#unemployment sucks so bad right now ;;;;;

[eleanorose123]

See now I'm at a weird point in life where it's like- should I just make a YGO side account for Instagram even if I don’t use Instagram much at all lol

[irisseireth]

I feel like I just left a toxic relationship

[cosmogyros]

(Reblog this version please!) Okay fuck it. I was too nervous to post this at first, but I see tons of non-Germans wanting to know what's going on right now. So here's my summary. Thanks to my buddy @keldermans and another German friend not on Tumblr for taking a glance at it to make sure I didn't get anything too horribly wrong <3 Any remaining errors are my bad!

I spent much of today writing up an outline of the current soap-opera drama going on in the German government, for my non-German-speaking friends who'd like to enjoy the tea as well.

Disclaimer: I am not technically German, but I did my best to explain this all as accurately as possible (and I did get a couple of Actual Germans to check it over for me).

For THE GERMAN DRAMA, see below...

Cast of characters:

The German government coalition (known as the “Ampel” – traffic light – due to its colors):

Olaf Scholz, Chancellor (leader) of Germany. Party: SPD (color: red). - and the other Red party members in the coalition - this includes the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach

Christian Lindner, Minister of Finance of Germany. Party: FDP (color: yellow). - and the other Yellow party members in the coalition (four FDP members) - this includes the Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing - and the Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann

Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor of Germany. Party: Greens (color: green) - and the other Green party members in the coalition.

Other characters: Friedrich Merz, likely to become the next Chancellor. Party: CDU (color: black).

The events I can recall so far, in roughly chronological order over the past five days:

1. The government coalition argues all day Wednesday, trying to pass laws while Lindner refuses to agree to anything. In the evening, Scholz loses his patience and fires Lindner with the legendary words, “Dann, lieber Christian, möchte ich nicht mehr, dass Du meinem Kabinett angehörst. ...So. Doof.” (In that case, my dear Christian, I don’t want you in my cabinet anymore. ...Well. Sucks.)

2. Scholz then calls a press conference and gives a surprisingly impressive speech in which his rage is barely concealed. He includes some sharp jabs at Lindner and sounds very personally betrayed by the breakup.

Scholz's speech includes the immediately-legendary line “Zu oft hat er mein Vertrauen gebrochen” (Too often has he broken my trust), which everyone here in Germany is now obsessively quoting.

He declares that he will ask for a vote of confidence in January, and if he fails it (as is expected), he will call for new elections in March, six months earlier than they would otherwise have taken place.

3. Lindner gives a very emotional and self-pitying speech in which he declares “Ich habe gelitten�� (I have suffered) – another phrase that becomes an instant classic with those of us watching from the sidelines – and he includes some sharp jabs at Scholz.

4. Showing solidarity with their fellow party member Lindner, all the rest of the FDP members in the coalition resign from the government too… except for Wissing, who instead decides to quit his own political party, the FDP, in order to stay in government and keep his job. He is now a party-less politician!

5. Habeck gives an emotional statement to the press, practically in tears, coming across like a kid whose parents are divorcing and he doesn’t know how to handle it. In a maudlin moment of his speech, he compares the collapse of the coalition to the end of a relationship.

6. At the end of Habeck’s statement, a reporter calls after him: “Is Lindner going to apply for Bürgergeld benefits?”

(Background: There are two tiers of unemployment benefits in Germany. To explain it in a somewhat tasteless way, there’s kind of a class distinction. If you come from a “higher-class” profession, you can typically start by getting ALG I, which is more money. If you are unemployed for the long term or come from a “lower-class” working background, you get Bürgergeld. The stereotype about people on Bürgergeld benefits is that they spend it all on drugs and alcohol and sit on park benches getting drunk all day. Also, Lindner is known for trying to pass legislation to reduce social benefits of all kinds, including unemployment benefits.)

7. Background: After the failed assassination attempt on Trump earlier this year, a popular German comedian called El Hotzo posted a joke online saying basically “too bad he missed” and promptly got fired for saying that. He kept his spirits up and joked about the job loss, saying “Ich bin Deutschlands frechster Arbeitsloser” (I’m Germany’s cheekiest unemployed boy).

Back to the present: At a press conference, a reporter asks Lindner: “How are you handling the statements being made about you online right now, such as ‘This is Germany’s cheekiest unemployed boy’?”

Lindner seems to need a long moment to figure out how to reply to this question.

8. The next day, Habeck coyly soft-launches his candidacy for Chancellor by posting a mysterious video of himself on social media in which he’s wearing a cute beaded friendship bracelet that spells out “Kanzler Era” (Chancellor Era). This is apparently a Taylor Swift reference (?).

In this video, he’s sitting in an atmospherically-lit room, writing at a table. It appears that Lindner had posted a very similar picture of himself in the past, because he now tweets in response to Habeck: “All Democrats welcome here, Robert! You got the setup almost right – the lamp was on the other side. ;)” (and he adds his own pic, which indeed very much resembles Habeck’s video)

9. Angela Merkel muses publicly, “Maybe God only created the FDP in order to test us all.” (ETA: She said this a while ago, not in response to the present situation. But it's still so true :'D)

10. A mainstream German news podcast sassily comments on Friday:

“While Olaf 'Too often has he broken my trust' Scholz is enjoying his party’s admiration for his cowboy moment and Christian 'I have suffered' Lindner is going through his own personal St. Matthew’s Passion […]”

11. Buschmann (one of the FDP party members who resigned), who apparently moonlights as a composer of electronic music under the handle "MBSounds", drops a new self-composed track on SoundCloud about the collapse of the Ampel government. It’s called “To Go Is to Stand”.

The news comments dryly: “Well, at least he doesn’t sing on the track.” (Buschmann's previous biggest hit was simply an angry speech of Lindner’s, set to music.)

Lauterbach (one of the SPD party members still in office) tweets: “No offense, but I don’t think I’ll be listening to that song more than once. But still, it was good working with you, Marco.”

12. The media ask Scholz if he’s throwing his hat in the ring to run for Chancellor again. He says yes. They ask, in what ways is he different from Friedrich Merz (the dude who’s currently expected to win)? And he replies “Ich finde mich etwas cooler, wenn es um Staatsangelegenheiten geht” (I think I’m somewhat cooler [than him] when it comes to matters of state).

And now the German media is making up new words like "scholzen" (which I can only presume means "as the leader of a country, to fire other government members you don't get along with"):

[Headline translation: "Who Donald Trump will 'scholz' first"]

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Stevie Fic

This is a Stevie first meeting fic based on this amazing art and concept by @your-unfriendlyghost Like most of my stuff its not betaed. Enjoy!

*************

Evie really fucking wants to hit something.

It’s probably a bad idea considering hitting something-  well, someone-  is what got her here in the first place, but right now it feels like her options are fight or cry and she really doesn’t want to cry. 

The bench in the holding cell is cold under her bare legs, her skirt not long enough to properly cover them, but she can’t bring herself to care in the slightest, despite the fact she’s sharing the holding cell with two guys, one a drunk sleeping off a hangover in the corner, the other a tough looking greaser she vaguely recognizes from school, who’s flicking a lighter idly, clearly bored out of his mind. Her right hand is aching something awful, knuckles all split and bloody, but she clenches her fist tighter, letting the skin pull back, watches the small cuts reopen and the blood well up, filling the tiny cracks in the surrounding skin. It smarts something awful, but it’s kind of mesmerizing all the same. 

She focuses on the sharp sting, pretending the tears pricking her eyes are because of that instead of the fact that mom’s here talking to the police sergeant but she’s still never been further away. 

How did this even happen? A year ago her mother was her favourite person in the whole world. It was the two of them against the world, always had been, ever since dad died back when she was six. Mom never used to have a problem with how she dressed or did her hair, never used to care if she made lewd jokes or chewed with her mouth open because mom’s own manners were even worse and she liked them that way. A year ago if any man mom was seeing raised a hand to her mom would’ve punched him herself, fuck the consequences or the injuries, because she wasn’t ever gonna let a man know she was afraid of him, even if she was. A year ago if Evie had swung at someone for a good reason mom would’ve bailed her out and took her out for ice cream, smiled her crooked smile and told her she was right proud of her and her fighting spirit, made her promise to keep it close to her heart.

Now? Mom’s so different she might as well be a different person, and if this is the thanks Evie’s going to get for defending her, well, she can fucking fend for herself. If mom wants to simper and smile and bend over backwards for a man who treats her like dirt and Evie even worse she can fucking do it. If she wants to take his side and fuss over his broken nose while Evie’s stuck in this fucking cell then good riddance. But Evie’s never gonna throw a punch to defend her again, not ever. Hell, she might not even stick around the house. If mom’s gonna choose a man she met three months ago over the daughter she’s raised for the past sixteen years, why bother? Home hardly feels like home anymore anyway, what with Dean’s clothes in dad’s old dresser, and his presence sucking the air out of every room. Mom’s art supplies have been shoved into the closet to make room for Dean’s unemployment papers, and last week Evie got home from school to find he’d thrown out all her model airplanes. She’d sobbed- she’d been collecting them since she was six, and building the green one was the last thing she did with dad before he passed- but mom just told her to stop acting like such a child because they ‘were only toys anyway’ and went right back to cooking Dean dinner. As if she didn’t know those planes meant absolutely everything to her. As if she hadn’t scraped and saved to buy her one for her birthday every single year without fail. Like she didn’t even care.

A fresh wave of anger rushes through her at the memory, and the next thing Evie knows she’s on her feet, her fist connecting with the concrete wall. She feels more than she hears something in her hand crack, and the fresh wave of agony is definitely similar to when she broke her arm back in kindergarten, but she doesn’t even care. It feels good. She wants to hit something. She wants to hurt. She wants to throw punches the way her mother taught her in the hopes they will somehow help her forget said mother’s betrayal.

“Hey!” A cop with cropped brown hair raps on the cell door with his baton so hard the bars rattle, “knock it off!”

She glares at him for a second but drops back onto the bench. She tells herself it’s because she really does want to get out of here, preferably today, but deep down she knows it’s because the man’s cold eyes and the way he swings the baton make it clear he’d be all too happy to use it on her. 

“Crazy bitch,” she hears him mutter as he walks off,and she stiffens, suddenly wishing she’d spit on him while she had the chance. 

“What’d you expect?” A different voice answers, “These greasy chics are all the same. Wild as rabid dogs.”

A snicker. “And they dress just as poorly. My Adeline ever stepped outta the house wearing something like that she’d never be allowed back in.”

Their voices fade, getting reabsorbed into the racket of the precinct, but there words have already sunk into her skin, leaving cuts under her surface, making a home in the piece of her thats hates herself. She shivers a bit, hugging her jacket tighter around herself, and glowers at the linoleum floor, pointedly ignoring the prickling uncomfortable feeling of being watched. Between her outburst and the cop’s shouting it’s little wonder half the precinct is staring, but she refuses to give them the satisfaction of meeting any of their gazes. Besides, it’s not like she isn’t already used to being looked at like she’s a freak.

“--I mean?” Evie recognizes Dean’s voice easily, even over the din of the rest of the station, conspicuous due to its deep cadence and domineering tone, “that’s not normal behaviour, nice girls don’t do that. I really think I oughta press charges.”

Her head snaps up and she glares at him, snarling, despite the fact he’s pretending to ignore her. Even if he doesn’t see it, mom will, will know that Evie is nothing short of genuine in her hatred, that she regrets nothing. 

Besides, she knows the threat is an empty one anyway. Dean talks a good game but he knows better than to actually press charges for something like this. The cops hadn’t dragged Evieout for her side of the story yet and they’d been all too happy to put her in handcuffs- Dean’s ruined shirt and self righteous anger when he stormed in here had seen to that- but when she does get a chance to speak she’ll be all too happy to explain why she punched him in the first place, and that probably won’t go over too well with a judge.

Of course, mom could always lie for him, rendering her whole defense useless. But Evie’s trying not to think about that. Surely mom still loves her somewhere. Surely she won’t let her own daughter go to the cooler for a half baked crime even if she doesn’t. 

Right?

“It’s those friends of hers,” mom defends, letting out a trilling, fake laugh, smiling as placatingly as possible at Dean and the cop they’re sitting across from. Her eyes dart towards Evie's and away so fast she’s half convinced she imagined it, “they’re such terrible influences. She didn’t mean it.”

“She broke my nose.”

And I'd do it again, asshole, Evie thinks. Her hand is killing her, but if it wasn’t she’d have clenched her fist at the mere thought. That was the one upside of this whole situation: she’d finally been able to do what she’d been wanting to do for months. She’ll be dreaming of the satisfying crunch Dean’s nose had made when she deviated his septum for weeks. 

“She’s your daughter,” Dean continues, “Don’t you think she ought to be punished?”

“Of course I do,” mom simpers, cosying into Dean’s side, gazing up at him with such a sickeningly sweet look Evie wants to vomit,  “But don’t you think pressing charges is a little harsh? I mean, she’s never done anything like this before.”

“Well you have to do something, Caroline, she’s out of control. Talking back, giving me attitude, not listening to you either-”

He keeps going but Evie tunes him out, done listening to his bitching, God knows she already hears enough of it at home. She hates that he’s here, that he lives with them, that he’s ruined every good thing in her life. She hates the way mom looks at him. 

Most of all she hates that she only swung at him once. 

The guy across from her with the lighter is still flicking it rhythmically, the clicking sound oddly sharp, distinguishable even over the overlapping conversations in the precinct itself, but its owner doesn’t seem so bored anymore. In fact, he keeps glancing over at her and then quickly looking away every time their eyes meet. She has half a mind to tell him he’s gonna waste all the gas in his lighter if he keeps it up, or maybe offer him a cigarette in exchange for a light, but she figures the boys in blue might decide to take some issue with that and she isn’t about to get a full pack of marlboros confiscated when she only just bought them.

“Fine!” Dean is suddenly looking right at her, voice rising above the precinct for real this time, “I won’t press charges this time, but I’m sure as hell not paying her bail. She can rot here as far as I’m concerned.”

The rage is a tidal wave bursting through a dam, all consuming and back full force before she can even blink

“Like you could pay it anyway, asshole!” Her unbroken hand is slamming into the bars and he should be grateful for it because it’s the only standing between him and Evie wringing his thick neck, “Last I checked you were a broke, unemployed loser spending my mom’s hard earned money because youre too much much of a fuck up to have a single cent to your own name!”

He sneers, cruelly, but doesn’t rise to the bait. She’ll catch it for sure next time she’s in the house, and he’ll probably find something of hers to break in the meantime, but for the moment he manages to hold himself together.

“Enjoy the holding cell Evelyn.”

“Seriously?” She turns to mom, half desperate, half pleading, knowing it won’t make a difference and hoping foolishly, childishly, that it will anyway, “You’re just going to let him leave me here?”

“Evie-”

“You’re my mom.” Her voice breaks.

Mom flinches, but she hides it well. Evie notices, because she knows her tells, knows the slight trick of her left eye is her way of hiding heartbreak, just like she knows mom never really got over losing dad as much as she always tried to convince herself she did, knows Dean saw the loneliness that festered in mom’s heart and twisted it to his advantage. She knows that mom is strong in some ways but not all of them and that a part of her has given up. She just hadn’t realized until now that the part of her that gave up had given up on Evie.

“I did it for you,” her voice is shaking, and Dean could be screaming and the precinct could be burning around them and it wouldn’t matter because all she can see right now is her mother’s apologetic brown eyes and the fact that she has let her down for the last time, “for you. Not for me. And this is the thanks I get?”

“I’m sorry,” mom whispers, shame twisting her features, “but- but you did a bad thing Evie, and-and we don’t really have the money for bail right now anyway. They’ll only hold you for a day or two anyway and then you can come home and we’ll figure this out, the three of us.”

“Come home?” She can’t help the scoff that forces its way out of her throat, “You think you can leave me here, after everything, and I’ll just come home like nothing happened?”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Try me.”

“Dean’s right,” mom shakes herself and the glimpse of her true self is gone, replaced by the shell of a woman filled with Dean’s slimy thoughts, “you need a few days to cool down. You’re impossible to talk to right now.”

“Imagine how much more impossible to talk to I’ll be when I'm gone and your sack of human shit boyfriend won’t even let you try to find me!” Evie yells at her retreating back, “Huh? Huh, you fucking bitch! Fuck. You.” She punctuates the last two words with a weak rap against the bars, but as suddenly as her anger overtook her it has drained away, leaving nothing but misery in its wake.

The brown haired cop doesn’t have to rap on the bars this time to make her behave. She slinks back to the bench, a woman defeated. 

She doesn’t cry, but it’s a near thing. In fact, she still might. It’s taking a lot of harsh blinking and biting the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from falling, but she refuses to crumple here, to be weak in front of a room full of men who have already seen her humiliated and powerless, men who have actively participated in making her that way. They will not get the victory of seeing her cry too. They won’t. 

“Here,” suddenly the boy with the lighter is next to her, holding out a stained, but soft looking rag. She must have stared at him a beat too long because he clears his throat awkwardly, cheeks reddening ever so slightly, “for your hand.”

“Oh,” she’d all but forgot about her split knuckles and probably broken ring finger, but when she looks down she can see that it’s started to swell something awful, which has in turn increased how much she’s bleeding, “thanks.”

She struggles to wrap the rag clumsily around her knuckles. Without meaning to she makes the mistake of accidentally twitching her broken finger and drops the rag with a hiss, instinctively cradling her hand closer to her chest.

“Here, let me- I mean- I can wrap your hand for you? If you want?” Lighter guy offers. He’s endearingly awkward, and, Evie has to admit, kind of cute, with his thick dark hair and glowing bronze skin. He looks about as rough as most guys from their side of town, intimidating with his leather jacket and seemingly instinctual scowl, but he doesn’t seem scary. Not really. Not when he’s this kind.

Wordlessly she holds out her hand and he takes her wrist with a gentleness that’s unprecedented from such large callused hands, clearly used to hard work, as he carefully threads the cloth over and around her knuckles, covering most of the cuts without tying anything too tightly.

She’s almost disappointed when he pulls away.

“You’re real good at that.”

“Yeah well,” he grins, suddenly roguish and Evie can see how he could be mean if he wanted to, “it’s not exactly my first time bandaging bruised knuckles. Might be my first time bandaging them on a girl though.”

“Oh yeah?” Despite her misery she can feel a smile tugging at the corner of her own lips.

He nods. “You oughta join a rumble sometime, looks like that right hook of yours does some real damage.”

“He deserved it!” Evie snaps. 

“Looked like it,” The boy agrees, holding up his hands in surrender. He’s quiet for a minute, then adds, “Sounded like it too.”

Something about the way he says it makes her pause.

“He was gonna hit my mom,” she admits, shivering at the memory of Dean’s rage and the way mom had tensed, hands flying up to shield her face. She’d said after, when Dean was still screaming and everything had gone to shit that he’d never done it before, but her reaction had told Evie otherwise. “He was standin’ over her and I could see him pulling back and in that moment it felt like my options were hit or be hit. So I punched him.”

“Tuff.”

Evie blinks. “Ya think?”

“Yeah,” he nods, “I really do.”

Something in her chest relaxes at that, at not only his non judgemental assessment of her actions but his clear approval of them. She hadn’t realized how much she needed someone on her side until now.

She looks at him, really looks at him. Aside from his thick hair and smooth skin, he’s got slightly crooked teeth and a strong nose. His eyes are angry, but righteously so, not cruelly so, and there is kindness hidden in the curve of his cheek and the calluses of his hands.

“You’re Steve, right? I’ve seen you around school before with that friend of yours. The blond one.”

“Sodapop, yeah,” He gives her an odd look, slightly pleased but clearly taken aback, “I gotta be honest, I’m not used to people knowing my name and not his.”

“Oh,” It’s her turn to blush, “well, I-I guess he never really made much of an impression on me.”

“Well since you seem to know my name, does that mean I made an impression on you?” 

“No,” her cheeks are burning and she doesn’t sound convincing, even to herself, but if she’d seen Steve Randle doing pull ups when she walked past the boys gym class once and made a point of learning his name, that’s no one's business but her own. It didn’t have to mean anything. It didn’t mean anything before now. “Shut up.”

He laughs, and she should probably be annoyed because he’s definitely teasing her but it’s such a nice sound, carefree and inherently defiant, that it’s hard to do anything but enjoy it.

“Someone call for a jailbreak?” 

Before Steve can properly answer they’re interrupted.

Speak of the devil, Evie thinks, silently cursing Sodapop as he grins through the bars at Steve, flanked by an older boy wearing ascuffed letterman jacket and the brown haired cop from earlier. He couldn’t have waited to get here just a few minutes longer?

“Took you long enough,” Steve rises fluidly to his feet as the cop unlocks the cell, and nods at the other boy, “Hey superman. What’re you doin’ here?”

“Gotta be over 18 to bail someone out Steve-o,” Sodapop singsongs, before the older boy can get a word in, “an’ I figured you wouldn’t want me gettin’ mom or dad involved unless I had to.”

“Thanks man,” Steve pulls them each into one of those odd half hugs boys do, clapping the big one called Superman on the shoulder as he pulls away, “speaking of, any chance you’d be willing to sign for one more person? I’ll pay the bail, I just need your signature.”

He looks over his shoulder expectantly and Evie realizes with a start that he means bail for her.

“What? No! Steve you guys can’t- I don’t got the scratch to pay you back-”

“Well I ain’t about to leave you here by your lonesome all night, and it don’t seem like your mom’s fixing to come back anytime soon. Darry here won’t mind signin’ the papers since I’m vouchin’ for you.”

‘’Course not.” The older boy agrees.

Evie bites her lip, considering. She really, really doesn’t want to stay here, especially without Steve for company, but she also doesn’t have the funds to pay him back.

“I really can’t pay you back-”

“Listen, if you really wanna pay me back you could agree to go out on a date with me?“

“O-oh,” she smiles down at her feet, “I- yeah, I’d love to.”

“Really?”

He really shouldn’t sound so shocked. She’d basically been the one to admit to liking him, after all.

“Yeah. Really really.”

“I’m Evie by the way,” she tells him as she and Steve walk side by side out of the precinct, realizing she has yet to introduce herself, despite how long they’ve been talking.

“Oh,” Steve's grin is playful, “I know. I make a point of learning the names of pretty girls.”

“I guess I must’ve made an impression on you too, huh?”

He gently takes her non broken hand in his, twining their fingers together.

‘Yeah,” he agrees, “I guess so.”

[dicksmasher]

Now that Marc Rubio has confirmed they don't plan on any type of ceasefire in Gaza (big fucking suprise) where are all of the tumblr leftists who felt like voting for Trump or against Harris would somehow save Gaza? Like, are you stupid?

Both options fuck Gaza because this country is in Israel's pocket, it fucking sucks but its the reality. The problem is, only one of those options was going to end up destroying our home turf as well, piece by piece. You think Roe V Wade being overturned was bad? What about when the department of Education gets dismantled and kids stop going to school everywhere. Or when water and food and safety regulations are defanged further and people start getting poisoned by their food and the water becomes unsafe to drink in more and more areas?

Or when workers rights get pulled back and before you know it you can lose your job if you aren't working 70 hour weeks, you don't get paid extra for overtime, your job no longer legally has to let you eat or rest. You're no longer protected from discrimination, and there are no fallbacks like unemployment or food stamps when you do get fired. And then when you work like this and your body breaks down, you can't even get decent care at the hospital anymore because you either can't afford it or the the hospital near you shut down, or both.

They'll be coming for gay marriage and interracial marriage and women's rights. If you were born AFAB they will fight to remove your right to vote and will fight to have your born gender reassigned to you if you tried to legally change it (goes for AMAB folks as well).

You think people will riot and keep these changes from happening? Don't worry, Trump already said he'd use military force to shut that down. And in case you're too young/uneducated/live under a rock to know this, it would not be the first time our government killed its own citizens to shut down legitimate protests, so don't lie to yourself and think it's not something that would not absolutely happen, probably worse than it's ever happened. Trump is not physically capable of caring about anything other than himself.

The angry 20 somethings that voted on vibes alone (or didnt vote at all) have no idea what they're in for and only their ignorance to blame. They wanted a perfect candidate that would magically fix everything for them but what they didn't realize is that has not been an option for a while, if ever. Every election, you have to choose the best option available to climb out of the hole and not dig it deeper. It takes time. Now the hole will be dug so deep we may not, as a country, ever get out.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Bon nadal! I have a personal question. After school I want to do a gap year in Barcelona, but from what I’ve seen till now the possibilities of working there are very rare. I don’t wanna do an aupair and a long "language trip" is really expensive. Are you aware of more possibilities or is Barcelona in general to expensive and not the best place to do a gap year?

Renting in Barcelona is extremely expensive. We have a huge problem with gentrification, so lots of people from Barcelona are having to move out, at least to the cities in the metropolitan area (Cornellà, l'Hospitalet, Esplugues, Badalona...). Honestly, I don't think it would be easy to find a place to stay in Barcelona itself for an affordable price, but it's well connected with its metropolitan area through public transport.

Still, it's worth saying that, on average, inhabitants of Catalonia destine 54% of their income only to pay rent (source). That number is including all ages, so including the boomers who have been working all their lives. As you can see, the situation is bad.

On top of that, we also have a high unemployment rate, particularly for young people, accentuated for women. To be fair, right now we are having a great moment, we have never had such small numbers of unemployment since 2008... and that's still 5 more times the number of unemployed people in Germany, as an example. The current youth unemployment rate is 25.70% (source).

If you are a native English speaker, you could try to find work in a private academy for English. Lots of families send their children there after school, since we all must learn English but the school system sucks at teaching it. I don't know if they'd ask you to have some course or certificate for teaching English as a second language, but I would think not all of them ask it, because I've had some teachers who didn't seem to know much what they were doing...

I can't think of anything else at the moment. If you can't speak either of our languages, I think it would be difficult to find a job in easy sectors that don't require studies. Maybe in a hotel or something geared to tourists?

I'm sorry I can't be more useful. Let's see if any of our followers can add something more.

[orpheuslament]

Are queer people not entitled to employment where you live? I majored in history which is also considered useless so I went to grad school for library and information science. I’m just curious because yeah I look like a transitioning gay boy at my library and nobody gives a shit because my coworkers all socialists and hardcore lesbians. I don’t know what the situation is like over there or if unemployment is really bad right now but its hard to hear that your looks would some how preclude you from getting a job. That really sucks.

its just harder to get a job anywhere when you dont look like a typical cishet person unless you get lucky & find some place where theyre actually looking for that. i thought this was universal lmao

[bitchesgetriches]

Loveliest Bitches this side of the galaxy, I humbly ask your wisdom! I'm one of the "lucky" few whose body decided to go 'Yep, time for the illnesses'--as in chronic things we're still trying to figure out some of. I'm actually currently on medical unemployment for the next bit. But after, I'll be back in the interviewing for work game! However, there's a bit of an issue. One of my known issues is called subacute cutaneous lupus, which results in me having rashes. Sadly, for me, my meds only work so well, even after trying a few (even the special-specialist is perplexed--I don't recommend being a medical oddity, folks). They mostly help the itchiness, but the rashes still look bad and are in very conspicuous places--arms, hands, neck, and a bit on my face, and makeup doesn't cover it all without looking strange. So I'm concerned about that in the interview process... I know it's best not to note medical issues, since they can refuse you on that alone. But at least some of my medical issues are very noticeable, despite my best efforts. So I'm not sure how to handle the inevitable questions regarding in an interview setting...other than interviewing in a ghillie suit, which would probably raise more questions. Any suggestions would be handy! Thanks for all your wonderful work to help us other bitches reach the riches!

Have you seen Linda Evangelista's photoshoot for Vogue?

I'm actually not suggesting you drape yourself in yards of fabric or a ghillie suit. I think it's incredibly sad that Evangelisa--one of the most successful and beautiful models in the world--was so socialized to be so ashamed of her aging body that she risked permanent mutilation. And I'm further saddened that she's ashamed of the results of that mutilation to the point that she feels she must hide.

Same goes for you, puggle. I'm sorry you feel you have to hide the results of this disease from potential employers in order to get hired. It sucks that you're already predicting discrimination and uncomfortable, invasive questions. IT AIN'T RIGHT!

My suggestion is that you don't go out of your way to cover up more than is comfortable for you. Instead you should come up with a brief, final statement to address any awkward glances or questions. Throw in a little humor and it'll defuse any judgment. Something like:

"I'm being treated for an illness that causes blemishes on my skin. It's not contagious, and it doesn't affect my ability to do my work. Mostly it's just annoying and makes me look like an extra on The Walking Dead. Now, what can I tell you about my experience in branding?"

Also, review what questions they can and can't ask you, just in case:

10 Questions You Should Never Be Asked in a Job Interview 

Beware These 5 (Perfectly Legal) Discriminatory Hiring Practices

[klapollo]

do you think there is any chance your landlord would let you break the lease if you express your concerns? I've been in some shit basement suites and I really feel for you :(

two issues w this

a) i'm month to month so i could pretty easily but i don't WANT to. i genuinely really loved living here until he came. i spent four months loooooving this apartment. i would literally be so excited to come home because for the first time, my home was my happy place. it was always incredibly quiet and peaceful. it has all my utilities + furniture + central air and heat with my own bedroom, kitchen and living area for a very reasonable price for nyc. my landlord is very nice and helpful as far as landlords go and is very easy to live with when it's just her. this guy started living here inexplicably about a month and a half ago (i suspect he's just gotten out ol some kind of trouble, is detoxing from some substance issue or is otherwise deposed bc he never leaves + the erratic behavior + he was never here more than VERY occasional visits until recently)

b) i have nowhere else to go right now. i have no job, so i can't apartment hunt because i have no income beyond unemployment and then no pay stubs to show which would further hamper my search and make me difficult to lease to. this sucks but at least the days are usually more good than bad -- my parents' home is unbearable. i don't really have anyone i can stay with irl either, even for just occasional overnight visits. i have people i can call in an emergency if i'm in serious danger but that's about it and i can't go anywhere for anything less than "i'm pretty sure he's going to kill me."

i'm really just hoping this is temporary and he goes back to wherever he was living before he came here soon.

[newsom]

Maybe a weird question but how do you support a partner who has been unemployed for a long while? My partner has been looking for a job since getting laid off last december and has had a terrible time even getting callbacks so I know this must be weighing on their self-confidence but i'm not sure how i can help.

not a weird question, lots of love to you both! it sucks so bad for everyone involved, but one of the best things my gf did for me during my unemployed convalescence was to remind me of all the ways we were actually fine. i mean i don't know your exact situation but in general it'll probably be true that

being unemployed is one of the most common things ever, your partner is not and has never been alone in this, especially now when the job market is ass across the board

your partner has you, and is presumably on unemployment benefits, and even though it does feel awful, neither of you are in dire straits

it's one of the most beautiful times of the year, in the northern hemisphere anyway, and the world is spinning and both of you are a part of it. it's really easy to get solipsistic in these situations and one of the most helpful things you can do is actively push back on that.

some other concrete things my gf would do for me when i was tipping over the edge of despair:

make me stand up from my desk and shake it out - literally set a timer for 1-2 and just shake all of your limbs until you're short of breath. it REALLY helps relieve overall body tension!

hype me up - this depends on your partner's willingness/ability to be cheered up by this sort of thing i guess, but i'm a preener so it always helped a little just to be reminded of my wins, no matter how small. your partner has been offered a job before, and they will be offered a job again! they are capable and competent and good at what they do. did they send out an application today? they're literally doing exactly what they need to be doing. they're not making any mistakes here. they are just doing what they can in a day to get a little closer to a better tomorrow and that's all anyone can possibly expect of them.

also, if it's at all possible they shouldn't work on job applications after 5pm or on the weekends! it is just another day job right now, and they don't need to do anything extra or give themselves a hard time. job hunting sucks really badly, but it's also just another thing people do during the day, and personally it always really helped to be reminded of that. best of luck to both of you <333

[peachesnabsinthe]

Almost Two Weeks of Unemployment

** Tw/cw: This post contains discussions on chronic physical and mental illness. Things that may be discussed include personal medical diagnoses, treatment, and disability. Please be mindful before reading!**

So it has been almost 2 weeks of unemployment for me. It's been so difficult. I didn't think that I would take it so rough.

I did have my doctors appointment on Monday, and I was diagnosed with hEDS and POTS ( I have a whole list of other diagnoses as well, being disabled is SO FUN hahaHagfljsdga). It has been a very, very LONG and tedious process and I'm beyond exhausted. I've honestly been struggling with pretty severe suicidal ideation as well (don't worry, I'm fine, and any fellow folks struggling with this as well, I see you, and I feel you, and you're gonna be fine too believe it or not). I had been afraid of losing my job and my life drastically changing due to my physical health for many years, and now that it's happening, I've been struggling with such overwhelming grief.

However, I KNOW that this is the best decision I made, BECAUSE of the lifestyle changes that I'm going to have to make in order to get back to living more comfortably (and of course to just function in a more healthy/sustainable way). I already have an XRAY appointment set up to look at my neck/shoulder, hips, and hands. I am also going to start the Dallas-Levine Exercise Protocol soon, though I really need to do some research on whether or not I even have access to a Physical Therapist or someone/something to assist me (I'm honestly nervous to do it on my own, I sometimes injure myself just doing basic, low-impact 10 minute yoga videos).

I'm also incredibly lucky and incredibly grateful that my partner, friends and family have been so supportive and kind about everything going on. The majority of them don't know how to handle this, which is understandable because it's a lot and I don't know how to handle it either! I don't need anyone to give me tips or any advice, just them listening and holding space for me is so helpful. I am able to stop working and have the ability and privilege now to JUST focus on my health, and not many people get to do this. My new health insurance situation appears to be good, and I have a new PCP that actually gives a shit about me. And in this godforsaken country and state (howdy Okies), that's a damn good thing! Don't EVEN get me started on a healthcare discussion, I'm apparently not supposed to get too agitated or else my POTS flares up lmfaaaoo so I won't go there.

But yea. It's been rough. This week so far has been pretty intense. It's so hard trying to deprogram myself. All my life I have been told that I'm too sensitive, I'm a baby, you're just weak, it's not that bad, people have it worse than you, etc. and FUCK. ALL. THAT. NONSENSE. Zoë was a sick child, and is still a sick adult, and that's fine! Now I get to do what I need to do to heal myself, and it fucking sucks and seems miserable right now, but I'm alive and I have to keep going. Because there's still things to experience, even if I have to experience them in a way that is different from everyone else. My body and brain will never be like other people's, and that's okay! I get to deprogram and learn how to live my life in a way that will be best for me.

All that to say, if you are also struggling with mental and/or physical illness, you're not alone. and I see you.

[fortunesrevolver]

Went to a neurologist today regarding some long-time problems I've been having related to NF1, scoliosis, and other things. Mostly the first two. I don't really know how to explain it all without just babbling about medical stuff and throwing a lot of private information on the internet...

It's just really exhausting. I found out six months ago I essentially had a... sack of spinal fluid hanging off my spine. There's a lot of tissue and nerves growing through the surrounding area which makes it insanely difficult to operate on. Not to mention that, because part of it IS related to my NF due to the mass that the sack (for lack of better words) is essentially sitting on is a neurofibroma and... buh. I don't even know how to explain this in a way that makes sense.

Maybe I can dumb it down to the most basic issues:

I have scoliosis

I have neurofibromatosis

My hips are asymmetrical (due to the above)

This in turn makes one leg a little longer than the other, not because the legs themselves are different sizes. My hip raises one up a bit.

My right sight is very obviously weaker than the left.

Unrelated to the NF/Scoliosis stuff, I've been having really bad vertigo that won't go away. This caused nausea issues that won't go away, and all this is just stacked on top of the constant pain issues I'm already having. I can't jog or run. Even walking makes my back and neck hurt more than I can properly explain.

Everything combined together is just... exhausting. So exhausting. I can't even hold a job down because after a day or two I'm just so low energy and slumped and just... dead energy-wise and motivation-wise because of all the pain. It's just. Always pain.

Walking for more than a few minutes? Pain. And that pain just gets worse the more I move.

Jogging? Running? Straight up can't. The "sack" mentioned earlier essentially bounces up and down if I try and it sends shooting pain down my right leg. Bad enough that my leg will frequently give out if I push myself.

Sitting? Well, less painful than some things, but it also hurts if I'm not twisted into a weird position that makes my other muscles hurt if I sit for too long.

Lungs are fucked from Covid. Getting better. But still fucky. So breathing is hard too.

Vertigo is more or less known enough I don't have to explain that one, but... Even scrolling too fast on a screen triggers that sometimes.

I'm just. So. Tired... So tired. I want to be healthy.

Doctors and unemployment are all encouraging me to try for disability and work toward that so I have some kind of stable income and something to live off of while I try to get my health together. But... well. Anyone ON disability can tell you how much of a hurtle that is to get. Let alone keep it.

Still...

I want to. I'm going to try. But as it is... I have no income at all. I've got nothing to keep me together. Nothing to float with. I've got my Etsy, and I'm hopeful I'll be able to do a little more with that, but not having income makes it hard to get supplies to make things... but I'll do what I can.

The pandemic really made a lot of this so much harder because everything shut down and I couldn't get the help I needed for a while... though part of it was my own fault because I tried to power through for so long. I didn't think I deserved help. I tried so hard to climb out of one health hole, only to tumble right into another, and this one I can't really do anything about...

So that's where I'm standing for now.

It sucks... but I guess I'll try my best for now. Gotta find a way to pay bills and keep things going.

The biggest Suck about all this is, in order to apply for disability, I have to stop unemployment. Which I have to do anyway. if I *can't* work, unemployment doesn't want to help me anymore. All they care about is getting me employed again.

But if I go off unemployment and stop searching for work (mostly remote, it's all I can do that doesn't involve movement. spine problems and all) then I have *no* income to pay for basic insurance, medical bills, and basic life bills.

So. Hopefully I can build a decent buffer this month through Etsy and maybe I'll have some sort of luck with disability...

At least the doctors are on my side and willing to help and get me whatever letters I need. Here's hoping that's enough.

[disco-cola]

dudes i need to rant cause yall know this is my online diary so i honestly feel so lost my life has no direction and hasnt had any for the past years and the years just seem to fly by in the blink of an eye and with every year i get more anxious about my birthday and getting older and my lack of achievements well at least if you define achievements by university degrees and work experience which is sadly still the standard instilled in this society and if you struggle with anxiety and or depression and cant function you are worth less (or even worthless) and you constantly need to justify and excuse yourself and the future seems so dull not only bc of my era-struggling™ but because i literally have such a hard time with the vicious cycle of getting a job and being sucked even more into this exploitative capitalistic system (idk what its like where you live but where i live rents have risen beyond any realistic affordability, grocery prices too but work wages and unemployment "benefits" from the state have not and even people working full time living with a partner who is also working full time are struggling to pay their rent and pay for groceries and electricity and make ends meet and for what you would have to work even more than forty hours a week to be able to afford a decent lifestyle as of right now but people are already working and worrying themselves sick to not fall down behind into poverty and get a pension plan which again is the vicious cycle im talking about retirement age will probably get even higher but how are you supposed to even work until at least 67 years old when you already destroy your body and soul decades before that? people are burned out several decades before that and still so many old folks now have worked so hard all their lives to only get such little pension they still need to work despite being sick, or go collect bottles (in countries where you get a few cents for returning plastic bottles at least) or even beg. honestly its sick this cant be the essence of life. it keeps me up at night. i dont wanna do this. i dont want life to be like this. i used to wanna go into the music business so bad when i was like 18 and be a manager or in a band but ever since my era-struggle™ despite the fact i dont like whats mainstream today but i also dont think i could last a day in the fast pace of todays business with social media and cancel culture. i just couldnt. i barely can now from my current position and deleting all social media and getting a nokia or motorola flip phone like i had as a child or a landline phone seems more and more appealing. my old friends are moving into the big city and we are drifting apart. they work so much they dont have time. but i also realize that i am starting to exclude and seclude myself and dont crave much human contact anymore. it honestly drains me. even grocery shopping or walking my dog during daytime drains me at this point. i dont wanna move and live in a big city anymore like other people my age. my suburb is too much for me already. i have fantasies of escaping from here daily. i literally just wanna go move to a small beach or mountain village and open a dog daycare. this is literally the only thing i can see myself doing in the future that does not give me anxiety and makes me wanna run into oncoming traffic.

[tristinleighhh]

I'm going to use text to talk for this post because it really hurts to type with my wrists, and I really want to do morning pages instead of scrolling on Facebook as soon as I wake up.

my wrists got messed up in the fall and my left wrist has been really hurting me my right one isn't as bad but it does hurt when I'm on my phone.

anyway, not having a job is really starting to get to me. I feel like a useless piece of shit I'm not understanding why I can't get a job. I get that most places aren't hiring right now but damn I've applied at a lot of places and I've gotten no call backs. I want to go out and apply to more places but there is snow everywhere and the weather has been against me. applying online is stupid, all the posts are like 30 plus days old and there's nowhere that I want to work on there but at this point it seems like I'm going to have to go somewhere I don't want to be and that really sucks. I hope that this week I get a call back from this place called Acova. They said that they were hiring after the first of the year and it's now the third. The host guy was really nice and it's a small indoor place with a big patio and a good menu and I think that it seems like I could fit in there and he liked my resume and the fact that I came in person and I'm going to call them back and see if they want to set up an interview.

I've been saving a change jar forever. Pretty sure the last time that I emptied it was in 2018 when I went hulaween with Matt. I could be wrong but I've been collecting changing there for a while and it was supposed to be for envision. I already took out all my singles and now I'm going to exchange all the change today because my bank account is negative and I need to do a a credit card payment, I've never missed a payment. I feel like I'm already messing up my credit because I have a huge balance. I spent way too much money at the Fillmore but I did have a really good time.

I'm getting really stressed about envision. I'm supposed to be getting $633 a week for unemployment and I haven't gotten anything yet I really hope that I get it soon. I feel like Dan does so much and I've been doing like nothing. I haven't working on some art I finished one piece and I'm working on something else. I'm not going to get distracted today and I'm going to finish this piece. I'm going to clean up the pretty lights hats today and put them up for sale online. I'm going to put my maroon of the trees hat up for sale online. I have no idea what to price the pretty lights hats at but I feel like I could sell them for a good amount of money.

I know I'm just rambling but isn't that the point of morning pages?

Today I'm going to apply for Medicaid also since I lost my health insurance because bitch ass bds...and can't afford another plan. 🤞 It all works out.

I'm honestly so sick of this snow it's really just messing everything up for me. I truly don't even know where else to apply I really don't want to work in some random bigger corporation restaurant.

whatever I'm going to seize the day today, finish straightening up my room so I have a clear space, and I'm going to make sure I hydrate more 💧

open on Facebook yet which is good because that shit rots your fucking brain. I try to follow pages that are cool and informational but I just get random shit and I don't want it. Facebook isn't as fun as it used to be and I'm really going to try to use Tumblr more. I'm going to try to curate my page to just be in nature loving mushroom fairy wonderland.

I'm going to go wash my face brush my teeth and start my day. Today is going to be a good day. I'm going to manifest this job at acova. I'm going to get this job, the job is already mine 🥰 m a n i f e s t.

oh also Lotus New Year's Eve was dope I should post some pictures on here cuz it really was awesome and I want to start sharing my life more on here.

okay well this was refreshing to do and I'm all out of words so see ya.

Signing off 🖖

Triz

[flutenby]

I saw a post that basically mocked people saying it's easier to organise under dems than republicans, because people don't organise under dems.

Now I don't live in the USA, but I will note my observations of organising while going from a conservative government to the more left-wing major party here

You're right that it's harder to get people to organise and take action. There are many people that will absolutely take action, donate, etc, under a conservative government, but then under a more progressive government go "well the more progressive people are in, so all the problems are fixed yay!" when there are absolutely still cooked things happening. This is a pretty known phenomenon, and yeah it sucks

However, in terms of getting good things to happen, or stop the government doing shitty things? Way way way easier under the more progressive government. Yes our action groups are smaller, we have less money, and rallies get lower turnout. But the actual policies are less bad, and sometimes even good. Because you can get in contact with the more progressive government. As much as the liberal party doesn't like us, they do things that are much closer to what we want than the conservative party. And hey, sometimes they initially say no fuck you then adopt that exact policy 3 years later

This is to say - you may find it harder to organise under dems because your community is less motivated, but it is much easier to get the actual outcomes you want. No it's not going to be exactly what you want, and ok many fronts they'll still be cooked. But every fraction better you can get is worth it.

Every person that's allowed in on higher refugee caps, every person who gets higher unemployment benefits, every percentage of a degree saved by fossil fuel projects that are rejected. Even within these policies, yes the more progressive party is still not doing enough. But are you really willing to sacrifice more lives for it?

Always keep pushing left. But the mood of the country is in many ways dictated by who is in power. And when right-wing bigots are in power, you have to fight so much harder to get basically nothing. Don't ignore the people who are on the line between living and dying under conservative and more progressive governments. And don't forget that despite how hard it is to fight now, it's so much harder to win under conservative governments

[jhtechgeek2011]

Better and worse right now

I am back and things are both better and worse right now. I have found some things that help, like accommodations at school and tutoring, breaking things down, rewarding myself for what I complete, and a really solid planner/schedule/journaling system that works pretty well for me. I have been getting a lot of work done around the house lately and I finally finished English Comp 1. I passed but just barely.

Work is not going at all well yet. I am still getting 3 days a week and not being able to really use my accommodations at work like I should be able to. It just gets worse and worse for me at my job and I feel like it's killing me in pieces. I end up in so much pain by the 3rd of my work days that I can hardly walk and am completely drained. The pain lingers around in various stages of severity until I have to go back and do it again. I can't stand the place and don't want to return but I have no options. I am getting my unemployment and I wouldn't even be able to make ends meet if I didn't.

I wish I could just get the help I need not to work myself into the ground all the time. I really wish I could just get a job where I don't have to stand up where it's actually just a seated job and works with my skills and limitations rather than working against my limitations and not utilizing all of my skills. It shouldn't have to be this doggone hard just to live, It truly shouldn't. I would get SSI I am eligible but I worry that I will just get a no because my income and unemployment combined are too much. It really sucks that they look at that before they look at your medical issues. I just wish I could stop working and still have money to live on, that's all I want. Winning the lottery would be SO great, but those odds are so bad I don't even want to go there.

The car wash guys are still being their usual obnoxious selves but it got hot enough for my AC unit to go in the window so I can drown them out much better now with my fan and AC on. They still get right under my apartment window and smoke though which is annoying when I do open my window because it's cooler out and I don't necessarily need AC to have to smell their weed on my nice breeze. I am so tired of these guys that's one of the many reasons my boyfriend and I are saving up to move out as much as we can each paycheck because we GOTTA be out of here before we need heat again. The heat here is ridiculous and we don't want to spend another winter dealing with it.

Another thing frustrating for me right now is I can't afford my new glasses and I can't see very well at all right now. My prescription changed a LONG time ago, and my year between annual eye exams and insurance-covered glasses passed in February. My insurance doesn't cover my vision needs well at all. My glasses are STILL over $400 even with the insurance because they only cover 30% and my eye exam was basically $200. The contact lens eye exam isn't even covered so I couldn't even get an updated contact prescription to do that instead. They also cost an arm and a leg but are less than my ridiculous ass glasses. This is ridiculous, it shouldn't be this hard to get the very thing I need to be able to actually see.

Finally, I just want to say that life shouldn't have to be this hard, and stupid, toxic, fake people shouldn't make it worse. People just want to take everything they can and give nothing in return. So many people only call when they want something. Other than that you don't even hear from them and especially when you need something they're nowhere to be found. A lot of people are only your friend for what they can get out of it, and it sucks. All the fake, toxic, stupid, hating people need to get a life, and stay out of mine, seriously. Until next time, when you see what's going on next with Just Jen.