#places here are not very affordable and i have no idea what kind of costs there are other than rent and bills and local taxes etc

[megroha]

.

[theworldoffostering]

The director of special education did not show up to our IEP this week. It made the meeting a whole lot less contentious. It didn’t hurt that they assigned a much more experienced teacher to DS and our advocate showed up and kept everyone in line. Should it take that much work/effort/stress? Absolutely not! I will never understand how anyone is getting services if we cannot with all of the privileges we have personally been afforded.

DH and I talked to Ms. 6 this week. It could be worse, but it’s not great. She bought herself a car or someone else did, but it seems no one cares if she has insurance (legally required). I told her to call and get some quotes. She has not.

She has a boyfriend she met online that no one has vetted. He’s older (no idea how much older) as he has his own place. He lives three hours away in a neighboring state, but Ms. 6 couldn’t remember which city he lives in. She goes to see him on the weekends despite the fact that no one has met him or vetted him. It’s killing me! She was very vague on the details regarding what he does for a living.

Her car seems some basic repairs. Her grandpa has been a semi truck driver for decades. Hasn’t helped her with the repairs. Boyfriend is maybe some kind of mechanic but is unable to help with repairs. Mom is driving Ms. 6’s uninsured car and teaching Ms. 6 how to do donuts in it.

Ms. 6 said she applied to a PA program. When I pointed out that the PA program she applied for is a masters program (aren’t they all?) that cost $109k for the 28 month program, she seemed shocked and unimpressed. I did do a conference call with her and the high school this week to try to sort out her graduation.

Ms. 6 had knee surgery last week. I offered to be available and make the three hour drive to take her. She said her mom was taking her. The night before surgery her mom said she had to work and couldn’t take her. Grandma said she couldn’t take her because she had already take a sick day that week. Mom’s BF drove her, but apparently doesn’t like hospitals so he didn’t sit in the room and wait for Ms. 6 to be taken back to surgery. Surgery was pushed back several hours. Now mom doesn’t want to take her to the post-op appointment because the dogs have a vet appointment.

Post surgery, Ms. 6 was prescribed narcotics. Mom is an addict. Is she currently using? I have no idea but she used for at least a decade and has a conviction for cooking meth with the intent to sell. Kids were removed for many reasons including heroin use. Ms. 6 said the “oxy” isn’t managing her pain so she asked the nurse for something else AND an oxy refill. The pharmacist wouldn’t give both to mom. Mom told Ms. 6 it’s because they don’t have the same last name. I pointed out that I also don’t share the same last name as anyone in our family, and we were also recently denied a narcotic at the pharmacy. It is clear that no one that she has contact with lives in their thinking brains—they are all convinced that they are victims of one system or another.

Ms. 6 also quit her job. She said it was because they were making her do too much work.

Ms. 6 really wants contact with the other kids, particularly NB at this point. We have withheld that so far but can’t really articulate why. I think because it doesn’t feel healthy or good, and things don’t necessarily feel stable with her between DH and myself and her. I’ve talked to her a handful of times in the past month which are the first times I’ve spoken to her since she left in August. Anyone have experience in this area? Is it wrong for us to feel it out as parents before we open that relationship back up to siblings? It’s not my intention to use them as pawns, but it probably feels that way to Ms. 6. The kids here have not asked to see her, and DS and DD are actively continuing to say that they don’t want to have contact.

I’m trying to be something for her but that all feels very temporary and complicated right now. I sent her a small care package today via mail and am going to offer up some services for her like connecting her with colleges, but am trying to hold tight to a lot of boundaries at this point.

[fresh-bag-of-ham]

seeking urbanism / housing advocacy advice (because you're the only person i follow who both posts about it and does it): my city (primarily a college town, population < 100k) is holding a community discussion about ways to increase affordable housing, including inclusionary zoning and other zoning reforms. what kinds of policy ideas / comments are best to bring to this as A Member Of The Public? does inclusionary zoning work like it's supposed to? are there other specific zoning reforms that work well? i know getting rid of parking minimums is a big one, but i don't know if that's achievable here yet.

MY TIME HAS COME.

First of all, if the forum is about 'affordable housing', then you may need to start with drawing the connection between affordability and increasing housing supply. There are a lot of tangents you can go down in a discussion of affordable housing, but the crucial point to get across is that increasing housing supply on its own makes housing costs go down. Investor speculation in real estate, e.g., happens because supply is constrained and those are the conditions where real estate values reliably go up, creating profit. It is a symptom, not a cause. See also: landlords in Austin, TX melting down on Twitter because they're increasing supply so fast there that they're having to lower rents. Video recently studied and shown to be 3x more effective for changing people's minds about supply-side housing than other interventions.

INCLUSIONARY ZONING. a.k.a. mandating that for any development with more than X units, Y% of those units must be 'affordable' units reserved for families earning Z% area median income. In a perfect world, all housing would be mixed-income housing. In practice, the effectiveness of IZ depends almost entirely on what you set Y% at. About five years ago, our local DSA passed a referendum increasing Y% from 10% to 25%. This change has basically stalled all housing development that this applies to because the projects just don't pencil. You need subsidy to build affordable housing, you have to cobble that subsidy together from a lot of different funding sources, and all these sources have different requirements on how their funding can be used. Your problems become twofold: (1) Most subsidies for affordable housing want you to build something that's more like 80-100% affordable, so a 25%-affordable development won't get funding. (2) The subsidy available for affordable housing is finite, so even if your 25%-affordable development were able to get subsidy, that necessarily is taking subsidy away from somewhere else. The same number of affordable units will be built, IZ just ends up trying to dictate how those units are distributed. It mainly ends up kneecapping market-rate housing construction, which, again, adding market-rate housing puts downward pressure on housing prices.

Our prior level of 10% IZ seemed to work ok..? but I would caution strongly against relying on IZ if you are supply constrained, which, I can't imagine you're not. A buzzy new strategy for mixed-income housing creation is "social housing" -- AOC wrote about it in the NYT last week, here's a talk about it that I admittedly haven't watched yet. This is what's getting traction here as DSA is tentatively walking back support for their very aggressive IZ policy that has not created the affordable housing they wanted it to.

If you have parking minimums, KILL THAT SHIT. We were successful in advocating for our table of parking minimums to be turned into parking maximums. Add/increase bike parking minimums, bike theft is a HUGE deterrent from biking here, so having a safe place to store your bike at home is critical if you want anyone to start leaving behind their cars. You also probably want to look at dimensional standards: increase heights, reduce setbacks, increase lot coverage maximums, reduce lot size minimums, if you're anything like our city then you probably have even more and weirder constraints you'll want to relax so new buildings can be bigger and hold more units. You probably have just straight up caps on number of units per lot -- kill single-family zoning, get at least 4 units or something per lot allowed! Lot area per dwelling unit is a particularly terrible constraint, basically creating a minimum amount of land you have to own in order to be able to have a home. Horrible! Kill it!

My personal preferred urban form is the perimeter block enabled by single-stair apartment buildings that's common throughout Europe and basically anywhere outside of the US and Canada. This will take reforms at multiple levels before it becomes possible even here, but Seattle-based architect Michael Eliason (@holz_bau on Twitter) has stair-pilled me on this form so powerfully, and https://secondegress.ca/ makes the extremely compelling (Canada-centric) case for allowing single-stair apartment buildings, which for us means changing building code at the state level. #goals, though.

I have had a lot of practice recently writing and organizing public comment to advocate for this stuff so I would be happy to talk messaging/strategy at any point, I could go on and on about this subject! I'm so thrilled that you're asking about this though, it's so important to get involved and show up at these kinds of meetings, because the people who reliably show up to these things are the retiree busybodies with nothing but free time to oppose every type of change imaginable and are the ones who got us into this situation in the first place.

[xjustonemoremiraclex]

rwrb thoughts from someone who hasn't read the book (yet)

The good/general thoughts:

pleasantly surprised by the acting! which I know sounds mean, but listen, I saw these guys in other things and I wasn't suuuper into them, so it was a nice surprise lol

THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE TWO again, pleasantly surprised by that lol they played off each other SO well

10/10 soundtrack, it definitely took inspiration from older rom-coms and I loved it <3

PS I really liked all the side characters! I wish we'd gotten to spend a little more time with some of them, but everyone was pretty great <3 also, all the women were awesome, and I am very gay and very in love <3

Ok, I really, REALLY liked how they showed the two of them texting each other, and the whole editing around it. It was pretty cute

I was living for all the latine songs at the new year's party, that was a nice touch

ok, when everyone was getting down at the party and alex and henry stayed up and stared at each other and time slowed down, I know it was supposed to be romantic, but I have to say it: it was also the funniest shit I've ever seen lol

henry at the party is giving both 'i have social anxiety and my only friend here is a social butterfly and keeps leaving to be with other people send help' and 'i thought you invited me here as a first date kind of thing but you're dancing and making out with other people and i'm feeling so betrayed rn :('

'christ you're as thick as it gets *kiss*' LMAO

Listen, I'm not usually into rom-coms (I say, like a liar), but I was pretty happy with the writing, in general. I laughed at all the funny parts, got emotional over all the dramatic ones and swooned at the romance bits. Great job, everyone

'I just can't afford for you to fall in love with me' LMAO babe, we're WAY past that. On both sides

ok, full disclosure: I don't really like sex scenes all that much (there's nothing wrong with them, I'm just very ace lol), so I usually just use my phone while they're happening, and while I did that a little bit here too, I was still paying attention, and honestly, they were pretty sweet. They did a good job. And, like, I have no idea why the film was R-rated lol you literally don't see anything

again, love the little montages that show the passing of time, while also showing they're keeping in touch and getting to know each other better and stuff. It makes the relationship between the two and the way it's developing feel a bit less rushed, which is nice

ZAHRA MY MOST BELOVED

YES PLEASE I WANT TO SEE THAT POWERPOINT PRESENTATION THANK YOU

KARAOKEEEE

alex giving an impassioned romantic speech to henry, about to confess his love: // henry:

'I didn't want to break his heart' - oh, honey, you already did :(

'to tell you that I love you, knowing that you wouldn't say it back' brb sobbing

NOT CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE 😭😭😭

'because when they write the history of my life, I want it to include you and my love for you' help i'm dying 😭😭😭😭😭😭

MIGUEL DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW IT WAS YOU please die in a fire <3

alex's speech was really good by the way 🥺

LOVESICK HOMOSEXUALS LMAO ZAHRA MY BELOVED

'baby' screaming crying throwing up jgdkfk

I FORGOT THE KING WAS STEPHEN FRY why is this so funny to me

SEQUEL WHEN

The... less good?/general questions:

Kinda wish there'd been a bit more enemies in my enemies-to-lovers film

'he just grabbed my hair in a way that made me understand the difference between rugby and footbal'' - please, I beg you, someone smarter than me - what the fuck does this mean 😭 ppl are LIVING for this quote and I'm like ??????

this is probably me being stupid and ignorant lol but why would alex's relationship cost his mum the election? like, from what I've seen, her government has been very pro-queer, that's not really a secret, so her son being queer and in a relationship with a man shouldn't lose her any voters..? the people who are against 'the queers' were not going to vote for her in the first place, soooo..? me is confused

honestly, this is probably an unpopular opinion, but... the king was not that bad? like, i'm not saying he's not kind of homphobic and kind of a dick lol but i get the impression that everything stems from the whole thing about sticking to tradition and public image and bla bla. Like, again, obviously, part of that involves homophobia, but I think that on a personal level, he... doesn't really care? Even at the end, he's like 'ok, are you absolutely sure about this, cause there's no going back. Yes? Really? Well, go off I guess *long-suffering sigh*'. Like, I got way more homophobic vibes from phillip than the king idk 🤷‍♀️ (I really hope I don't have to clarify that this only applies to the film, and not like, the real life crown lol)

Sooo, as I said, I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen some posts about it, and I think after watching the film I've realized that it's biggest flaw is that it's that - a film. It's a great film, don't get me wrong! And it's pretty obvious I really liked it. But damn, I'm a firm believer that book adaptations only work as series. They don't have to be super long or anything, but there is just no way to fit everything in a book in a two hour film. And yeah, when you're adapting something you have to make some changes, but Idk, it's kind of a shame that you lose so much (and even without reading the book, I can tell there's a lot of stuff missing). In any case, I can't talk too much about it until I read the book, but yeah 🤷‍♀️ It does seem like they did a good job, though - like, it genuinely can stand on its own really well, but I guess I'll have to find out for myself

Also, tagging @silassstingy bc I promised her my thoughts on the film and she might give me some interesting insights on some of the stuff I mentioned, cause she's a queen like that <3

[16woodsequ]

Sunday Steve - Day Seven

Things that would be new or unfamiliar to Steve in the 21st century, either due to the time period he grew up in, or his social-economic status and other such factors.

Day Seven: Deodorant

For a long time body odour was not considered a problem for men. It was considered manly, and deodorants and antiperspirants (invented in 1888 and early 1900s respectively) were marketed to women.

Some solutions to body odour before deodorant became more mainstream in 1910s were excessive washing and perfume. To protect clothes women used dress shields (cotton or rubber pads placed in armpit areas). Scented talcum powders were another popular deodorizer.

Men started to be targeted by antiperspirant companies in the 30s, targeting male body odour as negative and unemployable. "In 1938, it was estimated that 60% of women and 20% of men in the United States used a product to control underarm odour" (Link).

Early deodorant formulas had to be suspended in acid. "Formulas of early deodorants damaged clothes and irritated skin" (Link). There were some health concerns in the early 20th century but these died away by the 30s.

Deodorant came in powders. liquid, creams, and eventually sticks, roll-ons, and aerosols.

Powders were "packaged in tins with a perforated lid" and put on with puffs.

The only form of antiperspirants in the 30s was liquid. The liquid was kept in glass jars, with plastic lids (early form used corks).

“Liquid deodorants were either applied to a rag and rubbed in or poured into the palm and splashed on. [...] Men also used cologne to cover up body smells but these were generally very expensive.” (Link)

Liquid deodorants/antiperspirants could be applied with a cloth or sponge. Later forms had an applicator built into the lid.

Above: Applying Check Deodorant with a sponge applicator.

Pastes and creams were the preferred form for early deodorants. They were less irritating, although sometimes greasy, especially in the 1910s before the formula improved.

The first successful antiperspirant cream was created in 1936, but it was less effective than liquid antiperspirant. Even so, it became very popular by 1945 and creams dominated the market.

Early stick deodorants used lipstick bases, so they were much smaller and 'stick' shaped than the typical deodorant shape today. From the recipe (found here) it seems this sticks were similar to today's deodorant sticks, or maybe chapsticks. Evaporation was an issue and the sticks had to be kept in airtight containers.

Sticks began to get bigger, into what we would recognise in the 60s.

1945 Lor-Odo, a deodorant stick, sold for 50 cents.

Roll-ons appeared in 1952 and the first commercially successful roll-on deodorant was created in 1956, so Steve wouldn't know this method. Same with aerosols which came out around the 60s.

As for price, this image gives a good idea for prices of deodorant products in Steve's time.

1937 Hush Cream, Instant Hush Liquid Deodorant, Hush Stick Deodorant and Personal Deodorant Powder for sanitary pads. (Link).

This inflation calculator says 10¢ is $2.14 in today's money and 50¢ is $10.68. For comparison, the cost of a gallon of gas was 10¢, a loaf of bread was 9¢ and toothpaste was 35¢. (Link)

Wrap Up

So would Steve have used some kind of deodorant/antiperspirant? Maybe. He wouldn't have started wearing it until the 30s for sure, but he may have bought it, if he could afford it.

I am not an expert but I feel the cost of deodorant would have been a stretch (especially if we think he was using baking soda for toothpaste as per our last post).

But considering how cleanliness and body odour began to be viewed in the 30s—and considering that Bucky clearly took pride in taking care of his appearance—Steve may have bought deodorant when he could. The possibility grows later into the 30s and 40s.

If he bought deodorant he would likely be used to cream or liquid deodorants, as these were very common.

Perhaps Bucky cared more about deodorant than Steve, and Steve bought some for Bucky as a gift when he could. Or, Steve used it himself periodically to hopefully seem more presentable to employers who might overlook him just on principle.

But it is also possible that Steve didn't bother with deodorant. After all, only 20% of men used it in 1938 and it would stretch his budget.

However, he may have used it on the USO tour. I can see them deciding Captain America needs to smell nice when smoozing with investors.

Either way, the 21st century's approach to zero body odour wouldn't entirely surprise to Steve—since the roots of that were developing in the 30s, but it would still be an adjustment to learn that men almost universally use some form of deodorant nowadays.

Sunday Steve Master Post

[mandy4ever69420]

thoughts about mickey and the westside situation?

completely understandable meltdown but i like the apartment :) also i think the idea of displaying furniture as an example is fucking stupid like that woman laughed like mickey was the weird one. come on now

it was neat to me how effectively the show demonstrated how weird and isolating a gentrified area can be even if no one there thinks you're really out of place. && how much of what made that part of town pricey was just that the general costs of everything were up even though the rent itself was surprisingly affordable

side note on gentrification too. is it's so weird how the things that go away can kind of objectively suck but it still hurts to lose them to something "nice" because the nice thing is just so unfriendly. again demonstrated pretty clearly by mickey here

i mentioned before like wrt whether he and ian would want kids that one of the best things for them in wanting kids but worrying about logistics (&parenthood anxiety) is just... living with family's kids. and i stand by that. but i also think getting more space to themselves is really important. because mickeys not a people person. he is fond of more of the main cast than not but you can just see him get that too many people irritability sometimes. they need like a rotating schedule with relatives in the same building or something. or at least a normal size house to just split with only 1 or 2 annoying beloved relatives

i see it though as a part of the pattern of ian taking mickey to nice (or safer) places. see also:

job at kash and grab

club/afterparty

his house :)

mexico

nevermind that a lot of these are depressing in context. these were nice and the intent was there. just with how i mentioned mickey is a kind of "make it happen" guy but won't let himself have ambition for his own life. well ian decided to drag you with him

so ian jumpscaring mickey with a lease is sort of dickish (normal ian) but also a piece of knowing that mickeys not going to do something nice for himself + that mickey might do well with more space. i take really personally the idea of these two just keeping some pieces of themselves between themselves and no one else. very "you could hide your face in me and i could hide my face in you and nobody would see us anymore" (via kafka's the castle) style romance to me.

obviously ian has his own big ideas of being accepted into nice normal people society because in his head he's the well adjusted one (lol) of his siblings. it's just not the only thing going on.

[yacinthemorning]

Tailored to Your Liking

Chapter 3

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Summary: Tumble Town attracts all sorts of misfits looking for a fresh start on the frontier, but everyone still needs clothes. Be it extra limbs or high temperatures, Jimmy caters to every hyrbid's needs.

Ships: Jimmy/Tango (slow burn romantic)

Warnings: Implied traumatic events, no workplace safety, awkward flirting

On a particularly unbearable evening as far as the weather was concerned, Jimmy hid away in his dining room with several magazines and catalogues. He flipped through the pages, sighing every time he spotted something he very much could not afford.

“You sound like a steam pipe with a leak.” Voiced Tango where he leant against the archway. 

Jimmy’s head lulled miserably to the side to look up at him. “You’re back.”

“Please, hold back your applause.”

“Wh- No, that’s not what I meant-”

“I know, I know.” He pushed off to lean over Jimmy’s shoulder. “So, what’s wrong, Sunshine?”

With some attempt to hide his pout, Jimmy flipped to another page. “Oh, you know. Lamenting the bachelor lifestyle on my finances.”

Wrinkles formed under Tango’s eyes. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if I-”

“Oh, it’s not you… well, it is a bit you. But no. Things are just expensive, and it’s difficult to balance expense and pricing and my conscience.” A very lovely sewing machine, one capable of multiple different stitches, took up the entire page. Several paragraphs boasted its qualities, but his lip twitched at the price below. Jimmy lifted it high for his housemate to see. “Look at this! You could get a good horse for that price! And that’s before the shipping costs. If they could even mail it out here. It’s an insult towards me specifically.”

“You don’t have one?” Tango asked, pulling the catalogue out of the sulking man’s hands.

“There’s always something else more immediately important to purchase whenever I save enough. It’s not as though a frontier town like this gets a lot of these fancy newfangled machines just appearing in the shops, either. It’s just a dream, as are too many things.”

He picked up his tea cup only to find it empty and sighed as he stood. “I trust things went well with the delivery? Since you’re back already.”

Tango’s tail curled up like a cat with a mackerel. “Bigb was thrilled with it. He um,” claws fumbled in his back pocket before showing a handful of copper. “He gave me these as a tip for the delivery.”

“Oh, that’s kind.” It was hardly anything, really, the sort of change given out to the newsboys and children selling flowers they picked, but it was more than Tango had made in the couple weeks he’d been living with Jimmy.

They found their way into Jimmy’s palm nevertheless, for which the taller gave his companion an odd look and tried to return them. “What’s this?”

“Well, I have to pay you back somehow, and I hardly did anything more than walk down the street.”

This again. Jimmy’s expression twisted. He grabbed hold of Tango’s hands before he could fully retreat, placing the coins back in his hands. “What you can do,” Started Jimmy, voice harsher than he intended, surprising the both of them for a brief moment. When he started again his voice had softened, perhaps a bit too much to compensate. “What you can do to repay me is get back on your feet. And you can’t do that if you don’t have even a copper to your name, can you?”

“But I-”

“No buts, I won’t accept it! If I find them in my purse I’m turning them into buttons!” His hands went up with finality, not waiting to hear anything more. Instead he did as he first intended and marched towards the kitchen to refill his cup. Though quiet he could feel Tango’s presence follow behind him. A small noise escaped him when Jimmy turned around to glare at him. “I mean it!”

“No, that’s not… I was going to say something else.”

“Well, then, say it.” Jimmy crossed his arms.

Tango fumbled with the coins, slowly pouring them back into his pocket. “I was going to say, the delivery gave me an idea. It might not be much but, until my order’s done and I can find a real trade, I thought I could pick up odd-jobs.”

“Oh.” Jimmy perked up. “That is a good idea.”

“Yeah. And I wanted to ask, since you seem to know everyone-”

“Not everyone .”

“-almost everyone, if you knew who to talk to in order to put an advertisement out in the paper?”

A hand was brought to his chin in thought. “Well, if you want a spot in The Herald, then Cleo is who you’ll have to speak to.”

“I knew you’d know!” Tango snapped his fingers, grinning from ear to ear while Jimmy pouted.

Cleo was an imposing individual, broad and robust, with a long head of bright orange snakes that slithered across their shoulders menacingly. They disappeared under their hat which was curtained with a shining vail, though even it could not fully cloak their piercing glare. It was, though, enough to safely seal behind it their power, as Jimmy had carefully crafted for them. “What is it you want, Jimmy?” They bellowed, irritation already in their voice.

“Just a moment of your time for my friend, Cleo.” He tried to assure. Tango waved shyly.

“I was looking to put out an ad in the classifieds.”

Two snakes perked up while a third hissed. “Alright, let me see it.”

On a small scrap of paper was written a meagre two sentences, as short as Tango could make them. Cleo snatched it up, and they all nodded before placing it on their desk.

“That’s fine, although your spelling is atrocious.”

“It’s his second language.” Jimmy quickly defended.

“I’ll fix it up either way. Should be in this Sunday’s paper.”

“No cost?” Tango asked, tail perked.

“Our classifieds take up only a quarter of a page in a small town like this.” Cleo leaned forwards as their snakes curled around each other. “The other three quarters of the page are always bought up by one Mister Goodtimes’ latest concoction’s extravagant campaign, which he may, perhaps, be foolishly unaware of the average cost of in other papers.”

Jimmy tried very hard to keep his feathers smooth against his body’s instinct to hide from the shame of his not-quite-brother-in-law, while Tango and Cleo’s unified laughter echoed through the small printing press. In an attempt to bring the interaction to a swift end, Jimmy grabbed hold of Tango and gave Cleo a small bow. “Well, thank you very much for your assistance, Cleo. We’re very busy today, so we’ll be off.” He said, then darted out the door. 

Thanks to Tango’s unprepared footwork, they stumbled out into the dirt road hard enough to kick up a cloud. When Jimmy went to apologize, though, he found the blazeborn staring a bit stunned between them. At first, he was unsure what had caught Tango’s attention. Then he felt the hand he’d thoughtlessly grabbed twist in his grip until it’d comfortably laced itself with Jimmy’s and a teasing grin was sent his way. “Where to now, darlin’?”

Jimmy turned away. “Home. This sun is melting me.” His voice came out too high. The weather was surely overheating his brain, or he would have had the mental capacity to shake off Tango’s hand. “And this dust is getting between my wings.”

“I could help with that.” Tango offered.

Involuntarily, Jimmy’s feathers puffed out. Words failed him as he tried to gauge how sincere that offer was, or if there was any awareness behind it. “Maybe another time, Mister Tek.” Was all he managed to mutter out.

“Mister Tek?” Tango squawked, caught between confusion and unsure offence. “Why so formal all of a sudden?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Mister Tek.”

“You…”

“Yeah, would you two mind doing your little dance literally anywhere else?” Cleo interrupted. Both turned to see the gorgon leaning in the press’s doorway, snakes low in agitation.

Sputtering like a drowning man, Jimmy darted off immediately, squeaking out an “Apologies!”

Once again, he forgot to let go of Tango’s hand.

The advert worked surprisingly well. A few folks showed up to the shop throughout the next week looking for Tango. First was an old woman who needed someone to crawl down her well to retrieve her bucket. Then some newcomer requested help with raising their barn. Some of them were the oddest things Jimmy could not even begin to imagine how they wound up needing assistance, such as catching a prairie dog alive and holding it for measurements.

To the point, more than no one had taken up Tango’s offer of miscellaneous work. None of them offered much, but it was enough that Jimmy lent the man an old coin purse and a spot in his safe. He’d wished Mumbo had been there with his camera to capture the look on Tango’s face when Jimmy shared the combination.

“Well, you haven’t robbed me yet. And to be frank, I know quite a few conmen, and I’m not sure you have the… spark for that line of work.”

“Uncalled for.” He grumbled, but his tail was curled cutely in amusement.

It seemed to have been a good idea, though, as not a day later Joe had given them unfortunate news.

“Seems there’s been a massive issue with shipping from the Nether this month. Your package likely won’t arrive for a while yet.”

“Of course.” Jimmy muttered while Tango rubbed his arm soothingly. “My terrible luck strikes again. Thank you for the news, at least, Joe.”

“No problem, sir.”

“Looks like I won’t be out of your hair anytime soon. Sorry.” Tango gave a wry smile, for which Jimmy glared at him until it was gone.

“You’re not in my hair, I’ve already told you.”

And such was the subject of their argument until they made it back home. It ended only because Jimmy set himself to work on the gown Lizzie had ordered, stubbornly ignoring Tango until he apologized for apologizing. As revenge for the annoyance caused, Jimmy began to draft up plans for a proper bedframe and mattress to replace the makeshift cot Tango was sleeping in.

A tiny, whispering voice at the back of his mind propositioned that it would be significantly easier as far as time, supplies, and space were concerned to simply expand his own nest a little. Jimmy smothered that thought along with his candle. Just because his brother wished to be some open-nested harlot for any man in a nice suit did not mean Jimmy had to follow his example.

… Although, the safe was looking quite sparse lately…

His solace was that the harvest season was around the corner meaning an influx of winter orders and repairs. It was times like these that Jimmy was thankful for his career’s stability. Particularly when he watched Tango rush around from job to job.

At least Tango seemed much happier. Marching in through the door with his clothes coated in sooth, sleeve torn, probably too few diamonds for whatever ridiculous task the townsfolk found to give him that day, and an exhausted but satisfied grin. He’d crash onto the bench and take a short nap while Jimmy wondered if this was similar to how it was to let a cat out at night for a hunt. Then he’d work on Lizzie’s gown, taking care not to hum so as not to wake Tango. When he woke up, Jimmy could fix the tear, wrestling it from Tango who would insist he’d learned how to do it on his own but continued to prove he had not.

All in all, life fell into a very odd new rhythm. Odd, but not unwelcomed.

For the umpteenth time that day Jimmy cursed under his breath and undid a pin. Tango looked up from the broken lock he’d been fiddling with for Impulse. “Are you okay?”

“Perfectly fine.” He said very convincingly. Despite this, Tango still placed down his tools and approached the man.

“Aren’t dresses usually made by dressmakers?”

“They are in towns that have a dressmaker, besides the necessary adjustments.” Jimmy let out a long sigh and gave up on the frill. It refused to happen, and he was just turning his test cloth into swiss cheese. Instead he turned his attention to the pile of mock-ups scattered across his station among catalogues and guides to drapery. “Lizzie’s dinner party is in only four weeks and I haven’t even started on the actual gown.”

To say nothing of the sorted piles in the corner for three other orders, looming like storm clouds in the corner of his vision. They could wait, simply because there was no one else, but he would rather not his reputation be that he was better than quite literally nothing.

 “Artist’s block?” Tango offered sympathetically.

“I’m beginning to wish she hadn’t given me so much freedom. This fancy sort of thing is beyond me. And now everyone’s orders are behind.”

While Jimmy wallowed in his failure, chittering to himself, Tango stood up. Where he went, Jimmy was too deep in misery to pay attention, but he did look up when he came back, nervously standing by the door to their home. Jimmy gave his housemate a raised brow.

“So, um.” Stray sparks flew from his whipping tail. That was new. “So I’ve made quite a good bit the past two weeks.”

“Yes, I’m very proud of you.”

Tango paused, shoulders going stiff at the praise, before he took a deep breath and nodded. “I know I should be saving every copper I get but you know, I couldn’t help myself with the redstone.”

Jimmy pursed his lips, still unsure where this was going.

“And, well… gah, you know what, I’m terrible at this sort of thing.” The blazeborn finally huffed out a cloud of smoke and reached into the closet beyond the doorway. Whatever he was getting was either stuck or heavy, as he struggled for several awkward moments. Ready to go over and assist him, Jimmy only managed a single step before Tango burst back into the room, and stumbled like a circus performer over to the desk. The object in his arms thunked down onto the wood, loud enough for Jimmy to be concerned for one or both.

It was not until Tango backed away that Jimmy realized what was in front of him. Mismatched, oddly shaped, and by no means compact- the true sign of something made by hand, yet clearly it was functional from the thread already woven into its needle.

“A… Is that a sewing machine?” He chirped, unable to hide the excitement raising his feathers. Jimmy bolted over, Tango barely stepping aside in time, and bent down to examine it.

“I was going to wait to give it as a parting gift,” Tango explained behind him while the machine was tilted and prodded. “But who knows when that’ll be at this point. It could help you get those other orders out of the way sooner, so you can focus on the gown, I figured...”

Jimmy finally let go of the machine and turned to Tango, eyes wide with wonder. There was a trill in his throat, though he was unsure if it escaped as he could only hear his own blood. Without thinking twice about it Jimmy cradled Tango’s face and pulled it forward until the blazeborn’s forehead connected with the avian’s lips, then decided it was still not enough and instead wrapped him up in a tight hug. “How on earth!”

Tango wavered, face blooming with colour. “Well, you know. Reverse engineering, a lot of trial and error… But you said it was one of your dreams. And I can’t do much, can’t even pay for the shirt on my back, but I figured maybe I could do this.”

“Well, thank you. This means a lot to me, Mister Tek.” Jimmy beamed, then pulled his companion back into another hug. Tango gladly returned the embrace, a soft purr rumbling in his chest.

“Anything for you, Darlin’.”

[jerseymuppet]

i might be stupid but. is the gothamverse a muppets batman au? is that what the thing in ur bio means? (either way plz do tell me abt it)

That would definitely be infinitely cooler than my idea! Gothamverse is the beautiful result of me playing arkham knight while waiting for an mcr livestream to start up and thinking ‘damn bitches from jersey are fucking insane! ....wait a minute��

It’s basically a silly little idea I came up last March with where all the mcr guys are from Gotham and what their villain origin stories would be etc. I followed the main Batman villain archetypes: extremist, anti-hero, camp, and serial killer, and I had a fucking blast! It’s very silly and just something I did for fun. I guess I can go a lil bit into it here.

full disclosure, I am psychotic and disabled and I do not believe in the vilification of mental illness or disability in media, all of these characters will eventually get the help they need. Batman at its core is about a mentally ill man helping others who have been failed by society and I will never forgive dc for making him into an overpowered, glorified cop.

Frank’s character (Francis ‘Frankie’ Stein) is the extremist (duh). He’s the son of a mafia boss who is steadily ruining their town with crime and Frankie just kinda snaps and kills him to take his place as the head of the family and try to undo some of the damage done. He has great intentions, he’s just very unyielding and kind of insane 💕 his moniker is Frankenstein! And his whole schtick is that he’s very hard (if not impossible) to kill. He’s also chronically ill and Jewish, these are not important to his character but they are important to me !

Mikey’s character (Micheal Way) is the serial killer. He’s a ‘sociopath’ (theres nothing actually wrong with him, people just suck and made him feel lesser and out of place :/) trying to fit in with everyday society but he always feels like something is missing and becomes a neuroscientist to try to find what exactly it is. He invents a machine (the empathsizer) that allows him to experience other people’s memories and emotions as though they are his own. From there he accidentally gets addicted to the chemical responses his brain has to doing that. And keeps doing it. Even after the testing phase is no longer accepting applicants. It gets worse after he experiences someone’s near death experience and starts chasing the high it gave him. Idk what his moniker is? It’s sandman for right now but that’s honestly so boring and uninspired.

Ray’s character (Raymond Ortiz) is camp but very loosely. He’s an engineer by day and a rockstar by night! He’s really only an engineer to save up enough money to pursue music full time but it’s hard because he doesn’t get paid that much. Winter hits and with it, cuts to his hours! So he’s forced to choose between rent and electricity. When he gets really sick as a result, he can’t afford a doctor. And when he wakes up with his hearing gone as a result, theres nothing he can really do but spiral into a depression. Until he realizes he’s a literal biological engineer. If he can’t fix his problem he can at the very least prevent it from happening to someone else! Research does cost money, so it’s very fortunate that Gotham has so many banks. His moniker is Dr. Megahurtz! His weapon of choice is his guitar, which has been retrofitted with sonic emitters to amplify and weaponize the hertz. Not enough to hurt, but enough to incapacitate.

Gerard’s character (Jules Moss) is the anti hero! She’s (yes I made Gerard’s character a trans girl, they took too long to make a trans character so I did it for them) has the same backstory as Gerard actually! On her way home from work she witnesses a terrorist attack, but instead of starting a band she decides to fight crime instead. She does so bad. Literally her first night out patrolling she gets killed by some priest who’s been driven insane by what he claims is an angel that’s ‘chosen him to impart gods will’ but it’s just a fallen star looking for a vessel to possess and the first guy it came across wasn’t dead lol. The star turns into a sword of pure light and that’s what Jules gets stabbed with, but also it fuses itself to her dna so she wakes up a few days later, schrödingers girl, with some scary new abilities and a voice in her head that definitely wasn’t there before. Her whole arc is her trying to find the guy that killed her and get revenge. Her moniker is stigmata! Because when she gets impaled it also goes through the palms of her hands and the wounds don’t heal.

but yeah that’s the bare bones of it all! I’m planning on making this into a comic series but the script is still being written at the moment! Thank you for letting me ramble about it 💕🥰

[semper-legens]

176. The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, by Brandon Sanderson

Owned: No, library Page count: 364 My summary: You know how it goes. Sometimes, you wake up in the middle of a field, surrounded by burned grass, with no idea who or where you are. It's medieval England. And you might be some sort of wizard? But you have no idea where you are or what you're doing, and there seem to be some men searching for you. It's gonna be a long day... My rating: 5/5 My commentary:

Well, this was an impulse grab. If you've been following this blog a while, you'll know that I read through all of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn books at the end of last year and the start of this one, and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series. So when I saw this on the new book stand at work, it piqued my interest - not least because of its title. Is it a fantasy book? Not really, though it has some fantasy elements. It's actually more sci-fi, confusingly. And more specifically, something of an isekai. But Sanderson's trademark wit and vibrant characters really brought this book to life - while I had some niggles with the writing, not least because it fell into Sanderson's usual 'dashing rogue/woman who is Done With Him' kind of pairing, that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying everything this book had to offer. Kudos!

First, let's talk about our protagonist. John, alias Runian in this dimension, is running from a life filled with failure. Not that he knows anything about it. See, the 'medieval England' of the title is actually an alternate dimension, one of many that are on sale from the Frugal Wizard company. Transferring to the alternate dimension cost John his memories, meaning that he has to rebuild himself from the ground up, assuming who he is and what he's good at. He has augments that make him stronger and hardier than the average person, some of which are standard in his twenty-minutes-into-the-future style home world, some of which are very illegal there. He has a tendency for wisecracking and dad jokes and tries to get out of situations by talking rather than fighting, and usually screws up whatever he's trying to do.

The thing I really liked about John is that he's a trier. Even when he remembers his history of failure, he keeps trying and trying to help people and to do the right thing, regardless of if he succeeds or not. As someone who's not particularly good at things, I can relate to this isolating feeling of just being a laughingstock no matter where you go or what you try to do, piggybacking on other people's ideas and clinging to them out of a desperate sense to not be alone. I've seen some people saying that John is an unlikeable protagonist, but I don't get it? His heart's in the right place, and he grows and matures a lot over the course of the book. The other thing that really endeared me to him was how quickly he integrates to this world - the titular handbook and the attitudes of the other modern humans implies that people are meant to see these worlds as little more than playgrounds for the rich who can afford them, but John treats the other people here like people, and has a huge empathy for them. He even is ready to accept that magic is just real in this world (so maybe it's a little fantasy) unlike his counterparts, who try and steamroll all over it with their guns and superior knowhow. John adapts, and that's what I like about him.

Speaking of the world, however, let's talk about the setting! This is a sci-fi comedy, with much of the exposition being done in the style of pages from the titular handbook in between chapters, taking corporate nonsense and tempering it in this dubiously ethical practice of selling alternate dimensions as, essentially, theme parks - patrons are encouraged to live out their saviour complexes, including packages where you can cure the Black Death or participate in major wars of the time period. The modern day is much like today, but with a bit of advanced tech - that isn't the focus of the story, however, but for the augments John has. The dimension we see is based on pre-Viking England (sidebar, John is unfamiliar with the Anglo-Saxons, which had me taken aback for a second - but then again, I shouldn't expect people from another country to be intimately familiar with my country's history) with some differences, and to my eye it's a pretty credible version of that time. I particularly enjoyed the battle-boasts used by the skops, Anglo-Saxon poetry used as a weapon is a cool idea.

As this is a comedy, the writing style is loose, informal, and jokey. I get that the constant puns and dad jokes might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I personally lapped it up, I love that kind of stuff. John's POV really endeared him to me, seeing him work out the details of his life was really engaging and I felt drawn into the mystery alongside him. Seeing the other modern humans interact with him, and learning new context for his history, was also interesting. But even though it was a comedy, there was a sincerity beneath it too, which acted as a good balance. John's still treated as a real person, with real character growth and motivations, not just a one-dimensional comedy protagonist, which I really appreciated. This was a fun read, and I'm very glad I picked it up!

Next up, a local story, as a teenager discovers he's not like other girls.

[ostraconstories]

The Man in the tower chapter 1

A frustrated king

Intro

Hey there and thanks for reading this story. I'm Jack and I'm the creator of Ostracon, a worldbuilding exercise I have recently undertaken. I decided early on , writing short stories would be a fun way to show the world and ideas I have in a digestible way. I am not a writer, and apart from high school, this is the first story I have ever written, so im sure it will be terrible! But it will only get better in time, I have alot of ideas for Ostracon and this is a long term project, so if you are here, all i can do is hope you join me on this journey!

This story is actually set way in the past from where I my current time setting, i thought it would be a good way to experiment with writing without causing too many problems down the line. I will try and release a chapter every few days. So lets have some fun :)

===

Another day, another useless meeting. Looking around the well decorated office, the king was not alone, he was with his advisor, and an anxious looking servant. The king hated meetings like this, the constant battle with the council, the constant pain of having to rely on 12 people to approve your ideas. Painful. Today was another defeat in the council, the king was attempting to raise funds to build a brand new magic university in the capital, it would cost a lot, but the kings love of magic, even if he was a useless mage, would make it worth it. But the council was not so enthusiastic with spending 1/4 of the years taxes on a school. So he was one vote off the 7 needed. More pain. His advisor, a stern looking man, had advised his Farther as well as him, had called this meeting to discuss a plan to get the councillors on board. He hated plans. The kings would rather be out there on the battlefield, like he was 20 years ago, but that time had long passed. "Your Majesty, i think we can get the councilman from Bronja to turn, you just need to give him some, compensation". "What kind of compensation are we talking about here Geras", "Gold" Geras quickly responded, "How much", "500 Your Majesty". The king didn't know weather to laugh or cry, 500 gold would nearly make him bankrupt. "Ill think it over Geras" With that, the king was alone. Needing time to think, he went for a walk.

Walking through the castle, the king found himself in the ancient side, the one built well before the records of this kingdom began. Its strange markings in the walls and unknown languages had an feeling of power to them, a power long lost. A cold wind ran through this area, even though the windows where kept shut. The animals stayed away, apart from the rats. It was a strange place to be. Currently used as a store room and rarely visited by staff, the king could finally think. "What to do, what to do", he thought. The gold he could afford, but it would make a bad impression on the rest of the councilmen, he wasn't a powerful mage, apart from the crown on his head, he wasn't really good at anything. The school would make the money back in time he thought. As he was thinking it through, he noticed something odd, the room had started to get dark, very dark. It was still midday, why is it dark. Looking around for answers he noticed a faint glow on one of the shelves.

He walked over to the shelf and saw what almost looked like a key, but instead of 3 prongs at the end, it had a sphere with 1000's of tiny prongs, a small inscription ran down the length of it, unreadable. Not knowing what to do, the king picked up the odd key looking item and the instant he did, his whole body stiffened, frightened and unable to move, he started to sweat. The king felt his veins go cold and his eyes where forced shut. In total darkness he lost all feeling, apart from his breathing. From the darkness came one loud noise "OPEN THE GATEWAY", he could of sworn the person was standing inches away from him . Then as quickly as the paralysis had started, it stopped. He dropped the key and fell to the ground. Exhausted, he caught his breath. Looking around to see who just screamed in his ear, no one was there, it was just him and the rats, as it was before.

He quickly exited the storage room, through the same way he came in an a few minutes earlier, passing the office and entering the throne room, he could think of nothing but those three words "Open the Gateway", which gateway was it referring to, there is of course the old gateway in the courtyard, but that is of the gods, untouchable. Surely it must be the stress , playing games with his mind. He had many questions and due to the lack of magic ability and knowledge, he had to seek out help. The king could only think of one man that could help in this situation, he didn't want to speak to him after the last time, but he had no other choice. The man the king wanted to speak to was an enemy of the kingdom, held in there most secure facility, a floating island only accessible by the kings personal mage staff.

On the short journey to the island, the king had some time to think, last time he saw "Bon" they where friends, fighting on the front lines of the last Ostra Tear, fighting both Angels and Demons alike, but that was 20 years ago, now Bon sat locked away. How had it come to this. As he was flown up to the island the king managed to look back and see Renjau, the capital, on the horizon, the split from ancient to new was striking, the brick work, style, even colour showed how far the kingdom had come from the ancient times. In a good or bad way, it was hard to tell. All he knew was, he lived in an amazing place.

Landing on the island, the prison was a magnificent sight, built by the best Builder Mages of the kingdom, it was a foreboding structure, 2000 feet straight up into the air, spikes coming off the side and a few small Brontas flying around the perimeter keeping watch. On the tower you could see many small holes with bars , assumedly windows, but they could hardly give enough light to see. The top of the tower is where the true wonder was, a pure ball of mana, rising above the tower, like a small sun, used to power the shield field that surrounded the whole island. Inescapable. After the king was on land, he met with the chief prison guard. The king looked at the guard intensely, as a memory started to form. "Do i know you from somewhere", the king enquired. "Yes, your majesty, i was in your battalion , leading the anti demon bomber squad". "I remember now, you where damn good at your job.", "Thanks your majesty", the guard bowed. "How is he?", "How is Bon your Majesty? Well, its better if you just see him yourself" The king nodded, "Take me to him." An anxiety started to grow in the king, he could not remember the last time he and Bon had spoke, 5, maybe 10 years. He should of done better, he was his friend, but also the king. On the short walk over to the tower, the king felt a pain in the hand in which he picked up the key, looking down, he noticed a burn, definitely not stress.

[sasquapossum]

I know I've beaten this drum before, but here we go again: "everybody move to the city" is not the solution to car-culture and urban-design problems. In fact, I think it's part of the problem. Allow me to explain.

tl;dr it's all about the votes

First, let's figure out what "the city" means. Most large cities consist of two parts: a very dense core, and outlying areas which are practically the same as suburbs. Still vast tracts of single-family detached homes, sliced apart by "stroads" that isolate more than they connect. (For those who don't know the term, it's a portmanteau of "street" which is a place of commerce and "road" which is a way to get from one city/town to another. Stroads combine the worst of both, separating what's on either side with high-speed traffic.) A classic example is Detroit, which is one of the largest US cities geographically. The stroad near us when we lived in Detroit was actually worse than the one near us in an adjoining suburb (Hazel Park), in both we were surrounded by other SFD homes, in both we had major highways nearby, a dearth of stores, and so on.

So, "move to the city" can mean one of two different things: moving to the core, or to the outer areas. If you move from the suburbs to an outer area, that's what we in computing call a "no-op" - an instruction that does nothing. Neither the place you left nor the place you went to has or will change, except for a few exceptions I'll get to later. Most importantly, nothing has changed for you. You're still living in basically the same environment (except maybe a bit dirtier and with fewer trees). On the other hand, if you move to the core - the only version of "move to the city" that really means anything at all - you might have well improved conditions for yourself, at the expense of making that core even less affordable. You will also have added to the infrastructure challenges there. "New urbanists" like to talk about the infrastructure costs of sprawly suburbs, but for electrical power in particular there are equal challenges for dense urban cores. The optimal distribution is actually somewhere in between. This effect is somewhat attenuated for other kinds of infrastructure such as fresh water, food distribution, and waste disposal, but we still have to ask: how many more upstate New York communities have to host New York City's trash? And where do all those garbage trucks go at night? Hint: it's not near the people whose trash they're hauling. Another "externality" imposed on adjacent communities so that the core residents can forget about it.

If everyone tried to move from the suburbs to denser urban cores at once, it would be a disaster even for the cities themselves for all the reasons above, but there are other problems as well. What would happen to all of the abandoned buildings and infrastructure back in the suburbs? To get an idea, take a tour of the "Rust Belt" some time. That will show you quite clearly the human and ecological toll of emigration on such a scale. What a waste. With disasters at both ends, how is that a solution?

This is where we get to the other ill effect of people moving to the city. Everyone who leaves from a suburb to a city is leaving their vote behind. That leaves even fewer voters to do anything about zoning and other policies that make suburbs the way they are. I've seen it over and over; the people who care about creating walkable neighborhoods and reducing car dependence leave, so policy remains in the hands of people who want to keep things the same. That is, quite directly, why most suburbs have town centers that are sterile and useless - if they even exist. Too many suburbs don't even have a real center, just one or more extended strip malls.

What we need is not more 15-minute cities but more 15-minute towns. Thousands of them. Reconfiguring and repurposing existing structures, where people already live and will continue to live, instead of abandoning them and building even more in the cities. Mixed use, mixed income, medium density. The missing middle according to some. To achieve that goal, people need to stay and vote (or, even better, serve on town zoning boards and such). The day when the cities could absorb the nearer suburbs - as Detroit did once, to become so big - are gone. No suburb would submit to such incorporation in the current milieu of property values and school funding and so on. The weight of numbers from city dwellers can't be used to force change anywhere else at anything less than the state level. How well does that work? Again, Detroit - ringed by more prosperous suburbs - tells us the answer: not at all. Detroit has no influence over poor suburbs like Hazel Park or River Rouge, let alone rich ones like Birmingham or Bloomfield Hills.

Every town (or small city) that has succeeded in reversing the process of suburban sprawl, in creating walkable and pleasant but still affordable and ecologically sustainable neighborhoods, has done so through the efforts of residents who stayed and did the work. "Move to the city" is a religion among the privileged few (who must be few for it to work at all), not a solution for the many. As long as it's the mantra among self-styled "new urbanists" we will all get exactly nowhere. Let go of that idea. Embrace strong towns instead.

[therubymuse]

Six Years

This was for Tuesday release but I slipped. Oops.

On November 27th, a milestone kind of flew past me in the midst of everything else that’s been happening. It’s always been one of the harder markers to remember to observe, and I’m not sure if that’s the time of year, the state of the world, or the worms in my brain that are to blame for that. But I forgive the brain worms nonetheless. 

I started taking estrogen six years ago. When I came out in August 2018, I wasn’t sure who I was just yet, only who I wasn’t. And that’s okay, some folks think trans people have known forever that they’re trans, and while I certainly can retcon the memories with the wisdom of now and see all the ways in which I was uncomfortable as a boy, I didn’t know why that was at the time. I just thought I was weird. And so I hid that part of me for a very long time, because the few times I had been vulnerable enough to share it, I was hurt immensely. 

When I came out, I wasn’t sure if womanhood was the right place for me. It was always something I had approached with such caution, reverence, and awe. It was also something I treated with massive respect, having seen what so many of my girlfriends had gone through in their lives for no other reason than misogyny. I had heard the arguments, and I was worried they were true; that there was no way I could live up to the beauty and the power I saw in other women, and that trying would be insulting. I had to unlearn that. 

And in November 2018, I was in the midst of that re-education. I had just started a job I quite liked, I hadn’t made many friends in a new city just yet, and I was getting my feet under me. Ultimately, I realized that real feminism tells us that all women are valid. Feminists have reclaimed space for women who are hairy, masculine, fat, tall, low-voiced, or infertile for decades, as they fought against the idea that we were the property of men and that our only value lied in traditional beauty and baby making. 

If you look at that list, which is by no means exhaustive, you’ll realize that transgender women are the women of feminism. And that’s exactly what I realized after meeting my partner in January 2019, who encouraged me not to be afraid of embracing something that ultimately held immense truth for me. So in February, I came out to the world as a woman, and it’s been an identity that has held immense comfort and truth for me since. 

Part of that truth for me is remaining visible to my community and other queer folks. Some trans people go to great lengths to mitigate anything that would give them away as trans, either for personal reasons or for safety, and there is nothing wrong with that. Some trans folks, however, cannot afford the cost of doing so, or in my case, simply do not want to. A great deal of importance is placed on “passing” as a trans woman, but passing has not been my goal. I already see the woman in the mirror that was hiding all my life, and she is so happy to be here. And that, more than my physical characteristics, is what I wish people would see. 

I know some of my friends and loved ones will jump to my own defence here, telling me I do pass and that I couldn’t be mistaken for anything but a woman, and while I appreciate that a lot, me saying “I don’t pass” is not me saying “I’m ugly”. As trans women we have to decide if we’re going to chase traditional femininity, or build our own version, as our sisters have done throughout history, and I’m a build my own type of girl. If people see me as a girl, that’s great, and it makes me happy, but in order to transition in the first place, I had to tell myself that feminine perfection was not required of me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made it here.

It’s rather like how someone says “I’m fat” and their friend responds with “You’re not fat you’re beautiful”. The person calling themselves fat, didn’t say they were ugly, they just said they were fat. I don’t pass as a traditional femme. I’m a mix of futchy influences that usually lands me smack dab in “comfy mom” territory. But that’s not me calling myself ugly.

In the next year, I plan on working on the last element of my appearance that really causes me dysphoria, which is my facial hair. We all have something that’s hard for us and for me it’s definitely my whiskers. But again, that’s a fight I’m taking on for my own better mental health, not for other people’s sensibilities.

Other than that, I continue to finesse my particular brand of casual low-effort femme, and I will continue showing up for the people who need to see someone like me out there, happily existing and living my life. I think 2025 will be more about healing and rest than any of the years so far. Really getting to know myself again and how I’ve grown and changed since I started this journey. 

Here’s to many more.

[the-firebird69]

His new bed is just that it's new and I help design this one managed to make it more affordable and he says it'll support his body better and Thor and Freya and Olympus and nuata and Ariana agree because he's going to be a big boy and he needs to be supported especially his butt yeah he's going to have a big butt like me as Jen well anyways I help design it and it's a new one it's meant to be less expensive it still takes 3 days to cure and they didn't say it right but if you're going it before then it gets a little lumpy who's doing it right shorter is supposed to keep it in the bag but here I don't really think it's a good idea there's too much moisture and you can hear it slowly hissing still that's good it's going to be fine and it works out there 3 days is usually long that's good to do if you take the bag off you need the three days he knows why it's like a chemical reaction but slowly will continue his bed is very special people are making fun of him saying you didn't know what he was doing they're read the instructions and says in a moist atmosphere you can take the bag off it's still kind of wise it's not really moist but the apartment is if you watch the floor the walls are moist for hours and it's too long so that's pretty good it's been one day and nobody's been on it and the women are fighting and some idiot men and their pigs and losers and I want them out of here and I want them out right now and I hope I don't have to say it more than once and I want teams moving then I'm not sure they are and we shall see and it's going to be a good day tomorrow he's going to try and get his sheets and the pad ready and the comforter all of them you have to wash at least once before using and he said that cotton sheets really stink it's not like rot but it's like color fast and other chemicals and you want to wash those out and you want to run it on a normal or heavy cycle and he does that and he said that polyester is fine it's not a big deal but you want to soften up the plastic in the pad and you don't do it by very hot heat it's low heat and you drive for quite a while and it works it's soften it up and he knows about it he's done it before and it does help so I need help tomorrow and it's kind of my thing he says no he says oh that's good and yeah women are kind of professionals you like things to be clean and smell good and I'm so tired of this poop on the sheet thing they keep talking about it and I can't stand them and every damn lizard out there wants to come in here and it's deadly we could step on them and they don't get it but hey it's a stupid lizard so it's going to head now there's going to be a lot of activity tonight it's going to be cold he's getting ready for it you still have to have the windows cracked and we're going to talk about those ceiling fans being on all the time it's going to start costing some real money the other place was 50 bucks and he's going to have to pay for both but he says that the dehumidifiers are probably not running that much because Jason probably can't get there and Jason is saying it's partially true that he is not exactly making it over there that much but he does make it so I'm going to have to figure out what to do about it and we have some other items to go over and we're going to shortly and is he and I I'm just some risk factors about these windows being opened and no locks and he's going to try and get some sticks and cut them to length but really A lot of these windows he says it can be broken but they don't open and it's hard for people to fit through and it's metal that they would have to mangle so it would show breaking and entry and except on this jealousy but what can you do if you close it it stinks and I understand that so Stan is going to have to take a look when he's better and it shouldn't be too long but yeah these fans are going to cost some money and what he says is it's going to be dryer soon enough in about a week that it's a long time to be running a fan but it's his health too he says and 100 bucks it's probably worth it

Hera

Those two fans will only add like $25 to a month and he says that's not that much and it's true it's worth it with the health and everybody will see this and stop complaining and the dehumidifiers are in there but yeah they don't run that much it's almost better without them not really but we did move them into the other areas no but you're right we should probably plug them in over there it would be a nice thing to do those burned a lot of electricity the place is moist for some reason and stays that way and he's thinking about it and he's thinking of the tool chest and I checked it and it needs to have plugs on the septic but that can be dangerous there shouldn't be gases down there but I do know what he's saying the moisture has to be coming from somewhere and it really just keeps filling those things up and he says it's odd the water table is not that high and it's not water in the driveway so I'm wondering if we have a leak somewhere we're getting water in these dehumidifiers constantly and we can get leak detection down to take a look at it it could be sewer and septic and it could be fresh water and those are things to check he also says that the water table might be up there and we just have to keep this strenuous stuff going for a few more weeks or even maybe just a couple until the canal forms when that River and the harbor is that high people don't know it but it permeates the ground it's just sand and it's not that easy but it he's right on the canals and stuff I do see what he's saying it fills up and it goes up and it's going to be moist the atmosphere is moist so I follow it The season's getting right the muck is moving out we're in the rivers ripping it all out soon to be out of the harbor and the water will drop a little things will blow out of the hole a few different things and that will relieve a lot of pressure unfortunately it'll drop it'll be a nightmare but the pressure released will go to the river not from it and it's because water is less pressure than the soil and the rains will stop and it will make it even better and capillary actual dried in and it'll be settlement but really this is going to be a cure right now there's a ton of people at the mouth and that counts he says that's very important for people to know from the perspective of this place being a lot safer and dryer it's going to pull a whole bunch of water out of here and muck and it will drain much better and they're out there and they've lasted probably half the thing and they're saying it's probably 35% but it's a lot about 10% is right at the mouth and they're going to talk about it

Jason

Olympus

[addindiagroup]

Office Space Planning: Layout, Process, & Core Principles

Choosing an office space is an extremely difficult choice.

There are a lot of unanswered concerns and difficult problems with this particular option.

Which layout should I use? In what location should the office be? How can one create the ideal design? And so forth.

This guide explores the fundamentals of efficient office design planning, giving you the tools to design a workspace that promotes output, teamwork, and worker well-being.

1 - Understanding Office Space Planning

It's crucial to get your foundations in place before you start your formal office space planning.

Office space planning is the process of carefully organising and designing a workstation to maximise productivity, comfort, and user experience.

Office space planning's overarching goals include maximising space utilisation, encouraging team cooperation, raising overall productivity, and drawing and keeping top personnel. The best arrangement and style, however, will differ greatly based on the type of business you run.

A top media organisation and a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, for example, have very different needs. In the same way, startups frequently flourish in collaborative environments, while well-established multinational corporations (MNCs) could prioritise private offices.

2 - Choosing the Perfect Office Layout

Not a big lover of cubicles? Do you prefer quieter settings or something more collaborative?

There are a lot of different office space plans available; pick the one that best suits your company's goals. Your workplace space's layout has a big influence on how your employees connect, communicate, and operate as a whole.

To help you decide, here's a summary of various common layouts for office space planning and their benefits and drawbacks: 

Open-Plan Offices:

Advantages: Open floor plans encourage teamwork, facilitate communication, and strengthen a feeling of community inside the company. Because of their effective use of space, they also frequently have lower costs.

Disadvantages: Employees that need focused work environments may find it challenging to operate in open offices due to their noise and distractions. Furthermore, a lack of privacy can be harmful for private discussions.

Private Offices:

Advantages: Employees can work in peace and quiet in private offices, which are perfect for concentrated work and private discussions. They also provide one a feeling of control and privacy over their office.

Disadvantages: Private offices may make it more difficult for team members to collaborate and communicate with one another, which could result in knowledge silos and a less cohesive workplace.

Cubicle Offices:

Advantages: A compromise between open-plan and private workplaces is offered by cubicles. They provide a certain level of seclusion and noise abatement, but they also permit sporadic interactions among coworkers. When it comes to costs, cubicles may be more affordable than private offices.

Disadvantages: Workers may feel disengaged from their jobs if they believe that their cubicles are small and alienating. If the cubicle walls are overly high or opaque, they could also make collaboration more difficult.

3 - A Step-by-Step Plan for Office Space Planning

Now that you are clear on your goals and preferences, how would you go about deciding on an office space planning for the same? Outlining the procedure is usually beneficial.

The following methodology can help you arrange your office space planning idea step-by-step:

Define Goals and Objectives: Clearly state the main goals you hope to accomplish with your workplace space. Do you wish to see more teams working together? Boost the output of your staff? Most importantly, how do your goals and vision line up?

Assess Needs: Make a detailed analysis of your demands, both present and prospective. Take into account the organisation's workforce size and the different kinds of work that are done there. Comprehending the demographics of your personnel is essential to designing an area that meets their varied requirements.

Research Layout Options: Examine several office layout choices according to your budget and defined requirements. Open floor plans, private offices, activity-based working (ABW) settings, and hybrid models that combine remote and in-office work scenarios are a few things to think about.

Choose the Location: The location of your office has a big impact on how happy and productive your staff are. Take into account aspects like parking availability, ease of access to eateries and fitness centres, accessibility by public transit, and total cost.

Design Your Space: Now that the arrangement and site have been decided upon, it's time to design your workstation. Make sure the equipment, fixtures, and furniture you choose are appropriate for the jobs your staff members do. To further customise your area, make sure the colour scheme complements the brand of your business.

Implementation: Purchasing equipment and furnishings, setting up the workspace, and relocating staff members into the new location are all part of this phase. Throughout the process, make sure there is clear communication to minimise disruptions and sustain staff morale.

Evaluation: Evaluate the success of your office space planning on a regular basis. Track employee input, evaluate productivity metrics, and pinpoint areas in need of development. Always be ready to adapt as circumstances demand. Source Link : https://addindiagroup.com/office-space-planning-layout-process-core-principles/

[khaire-traveler]

UPDATE:

Firstly, my dog's name is Yogi; apologies for not including that.

Secondly, my dog has been diagnosed with a glaucoma in his right eye that came on very suddenly. He also has dental disease, but that issue isn't as dire, thankfully. With a glaucoma, he is pretty much guaranteed to eventually lose sight in that eye. We will be giving him eye drops to hopefully stabilize the blood pressure in his eyes. From what I understand, a particular surgery helps with this later down the line, but...

We found out that Yogi has a grade 3 or 4 heart murmur. Our last vet visit, which took place before I moved to the new state (sometime in April), told us he had a heart murmur that was Grade 2. She said it was nothing extremely serious but should still be monitored. Today, we took Yogi in, and this new bet expressed concern over the fact that his murmur progressed so intensely in the course of a few months. Yogi needs to get an EKG, first and foremost, but he also needs to be checked for his eye. I will be - and already am - bleeding money. The EKG alone will be over $400 USD. The vet visit today was $312 USD. I'm not even sure what the eye doctor will cost yet. We have no pet insurance, and pet insurance doesn't cover this kind of thing anyway because it's a pre-existing issue. Pet insurance is also not affordable for Yogi (I've looked into it). He cannot have any surgeries until we have an EKG done to ensure he is in stable condition for one. If he isn't, well, then he can't have any surgeries likely for the rest of his life, unless heart medication can potentially bring him to a stable state. We won't have heart medications until after seeing a heart doctor and doing the EKG. I hope to the gods that it's going to be ok.

Fuck, Guys, I honestly don't know what to do. I may try to do something on here to raise money for his appointments, but in all honesty, I have no clue if I'll even have the time or energy for that right now with everything that's going on (I, myself, am having health and career issues; I'm currently unemployed throughout all this). I don't know. I have no idea.

So this is the update. He is stable, for now. I don't know what the future will look like or what it will bring. I'm trying to be positive, but I'm honestly extremely anxious. I can't really sleep with this on my mind. Will be writing up a prayer as I said I would be.

I'm taking my dog to the vet in an hour and would greatly appreciate it if y'all could pray to Artemis for him (or any deity, tbh). He's 12, and, well, I'm not sure what's going to happen. He's having an issue with his eye (I believe he will need a tooth pulled) but may not be able to go under anesthesia if needed. In that event, I'm genuinely unsure what we'd do for him. So, if y'all could just send a prayer, I'd appreciate it. I will be writing a general pet protection/health prayer for Artemis (that anyone can use) later tonight as well.

[bellovista]

How to Select the Correct Car Battery: Professional Advice

Summary: Choosing a Brisbane battery supplier will determine whether you have a consistent supply of batteries for various applications. Even if you don't include what you do for a job in your profile, I can still provide you some general guidance on where to locate a Brisbane battery source:

Body:

Obtain a list of every kind and specification of battery you will want for your work. Among the many different types of batteries that may be needed for different applications are industrial, automotive, and rechargeable batteries. In this situation, picking Brisbane's top battery source is essential.

Credibility & Reliability:

Purchase your batteries from a firm that is well-known for its reliability and superior products. You might choose to browse internet reviews or ask individuals you know who work in the industry for recommendations. Choosing the best battery supplier in brisbane is important here.

Products & Name Brands:

Make sure the source provides a wide range of battery types and brands to meet your specific demands. With so many choices, you could find the ideal battery for your requirements.

Maintaining High Standards

Find out what quality control methods and certifications the supplier uses. High-quality batteries are essential to minimizing performance issues and downtime.

Cost Transparency and Price:

Compare prices from several sellers to get an idea of what the going rate is. However, very low prices may indicate poor quality, so proceed with caution. It is also essential to have a well-defined pricing system.

Promise and Support:

Find out whether the battery shop in Brisbane gives product guarantees. With a strong warranty and a lengthy lifespan, you can relax knowing that the product will last. Make sure to enquire about their customer service and return policies as well.

Shipping and Distribution:

Consider the delivery options and the distribution network of the provider. If fast and simple delivery is essential to your work, you cannot afford to waste time. The car battery Brisbane service is the right one there.

Technical Area Mastery:

Assess the amount of technical competence and help supplied by the vendor. Look for a provider with staff members that are qualified to assist you in selecting the ideal batteries for your requirements.

Customization and Special Requests:

whether your task requires custom batteries or other unique solutions, find out whether the vendor can fulfill your particular demands and provide customizable solutions.

Taking Environmental Responsibilities:

Whether you are concerned about sustainability in the workplace, find out whether the supplier has any programs in place for recycling batteries or other types of environmental responsibility. Here, selecting a vehicle battery from Brisbane is crucial.

Collaboration for the Future:

Forming a long-term alliance with a reliable battery supplier might be advantageous to your company. Consider the supplier's willingness to collaborate closely with you and their adaptability in fulfilling your changing needs. You should have no issue selecting a battery supply in Brisbane that meets your demands and preferences if you keep these recommendations in mind.

Author Bio: For the best battery supplier in brisbane David is a professional writer having the specific ideas for the same.