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reasonsforhope · 1 year ago

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On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, what began as a fringe experiment has quickly become central to the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness. To Justin Tyler Jr., it is home.

Mr. Tyler, 41, lives in Community First! Village, which aims to be a model of permanent affordable housing for people who are chronically homeless. In the fall of 2022, he joined nearly 400 residents of the village, moving into one of its typical digs: a 200-square-foot, one-room tiny house furnished with a kitchenette, a bed and a recliner.

The village is a self-contained, 51-acre community in a sparsely populated area just outside Austin. Stepping onto its grounds feels like entering another realm.

Eclectic tiny homes are clustered around shared outdoor kitchens, and neat rows of recreational vehicles and manufactured homes line looping cul-de-sacs.

There are chicken coops, two vegetable gardens, a convenience store, art and jewelry studios, a medical clinic and a chapel.

Roads run throughout, but residents mainly get around on foot or on an eight-passenger golf cart that makes regular stops around the property.

Mr. Tyler chose a home with a cobalt-blue door and a small patio in the oldest part of the village, where residents’ cactus and rock gardens created a “funky, hippie vibe” that appealed to him. He arrived in rough shape, struggling with alcoholism, his feet inflamed by gout, with severe back pain from nearly 10 years of sleeping in public parks, in vehicles and on street benches.

At first, he kept to himself. He locked his door and slept. He visited the clinic and started taking medication. After a month or so, he ventured out to meet his neighbors.

“For a while there, I just didn’t want to be seen and known,” he said. “Now I prefer it.”

Between communal meals and movie screenings, Mr. Tyler also works at the village, preparing homes for the dozen or more people who move there each month.

In the next few years, Community First is poised to grow to nearly 2,000 homes across three locations, which would make it by far the nation’s largest project of this kind, big enough to permanently house about half of Austin’s chronically homeless population.

Tiny-home villages for people who have been homeless have existed on a small scale for several decades, but have recently become a popular approach to addressing surging homelessness. Since 2019, the number of these villages across the country has nearly quadrupled, to 124 from 34, with dozens more coming, according to a census by Yetimoni Kpeebi, a researcher at Missouri State University.

Mandy Chapman Semple, a consultant who has helped cities like Houston transform their homelessness systems, said the growth of these villages reflects a need to replace inexpensive housing that was once widely available in the form of mobile home parks and single room occupancy units, and is rapidly being lost. But she said they are a highly imperfect solution.

“I think where we’re challenged is that ‘tiny home’ has taken on a spectrum of definitions,” said Chapman Semple. Many of those definitions fall short of housing standards, often lacking basic amenities like heat and indoor plumbing, which she said limits their ability to meet the needs of the population they intend to serve.

But Community First is pushing the tiny home model to a much larger scale. While most of its homes lack bathrooms and kitchens, its leaders see that as a necessary trade-off to be able to creatively and affordably house the growing number of people living on Austin’s streets. And unlike most other villages, many of which provide temporary emergency shelter in structures that can resemble tool sheds, Community First has been thoughtfully designed with homey spaces where people with some of the highest needs can stay for good. No other tiny home village has attempted to permanently house as many people.

Austin’s homelessness rate has been rapidly worsening, and the city’s response has whipped back and forth... In October [2023], the official estimate put the number of people living without shelter at 5,530, a 125 percent increase from two years earlier. Some of that rise is the result of better outreach, but officials acknowledged that more people have become homeless. City leaders vowed to build more housing, but that effort has been slowed by construction delays and resistance from residents.

Meanwhile, outside the city limits, Community First has been building fast. [Note from below the read more: It's outside city limits because the lack of zoning laws keeps more well-off Austin residents from blocking the project, as they did earlier attempts to build inside the city.] In a mere eight years, this once-modest project has grown into a sprawling community that the city is turning to as a desperately needed source of affordable housing. The village has now drawn hundreds of millions of dollars from public and private sources and given rise to similar initiatives across the country.

This rapid growth has come despite significant challenges. And some question whether a community on the outskirts of town with relaxed housing standards is a suitable way to meet the needs of people coming out of chronic homelessness. The next few years will be a test of whether these issues will be addressed or amplified as the village expands to five times its current size.

-via New York Times, January 8, 2024. Article continues below (at length!)

The community versus Community First

For Alan Graham, the expansion of Community First is just the latest stage in a long-evolving project. In the late 1990s, Mr. Graham, then a real estate developer, attended a Catholic men’s retreat that deepened his faith and inspired him to get more involved with his church. Soon after, he began delivering meals as a church volunteer to people living on Austin’s streets.

In 1998, Mr. Graham, now 67, became a founder of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, a nonprofit that has since amassed a fleet of vehicles that make daily rounds to deliver food and clothing to Austin’s homeless...

Talking to people like Mr. Johnston [a homeless Austin resident who Graham had befriended], Mr. Graham came to feel that housing alone was not enough for people who had been chronically homeless, the official term for those who have been homeless for years or repeatedly and have physical or mental disabilities, including substance-use disorders. About a third of the homeless population fits this description, and they are often estranged from family and other networks.

In 2006, Mr. Graham pitched an idea to Austin’s mayor: Create an R.V. park for people coming out of chronic homelessness. It would have about 150 homes, supportive services and easy access to public transportation. Most importantly, it would help to replace the “profound, catastrophic loss of family” he believed was at the root of the problem with a close-knit and supportive community.

The City Council voted unanimously in 2008 to lease Mr. Graham a 17-acre plot of city-owned land to make his vision a reality. Getting the council members on board, he said, turned out to be the easy part.

When residents near the intended site learned of the plan, they were outraged. They feared the development would reduce their property values and invite crime. One meeting to discuss the plan with the neighborhood grew so heated that Mr. Graham was escorted to his car by the police. Not a single one of the 52 community members in attendance voted in favor of the project.

After plans for the city-owned lot fell apart and other proposed locations faced similar resistance, Mr. Graham gave up on trying to build the development within city limits.

In 2012, he instead acquired a plot of land in a part of Travis County just northeast of Austin. It was far from public transportation and other services, but it had one big advantage: The county’s lack of zoning laws limited the power of neighbors to stop it.

Mr. Graham raised $20 million and began to build. In late 2015, Mr. Johnston left the R.V. park he had been living in and became the second person to move into the new village. It grew rapidly. In just two years, Mr. Graham bought an adjacent property, nearly doubling the village’s size to 51 acres and making room for hundreds more residents.

And then in the fall of 2022, he broke ground on the largest expansion yet: Adding two more sites to the village, expanding it by 127 acres to include nearly 2,000 homes.

“No one ever really did what they first did, and no one’s ever done what they’re about to do,” said Mark Hilbelink, the director of Sunrise Navigation Center, Austin’s largest homeless-services provider. “So there’s a little bit of excitement but also probably a little bit of trepidation about, ‘How do we do this right?’”

What it takes to make a village

Since he moved into Community First eight years ago, Mr. Johnston has found the stability that eluded him for so long. Most mornings, he wakes up early in his R.V., feeds his scruffy adopted terrier, Amos, and walks a few minutes down a quiet road to the village garden, where neat rows of carrots, leeks, beets and arugula await his attention.

Mr. Johnston worked in fast-food restaurants for most of his life, but he learned how to garden at the village. He now works full time cultivating produce for a weekly market that is free to residents.

“Once I got here, I said, This is where I’m going to spend pretty much my entire life now,” Mr. Johnston said.

Everyone at the village pays rent, which averages about $385 a month. The tiny homes that make up two-thirds of the dwellings go for slightly lower, but have no indoor plumbing; their residents use communal bathhouses and kitchens. The rest of the units are R.V.s and manufactured homes with their own bathrooms and kitchens.

Like Mr. Johnston, many residents have jobs in the village, created to offer residents flexible opportunities to earn some income. Last year, they earned a combined $1.5 million working as gardeners, landscapers, custodians, artists, jewelry makers and more, paid out by Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

Ute Dittemer, 66, faced a daily struggle for survival during a decade on the streets before moving into Community First five years ago with her husband. Now she supports herself by painting and molding figures out of clay at the village art house, augmented by her husband’s $800 monthly retirement income. A few years ago, a clay chess set she made sold for $10,000 at an auction. She used the money to buy her first car.

“I’m glad that we are not in a low-income-housing apartment complex,” she said. “We’ve got all this green out here, air to breathe.”

A small number of residents have jobs off-site, and a city bus makes hourly stops at the village 13 times a day to help people commute into town.

But about four out of five residents live on government benefits like disability or Social Security. Their incomes average $900 a month, making even tiny homes impossible to afford without help, Mr. Graham said.

“Essentially 100 percent of the people that move into this village will have to be subsidized for the rest of their lives,” he said.

For about $25,000 a year, Mr. Graham’s organization subsidizes one person’s housing at the village. (Services like primary health care and addiction counseling are provided by other organizations.) So far, that has been paid for entirely by private donations and in small part from collecting rent.

This would not be possible, Mr. Graham said, without a highly successful fund-raising operation that taps big Austin philanthropists. To build the next two expansions, Mr. Graham set a $225 million fund-raising goal, about $150 million of which has already been obtained from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the founder of the Patrón Spirits Company, Hill Country Bible Church and others.

Support goes beyond monetary donations. A large land grant came from the philanthropic arm of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Alamo Drafthouse, an Austin-based cinema chain, donated an outdoor amphitheater for movie screenings. Top architectural firms competed for the chance to design energy-efficient tiny homes free of charge. And every week, hundreds of volunteers come to help with landscaping and gardening or to serve free meals.

Around 55 residents, including 15 children, live in the village as “missionals” — unpaid neighbors generally motivated by their Christian faith to be part of the community.

All missionals undergo a monthslong “discernment process” before they can move in. They pay to live in R.V.s and manufactured homes distinguished by an “M” in the front window. Their presence in the community is meant to guard against the pitfalls of concentrated poverty and trauma.

“Missionals are our guardian angels,” said Blair Racine, a 69-year-old resident with a white beard that hangs to his chest. “They’re people we can always call. They’re always there for us.”

After moving into the village in 2018, Mr. Racine spent two years isolated in his R.V. because of a painful eye condition. But after an effective treatment, he became so social that he was nicknamed the Mayor. Missional residents drive him to get his medication once a week, he said. To their children he is Uncle Blair.

Though the village is open to people of any religious background, it is run by Christians, and public spaces are adorned with paintings of Jesus on the cross and other biblical scenes. The application to live in the community outlines a set of “core values” that refer to God and the Bible. But Mr. Graham said there is no proselytizing and people do not have to be sober or seek treatment to live there.

Mr. Graham lives in a 399-square-foot manufactured home in the middle of the village with his wife, Tricia Graham, who works as the community’s “head of neighbor care.” He said they do not have any illusions about solving the underlying mental-health and substance-use problems many residents live with, and that is not their goal.

“This is absolutely not nirvana,” Mr. Graham said. “And we want people to understand the beauty and the complexity of what we do. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on the face of the planet than right here in the middle of this, but you’re not fixing these things.” ...

From an experiment to a model

Community First has already inspired spinoffs, with some tweaks. In 2018, Nate Schlueter, who previously worked with the village’s jobs program, opened Eden Village in his hometown, Springfield, Mo. Unlike in Community First, every home in Eden Village is identical and has its own bathroom and kitchen. Mr. Schlueter’s model has spread to 12 different cities with every village limited to 50 homes or fewer.

“Not every city is Austin, Texas,” Mr. Schlueter said. “We don’t want to build a large-scale village. And if the root cause of homelessness is a loss of family, and community is something that can duplicate that safety net to some extent, to have smaller villages to me seemed like a stronger community safety net. Everybody would know each other.”

The rapid growth of Community First has challenged that ideal. In recent years, some of the original missional residents and staff members have left, finding it harder to support the number of people moving into the village. Steven Hebbard, who lived and worked at the village since its inception, left in 2019 when he said it shifted from a “tiny-town dynamic” where he knew everyone’s name to something that felt more like a city, straining the supportive culture that helped people succeed.

Mobile Loaves and Fishes said more staff members had recently been hired to help new residents adjust, but Mr. Graham noted that there was a limit to what any housing provider could do without violating people’s privacy and autonomy.

Despite these concerns, the organization, which had been run entirely on private money, has recently drawn public support. In January 2023, Travis County gave Mobile Loaves and Fishes $35 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to build 640 units as part of its expansion.

Then four months later came a significant surprise: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the use of federal housing vouchers, which subsidize part or all of a low-income resident’s rent, for the village’s tiny homes. This will make running the village much more financially sustainable, Mr. Graham said, and may make it a more replicable blueprint for other places.

“That’s a big deal for us, and it’s a big deal on a national basis,” Mr. Graham said. “It’s a recognition that this model, managed the way that this model is, has a role in the system.”

Usually, the government considers homes without indoor plumbing to be substandard, but, in this case, it made an exception by applying the housing standards it uses for single-room-occupancy units. The village still did not meet the required ratio of bathrooms per person, but at the request of Travis County and the City of Austin’s housing officials, who cited Austin’s “severe lack of affordable housing” that made it impossible for some homeless people with vouchers to find anywhere else to live, HUD waived its usual requirements.

In the waiver, a HUD staffer wrote that Mr. Graham told HUD officials over the phone that the proportion of in-unit bathrooms “has not been an issue.” But in conversations with The Times, other homeless-service providers in Austin and some village residents said the lack of in-unit bathrooms is one of the biggest problems people have with living there. It also makes the villages less accessible to people with certain disabilities and health issues that are relatively common among the chronically homeless....

Mr. Graham said that with a doctor’s note, people could secure an R.V. or manufactured home at the village, although those are in short supply and have a long waiting list. He said the village’s use of tiny homes allowed them to build at a fraction of the usual cost when few other options existed, and helps ensure residents aren’t isolated in their units, reinforcing the village’s communal ethos.

“If somebody wants to live in a tiny home they ought to have the choice,” Mr. Graham said, “and if they are poor we ought to respect their civil right to live in that place and be subsidized to live there.” But he conceded that for some people, “this might not be the model.”

“Nobody can be everything for everyone,” he said.

By the spring of 2025, Mr. Graham hopes to begin moving people into the next phase of the village, across the street from the current property. The darker visions some once predicted of an impoverished community on the outskirts of town overtaken by drugs and violence have not come to pass. Instead, the village has permanently housed hundreds of people and earned the approval and financial backing of the city, the county and the federal government. But for the model to truly meet the scale of the challenge in Austin and beyond, Chapman Semple said, the compromises that led to Community First in its current incarnation will have to be reckoned with.

“We can build smaller villages that can be fully integrated into the community, that can have access to amenities within the community that we all need to live, including jobs and groceries,” Chapman Semple said. “If it’s a wonderful model then we should be embracing and fighting for its inclusion within our community.”

-via New York Times, January 8, 2024

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exeggcute · 3 months ago

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every so often I'll see articles from different "lifestyle" publications (because the new tab page on the mobile version of chrome just shows you random shit, which I kind of enjoy in a weird way) for those tiny homes you can buy online, where it's like a tiny cabin or a shipping container or whatever and they send you the shit and you have to build it. and I have no idea who the intended demographic is for these things because they run anywhere from ten to thirty grand, and that doesn't even account for labor costs, electrical/plumbing, building permits, not to mention fucking land to build it on. there's the obvious answer of rich people who want to build a little casita on their property and rent it out but I feel like they might not be buying these things on amazon. and then the publications sometimes frame it as a "affordable homeownership is possible :)" thing which is insane because if you have the cash for this, plus either land that you already own or enough additional cash to buy land, would you not just put all that towards a down payment... on a regular house?

but I do have an idea of why these articles keep getting written, and it's because if even a single person reads one and clicks an affiliate link and buys a $25,000 shipping container on amazon then the publication is gonna get a very nice kickback. unclear if this has literally ever happened though

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boreal-sea · 1 year ago

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Society needs to do a few things to help unhoused people. Firstly, and obviously, those who want to be housed in houses and apartments should be able to get them. Cities should create and enforce rent reduction policies on landlords who let apartments and homes sit vacant - and if they sit vacant too long, the city takes control of the property. Most Airbnbs have to go. Apartments and homes that are foreclosed or owned by banks need to be given to the city to be used for low income or free housing. House selling agencies like Zillow etc who have unsold properties just sitting around should be forced to lower the prices of those homes until someone buys them, and if they are still vacant after a certain amount of time, they too go to the city to manage. You wanna get angry? Google the number of foreclosed homes in your town or city, then Google the estimated homeless population in your area.

But.

I also think society needs to get easier for people who don't have and don't want a permanent house or apartment?? Cities and towns need to ease restrictions on "tiny homes", trailers, campers, mobile homes, live-in-vans, and things like that. They need to provide safe, dry areas for people who want to camp. They need to provide clean places to bathe and shower and clean your clothes. They need to provide water and electricity and plumbing to these places. Because of how job applications work right now, those camps need to have a real address that the people living there can use.

Oh yeah - and of course, hostile architecture needs to be banned WHILE mandating that public spaces must have a minimum mandatory amount of seating.

#homelesness #human rights #unhoused

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maryellencarter · 5 months ago

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Will your walkable cities have guaranteed housing for all? Not just "we housed a thousand homeless people but there are 40,000 more waiting for space and nowhere to build", actual available housing.

Will they have safe parking to sleep in our cars without being harassed, and leave our cars at in the daytime to keep our stuff safe while we walk your walkable city?

Will they have plentiful benches, maybe even sheltered from the elements, and will we be allowed to sleep on them?

Will they have plentiful, safe, clean, well-stocked, 24/7 restrooms? Maybe even climate controlled? And will we be allowed to spend as long as we need to in them? Most homeless people have digestive issues because of our limited food access, if for no other reason.

Will they have free foot care clinics and mobility aids? We're already on our feet all day. It hurts. Many of us had mobility issues before becoming homeless.

Will you have free 24/7 transit for all, or will it be means tested, require residency, or have similar arbitrary limitations? How long will we be allowed to ride? Will there be easily accessible restrooms? Will it have posted maps at every stop, or will we have to use cellular data to find our way around? What measures will you take to prevent it becoming a superspreader system for Covid and other diseases?

(Actually, requiring a cellular or cable company to provide free public wifi as a substitute for part of their tax bill would be an interesting experiment. Or you could just make wifi a public utility. Still put up paper maps for transit though, we don't all have wifi capable devices or the ability to use them. Maybe even with Braille overlays on the plastic or something?)

If you're not allowing vehicles other than transit, what allowances are you making for grocery delivery, prepared food delivery (like Doordash type services), laundry service, diaper service, anything that doesn't require mobility-limited residents to use their steps? What's your plan for "I'm moving in or out of the walkable city and I need a moving truck for my furniture"?

How about "I'm buying groceries for two weeks for six hungry people and I can't carry it all home on the bus"? How about "My plumbing broke and the plumber needs his toolbox full of heavy tools and parts that *he* can't carry on the bus"? Will your buses/trains have luggage compartments, and how will the loading and unloading work with keeping a schedule?

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armandsdivorcelawyer · 3 months ago

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Ok Seasoned Cat Owners who live in apartments, I have a question.

So there are 2 cats that live in my apartment. One is the Shared Cat that is disabled and the other is my roommates foster-to-adopt, who is very mobile.

So I got a call from my landlord about a plumbing repair that is being done today. Ofc no one is home. They asked if they can go in to do it. I go “okay just be careful that the cat doesn’t get out.” This super is fully aware that there are animals in the apartment and is pretty chill. They agree to be mindful of the foster.

Roommate thinks this is a bad idea. Roommate says that they’re not going to give a shit about the cat. Me, not wanting to be responsible for the cat getting out decides to leave work early.

So like…what the fuck do the rest of cat owners do???

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copperbadge · 1 year ago

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Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways to Give:

personalmoshiakh's physician has been obstructing their access to gender affirming surgery, and his wait time for top surgery within the NHS is only getting longer; he's also unable to get a loan for privately funded top surgery. He's raising money to try and fund the surgery himself. You can read more and give at GoFundMe here.

the_rainbow_jen's colleague Madison is struggling with immense medical debt due to gender affirmation surgery; you can read more and give at GoFundMe here.

joseph-lavode's sister has recently gotten a good job after a long stretch of unemployment or underemployment and just as things were stabilizing, a number of expenses came up unexpectedly in the same week, including car problems, plumbing, and water heater issues, to the point she is in danger of losing her home. You can read more and give at GoFundMe here.

Anon linked to a couple of posts about the recent fire which is devastating Maui; unavernales has a links list here and metalheadsforblacklivesmatter has a links list here, both rebloggable, of places you can give to provide aid.

thegeeksqueaks is a teacher fundraising to provide support for her queer and neurodivergent students, both in class and in the student-organized GSA and D&D clubs she sponsors; as with many teachers she is already supplying a lot for her classrooms out of her own budget but needs help to go the extra mile. You can read more and reblog here, give directly at paypal here, or purchase items from the classroom Amazon wishlist here.

News to Know:

MB linked to a study by Northwestern University regarding LifeSkills Mobile, an HIV prevention app for "trans women and nonbinary femmes". If you are eligible and join the study, they provide you either with the app or with information about HIV prevention, and ask you to complete an online survey and a mouth swab HIV test at home every 6 months for up to 4 years. You can opt out at any time, and can receive up to $250 for your help.

Recurring Needs:

Anon linked to a fundraiser for dee-the-red-witch, a trans woman who needs to raise $10K to keep her home. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here, give via paypal here, or purchase her leatherwork here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for littlefluffbutt, who is facing homelessness with two daughters due to a predatory loan and support falling through; the house has received a stay of auction, but the family still needs to raise funds to keep it. You can read more and reblog here or support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for maximumsunshine, who has just received life-saving surgery but is behind on rent, bills, and food until their first paycheck comes in at the end of the month. You can read more and reblog here, or support them via patreon or via paypal.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

#radio free monday #charity #philanthropy #fannish community

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onesentencemusings · 13 days ago

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Return of Jafar - Rewrite (Pt 6)

(Part 1)

Arabian days, like Arabian nights, had a magic to them. Although the same sun shined across the whole world, here in Agrabah, the morning light danced like dervishes across both sand and water like it did nowhere else. And no one got to see this magical light cresting over the land earlier than Princess Jasmine, in her grand bedroom nestled in a high tower.

The sun’s very first light slipped through the layers of emerald green silk curtains and soon lit up the gold-leaf furnishings and crystal mobiles. The light swept to the back of the room and peered once more through a fine blue canopy curtain to greet the princess in her bed. But that wasn’t the only thing ready to wake the young woman.

A gentle hand swept a strand of hair from the princess’s face before sweetly taking her hand in his own. The princess’s eyes fluttered open and saw a poof of shaggy black hair topped with a small sun-worn fez. She sat up slightly and smiled seeing the rest of the young man’s face. ”Aladdin, you’re home.”

Aladdin turned towards the bed and put his chin on the plush cushion top, smiling.

“Did you find Princess Dia’mah?”

She was so pretty. His name sounded like poetry in her voice.

“Aladdin?”

He still couldn’t believe she liked him. More than liked, really. After all, they are going to get--

“Aladdin!”

“Huh?!” Aladdin sat up straighter. “What?”

Jasmine sighed and pushed off her blankets. “Princess Dia’mah of Zudan. Did you find her?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I did.” Aladdin leaned on the bed and gave a yawn. “Sorry, I kinda didn’t sleep much outside of a nap on the way back. Abu’s still sleeping.” He pointed behind Jasmine. Carpet was floating quietly at the balcony entrance. It gave a small wave before pointing a tassel at the small sleeping monkey curled up on its back. “But the princess is safe in the Shiabab Sultan’s palace and they already sent a messenger to Zudan to come get her.”

Jasmine sat up. “Shiabab? Why go there?”

Aladdin stood and dropped himself on the bed. “The princess said some nomad saved her from Abis Mal and told her Shiabab was the closest city.” Aladdin looked away. “She was pretty determined to do what the nomad told her to. Said the woman gave her life so she could get away.”

“Oh dear…” Jasmine looked down. “That poor woman.”

Aladdin took Jasmine’s hand. “I know.” Aladdin stopped and then sighed. “Ugh, look at me. You just woke up and I’m giving you bad news. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, Aladdin.” Jasmine leaned against Aladdin’s shoulder. “We both know there’s bad people out there… but that woman proves there’s plenty of good people ready to do what’s right.”

“I still feel bad. Hey, I have an idea!” Aladdin jumped off the bed.

---

“Breakfast by the garden fountain.” Jasmine giggled. “You seem to keep finding excuses to take me here.”

Aladdin hung his head and rubbed the back of his head bashfully. “I… just… think plumbing is really neat.” He said with a smile, a smile that got wider when Jasmine ‘aww’ed. “I mean… think about it!” Aladdin took the teapot next to his plate and poured it into Jasmine’s cup. “Isn’t it wild that you can have water be in one place, then make it go through a bunch of those ‘pipe’ things and have it come out somewhere else? It’s crazy!”

“That’s really cute.” Jasmine smiled and took a bite of her meal.

“Not as cute as you.” Aladdin answered. Jasmine looked away and blushed.

The area fell silent, far more silent than should be normal. Aladdin looked around and saw the fountain had stopped flowing. Before he could speak, a huge geyser blasted from the top, creating rainfall in the plaza around it. Aladdin quickly got to his feet and grabbed Jasmine by the arm before running towards the palace.

“YYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!”

The young couple stopped and looked back. At the top of the flow of water, a blue humanoid figure, dressed in an aggressively loud Hawaiian shirt, a long eared fur cap, and a pair of cargo pants, appeared on a surfboard with arms full of suitcases. The water rushed around the outer edge of the garden before splashing down next to the pair.

The man ripped off his sunglasses. “He’s BIG!” He pulled off another pair of sunglasses. “He’s BLUE!” A third arm pulled off the final set of sunglasses. “HE’S BACK!”

“Genie?” Aladdin gasped.

“The Genie? Where!” Genie dumped his bags and poofed up a smartphone before looking around frantically. “Oh, I love his work! His first movie was the best of the Disney Renaissance!” He lowered his phone and looks at you. “Unless you really like animals doing Hamlet for some reason.”

Aladdin ran up to his old friend. “Genie, it’s wonderful to see you!”

“I mean, sure, there’s cultural sensitivity issues and those are important but do people really think Aladdin was meant as a historically accurate depiction of Arabian culture?”

“Genie?”

“Well, I guess some people think Zeus was a good dad ‘cause of Hercules but really that’s their problem for taking mass-entertainment at face value.”

“Genie!”

Genie snapped into focus and laughed. “Whoops, sorry. Got a little meta there.” He turned to Aladdin and gave a huge smile before pulling the boy into a massive hug. “Oh Al, my little buddy, pal, friend, amigo, compadre! I missed you so much!”

In a flash, Aladdin was sitting at a table, Genie sitting across from him with a wide-but-feminine form dressed in a hot pink sleeveless dress with an apron over top. Genie took Aladdin’s hands and started giving him a manicure. “Tell me what I missed, girl. Spill every drop. Of. Tea. I got ta know e’rythang.”

“Ahem.” Jasmine looked around Aladdin’s shoulder and waved at Genie.

“Oh!” Genie pulled out an ‘Out To Lunch’ sign and set it in front of Aladdin before poofing to Jasmine. “Hey, Uh… don’t think we ever actually got introduced. Missed Connection, am I right? Me: Slave of the Lamp bound to obey a crazy old megalomaniac. You: chained to a crazy old megalomaniac’s throne in highly age-inappropriate clothing.”

Jasmine scoffed. “Don’t remind me.” She saw Genie give an uncomfortable look. “It’s ok. You’re fine.” She just never wanted to speak anything remotely close to referencing Jafar ever again. She gave a kind smile and held out her hand. “I’m Princess Jasmine.”

Genie grinned and took the hand. As he was about to speak, his mouth popped off and bounced down his arm before planting a big kiss on the back of Jasmine’s hand. Genie grabbed the lips and slapped them back on his face. “Sorry, the boys get too excited sometimes.” He said bashfully. “The name’s Genie, but my friends call me Genie.”

“Nice to meet you, Genie.” Jasmine laughed.

Aladdin stood up from the table and gave Genie a pat on the back. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but I thought you said you were going to see the world.”

“I did!” Genie answered.

“All of it?”

“Yuh-huh.”

“But it’s only been like… what, eight months?”

Genie split into fours and shrunk down to lawn-gnome sized figures, one of a Danish lady, the next of a cowboy, the third of an English royal guard and the fourth a Russian dancer. “It’s a small world aaaafter all.”

“But why come back to Agrabah?”

“Oh, lots of reasons!” Genie started twirling in the air, sparks of baby-blue magic dust following him upward as he started drifting up and up. “So many wonderful, beautiful, touching, nuanced, heartfelt reasons that can only be accurately told through the magic of song and dance!”

Genie poofed down and leaned casually against Aladdin. “But The Author isn’t confident she can make a musical number be an entertaining read so you can just, ya know, look it up on YouTube or something.”

“The Author?” Jasmine looked at Aladdin.

“He says weird things a lot,” Aladdin whispered to her. “Just ignore it. It’ll save you a headache.”

“But the gist of it is,” He poofed over and took Jasmine and Aladdin into a big hug. “I’ve been all over the place, saw a lot of great things and met a lot of great people, but no one, absolutely no one, was as unforgettable, sweet, charming and just all around fun to be around as you guys.”

“So you want to stay here?” Aladdin added.

“As long as you’ll have me!”

“That’s wonderful! I’ll have a guest room made up for you right away.” Jasmine stated.

“Don’t bother.” Genie stepped back and laughed.“All I need is my old lamp.”

“Your lamp? Sure I got it, it’s in my room.” Aladdin pointed to the palace. “Let’s go.”

“Leave it to me.” Genie took a deep breath before speaking “Dash, dash, dash.” Genie put his hands on his hips with a smile.

Aladdin and Jasmine gave each other a look. “And that means…?” Aladdin asked.

“It’s the dashes used to imply a scene transition.” Genie shrugged.

“What’s a scene-”

---

“- transition?” Aladdin stopped and realized they were now in his guest room in the far side of the palace.

“That.” Genie laughed and leans closer to you. “The Author wrote this bit before she wrote the previous three pages if you wanna know where her priorities lie.”

“Uh, right. It’s over here.” Aladdin went to a trunk at the foot of his bed and threw it open. Right there nestled carefully among Aladdin’s few other cared-for possessions was a smooth, well-polished golden lamp. He picked it up and took it to Genie. “I only kept it to remind me of you. I wasn’t trying to see if it was still magic or anything.”

Genie scoffed. “Nah, don’t sweat it.” He took the lamp and tapped it against the bedknob. “This thing’s as magic as a tax form now. It lost all its power when you freed me. Buuuuut that just means it’s waiting for someone to magic it back up!”

Genie gave the lamp back to Aladdin and poofed into a cloud that swiftly flowed inside the lamp. A brief moment of silence as Aladdin and Jasmine exchanged looks. “Uh…”

A wave of blue lightning passed over the surface before the lamp jumped from Aladdin’s hand. The young man barely caught the lamp before the lid launched upward with a plume of magic sparkles. A small noisy chaos started; sawing, hammering, drilling, heavy machinery backing-up beeping, a stampede of cattle, train passing by, Jazz band marching by, then finally the small tink of a golf ball being hit into the plastic-lined hole followed by very polite light applause.

The wave of blue smoke flowed out of the spout and Genie reappeared, this time wearing a heavy work overalls with a bright orange under shirt. He held out two white tiles. “Guys, I can’t decide. Which would look better in the bathroom? Eggshell or Swiss Coffee?”

Aladdin shrugged. “They’re both white.”

Genie slumped, throwing his head back with a loud groan. “What happened?” Genie’s voice came from inside the lamp. “He said they’re both just white.” About a dozen or more versions of Genie’s voice collectively groaned and the main Genie in front of them shook his head. “What about you?” Genie looked at Jasmine. “Eggshell or Swiss Coffee?” He held up the tiles again.

Jasmine had a quiet laugh before she pointed to the tile in Genie’s left hand.

“Guys!” Genie yelled at the lamp. “We’re doing Eggshell!” There was a loud collective ‘Whoo!’ from inside the lamp.

“You want to tile the inside of your lamp?” Aladdin asked. “Wouldn’t that make your Itty-Bitty living space even smaller?”

“Relaaaax, buddy. The only reason I couldn’t do this before is because a genie’s prison is always made of their own magic, so we can’t alter it or,” Genie started looking a lot less comfortable. “... ya know… have any hope of escape...” Genie blinked and put on a big smile. “But now that all that magic is gone, I can make the inside of this thing be as big and awesome as I want! So I’m gonna have a room for everything! Dining, bedroom, poker room, dogs playing poker room, foosball table room, Diorama-of-all-my-rooms room, you get the idea.” Genie took a quick look at his clock. “Whoops, time for the grand opening.”

The Genie in front of them vanished and another much larger plume of blue smoke soared out of the lamp. With a whirlwind of sparkles and fireworks, the Genie reappeared, bold and blue wearing nothing but a rich red sash around his waist, a perfectly polished gold earring and two elegantly minimalist gold cuffs on his wrists.

Wait, cuffs?

“Genie! Your bands!” Aladdin grabbed one of Genie’s arms and pulled them to eye level. “I swear I didn’t do anything to the lamp!”

“Al.”

“What do we do? Whatever it takes--”

“AL!” Genie grabbed Aladdin’s face and made the young man turn to him. “It’s ok, watch. Look, nothing up my sleeves!” Genie pretended to roll up sleeves, making his arms vanish as he did. “Alaca-getoffame!” With a flick of his wrists the gold bands came off, hanging open in the air as Genie took a bow. “They’re just clip-ons, buddy.” He scoffed. “You try wearing something for ten thousand years and not feel like you're missing something when you don’t have them on.”

Aladdin took a deep breath, smiling a little when Jasmine came closer to hold him. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t wanna hurt my friend.” Genie floated closer. “And that’s why I came back, kid.” Genie looked close to the verge of happy tears. “Like I said… I’ve been all over, met so many people. And no one’s a friend like you.”

Genie pulled away and clapped his hands. "Ok, that's done. What's next on this micro-chapter's agenda?"

--------------------------

"Whoa, that's a lot of dashes. Guess we're done for the day. Ok, people! Make room for the Author's Note!"

--------------------------

Author's Note: Surprised a life-long villain lover managed to have fun writing heroes? Yeah, me too.

(Part 5)

(Part 7)

#Aladdin #Aladdin 2 #Return of Jafar #Disney #Writing #Fanfiction #Fanfic

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izhape · 1 month ago

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i understand that training how to fix mobile home plumbing is unique and difficult but there are two mobile home parks in the town I live in... that's a lot of people who might need repairs done...and not a single one can?

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nukacourier · 2 months ago

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Hiiiii- for both Pierre and James please, I couldn't pick just one of the duo

18, 26, 40, 65

Sorry if there's any repeats from last time you reblogged that post! My brain is small ❤️

You're in luck because I believe only one of these is a repeat (which I could probably phrase better now than last time I answered it so I don't mind anyways :3)

Do they have any disabilities, mutations, or implants/enhancements? Do they have any chronic illnesses?

Yes for both, for disabilities, Pierre has hyper mobility issues (which leads to near constant joint pain and easy dislocation) and is color blind (deuteranomaly), plus she ends up going mostly blind in one eye and has general vision problems regardless (incredibly near sighted, astigmatism, and develops a cataract in his left eye. Hence the blindness).

James, on the other hand, has a damaged knee that causes him occasional mobility issues and is generally a source of pain. He got this injury in the Capital Wasteland. He also for a while had chronic migraines and brain damage induced psychosis from being "lobotomized" in Point Lookout (and later being shot by Benny, which leads to his pain and symptoms worsening).

However, he also has cybernetic implants that he got at Big MT. His spine is reinforced and his missing piece of brain was also repaired with cybernetics. It helped him regain stability but he still does experience mild psychosis symptoms and occasional headaches.

How would others describe them/their disposition?

With Pierre, most people are intimidated by them in one way or another. He's very pretty for one, and is just generally intense. Those who are a bit sharper can probably clock them as a raider and I imagine her general habits of being silent and watching others gives people the creeps. (However, James finds him a little odd but generally comforting to be around)

James, a lot of people used to assume he was naive when he was in the Capital Wasteland (and although it was somewhat true, he was still very quick to learn and adapt to living in the Wasteland). Generally, most people find him somewhere between interestingly mysterious or very kind of a person. He's actually kind of quiet and distant with people he doesn't know, but does warm up to others quickly.

What is their favorite type of weather?

Pierre likes cool, cloudy days, and James like sunny breezey days :3

Describe their living space. (How do they decorate it? Does it have running water and/or electricity?)

Both of their spaces are often cluttered, but not dirty as both value cleanliness to some degree. Pierre's tends to be cozy, with excess amounts of rugs and curtains. Often has a lot of furniture that doesn't quite match, and can be a bit messy with leaving out papers, books, other miscellaneous (and unmentionable) things.

Though often he doesn't have the knowledge to set up electricity, she tends to keep around electric lanterns and candles for lighting, and if it gets too cold just generally tries to increase insulation or uses oil heaters.

James tends to keep his spaces filled with trinkets and collectables, usually set up very straight and orderly. Some people find his living spaces to be oddly sterile compared to other people's homes, and it's usually always kept organized and clean, the exception being his bed since he likes to be able to just fall into it. And James being James (being a fucking nerd) he of course has the knowledge of how to wire a house and also knows a bit about plumbing (the fact he was also Stanley's assistant as a repairman in Vault 101 helps too).

Thanks for the ask my friend!!! You always pick the best questions that make me think a little and I love that 🫶

#sorry that its a novel djfnfnfk #vinny rambles #ask #fallout ocs #james (oc)#pretty pierre (oc)

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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This day in history

Tomorrow (December 5), I'm at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC, with my new solarpunk novel The Lost Cause, which 350.org's Bill McKibben called "The first great YIMBY novel: perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful."

#15yrsago Berlin hacker con will use RFID badges to simulate life in a totalitarian panopticon https://events.ccc.de/congress/2008/wiki/OpenBeacon_with_OpenAMD/

#15yrsago RIP, Forrest J Ackerman https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ackerman6-2008dec06-story.html

#15yrsago Googling Security: book that opens your eyes to how much you disclose to Google https://memex.craphound.com/2008/12/05/googling-security-book-that-opens-your-eyes-to-how-much-you-disclose-to-google/

#10yrsago 75% of American silent feature films lost https://variety.com/2013/film/news/library-of-congress-only-14-of-u-s-silent-films-survive-1200915020/

#10yrsago NSA collecting unimaginable quantities of mobile phone location data for guilt-by-association data-mining https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations-worldwide-snowden-documents-show/2013/12/04/5492873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html

#10yrsago Democratic lawmakers share a squalorous house in DC https://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/04/politics/real-alpha-house/index.html

#10yrsago Rob Ford police document: allegations of heroin use and more https://torontolife.com/category/city/toronto-politics/2013/12/04/new-bombshells-from-police-documents-suggest-rob-ford-may-have-tried-heroin-been-blackmailed/

#10yrsago NYPD shoot at unarmed man, hit bystanders, charge man for making them shoot https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/nyregion/unarmed-man-is-charged-with-wounding-bystanders-shot-by-police-near-times-square.html?smid=pl-share

#10yrsago Orange UK plumbs the depths of insulting, stupid marketing, finds a new low https://memex.craphound.com/2013/12/05/orange-uk-plumbs-the-depths-of-insulting-stupid-marketing-finds-a-new-low/

#5yrsago What it’s like to be a woman reporter on a cryptocurrency cruise where nearly all the other women are sex-workers https://web.archive.org/web/20181205144647/https://breakermag.com/trapped-at-sea-with-cryptos-nouveau-riche/

#5yrsago See you in court: amid protests, shameless Wisconsin GOP neuters the incoming governor in an all-night, lame-duck session https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2018/1205/Wisconsin-GOP-pass-slew-of-measures-during-lameduck-session

#5yrsago British Member of Parliament publishes 250 pages of damning internal Facebook documents that had been sealed by a US court https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-committees/culture-media-and-sport/Note-by-Chair-and-selected-documents-ordered-from-Six4Three.pdf

#5yrsago The longest-serving Congressman in US history proposes a four fixes for American democracy https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/john-dingell-how-restore-faith-government/577222/

#5yrsago RIP, George HW Bush: a mass-murderer and war-criminal https://theintercept.com/2018/12/05/george-h-w-bush-1924-2018-american-war-criminal/

#5yrsago Trump cybersecurity advisor Rudy Giuliani has no idea how the internet works https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/rudy-giuliani-doesnt-seem-to-know-how-the-internet-works.html

#5yrsago Not just breaches: Never, ever use Quora https://waxy.org/2018/12/why-you-should-never-ever-use-quora/

#5yrsago Obamacare study: 25% decline in home delinquencies among newly insured poor people https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-04/how-access-to-obamacare-cuts-late-housing-payments

#5yrsago Poland rejects the EU’s copyright censorship plans, calls it #ACTA2 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/11/poland-saved-europe-acta-can-they-save-us-acta2

#1yrago Monopoly's event-horizon: The true capitalist singularity https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/05/eldritch-physics/#wouldnt-start-from-here Banning surveillance ads and banning drm as good politics

It's EFF's Power Up Your Donation Week: this week, donations to the Electronic Frontier Foundation are matched 1:1, meaning your money goes twice as far. I've worked with EFF for 22 years now and I have always been - and remain - a major donor, because I've seen firsthand how effective, responsible and brilliant this organization is. Please join me in helping EFF continue its work!

#pluralistic

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eliteshippingcontainersus · 7 months ago

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thessalian · 1 year ago

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Thess vs MCM Comic Con, Day 2

So today was the day. It was, I will admit, a very hard day, but it was A Day nonetheless.

Obviously, Comic Con was fun, despite ... well, public transport, home plumbing woes, whole bunches of nonsense and it just being Saturday at one of the UK's biggest conventions when you are less than mobile because of having a fucking cane. Still. Fun.

So, yeah, the usual public transport malarkey happened and when we arrived at the Excel Centre ... well, it turned out that their provisions for those requiring accessibility assistance were ... lacking. Or, to be less kind, an utter shit-show. We were crammed behind the main queues with a stall maybe four feet from our backs, with people trying to a) walk to some other part of the convention hall, or b) join a regular queue. But they finally figured out that this was actively stupid, and they moved us towards the rear, where we could kind of slip into the back one at a time after every two of the people in the regular queue had got their autographs. And there were some chairs. And good conversation. And Marion bonded with somebody over Fruits Basket. And that helped the fact that I was in a fair amount of pain and feeling very squished. Then again, it kept me from feeling any "I am meeting people I very much admire" anxiety too much.

Finally, my turn came. Matt Mercer came first, and he was an utter sweetheart who was actually really impressed by the couple of bits of my campaign that came up in conversation. (I think he was also probably slightly chuffed that I got inspired by some of his things and did something unique and interesting with them.) And @fauxfire76 got a specific shout-out because the Bunny-Bard story came out and he did seem to like how we handled it all, players and DM both. Plus he was really touched by the fact that them having people Skype in was what made me realise I could play with my dearest friends online. (And also being responsible for me meeting one of my players, and thus dearest friends.) Also, nearly forgot - he was well chuffed at what I brought for them to sign - the original Green Ronin version of the Tal'dorei Campaign Setting. I saw other people bringing sourcebooks but I think I'm the only one who brought that one. I thought it might be nice for them to see a) how far they've come and b) that we've been there since the beginning, frankly. It seems to have worked.

Little less conversation with Marisha, but I very much praised her acting / RP in Sagas of Sundry: Madness. I really do need to watch that again.

Laura, I praised her singing voice and we talked about Stray Gods (which will have to move back to the top of the Steam wish list). She was really sweet (and, later on in the photos, gave me a side-hug. It was really kind of her, given she could probably see I was struggling by then.)

Travis ... I don't think anyone's called him an "avatar of positive masculinity" to his face before, but he was really ... somewhere between flattered and touched, I think. That feels like that "someone lit up his face from the inside" expression's best description, anyway. Also we may have mentioned how good a job he and Laura seem to be doing with raising Ronin, because so many parents have doubts as to how they're doing and it's nice to hear that kind of validation.

Ashley ... equally touched by being responsible, through her Skype presence in Campaign 1, for the group I value so much today ... and also for having been company for a much younger me who had TV sitcoms for company, and thus having seen a lot of Littie!Ashley.

Sam ... Sam I saw on Broadway, so that came up. My accent came up (he was one of the few who flagged up that I in no way sound like I'm from the UK), and I mentioned having lived in New Jersey, and that @hyperewok1 lives in New Jersey, and how it was interesting that @hyperewok1 and Liam both lived in New Jersey and both played Oath of Vengeance Paladins to some degree. And together we came up with, "New Jersey breeds vengeance".

Which I then told Liam, which also got a laugh. As did my remembering about him in Dragon Age: Origins and his being various voices in Guild Wars 2, particularly this one crafting vendor who would say something every time you walked past him and my general response to any time I hear Liam's voice being a casual, out loud, "Hi, Liam!" Which I said a lot when I was playing Guild Wars 2, I can tell you.

And I was just about to get to Taliesin ... and then one of the stewards, who'd been helping me along the whole time, said that they were breaking for lunch and the photo ops, and she was really sorry, but I'd have to wait for the Talisein autograph. But I should go straight to the back area when the afternoon set came and I'd be let straight in. Okay, fine, that gave us time to find some food and a sit-down before photos.

Photos ... thankfully it was a little easier with the accessibility stuff that time, but the first photo (which was probably the better one) got nixed because of flash glare on our glasses. We didn't even get the option to see that photo - just got sent back for a second one, with head tilted down, which ... I did not need that much displayed double chin, thank you very fucking much. I'd rather have the lens flare. I can live with being in a JJ Abrams film. Anyway, the picture exists but I dislike it a lot. Marion looks great, though.

Anyway, after some cooldown time, and a bit of shopping wherein I found some dice that fit an Alisaie sort of theme (to go with the Scanlan-themed ones I got mostly because Purple and Bard), back to the autograph session. The very American woman helping out was in conversation with I think friends of hers and kind of didn't notice me there, so I spoke to a security guard and mentioned what happened at the morning session and he went back to get her. She came back looking hugely apologetic going, "Were you just there the whole time and I just ignored you? I am so sorry!" I told her it was fine and explained and she said, "Well, you've obviously been through it today so I'm going to just bring you straight in there because ... it's not protocol, but fuck it." Unfortunately, Taliesin was a bit behind schedule joining the others for the autographs (maybe an individual photo session ran long, maybe he was waiting for meds to kick in, all of the above, who knows? We just hoped he was okay), so she put me right at the front of the accessibility queue and even pulled over a chair so I could sit down. So we sat and watched the cosplay go by, had a nice conversation with some other people in the queue, and watched Felicia Day smack a cosplay Pike with a LARP mace. As you do.

Eventually, Taliesin turned up, looked really flustered, so we were just calling out, "It's okay! Take a minute!" So he did, and eventually he got started and I demonstrated my ability to be very fucking organised. I had my QR code out and ready, I still had my original Post-it with the name I wanted used (Thess, I used, because, as I told most of them, "Everyone I like calls me Thess"), and so when the steward looked at me, I just handed him my phone, opened my Tal'dorei guide to the right place and said, "That's the Post-it; I'm all set". I did that a couple of times over the course of the autographs and in both cases I got stares and, "...thank yooooooou..." It was a hard day for the poor sods. Most of them aren't even getting paid for this.

So then I got Taliesin's autograph. He's the only one who pronounced "Thess" properly (a lot of them didn't pronounce the H), and that got mentioned, and he asked where it was from (so Marion got in on the conversation because he asked if it was a Welsh name, and Marion's Welsh, so...) and I told him the Thancred / Therapy story and when I shook his hand, he did the "take hand in both his" thing (Matt did that too) and it was great.

And then Marion asked if I wanted to go home and I said "YES" with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Because as fun as it all was, I was stressed and in SO MUCH PAIN and very tired. And so we are now home after the usual absolute horror of public transport when tired, sore, and fed up.

But one more thing that put an added bit of sparkle to the evening. We were walking towards the door of the block of flats, and some people I don't honestly remember having seen had just come up from the block of flats and one of them stopped me and went, "Hey! We're wearing the same shirt!" And we were - the "Don't Forget To Love Each Other" one, though I'm not sure if his is the original or the second iteration. Doesn't really matter. So I asked if they were going to the MCM After-party. They said no, they couldn't get tickets to the live show so they more or less skipped it and I mentioned we'd just come from the Excel Centre and I had their autographs. From the reaction of one of the women of their little group, if I'd told them we also had a picture, her head might have exploded through sheer "impressed" and "envious". So they wished us a lovely evening and we wished them the same and so I apparently have Critters for neighbours. And I would bet money they're the ones who make the corridor smell of weed, but never mind.

So all in all, for all the OW OW OW OW OW, a good day. And now we're going to wait for takeaway curry to arrive because apparently asking me to cook was a bridge too far and I'm honestly too tired to argue with that.

#mcm expo

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