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evidence-based-activism · 18 days ago

Note

Is it true more trans teens attempted suicide after ‘anti trans’ laws passed?

Hello! I am guessing this is in reference to this recent study [1], which made this exact claim. In short, this study has substantial issues that weaken its conclusion severely. These flaws, paired with stronger contradictory evidence, suggests that no, these laws are not connected to increased suicide among transgender teens.

First, the contradicting evidence:

While not in reference to these specific laws, other studies have attempted to determine if there is an increase in suicide following laws aimed at restricting transgender healthcare.

This independent report for the UK NHS [2] found "the data do not support the claim that there has been a large rise in suicide in young gender dysphoria patients" and "the claims that have been placed in the public domain do not meet basic standards for statistical evidence". (They – correctly – also criticize the way "this issue has been discussed on social media", which we will get into later.)

The Cass review [2] was an extensive literature review that found evidence did not support the belief that "hormone treatment reduces the elevated risk of death by suicide in [the transgender youth] population".

This Finnish study on adolescents and young adults [4] took a slightly different approach, attempting to determine if access to "gender reassignment" reduced suicide rates. First, they found "clinical gender dysphoria does not appear to be predictive of all-cause nor suicide mortality when psychiatric treatment history is accounted for." They also found "medical gender reassignment does not have an impact on suicide risk".

This similar Swedish study on adults [5] found that "sex reassignment, although alleviating gender dysphoria, may not suffice as treatment for transsexualism" as higher "mortality, suicidal behaviour, and psychiatric morbidity" persists after "sex reassignment".

This Dutch study on adults [6] also found that "the suicide risk in transgender people ... seems to occur during every stage of transitioning".

Importantly, these studies are all reasonably strong and well-designed. The centralized nature of these country's health data allowed for large-scale, representative studies to be performed. The English study [2] reviewed data directly from the NHS, the Cass review [3] was an extensive and through literature review (common myths about the report are debunked here [7]), and the final three studies [4-6] were all long-term (multiple decade), nation-wide cohort studies.

This evidence provides a strong indication that medical gender transition treatment do not reduce suicide risk in transgender populations.

---

So, what are the issues with the US study?

First, this study [1] was not representative. The participants were recruited from "non-probability cross-sectional online survey" via "targeted advertisements on social media" between "2018 and 2022".

Already there are substantial issues:

This study is explicitly noted to be non-representative, drawing conclusions about transgender youth based solely on this study is irresponsible.

The participants were recruited via social media, which past research [8] has shown to be correlated with suicide attempts. Notably, the causality of this relationship is irrelevant in this case, because it is still evidence of a significant confounding variable. (Confounding variables are the primary reason why you cannot determine causality from correlational relationships like the one presented in [1].)

This study overlaps with the COVID-19 pandemic. They claim to have "considered the potential impact of the ... pandemic" and found "minimal evidence" of any impact. This conclusion contradicts substantial amounts of past research including a systematic review and meta-analysis of youth suicide during the pandemic [9], a systematic review and meta-analysis of youth depression and anxiety [10], and an analysis of national suicide data for US youth [11].

Their analysis of the impact of the pandemic used "population-adjusted ... death counts by year as a proxy for the overall impact ... in a given state for a given time period". It's likely this was on of the only data sources they had to evaluate the impact of the pandemic, but that doesn't change the fact that this proxy neglects to consider the isolation, financial stress, and social media use among youth and their families that likely drove their decline in mental health. (See studies [12-15] for some introductory evidence of this.)

Other issues:

They considered only self-report of suicide attempts and serious suicidal thoughts, not actual measurements of suicides or suicide attempts. This adds an additional possibility of response bias. (Notably, this was not a concern for the studies I discussed above, which show no relationship between similar laws and suicide, as they evaluate actual medical report data.)

They found a statistically significant effect for suicide attempts but not for "seriously considering suicide". This is a strange finding, as, if we assume the results are accurate, it suggests that suicide attempts increased following the laws without any corresponding increase in suicidal thoughts. (This will be relevant later, so keep it in mind.)

The don't appear to report an actual incidence rate, which is a significant oversight considering the topic.

The substantial reduction in effect size when considering the total number of reported suicide attempts versus the number of people who reported at least one suicide attempt suggests that the attempts are clustered within a small group of participants.

They found no evidence of the introduction or enactment of additional "anti-transgender laws" had any impact of transgender youth suicide. Again, this is inconsistent with their overall conclusions; if it is the legal restrictions that cause an increase in suicide attempts then you would expect an increase in restrictions to also increase attempts. (Although not necessarily in a linear fashion.)

All in all, this study makes claims that are much stronger than the evidence they provide to support them. Other, stronger studies, contradict the assertion that these sorts of laws increase suicide among transgender youth. (Which is, I should stress, a good thing for the transgender community.)

(And I should also note here that my personal opinion on the morality of these laws is specific to each law/law category. I'm purely presenting the empirical research concerning the relationship between these laws and suicide in this post.)

---

The major confounding factor: social contagion of suicide.

It is, at this point, all but settled evidence that "suicidal behavior is 'contagious' in that it can be transmitted, directly or indirectly, from one person to another" [16]. This is extraordinarily important because it impacts the way we (i.e., society) should talk about and depict suicide. For an unrelated example, this review [17] concludes "portrayals of suicide in entertainment media may increase suicides and attempted suicide in the population". A specific example of this was the increase in suicide rates and admissions among youth, following the release of the "13 Reasons Why" television show [18-19].

And this is well-known by LGBT organizations. In 2017, the Movement Advancement Project (a pro-LGBT think tank), the Johnson Family Foundation (a pro-LGBT organization), and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention co-authored the second edition of the report "Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations" [20], which was also endorsed by GLSEN, GLAAD, The Trevor Project, the Transgender Law Center, and the Human Rights Campaign (among others).

Recommendations in this report include [emphasis mine]:

DO encourage discussion about suicide prevention strategies.

DO emphasize the vital importance of resilience

DON’T attribute a suicide death to a single factor (such as bullying or discrimination) or say that a specific anti-LGBT law or policy will “cause” suicide.

DON’T risk spreading false information by repeating unsubstantiated rumors or speculation about suicide deaths or why they occurred.

DON’T talk about suicide “epidemics” or suicide rates for LGBT people. (Remember that sexual orientation and gender identity are not recorded at the time of death, so we do not have data on suicide rates or deaths among LGBT people. In addition, presenting suicide as a trend or a widespread occurrence (for example, tallying suicide deaths that occur in proximity to an external event) can encourage vulnerable individuals to see themselves as part of a larger story, which may elevate their suicide risk.)

DON’T use social media or e-blasts to announce news of suicide deaths, speculate about reasons fora suicide death, focus on personal details about the person who died, or describe the means of death.

DON’T idealize those who have died by suicide or create an aura of celebrity around them.

(They also note that suicide rates cannot be determined by looking at suicide attempts, which is relevant to the above study.)

Please take a moment to consider the extent to which public officials, organizations, and figures are completely disregarding these recommendations in reference to the transgender community. Beyond the anecdotal evidence people involved with or aware of the community are exposed to, this English study [21], this Indian study [22], and this American study [23] all find "poor adherence to responsible reporting guidelines" for the transgender (or "LGBTQ+") community.

Further, as I indicated earlier, the English study [2] directly addresses this sort of irresponsible rhetoric. Failure to comply with responsible reporting guidelines is causing direct harm to the transgender community.

And how does this apply to the first study [1]? It adds in an additional confounding factor: the rhetoric surrounding these laws and their impact on suicide in the transgender community. It suggests that at least some of the observed suicide attempts were precipitated by the social contagion of suicide.

This theory would also explain some of the inconsistencies in the study. That is, it is possible that there was already a subsection of suicidal transgender youth, who, once exposed to increasingly this irresponsible social-contagion-inducing rhetoric, reported (more frequent) suicide attempts. This would account for:

The lack of increase in suicidal thoughts (i.e., those effected were already suicidal).

Why the effect size for the "at least one attempt" is so much lower than the "total attempts" effect size (i.e., the reported increase is concentrated within a small group of people)

Why there is no dose-response relationship between the number of laws and suicide attempts (i.e., it is not the laws so much as the rhetoric surrounding them that is having such a negative impact)

---

Conclusion

Ultimately, there is strong evidence from other countries indicating that similar "anti-trans" laws are not associated with suicide rates. The new American study suggesting otherwise is remarkably weak, and may actually be providing evidence for the social contagion theory of suicide.

Most importantly, the current rhetoric surrounding suicide in the trans community is incredibly dangerous and does a great disservice to all transgender people.

(And again, my personal opinion on the morality of these laws is specific to each law/law category. I'm purely presenting the empirical research concerning the relationship between these laws and suicide in this post.)

I hope this helps, Anon!

References under the cut:

Lee, W. Y., Hobbs, J. N., Hobaica, S., DeChants, J. P., Price, M. N., & Nath, R. (2024). State-level anti-transgender laws increase past-year suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary young people in the USA. Nature Human Behaviour, 1-11.

Appleby, Louis. “Review of Suicides and Gender Dysphoria at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust: Independent Report.” Department of Health & Social Care, 19 July 2024, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-suicides-and-gender-dysphoria-at-the-tavistock-and-portman-nhs-foundation-trust/review-of-suicides-and-gender-dysphoria-at-the-tavistock-and-portman-nhs-foundation-trust-independent-report.

Cass, H. (2024). Independent review of gender identity services for children and young people.

Ruuska, S. M., Tuisku, K., Holttinen, T., & Kaltiala, R. (2024). All-cause and suicide mortalities among adolescents and young adults who contacted specialised gender identity services in Finland in 1996–2019: a register study. BMJ Ment Health, 27(1).

Dhejne, C., Lichtenstein, P., Boman, M., Johansson, A. L., Långström, N., & Landén, M. (2011). Long-term follow-up of transsexual persons undergoing sex reassignment surgery: cohort study in Sweden. PloS one, 6(2), e16885.

Wiepjes, C. M., den Heijer, M., Bremmer, M. A., Nota, N. M., de Blok, C. J., Coumou, B. J., & Steensma, T. D. (2020). Trends in suicide death risk in transgender people: results from the Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria study (1972–2017). Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 141(6), 486-491.

Final report – FAQs. (n.d.). The Cass Review. https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/final-report-faqs/

Sedgwick, R., Epstein, S., Dutta, R., & Ougrin, D. (2019). Social media, internet use and suicide attempts in adolescents. Current opinion in psychiatry, 32(6), 534-541.

Madigan, S., Korczak, D. J., Vaillancourt, T., Racine, N., Hopkins, W. G., Pador, P., ... & Neville, R. D. (2023). Comparison of paediatric emergency department visits for attempted suicide, self-harm, and suicidal ideation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 10(5), 342-351.

Madigan, S., Racine, N., Vaillancourt, T., Korczak, D. J., Hewitt, J. M., Pador, P., ... & Neville, R. D. (2023). Changes in depression and anxiety among children and adolescents from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics.

Bridge, J. A., Ruch, D. A., Sheftall, A. H., Hahm, H. C., O’Keefe, V. M., Fontanella, C. A., ... & Horowitz, L. M. (2023). Youth suicide during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatrics, 151(3).

Felfe, C., Saurer, J., Schneider, P., Vornberger, J., Erhart, M., Kaman, A., & Ravens-Sieberer, U. (2023). The youth mental health crisis: Quasi-experimental evidence on the role of school closures. Science Advances, 9(33), eadh4030.

Jones SE, Ethier KA, Hertz M, et al. Mental Health, Suicidality, and Connectedness Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021. MMWR Suppl 2022;71(Suppl-3):16–21. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7103a3.

Kalenkoski, C. M., & Pabilonia, S. W. (2024). Teen social interactions and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Review of Economics of the Household, 1-48.

Adegboye, D., Williams, F., Collishaw, S., Shelton, K., Langley, K., Hobson, C., ... & van Goozen, S. (2021). Understanding why the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related lockdown increases mental health difficulties in vulnerable young children. JCPP advances, 1(1), e12005.

Forum on Global Violence Prevention; Board on Global Health; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council. Contagion of Violence: Workshop Summary. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2013 Feb 6. II.4, THE CONTAGION OF SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207262/

Niederkrotenthaler, T., Kirchner, S., Till, B., Sinyor, M., Tran, U. S., Pirkis, J., & Spittal, M. J. (2021). Systematic review and meta-analyses of suicidal outcomes following fictional portrayals of suicide and suicide attempt in entertainment media. EClinicalMedicine, 36.

Cooper Jr, M. T., Bard, D., Wallace, R., Gillaspy, S., & Deleon, S. (2018). Suicide attempt admissions from a single children's hospital before and after the introduction of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(6), 688-693.

Bridge, J. A., Greenhouse, J. B., Ruch, D., Stevens, J., Ackerman, J., Sheftall, A. H., ... & Campo, J. V. (2020). Association between the release of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and suicide rates in the United States: An interrupted time series analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(2), 236-243.

Movement Advancement Project, Johnson Family Foundation, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. August 2017. "Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations." 2nd edition. MAP's Talking About LGBT Issues Series. https://www.lgbtmap.org/talking-about-suicide-and-lgbt-populations

Bolzern, J. E., Mnyama, N. L., & McMillan, D. (2019). Responsible journalism, imitative suicide, and transgender populations: A systematic review of UK newspapers. Journal of gay & lesbian mental health, 23(3), 276-288.

Kar, S. K., Menon, V., Mukherjee, S., Bascarane, S., Sharma, G., Pattnaik, J. I., ... & Agarwal, V. (2023). Suicide reporting of LGBTQI+ population in India: An analysis of online media reports of the past decade. Journal of Public Health, 45(1), e95-e103.

Kirchner, S., Till, B., Laido, Z., & Niederkrotenthaler, T. (2024). Suicide-related media reporting with a focus on sexual and gender minority identities: A content analysis of the quality of reporting. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 45(5), 339–347. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000956

#feminism #postmodernism

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ragana62 · 20 days ago

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This is a reminder: (edited to add links to resources)

Votes are still being counted. Check your ballot, make sure yours was. Call your local election authorities/follow appropriate means as indicated in your vote tracking to cure your ballot if need be. The website you’re looking for here is vote.org, where state specific resources are listed out and linked. If you need better internet access to do this, public libraries are your best friend.

Democratic votes are disproportionately represented in early/mail in ballots. Those are typically counted last.

Democratic votes are disproportionately represented in major cities. Higher population density means it takes longer to reach, submit, and verify final vote counts. These also report later than other areas.

Unreported vote margins in several key states including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and many others are high enough that it can still flip the state.

He did this in 2020 too. He called the vote for himself before all votes were in, then threw a fit when people wouldn’t “stop the count”. The reasons above are why they want to stop the count prematurely.

Things look bad right now. I’m fucking stressed. We’re all fucking stressed. I’m fucking angry. A lot of people are justifiably fucking angry.

I’m not going to say “oh, we survived last Trump presidency” because a lot of people didn’t. I’m not going to say “oh, if we flip those states and the final counts put Harris in, everything will be fine” because that still means WAY TOO MANY people were ok voting for a convicted traitor, rapist, and bigot and last time he tried to overthrow the government because he was mad he couldn’t have it.

We probably won’t know anything for sure until Thursday. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, don’t burn yourself out before the fight begins.

Renew your passport or get one (not just as a ‘I’m leaving if my person doesn’t win’, as a ‘they have pitched voting reforms that will for all intents and purposes require one to vote and it’s a good thing to have if you can’). You can now renew your passport online if you meet certain requirements. Travel.state.gov is your friend for that.

If you have a uterus, now is a great time to get in with a gyno to talk about long term birth control options like IUDs/Implants or even surgical sterilization if you aren’t interested in having more kids than you already have. This is the list affectionately dubbed the TikTok Tubal List, in case you do not have a reliable provider or the one you have will not perform the procedures you need (and odds are, if a doc is willing to surgically sterilize you, they will prescribe you birth control if you’d prefer). The Brigid Alliance is great for helping support people who need to travel out of state for abortions. This is the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Check the phone numbers of organizations focused on immigration law and refugee/immigrant resources like orgs that help process asylum requests, refugee/immigrant settlement orgs, and obviously legal aid, not just for yourself, but because you never know who might need it, and make sure you know them, not just save them in your phone. This will vary state to state as well as the specific variety of aid needed and the person needing it. There are religious based groups (shout out to LIRS/Global Refuge for helping my family flea WWII and its aftermath.) You can find ones for other denominations and religions by googling “*religious group* Refugee Aid”. You can use the same process for nationality specific ones as well. Community specific ones might be your best chance at finding someone who speaks your language if you aren’t a native English speaker, at finding community support as well. General practice, IMMLAW is well regarded for a reason.

Do the same for those focused on queer advocacy and support. Get specific. Knowing your local chapter of the ACLU is good, knowing trans specific resources, youth specific resources, intersectional resources for queer folx of color and disabled queer folx, knowing how to reach your local community outreach groups, etc. is better. Most of these resources are local specific. Check in with your local community organizers (if you don’t know who that is, find a local queer centric space and ask people), to find out where people need help most and what organizations and resources they trust locally. Trevor Project is also a good nationwide resource for personal support and information if you need that now, but note that they are usually very busy after elections.

Do the same for women’s health and safety groups (using this term because it is what usually gets used by the groups/resources themselves, but these resources are also good for anyone in possession of a uterus). Abortion access groups that are dedicated to helping people who cannot financially leave a state trying to stop them, domestic violence shelters, resources for accessing birth control. Even better, get to know your neighbors and community, and help each other. Plan B has a shelf life, as does Plan C, as do condoms and spermicide. Stock what you can, share what you can, help each other out. (Links are above for TikTok Tubal List, Brigid Aliance, and National Domestic Violence Hotline) AidAccess will mail abortion pills to every state, both for emergency use (within 1-5 days) and to have on hand (there is a separate form and it may take longer to fulfill).

Talk to your neighbors where it is safe to do so. Make plans for what happens if the worst happens. Who needs to leave, who can’t leave, who has what support needs, who has what resources, etc. The only way through this is together.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and know that nothing is official until the last county reports and confirms the last ballot. That could be Thursday, that could be this weekend, but until it happens, we aren’t completely fucked just yet.

I know I’ve been freaking the fuck out about this, despite normally being a mostly fandom blog. It’s worth freaking out about. But freak out in a way that does not do more harm than good if at all possible. Feel your feelings, but channel them towards protecting yourself, protecting others, and most importantly, not burning yourself out. There’s a lot of fear-mongering out there. There’s a lot to be afraid about. It isn’t official yet.

Plan like it is, hope like it isn’t.

#us politics #politics #vote blue #harris waltz #harris walz 2024 #kamala harris #kamala 2024 #vote kamala #kamala for president #protect queer youth #protect women #protect trans kids #it’s not over yet #please take care of yourselves

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stormoflina · 10 months ago

Note

https://rtl.hu/reggeli/2024/02/09/szoboszlai-dominik-tetovalas-torocsik-dani

Thank you so much.

So I finished it earlier than I thought, here it is!

TLDR: Dominik's tattoo artist talking about meeting Dominik, their friendship and most especially, his brand new chest tattoo and the ideas behind it to two hosts of a Hungarian morning show.

Long intro from the journalists, the only important info is that they mention how due to the request of Dominik’s family they can only ask about certain topics, because it’s a rather intimate matter. Then the male journalist asks about how the artist got there, was it difficult bringing his own stuff to Dominik’s house.

Tattoo Artist: “ It would have been difficult to gather everything that is needed for making a tattoo and bringing them all with me [to Dominik’s house], so we basically made a ‘studio’ at Dominik’s and that’s how it was done. We ordered what was needed online to his house, and when he had free time on certain days, we worked on the tattoo on his chest.”

Female Journalist: “We know that you can’t say much and neither do we want you to speak in Dominik’s name, so please only tell us what you are allowed to…”

TA: “Just ask me!”

FJ: “Yeah, okay (...) So, what was Dominik’s wish, what did he want?”

TA: “Well, I guess this is a question that can be labeled as private, but perhaps Dominik won’t get mad at me if I tell you guys broadly. What he had in mind is to have a tattoo that can represent and show his journey, his very difficult, but so far successful journey he has been on from the moment he was born, from the moment he started playing football. And also his mentality, what was needed for his journey, that’s what he wanted to have on his skin, inked on, in the form of pictures. Basically, it’s a tool to tell a story, his story. Reading from left to right, starting from the moment he was born to, well, who knows, nobody knows until when, that’s what the stars and planets are meant to symbolize.”

MJ: “It looks very cool, and of course, it looks beautiful on Dominik. (...) How much did it take to complete it, how many hours are needed to make a tattoo [like this one]?”

TA: “Finally, a good question! Good that you asked in hours, because it's easier to answer. We only had certain parts of a day, and he wasn’t always available. so we had to work with that. All in all, it took like 3 days… We had once a 10 hour long session, and I think two 6(ish) hours long ones. All in all, it was like 26 hours.”

FJ: “We know that this story went viral (...) that you have been contacted by many journalists (...), so we are thankful that this is your first interview, and that you chose us. Still, it’s a huge deal that you had the chance to work together with such a big star like Dominik, we know how famous he got (...). Did you know each other from before, or was this your first time meeting him?”

TA: “ Yeah, we do. I will confess, I didn’t think that this would blow up the way it did. I mean, like, I have a good relationship with Dominik, so in my head he is (...) I mean, obviously, I respect him and admire him for what he has achieved, but still, we have a private relationship. So, I didn’t even consider that if I post his tattoo, even the English media will find out about it and report about it, because that’s what happened… Yeah, I have known him ever since he signed for Leipzig. At first, he contacted me, because he wanted a correction for one of his tattoos. I met him for the first time when he was still playing for RB Leipzig.

MJ: “You mentioned how many hours it took to get it done (...), during those hours do you ask him about stuff, trying to have a conversation, or rather sit in silence, listen to music (...) how does it work? Have you found out any behind the scenes secrets?”

TA: “ No. No, because for him, you know, it’s about relaxation. I mean, even if he doesn’t want it, we were together for 3 days constantly. Even if you are forced to be with your best friend in the world that amount of time, being as close to each other as like 5-10 centimeters, face-to-face, it can get a lot. We had a friendly conversation, I’m not trying to ask him for information (...), of course we talked about stuff, a lot of stuff, I will not say we didn’t, but I didn’t spend my 3 days with him trying to get information out from him.”

The rest of the video was about his personal and work life, where he is currently, career, etc, nothing else about Dominik.

#dominik szoboszlai #domi tattoo #domi translation

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edwin-stanley-pines · 2 months ago

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Dad told me I could do whatever I wanted on my phone as long as I'm not interacting interdimensionally. So I'm gonna do just that. Hello, Internet!!!

[BIG IMPORTANT MOD NOTE DO NOT SKIP THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO POTENTIALLY GET BLOCKED]

[hey folks. due to some recent discourse in some fellow gf rp blogs, id like to make one thing clear: i. am. human. i have a life outside of tumblr. i have a life outside of rp. i cannot always rp when you want me to. if you try to make me, you will be blocked and reported. i will not hesitate. i will not hesitate to block anyone who is rude and demanding. im still in high school. i am a minor. i do not have the time to be online all the time. thank you for understanding. now on to the rest of the pinned post :3]

[mod note: i finally figured out where in the timeline this blog falls!! this blog takes place a year after weirdmageddon]

Interdimensional Family AU is an AU where, during his travels in the portal, ten years before it's reopened, Ford somehow ends up adopting a child.

Edwin is a shapeshifter, but not the same species of shapeshifter as the one in the show. His species, roughly translated into English, is called the Inkaguri, so named for their ink-like true forms. The Inkaguri, when born, can only shapeshift into one species of their choice. Once they pick, they can only shift between that species and their true form. This species is endangered, only because they tend to pick large, dangerous species to shapeshift into and make themselves bigger targets.

One day, Ford is wandering through a random dimension when he's attacked by a huge beast. He kills it fairly quickly, and it changes from the huge monstrosity that it was to a puddle of colorful goop that's beginning to lose its color. Curious, he wanders into the cave it came out of. In the back of the cave, he finds a shallow, egg-shaped puddle. Beside the puddle, looking as though it just crawled out, was a tiny version of the same ink-like creature outside. It looks up at him, they stare at each other, and then this tiny, newly hatched Inkaguri shifts into a human baby.

Thus Ford became Edwin's father because he killed Edwin's mother. He was... not very excited at first.

[edit: heres the story behind edwins bill!!]

[bills reference! (i used pawborough.com for the reference, art does not belong to me)]

[edwin keeps bill in his coat. dont ask where. thats just where bill is. i promise he has room in there. dont ask how.]

[inkaguri code! edwin will now occasionally speak in inkaguri!!!]

[child bill liam reference! he baby]

Edwin talks like this in his human form.

He talks like this in his true form.

(BILL TALKS LIKE THIS WHEN TALKING TO EDWIN. NO ONE ELSE CAN UNDERSTAND THIS. PLEASE, ANONS, PRETEND YOU CAN'T FOR THE SAKE OF THE ROLEPLAY.)

Ford speaks like this when he occasionally makes his appearance. He will not make one often.

"Ford speaks like this over the phone. He will appear like this more often than he will in person."

Liam talks like this. He's gonna be around more than Ford. He's also soft-spoken, so he rarely yells.

[mod talks like this]

#gravity falls #interdimensional family au #edwin pines #gravity falls au #cat bill #stanford pines #long post #intro post #papa ford #child bill

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y2klostandfound · 1 year ago

Photo

Space Channel 5 Part 2 on Dorimaga Magazine Vol.1 (2002-01) (Video game Magazine) (11-25/01/2002)

Translation in English:

(Page 66)

Dorimaga Special Report - DC PS2:

Video Game Consoles : Dreamcast / Playstation 2

Scheduled to be released: February 14th

Completely: 100%

Price:

Dreamcast: 6,120 Yen Dreamcast(Special Edition Pack): 9,900 Yen Playstation 2: 6,800 Yen

Genre - ETC (Musical Action Adventure) Manufacturer:Sega/United Game Artists Players: 1-2 Number of discs: 1 URL: http://www.u-ga.com/ Controllers/Memory Cards PS2: DualShock 2, trance vibrator compatible, memory card 161KB. DC: 5 blocks of memory used (VMU), Purupuru pack support

Online Shop:The DC version is exclusive to D-DIRECT.

Is there something wrong in the galactic universe!?

After seeing this screen, "Mexican Flyer" came to my head! Are you ready to dance? "Space Channel 5 Part 2" scheduled to air on two platforms has finally started! Let's all enjoy the full polygon SHOW together!

Greetings to the 30 million "Channel 5" viewers nationwide, it's finally here! "Space Channel 5 Part 2" from UGA, which has been silent since the Tokyo Game Show in autumn, is finally on air!The memorable day is February 14, 2002, Valentine's Day.and it will be broadcast simultaneously on DC and PS2 as planned! I can't wait to see how Ulala, who has crossed the century, will come back!

Popular characters from the previous show, as well as new characters, will appear one after another! They will make the program even more exciting!

The basic rules seem to be the same, but new elements have been added, such as singing and playing! I have a hunch that it will be fun!

The next enemy is the "Dancing Troupe(Rhythm Rouges)"! ?

The next enemy is the "Dancing Troupe(Rhythm Rouges)" who appeared out of nowhere. Innocent people are made to dance one after another, just like the Morolians last time! Their purpose is completely unknown. Ulala will report on their true identity!

The mysterious dance group "Dancing Troupe (Rhythm Rouges)" has arrived! A person who looks like a captain and robots attack people one after another!

(Page 67)

What happened to the Jaguar! ?

An evil hand approaches Jaguar who has discovered something somewhere in the universe...! ! Meanwhile, the "Space Symphony," a ship cruising around Neo-Pluto, is attacked by a mysterious group! "Space Channel 5" quickly caught the information and sent Ulala to the scene to report the incident. The spirit of Director Fuse enters. "Come on, let's start!!"

I'll charm you, Ulala Seven Changes

This time Ulala will be reporting in even cuter and cooler outfit! There will be a "Ulala's Costume Room," so stay tuned!

ULALA

A reporter for Space Channel 5, she was born on May 30 and her blood type is B. The other day, she tried to save the galaxy with great energy, but she's still a newcomer and spends her days being yelled at by her boss Fuse. Her goal is to become a galactic reporter.She is the only person who can fight back against the "mysterious dancing group" that has appeared.

Prologue

The time is the 25th century.

The "Morolian" suddenly invaded, causing people to dance one after another with their "Dancing Beam"! The space broadcasting station "Space Channel 5", which caught this catastrophe, dispatched a new reporter "Ulala" who is good at dancing, selected by the director "Fuse", and report the incident. She fully opens her mysterious dancing puff, sometimes fights and cooperates with Channel 42's "Pudding" and the Space Pirate Broadcasting Station's "Jaguar" to uncover the true nature of the evil that hides behind the Morolians' intentions. Thus, this ascension case was resolved.........

In this galaxy where the memory is fresh in our minds, a new evil is rising.......

Although "Ulala" had solved the "Morolians Attack Case" by dancing with her miraculous performance, there was no change in her role as a reporter, and she is cheered on by a director "Fuse" every day.

Such a daily life suddenly changes with a report from "Chief Space Michael ". A "mysterious dancing group" has appeared, making people dance and taking them away one after another!

Now, Ulala's dancing report begins again.

Come on, Let's start!

SPACE CHANNEL 5 Part 2 - First Implession!

A little impression of the sample unveiled at the recent PS Party! The game is very busy with more things to do such as singing and playing, not to mention the increased power of the graphics and presentation. Compared to the previous game, which was a bit monotonous, this one is even more fun. The storyline is also very exciting!

#space channel 5 #Space Channel 5 part 2 #ulala #sega #dreamcast #PlayStation 2

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lesbian-i-ching · 1 year ago

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i feel like i shouldn't make such a fuss about it, but this is something i have to say to who, like me, feels helpless about the genocide happening in Gaza. I am a young woman from a fairly small town in Italy. I don't live in Rome, Milan or Naples and no protests would ever be held here. i live in a slightly above poverty context, where every 10 euros matter, despite what my parents say and every sacrifice they do, so you can imagine i still live with them and i have no money on my own to make donations (the fact that israel is doing everything in its power to stop donation is another discourse) . So the only thing i can really do is keep posting about the struggles of the palestinian people. I do not argue with people online who won't listen, but i just keep posting about what's happening because it's the minimum we can do. I wish i could do way more, but if with the spreading of information i can keep informed someone who has no particular opinion on the matter (which happen and it's okay, ppl cannot know everything), then it's worth it.

With the status of western media and information system (i know little about other states besides the english-speaking ones, but i can assure you italian media are absolutely abhorrent about it, with half baked opinions that ignore the relevant facts and involve things that have very little to do with the situation on the battlefield and with the rampant islamophobia, all to justify israel. and this comes both from the left and from the right), the fact that so many people around the world are protesting and trying to do something for palestinian rights bcs ppl are keeping themselves informed through social media accounts of free reporters, journalists and palestinian voices themselves is astonishing. This isn't a conflict like the others, bcs palestinians have almost nobody on their corner but us, the conscience of the people of every ethnicity and religion (including jewish people who have been especially brave lately). This is one of the few fights where the people from all of the world are uniting and a loss for the palestinian people is a loss for the multitudes of us who can see the lies and warmongering of the colonialist west. That's why, even with my infinitesimal help i have to believe that i, united with everybody, can make a difference and finally see a free palestine.

#sorry for the essay but i really needed to get it out #we can make a difference i firmly believe so #free palestine #gaza strip #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #palestine

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oliviax727 · 1 year ago

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I finally gotten to it, I am finally going to start learning a language (Spanish)

Wait, why should I care?

You don't need to care at all. I just want to keep a public record of my progress and see if I can pull off the effort for long enough to achieve my goals.

If you're not interested, there's no shame in scrolling past this post once a month. And dw, these posts will be at most monthly. So if you're here for something else, this won't clog things up.

If you're concerned about the physics, reminder this is my personal account, and there's another one exclusively for those who just want the science without the shitposting/personal/political stuff.

Though if you're like a linguist or something - or are interested in language stuff in general, I'm sure you can find some value in this post perhaps.

What language will it be?

tl;dr Spanish

Also I love putting all this colour in my post. It satisfies my autism so much.

Now, I've come from a very multilingual background. I learned mandarin between age 5 - 13, and latin in grades 7 thru 8.

Mandarin was a language I could never get the hang of.

It probably had to do with some child-like racism combined with a lack of motivation.

Buuuuut it most likely was a consequence of when I moved from Hong Kong to Australia, my new school did not accomodate the fact I was already experienced.

Nevertheless, I feel as if my Mandarin skills have been overshot, and I don't think I'd be motivated to re-learn it unless I overwhelmingly succeed in this.

Latin was just a dud - I decided to do it because I thought it would be interesting, but dropped it after I realised I had too much on my plate heading into 9th grade.

But Spanish on the other hand, well, there are three better reasons why I choose to learn it:

I never really got an opportunity. I stopped wanting to learn from my abuela when I was 3-5 yo, and my Australian high school also didn't offer it either (my high school's curriculum was dogshit)

A big portion of my relatives are tied to Argentina, with my mum being born from Argentine immigrants. She spent her high school years doing ESL as Spanish was her second language

Aspiring to do Astrophysics is likely going to land me in Chile, as the Andes is home to telescopes-a-plenty

I could've also gone with other languages I'm interested in, like:

German (because my abuela was born from German immigrants - no they were not Nazis, they actually fled in 1936 to avoid conscription)

Croatian (my abuelo was born in Yugoslavia and fled in the 1950s)

Greek (I don't know why it was my "latin is cool" phase, so I guess I wanted to do ancient greek but I don't know how much drift there has been over the last 2000 years thanks to the romans)

And thus I go with Spanish.

But what about regional dialects?

I am very aware that there are various dialects of Spanish within Latin America, and generally, most online methods of learning will teach you Spanish Spanish.

But I think it's more important to first learn a bit of basic vocab, and the grammar, before worrying about my regional dialect. I'm still pretty sure that the most common and important grammar conventions are still shared between languages.

And I already know that people will tell I'm a foreigner, because I'll have an "English"-like accent to it. Learning a specific dialect will only make it harder to tell, not eliminate being "language clocked" entirely.

So what's this going to look like?

Every month or two I'm going to personally report, to myself, via tumblr, my progress in learning. I'll list what I learned, what I still need to work on, and what I wish I could do next.

Effectively this is going to be a public journal of sorts, to make sure I feel like I'm doing this productively.

What's the weather like now?

Given that I've already attempted to learn Spanish twice previously, and being exposed to cultural influences, I already know a bit of Spanish.

Most of it is just random bits of vocabulary, that sound a lot less impressive if you were to try and make me say a sentence:

Custom greetings "Hola", "Buenos Noches"

Expletives "¡Ay caramba!"

The basic conjunction "y"

"Niño, niña, hombre"

Agua (with the "con gas" or "sin gas" tacked on too)

Counting from "uno" to "treinta-nueve"

Some month names like "Mayo" or "Diciembre"

Some colours like "Rojo"

Some utensils and tools like "Boligrafo"

Other stuff that I won't be able to recaly suddenly

And I mostly only understand the pronunciation, most of the spellings I had to look up on google translate. Extra I's like in December or thirty, or that there's no "ph" in pen.

There are other simple grammatical rules that I know of:

Gender i.e. words that end with a you tack on a "La" and for o's you tack on "El". More generally you have to pay attention to grammatical gender

As an educated guess from knowing a bit of Latin, I'm sure there are noun and verb declensions that interact with gender as well

Word order, much like English, is SVO

Clearly, I have my work cut out for me. But I also have a head start over a lot of people primarily because I have experience in other languages related to Spanish, which can help inform me on grammar and common vocabulary. I also have some (minor) knowledge in linguistics.

Another one is that I don't just assume that Spanish is a 1:1 translation of English, where you can just swap words for others. This seems like a trivial fact. But you'd be surprised at how much "English-speaking privilege" can blind people who don't require learning second languages.

It can be much more effective to learn a language when you know your expectations.

What are my Goals?

Well, in the spirit of a SMART goal, I don't really know. Because I don't actually know how long it will take me to get to a desired level of fluency.

Sometimes a language can take years to learn, sometimes it can be picked up in just one. And there are so many different "levels" of acheivement.

Which is why my goals in the long term will be more vapid:

At some point, I want to have a semi-fluent conversation with my abuela in Spanish

I want to be able to speak and understand a proper, unbroken sentence within a few months or a year

Now, what I mean by "Sentence" is really finicky. I don't mean "Las mujers leen; ¡Soy una de las mujers!" (see I'm already learning ha ha). I mean a sentence you'd normally say like:

"Hey X, I'm gonna go to the store, what do you need me to buy? Ok see you in half an hour."

That will be a bit difficult. It requires a lot more vocab to get to that level. But of course, I know it's do-able because millions of people have done it already!

What are my short-term goals? And how will I learn?

For the short term, my goals are a little more simpler. Primarily because there will always be a course or an app that will help me learn.

And for the first few months, my goals are most likely going to align with whatever the app has designed for me to do.

The problem is that I feel like most apps will act as if they can take you from no-knowledge to fluent speaker in like 5 months tops, which for an adult sounds a little fishy if you ask me.

When reading through the recommended applications, I came across two that were appealing:

Duolingo, which is more fast-paced and short-form. It gamifies language but may not be great for formal education

Rosetta Stone, which is advertised as better for natural language learning. And requires more effort.

I decided to use both, mainly because I'm lucky enough to afford it ... for now. I don't have much other means to spend my money regardless.

The reason I choose to use both is simply because I want the best of both worlds, and that I can't tell which one is better until I try it. Duolingo makes it entertaining, Rosetta Stone makes it serious. Sort of the balance I'm looking for.

At some point I hope to stop using at least one or the other. But for now I have nothing better to do.

Anyways, that's all I gotta say on the matter for now. Wish me luck!

#language #spanish #learning languages #learning spanish #l

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fancoloredglasses · 6 months ago

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Enterprise (A prequel that looks FAR more advanced than its future)

[All images are owned by Paramount. Please don’t sue me]

With the release of First Contact, it was established that mankind would achieve faster than light travel in 2063, 67 years from when the film premiered (or 39 years from now. Come on Cochrane, get a move on!) However, it would be almost 90 years from then that Earth would truly begin exploring space.

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(Thanks to Rui Cruz)

Enterprise (produced by Rick Berman and (sigh...) Brannon Braga) is the final Star Trek series until Paramount+ went online. It follows the early space exploration done by Earth ten years before the founding of the United Federation of Planets (so the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is the first Federation starship to bear the name, while this Enterprise is an Earth vessel)

Speaking of…

Enterprise (NX-01) is the first Earth vessel capable of achieving Warp 5 (125 times the speed of light), and the first capable of deep space exploration (though it will take a few weeks between systems) Despite being about 100 years technologically inferior to the USS Enterprise, it looks much more advanced (great continuity there, Braga!), but surely the interior looks more clunky, right?

OK, it does look a lot more cramped, but still looks like it was designed later than the 1960s.

Now, onto the uniforms

(Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter)

The standard Starfleet (what NASA would become after the invention of the warp drive) uniform is much like that of NASA flight suits: a blue jumpsuit. However, the color coding is still there (and following the colors for TOS) on the shoulder pads.

You will no doubt notice the two non-humans among the main cast. I’ll get to those later. Now, onto the legendary crew of this historic vessel that would help usher in the formation of the United Federation of Planets…

The Commanding Officer is Captain Jonathan Archer (played by Scott Bakula, formerly the star of the original Quantum Leap) Archer pretty much has the weight of Earth on his shoulders, as the success or failure of humanity’s journey to the stars depends on him. Too bad he doesn’t trust any of Earth’s allies. He also brought his beagle (Porthos) along for the journey (hope he’s starship-broken)

Speaking of allies, his First Officer and Science Officer is Sub-Commander T’Pol of the Vulcan High Command (played by Jolene Blalock), who was assigned to Enterprise in exchange for the Vulcans’ star charts after Enterprise blundered into Klingon space.

The Vulcans felt humans were not ready for interstellar travel and held back technology until they felt Earth was ready for it. Many on Enterprise initially feel that T’Pol was sent to spy on them for the Vulcans. She eventually leaves the Vulcan High Command to become an official member of Enterprise’s crew.

The Chief Engineer is Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker (played by Connor Trinneer) and is an old friend of Archer’s. He is responsible for upgrading and debugging the new technology Enterprise has equipped. Later in the series, he has a relationship with T’Pol.

The Head of Security and Tactical/Armory Officer is Lt. Malcolm Reed (played by Dominic Keating) Reed’s family was all Royal Navy, but Malcolm is aquaphobic, so he joined Starfleet. As a member of a military family, he understands the need for discipline and attempts to instill it on Enterprise (with mixed results)

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(Thanks to Sipping Kanar with Dukat)

The Communications Officer is Ensign Hoshi Sato (played by Linda Park), who is an expert linguist that learns languages quickly, which is important as the Universal Translator (the device that makes everyone speak perfect English) hasn’t been developed at the start of the series.

The Helmsman is Ensign Travis Mayweather (played by Anthony Montgomery), who was born in space and knows many of the races along Earth’s trade routes.

The ship’s doctor (not Chief Medical Officer as he’s not officially part of Starfleet, but is just along for the ride) is Dr. Phlox (a Denoubulan played by John Billingsly), an expert in xeno-medicine, able to treat the crew when they encounter something that Earth medicine hasn’t yet encountered.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Star Trek without other races to butt heads with.

It also wouldn’t be Star Trek if the Klingons weren’t somehow involved (yes, in this prequel the forehead ridges are around, then somehow disappear in tome for TOS, then reappear in time for The Motion Picture. Can someone explain this please?

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(Thanks to Vladimir)

Thanks, Braga Worf!

Also, there should be Romulans.

Fortunately, someone informed Braga that no one knows what the Romulans look like until TOS.

We also see the first contact with the Andorians, who are more than a bit wary of Enterprise since they are allied with the Vulcans (who they are at war with)

We also see a brand new enemy starting in season 3: the Xindi (When I first heard the name advertised, I was hoping I heard the Kzinti, but no luck) The Xindi are an alliance of several species (primate, insectoid, reptilian, and amphibian)

However, Brannon Braga’s lackadaisical approach to continuity reared its head in two major continuity errors with two factions that should not have been seen for another 200 years or so:

The Ferengi

...and the Borg, both of which had (thankfully) only one appearance.

The series ran for four seasons before being cancelled due to low ratings (the first since TOS to end prematurely) However, they got a proper final sendoff…

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(Thanks to April 5, 2063)

If you would like to watch the series, it’s available on Paramount+ or behind your favorite paywall. If there is an episode you would like me to review, please let me know!

#star trek #enterprise #scott bakula #john billingsley #jolene blalock #dominic keating #anthony montgomery #linda park #connor trinneer #fan colored glasses

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junkomc · 1 month ago

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Cod x OC【title：Afterglow】第16章

（NSFW/18+ / MｘM / bottom oc）soap x oc/ghost x oc/price x oc/ Pierson x oc / oc x oc

>>>１・２・３・４・５・６・７・８・９・10・11・12・13・14・15・16 ・17・18・19 (Part 1 scheduled to end)

※英語は母国語ではありません。主にGoogle翻訳を使っていますので、読みにくいところがあるかもしれませんが、ご容赦ください。翻訳版の後に日本語版の小説を載せています。

※English is not my native language. I mainly use Google translation, so please forgive me if there are some parts that are difficult to read.

The Japanese version of the novel is posted after the translated version.

――――――――――――――――――――――――

Chapter 16:Gap （gaz & jet）/Jet finally gets to talk to his father. But he learns a shocking truth...

That day, 141 was gathered in the Briefing Room, where Laswell gave them a progress report and the future plans.

Delta Force and TETRA secured the missiles, and a large amount of firearms was also seized. The head of RSU, Al-Qadr, was also captured in Russia, and the operation was successful, and the threat of a HEMP attack was over, but Jet and the others decided to head to Japan as planned to capture the number two hiding in Japan.

Laswell opened his laptop and explained while showing the screen. A large photo of Radan, the number two of RSU, was displayed, and Jet stared at the man as if to memorize every detail. It was completely inappropriate to feel this way about a terrorist, but he looked like an actor in a movie, and Jet thought he was quite a handsome man.

"Radan's hiding place is a foreigner pub called "PUB SERENA" in Kabuki Cho, Tokyo. The shop is owned by a Persian man, but it turns out that Radan entered the country six months ago as a co-owner, even obtaining a management visa. Shows and performances are held on the first floor, and at first glance it looks like a normal pub, but on the second floor, RSU and other criminal organizations and brokers are forcing women and men who were brought here on short-term visitor visas and entertainment visas into prostitution. SERENA has long been under the watch of Japanese police for violating the Entertainment and Amusement Business Act and the Prostitution Prevention Act, but since Radan joined the management, it has become a hotbed of illegal employment and overstaying of foreigners, and as I said earlier, human trafficking."

When Laswell finished speaking, she looked at Jet.

"...This time, I'm going to have Jet infiltrate the store as a customer with the public security personnel. There's a possibility that RSU members are in the store, and there's also a possibility that there's a bioterrorism weapon somewhere in the store. Now that we've lost the missiles and Al-Qadr, their movements are completely unpredictable. We need to be extremely careful so that customers and employees don't get hurt."

"Infiltrate as a customer..." Soap muttered, then looked at Jet, who noticed and nodded. It meant "don't worry," but Soap still frowned and looked dissatisfied.

"We're leaving in two days. Everyone, be prepared. Especially Jet, your father wanted to talk to you. Apparently, your father will be welcoming you at Camp Zama. Why don't you talk a bit before you meet?"

Laswell's words drew the attention of the members to Jet.

"Eh...I didn't hear that my father would greet me...I didn't have to go out of my way to do that...I see...I understand."

"Also, I have something to discuss with Japanese public security after this. Would you like to join me? Jet."

"Yes of course"

Laswell led Jet out of the conference room, and the remaining members looked at each other.

"Daddy Issues?"

John muttered, and Ghost glared at Soap, saying, "Shut up, Johnny."

Price and Gaz looked at each other and shrugged.

After the online meeting ended and Jet returned to his room, he was staring at the number displayed on his smartphone, wondering what to say. It was his father's number. The man who had ruined his smooth life.

What should I talk to him about?

Just as he was thinking that, a call came from that very number.

"... Yes, Dad?"

"...Jay, how are you? Is everything going well? How's Britain? Are everyone on the team nice?"

As he was asked one question after another, Jet was at a loss for words.

This was just like a conversation between a "normal parent and child."

It's true that Jet and his father were a normal, close family until his parents divorced.

Although he was passionate about education and was stricter than most families, and often had various restrictions, he was still a good father. That all came crashing down when her father betrayed her mother. Now that Jet finally gotten over his intense dislike and hatred, He is able to suppress my feelings and talk to him, but when Jet think about what his father did to his mother and how it affected his life, Jet can't go back to his old relationship easily. Jet still wishes he could keep his father out of his life forever if he could.

"...I'm fine. How about you? You're busy with a lot of things, aren't you? Especially right now..."

"Yeah, to a certain extent. But this time, the mission itself is mainly handled by the Public Security Bureau. The Self-Defense Forces will only respond after something happens. You'll be coming over here the day after tomorrow, right? We only have a little time to talk, but I'm looking forward to seeing you."

Jet was starting to get fed up with his father's inoffensive conversation, who spoke so calmly, as if he'd thought out what he was going to say beforehand...

"Jay, I'm so sorry that things turned out like this. I didn't want to get you involved, but I recommended you because I thought you were the right person for the job."

His father had rarely ever apologized to him in his life. That's why Jet was surprised, but the apology was not something he could accept easily.

"About this? You didn't want to get me involved? About what? I have no complaints about the mission. I don't regret coming to live in America and joining the U.S. military too. What I still can't forgive is that you abandoned my mother!"

"Well...About her... Actually, I'm thinking of remarrying once this has settled down. With her..."

Jet was so shocked that he nearly dropped his phone. He wanted to believe that he had misheard something.

"What?! What are you talking about?! Are you out of your mind?"

"It can't be helped that you're angry. Actually, your mom contacted me three years ago when you left the Army... and we started talking again."

"Did my mother contact you?... Did you get back together because she contacted you?"

"No way! I've regretted it ever since we broke up. Of course, I cut ties with the woman I had been cheating with a long time ago. I've been lamenting my stupidity for a long time... I wanted to see her, I wanted to apologize, and I was waiting for the chance."

Jet's father's words overlapped with Pierson's, and he felt dizzy and sat down on the spot.

What a convenient story. If He regret it later and apologize, can we go back? ...But what if that's what she wants?

"Is that what my mother wants?"

"...Yes, that's what she and I want. To live together again."

Jet was speechless. He never thought his mother would want the same thing.

Will I get back together with the person me betrayed?

"...Okay. I'll talk to my mother again. Well, I'll be up early tomorrow, so see you in Japan."

Jet spoke one-sidedly, and even though his father was still talking, he quickly tapped end call and forced his father out. The phone slid out of his hand and fell in front of him, and Jet, sitting on the floor, thought vaguely about Pierson and himself.

Maybe I am just like my mother?

Why am I trying to meet Pierson again when I thought it was over? Maybe it was because I still loved him?

"That can't be!" Jet shouted to himself in the empty room, scratched his head, then suddenly remembered something and hurried out of the room.

"If you're there, please open up!!"

Jet knocked on Gaz's room.

Gaz heard a loud knock and Jet's panicked voice, and immediately opened the door, thinking it was an emergency.

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

Gaz seemed to have just showered and smelled amazing, so Jet narrowed his eyes at him and thought to himself, "It's a great loss for all gay men that such a handsome guy isn't gay."

"There's something I really need right now..."

"What? What do I have and can give you? I'll give you anything then."

Jet knew Gaz was straight and nearly burst out laughing, thinking it was like a gay porn scene, but he managed to hold it in and shoved Gaz back into the room.

"Sorry! I know this is sudden and rude, but I really want that!"

"So what is that? Please tell me more clearly."

"Price gave it to you, right? Whiskey. You have it now, right? A bottle."

Jet thought that if he didn't drink tonight, he would go crazy.

The only way to get alcohol without leaving the base at this time was to go to Price's room, but he knew he would definitely be turned down, and it was easy to imagine that they would just end up having sex. To be honest, that was fine. I'm sure if I have sex with Price intensely, I'll be able to forget all about my messy feelings.

Get drunk, feel great, and forget everything by tomorrow morning. That was fine though.

But he didn't want to use Price like that.

It's because he cares about me seriously.

Then Jett thought of someone other than Price who had alcohol.

The other day, he saw Price secretly handing Gaz a bottle of whiskey in front of his room. It was late at night, so they probably thought no one was watching, but Jet clearly saw it and remembered it. And Jet thought that since he was kind, he would definitely share it with him if he asked.

"You... you knew a lot about that... did you see it?"

Jet nodded excitedly and approached Gaz.

"Just a little as payment for keeping quiet... please... I really feel like drinking today..."

Gaz folded his hands and thought for a moment, then said, "Just one drink. After you drink, go back to your room and sleep."

When Gaz said that, Jet jumped on him without a second thought. The height difference between them was not that big, so the hug fit perfectly. Gaz accepted Jet's hug without hesitation and gently stroked his back to calm him down, so Jet was engrossed and enjoyed Gaz's warmth for a while.

“Thank you…really.”

“Anyway, did something happen that made you have to drink?”

Gaz pulled Jet away from her, put her hands on Jet's shoulders, and looked into his face.

"A lot of things... Where do I need to start talking to you...?"

That evening, Jet ends up having not just one drink, but four drinks, and tells Gaz about his sexuality, about his father, about Pierson, and everything about himself that Gaz doesn't know yet. He listened to him very sympathetically, wiped his tears when he started crying, hugged his shoulders, and gave him lots of warm hugs. If he were gay, he would have just stayed in his bed for the night, but Jett never wooed a straight guy, no matter how drunk he was.

Gaz escorts Jet, who is unsteady on his feet, to his room and makes him take off his boots and clothes, leaving him in his underwear. Then I tried to put Jet in the sweat　pants and shirt that met the bedside

"What a wonderful husband he is..."

"You think so, don't you?"

Gaz laughed mischievously and Jet laughed too.

"Don't let me put any clothes on... I'm hot so I want to sleep like this."

"Okay, see ya. Goodnight Jet."

Gaz ruffled Jet's head and left the room.

Jet thanked Gaz for keeping him company until the late hours of the night, and for the first time in a long time he had resented the fact that he wasn't a woman.

Below is the Japanese version

～（１６）溝～

その日、141は会議室に集められ、ラズウェルから進捗報告と今後の予定について聞かされていた。

デルタフォースとTETRAによりミサイルは確保され、同時に大量の銃器も押収された。RSUのトップ、アル・カドルもロシアで拘束され、作戦は成功を収めHEMP攻撃の驚異は去ったが、日本国内に潜伏しているナンバー2の確保の為に、ジェットたちは予定通り日本に向かう事になった。

ラズウェルはラップトップを開き、画面を見せながら説明する。大きくRSUのナンバー２のラダンの写真が大きく映し出され、ジェットはその男の細部まで記憶するようにじっと見つめた。こんな事をテロリスト相手に感じるのは全く不謹慎だったが、彼はまるで映画に登場する俳優のようで、中々の男前だと思った。

「ラダンの潜伏先は東京・歌舞伎町の外国人パブ“PUB SERENA”だ。この店はペルシャ人オーナーの店だが、ラダンは共同経営として経営・管理ビザまで取得して半年前に入国していることが分かった。一階ではショーやパフォーマンスが行われていて一見普通のパブだが、二階ではRSUや他の犯罪組織、ブローカーが短期滞在ビザや興行ビザで連れてきた女性や男性に売春を強要させている。そもそもSERENAは前から風俗営業法違反や売春防止法の違反で日本の警察も見張っていた店だが、ラダンが経営に加わってからは外国人の不法就労や不法残留、先ほども言った通り人身取引の温床にもなっている」

ラズウェルが話し終えると、彼女はジェットの方に視線をやった。

「…今回はジェットには客として公安の人間と一緒に店に潜入してもらう。RSUのメンバーも店内にいる可能性もある上にこの店のどこかにバイオテロ兵器がある可能性もある。ミサイルとアル・カドルを失った今、奴らの動きは全く予測不能だ。客や従業員に被害が出ないように細心の注意が必要だ」

「客として潜入…」ソープがそう呟いた後ジェットに視線をやると、それに気づいたジェットは彼を見ながらうなずいた。それは「心配するな」という意味だったが、それでもソープは眉間に皺を寄せ、不満そうな顔をしていた。

「２日後に出発だ。各々準備しておいてくれ。特にジェット、君の父上が話したがってたぞ。キャンプ座間では君の父上が出迎えてくれるそうだ。会う前に少し話をしたらどうだ？」

ラズウェルの言葉にメンバーの視線が一気にジェットに集まる。

「えっ…父が出迎えるなんて聞いていませんでした…。わざわざそんな事をしなくてもいいのに…。そうでしたか…、わかりました」

「それから、この後日本の公安と詰めておきたい話があるんだが、君も同席してくれるか？ジェット」

「はい、もちろん」

ラズウェルはジェットを会議室から連れ出し、取り残された他のメンバーは互いに顔を見合わせていた。

「―Daddy Issues？」

ジョンがボソリと呟くと、ゴーストが「…黙れジョニー」といってソープを睨んだ。プライスとギャズも顔を見合わせて肩をすくめた。

オンライン会議が終わり、部屋に戻ったジェットはスマホに表示された番号を見つめながら悩んでいた。それは父親の番号。順調だった自分の人生に台無しにした男。

今さら何を話すのか…

そう思ったその時、まさにその番号から電話がかかってきた。

「…はい、父さん?」

『…ジェイ、元気か？そっちでは順調か？イギリスはどうだ？チームのメンバーはみんないい奴か？』

次から次へと質問され、ジェットは言葉に詰まった。

こんなのはまるで、“普通の親子“の会話だ。

確かにジェットと父親は両親が離婚するまでは、普通の仲の良い家族だった。彼は教育熱心で、一般家庭よりは厳しく、色々と制限されることも多かったが、それでもいい父親だった。それが、父親が母親を裏切ったことがきっかけですべて崩れてしまったのだ。今は激しい嫌悪感や憎しみをやっと乗り越えたからこそ、自分の気持ちを抑えて会話することができるが、それでも彼が母親にした仕打ち、そして自分の人生にどのような影響を与えたかを考えると、簡単には元の関係には戻れない。ジェットは、今でもできる事なら父親を自分の人生から永遠に遠ざけたいと思っていた。

「…元気だよ。そっちは？色々と忙しいんだろ？今は特に…」

『まぁな。だが、今回のことは任務自体は公安がメインで動いているからな。自衛隊はあくまで事が起きてからの対応になる。お前も明後日こっちに来るんだろう？話す時間は少ししかないが、お前に会うのを楽しみにしてるよ』

まるで言う事を事前に考えていたかのような淡々とした喋り方、当たり障りのない会話を続ける父親にジェットがうんざりしはじめたその時…

『…ジェイ、こんな事になって、本当にすまないと思っている。巻き込みたくなかったが、お前が適任だと思ったから推薦したんだ』

父親が自分に謝罪することは今までの人生でほとんどなかった。それだけにジェットは驚いたが、その謝罪はジェットにとって素直に受け入れられるものではなかった。

「こんな事？巻き込みたくなかった？何について？任務についてなら不満なんてないよ。アメリカで暮らすことになって米軍に入隊した事も後悔してない。俺が今でも許せないのはあんたが母さんを捨てた事だよ！」

『その、母さんの事なんだが…実は、今回の事が落ち着いたら再婚しようと思っている。彼女と…』

ジェットはショックでスマホを落としそうになった。また、それが何かの聞き間違いだと信じたかった。

「はぁ？！何を言ってるんだ？！正気か？」

『お前が怒るのも仕方ない。実は3年前、お前が陸軍を辞めた時に母さんから連絡があって…それから再び話すようになったんだ。知らなくて当然だ。母さんには口止めされてたんだ』

「母さんが？！…父さんはどうなの？…彼女から連絡が来たからよりを戻したの？」

『まさか！別れてからずっと後悔していたよ。もちろん浮気相手とはとっくの昔にきっぱりと縁を切っている。俺は自分の愚かさをずっと嘆いていた…。彼女に会いたくて、謝りたくて、ずっと…そのチャンスを待っていたんだ』

父親のその言葉がピアソンと重なり、ジェットは眩暈がしてその場に座り込んだ。

なんて都合のいい話だ。後で後悔して謝ればまた戻れるなんて。…でも、彼女がそれを望んでいたら？

「母さんがそう願ってるの？」

『…ああ、母さんも父さんも、互いにそう望んでる。再び一緒に生きることを』

ジェットは絶句した。まさか母親も同じように望んでいるとは思わなかったからだ。

裏切られた相手と再び一緒になる？

「…わかった。…また母さんにも話を聞くよ。それじゃあ、明日も早いからまた。日本で会おう」

ジェットは一方的に喋ると父親がまだ何かを喋っているのにも関わらず素早く通話終了をタップして強制的に父親を閉め出した。スマホは彼の手からするりと滑り落ちると目の前に落下し、床に座り込んだままの状態のジェットはぼんやりとピアソンと自分の事を考えた。

もしかしたら自分も母親と同じなのか？なぜ自分は終わったと割り切った筈の相手と再び会おうとしている？もしかしてまだ愛しているから？

「そんなわけはない！」ジェットは誰もいない部屋で一人叫ぶと、頭を搔きむしり、何かを閃いたかのようにハッとし、慌てて部屋を出た。

「いるなら開けて、お願い！！」

ジェットがノックしたのはギャズの部屋だった。

その大きなノック音と普段あまり聞かないジェットの大声に、ギャズは慌てて扉を開ける。

「どうした？何事だ？」

ギャズはシャワーを浴びたばかりなのか、とてもいい香りがしてジェットは思わず目を細めた。こんなにいい男がゲイではないなんて、全ゲイ男性にとって大きな損失だな…とくだらない事を考えていた。

「どうしても今必要なものがあるんだけど…」

「何？俺が持ってて君にあげれるもの？だったら何でもあげるけど？」

ジェットはギャズがストレートだとわかっているので、このなんともゲイっぽいやりとりに爆笑しそうになったが、なんとか堪えてギャズを部屋に押し戻し、そのまま一緒に無理矢理部屋に侵入した。

「ごめん！突然で無礼なのはわかってるけど、どうしてもアレがほしい！」

「だからアレってなに？はっきり言ってくれよ」

「…プライスから貰っただろう？…ウィスキー。今持ってるんだろう？ボトル」

ジェットは今夜は飲まないと頭がおかしくなりそうだと思ったのだ。

そして、この時間に基地から出ることなくアルコールを手に入れるには、プライスの部屋に行くしかなかったが、絶対に断られるのもわかっているし、そのままなし崩し的にセックスになだれ込む事は容易に想像できた。正直それでもよかった。はじめてプライスに抱かれたときのように、彼の腕の中だとむしゃくしゃした気持ちや何もかもを忘れさせてもらえる。

酔って、最高に気持ちよくなって、明日の朝にはすべて忘れる。それでもよかった。

でも、そんな風にプライスを利用したくなかったのだ。

彼が自分の事を真剣に想ってくれているからこそ。

そして、ジェットはプライス以外に酒を持っている人間を思いついたのだ。

この前、プライスの部屋の前で彼がこっそりギャズにウイスキーのボトルを渡しているのを見てしまったのだ。深夜だったので誰も見ていないと油断していたのだろうが、ジェットは��ッキリとそれを見てしまい、覚えていた。そして、優しい彼ならきっと頼めば分けてくれるとそう考えたのだった。

「君…よく知ってるな…まさか見てたのか？」

ジェットは興奮した様子でコクコクと頷き、ギャズに詰め寄った。

「口止め料としてちょっとだけ…お願い…今日はどうしても飲みたい気分なんだ…」

ギャズは両手を組み、少し考え込んだ後「一杯だけだぞ。飲んだらすぐに部屋に戻って寝ること」

ギャズがそう言うと、ジェットは思わず彼に飛びついた。彼とは身長差があまりないので、ハグをするととてもいい感じにフィットする。ギャズは嫌がることなくジェットの抱擁を受け入れ、ポンポンと背中をたたいて宥めてくれたので調子に乗ってしばらくその温かさを味わっていた。

「ありがとう…本当に」

「それにしても、飲まなきゃいけないほど何かあったのか？」

ギャズはジェットを自分から引き離すと、ジェットの両肩に手を置きその顔を覗き込んだ。

「色々とね…君にはどこから話さないといけないんだっけ…？」

その日の晩、結局ジェットは一杯だけでなく4杯飲み、ギャズに自分のセクシャリティの事、父親との事、ピアソンとの事、ギャズがまだ知らない自分のことをすべて話した。彼はとても親身に話を聞いてくれ、途中で泣き出す彼の涙を拭い、肩を抱きしめ、温かいハグを沢山くれた。彼がもしゲイだったら、そのままベッドで一晩過ごすところだったが、ジェットはどれだけ酔っていてもストレートの男性に言い寄ることはなかった。

ギャズはふらついた足取りのジェットを部屋まで送り、ブーツを脱がせ、服を脱がせ、下着にすると側に会ったスウェットとシャツを着せようとした。

「なんてよくできた旦那様なんだ…」

「そう思うだろ？」

ギャズがいたずらっぽく笑うとジェットもふふふと笑った。

「服は着せないで…熱いからこのまま寝たい」

「わかったよ、じゃあね、おやすみジェット」

ギャズはジェットの頭をくしゃくしゃと撫でまわすと、部屋を出て行った。

ジェットは最後まで自分に付き合ってくれたギャズに感謝した。彼は本当にいい男だと思った。自分が女でないことを久しぶりに恨んだ瞬間だった。

～to be continued～

#[oc] jet #Afterglow cod x oc #call of duty oc #kyle gaz garrick #kyle gaz & oc

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superbfurbz · 1 year ago

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Michal David’s “Furby A Shelby” (2001): A potential English translation? 😮

Hey Furby fans! If you know of someone who has in fact done this before, please let me know so I can properly credit and reblog/report on it! I did try looking around online for a few days but was unable to turn up anything else on my own.

Some of you may be familiar with the several unofficial-to-official Furby-centric and Furby-inclusive music albums that have been released over the years; some from the USA, some from Europe, and some from Latin America. With a little digging around, you can find much of this music available online, mostly on YouTube and Spotify... but did you know that two of these albums were released exclusively in Czechia? Furby wiki frequenters may already be acquainted with the titles: Cesta Kolem Světa - Music Party (Around the World - Music Party) 2001 and 22 Dětských Hitů (22 Children’s Hits) 2002

Fortunately for us, 22 Children’s Hits can be listened to in its entirely on YouTube here. For Music Party, well... it gets a bit tougher.

On the Furby fandom wiki page for Music Party, there is a single comment from 2018 where a Furby fan bemoans their inability to listen to this album in full. Even when browsing Czech merchant sites in attempts to outright purchase the CD or cassette, it can be difficult to come across. Neither English translated lyrics nor the original Czech lyrics for any of the songs don’t seem to be listed anywhere. The album features several odes to various toys/family entertainment properties. Only a single song from the album is available to listen to online, and I believe it is thanks to the fervor and tenacity of the Furby fandom that it is so. That song is “Furby A Shelby”! You can listen to it in the embedded video below.

youtube

So, what about that translation? Hand over the goods, old man. Recently, I have made a friend in Czechia. I was sharing Furby related things with him when he remarked how excited he was to see someone from outside the country who had heard of a Czech musician in any capacity. A bit later, I found myself unable to resist... I asked my friend what it would take to listen to the song and translate the lyrics into English for me, so I could finally know what Furby and Shelby were up to after all these years! Below the readmore is the translation from my friend. He did mention he found himself unable to keep the rhyme scheme intact, but it still paints a clear picture of what the song is about. Please be kind, he did this without being a professional translator, from the generosity of his heart. I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Furby: Hello I am Furby! Shelby: And I'm Shelby! Both: And well, since we are here, we will sing and have a nice trip around the world Furby: I lived and sailed on a cloud in the skies I ate, I drank, nicely growing fat Then I became the victim of a miracle I fell to the ground like a bug Shelby: I also soared the skies Like Furby, I met the same fate Before I came to, I was on my feet I walked the land on my feet Chorus: Pals Furby and Shelby, each one wants to go somewhere else But they still walk with each other around the world Pals Furby and Shelby, each one wants something Just not to wander alone Furby: Mistakenly I read I was in Mexico I wanted to wear a sombrero right away However there was no escape from the sun So I got a heatstroke really fast Shelby: I landed on the biggest cactus It stabbed me in the butt! Lucky I didn't fall on my mouth My smile was gone for good Chorus: Pals Furby and Shelby, each one wants to go somewhere else But they still walk with each other around the world Pals Furby and Shelby, each one wants something Just not to wander alone Furby, Shelby! (2x) Chorus: Pals Furby and Shelby, each one wants to go somewhere else But they still walk with each other around the world Pals Furby and Shelby, each one wants something Just not to wander alone (3x)

#furby #allfurby #safefurby #furby music #furby friend #shelby #around the world - music party #22 children's hits #furby wiki #michal david #human #fun fact: david is well known in his home country for a hearty discography filled with anticommunist folk songs #quite the thing to stumble across when i was looking more into his music career #my friend is not credited as per his own request! he isn't in the fandom either i am sorry to say #perhaps we will win him over one day :o)

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worrywrite · 3 months ago

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I wanted to share about this, because this specifically hit home for me.

I graduated with a bachelor's in English, specializing in professional writing (ad copy, documentation/design, editing, and draft writing--I was aiming to be widely employable doing something I loved) in first quarter 2019. Now, my university wasn't particularly prestigious, but I had a good record and prior employment at university (doing course editing and documentation) and certificates from professional training programs and recommendations from professors and past employers.

Between my date of graduation (and throughout my last semester) and mid-2023, I submitted an average of 10 job applications every weekday as though it were my job. I also worked on and off retail and contract work (slowly building up my professional CV). I worked on it on my own and I had connected with multiple placement and temp agencies too. Even during COVID, I kept it up. I applied local across the three states I lived in during this time, as well as remote, and hybrid, and even out of state if the salary for the position would have allowed me to move. I even applied to neighboring states with lower salary positions because a short move would still be doable.

For all my work I achieved less than 50 interviews total (probably closer to 20). All of which panned out how you'd expect. And not for a lack of trying. I tested my resume (by comparing success rates on test applications with individual modifications and used review services), my employment analytics, keyword frequency and position on my CV. I did the dirty work in between applications. It wasn't perfect, because different sorts of jobs I was aiming for wanted different things so I had to alter things frequently.

By the point in 2023 where I stopped I was having an extended depressive episode. I had received, on average, 2-5 rejection emails every day in that four year span. Sometimes I would get emails rejecting me from positions I had applied for months earlier, sometimes from positions I had not applied for at all. My partner took up full time employment, which is why I stopped. They had made a connection with someone who got them the job they have now. I, in turn, became a stay at home parent.

And in the year since, and with new reporting on the issue, I've come to realize what I went through was worse than I'd thought.

See, by the time I was entering that final depressive episode I had a strong suspicion that these online job listings were not what they seemed. I knew some people got jobs that way, I had seen it happen. But I could still tell something was wrong. Initially I had thought it was a matter of internal hiring versus hiring practices (the company had to list the positions publicly even though they knew they would be rearranging internally to fill the position), which did happen. But, in reality, what was happening was worse.

Reporting has confirmed that the vast majority of employers using sites like indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, monster, etc. aren't actually hiring. They're laundering their employment numbers to invent growth. If they have an application open, and then it closes because they say the position was "filled" they get to say that they are employing more people. This is good for them, because these sites can aggregate that data for them to put in various reports to show larger scale growth for investors. And when they aren't laundering numbers, they're farming data from various listings to sell back to the sites that host those same listings; but since those listings exist to harvest data and aren't real, the data they're selling is useless and makes the platforms worse.

I spent four years applying to jobs that weren't even real. Or that weren't what they said they were. Or for jobs that had already been filled. And a year after I've stopped, I sometimes still get rejections. That did something to me that I can't afford to get therapy for. It broke me in such a fundamental way that I can't discern the pieces of my professional self to put them back together. If someone offered me my dream job right now, for real, no strings attached, I'd tell them no--because there's no way in hell I'd trust them. Not after what I've experienced.

And what I went through isn't even a matter of employment vs unemployment. I worked essentially full time hours for four years, and every day (even days I wasn't working) 2-5 of my "employers" told me I had done a shit job; often so bad that they didn't even address the message to me, just sent a general statement. By all accounts I was employed. And by all accounts I never got fired, I quit. I quit because the workplace was too toxic to exist in.

So, if anyone wants to learn anything from me, learn this. Don't apply online. Ever. If you absolutely have to, do it and then immediately call the hiring manager for the position to let them know you have applied and would like to hear back as soon as it processes. If you need a job, talk to a person. If you don't, you may well never find a job.

do genuinely find it fascinating how indeed.com is like the biggest job-hunting website out there and yet manages to be profoundly useless in every possible way

#online job applications #mental health #cw depression #depression #employment

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ur-local-demon1 · 2 months ago

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Master Post

Hi, my name is Sol and you can refer to me with either They/Them or She/Her pronouns. You can talk to me in both French and English (I'm Mauritian so I speak both + Mauritian Creole)

I created this blog about 2 or 3 years ago to post art, but it eventually became a place where I could write about the things I love. I still draw, so in case you want to see more of my art, here is my other account: @ur-local-demon-artblog and I'm also on TikTok and Instagram.

Here are some of my most important projects I'm working on, or easier ways to find some of my posts:

I am working on documenting every single fact of Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun which you can take a look at here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c5bJdYsy7gao08Gj-HBY52zva_rp2s5L-Do9XlbMafU/edit?usp=sharing

A lot of my old followers are here because of my She-Ra rewrite, and while I orphaned this fic, if you still want to take a look at my amateur writing, here it is: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42259347/chapters/106107972

I will try to make better use of my AO3 account but in the meantime, you can enjoy an old fic of mine that I actually finished; my Amanene Eros and Psyche AU, Left In The Dark: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51803569/chapters/130968856

I also started a series, "Rants from a tired writer" that is more focused on tropes and writing as a whole, where I go over some pet peeves and how they can be improved: https://ur-local-demon1.tumblr.com/tagged/rants%20from%20a%20tired%20writer

Here are all my posts about Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun: https://ur-local-demon1.tumblr.com/tagged/tbhk

Here is a more detailed DNI list than the one in my bio:

Basic DNI criteria includes but isn't limited to -> Homophobes, Transphobes, Racists, Ableists, and any other term that can be traced back to proshipping (I sincerely do not gaf what you guys call yourselves, I will report and block you faster than the speed of light -> This also applies to people who are neutral/tolerant towards them)

People who promote eating disorders and self harm

This is highly specific and I might get called chronically online for it but uh, here: People who think Lesbians can be men or attracted to men or that Gays (nwlnw) can be women or attracted to women, or anything of the sort. I do however welcome nonbinary lesbians (nmlnm) and nonbinary gays (nwlnw) with open arms, as well as anyone who understands that the split attraction model only explains how nonbinary people can identify with any label, or how people on the Aroace spectrum can also identify with romantic labels.

People who use the word "blackwashing" unironically and negatively

People who sexualise the TBHK cast and who age them up in AUs for the sole purpose of sexualising them (this applies to any minor characters in any fandom)

And finally, people who ship Aoikane, Akanene, or Tsunene

I have a pretty no-nonsense attitude when it comes to interacting with people online because I simply do not have the time or energy for meaningless arguments. While I'm not the most confident person ever, I still try my best to be approachable if people are nice/neutral when they try to talk to me; I promise I don't bite lol

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ireceived-p8250000 · 5 months ago

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September 28-October 5, 2013

Sunday:

I spent the day working on some edits, studying, and doing chores. Laundry piled up, and I tackled it while reading my new Komiksmachine. The blend of mundane tasks and leisure created a peaceful rhythm to the day.

Monday:

Lecture and discussion filled the morning. We started conducting experiments based on the methods we just learned, and our group’s plan got approved. Meg, the older and more experienced one, took the lead.

Later, I attended my first Aikido class. It was challenging, each movement requiring focus and coordination, but I felt a sense of accomplishment by the end.

Tuesday:

We delved into neurological disorders in class, a topic both fascinating and sobering. During Economics, we had a mini-reporting session, and then came History class. As I walked in, my heart raced. I had to muster a lot of energy to act nonchalant. Sir Apollo and I exchanged glances that carried a weight of unspoken words. The memory of our kiss lingered, and I found myself rubbing my lips together.

After Ecology, I met with Mansoor. We went to Starbucks and talked, then I led him to a secluded spot near General Luna. The absence of people gave us a sense of privacy. I hugged him and kissed his cheeks, then his lips. He froze, and panic gripped me.

"Sorry!" I blurted, horrified by my impulsiveness. "I should have asked you, I'm sorry!"

He laughed and kissed me back, deeper this time.

"It's okay," he said, laughing and brushing my hair. "That was my first kiss. I've really wanted to do that."

I kissed him again, just a light peck.

"I liked that," he said, making me feel all fluttery inside. For a moment, I felt like I had erased the memory of Apollo’s kiss.

Wednesday:

We started gathering respondents for our experiment, mostly boys or people we knew. The process was fun, full of laughter and camaraderie. We did computations and broke down our roles, the teamwork making the tasks enjoyable.

Thursday:

Abnormal Psychology included a small role-playing session. English 7 had readings that were engaging and thought-provoking.

In History class, we began lectures on Rizal. I met Myla, a cheerful and talkative friend. During a downtime, I was reading Nick Joaquin, and Sir Apollo suddenly grabbed the book. We discussed it briefly, but I acted disinterested.

A storm was brewing, and it rained heavily as I headed home, soaked to the bone. Mansoor was with his family, so I spent the evening alone.

Friday:

We had an organizational meeting about the upcoming sportsfest. Our first experiment report was due, and Ma’am Jean paired Mansoor and me together again as an example. The class squealed, making it clear they suspected something. I appreciated Mansoor's efforts to keep our relationship discreet.

After class, I attended Aikido. Mansoor and Hollmae hung out nearby. Once Hollmae left, I kissed Mansoor again, just a brief peck. We remembered it was our second-month anniversary.

Saturday:

We submitted our case study journals. I fabricated my case study, describing someone with depression and PTSD, sourced from online research. It seemed the easiest way to complete the assignment.

In History class, I learned to joke around with Sir Apollo, easing the tension. He asked about my well-being, specifically if my harasser was still bothering me. I assured him he wasn’t. He inquired why I no longer worked at the bookstore, and I explained I quit to ease my parents' worries.

He nodded, and I caught him glancing at my legs.

"That's great," he said with a smile.

Later, we had another meeting to finalize plans. We decided to rent the Green Valley Sports Center for the sportsfest.

It was my mom’s birthday, which I nearly forgot. I bought a cake and cooked a special meal. That day, I also received 10,000 pesos for my job, bringing my total savings to 33,000.

#Spotify

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footytea · 6 months ago

Note

not gossip-related, but i came across some posts on black english players racial abuse & wanted to share smthg that shows european racism.

this is in no means me trying to compare ENG & GER, i´m just going to summarize what happened. warning: it´s long.

there is a WDR (west german radio station) "survey" that shows, how every fifth german wants more white players to play for the DFB. 21% want more national players with a white skin tone and 17% are disappointed about the fact that ilkay gündogan has turkish roots. >lmao, shouldn´t be suprising after the mistreatment of özil, no matter if his political ties align with you personally or not, german fans are wrong & ungrateful for booing whenever he possessed the ball and straight up were racist to him. he was one of the key players that helped germany win the world cup in 2014. kimmich says that it is absolute bonkers. football is a way of uniting different nations, ppl of different skin tones and religions. it is racist and has no business in their team. the actual reason for this poll resulted in reporter Phillip Awounou´s documentary named (literal transl.) "Unity and Right and Diversity". in the interviews, he was confronted with statements on how little "actual" light-skin germans are playing. they wanted to share this reaction w actual data instead of "simplifying" it.

in the end, despite the disappointing results, this has just shown the social state of today´s germany. 20ish% is enough to see the online abuse under the most random sports posts. i could write pages on özil, gündogan and mixed players like gnarby and co. who contribute(d) to the dfb and still seem to have to prove their loyalty to germany.

it sucks that you have to perform well to "earn" not only the respect - but also human decency from "fans". like özil said, you are german when you win but an outsider if you lose. this can be applied on the english players. the brits reaction to the final was disgusting but not surprising.

(anon is this the ask you meant?)

yeah i also read about that survery and the results are crazy

unfortunately this trend of being accepted as their own when you win and being racially abused when you lose is a reality in a lot of european countries.

i remember this quote from romelu lukaku, similar to özil's quote:

"When I played well, I was Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker. When things were going less, it became Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese origin. I am a Belgian. Full stop."

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sirspazingtonthefourth · 7 months ago

Text

A Well-Tempered Blade

Chapter 4: With Hard Work

Summary: Katherine has a lousy quirk. At least, that's what everyone says. After all, who would want to be able to mimic any sound they hear? That's no quirk for a hero. But Katherine's quirk is not mimicry, but something worse; something that would get her labelled a villain the second she revealed it. So to keep her family she hides her quirk, not even telling her closest friends her secret. But secrets must eventually come into the lights, and Katherine's are no exception. 2k/16k, no romance, angst? oc

A/N: These were some of the first solid scenes I had for Katherine when I was conceptualizing her. This was my starting point for her in the creative process, and I built all of her backstory to lead here, while making sure it could carry her further in the story. I'll stop talking and let you read. Hope you enjoy!

Content Warnings (will be announced by the chapter): Police, interrogation, knives. Let me know if I missed any.

10 years later

Katherine sighed at her desk. It seemed she had an endless supply of reports to sort through, approve, and send off. She considered getting up to eat something, but the footsteps of one of the heroes made her quickly reconsider.

Katherine had been working at a hero agency since she graduated high school. She couldn’t cut it as a hero, she knew, but this way she was still doing some good. Helping the good guys. She believed herself when she said it didn’t cut at her that she was so low in the company hierarchy, even among the non-hero employees. She was proving something with every correctly filed arrest and damage report: she could still do good in the world without being a hero.

“Hey, Katherine! What does ‘FUA’ mean on someone’s identity?” The newest hire asked. Lily was an American, born and raised, and she had been delegated to Katherine because her American mother had taught her English. Katherine turned her chair to face the cubicle behind her.

“It means ‘file under arrests.’ You have to watch out for arrests, collaborations, rescues, et cetera. If you don’t file them properly, the agency can get fined and then we’re all in trouble,” she explained to the blonde.

“Ahhh, gotcha. I’ll make a note of that,” Lily said, scribbling something on a sticky note. It joined the multitude of sticky notes around her monitor. Katherine chuckled slightly, wondering exactly how the girl managed to pay attention to her computer with all the bright colors. She turned back to her own monitor, sorting through the files.

She stretched when five o’clock came around. She snatched up her keys, wallet, and phone, and headed out the door. She had to get home and change. She had an order to fill.

Katherine had begun researching different knives after her best friend’s death. Both because she needed to know different kinds for her quirk and because she had started taking knife fighting courses. One of her best guides had been an introduction to smithing.

Katherine had wanted to make one of the knives the book detailed. She had begged her father to help her get her hands on the iron, wood, and leather needed for the knife, as well as take her to the rentable blacksmith space she had found online. It had been worth it when she finished her first blade.

Katherine’s knack for blades and her love for making them inspired her to start her own business. Sunēkuai Blades. She donated 75% of her earnings from the company to suicide prevention hotlines, suicide education, and the like. The other 25% went towards getting more materials.

She made knives, swords, and other blades for self defense, kitchen use, or simply as collectibles. The ones she really liked she made doubles of and kept for herself, intending to display them. As much as the business helped other people, it helped Katherine as well. She hadn’t used her quirk since she opened, six years ago, and it had built her from light and wiry to strong and thick-set.

When she finally reached the blacksmithing area, she was excited. Smithing was the highlight of her day, when she got to do it. It was a few hours that she could be with the things she loved.

She had an order for a collectible today. They were a set of throwing stars shaped like peach blossoms. The customer had included a sketch of what they wanted, which was a welcome relief. It gave Katherine a template to work towards, and a fun bit of art to look at.

The room sweltered in the dry heat of the furnace, and there were a couple of people making their own things already. Some were hammering away at metals, others were polishing nearly finished creations. Katherine went over to her reserved furnace and began melting down the iron she was going to use.

It was three hours before Katherine walked back into her apartment. She was sweaty, tired, and in desperate need of a shower and food. Not necessarily in that order. She snagged a container of leftover udon, heated it, and went to watch the news. She could have done so in the kitchen, which looked into the living room and out onto the balcony, but the couch was more comfy than leaning on the kitchen counter.

She fell onto the couch, flipping the tv on to the news channel. It was just some news about what arrests were made today, any big collaborations between agencies, and the works. Stain’s name was tossed around here and there. Katherine slurped her udon only half listening as she debated checking for more orders before bed.

“In other news, there is a new villain on the loose. They are being charged with the murder of pro Hero Burst.” Katherine stopped eating, looking at the screen. It wasn’t every day that someone killed a hero. It caught her interest.

“While the culprit is unknown, they did leave a knife at the scene.” An image of a simple knife with a wooden handle popped into the top right of the screen. “Police are trying to find any information they can from the evidence left at the scene, and if anyone knows about what happened they are encouraged to step forward and-”

Katherine shut the tv off and reached for her phone. She dialed the police, standing and walking towards her computer. She had to find something buried in those files.

“Hello, what’s your emergency?” a woman’s voice asked from the other side of the line.

“I need to speak to whoever is in charge of the investigation into Burst’s murder.” The line was quiet for a moment, a few tapping keys the only sound.

“You’re looking for the tip hotline. Do you have a paper and pen handy? I have the number right here.” Katherine jotted down the number and quickly called it.

“Hello, what can I do for you today?” a man asked. Katherine cleared her throat and began.

“Hello. I have some information about the Burst murder.” There was some typing. The man spoke again, terse and suspicious.

“Name?”

“Katherine Soroyan.”

“Age?”

“26.” The questioning went on for several minutes before the man finally gave Katherine what she needed.

“Alright. Please come in tomorrow at 10 a.m.”

“Thank you sir. Have a good night,” Katherine said. She heard the receiver click without response. She set the phone down, sending a quick email to her boss that she had to be late to work tomorrow. She was rarely tardy, so she hoped he didn’t get upset at her. With that taken care of, she began to dig through her files.

Katherine walked into the police station, holding a folder and wearing a suit. She still had work after this. She couldn’t afford going home to change.

She took a seat, waiting to be called to her interview. It was 9:30 a.m. when she sat down. By the time she was called in for her interview, it was 10:30. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to make it to work when she said she would, and frantically texted Lily to explain that her appointment had been pushed back unexpectedly. She had no sooner sent the text than someone came to the lobby for her.

She was guided down a few halls, passing water dispensers and vending machines as they sat against beige walls. After several turns, Katherine was instructed to sit down in a well lit room containing only a metal table and three chairs. The walls were black and covered in jagged foam, save for one wall with a pane of one-way glass.

Katherine waited another ten minutes before the police and a hero showed up in the room. Katherine almost felt her blood run cold as she saw who the hero was. It was her boss: the pro Hero Rapids.

Kai.

When she had chosen to work for the Rapids agency, she had known it was Kai she was working under. He was a fairly small hero, someone who knew the names of the people in the neighborhoods he patrolled. It had been something Katherine appreciated, at first. But the few times they interacted at work he had been unnecessarily harsh to her. She wondered if he recognized her, even now.

“Ah, Miss Soroyan. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the officer said as Kai stared at her. There was recognition in his eyes. And anger. She desperately hoped it wasn’t directed at her.

“My name is Detective Ito. This here is pro Hero Rapids. We’re working with his agency to track down this hero killer copycat. You contacted us yesterday, saying you had information?” Katherine nodded, training her eyes on the officer as he spoke.

“I do. That was my knife.” The bluntness stunned the chief for a moment, and Katherine realized it sounded a lot like she had just confessed to the murder.

“Rather… It was a knife I made. I have my own company on the side, I hand make custom blades. Anything from a whittling knife to display katanas, I make them.” Katherine set her file on the table, pulling the papers out.

“This knife, as well as two others, were commissioned about five months ago. This first one,” Katherine gestured to a paper with an address, a description, and a picture of the hunting knife that had killed a hero, “was the first commissioned. The next two were ornamental. You’ll find the mailing address on all of these orders.”

Rapids picked up the papers, looking at them carefully. He snorted a minute later, tossing the papers on the table.

“There’s no name. What good is this if there isn’t a name to go with them?” Katherine opened her mouth to answer the hero, when he cut her off, beginning to stand. “Come to think of it, how did you even know it was your knife? Were you collaborating with the killer? Did you see your knife and panic that it might get traced back to you? Are you throwing your partner under the bus so you can live to kill another day? Are you-”

“Rapids, that’s enough!” Detective Ito cut in. Rapids glanced back at the man before sitting down with a ‘harumph.’ Detective Ito sighed and turned to Katherine.

“Rapids does raise some good points. Why did you know it was your knife? Why did you contact us so quickly?” Katherine waited a beat to see if she was allowed to answer.

“I’ve been making blades for ten years. I make them by hand. I spend hours on every one, making sure they’re properly made. There isn’t a one I wouldn’t recognise,” Katherine explained. If Rapids recognized why that would be important, he made no sign. He just kept glaring at her.

“As for why I contacted you… I guess the best reason is I was angry. I make my blades to help people. The functional ones are used near daily in kitchens and wood shops all over the city. The decorative ones are displayed in some of the finest collections. I take everything I earn from my blades and put it back into making more, and everything left over goes to suicide prevention.

“So to see someone using my knife, a knife I poured hours into, that I made to make someone’s life a little easier and to help someone considering taking their life, to see that knife used to kill anyone feels like a perversion of everything I meant for that knife to be.” Katherine almost felt insulted at the question. Why wouldn’t she want this murderer off the streets? Why wouldn’t she tell police right away if she had information, especially regarding her blades?

Rapids cleared his throat after Katherine was done. He looked her in the eyes, and she though there was a spark of guilt in them. But he blinked, and it was gone.

“Thank you for your information. We will have to keep the files, you understand, but you are free to go.” Katherine nodded, rose, and bowed to the detective and hero in a polite ‘farewell.’ Then she turned and walked out the door.

#bnha #mha #oc #cw: knives #cw: knife #cw: police #cw: interrogation

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