Tauromenium (modern Taormina) in Sicily. Its theater, the largest in Sicily after the one at Syracuse, is famous for its remarkable scenic setting.

399 B.C. Sokrates, an Athenian who devotes himself to inquiry into righteous conduct by cross-questioning, is brought to trial on the charge of corrupting youth. He is condemned to death and drinks the deadly hemlock.

380s B.C. Plato founds the Academy at Athens.

338 B.C. Philip II of Macedon establishes the Corinthian League, which provides the framework for Macedonian domination of Greece until it is dissolved in 322 B.C.

335 B.C. Aristotle founds the Lyceum in Athens.

323 B.C. Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, dies. Having defeated the Persian king and won a great empire, he extends Greek influence to the east as far as the Indus Valley and Afghanistan.

214–205 B.C. Rome successfully faces Philip V of Macedon in the First Macedonian War.

200–196 B.C. Rome enters the Second Macedonian War, which ends with the victory of Flamininus at Cynoscephalae.

172–168/167 B.C. Perseus of Macedon challenges Rome and thereby brings about the Third Macedonian War. He is defeated by Lucius Aemilius Paulus at Pydna, and Macedon is divided into four republics.

146 B.C. Under the consul Mummius Achaicus, the Romans sack Corinth and dissolve the Achaean Confederacy. From this time onward, Greece is ruled by Rome.

86 B.C. The Roman general Sulla sacks Athens.

48 B.C. At the Battle of Pharsalus in northern Greece, Pompey is defeated by Julius Caesar.

43–42 B.C. Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus form a triumvirate and defeat the Republicans led by Cassius and Brutus at Philippi in eastern Macedon.

32–31 B.C. Octavian (later Augustus) defeats Marc Antony and Cleopatra of Egypt at the Battle of Actium.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[specialagentartemis]

If people are in the mood for some good, solid documentaries about history:

Time Team and Time Team America are good depictions of archaeology in Britain and the U.S., respectively; they can be a bit gimmicky sometimes, sometimes a little dramatized, but are overall very solid in their history and depiction of What Archaeologists Do! There are 20 seasons of the British show and 2 seasons of the American one, covering a broad range of historical and archaeological sites. They're fun without getting too reality-TV-ish. Many episodes can be watched for free on Youtube - some on the official Time Team channel, some thanks to one very dedicated uploader.

If you are in the U.S. or Canada, you can watch a lot of PBS specials on PBS.org. They have a really impressive range! Some, like Ken Burns's collection, you need a donation/membership to view; others are free for anyone in the US and Canada. "Ice Age Footprints" is a Nova special about the 22,000 year old White Sands site in New Mexico and is one of my favorites on their site.

And I will keep plugging Kanopy. It's a free streaming service that you can access with a library card or university affiliation! See if your public library, or your university, has access. Their focus is indie film, international film, classic cinema, and documentaries. They have LOTS of documentaries! They have Ken Burns's whole collection (I really like "The American Buffalo"), they have a lot of PBS and BBC specials (I'm a big fan of "Easter Island Origins"; it's VERY cool), and they have a brilliant and sad and infuriating and really, really well-done three-part series called "Race: The Power of an Illusion" about the history and construction of race and racism, especially in America, which I highly recommend! But there are SO many documentaries on Kanopy to browse.

The three-part series “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning” is incredible and infuriating (intentionally). It’s a history of the murder of Carol Stewart in 1989, and the subsequent racial tensions, racist policing, community fracturing, and uncomfortable truths that came out. A white man called the police saying a Black man had jumped out of the shadows, stolen his car, and murdered his wife. The police accepted this story uncritically. This documentary series does a really good job of following the manhunt, the fallout, the police brutality, and the way the truth came out over the next several months.

The series “OJ: Made In America” is a similar spirit, riveting and brilliant and tragic, about O.J. Simpson, his life and career, his position of celebrity at the time of increased racial tensions between the police and the Black population of Los Angeles—and while the murder is shocking and horrible, the series makes the public response to it feels inevitable.

These are just a couple sources to check out and some documentaries I thought did a good job. If you can’t find one of these streaming, you can also try to see if your local library has DVDs of ones you’re interested in.

(And as always, think critically about documentaries too! Ask yourself “Who made this? What are their credentials? Their biases? Their sources? Their evidence?” There are some """documentaries""" out there that are like. Graham Hancock ancient Atlantis nonsense. Unfortunately.)

[macgyvermedical]

Just want to plug Clubhouse International a little more than I already have. They're something that's helping me a lot recently and they don't get a ton of press, even in areas where they're common.

(Red= accredited, grey= not accredited, green= training sites)

I've talked about CI in the context of supported employment but it's more than that and I feel it should be talked about more. It's a work-ordered day and community-building program for people with mental illness. Not just severe mental illness. Mental illness in general. If you're having trouble finding community that understands your mental illness or help finding/keeping a job you can tolerate there's a place for you at clubhouse.

What that means is that you go there and you work on things that keep the clubhouse running. I'm sure it's different at different Clubhouses, but the one I go to has three "units"- a business unit, a hospitality unit, and a career development unit. The business unit does things like filing, advertising, doing the paperwork, and developing flyers for different events. The hospitality unit prepares meals, coordinates donations and purchasing, and develops/presents health and wellness programming. The career development unit runs a little shop, does the landscaping, and performs janitorial tasks.

What's special about it is that, unlike traditional day programs, at Clubhouse there is a very fine line between Member and paid staff. That means if you just walked in, you'd probably have no idea who was a Member and who was getting paid to be there. Many people come every day, and Members and staff do (or assist with) a lot of the same tasks. Technically things are led by staff, and staff do some of the admin like making notes on members and billing insurance.

Meetings are held every day to discuss tasks each member will complete on a given day. They are held weekly or monthly to discuss programming and menu options (there is a kitchen onsite where breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner are prepared for members, by members). There is also a weekly staff-and-member meeting where more pressing issues and their solutions are discussed.

All this to say, if you live near a city, especially in Europe or the US, there's probably a Clubhouse near you.

[blueiscoool]

Gladiator Tomb and Mausoleum Found in Italy

A marble tomb believed to belong to a Roman gladiator has been uncovered in a newly discovered cemetery in the ancient town of Liternum, now part of Giugliano in Campania, Italy.

The find is part of a larger excavation revealing new details about daily life, burial customs, and the history of this once-thriving Roman settlement

Burials reveal generations of Roman traditions

Led by archaeologist Dr. Simona Formola, the team has uncovered more than 20 graves dating from the late 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The site, which is about the size of a small classroom, includes various types of burial grounds.

Some bodies were placed in stone tombs, while others were buried in clay jars or covered with simple roof-shaped tiles. Many of the graves line the edges of the cemetery.

One of the most striking finds is a square-shaped tomb, measuring about three meters on each side, located in the center of a burial area.

The tomb was built using volcanic rock bricks arranged in a diamond pattern. Inside, small wall spaces held urns containing ashes, suggesting the site was used across several generations.

High-status graves point to wealth and care

Archaeologists also uncovered two high-status burial enclosures believed to belong to elite families. These spaces still show large sections of their original white plaster walls.

Later, red details were added, showing a shift in design over time. The careful decoration hints at the importance of those buried there.

Among the most notable discoveries is a marble grave marker bearing the name of a gladiator. The inscription suggests that Liternum may have served as a resting place for fighters who once entertained crowds in Roman arenas.

Other grave goods found include coins, oil lamps, and small containers. These everyday items help archaeologists understand the customs, beliefs, and social life of the people who lived in the area during Roman times.

A city shaped by roads and trade

Founded in the late 2nd century BCE, Liternum reached its peak between the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. A major turning point came in 95 CE when Emperor Domitian built the Via Domitiana, a road that boosted trade and brought prosperity to the colony.

The location of the cemetery has led researchers to reconsider the path of that ancient road. In Roman tradition, cemeteries were often built along main roads. Experts now believe the Via Domitiana may have passed closer to the site than previously thought.

“The territory of Giugliano is experiencing an extraordinary period of discoveries, first with the Tomb of Cerberus and now with this necropolis,” said heritage official Mariano Nuzzo in a statement to National Geographic Historia.

The findings offer a rare and detailed look at how a Roman community lived, worked, and honored its dead nearly 2,000 years ago.

By Nisha Zahid.

[pinazee]

Whats the running theory on severance?

I think it has to have something to do with immortality. Cobel specifically makes me think that because i think the reason she was watching mark so closely is because the experiment that he’s a part of will determine if the girl/woman she loved can be saved or possibly “uploaded.” I think Charlottes innie is preserved in that brain chip thing so she was hoping that marks innie would remember Gemma or marks outie would have some idea she was still alive because then the person she cared for could possibly come back in another body or something.

Speaking of gemma, i think she really is dead and its marks innie who’s breathing in her ghost, though i dont know how that all would work. I just dont think this ends happily for mark, or at least, i think he finally learns to let her go as thats kind of his arc in the story.

What i dont get though, is that gemma wasn’t part of lumon (that we know of) before she died, and mark definitely wasnt because he “chose” to be severed as a result. So, if shes not dead somehow, then she must have chosen to join this program for some reason and not told him and is now trapped there until the experiment concludes somehow.

P.S helly in season 2 is definitely helena. This lady saw genuine affection for the first time in her life and was like studying it. I dont think she’d derail whatever experiment is happening to mark for his sake or her own affection for him, but i do think shes going to prolong it somehow until shes done using it as exposure therapy or some shit.

Also, irving is a fucking spy! Bro is one of those ppl trying to take down lumon probably because he thinks they killed his dad or something idk

One of dylans kids probably has health issues and i feel like hes going to be sacrificed and dylans innie is a goner. (sidenote, i wasnt a fan of how he spoke to his wife. It was a bit too rude and he didn’t apologize for his tone.)

[ranchstoryblog]

February Community Poll: Headcanons of the World Wide Web

The year is 1999, and a sleepy little farming village just got their first (and so far, only canonical) computer with internet access set up at their local library.

So, in all of the fandom's infinite wisdom, I ask you:

[mcflymemes]

aside from your name/alias, your pronouns, and your age... you don't need to document every fundamental detail about yourself on your blog. you don't need to spill every secret or document every minor detail about your life, your health, or your situation. if something is crucial to your portrayal, or you feel something needs to be established for the sake of your comfort/safety... that's different. otherwise... stop oversharing. don't give out your real name, last name, location, or your job. there are people out there with bad intentions and you are making it so much easier for them to cause problems. protect yourself. i don't care if 'stranger danger' sounds juvenile to you now - it's still a thing, and some people in the rpc are far too comfortable dispensing information about themselves to people they don't know.

[here-there-were-dragons]

post on the large hadron collider reminds me one of the many many many many many crazy things my mother believes wholeheartedly is that she and a worldwide community of people have the ability to literally see the future, and that the only reason it "doesn't work anymore" (which she is inconsistent about claiming) is because when the lhc was turned on (she insists it happened in the year 2000-i do not care enough to verify) it corrupted the timeline and ruined all of her fucking psychic future sight by setting us on The Wrong Timeline with it's... evil particle energies i guess. and then she goes on a paranoid rant about how the lhc is an act of hubris that's going to end mankind by ripping holes in reality and creating microblackholes or something and how she can "tell when it's on" because "things go a little funky" and her future vision "whites out again". i wonder what the hell she thinks is going on in stars all the time if she thinks the universe is that damn fragile.

she also seems to somewhat believe in the idea that every time you die your consciousness just gets transported seamlessly to a timeline where you didn't. and thinks that she regularly hops timelines and realities because she's "one of the rare 0.1% that's less attached to this reality and more to another one". at least when she's not blaming inconsistencies with reality vs her perception on everyone else except her being malicious, defective, and stupid. which she increasingly does now, since i guess her "heir to princess anastasia" delusion currently holds more appeal to her than the "psychic dream princess between dimensions" one. or more likely is just that she still 100% is in on both and i've just managed to tell her to shut the fuck up enough times that she doesn't talk about the psychic dream princess one unless she feels she has an opening to dump it in and force me to hear about it anymore. and believe me, she is ALWAYS looking for kinks in the armor to force that shit into ANY interaction

[personalzombie-tv]

ive been thinking about the welcome home update since last night and i gotta say;

i haven't had this much fun with an online horror project since marble hornets

[captain-cargoshorts]

Thinking about bonding via teaching/learning. Thinking about "show me how" versus "do this for me". If I wanted to watch someone cut a pineapple I'd go to YouTube. I want the knife in my hand.

[quarklynx]

God, if Tumblr goes down for real I don't even know where I'll go. Twitter is an active dumpster fire, Instagram and TikTok are algorithm-riddled nightmares, and it's just plain depressing trying to pick one of the hundreds of alternative sites that are vying for the userbases of these massive social media platforms that have been hyper-monetized into their death throes

[graviconscientia]

You cannot imagine how stupidly loud I gasped when I realised how close my wriggling day is now. I didn't forget it! But sometimes, you do some small calculations, and the results are startling.

(It is in ten days, for those who are curious.)

[love-takes-work]

Well I was about to get excited and tell people about another new item that Hot Topic is again for some reason releasing for Steven Universe in the year 2025 but I got distracted by how irritated I am about the presentation.

This new star ringer baby tee comes in straight sizes and plus sizes (for uh five bucks more). Anyone who's ever tried to buy plus sizes is used to seeing the fat tax, and I get that some people offer explanations like "they need more material tho" and "they're not as in demand." Whatever, I'm not a marketer. But I do wanna know why Hot Topic is now doing the Headless Fatty thing.

Look at the difference in how these products are presented.

Straight-size model gets several cute shots with their face as part of the presentation. Plus-size model has their face cut off in ALL shots. (And I checked--if you blow these up, you still can't see a full shot of this person.)

One thing you'll learn if you ever check out how heavier people are presented in news stories (usually with alarming voice-over about the obesity epidemic) is that when they film fat people, they cut off their heads and just show their body. It's pretty dehumanizing and weird.

I'd love if the product photos on Hot Topic's site could do a better and more consistent job of showing what plus-size clothing they have in a way that's similar to how they present their straight-size clothing. Especially since there are many, MANY people who need the plus sizes that I know in these fan communities and would probably love to give Hot Topic their money if they stock the right sizes. I've been so delighted to keep seeing new designs and things for Steven Universe coming out from Hot Topic and it just really a let-down when I see stuff like this.

(And though I know I don't know this model's story and do not in fact know whether they asked to be anonymized, it's generally unlikely most of the time that someone who is a MODEL doesn't want their photo out there, and the "headless fatty" phenomenon is a thing regardless of whether an individual example fits the typical profile.)