#then thing A is 60% done and thing B is 20% done and now a thing C is 10% done. then I end up having like.. literally NO actually

[ladylingua]

I have a very genuine question about the tipping post I promise I didnt read it in bad faith: are people who simply cannot afford to tip not “allowed” to eat out? I’m just thinking about how it works where I am from and while tipping is the norm here if someone doesn’t tip because they can’t afford it it really isn’t a big deal (+tipping norm here us only 10%). so if a poor family goes out to eat to celebrate something and they can barely afford the meal would they still be expected to tip 20% because they shouldn’t eat out if they cant afford it? thank you in advance I’m really curious

If it helps, don’t think of the tip as a separate thing. It is part of the cost of your meal. So if you cannot afford to pay for the cost of the meal including the tip you cannot afford to eat at that restaurant. This is something I myself have to calculate when I’m deciding if I want to eat at a particular restaurant- if I have $15 I can’t go to a restaurant and order a $20 entrée and then refuse to pay the remaining cost, and likewise if I have $15 I can’t order a $15 entrée and expect not to pay the server for their service.

Now that doesn't mean families who can't afford a pricy restaurant can't eat out at all. Since it is a % of your bill you can try to go for a cheaper restaurant (smaller bill = smaller tip), or if you go to a counter service place where you serve yourself you’re not expected to tip 20% (sometimes they have a jar out you could kindly throw a dollar or more in, but there is much less expectation to tip because the workers at a place like that receive a full minimum wage, more on that in a sec). I will also say in my lived experience poor families in America understand and tip well, I’ve almost exclusively been under tipped by wealthy people (which is what kicked off the debate on twitter- if your bill is $700 then you obviously can afford to tip a full 20%, no destitute families are spending $700 on one meal).

Technically speaking you can get away with 18% as a tip, and if you go down to 15% your waiter will think you’re cheap and be annoyed (15% definitely implies you were unhappy with their service) but that is the lowest possible threshold of acceptability. 10% is not an acceptable rate here, and 20% is now the expected norm for good service, and going up from there for great service. And I would never, ever not tip at all. I can only imagine not tipping if like the server had done something deeply offensive or dangerous or something. I've never encountered a situation where I felt the server didn't deserve any tip at all.

Because you’ve asked in genuine good faith I’m going to provide some more context to help you understand a bit more why this is the way it is-

Waitstaff in america are wildly underpaid. Our federal government assumes the tips are part of their expected income, and so a) they are taxed on assumed tips and b) it is legal to pay them less than standard minimum wage. Currently the tipped federal minimum wage is $2.13/hr. Now, states set their own individual rates so some states do better, but $2.13/hr is the lowest they can all legally go. And you’ll notice in that link it mentions the assumed tips and taxing them. I said on my original post, when I worked as a tipped waitress I made $2.68/hr and sometimes my biweekly paycheck was like $60 total. Imagine trying to survive on $120 a month, you absolutely cannot. Tips made up my actual wage, and were the paycheck I depended on to pay for my basic needs. I relied directly on customers to choose to do the social convention of tipping for survival, and when someone would choose to do otherwise it was utterly devastating.

Another thing customers sometimes don’t realize is your waiter may not be allowed to keep all of the tip themselves. It’s a common practice to pool tips amongst all the waitstaff and then divide them equally, and many places require that you tip out other employees there. So if you give me $10 as a tip I might be actually giving a large chunk of that to bussers, bartenders, etc. Or maybe we pool tips and someone else stiffed my colleague so now all of us are sharing your $10 tip. So also keep in mind that the money you leave as a tip very often does not go entirely to the actual waiter, so a big tip can actually become pretty small much faster than you would think.

(and that's just legal practices, wage theft and illegal practices run rampant in the restaurant industry, just fyi)

If you are wondering why tipping culture here is so grim, it is because of slavery. Tipping got big here as a way to keep forcing Black Americans into working for free, now with a small tip but still no actual wage. It was designed for oppression. Waitstaff are overwhelmingly not wealthy people. It is very common for them to be on food stamps, require housing assistance, or to otherwise be living under the poverty line. If you are eating out and not tipping because you yourself are poor, you are taking money out of someone else’s poverty wages to do so. When we debate minimum wage here in america, conservatives are really good at painting a picture of waitstaff being perky middle class college kids making an extra buck, or teens from wealthy homes wanting some spending money. There is an implication that they don't really need the money that badly. That is not the reality of who makes up most serving jobs in america. Minimum wage workers are likely to be in poverty, they’re likely to be women and specifically they’re likely to be women of color. Americans of color are significantly more likely to be working at minimum wage than white americans. There is a pretty sizeable number of minimum wage workers who are over 50, and a not insignificant amount of them who are mothers who support their families. There are also those teens who just want extra cash, and they deserve good compensation for their hard work too, don’t get me wrong, but they are only a portion of who makes up the minimum wage workforce.

If you’re like “But that’s such a shitty system, you’re saying it’s pitting poor people against each other for basic human comforts!” yup. I 100% agree. I am a vocal proponent of raising the minimum wage for that reason. I also advocate for a Universal Basic Income, because I understand that when it comes to small mom & pop restaurants the owners aren’t always making a ton of money either and it seems like truly no one is winning in this system. It is set up to oppress and to demean and to grind us all down. There are lots of orgs in America that are fighting to improve the system, or to radically change the system. There are also restaurants that have tried to do things differently- there’s a wine bar in my city that says specifically on their menu that their wine is more expensive because they pay their workers a true livable wage so there is no tipping there. Instead as a customer I pay a higher upfront cost that covers the true expense of running the bar- including server wages. I love that, I wish more places would do things like that. In the meantime, when I’m choosing where to eat I factor in a tip of 20% when calculating my estimated bill, because paying for service is part of the cost.

Refusing to tip fully in america is not doing anything to change the system. It does not make restaurant owners rethink their pay structure, it does not put pressure on our government to fix minimum wage, it does not make a political statement. It just means your server is going home wondering if they can afford their own meal that night.

Thank you for asking for clarity, I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask more if you have any remaining confusion or are curious about other aspects of american culture. If I can answer and the questions are respectful, I am happy to reply!

[nicolewoo]

Super Earth Part 13 Heavy Winds

Pairing: Reader X Roman Reigns

Synopsis: Reader is a space pilot. Dr. Reigns is a scientist. They fell in love heading to TOI-1452 B

Part 13: Heavy Winds

I woke when the computer chirpped.

“Good morning colonists.” It was Becky. “Sorry to wake you all so early.” I looked to see it was 4 am. “Unfortunately, we have an all hands on deck situation. A category 7 hurricane is due to arrive in 36 hours. We have to move the colony. Please report to your hurricane protocol stations in the next hour.”

Roman groaned at the thought. Moving the entire colony was a huge endeavor, and as Becky had said, everyone was needed. I was secretly excited. Scared and excited. We’d all had to train for our hurricane stations. I was stationed with engineering for the start of the day and at the helm for the move. Roman had to secure his greenhouse then help build the protective walls.

Moving the entire colony was an engineering marvel, and one I didn’t think I’d get to see. Although there was danger, I was excited to see the whole process. We got ready quickly and headed to our stations. Roman was certainly more concerned than me, and he made me stop to kiss me and tell me he loved me before we parted.

As I suspected, all of the Explorers engineers were already in the Engineering/Maintenance building hard at work. Tilly b-lined her way to me. “Captain, Should I get on the com and remind our crew and passengers where they’re supposed to be?”

My brain was still not awake yet. “Um… No… we… uh… we trained plenty of times. Maybe just send out a message that if they need reminding to contact you?”

“Oh, that’s better. You ok?” She examined my face.

“I…. neeeeed… coooffffeeeee.” I teased.

“Aye Cap. Whatcha need?” I turned to see Joe Coffey behind me; which made all three of us laugh.

“I need the caffeinated kind, not the engineer kind.” I laughed. A few seconds later Trick Williams brought me a cup of coffee. “Thank you.”

“Y/N” Seth said as he entered the room. “Glad you’re here.” An alarm sounded on a computer station, drawing Seth’s attention away from me.

Orange ran to the station, reading the display, “Fuck! Grid 10 is down.”

“Ten?” Seth asked. He hit a button on the panel in front of him. “Finn? Add grid 10 to the list.”

“Gotcha!” the Irishman said curtly.

Seth focused on me again. “Are you POSITIVE you want to go out into this weather? It’s nasty out there. Wouldn’t you rather go on a normal run… after the hurricane?”

I was itching to get off the colony and see the ocean closer. It was never 100% safe, even in perfect weather. Now, with a hurricane on the way, the ocean churned violently, massive waves splashing over the 20 foot protective wall around and soaking the colony every few minutes. I knew going out today was dangerous. Probably the most dangerous thing I’d ever done, but it was a once in a lifetime chance to see under the colony. It was also a job that HAD to be done, and I never made my crew do anything I wouldn’t do.  

Under the colony were an array of thousands of propellers. On a normal day, there was no resistance to these propellers, allowing the ocean to turn them all the time. 60% of the colony’s electricity came from them. When a storm like this came through though, they functioned as a ship’s propellers. Ideally, this switch could be done from a control panel, but the process had not been perfected, and inevitably some propellers had to be switched by hand…. Under the colony.

“It needs to be done.” I answered.

Seth looked at me as if trying to find my fear. “Our people can do it You don’t have to. We have enough people.”

Tilly answered before I could. “She’s not going to change her mind. Cap’s a daredevil.”

“She gets off on shit like this.” Cassidy added.

“I do not!” I protested. “But I’m not going to put someone else in danger if I can do the job myself.”

Seth turned on the coms “Dexter, Cap’s coming with you.”

“Understood” came the answer. Dexter Loomis was a very quiet man who never talked unless he had to. “We’re leaving in 15 minutes.”

“Thanks” Seth answered. “She’ll be down soon.” I nodded my thanks to Seth. “WEAR THE TEATHER!” Seth yelled out as I exited.

Once on the ground, I took a deep breath. I had 15 minutes. It would barely be enough time, but I was going. I ran full speed to the greenhouse.

Roman barely had time to turn around and see me before I wrapped him in a hug. “I wish you’d reconsider doing this.” He said as he kissed my forehead.

“I can’t. You know why.” We’d had the conversation shortly after arriving at the colony. Roman had repeatedly asked me to send someone else if the colony needed to be moved. He’d begged me not to go this morning too, but he knew by now he wouldn’t change my mind.

“I know. That’s why I’m going with you.” I opened my mouth to protest, but his face stopped me. Roman didn’t put his foot down often, but when he did, there was no talking him out of it. Just as there was no talking me out of anything I set my mind to. I simply didn’t have time to have this argument again. and It wouldn’t do any good.

I sighed resigned to his decision. I kissed him gently and looked in his eyes before sprinting to the boat dock, Roman at my heels the whole time.

“We don’t need both of you.” Seth’s voice yelled over the sound of the roaring ocean.

I started to answer when Roman interjected. “I’m not leaving her side.” It was a command that Seth accepted immediately. I guess he knew what it was like to want to protect your partner.

“Let’s tether you together then.” Orange walked up to us with two harnesses, and we put them on.

“Boat’s full!” Dexter’s voice called over the storm. “Two people need to go to boat 3.” Two colonists raised their hands and Dexter nodded for them to go.

I barely had time to think as we boarded the boat and Orange tethered Roman and I together then tethered us to the boat, which was also tethered to the colony.

“Boat 2, ready.” Dexter shouted and the call was repeated by the crew still on the colony.

Boat 2 tethered

Boat 2 tether check

Check

Boat 2 prepare for launch

Boat 2 check

Before I could even think we were in the water. Massive waves rocked the boat, and Roman held my hand.

I thought the smell of the ocean was bad in the shower. Now it was overwhelming, and I gagged. A high pitched laugh caught my attention, and I looked up to see Finn Balor laughing. I might have been mad if he hadn’t handed me two oxygen masks that hooked up to our harnesses. I nodded my thanks and handed one to Roman. He attached mine, and I attached his.

“Better?” Finn yelled, and I gave him a grateful thumbs up. I could still smell the ocean, but the oxygen watered down the smell.

Boat 2 ready to approach

Boat 2 hold

We could barely hear the announcement made to the colony. Brace yourselves for the colony to be raised.

Before my very eyes, the entire colony started rising. Normally it sat a few feet off the top of the ocean, but the storm swell had caused the ocean to rise up. We couldn’t see underneath until the colony had been hoisted.

The huge metal columns under the colony creaked as they were forced to work, but slowly the entire colony lifted.

Finally, I got to see the propellers which hung under the colony. They weren’t very large, but there were thousands under the colony. 10,463 to be exact, each divided into grids.

40 foot long metal poles poked out from the underside of the colony; each with a propeller that was normally submerged in the water. They dripped now, the fowl smell of the ocean more prominent as they did. I tapped my mask and gave Finn a thumbs up as a thanks. By now, everyone in the boat had an oxygen mask on.

Finn, Damon, Dominick and McDonagh were rowing frantically trying to maneuver the boat under the colony despite the waves and wind. Roman and I were looking for paddles to help, but before we could find any, we were under the colony. It was a truly impressive feat given the conditions. Now that we were amid the propellers, our crew grabbed the metal columns and began to pull the boat to our destination; which was much faster than trying to row a boat through this weather.

Boat 2 is under the colony

Boat 2 proceed to grid 10

Roman and I grabbed columns and helped heave the boat to our destination.

Boat 2 proceeding to grid 10

Under the colony, so close to the ocean, with water dripping off the undersides of the colony…… the smell was putrid. I caught Roman gagging once. “Let’s just get it done” I said to calm him.

I was hoping under the colony would be calmer, but even surrounded by the tall columns, being under the colony was treacherous. The wind whipped harder down here, creating a giant wind tunnel. The boat was slammed against columns on all sides, making the risk of getting thrown into the ocean even worse.  It seemed like I got pushed into one of the metal columns every few seconds. I was going to be bruised for sure.

Boat 2 approaching grid 10

Great job boat 2. Turning settings to manual now

“Let’s get it done quickly everyone.” Finn yelled out, but I wasn’t sure the people on the other side of our boat could hear him over the sound of the storm and the violent water. It didn’t matter though. Everyone was already starting to work.

Finn removed his oxygen mask long enough to tell Roman his only job was to keep the people around us from falling in the water. His determined look and steady gaze said as much as his nod. I had dreaded bringing him on this trip, but now that we were here, feeling his hand on my harness was reassuring. He would keep me safe.

Grid 10 held 567 turbines. Each had the be manually changed to propel the colony. We stood in a big line, each of us handling a row of propellers before we stopped to pulled the boat to the next turbine.

Despite Roman’s steady hands, I slammed into a column hard, my head bouncing as it hit. Roman panicked and almost let go of the others. Hearing the bang of skull on metal, Finn turned to see what had happened. He reached behind my head, pressing his fingers into my hair. When he removed his hand, I saw red on his fingers. He didn’t panic. Instead, he motioned to the others in the boat who all sat down and tried to hold the boat steady while Finn grabbed a first aid kit. He spread a salve roughly over a large bandage and applied it to my skull, using the gas mask to keep it in place. Finn looked at me now, holding up a tentative thumbs up to ask if I was ok. I nodded yes and reached to move the boat to our next destination. Everyone stood and joined in; Roman’s hand on everyone’s tethers to keep them safe.

I heard the bang of metal on metal and turned to see another boat working on a grid to our stern. I couldn’t recognize everyone, but I did notice Dexter and Trick in the boat. He noticed our boat and pointed to my head with one hand while he helped pull the boat with his second hand. I nodded that I was ok.  

90 minutes later, we were done, cheering at our success even though we still needed to get back to the colony before we could be considered safe. I had been thrown into more columns than I wanted to admit, and now that the work was done, the pain started seeping into my bones. Roman by my side had been a game changer. He never took his hand off me unless someone else needed saving. He’d saved Finn from falling in twice.

“Great job everyone.” Finn called out and motioned toward the other boat. A few minutes and one bruised arm later, we arrived at Boat 3. Loomis pointed to a corner of the grid and we started there. It was just a few minutes later that we were done. We pulled our way out from under the colony, and the colonists tied the boats together for more stability.

Loomis took off his mask and pointed at me. “Sit down. We don’t need you to paddle.” Even if I had been needed, I wasn’t sure I could paddle. My head must be hurt more than I thought, because I was getting dizzy and nauseous. I took his advice and sat. Roman handed me the tethers and took an oar someone offered him.

By the time we were back on the colony, I couldn’t stand. Finn helped Roman carry me off the boat. Dr. Thorpe was waiting for me. “Cap, What am I going to do with you?” He inspected my head. “Yup. Almost the exact same place as your last concussion.” He finished and pointed Roman to the medical building.

Seeing me being carried to the medical building was enough to stop everyone from their hurricane preparations. I saw everyone talking. “Oh shit.” I said under my breath.

“Nothing to worry about! She’s got a concussion. She’ll be fine.” Thorpe yelled out, then looked at me. “That should stop them from gossiping.”

“Captain!” Dr. Keith Lee said as we entered. “What happened?”

Roman laid me down on a table. “She got thrown against a column.”

“Probably another concussion.” Dr. Thorpe said. “It’s not her first. Not even the first on this trip.”

Dr. Lee nodded curtly. “Let’s get you into the scanner and see what we can do.”

@mindofasagitarius @lclb13 @serenityfiretrash @lustyromantic @reigns-5sos @bigpsychicbagelauthor @omg-im-such-a-masochist @marlananicole @wickedsunfire @starwithaheart @spookys-girl @pitlissa22 @snowpanda18 @thesamoanqueen @sassginaswanmills

[sosuigeneris]

Sunday plans: slept in till 11 am. I’ve been dreaming every night since I was a child but my dreams the last few nights have been really strange.

Put on Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s 2014 jazz album while I freshen up. I might head to the JW Marriott in the noon for a massage because my back and neck are killing me after sleeping for 12 hours straight.

I bought that insanity workout program and I’m going to start tomorrow. Am I excited? You bet I am. It’s only 60 days and I’m trying to ensure that I will stay consistent no matter what. I’ve been reading all the reviews on blogs and Reddit pages to ensure that my mindset to do this doesn’t wear off by Monday. I wonder if it’s going to be as hard as everyone says it is. I’ve been working out my whole life (without getting the results I want) so let’s see if this works.

I’m going to read some more of that pig book, give my dad updates on our family office and prep for tomorrow’s 5 am wake up.

But one thing that I really wanted to talk about is embodying the mindset of you want to be. I wanted to be perceived as intelligent, put-together and elegant for years and I worked towards it. Reading a wide variety of things and knowing what part of that content I can put to use in a conversation; practicing my posture even if I’m alone, making sure that I look good when I step out, dressing the way my ideal self does, engaging in creative workshops to really branch out, knowing how to talk to people older than me in a respectful manner (this is huge in eastern culture). And it’s finally, finally all paying off.

the reason I know it is because a) I can feel the change myself. My social skills have improved, I don’t need to drink to be comfortable socially. I also have really strong observational skills: I can notice how other people see me even if they don’t say it. B) other people who I barely know validate point A. At the meditation retreat in Black Forest, a random lady told my friend that she thought I “was so elegant and chic, the way (I) carried myself” and my friend came and told me all this the second the lady left. Other people do notice when you start making changes.

now if you’ve reached this stage, this is what you have to hear: do not get dependent on other people’s validation. That will be your Achilles heel. Do not get enamoured by compliments nor let down by criticism. Learn to accept it graciously but don’t let your emotions take control of you.

if you get dependent on people’s validation, you will soon become a chameleon in social settings. When you’re with Betty, because Betty thinks you’re a hilarious person when drinking, you’ll embody exactly that personality because you don’t want to let Betty down. When you’re with Mrs Smith you’re on your best behaviour because she’s this elegant old lady.

there’s nothing wrong in slightly altering your personality depending on the social group. but there has to be a certain limit to it. And you need to establish that limit.

If you don’t, you’ll be nothing but a doormat for these people. They will lose interest in you anyway, when they realise that you have no original personality and you’re just trying to imitate their thoughts and beliefs. Know when to blend and when to not.

how do you establish that limit? It’s very simple. You decide a few core values, beliefs, principles and opinions that you will absolutely not budge on. And once you have that, come up with 20 ways you can say “I don’t agree” in the most polite, politically-correct, respectful manner possible OR learn how to deviate conversations to different subjects seamlessly. I would always prefer the latter because I think it’s the best way to handle social conflict. Unless the person is my age or someone who I know I can give my piece of mind to, I don’t bother engaging and gently direct the conversation to a different subject altogether.

And how does one deviate conversations? it must be done as subtly as possible. If the conversation is about a war happening and you’re trying to deviate it to their opinion of Saltburn it’s obviously not going to work. What you have to do is choose the closest, safest topic, repeatedly. For instance if someone is talking about politics that I don’t want to talk about, I’ll throw in some history: “do you know that back in 19XX this had happened?” And then slowly deviate that conversation to an author or poet who had written very well on that subject; then deviate again, ask them if they like to read anything. If they bring up political books, then I would create a “hard stop” and say oh, I really like Bengali poetry. If the conversationalist is a good one, they will reciprocate and ask me more. I can then give a little summary of something I’ve read and ask them for their opinion on it.

you will only become good at this if you go out and engage with people. I’ve found the cutest little jazz lounge in my city and I plan to go there with a maximum of 2 friends who also want to interact and meet new people. You have to gain experience socially in order to become socially smart.

-Cherry 🍒

[not-ester]

✨Guess who's lacking motivation✨

(I am to finish a few comic pages during the Christmas holidays tho)

Enjoy 2023 me maundering on about CH biology et al:

1. Chs reproduce like unicellular organisms (monocyttaroi); With asexual reproduction (monogonia). Their offsprings come from a simple dichotomy. At first, their genetic material (DNA) is multiplied by two and then said ch is bisected (as painful as it sounds, but they heal eventually). This method is not preferred for obvious reasons.

2. Like some species of birds, they may take in and nourish (forcefully or not) another Ch’s offspring (aka adopt them).

3. Another method is turning a “human” child (younger than 9 months) into a ch through a time-consuming procedure which I’ll get into detail in num 4.

4. With this method you can create a body anew or transform a human body into a ch;

a. You take natural elements from the land to which you want your ch to be linked to. (dirt, rocks, leaves, sand, pine cones etc.) From these you make a modeled body /dirt for the flesh and rocks for the eyes/. In order to do this, you need to be a skilled artisan and therefore sometimes chs hire another to make them an offspring. Once you’ve modeled the body, you fetch 300ml of water from a natural spring (from within said territory) and pour it into the hole situated in the body’s abdomen. In said hole you also mix your own blood, even a driblet is adequate, thus the new ch will be connected to your bloodline. Once you’re done with the aforementioned steps, you place a glass pane over the hole for the next 3 months before eventually covering it with dirt (the hole, you remove the glass before that). The body will start seeming more and more human. By the age of 3 months you can “paint” their face with the desired flag design, using natural colouring (like fruit juice). At 5 months you can give them hair by placing leaves on their head. By the age of 12 months they’ll have formed some kind of consciousness while their body will look entirely like a human one. By 15 months they’ll have developed an intelligence appropriate for their age. From then on, it’s like human development although child mortality rates for the first 5 years are extremely low. In 1500bc only 20% survived, while in 2023ad 60% survive (they are creating less children now tho).

b. If you have a human body available, you hollow out their intestines and follow the same procedure. They tend to develop intelligence way earlier than the self-made bodies since they already have a base. A downside is the fact they are of human ancestry, meaning they aren’t as immune as “custom” chs, nor as adroit, they also do die earlier due to their human roots.

5. This procedure is regarded as the standard. There were some instances in which the procedure was sabotaged, but what do you expect when you don’t monitor the body regularly? Chs can create or transform a body every 8 months.

6. When time has come and the ch’s “shift” has ended they will be succeeded by one of their ancestors, either their child or grandchild and if they have multiple, they are obligated to reach a decision on who will reign (often resulting in a bloodbath). By tradition, the rightful heir is the eldest child. If the ch doesn’t want for their “shift” to end and, perhaps, even live forever, a child is automatically created by nobody knows, it just appears; their only purpose being bringing an end to the former ch and reigning over their territory. These “divine” children are regarded as outsiders and other chs tend to keep distance from them. The concept of a “divine” ch scares them; they don’t know what they’re capable of- the natural fear of the unknown.

7. Types of “c”hs are: Countries, City-States, Provinces, Regions, States and Prominent modern cities (the first 5 from each country). Meaning these are the only creations capable of consciousness. Civilisation chs are not a thing, for example; the Mycenean civilisation was comprised from a number of city states which may or may have not been linked (as the walls suggest). In the olden times, chs used to be more powerful in order to survive the world’s stimulus. Cities ranked lower than 5 are not mentally aware, as to avoid having too many chs and, in return, lower the chances of a rebellion/uprise and, in addition, not have a bunch of people claim power over a small portion of land and thus making a ch’s role more important.

8. During the procedure of creation, parent chs used to add animal-like features to the body; goat horns, bird wings, snake tails …This made them appear more “god-like” and therefore people worshipped them. Such thing is no longer allowed, as it is regarded as “dangerous”. Therefore, from century to century their idiosyncrasies perish more and more, eventually leading to today where chs are more “h” than “c”. If one attempts to create a child with such features, the child is immediately killed off and the parent punished. The prohibition of said additions happened around the 1950's. Organisations are allowed to have some features to show off their status. More in § 21.

9. Sometimes the additions were “not compatible” and so they fell of the body. This could occur at any point in their life time. (Example: Macedon was born with goat horns and they fell off around 323bc (cause symbolism!!). Them falling off could be painful or not, depends what the feature is. Once removed, nothing grows in its place so if the feature was a whole limb, then the ch is now disabled.

12. Aging in chs happens slower, the first five human years are equal to 15 years of mental age (in case the new ch needs to take power early on) from then it splits into “normal” and “abnormal” development.

a. ”Normal” development; mental age of 18 in 10 years of human age, m.a of 20 in 20 h.y, m.a of 25 in 50 h.y, m.a of 26 in 100 h.y, m.a of 28 in 200 h.y, m.a of 32 in 300+ h.y, m.a of 50 in 1000+ h.y.

b. “Abnormal” development: 15 in 10 h.y, 16 in 20 h.y, 16 in 50 h.y, 18 in 100 h.y, 20 in 200 h.y, 22 in 300+ h.y, 27 in 1000+ h.y.

From 1000 years and over they stop aging. Both physically and mentally.

13. “Lost souls” are the ch modeled bodies which never developed mentally nor formed consciousness. Soulless bodies of children (such as LitBel).

15. “Reflections” are a version of the ch created by another ch rather than the original parent. Example being the Kingdom of Greece. Did we ask for a king? No. Were we forced one upon? Yes. Therefore the Kingdom of Greece was a reflection of the Hellenic Republic and they co-existed up to ‘73 when the monarchy was abolished. Reflections are not entirely capable of doing everything a ch can do and are sometimes faulty or act odd. Mortality rates are slightly lower than normal chs.

16. There are some special occasions where a state was ruled by two chs. Like Middle Kingdom Egypt or the Byzantine Empire. They were supposed to be equal but oftenly one would overpower the other.

17. Chs born before 800bc had/have a longer life expectancy than modern chs. Reasons are yet unknown, but it’s believed that it’s due to their more divine nature. Nowadays, anyone born after 1800 has a 3.3*10^-19 chance of reaching the age of 1000, 2.4*10^-10 the age of 700 and 5.41*10^-4 the age of 500. Compared to previous stats of chs born from 800bc-500ad which had a 6.6% chance of reaching 1000, 15% the age of 700 and 27.9% the age of 500. Exceeding the age of 1000 is a literal miracle, the odds are so low that I can’t even write them down. There has always been a stigma around “immortal” chs as they call ‘em; in the olden times their blood would be used for medicine and treatments. Once they died or were killed a huge ceremony would be held, the practices depending on each one’s culture.

19. “Immortal” chs (btw they’re not really immortal it’s just a nickname) are also more resilient to occasional negative stimuli, diseases, wounds etc. and heal faster in order to withstand the pains of time. Their blood is more purple-ish as well.

20. “Avowal to immortality, for the common fidelity/beliefs" Is when one confesses to be “immortal” or of “immortal” ancestry. This is considered an act of bravery as one basically sacrifices themselves for the shared beliefs. If one keeps their idiocrasy a secret and later unraveled, they will face severe punishment(s) before eventually being executed (Yet there are some people who’ve managed to conceal said idiocrasy).

22. Chs are capable of catching a disease (even a fatal one), but the symptoms are reduced due to their impenetrable nature. Everything within their body is ramped up, to a point they could be considered superhumans. Despite this fact, there were many that fell ill and “departed”. Healing is slower, just like aging, and most human medicine is futile, therefore chs resulted in making their own medicine, which, for ages before globalism, was difficult to acquire; meaning, if one fell ill, they would be obliged to travel a really long distance in order to find a pharmakopoios (medicine-maker). In olden times, since they were more god-like due to the animal features and purer blood, they had a larger gamut of immunity; often surviving what will be soon mentioned. Modern chs are “immune” to common means of murder; like poison, stabbing, certain gasses, explosives, snakes and other ones like food poisoning, starvation, being hanged etc. but not to being lit on fire, drowned, cut in half, starvation over a long period of time (atleast 100yrs), pushed off a cliff/down a well; after one’s death the eldest child or “the strongest” are designated as the successor as mentioned in § 6.

23. Chs have always been about the same height as humans, just slightly taller on the occasion. Their hair is thicker but are unlikely to produce body or facial hair. They can have any eye colour, some rare to us even being common (like purple or red). Their fingers are strangely longer.

24. Customarily they assume human jobs, even back then like; Knossos was a merchant/chandler (ἔμπορος), but nowadays they concentrate more on politics. Chs are omnivores, drinking allowed where legal.

[guitarlove6437]

Why are adhd meds so hard to get right now?

Hi I’m a pharmacy tech. I fill prescriptions, release them to patients, answer the phone, and write instructions for prescriptions. Right now in the US just about everywhere is an adhd medication shortage. I can’t exactly give a “why is this still going on?” answer because I wish I knew. I can answer why it’s so hard to get. Oh and I have adhd too. But I don’t take any medication for it cause epileptic too.

Issue #1 - Manufacture Backorder

For one reason or another, the company (in this case multiple companies at this point) cannot make enough medication and/or distribute enough. What this means on the pharmacy end is if the individual store is lucky the store can get a stock bottle or two per order. Depending on what the pharmacy’s suppliers are, they might only be able to get those orders done up to three times a week. I say this cause one supplier for my store is only delivered M/W/F.

Issue #2 - Small Stock Bottles

These are typically (especially since we’re talking about controlled medications here) bottles patients don’t see. These are the bottles filled with medication X we then dispense for prescription Y. Sometimes medications are kept in stock bottles, like liquid antibiotics or birth control pills. But with rare exceptions, all controlled medicines are dispensed into amber vials.

What do I mean by small stock bottles then? The amount of actual pills per bottle. I would say a good majority of medications come in standard bottle sizes (60, 90, 100, 500, 1,000). I’ve seen some other high control bottles on the higher end of bottle size. Not adhd meds. The largest bottle size I’ve seen is 100.

Let’s say our hypothetical store has scored two bottles of methylphenidate 20 mg of 100 pills each. Before this, there were 10 pills leftover from previous prescriptions. So there’s a total of 220 pills.

If there only six prescriptions done of 30 pills each, the inventory is down to just 10 pills again. That’s nothing for pharmacy standards. There’s a automated robot standard in the chain I work in for common drugs (controlled and non controlled) and I easily see 100+ of prescriptions checked from that alone.

Issue #3 - Can’t Directly Transfer

I’m sorry and this sucks. I wish I could just call a different pharmacy and ask if they can take an adhd medicine prescription. It’s the law. If it’s a high control, we cannot do quite a few things. One is we can’t transfer from Store A to Store B. Yes, even if it’s the same chain.

Issue # 4 - Long Waitlist

In every pharmacy there is a queue called Fill on Arrival. These are prescriptions we can’t fill until we get enough of a supply to fill. This especially comes into play with manufacturer back orders. The reason why pharmacies are saying they don’t have enough even when they do? Because they have a long list of patients who have been waiting for their prescription to be filled. I have even been advised to tell people we don’t have medication that’s on back order because we have such a long waitlist. And my store isn’t even particularly busy in my area!

I want to be absolutely clear before I end here: every single one of you reading this frustrated you can’t get your regular adhd med, yeah I agree it does suck ass! I wish I could fill your prescription! I promise you, look at the tales from the pharmacy subreddit, you’ll see other worker’s frustration about all of this. The shortage has gone on way too fucking long. But it is not individual pharmacies’ fault. It’s the pharmaceutical companies, the suppliers, and the government since these are controlled medication.

Thanks for reading!

[retphienix]

honestly the most universal truth about my experience in warframe is that with anything that needs grinded my preference has always been "Endless mission > Constantly redoing a short mission"

And the fact so many of the grinds in warframe are outright player hostile to that kinda sucks ass

I mean even the fundamental design of how endless missions exist (for the most part) is against that and that has always bothered me, like why even bother having the enemies get stronger if no rewards are accompanying it? Not even like, noteworthy increased credit drops- anything! The fact rotations universally cycle back to AABC instead of offering anything worth a damn to continuing beyond that first C is annoying!

Some aren't though! Thank you, Disruption, I'm so so so so so sorry that I hated you at launch, you have truly come around to being something I adore <3

But then you have like "Eidolons vs Orphix" where the "go fast, restart, go fast, restart, go fast" option is the only viable one because the other one is not just "slightly" worse, it's EXPONENTIALLY SPIT-IN-PLAYERS-FACE WORSE for like, no good reason.

You have the annoying grind I did for the first time in like 2 years recently, grinding lith relics (the relics themselves) since the most efficient way is to just keep doing the void capture over and over, yippee 40 seconds of gameplay, my favorite lol Where's my endless mission that gives tons of liths, hmm? Where's the defense mission where wave 10 gives 3 relics and wave 15+ gives like 5 since 5 waves equates to 5 minutes on average anyway, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

The recent operation being "Redo this mission 10 billion times" instead of any sort of endurance deal that I can just keep doing until I'm done doing it, that was a touch lame. EXTREMELY rewarding but representative of the "just keep redoing it" format for rewarding content instead of any sort of relevant reward for endless missions.

If it's fast, it's rewarding as all hell, like cracking relics on base chart.

If it's slow, it's like DE forgets to incorporate scaling rewards for the time put in- what happened to endurance defense and the like? I'm nostalgic for good endless content (even though that was more a symptom of there not being rewarding content but I digress).

We really do have like 2 endless formats that at least attempt to be rewarding in the entire game, and isn't that just a fucking joke?

Disruption with its endless BC rotation where you can choose between B or C and just keep fighting forever- nice!

And Arbitrations- which are lacking in evergreen rewards to keep people doing them- but they ARE on the same mentality where endurance = endless C rotation, that's something! And like steel path you are 'passively' being rewarded via vitus essence which is another thing I wish was further explored in endless mission types (more of the passive thing- more steel essence for going longer etc).

Sadly, I don't see Warframe really throwing much of a bone my way. The game as a whole is all about speed now and it's great fun! I just want some more love tossed towards endurance of all forms, from going 20 minutes in survival to going 60 minutes for the hell of it, gimme something worth the effort my guy.

If you would have told me nearly ten years back that the game would still be following AABCAABCAABC rotations for endless missions I'd be like "what? Surely not! Surely they reward you for going further :D" and I'd be wrong.

thank you Disruption and Arbs for being the exception, may you both be granted nodes/shop options that increase your viability even more! (beyond just relic farming :()

[death-tinkerer]

Commissions as of Autumn 2023!

(Note: Fandom commissions are still available! Just now has been generalised in the post <3)

Full Commission details are also included in this post, in case the graphics are hard to read for some users!

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Lineart Types

Pen

Pencil

Add a Character + 8 USD

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Still - 80 USD

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(*This includes commercial usage in price)

General Emotes

Still - 25 USD

Animated - 45 USD

Packs (5 Still Emotes)

Twitch - 140 USD

General - 85 USD

Sketches to Detailed Pieces

Bust

Sketch - 30 USD

Lined - 50 USD

Detailed - 75 USD

Waist Up

Sketch - 40 USD

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Detailed - 100 USD

Full Body

Sketch - 60 USD

Lined - 120 USD

Detailed - 150 USD

Add a Character

Bust - +10 USD

Waist Up - +15 USD

Full Body - +30 USD

Lineart Types

Pen

Pencil

Props +10 USD

Dialogue +5 USD

Backgrounds

Simple - +10 USD

Complex - +30 USD

Sketchdumps

1-2 Characters - 75 USD

3-4 Characters - 100 USD Add Color +20 USD Props are included!

Detailed Backgrounds

45 USD USD

Simple Backgrounds

25 USD

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1 Variation + B&W - 12 USD

+1 Variant - +5 USD

Exclusively Lineless Desktop and Mobile BGs

Weapons and Tools

Simple - 25 USD

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(Depending on details that are specified, the price may be higher)

PNGTuber Sprites

5 Expressions

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Choose your own!

150 USD

I specialise in the following things:

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I reserve the right to refuse a commission for any reason. I must be paid upfront. Refunds are 100% until sketch approval, which refunds will be 50% afterwards. You cannot refund once lineart is completed. All pricing is AVERAGES, not final prices.

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[zermizomilk]

Skip the weird ones, i realized 134 questions was going to be hard to sort 1: Name

2: Age

3: 3 Fears

4: 3 things I love

7: My best friend

8: Sexual orientation

9: My best first date

10: How tall am I

11: What do I miss

12: What time were I born

13: Favorite color

14: Do I have a crush

15: Favorite quote

16: Favorite place

17: Favorite food

18: Do I use sarcasm

19: What am I listening to right now

20: First thing I notice in new person

21: Shoe size

22: Eye color

23: Hair color

24: Favorite style of clothing

25: Ever done a prank call?

27: Meaning behind my URL

28: Favorite movie

29: Favorite song

30: Favorite band

31: How I feel right now

32: Someone I love

34: My relationship with my parents

35: Favorite holiday

36: Tattoos and piercing i have

37: Tattoos and piercing i want

38: The reason I joined Tumblr

40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?

42: When did I last hold hands?

43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?

44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days?

45: Where am I right now?

46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me?

47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad?

49: Am I excited for anything?

50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

51: How often do I wear a fake smile?

52: When was the last time I hugged someone?

53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me?

54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not?

55: What is something I disliked about today?

56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

57: What do I think about most?

58: What’s my strangest talent?

59: Do I have any strange phobias?

60: Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

61: What was the last lie I told?

62: Do I prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

63: Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

64: Do I believe in magic?

65: Do I believe in luck?

66: What’s the weather like right now?

67: What was the last book I’ve read?

68: Do I like the smell of gasoline?

69: Do I have any nicknames?

70: What was the worst injury I’ve ever had?

71: Do I spend money or save it?

72: Can I touch my nose with a tongue?

73: Is there anything pink in 10 feet from me?

74: Favorite animal?

75: What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is?

77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

78: How can you win my heart?

79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone?

80: What is my favorite word?

81: My top 5 blogs on tumblr

82: If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

83: Do I have any relatives in jail?

84: I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power?

85: What would be a question I’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

86: What is my current desktop picture?

90: Failed a class?

93: Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?

94: Had job?

95: Left the house without my wallet?

96: Bullied someone on the internet?

98: Played on a sports team?

99: Smoked weed?

100: Did drugs?

101: Smoked cigarettes?

102: Drank alcohol?

103: Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

104: Been overweight?

105: Been underweight?

106: Been to a wedding?

107: Been on the computer for 5 hours straight?

108: Watched TV for 5 hours straight?

109: Been outside my home country?

110: Gotten my heart broken?

111: Been to a professional sports game?

112: Broken a bone?

113: Cut myself?

114: Been to prom?

115: Been in airplane?

116: Fly by helicopter?

117: What concerts have I been to?

118: Had a crush on someone of the same sex?

119: Learned another language?

120: Wore make up?

123: Dyed my hair?

124: Voted in a presidential election?

125: Rode in an ambulance?

126: Had a surgery?

127: Met someone famous?

128: Stalked someone on a social network?

129: Peed outside?

130: Been fishing?

131: Helped with charity?

132: Been rejected by a crush?

133: Broken a mirror?

134: What do I want for birthday?

1.

2. 14

3. uhh spiders, socialising??, idk what a third would be

4. animals, drawing, friends/p?

7. You Unable!

8. aro maybe ace activity figuring shit out

9. No

10. 180 cm

11. not being tired constantly

12. November

13. green, purple a nice maroon also

14. nope

15. rip and tear until it is done

16. i guess a forest

17. eggs

18. not well

19. i had some random video playing

20. the way they act with other people any differences like that

21. uhh 46- 48 Europe idk anything about shoes

22. blue ish

23. dark brown

24. idk

25. nah

27. zermizo is a made up word i made specifically for a username as for milk i don't remember the origin for that

28. no favourite

29. bad feeling

30. tally hall i guess

31. uneasy for some reason

32. stares in aromantic

34.

35. Christmas

36. i wish

37. ear piercing

38. deltarune

40. yes :]

42. good question

43. like 20 minutes and most of that is spent waking up

44. technically yes technically no, does burning it off count?

45. in bed

46. idk but id feel bad for making them do that

47. loud in my headphones

48. unfortunately

49. not particularly

50. does no gender or sometimes the same gender count?

51. not often school hasn't started yet

52. idk

53.

54. i wouldn't say so

55. the sun

56. idk you

57. alot of anger

58. idk

59. maybe not?

60. behind

61. won't happen again

62. talking on the phone i don't have the pressure of someones eyes

63. if ghosts were real they'd be fucking with us a whole lot more , aliens i like to go the idea that they are staying quiet because something else is out there and we're being loud making noises sending drawings of ourselves making ourselves a target, while they hide

64. not until i see it

65. if lucks a thing that explains alot

66. melt your skin off sunny

67. feather thief

68. nope

69. Mike and Zerm

70. idk

71. save mostly

72. no

73. a shirt

74. bird

75. eating

76. im not religious but i don't think he has one there's satan and then there's Lucifer

77. bendy and the ink musical

78. it's rotten ain't a prize

79.

80. defenestration

81. idk

82. start counting down to zero

83. no

84. idk flight

85. are you okay

86. default windows background

90. no

93. no

94. technically yes

95. no

96. nope

98. nah

99. nope

100. no

101. no

102. no

103. no

104. no

105. yes

106. yes

107. yes

108. no

109. no

110. no

111. nope

112. no

113. ...

114. no

115. no

116. nope

117. none

118. no

119. yes

120. no

123. no

124. no

125. nope

126. no

127. nope

128. no

129. yea

130. no

131. yes

132. can't get rejected if you don't have one

133. no

134.

[ener-chi]

I'm going to try and journal on here more often!! It will be filled with my thoughts and ruminations on things, irl stuff, energy work musings and techniques, and spirit work and astral stories. You can read them and more in the #journal tag.

Anywho, read below the cut for: TL;DR observations from acupuncture today, finding out my school might be closing, and guided vs dragged and a reminder to myself to be intentional

I've had the flu (or at least I'm pretty sure what that is) this week, and today is the best I've felt all week. Still was having a slight fever and some cough/congestion, so I went in for acupuncture at my school. Some fun tidbits from my session today:

-TCM diagnosis is an External Heat Invasion, which is what I totally guessed it was! I'm learning (:

-When I had ST36 needled, on both sides my entire stomach/abdomen immediately warmed and lit up, which is a new sensation. Fun fact: ST36 is called "The Ruler of the Abdomen"

-Had my GB20 needled, which felt amazinggg but ouchy it was very tender after. I am interested in doing a Cranial Sacral Technique and some Reiki on this point, and will update more when I do this

-LR3 hurt like a b, which it normally doesn't for me (this is a very commonly used point), and my intern said it was cuz of the heat, which would make sense. (Also everyone at my school calls points that are painful "spicy" which made me laugh cuz the pun of spicy and heat. Anywaysss)

-There's three points on the forearm that when used together are called "Buddha's Triangle." Had it done today for the first time and it was super relaxing actually

Don't really have much more interesting stuff to report from that, aside from what I normally feel. It's always so wild to me to feel the energy pathways connecting to each other when needles are placed in them, like circuits connecting.

Speaking of acupuncture, now for some irl stuff. We all learned some grave news yesterday - there is a good chance that my school will be closing later this year.

Since the pandemic, the enrollment at my school has been incredibly low. My cohort and the year above me only have about 20 people - my school used to average 40-60 people per year.

Because tuition is my schools biggest source of income, these lower numbers puts them in hot water. Don't need to go into incredible detail, but that plus rising costs and the fact that the area the school is in is super rough, which makes it difficult to sell - things are not looking good.

Our president said that it's not guaranteed that the school will close, just a last-ditch option. But my intuition is saying that it will close.

I've had a lot of thoughts and emotions about this. I mean... coming to this school and studying TCM has been a goal of mine for like. 7 years. It's the whole reason I moved up here in the first place.

Naturally, I was upset and panicked to learn this. But after digging into it, it's because I had tied part of my identity to this. Like in the way that people associate "what you do" as a part of you - I had associated going to this school and studying TCM as a big part of my identity and who I am as a person. And when that was threatened to not be a thing anymore, my ego got scared. Who am I if I don't do that? What will I do?

But it reminded me that I am much more than what I do. And something else that I've been realizing and remembering the past couple weeks - the reason I came to this school was to learn about Energy, and Qi.

At the end of the day, that's what I care about. It doesn't necessarily have to be with TCM - acupuncture was just my jumping off point, as it was the first way I experienced Energy in that way, in a way that was also structured.

And so, if this is the Universe redirecting me elsewhere, I'm still having some emotions about it all, but I will do my best to welcome and roll with the change.

That being said, I'm not necessarily being totally hung out to dry. It's not official and there is no information about it yet, but if the school does close, I think they legally have to offer a "teach out" option, which basically means that another school would adopt us and help us finish our degree. So. We'll see what happens.

One other thing that I realized today, is: "In order to be guided, you have to be moving in the first place." You can't expect to be guided or helped without putting in any work or energy or intention yourself. That's not being guided or helped - that's being dragged. And while the Universe does do that sometimes, it rarely does.

So a reminder to myself - stop sitting and start walking, take initiative, be intentional, and stop waiting for confirmation before action, and instead act and let the Universe provide input and correction if necessary.

That's it for now! Hope everyone has a good night!

Blessings!

[alhilton]

hi! i just finished distraction in the hunters universe and just started arcove’s bright side - i’m super enjoying them so far! i did have a bit of a question when it comes to the worldbuilding if that’s all right to ask? do the creasia have a taboo against incest, or does it not matter after a certain point of relation? i’m curious if only because carmine and wisteria are both related through arcove (arcove being his son and wisteria his granddaughter) and attention is drawn to that in the narrative, in terms of how much they both look like and take after arcove. is this sort of thing generally accepted in creasia society, or is it given a pass since they’re both higher-ranking? i’m not asking to be a weird freak or anything, it just kind of hit me as a “oh right that’s a little odd” when i realized fully, haha. genuinely just curious - but also feel 100% free to delete this if that’s not something you’d want to discuss on your tumblr blog, i get that it’s kind of A Bummer by nature. again, super genuinely enjoying the books, i really love your prose and how the world feels so deeply lived in and real and how textured every character is, even the minor ones. wisteria is also an absolute icon with her two boyfriends, god bless her lmao

Hi, there. Thank you for your kind words! I'll answer your question, but I've done so in even more detail here - https://shop.abigailhilton.com/b/1HLeF (it's a free download) These are essays I wrote while researching lions for Distraction and Bright Side. I examine the potential for inbreeding depression, not just in creasia, but also in ferryshaft and other species on Lidian. I talk about the (highly bisexual) biology of real lions, the ways in which I modeled creasia on them, and the ways in which I made creasia different. In answer to your question, real lions have no inbreeding taboo. Ruling males don't usually hold a pride long enough to mate with their adult daughters. Teenaged males have a strong instinct to roam once they hit puberty. They travel far from their natal prides and seek to take over a distant pride. Females stay with their natal pride. That's how real lions avoid inbreeding. If young males are prevented from roaming (by habitat fragmentation), they may end up taking over a pride with relatives and will mate with them. I have given my creasia some degree of incest taboo, partially because I think it's too difficult for humans to relate to them otherwise and partially because I think it's a useful trait to have evolved, what with their limited range and food supply. They have an incest taboo that applies to siblings and parents, possibly great-grand parents. Those would be the most generically dangerous pairings. However, their are many other types of relatedness that humans recognize that creasia do not. In addition, creasia generations run into each other in ways that could not happen in human beings. Human women enter menopause right about the time that their daughters hit puberty. In creasia, mothers and daughters will have babies at the same time, perhaps for decades. Creasia are teenagers capable of reproduction at 4, young adults at 6, and fully adult by 8-10. Historically, most alpha males have died in fights by their 20's or 30's, while females and unambitious clutter males have sometimes lived into their 60's. This allows plenty of time for generations to run into each other. Now they're living even longer because they're becoming less violent. In this milieu, you would see generational pairings that would seem strange and impossible to human beings. Carmine is Wisteria's half uncle on her father's side and her great-half uncle on his mother's side. It really is a pretty twisty family tree. FYI, Wisteria has 2 kings in her ancestry. Ketch was Caraca's father. Creasia would not regard this as a close familial relationship or any form of incest. Indeed, it's unlikely to cause their cubs any problems. Arcove has been a very successful male creasia, which means his genes are going to be dominant in the population for quite a while. Halvery even more so (lol). In real lions, nearly all the females will contribute genetically to the population, but not so the males. A tiny percentage of the most successful males will sire all the cubs. So you have this same effect. Any deleterious genes lurking in those successful males could have outsized effects on the population, unfortunately. But real lions seems to weather this just fine.

[gamblord]

saw another job post on twitter that I really would've loved to have done but I just don't have time to do anything plus it already had like 60 people applying for it. I hate having no time man, shit sucks wanting to do so much but having no time to do any of it because you have to

A) be an adult and prioritise maintaining your life, even though the time cost of that increases more and more as life maintenance costs rise and wages dont

B) have to spend your 20s not improving your life but doing all the growing and exploration you were meant to do in your teens but couldnt because you were neglected and didnt even know how much it fucked you up until your mid 20s hit

C) try to balance work and life and relationships

D) deal with all the bad habits you developed as coping mechanisms that kept you alive 5+ years ago but are now hampering your efforts to be better

E) still try and improve your life because if you're just spinning tyres you might stay up for a while but you'll just burn out and lose it all again so keep going keep trying to make things better cmon hurry up go go only you can change things for yourself go on

[annakie]

FIXING THE HOUSE Chapter 7 (Sorta) - Let's go Backwards to go Forwards

Part One: I Do Not, In Fact, Have the Power

Part Two: Let’s Spend Lots of Money!

Part Three: All These Things That I’ve Done

Part Four: I Really Want to Stay At My House

A little interlude.

Part Five: Power Down

Part Six: You Will Leave Some Paint

Part Seven: Backwards to go Forwards (YOU ARE HERE)

Part Eight: Master of Bathrooms

Part Nine: Within a Room, Somewhere

Part Ten: Rooms With No View

Part Eleven: Big Bang Room Part A and also Part B!

Part Twelve: We Can Make It On the Outside

Part Thirteen: Mauve Haze Symphony

Part Fourteen (A) - In the Kitchen

Part Fourteen (B) - Copper Green

-----

(A note from the future about this post: When I made it I intended it to be the big flashback post but then I ended up making more detailed flashback posts when I posted about each room so a lot of the information here gets re-told in more detail later, sorry!)

In the summer of 2003, it felt like all of my friends were moving forward with their lives but me.

Two of my friends had gotten married a year or two earlier and were living a ways away but had rented a house.

Two more friends had just gotten married, and were buying a house.

Two more had just gotten into a serious relationship, and he decided to buy a house. She was moving in and paying rent. A year or so later they'd get married, too.

I wasn't in a relationship but was the oldest in the friend group and I was still renting a one bedroom apartment.

I got the bug in my ear that I should buy a house, too.

Once again, a very long post.

I just want to make it clear -- this is more of a flashback episode than updates on what's been going on. But it's important.

Those three couples all eventually had houses all in the same neighborhood. I couldn't afford their neighborhood. Honestly I couldn't afford a house at all but that was right during the time that banks were handing out mortgages like candy.

I shouldn't have been house shopping, but I did it anyway. Somehow my mom agreed to co-sign with me. She shouldn't have, tbh I was a bad bet credit wise at that time, but she did.

After losing out on a couple of bids, I finally found this house I really loved from the outside. The thing was, they weren't letting people inside for awhile, but the price was great and it looked great from the outside.

I put in an offer before seeing the inside (Pro Tip: never do this) with money I didn't really have, and despite many warning signs that I shouldn't be buying this house, I went ahead and did it anyway.

For several years, it was a really bad decision.

This house had been a rental for like 20 years before I bought it. It was severely neglected, but it had been fixed up just enough by the previous owners to hide the most glaring problems with it.

So much went wrong those first few years that I was more or less always in debt, lurching from problem to problem, borrowing money from my parents to keep the AC going and sewer flowing. Eventually my mom just paid to fix the sewer rather than call a plumber every month or two. (Eventually, I paid her back). Now I just have to call one out once a year or so.

And y'all, the house was ugly inside. Just really not updated almost at all since the 60's. Nobody gave a shit.

A few things had happened, three layers of wallpaper in the bathrooms and kitchen, and two layers of peel and stick tiles on the floor.

But most things were original to the house, or maybe updated in the mid to late 80's at the newest.

In 2004 when I'd done what I could with the place I started writing a walkthrough with pictures. It's not complete, I never did the bedrooms or master bath... I think I have pictures of those, I'll fill in later. But just scrolling through that and taking a look is super cringe for me and maybe entertaining for you. (Note from the future: A lot of the pictuers get used later in these posts.) Also, hey, some of my friends and family are in there, too.

It will give you a decent idea of where I started, so later you can see where I am now and why doing this has been so damn important to me.

-----

I had a few bits of good luck, one of those couples mentioned above gave me their old washer and dryer which I still have and use to this day, I bought a dishwasher and fridge at the Sears Scratch and Dent store and the fridge is still running... for now. And my mortgage company had paid for a home warranty for the year AND GOT USED HEAVILY. It saved my ass a time or two, I re-upped it for a few years.

Once I got ripped off by a new furnace install that was an utter disaster and almost killed me with carbon monoxide poisoning until I got the warranty company to send out a better repair guy who probably saved my life.

My parents would come once or twice a year and help me do all the repairs and improvements I could afford, and usually kick in some of their own money to help.

I had secondhand and salvaged furniture, much of it came from relatives who downsized or passed. I scoured yard sales for stuff to put in the house. I was paying off $4000ish on a $1700ish bedroom suite. I was at a job that was severely underpaying me and then everyone there got a paycut in 2007. I had no savings, maybe I'd scrape up $1000 which would get eaten by a new emergency every time I got it together.

It was bad. For about my first decade in this house I was barely scraping by.

I made a post about it 10 years ago, and I still agree with basically everything I said in there. And that was when things had just started to turn around for me financially so that I wasn't lurching from paycheck to paycheck.

These are also linked there, but in 2008 my mom came into a little money and gave me a couple thousand and I was able to get all of the floors redone, and new countertops/sink in the kitchen.

These Flickr sets show even better just how bad it was, and how much it was improved. Except I made a huge mistake and got carpet in the bedrooms instead of Laminate everywhere. Something I'd start regretting days into the new floors and would keep regretting deeply for a few years. (Note from the future: These pictures also get used in future posts in this series.) New Floors

New Countertops

With the countertops came a sink and faucet. Instead of laminate countertop from 1963 that had worn through and had holes in it, I had the cheapest countertop Home Depot had but it was new and looked decent. Instead of peel and stick linoleum I had the cheapest laminate flooring on the market but it was way better than the forever-stained brown carpet from the 80's.

That was the first time the house felt livable at least, finally.

In 2012 I got a better job, and finally started having some savings. I spent about $1500 one weekend with my parents upgrading the bathrooms. We bought $250 cabinets from Home Depot, two of the same ones, two of the same faucets, two of the same toilets.

We re-painted the bathrooms because I was thinking of selling the house at that point.

I was a big dummy and never finished painting the hall bath -- ever. It was still only like 90% done for nine years. I have no excuse for that. I just kinda stopped seeing it.

The very worst problems of the house were solved then, and my house was... okay.

The pictures in that Flickr set make it look almost nice in some places.

Except for a few things.

Like that when you took a shower in the master bath it had started having water seep through under the trim back into the bathroom.

I hadn't taken a shower in my master bath since about 2004.

And the hall bath, while it worked, the entire tub area was a nightmare. A horrorshow, honestly. I mean, it worked though. It was just really ugly, and a little grosser every year. But hey, as long as you kept the shower curtain closed, I only had to contend with it a few minutes a day.

----

In 2019, things had spiraled a bit in the house. I made a couple of posts about this, and how my friend Ange came to visit so I did a big cleanout of the house, and replaced the carpet with new laminate.

Here's the first and second post. Well it's the second post that links to the first post.

Here's the followup post.

It was a huge blessing that I did this, that Ange's visit got me to get my house in order. I put a lot of work into it, and in the end it paid off not only because I wasn't that ashamed of most of my house when Ange was here (I mean, still, the garage was a huge Problem, the bathtub had continued to deteriorate and still wasn't fully painted, and the dining room was still full of STUFF that needed to be sorted and put away when she got here) but it was enough.

Then, you know, 4 months later we all stayed home for a year or two and having a house that was improved and decluttered significantly went a long way towards being OK mentally that year.

----

Four years on, and some of the things that had been bad had gotten worse. For instance, the 1960's electric wiring. The house once again had more clutter than I was comfortable with, and the tub situation had gotten fucking dire. Also, the cheap, cheap laminate in most of the house from 2008 was really showing its wear... it had not only started separating at the point in the house that got the most traffic, but it had water damage there, and in other places, too.

Things that were bad, like the state of the windows, hadn't gotten better. The kids across the street shot BBs at my garage one day and one went through one of my garage windows (I didn't catch them in the act but I saw them with it a few weeks later. I love those kids, I'm friendly with the family, and at that point I was like IDGAF, tbh.) The patio roof was a few years from falling down from rot. And a whole host of other things I've posted here and some I haven't.

-----

Y'all, I'm aware that I'm damn lucky to own a house, especially in this market. I'm lucky that I was old enough to buy one before prices skyrocketed and I bought one cheap enough (even in 2003 prices) that I ended up not losing it when the housing market exploded in 2007 and even with my iffy financial situation I sailed out of that OK when so many others didn't.

I am aware I'm talking about something now that it's ridiculously out of reach for so many people, and that situation is just unbelievably shitty, and I'm sorry for that.

-----

At one point when all these renovations started, a friend of mine, one who is in a lot of the 2004 pictures and was one of the couples who bought their house in 2004 asked me if I would still buy a house knowing everything I went through the first few years, all of the things that have gone so very wrong with this place. All of the ugly things that didn't get fixed for 21 years, and how much money this place would cost me.

At the time, I told them I wish I could go back and tell myself do not buy THIS house. Get a house, just not THIS ONE.

But then, a few hours later I re-thought my decision. There's a few reasons why... even through it all, I'd get this house.

Here's the three most important reasons.

And about a half dozen other cats, and two dogs, that I've rescued and re-homed, or just ferals I've taken care of, because I lived in this house.

I wouldn't have Fry, or Pemily, and I wouldn't have had Patchy (or re-homed her babies) if I didn't live here, because they all came from my backyard. I don't think any of them would have survived, and Pemily probably would have never been born.

I also have good neighbors. We look after each other but also mostly mind our own damn business. We're not in a floodplain, taxes are relatively low. It's a decent place to be, even if all my friends who used to live near me moved farther away except one.

So, yeah.

After 21 years I'd saved enough and in the end when I found someone I liked and trusted and who didn't charge crazy amounts of money (HONESTLY I think Arturo didn't charge me ENOUGH) all of this spiraled from "Well we'd better get the electricity fixed so the house doesn't burn down" to... well... what it is now.

It's starting to wind down. We just need a couple more good days of work and it'll be over, for now.

Hopefully then I'll have time to finish this extremely long story and share all the pictures and all the stuff that's happened, more than I have, and show you what Arturo and I made from what you've seen in all the pictures in the links above, if you looked.

I'll be back as soon as I have the time. :)

[eleni-cherie]

ok nobody's gonna see or care this but I'm gonna rant bc I am sick of my life and maybe someone can relate: so long story short, I'm a 27 year old graphic designer who was working 2 years at a big e-commerce shop until the new asshole supervisor didn't want to continue my contract that expired bc of his hurt ego bc I (along w pretty much everyone else bc he liked to pick fights w ppl from all departments bc he got into everyone's business) dared to argue w him BC HE KEPT CHANGING HIS MIND EVERY TWO MINS AND KEPT CONTRADICTING HIMSELF ALL THE TIME. so I lost my job last October and ever since I'm unemployed. I live in germany (Berlin) so I get unemployment money, but it only lasts for a year and it's already the end of July and I still can't manage finding a job although I've probably applied to 90 jobs by now of which only about 10-15 turned into job interviews - or the new trend "getting to know you meetings". of which only 1 invited me for a 2nd interview. now I get there's sadly so many designers, the job market is kinda oversaturated and for one job probably 20-30 ppl apply. but then sometimes this isn't even the problem. I had an interview for what seemed to be my dream job so I was super excited for this but then when I met the two guys doing it, they were very underwhelming. I mean little to no reaction to what I was telling them about myself and at the end they only asked 3 quite superficial questions. that's it. meanwhile others for companies I'm less suitable for, ask me like 20. then there's this other case, where they give you tasks and I don't mind tasks but one time I'd have needed the whole creative suit for them and like - hello? I'm unemployed and don't have the extra money to spend 60 euros every month on Adobe? I only an old Photoshop Version and that's it. then another time they gave me tasks that were only 40% graphic design related (but very vague descriptions/no real info) and 60% marketing/copyright related and like sorry, but I only have basic marketing knowledge and I'm not a fcking ad writer? there's this trend nowadays, they say they want a graphic designer but what they really want is a graphic designer / marketing expert / social media manager / copywriter / photographer / editor / etc. but still w only a graphic designer salary, so they don't have to pay five different ppl. like FCK YOU!

and thing is, in my desperation I even applied to random jobs (which said "No experience needed" in the description) like vendor or barrista. even in a copyshop where I thought I should fit in bc of my knowledge of print products, but either no response at all or I "lacked sale experience". bc Idk how it's in other countries but here you need a certificate for anything. even for a shop vendor you need a 3 year long apprenticeship. for a moment I contemplated going freelance or self-employed but a) I got no fcking clue how and what I have to do and b) taxes and insurance system in Germany is insane, I read an article and was overwhelmed.

So yeah, I'm getting fed up and sad and mad mostly also very anxious about my fcking future bc it honestly seems like I'll end up just moving back to my parents at this point. idk what to do anymore. I try and try and try, but nothing happens and I'm just done. the pressure is overwhelming and the sad thing is, I purposely decided not to visit my relatives/my grandparents this summer (the live in greece) thinking I "might find a job" and even if not, I don't have the extra money for plane tickets! they're extremely overpriced. and it's sad bc whenever I talk to my grandparents they say they miss me and how they're worried about me being unemployed. and my grandparents aren't the youngest anymore either (83 and 89) and I haven't seen then in a year, so that only saddens me more on top of feeling like an overall loser.

[theclumsydancerblog]

Journal Ideas

Here are a few journaling ideas for your new notebook that you are promising to fill this time. I don’t know what time of journal any of you want to do (personal, bullet, just a writing me-time journal, etc), but here are a few ideas if you are ever stuck.

1. What does a dream day in your life look like?

2. What lessons are you currently learning?

3. Write a letter to your past self.

4. List 15 things you are grateful for.

5. What’s holding you back from living your dream life?

6. What do you wish others knew about you?

7. Yearly bucket list.

8. Cleaning routines (daily, monthly, yearly)

9. What emotions do you try to avoid? Why?

10. What makes you proud of yourself?

11. What drains your energy?

12. To Do List (life, personal, school, work, household)

13. What is your best/worst quality?

14. What are you jealous about?

15. When do you feel most alive?

16. Write a letter to your older self.

17. What do you love about each season?

18. What are the flowers in your favourite season?

19. What is your current obsession?

20. Write a letter to someone who has hurt you.

21. List 5 things that make you happy.

22. If your life had a playlist, what would be on it?

23. Describe your dream house.

24. If you could escape/go anywhere you want, where would you go?

25. If you lived in (insert fan universe), what would your life be like?

26. What’s the nicest thing someone has done for you/said to you?

27. What is an idea that has been stuck in your head lately?

28. What does your dream wedding look like? 

29. What does a dream date look like?

29. What was your dream job when you were a kid?

30. Recent dreams.

31. What is your favourite colour and why?

32. What is a random fact you know?

33. Write about your favourite animal.

34. One word page. (this page is for one word only).

35. Write about your favourite person.

36. Lyrics to a song you’re obsessed with/you’re favourite song.

37. Who inspires you at the moment?

38. Describe your room (diagram/planout)

39. Write about your pet.

40. Upcoming events this year.

41. Who would you travel the world with, where would you go?

42. If you were a natural phenomenon, what would you be?

43. What’s your earliest memory?

44. What’s a funny story that happened that you always think about?

45. Book/Movie/Series Review.

46. It’s the end of the world, who are you spending it with?

47. What superpower would you have if you had a choice?

48. What mythical creature would you be?

49. What’s your comfort food?

50. To 5 places you would visit in the world?

51. What is your dream pet?

52. If you were an animal, what would you be?

53. What day of the week would you be?

54. Write yourself in the alphabet (A is for Anime, B id for Bookworm)

55. Movie/book/series Watchlist/TBR

56. Write your favourite poem.

57. Collage page.

58. If you could change anything about the world, what would you change?

59. Set a timer for 5 minutes and write, do not let your pen leave the page and continuously write ‘til the timer stops.

60. What skill(s) do you want to try?

61. A dedication shrine page to your idol/favourite charcter.

62. Ships page (characters you ship, you fangirl).

63. Character profile of your favourite fictional character.

64. Introduce your friend group.

65. Quotes page (fill the page with favourite quotes).

66. What was the perfect day when you were a kid?

67. Doodle page.

68. Diary.

69. Annotations from books.

70. Favourite things said today.

71. World Events happening at the moment.

72. Favourite film and why?

73. What do you pack in your bag every day?

74. What’s your comfort time?

75. Wishlist (about ANYTHING)

So, there you ahev it. 75 pages worth of stuff to write about. I understand the pain of blocks when it comes to notebooks and journals. I hope this helps you and if you have any more suggestions, repost and put them up. I’m always looking for ideas. 

Now go forth young writers!

[danexist]

Going to actually make an addition instead of hiding in the notes because this will be LOOOONG.

So. Doctor Who: one of the longest running, most loved shows on television to date. I love it, my parent's generation love it, my great aunts and uncles love it. But this great show that's been running for longer than my father has been alive, recently, it's gone downhill according to MILLIONS of viewers.

So what made it so loveable in the first place? Well, it was a really fun show about a time-travelling alien who runs around in a blue box with a companion. That's basically the gist, if you haven't seen it. But I hear stories from my grandma even, she and her siblings would watch Doctor Who on TV after dinner whenever it was on, well, after they got a TV that was. When it wasn't on, my grandma's generation would talk about what would happen in the next season, who the Doctor would be next, everything! They knew a next season was coming for certain. And I think that's what made it a really great show for my grandma and her siblings at least, a sense of reliability.

But what's that got to do with us, here in 2024? Since 1972, a lot has changed. Channels have been added, you could tape things, record them for later, DVDs came out, and now, we are in the age of the streaming service. The show has been running since 1963, and television as a whole has changed. Through 15 Doctors, 41 seasons and 2 different renewals, it's DEFINITELY changed. But it followed mostly the same 'alien-of-the-week' format, and I'd say the new season does that, it's just how it has been excecuted.

So, the show that kids have grown up loving for the past 60 years, FOR FREE might I add, is basically hidden behind a pay wall. In Australia, we grew up with the show on the ABC. I don't actually know if the new season was ever shown on the ABC, but it sure as hell isn't on iview. To find the absolutely appalling, very very short season of television, you have to find it on Disney+. It's no longer the show you'd get on Channel 22 after Spicks and Specks, it's another streaming service 8-episode show that's going to be forgotten in 8-10 weeks.

But what in the new show is bad? What about it makes it so easy to hate? First of all, Ncuti Gatwa is a fantastic actor, but it's similar criticism to Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, great actor, terrible writing. Why is that? Well, opposed to Russell T. Davies' first seasons of Doctor Who, it is complete and utter garbage. We have gone from Rose Tyler, the girl who wrote herself into the stars because she loved the Doctor so much, to Ruby Sunday, an overall forgettable companion who could do so much better if they had better writing happening. People talk about Rogue, saying it was a really great episode of television, but look me in the eyes and say it didn't remind you of series 1, episodes 9-10, The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances or Torchwood series 1, episode 12, Captain Jack Harkness. Why is that? Because Russell T. Davies has basically just recycled the same character he wrote 20 years ago, Jack Harkness. He could have done something better, like recast the character of Jack Harkness (don't get me started on that drama, that's a whole different can of worms) with Jonathan Groff and created a seriously great few episodes, but he didn't. And to end a first series with a finale relating to episodes of television tons of the viewers don't remember or are too young to have watched, it's a crappy way to end it.

The fact that it is only 8 episodes long totally astounds me. They have been doing 22 episodes or 12 at the least per series, but this time it's different. It's nearly like they're TRYING to create an immediately laughable version of Doctor Who. I, personally believe Disney had something to do with that, but that's a different post. We used to have action-packed 22-episode series of television we could talk about until the next one came out, but now, we are simply left with an overall forgettable series of television.

Do better, BBC.

[bl-supremacy]

Personal rant

I don't know how long I can tolerate my brother. Yeah, tolerate, might sound mean, idc. He is 7 years old, almost 8, and he's getting stupider by day.

So to add a little context to my current frustration. On Tuesday, I cleaned my aquarium - full top to bottom, every nook and cranny. There obviously might still be faulty places, but I cleaned it as much as one could without professional tools. I've had it for about 10 years now, but about 4-5 years ago, I just gave it up. I am sorry for my fish, though I sold them, but I still didn't keep them in the best way. Since then, I didn't clean the aquarium at all. The water evaporated by itself, the stones clung to the bottom, even the algae died off. Yeah I know, sounds horrible, this is what happens when you have mental health issues.

So I've wanted fish again a while ago, spurred on by watching videos from people who really know what they're talking about. And I made sure to get as much information as I can so that I can get ready for new fish. The perfect opportunity came as my mother's coworker had over 50 baby fish born, and he doesn't know what to do about them, and willingly wants to give at least some away. I obviously said yes, I want some.

So, on Tuesday, I cleaned the aquarium. It took me OVER 3 HOURS to clean it. Then, after I was done, I went with my sister down to the creak, about 10 min walk away. It doesn't have fish but it's so clear you can drink it. We filled 11 glass bottles (juice bottles, big jelly bottles, basically all were big enough to fit about 1 liter of water), and collected sand from the creak. To the very top. It took me to do that for about 20 mins, then almost 40 mins to get back home as the bag we carried them in was so heavy we had to stop every couple meters. Add that it was really cold outside, because of course. At home, I filled the tank with water (60 liter mind you), put the sand in. Today the water settled enough that you can FINALLY see through it, though it will take a couple more days for the sand to settle and have it entirely clear.

So back to my brother and why he was relevant in all this. I just came home from work, went to change and looked at my aquarium on the way back downstairs to eat. What I see is a fucking CARD floating on the top of the water. It was entirely soaked through and was about to fall apart, so it was there for a while. I feel LIVID. I am trying to make the aquarium as life like and natural for my fish that I will get home soon as possible, and he fucking throws in a paper that is so old I was like 9 years old when I got those. All these years have likely accumulated a bunch of dirt and who knows what. I really hope that I got it out soon enough that it didn't contaminate the water. I'm glad it wasn't filled with fish yet, as baby fish can be killed easily. And like I said, who knows what was on that card.

He is SEVEN FUCKING YEARS OLD. He never did stupid shit like this when he was little. I swear he learns this shit at school. Regardless, my patience is wearing thin and I don't know when I will snap. I'm 100% against corporal punishment, but like, one day if he continues like this I will fucking punch his face. He always breaks something of mine, does shit that's stupid as fuck, and generally just does things a normal kid with a fucking brain wouldn't do.

I will likely calm down in a couple days, but until then, I'm hoping that the water will be good and my fish won't be affected. And fuck my brother. I didn't want a second sibling, and yet my parents didn't listen, so they have to deal with me disliking him. And him doing shit with my stuff is getting worse. I'm waiting for the day that I will finally move out and won't have to see him every day. Do I sound like an ass? Maybe. Do I care? No. I'm pretty sure there are other people who dislike their family members that the hate is deep in their bones. People can interact with this, but please don't yell at me for not liking him. I have reasons beyond what I shared and I have no nerve to listen to what people have to say.

Does anyone else have problems like these? Have your siblings played with the lives of your beloved animals? How do you deal with that? I need someone to get my frustrations. Please tell me some of you can relate.