#we are humans and we should be allowed to be human without having a dollar value attached to the experience of it or onto each of our needs

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Compelling Characters

Characters & Goals

“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” –Kurt Vonnegut

Characters should almost always have clear goals, even if these goals are not immediately made obvious to the reader.

Without goals, characters lack motivation—that is, they have little reason to do anything interesting.

For this reason, many writers connect the main character's goals to the main conflict in the story. This generally means that the main obstacle to those goals plays a key role in the plot as well (for instance, in the form of a villain).

Often, the main character is most interesting and when confronting his own shortcomings in pursuit of his goals.

There are a few ways to construct this character-plot connection:

CHARACTER-FIRST APPROACH

Constructs a story’s plot for a character that already exists.

It asks a writer to build a character that they find interesting and then assemble the plot around them.

Example: A character who is struggling to overcome a phobia might, as a plot element, come into contact with the thing she fears. Success in this instance would mean that she doesn’t let the fear overcome her.

PLOT-FIRST APPROACH

Starts by defining the major conflicts the writer wants to include in a piece of fiction and then builds a character who will be motivated by those conflicts.

Example: A writer could decide to explore the effect of a catastrophic storm on a city before writing a main character. A character that would feel motivated by this conflict would be one with a connection to the city or to someone living in the city. Therefore, the son of someone who went missing in the storm would likely be a good focal character for this story.

Small Goals & Big Goals

Though it’s important for characters to have at least one big goal, it can be boring for the reader if a character is totally preoccupied with a single motivation.

Strong characters generally have two or more goals of varying sizes that they might confront separately or at the same time.

The reader excitedly anticipates your character's success or failure in achieving their goals.

Believability

Another factor that can contribute to a successful character is an element called “verisimilitude,” also called “believability.”

When writers talk about believability, they talk about whether the constituent parts of a character make sense and feel cohesive.

Example: We might expect a character who gets paid minimum wage to struggle to pay her bills, so if we see her driving an expensive car or spending several hundred dollars on a meal at a fancy restaurant, we would question these details.

There are, of course, stories in which these situations could exist, but the reader would need to know what allowed them to happen (inheritance from a late relative, perhaps, or an irresponsible approach to personal debt).

Suspension of Disbelief

Stories that take place outside of a realistic modern setting will generally require some extra work on the part of the writer to make them believable.

This is because of an idea called “suspension of disbelief.”

This refers to the tendency of readers to challenge details of a story that seem out-of-place, but not to question those details if they are presented with enough contextual justification.

Example: A story contains people who can fly with human-size wings. The reader would need to learn early on that this is a normal event that occurs in the story world. A reader who unexpectedly encounters flying humans three-fourths of the way into a short story could easily be baffled by this development, and might also consider it a cheap cop-out if it's used to resolve a plot conflict.

Adding Physical Detail

In addition to planning your characters thoughtfully, you must also sketch them coherently on the page.

Careful selection of physical and environmental details will make some of your character’s traits visible to your reader without you having to tell them outright what you mean. Examples:

A character who is disorganized might have wrinkled clothing or might consistently arrive late to appointments.

An introverted character might bring a book or notebook everywhere they go and might also stay out of crowded spaces (or feel uncomfortable in those spaces).

Symbolic Meanings

Be aware of the other meanings that a detail can bring into a piece.

A physical detail, especially one that appears multiple times within a work, might also develop symbolic meanings in addition to its literal meaning.

Writing Exercise

In a short vignette, and using only physical details (e.g., characters' clothing, appearance, or body language), make it clear to a reader that a character is experiencing one of the following conditions: worry, hunger, grief, joy, confusion, lack of sleep, anxiety, homesickness.

The word you chose should not appear in your vignette, nor should any synonyms.

Adding Personality

Broadly, “personality” refers to the collection of beliefs, thought patterns, and other mental qualities that dictate a character’s actions.

A personality trait could be the character’s bubbly disposition, their self-deprecating humor, or the fact that they’re always nervous.

When constructing a character, it’s important to think about how she would react in a number of situations.

Here are some questions to help you discover your character’s personality traits:

Is he fond of attention, or does he avoid it?

Is she curious to learn more about a topic/location/person, or does she keep to herself?

How big of a role does fear play in his day-to-day activities?

How does this character react if things don’t go the way she wants them to?

Does he think that he’s more intelligent/less intelligent than others around him?

Does she think she’s average? How would she define “average?”

How does he feel about making decisions?

Does she make decisions quickly or slowly?

Does he tend to regret decisions they’ve made?

It’s helpful to connect these traits to elements from the character’s life or past.

Example: A character who grew up with a controlling parent might have difficulty making decisions once they start living on their own.

Personality traits might also overlap with physical traits.

Example: Talking too loudly or too softly or interrupting others.

It’s also important to make sure that your characters aren’t good at everything they come across.

Doing so will reduce your story’s believability because—let’s face it—no one is good at everything.

To this end, you should allow your characters to fail at something, whether that something is huge or inconsequential.

Writing Exercise

In a short vignette, deliver some news to your character.

The news can be good or bad.

It can affect just the character, or the entire world population, or any number of people in between.

How does this character react?

Who do they tell, if anyone?

How do they interact with the space they’re in (e.g. punch a wall, hug a stranger)?

Try this exercise several times with the same character but different contexts (e.g., the character receiving the news alone versus receiving it in a public place) to see how they react under different circumstances.

CAUTION: Using Fictionalized Versions of Real People

It’s common for writers to borrow details from real life—the shape of a stranger’s chin, a classmate’s clicking of their pen during a quiet exam, or the restaurant server’s shrill laugh, to give just a few examples—but a writer should be wary of recreating an entire person on the page.

There are legal reasons not to do this, of course, but there is also the danger that a story filled with too many real-life people and events will be flat and boring.

Fiction should generally be a healthy mix of the ordinary and extraordinary.

If the mix is skewed too far in one direction, the reader can find the piece too unbelievable or too boring.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Writing Worksheet: Conflict Lists: 170 Character Quirks ⚜ +600 Personality Traits ⚜ 100 Sensory Words

[loganthrives]

Weird to me that people think rich parents don't abuse their kids. Honestly of any parents they're probably the worst for it.

I know I grew up with privilege but I also grew up being told how expensive I was. Anything I needed I was made to feel guilty for needing it. Like, the privilege is inherent in that I had food on the table every day and new clothes to wear for school once a year, I had a school to go to and an allowance every week, but the cost of that was being screamed at if I ever wanted anything nicer. Being guilted for existing and having normal childhood needs on a daily basis.

And fuck asking my parents for money for anything. I learned early that that was a great way to give them some measure of power over me - either they would demand it back saying I didn't deserve it or expect me to do something for them in exchange for it.

When I was eleven years old I told my spawnpoint that I wanted a job. She laughed in my face because she thought I was being a dumb kid, but I figured out that if I made my own money then they couldn't tell me how I would be allowed to spend it (they were always telling me how I was allowed to spend my allowance). Even when they were giving me money for me to spend on my own recognizance, it was still my dad's money and if I bought myself something frivolous with it I was wasting it.

I essentially moved out at fifteen and claimed my financial independence early. I needed money from them one time since, when I was jobless and the rent was coming due, but I made a point of paying it back and then some the minute I could so that they couldn't attach any strings to me. They actually got angry with me for doing that. They tried to push back or pretend like it was a gift, but I knew their fucking game and I wasn't going to play it.

I never let them cosign for me for my first credit card or first apartment. I didn't even let them pay for my college. I did all of those things by myself. It was harder to do but I was determined.

I feel like all the emphasis on how expensive I was as a kid made me hypervigilant when it came to my finances. They never taught me anything re: money - I had to teach myself. I was made to be afraid of debt and used to severely scold myself for buying anything I considered a luxury, from nice food to some knicknacks from the dollar store. One time in my new apartment I accidentally dropped my dinner on the floor and had a full meltdown over the wasted food and what it cost.

I've had to do a lot of work to undo the abuse. Telling myself its okay to have needs. To give myself permission to have nice things, and to buy the nicer version of something because I like it more. To give myself little treats here and there not as a reward but just because. To be a little in debt so long as I have a plan to pay it off. I still struggle with detaching my self-worth as a person from my financial success or how good of a job I have, but I'm still working on it. Everything in my life has had a dollar value attached to it in some way or another and that's frankly traumatizing.

So like, yes, I have privilege. I grew up in a suburb in the upper-middle class. My dad made six figures in the 90s as a software dev. We had a roof over our heads and food in our mouths and were white. But privilege can mask abuse. Privilege and abuse can overlap - they're not mutually exclusive.

Don't assume that just because someone has privilege that its always been sunshine and roses their whole lives. Everyone's life experiences are different. If the only thing you can see when you look at a person is their privilege or the dollar value in their bank account, then you're not really seeing people are you?

As a kid, when your parents are poor, you're poor. If they don't have money, that means none of you have money. But if someone's parents are rich, that doesn't necessarily mean the kid is. Sometimes rich peoples' kids aren't rich kids, they're just some rich freak's exotic pets that can talk but aren't allowed to.

[theravenkin]

hey followers and mutuals:

just a reminder that you can help suffering palestinians from afar. it feels hopeless, but there's always something we can do.

you can donate. i've been donating to the palestinian children's relief fund; there's also a chapter on campus at my university. there are other organizations you can donate with, too: unicef and launchgood are good ones too i think. it doesn't have to be a hundred dollars at a time; give whatever you can afford. just remember why you're giving in the first place.

you can boycott. boycott starbucks, boycott mcdonald's, boycott nestle products, coke products, unilever products...there are so many fucking companies with their hands in israel's pockets (and vice versa) right now. even better, the boycotts are working. starbuck's stocks have dropped like crazy in the past couple of weeks; the world is feeling our collective effects. boycotts work if we stick to them. go to bdsmovement.net to learn about more companies you can boycott or pressure.

you can call your representatives. call and email your representatives every single day. you can call the white house. you can tell them that you are a registered voter and that you will not be voting for any candidate who does not demand a ceasefire. tell them that you will refuse to support any elected official who accepts bribes from AIPAC (such as democrats Brian Higgins, Gregory Meeks, Joseph Morelle, and Ritchie Torres of NY and Pete Aguilar, Ami Bera, and Julia Brownley of Cali). flood those motherfuckers with messages. it does more than you think.

you can share. get on social media and find those palestinian journalists and civilians who are sharing in real time scenes from Gaza. it's gruesome and it is horrifying, but people (especially those so removed from it) need to see it to understand. western media can only spread so much propaganda; when you've seen those dying children, people crying and searching through rubble for their families, something is bound to change. go to instagram and follow motaz (@motaz_azaiza), bisan (@wizard_bisan1), plestia (@byplestia), the heroes on the ground in gaza, risking their lives. they start each new post with "i'm still alive", often worrying that they may not be for long. palestinians are begging the rest of the world to listen and to tell their story in case they don't make it. they just want to be remembered. that's the very least we can do.

you can have conversations. talk to your friends, your family. post on social media. address it directly. it will be uncomfortable. you dont have to be aggressive about it; just try to appeal to people's humanity, present them with the facts, and if you must, show them the gruesome footage from gaza or the badly veiled propaganda from israeli officials. do anything you can to get them to care. tell them how they can help. get people talking about it, even just thinking about it.

you can educate yourself. i've learned more about the history of israel and palestine in the last few days than i ever had before. and let me tell you: learning the objective facts of history makes it 200% easier to know who to support.

you can support your muslim, jewish, and arab friends. they all need it right now. check in on them and see how they're doing. let them know that you're trying to do something; even though it feels small, it will mean something to them, i promise. let them know you're there and you support them.

please please share and do whatever you can to help those suffering without food, water, electricity, or medical care right now. don't be afraid of the issue because it's "sensitive" or "controversial". it's uncomfortable to face, but it should be more uncomfortable to allow thousands to die while we do nothing.

free palestine. 🇵🇸

[reality-detective]

Patriots in the Netherlands are walking the streets dropping flyers at the homes of citizens in hopes of awakening the people. According to Rem64 it is having great success. He sent me the flyer and I translated it to English so everyone can read it. 👇

Message to the population The information below is distributed worldwide by hundreds of scientific, legal and political organizations to inform humanity. Evidence for the stated facts can be found in the detailed evidence reports on StopWorldControl.com

The World Economic Forum wants to shape your life The world's richest come together at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The founder of the WEF, Klaus Schwab, is known for statements such as: We determine the future and We infiltrate governments. The WEF trains Young Global Leaders who are positioned in governments around the world. French President Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and German Chancellor Merkel are Young Global Leaders of the WEF. The Netherlands and Belgium also work closely with the WEF and serve their agenda. Part of this agenda is to replace privacy with transparency. They want every detail of your life to be known soon: what you do, who you meet with, what you eat, what you buy... The WEF announces that new technologies will record everyone's thoughts, feelings and dreams in the cloud , where governments have access to this intimate data. To combat climate change, the WEF wants to abolish all private property. You will have to rent everything: houses, cars, work tools, etc. The WEF calls for blocking sunlight by massively releasing chemicals into the air. The WEF encourages the normalization of pedophilia, while the UN and WHO instruct all schools to teach sexual techniques to small children in kindergarten, so that they start having sex as young as possible, with people of any age or gender. As absurd as these plans sound, they are promoted by the WEF, the UN, the EU, the WHO and companies such as. Google and Facebook. They are part of the sustainability goals of Agenda 2030, which are supported by governments worldwide. All evidence of this can be found on StopWorldControl.com

The World Health Organization wants to rule the world The World Health Organization is being legally restructured as an effective global dictatorship, able to impose binding mandates on all countries whenever they declare a pandemic. However, the WHO is a private organization that operates outside any democratic process. One of the WHO's main backers is Bill Gates, who has no medical training whatsoever, yet is promoted as the medical authority around the world. As the world's largest vaccine dealer, his health advice is to inject everyone all the time, making him billions of dollars. WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus also has no medical training. Yet Gates and Tedros dictate to all the millions of medical experts worldwide what they can and cannot do. Article 18 of the proposed Pandemic Treaty allows the WHO to shut down any source of information that does not align with what they want all of humanity to believe. This means censoring millions of experts in every field. Only what the WHO and Bill Gates say should be heard. Do you want undemocratic organizations to become dictators over your life and over all humanity? Do you want all objective scientific and medical information to be hidden so that you only hear what a single private institution wants you to believe? Do you want to be forced to receive dangerous injections for the rest of your life, without being informed about the risks? If you do not agree with this course of action, we invite you to inform yourself carefully at StopWorldControl.com

The news is determined by investors Many people do not know that all major news agencies are owned by a small group of investors, who determine what can be said in the news. In addition, billionaires such as Bill Gates and George Soros donate hundreds of millions of euros to news organizations around the world, to determine what they broadcast Udo Ulfkotte, an editor at one of the largest newspapers in the world, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung which is published in 148 countries well-known I have been a journalist for 25 years and I have been trained to lie, betray and never tell the public the truth, journalists) are being bribed worldwide by the CIA, billionaires and governments to manipulate the public The world's best-known political commentator, Tucker Carlson, she The news you consume is a lie of the most insidious kind CNN technical director Charlie Chester said: There is no such thing as objective news. All newsreaders are told what to say. He admitted that CNN deliberately creates fear to manipulate their viewers, whether it is about a pandemic or climate change. Texts from Matt Hancock, British Health Secretary, read: We are making everyone scared? The World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the European Union, which are owned by the same financial entities that control the news, are calling on governments worldwide to censor any information that does not follow their narrative. Any investigation that exposes their criminal operations should be labeled conspiracy theory or disinformation.

Vital information is hidden Thousands of scientists, doctors and medical organizations are sounding the alarm as millions of people have died and hundreds of millions of people have been disabled after being injected with the experimental vaccines for COVID-19. Data from the US CDC shows that in the US alone, one and a half million people suffered from side effects including death, stroke, heart failure, brain disorders, convulsions, life-threatening allergic reactions, autoimmune diseases, arthritis, miscarriage, infertility, rapid onset muscle weakness, deafness, blindness, etc. Worldwide there is an explosion of turbo cancer and sudden death. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's famous Lazarus report revealed that overall, only 19% of vaccine side effects are reported. According to this study, the number of adverse events and deaths must be multiplied by a factor of 100 to understand the true prevalence of serious vaccine injuries. COVID-19 has a 99.7% survival rate, comparable to the seasonal flu, and there are many effective medications, such as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, budesonide, chlorine dioxide and many more. These have hardly any side effects, are completely safe and available everywhere in the world. This means that no vaccine is needed. However, the WHO instructed governments worldwide to ban these drugs for the treatment of corona and to censor any doctor who spoke about it, that vaccines are the only answer.

What's going on in the world? Why are governments controlled by private institutions like the WEF and WHO? Why is vital information hidden? These are not conspiracy theories as claimed, but facts that can be verified on the international website StopWorldControl.com. We work with world leaders in the fields of law, science, medical care, journalism and politics. Our network consists of more than 100 organizations that jointly inform humanity. They include Nobel laureates, presidents and presidential candidates, former generals of the US army, organizations of police officers and investigators, as well as top officials of the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the European Union. We encourage every right-thinking person to inform themselves carefully Visit the website StopWorldControl.com Pass this flyer on to others.

Stand Strong! Stand United! Be Prepared!

✨ 🛡️ 🇳🇱 WWG1WGA 🇺🇸 ⚔️ ✨

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

I have a funny idea in the Monster au, baby teeth. Mini! Yuu either injured themselves causing one or two teeth to fall, or through eating. Like baby teeth fell, and then goes, "look look my teeth fell out!! :D". While their mouth is bleeding a bit. Plus, I'd imagine MC would have the myth of the tooth fairy, and then goes "I'm gonna put my teeth under the pillow for the tooth fairy!! :D"

Twisted Wonderland Monster AU: A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Warning: Slight blood mention! Won’t go too into details on it, but please let me know if I should tag it another way!

TA-DA!!!!! I finally finished the mini!Yuu tooth fairy fic~!!!

Ah, the age old tradition of the tooth fairy visiting to leave a quarter or a dollar under a child’s pillow in exchange for their fallen teeth (or in one funny post, $100 from the “drunk tooth fairy” 😂). I vaguely remember I once had a heart shaped pillow my mom gave me that had a little pouch on the front to put the tooth, and I’d have it set to the side and wake up to a $1-$5 bill in the pouch instead. Each tradition is different for each family, but still, innocent fun in the end!

Monsters in this AU are no stranger to losing baby teeth. It’s all part of growing up and getting their adult teeth or fangs! But while they do have fairies in Twisted Wonderland, it’s hard to say lore wise if they do have tooth fairies or have that story for kids too. For the purposes of this ask though (and cuteness), let’s say that they don’t have a tooth fairy and now these boys have to figure out how to keep the “magic” alive.

By the way…this turned out much longer than I intended, so now it’s a fic. 😅 Enjoy the older brother shenanigans!

Under a read more due to length!

///------///

“Hey, Yuu! Guess what I just picked up from the Mystery Shop? Iiiiit’s…candy~!”

“Candy! Candy, candy, candy!!”

“Hold on, Yuu. Don’t go eating too many pieces this time, or you’ll spoil your appetite for lunch again!”

“Aww, come on, Deuce, let the kid have a lil’ fun,” Ace said, plopping the small bag of treats into the toddler’s waiting palms as they grinned happily, skipping away to enjoy their spoils. “Besides, they know the rule: if their tummy is full, they don’t get any of Trey’s desserts!”

Jack frowned as he said, “You did that on purpose so you could get their slice of cake or pie, didn’t you?”

“What? Psh, no! I’m just being a good big brother to the lil’ tyke,” Ace said with a scoff. “Where’d you get an idea like that? Besides, Grim swiped their tart last time, not me!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault they weren’t allowed to eat it before their nap time!” Grim protested. “And you swiped one of their cookies when they weren’t lookin’ last week, pal!”

“Why you little-!”

“Here we go again,” Epel said with a sigh.

“Disgraceful,” Sebek said. He glanced down when Yuu came back over with their stuffed rabbit Mr. Flopsy, the basilisk sitting still as the toddler climbed up to sit on his lap. “Absconding with the food of a weak and defenseless human child…have you two no shame?”

Before the two could react, Yuu looked up at Sebek and asked, “What does ab…abd…scion…ab…”

“Abscond?” Epel supplied.

Pointing at Epel, Yuu nodded and asked, “What does that word mean, Sebby?”

“It’s what happens when Ace swipes a cherry pie from Trey’s kitchen without permission and runs away,” Jack answered instead with a slight smirk.

“Hey!”

“The point is, little human, that you should never steal what doesn’t belong to you,” Sebek said with a huff.

“Oh. Okay, big brother!” Yuu said, turning back around and starting to dig into their treats. While the first years continued to talk (or rather bicker) around them, the toddler was quietly humming a tune as they played with Mr. Flopsy’s rabbit paws, occasionally reaching into the bag to pull out a new piece of candy or two. Some were soft like marshmallows or gummies, others were hard with a crunch. As they were chewing, they noticed the strange sensation in one of their front teeth. They’d felt it before when they visited the nice dentist man with the pretty assistant lady that looked like Sebek, but they forgot what he’d said about that tooth. Another quiet crunch distracted them from the thought, a new flavor bursting in their mouth that made them smile and giggle.

Reaching into the bag for another, their hand grabbed what felt like a bumpy gumball, their hand barely able to wrap around it as they pulled it out of the bag. It was white with rainbow flecks sprinkled across the surface, Yuu contemplating only for a split second how they were going to eat it before bringing it up to their mouth and—

Crack!

“Owww!” Yuu yelped, dropping the candy and wailing in pain as their hands reached up to cover their mouth.

“Yuu! What’s wrong?!” Deuce asked.

“Ah! Don’t cry, human, you’re safe!” Sebek said, trying to figure out how to console the crying child as tears began to form in their eyes.

“What happened?!” Jack asked, immediately kneeling in front of them. “Shh…it’s okay, Yuu. Are you hurt?” Somehow, Yuu managed to give him a nod, still muffling their whimpers behind their hands. “Did you bite your tongue? Are your teeth hurting?”

Epel caught sight of the candy that had fallen and picked it up. “Hol’ on…izzat a jawbreaker?!” he gasped.

“Say what?! How did that get in there!?” Ace said, swiping the bag and beginning to dig through the contents. “I’m not seeing any others…I swear I checked the bag before I bought it! Grim, did you slip that in when I wasn’t looking?!”

“I thought it was a big gumball!” Grim yelped, looking distressed now. “It looked just like one—I didn’t know it was a jawbreaker thing!” Now near tears, he whimpered, “Now I’ve gone and hurt the human…Professor Crewel’s gonna kill me!”

“Fergit Professor Crewel—the researchers ‘re gonna tan our hides if we don’t git Yuu t’ the nurse’s office!” Epel said, his accent slipping in thicker than normal in his panic.

“Let’s go!!”

/---------/

“Don’t worry, they’re fine.”

It had been a confusing and panic-inducing five-minute sprint to the nurse’s office from the dorms, students getting bowled over or jumping out of the way of the charging first years. Even Riddle could barely yell at them to not run in the halls before Ace and Deuce shouted “Yuu’s hurt! Nurse’s office!!” in unison. Their panic was only increased tenfold when the nurse wasn’t in the infirmary, instead rushing over to the closest researcher and begging for help after explaining the situation.

So, to hear them say that the human was okay, the first years were relieved yet bewildered as they all but collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

“What even happened? I thought we broke Yuu’s jaw on accident with that jawbreaker!” Grim asked.

The researcher gave a gentle smile as she turned off the little flashlight and said, “Well, while it was unwise to give something that hard or large to a toddler to begin with, I understand it was an accident and that you meant no harm. Besides…you may have helped loosen one of their baby teeth.”

“B…baby teeth?” Deuce repeated.

“Yes, though they’re also known as primary teeth or milk teeth. From the records we’ve gathered, Yuu has already lost at least one small tooth before they arrived and has already gotten one of their adult teeth in.” Turning to the toddler, whose hands were now in their lap, the researcher said, “Sweetie, would you open your mouth and show us your pretty teeth, please?”

Looking at the first years for a moment, Yuu cooperated and opened their mouth wide.

“See this front tooth here, next to the canine?” the researcher said, using a gloved hand to reach out and gently nudge one. What should have been solid now gave way, the tooth wiggling with each nudge. “During Dr. Zigvolt’s dental exam, it was noted that the adult tooth buried in the gums beneath this tooth was beginning to push down. It likely was already starting to become loose, the candy simply sped up the process…if a little painfully, but it happens.”

“So…Yuu’s just going to lose a tooth naturally and get a new one?” Ace asked.

“That’s right. Children in monster species start losing teeth in the same order that they came in, so by our calculations, since this is the second tooth to fall out, Yuu’s front teeth came in first. It’s not so different from some of the more common monster species in Twisted Wonderland. We just need to keep an eye on it, and make sure the process goes smoothly within the next few days or so.”

“Phew…that’s a relief,” Grim said. “Ya hear that, Yuu? You’re gonna grow up big and strong like us when you get all your big human teeth!”

Yuu’s expression grew bright and cheerful as they said, “Yay! I want pretty teeth like JackJack and Sebby!”

“If you get those kind of chompers, don’t start teething on us!”

/Several Days Later/

Word spread quickly what transpired, and while most of the students had relaxed knowing that nothing was wrong, it was hard to ignore the exciting news. Sure, it was always exciting knowing that a monster child was one step closer to getting their full adult teeth, but knowing that Yuu—the only known human child in existence—was getting their own adult teeth? It was a “#riteofpassage #baby’sgrowingup #don’tknowhowtodeal” as Cater had posted on his Magicam channel.

So when the tooth finally fell out after Yuu accidentally got hit in the face by a swinging door (and lots of reassurances and boo-boo kisses were given)…

“It came out! It came out!”

“It sure did, Yuu,” Trey said, patting the small human on the head as they triumphantly held up the tooth. “That’s a pretty big one you got there!” He gave them a look and asked, “Have you been flossing your teeth like I showed you?”

“Mm…yes!” Yuu said, giving a decisive nod and grinning widely.

“Well that’s good, otherwise I’d have to cut back on the goodies I give you!” Nudging them towards the others, he said, “Why don’t you go show everyone else?”

With an excited squeak, Yuu ran over and all but launched themselves into Cater’s lap as the hippogryph laughed. “Look, look! I lost my tooth!”

“Hooray! Baby’s second tooth is gone~!” Cater said with a cheer, giving Yuu a boop on the nose before snapping a pic. “Aww…soon you’ll be too big to sit in our laps. #wheredidthetimego?”

“What are you gonna do with the tooth, Yuu?” Deuce asked.

That was when Yuu’s expression grew even more excited than before, revealing the gap in their teeth as they loudly proclaimed, “I’mma leave it for the tooth fairy!”

“Tooth…fairy?” Riddle asked in confusion.

“Tooth fairy!” Yuu repeated, oblivious to the baffled and confused looks around them as they looked at their baby tooth. “When you lose a tooth, you’re s’posed to put it under your pillow for the tooth fairy, and when you wake up—she leaves you a quarter!”

Exchanging a look, Ace asked, “And this…tooth fairy…just comes in at night and steals human teeth…for money?”

“She doesn’t steal! She trades for them,” Yuu told him. “I’mma leave mine under my pillow, and when the tooth fairy comes, you’ll see!”

“Uh…is there even such a thing as a tooth fairy?” Deuce uttered, looking thoroughly confused. He didn’t remember his mother telling him anything about a tooth fairy before…

“She’s real! She’s really real!” Yuu insisted. “She’ll come tonight!”

“Okay, okay, we believe you,” Trey said. “In the meantime, though, it’s time for breakfast. Do you want waffles or pancakes?”

“Pancakes!!” Yuu cheered.

“Alright then, let’s go. You can help me mix the batter."

“Yaaaay!!”

As the two disappeared into the kitchen, Ace couldn’t help but look at the others and ask, “So…who’s going to tell them there’s no such thing as a tooth fairy?”

“Well, maybe not here in Twisted Wonderland, anyway,” Cater said with a shrug. “But who knows? Maybe she does exist wherever the humans are now. Besides, what’s wrong with letting little kids believe in something innocent like this tooth fairy or those tooth stealing clowns?”

“Please don’t remind me of those,” Deuce uttered with a shudder.

/The Next Morning/

The gentle sunlight was streaming in through the window, landing on the slumbering toddler tucked in tight. Slowly blinking in the bright light, Yuu mumbled as they rubbed at their eyes…before sitting up with a gasp. “Tooth fairy!!” they said, giggling happily as they lifted the pillow up-

Only to find the tooth still there.

“Huh…?” they uttered in confusion, shaking the pillow to see if the coin was inside to no avail.

“Good morning, pup,” came Crewel’s voice as he entered the room. “I thought I heard you up earlier than usual. It’s time to get dressed…what are you doing?”

Yuu turned to look at him with confused eyes as they pointed at the small tooth, saying, “The tooth fairy didn’t come for my tooth!”

“Ah, I see.” He’d heard about this ‘tooth fairy’ from one of his students when they dropped the toddler off with the staff, but he didn’t quite understand the logic behind it. “You didn’t stay awake all night trying to catch this ‘tooth fairy’ now, did you?”

With that, Yuu’s head sheepishly ducked close to their shoulders. “Yes…but I had to get proof for my big brothers!” they said, reaching over to pull the Ghost Camera into their lap. “I’ll prove she’s real!”

“I’m sure you will, pup,” he told them reassuringly, giving them a pat on the head before lifting them into his arms. “Now come along. It’s time to get ready for school.”

Despite this turn of events, Yuu still held hope that the tooth fairy would come. They chattered with each of their adoptive big brothers, telling anyone who would listen about the pretty tooth fairy who traded teeth for money (a concept that Azul couldn’t quite see the merit of). Even the researchers were not immune to the child’s enthusiastic ramblings during one of their tests. By the end of the day, when they settled down for bed, they swore that tonight would be the night that she would arrive!

Yet once again, the tooth was still there when they awoke.

“She’ll come,” they said, though there was a slight hint of doubt in their voice. “She has to come…”

And still the next day, they were greeted by the same sight, the tooth seeming to mock them as they sat there staring at it. Why was it still here? Why hadn’t she come? They didn’t care about the money anymore…they just wanted to know that she was real.

It came as quite the shock when Yuu was brought to school that day, the students and staff alike worried at the unusually quiet behavior from the toddler. They hardly even played “potion-master” as enthusiastically as they usually did. So, when it came time for lunch, Yuu sat there looking glum, pushing their food around on their plate with their fork while their big brothers watched in concern.

“Hey, cheer up, chickadee!” Cater said with a smile. “The cafeteria made your favorite today. You don’t want it to get cold, do ya?”

Yuu gave a slight shrug, but otherwise didn’t seem to react much as they continued staring at their uneaten food.

“Do you want me to do the magic carpet thing again?” Kalim asked, picking up a spoon and scooping up one of the sides. “Ready? Nyeeeooom~! Brrrrr, here it comes~!”

The spoon came close to their mouth, yet Yuu didn’t accept the bite. Instead, they heaved a heavy sigh.

“Aww…that usually works,” Kalim uttered, large ears lowering sadly. “Are you not hungry? Did you have too much to eat at breakfast?”

“No. They didn’t even take the cookie I swiped from the kitchen for them this morning,” Ace said. “They always take the cookie even when they’re full.”

“Come now, little one. What’s wrong?” Lilia asked, leaning in close to try and see their face. “We can’t help if you don’t tell us.”

For a moment, Yuu glanced up at him before lowering their gaze again. Then, in a quiet voice, they uttered, “She didn’t come…”

“Who didn’t come?”

“…the tooth fairy…” Eyes growing shiny with unshed tears, Yuu mumbled, “She was supposed to come…she always comes when you lose a tooth, but…but she didn’t.” Tears began to fall now as they sniffled, their voice cracking as they said, “She’s…she’s not real…”

In that moment, the toddler began to cry, Lilia immediately scooping them into his arms and wrapping his wings around them for comfort. Yet even this didn’t seem to help as it normally did, Yuu’s heartbreaking wails causing other students to turn in concern. No one knew what to do. But before anyone could ask what they could do to soothe the child—

“Well of course she’s real, Yuu!”

“Ace? What are you doing?” Deuce hissed at him under his breath. “Now’s not the time!”

Pretending that he didn’t hear him, Ace slid over to look Yuu in the eye and said, “You said yourself that she’s real, right? So, it must be true!”

“B…but…she never came,” Yuu whimpered. “She…she doesn’t exist…”

“Well…when the sun and moon are covered by the clouds and you can’t see them, does that mean they don’t exist?” Ace asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

Sniffling, Yuu shook their head and said, “No…”

“Then why wouldn’t the tooth fairy exist too?” he continued, holding his arms out as though to indicate the whole school. “Just look at us! Did you ever think that we could exist?”

“…no?”

“And yet: here we are. We also never believed we’d ever see a human like you, and yet, here you are. To us, you are like the tooth fairy: you exist, which means so does she.” They still didn’t look too convinced, and so he asked, “Do you remember that package you were really excited to get two weeks ago? The one that Idia ordered for you online?”

“Yeah…it got lost,” Yuu replied.

“Yup. And yet it arrived a few days later than it should have, and you still got your present in the end. So, you know what? Maybe that’s what happened with the tooth fairy!”

“Huh?”

“Think about it: you’re not where you were last time when you lost your first baby tooth, right?” At Yuu’s nod, he smiled and said, “So that means she knows you lost a tooth: she just hasn’t figured out how to get to you yet. And if she’s as amazing and great as you say she is, then I’m sure she’ll be here any day now. And you know what? I’ll bet she’ll have a big stash of coins or goodies waiting for you as an apology for making you wait so long. And when she does…I want you to show me your treasure. That will prove to me that she’s real. What do you say? Will you give her more time to pull through for you?”

By now, the tears had stopped, a small, hesitant smile on their face as Yuu nodded. “Okay,” they said. “I’ll wait.”

“Great. Now…are you going to eat your lunch, or are you going to let Grim eat it all before you?” he asked, pointing at the chimera sneaking the roll off their plate.

“Nooo!” Yuu called out with a giggle, their hands reaching out to try and snatch the roll back. “Grim, that’s mine!"

“Hey, you weren’t eating it!” Grim replied, though he had a smile on his muzzle.

While the two play-fought over the food, Cater leaned in and said, “Nice one, Ace. But…what are we going to do if she doesn’t show up?”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure she does,” Ace said with a sly smile.

/Later that night at Heartslabyul/

“Here you are, Yuu,” Trey said as he tucked the toddler in, fluffing their pillow before sitting next to the small bed. “Nice and comfy?”

“Uh-huh,” Yuu said with a nod, though they looked nervous. “Thank you for letting me spend the night.”

“You’re welcome, Yuu,” Riddle said with a small smile. “I was surprised that Professor Crewel agreed to let you stay in our dorm for tonight.” He held up a smaller star shaped pillow, the stitching on the fabric spelling Yuu’s name and having what looked like a small pouch on the front. “Here. Vil wanted me to give you this for your tooth.”

“Why?”

“He thought that it would be easier to present the tooth to the tooth fairy if it were in a pillow of its own. He even placed a good luck charm on it as well, just for you,” came the response as Riddle placed it close to their head. “I’ve taken the liberty of placing the tooth safely inside the little pouch here, so it should stay safe and secure until her arrival.”

“Hold up! Can’t forget Mr. Flopsy,” Ace said as he held up the stuffed yellow rabbit, tucking the toy in next to Yuu as he patted the sheets. “There we go.”

“Thank you!” Yuu said, hugging their plush friend close as Grim curled up next to them. Their smile faltered a little, and they looked nervous once more. Then, in a quiet voice, they asked, “Do…do you really think she’ll come tonight, Ace?”

“I think she will,” came the cheeky response as Ace gave them a warm smile. “After all, she is magic, and you do believe in magic, right?” When they nodded, he said, “Good. Then so long as you keep believing in her, she’ll come through for you. Okay?”

“Okay. Good night!” Yuu said, nestling in tighter under the covers with a renewed smile on their face.

“Good night, Yuu!”

When the lights shut off and Trey had settled down in his own bed, Yuu lay there staring up at the ceiling. Then, in a quiet whisper, they said, “Please be real…”

As they finally drifted off to sleep, they were unaware of the faint glow of silver-blue light beneath the doorframe…

/The Next Morning/

“Yuu! Yuu, wake up! She came! She came!”

The toddler was woken from their sleep by Grim’s excited calls, blinking blearily at the chimera before their eyes landed on the star-shaped pillow. A sharp gasp escaped at the sight before them before they called out, “Trey!! She came, she came, she came!!” The two scrambled up onto Trey’s bed and began jumping up and down, chanting, “She came! She came! She came!!!”

Grunting, Trey sat up in bed and patted around the side table for his glasses before putting them on. “Huh? Wha-? What’s going…on?” His eyes grew wide as he stared, uttering a quiet, “What…the…?”

The star shaped pillow was sitting atop a large pile stacked neatly next to their bed, filled with a myriad of plushies and sweets and treats. There were even several satchels of coins and madol scattered about the piles, including several large softball-sized crystals of various hues and colors.

“Whoa,” he uttered in disbelief. “Where did all this come from?”

“The tooth fairy! She came, just like Ace said she would!” Yuu said excitedly, hopping from his bed to theirs as they reached over to dig into their new treasure stash. They pulled out what looked like a large black and purple dragon plushie, hugging it tightly to their chest before happily saying, “She’s real! She’s really real!”

“Nyahaha~! Lookit all this loot!” Grim cheered, cackling as he started digging into the pile too. “This tooth fairy lady is awesome!”

At that, Trey couldn’t help but smile and laugh. “So she did. Why don’t you go get Ace and show him your new treasures?”

Yuu’s smile was so bright even with the gap, and they hopped off and bolted out of his room, shouting, “Ace! Deuce! Cay-Cay! Riddle! She came! She came! The tooth fairy came! Come look!”

Shaking his head, Trey uttered, “I can’t believe he managed to pull it off. Was this all from the other dorms?”

“Yeah! The Ramshackle ghosts were happy to help out. Who knew that being a ghost would be perfect for sneaking in like this?” Grim commented, tiny wings fluttering as he happily swayed with the cash in front of him. “I wonder if I can convince Yuu to buy me some tuna cans with this loot…hm?” He noticed something and reached out to pull down the star pillow. “What’s this?”

“Hm…?” There was a small piece of paper sticking out of the pouch, and when Trey pulled it out…a small silver disk fell out onto the bed. It looked like a coin, but not one that he’d ever seen before. Unfolding the small note, he blinked as the glowing letters faded, arranging themselves into a message as he read, “Thank you for your patience, little one. I am sorry I could not arrive as soon as I could. Please accept my gifts as an apology for making you wait so long.”

Both chimera and satyr exchanged a look before Yuu came bursting in again, closely followed by the others as the toddler began showing them all their new treasures. Ace—though he was smiling—had an odd look in his eyes, and Trey could see a small piece of paper hidden in his fist. When asked about it later when Yuu wasn’t around, he showed the paper that he said he’d found hiding under his pillow…along with a stack of similar looking silver coins like Yuu had gotten.

“To the ones who helped the little one believe: thank you.”

[storiesfromgaza]

Greetings, everyone

Ever since the inception of this blog, a persistent question has been haunting me: Will any of this truly make a difference? I swiftly brushed it aside, reminding myself, 'Why should I concern my mind with this? I'll focus my abilities on doing everything within my power without fixating on the outcome.'

With this in mind, I embarked on the path of translation and article writing with unwavering dedication, telling myself that if I could reach just one individual and dispel the darkness that media relentlessly tries to cast over their eyes, veiling their spirit, that would be fulfilling enough for me.

And now, a mere five days after the creation of this blog, I felt compelled to write this message to you because I understand that this question plagues your thoughts as well. Does any of this hold significance? Does any of this create a meaningful impact?

This is a comment from a woman on the video of the elderly couple who were carrying a lifeless child (their son or grandchild) after they brought him out from under the debris.

This is just one example of a woman who heightened her awareness and began harnessing everything within her grasp, investing it in any opportunity to help, from offering support to educating herself and sharing her knowledge with those around her, including her family.

Today, and just five days after the creation of this blog, we have reached 10,871 people. which I'm asking you not to treat it as a mere number; because each one of them represents an individual, a person with an identity, a life, a story, a family, friends and an impact on society, no matter how small. Each one of them is a human being, just like her. Even if we assume that only a quarter of this number are people who have increased their awareness and shared the truth with those around them, we're talking about 2,717 people! A significant number in a short period, just five days.

The second noteworthy point is when Gaza was completely cut off from the world, with internet, communication networks, and even electricity severed, after the uprising in which everyone, including you, participated. The internet was restored to Gaza after only two days.

Furthermore, a literary magazine that focuses on multilingualism contacted us, asking to publish the stories and articles we've translated here in their upcoming issue, which will expand their reach to a larger audience.

All of this, thanks to God, happened in less than one week (five days) after creating the blog. Now, after all this, have you received an answer to your question?

#2- many of you are asking about is how you can help? In reality, there are several ways, with the Blaze feature offered by Tumblr being a prominent one. This feature allows the audience to promote any post they choose on the blog to a specific number of viewers, constrained by the amount of Blaze.

With only 5 dollars, the smallest amount of support, you can promote a post to 2,500 people! 2,500 Human!

25 dollars your chosen post will reach 7,000 people! 7000 Human!

65 dollars will result in the chosen post reaching 20,000 people, 20,000 Human!

and for the maximum support amount, which is 150 dollars, your selected post will be delivered to 50,000 people, 50,000 Human!"

Promoting posts with Blaze won't only increases the reach of the specific post but also directs more traffic to the blog itself, as those who see the promoted post are likely to visit the blog and explore other stories and articles. So, it's impact not limited to a single post.

Furthermore, you can choose the audience of the country you want to target using the Blaze feature, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. You can do all of this by clicking the Blaze button below any post you want to promote.

If you are able to support with any amount, it will make a significant difference in reaching a larger audience and increasing awareness. If you find it difficult to select a specific post or story to use the Blaze feature on, I will provide some suggestions here that would be beneficial to promote and reach a wider audience:

The video of the elderly couple carrying a child's lifeless body, with the man's face adorned with a thousand years of sorrow, helplessness, and despair, while the woman continues to weep beside him. [https://www.tumblr.com/storiesfromgaza/732477157492834304/two-elderly-people-the-mans-face-adorned-with?source=share]

The video of the woman carrying her child's body, weeping and asking her father to leave her child in her embrace, and then requesting them to bury her with him. [https://www.tumblr.com/storiesfromgaza/732437085371432960/after-losing-her-child-to-the-shelling-a?source=share]

The story of the suffering of the girl Saba [https://www.tumblr.com/storiesfromgaza/732282818040872960/saba-my-cousin-is-in-the-third-grade-in-2019?source=share]

The story of Emad's only son. [https://www.tumblr.com/storiesfromgaza/732168563115409408/i-sat-with-emad-on-the-corner-of-the-street-he?source=share]

The story of Majd's little sister. [https://www.tumblr.com/storiesfromgaza/732160503297769472/my-little-sister-in-the-midst-of-everything?source=share]

The child Yussuf. [https://www.tumblr.com/storiesfromgaza/732146206757830656/what-is-the-worst-nightmare-for-any-healthcare?source=share]

Your support will make a significant difference, and for those who cannot provide support, simply sharing the content here and on Instagram (@amrshater), following and engaging with it, and sharing it on your own accounts' stories will also make a significant impact by reaching a larger audience.

In the end, Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), and thank you all.

[enigma2meagain]

RESTRICT Act: The TikTok Ban is a Smokescreen for PATRIOT ACT 2.0. EDIT: KOSA and EARN IT Act are also back.

EDIT: So now we not only have RESTRICT to worry about, but we also have the EARN IT Act and the Kids Online Safety Act to deal with.

See here for my previous post on it. Fuck Blumenthal and Blackburn for trying to bring back two pro-censorship bills on top of the RESTRICT Act.

And Evan provides some insight on it.

EDIT: SO it turns out that Meta IS partly behind this, but it’s also due to Silicon Valley AND the government wanting more power and control. More information in the links provided below.

EDIT: List of Sponsors has been removed for easier reading. You can still find the list in the Link to the bill itself.

EDIT: Meta-related information apparently incorrect. Updated for accuracy.

----

Here is a link to the bill:

----

This RESTRICT Act is EXTREMELY authoritarian and violating privacy and the 1st Amendment. It’s being disguised as being about banning TikTok, but it’s VASTLY overreaching and basically gives far too much power to the government.

How bad is this bill? Bad enough that pretty much every side of the political spectrum opposes this bill once they took a closer look at it beyond the TikTok smokescreen.

The following points were articulated succinctly by tumblr user @logan-galbraith (used with permission):

This act, while saying it's to insure American's personal information will be safe from foreign powers, it goes much deeper than that.

It will give the United States Government the power to remove and ban ANY online service they deem "a security risk" while making it so they do not need just cause and do not need to clarify or release a public statement.

It allows them the power to gather American's data without our knowledge or consent and even force us to submit documentation for anything they wish.

It protects the government from scrutiny on this, and if you try to speak about it and inform people on what it ACTUALLY allows, they can claim it to be false information and charge you.

It prevents you from using a VPN as it's seen as a breach of information security, thus they can charge you. (Uncertain on accuracy. Crossed out until more concrete information is revealed)

Failure to abide by these "guidelines" can lead to a fine up to ONE MILLION DOLLARS and/or 20 YEARS in prison.

And above all it does NOTHING to prevent AMERICAN companies from collecting and selling your data.

It doesn't matter what political party you're on, because BOTH parties in office want this. This is not about sides. This is about the ENTIRE government stripping our rights away so they can keep lining their own pockets.

And that’s what the TikTok ban really is; a smokescreen for Congress to grab more power. This is the PATRIOT ACT VERSION 2. This has BIPARTISAN support and approval from the Biden Administration.

The scary part is that this bill is being approved under THIS administration...and it’s STILL incredibly bad.

What would end up happening if an openly fascist leader were brought into power? All of sudden, ANYONE and ANYTHING could become a target or considered an adversary under the flimsiest of pretenses.

What should YOU do?

Well, the same thing as past horribly invasive bills like EARN IT and KOSA; we make a LOT of noise, and get the word out.

While there has been increasing amounts of negative press and opposition on this bill, it’s hard to tell how much this has really slowed thing down. As such, getting the word out on how bad this bill is CRUCIAL. Make it EXTREMELY CLEAR that the TikTok ban is just a smokescreen, and that this is nakedly authoritarian and dangerously unconstitutional.

And PLEASE call your Senators.

Find your 2 senators numbers here.

Fax them, email them.

Tell them they MUST oppose this bill. Calmly make it clear to them that if they support this bill, then you will vote for someone else who doesn’t go along with this blatant act of authoritarian intent. CONTACT any major human rights and cybersecurity related organizations and let them know about this bill. Get this out to any local news groups that you can.

There’s some petitions by groups like ACLU: https://go.peoplepower.org/letter/tiktok-ban

They are betting on people being blissfully ignorant of this, that it’s “Just about a Silly App”, so they will not expect you to contact them about this. They are trying to weasel this through in order to give themselves more power, and we won’t be able to do anything about it without the risk of being jailed or censored.

Here’s a part of a rough script if you need one. Add in more based on what is relevant:

"Just to make you aware I do not support the TikTok ban and I do not support the Restrict Act. If this bill is passed I will not support any official who supports that bill. Instead, I will be spending all my time and energy supporting your opponents in the primaries."

----

A list of links/citations:

Truthout Article 4/02/2023: Restrict Act Critics Call the Far-Reaching “TikTok Ban” Bill a “Patriot Act 2.0”

Dailydot Article 3/10/2023: “The RESTRICT Act isn’t about banning TikTok—it’s designed to force a sale”

Lawfareblog.com 3/23/2023: “Two New Bills on TikTok and Beyond: The DATA Act and RESTRICT Act”

Reuters Article 3/28/2023: “If TikTok is banned, brace for epic First Amendment fight”

VICE Article 3/29/2023: The 'Insanely Broad' RESTRICT Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTok

Reason Article 3/31/2023: The RESTRICT Act Would Restrict a Lot More Than TikTok

ArsTechnica Article 3/31/2023: Meta can’t buy TikTok, so it hired GOP operatives to run a smear campaign

https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1642721929013362688?s=46&t=9ilK5pqP73XDblTtTbb4Qg

https://twitter.com/Imani_Barbarin/status/1640527908790837250?t=nTf7qCAcXB1s1RE-fb2Cwg&s=19

----

[claret-may]

For the record, here is Donald Trump's official stance on transgender people, taken from his campaign website.

Most notably, he's said this: "I will ask congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female. And they are assigned at birth."

And here is the full quote...<3 please stay alive, drink water, stay well-fed, and just fucking THRIVE to spite this man:

"The left wing gender insanity being pushed on our children is an act of child abuse. Very simple. Here's my plan to stop the chemical, physical, and emotional mutilation of our youth.

On day one I will revoke Joe Biden's cruel policies on so-called gender-affirming-care. Ridiculous. A process that includes giving kids puberty blockers, mutating their physical appearance, and ultimately performing surgery on minor children. Can you believe this?

I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age. I will then ask congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures, and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states. It will go very quickly.

I will declare that any hospital or healthcare provider that participates in the chemical or physical mutilation of minor youths will no longer meet federal health and safety standards for medicaid and medicare. And will be terminated from the program immediately. Furthermore I will support the creation of a private right of action for victims to sue doctors who have unforgivably performed these procedures on minor children.

The department of justice will investigate big pharma and the big hospital networks to determine whether they have deliberately covered up horrific long term side-effects of sex transitions in order to get rich at the expense of vulnerable patients. In this case, very vulnerable. We will also investigate whether big pharma or others have illegally marketed hormones and puberty blockers which are in no way licensed or approved for this use.

My department of education will inform states and school districts that if any teacher or school official suggests to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body, they will be faced with severe consequences including potential civil rights violations for sex discrimination, and the elimination of federal funding. As part of our new credential body for teachers (?), we will promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers, and celebrating rather than erasing the things that make men and women different and unique.

I will ask congress to pass a bill establishing that the only genders recognized by the United States government are male and female. And they are assigned at birth. The bill will also make clear that title 9 prohibits men from participating in women's sports, and we will protect the rights of parents from being forced to allow their minor child to assume a gender which is new, and an identity without the parents' consent. The identity will not be new, and it will not be without parental consent.

No serious country should be telling its children that they were born with the wrong gender. A concept that was never heard of in all of human history no one's ever heard of this what's happening today. It was all when the radical left invented it just a few years ago. Under my leadership this madness will end. Thank you very much."

[pxayopina-unilsiyu]

Credit art when you use it. It isn't hard.

Since some of you on Tumblr, especially in the Avatar fandom, are unfamiliar with art usage etiquette, allow me, an artist, to direct you on what is considered ethical and legal usage of artwork you didn't make.

Credit. Shit. When. You. Use. It.

You do not have an excuse for not doing this, it's incredibly simple. Find the original artist (which you don't need to do if you're taking straight from the source) and credit them either immediately below the artwork or at the end of your post. No hiding credit in the tags.

"Credit to artist" IS NOT CREDIT.

Nor is any variation of it such as "not created by me" or "credit to [random pinterest account]. Credit is specific and direct. You do not see "credit to visual effects artists" in the end credits of a film. You see names. Online, you should always credit someone's social media handle.

But I can't find credit!

Then do not use it. It's literally that simple. Don't know who made it? Either make an effort to find out or leave it alone.

If an artist says not to use something in a certain way, DO NOT USE IT THAT WAY.

Always check people's bios, watermarks, etc. to see if they list their terms of use for the art. If you're unsure, message them directly. "Do not repost" means DO NOT REPOST. "Do not use" means DO NOT USE, FOR ANYTHING.

People pay money for art, you know.

The art you carelessly download and use for your fics or roleplays could very well have costed upwards of hundreds of dollars. Ask yourself how fair it is for you to take it and use it willy nilly without paying, whereas the commissioner paid their hard-earned money to have it created. It isn't fair at all.

Other people's original characters are not yours.

Not everyone is okay with their original characters' likenesses being adopted for your own. Original characters can be extremely special and personal, it can be insulting and heartbreaking for their likenesses to be stolen and assigned to completely different characters. Ask yourself how that shit would make you feel. I can tell you first-hand it doesn't feel great.

But Pinterest--

Pinterest and other repost sites are plagues to artists, just don't use them for sourcing art.

Who cares? If they posted it online then it's free to use!

The law cares, and no, that isn't true. Art created by human hands has automatic copyright given to it. It is against copyright law to use artwork made by others in a way they have not permitted. Yes, fair use exists, but fair use is not a get-out-of-jail free card to use whatever material you find online. To be protected by fair use, your use of copyrighted material has to be transformative for the purposes of commentary, demonstration, or parody. Grabbing art off the internet to use for fics or roleplay is none of those things. It does not apply.

Are artists gonna sue you for using our art? Probably not, because we're all broke ass bitches who can't afford lawyers, but this is like, common decency, yo. Also, we can file DMCA takedowns against your posts / accounts for using our art without authorization, and guess what happens if you rack up enough of those?

Just ask!

If you really want to use a piece of art, consider just... reaching out and asking the artist who made it if it's okay to use noncommercially and with credit. A lot of the time, the act of reaching out and getting permission puts you in our good favor. A lot of the time, the answer will be yes. Just ask. We won't bite your head off. Just be willing to take "no" for an answer.

Thanks and have a sexy day

[dangerously-human]

Still fighting for my life with tuition benefit stuff, in case anyone was wondering. I would like to submit my request for this semester, but we're still duking it out over last semester because of a problem from over a year ago and I don't want to swing at two hornet nests at once, so. Took every single dollar out of my savings account to pay tuition for this semester and am just praying I can get reimbursed before another rent check needs to go out (and Lord willing, my car won't need massive repairs at inspection this year). I'm doing an actual research study for my mixed methods class this semester, and the professor keeps saying she's fine with giving us an incomplete so we have another year to wrap it up in order to actually get something meaningful out of it. I finally talked to her last night to explain that I cannot afford to take another incomplete and ask how I could do a legitimate study on such a condensed timeline. Thankfully she was understanding and came up with an idea I think will work, since it involves basically just doing the quantitative portion under an existing protocol at work and a qualitative portion that doesn't count as human subjects research, so I don't have to deal with an IRB pissing contest between institutions, nor the debatable ethics of collecting data without compensating people for their time, given that it's unfunded research (and I really can't afford to pay people out of pocket when I'm already paying through the nose to be in this class in the first place). I'm still reworking my research plan, but I do feel a lot better about this in comparison to my plan as of last week, which would have required either submitting to both IRBs (and my work IRB is notorious for having different standards than most, and they/the data lawyers that often end up getting involved move slowly in this kind of situation) or submitting twice to my university IRB, once per phase.

Anyway, dealing with all of this today had me looking at what I really have left to do before I graduate. I'm halfway through the program now, though it feels like I've done way more. After I'm done with this class, which meets my advanced methods requirement (although round 2 of statistics probably did too), I have to eventually go back and take the foundations of the program course that was a scheduling conflict my first semester and somehow hasn't been offered since; another research apprenticeship (I'll probably write another manuscript, ideally one that's already been in progress for a bit at work - if I can get a loan, maybe I can do that this summer with my brief report I'm first authoring); plus two electives, which I was hoping to concentrate on measure design but would also happily do more advanced statistics courses if I'm allowed to take them through the school of psychology (I've tapped out the school of ed on that score). I guess I should ask if I'm allowed to say my job counts as an internship, which from the course catalog it looks like it should, but idk. Theoretically that puts me graduating... fall '25? Maybe? I could go so much faster if it weren't for the financial aspect. I do have to meet with an advisor at some point, but I still don't have one at the moment (again), which really seems like a problem for future me to figure out. But future me before May, because I think I'm still recorded as supposed to graduate this semester, even though it's been clear from the beginning that I was not a full-time student. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

They really do make this grad school thing as complicated as possible, don't they?

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 4: Let There Be Cowgirls and Glasshouse Children

• Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton × OFC Stella Daniels

• Rating: M

• Photo credit

• Warnings: violence, language, brief mention of suicide

• Word count: 3,748ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot for being a sounding board for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, a cheerleader, and allowing me to screech at her about things that have happened during the writing process. seriously couldn't have gotten this far.

Author's note: I hope everyone is enjoying so far!

Jimmy sighed. Another day, another dollar. Another early morning to get barn chores finished before getting his ass handed to him out on the ranch. He couldn’t believe how this hand he’d been dealt was panning out.

The tell tale sstt sstt sstt shuffle of hooves in the round pen could be heard as he walked out of the bunkhouse. Getting closer, he saw Stella working on that horse Kayce had given them. Jimmy stared in amazement as the stud behaved for her. Considering the fact that the other day the horse threw John, himself, and Stella around like ragdolls.

Jimmy leaned on the fence and listened to Stella speak to the mustang. Her tone was gentle, but confident, as she coaxed him to change leads without using her hands at all. At least it didn’t look like she did to Jimmy. He watched in wide-eyed wonder.

“How do you do it?”

Stella’s head snapped to her right at the intrusion of sound. It was still early and somewhat dark. She had wanted to get this done and over with before John started wandering about. She pulled Tank to a slow stop and made him face Jimmy. “How do I do what,” she laughed.

His arms flailed in response. “That! Make him listen! Make him not want to throw you to the moon! To be calm!”

“Oh,” Stella chuckled, “because I’m calm Jimmy.”

He stared at her, open mouthed, and blinked slowly. Laughter bubbled up from Stella’s chest and came out in a joyful ring. “Okay, let me break it down for you like Lee and Kayce did for me.” Stella stepped down off the mustang gently. “First thing you should know is that a horse can hear your heartbeat about four feet away. Give or take the individual horse’s hearing.”

Jimmy nodded but remained quiet.

“The second, which I’m sure you already know, horses are prey animals. Humans are predators. Their first instinct at any sense of danger is flight.” Stella walked closer to Jimmy with Tank. “So when a predator comes up to them nervous, jittery, anxious?” She stopped, with Tank following her lead, about four feet away. “Well, if it were me, I’d probably be thinking what the hell is this predator so afraid of because I should be hauling ass.”

Jimmy started to put two and two together. “So when I saw him flip on Mr. Dutton, and try to throw you halfway across the planet—,”

Stella finished his thought, “— he already knew you were afraid. Because just like we can read their body language, they can quite plainly read ours.” She smiled softly at him. “Come pet him. He won’t eat you. Might sound like a dragon for a second, but that’s about it.”

Jimmy contemplated the invitation. Weaving his way through the fence, he walked toward the resident horse trainer, but the stud started to pull back. Tank snorted. Jimmy's feet stuttered to a stop. Stella got Tank to relax and stand in place. She held her hands out to Jimmy and mimicked taking a big deep breath in and letting it out. Jimmy let out a frustrated sigh.

“Okay that wasn’t exactly what I meant, but it’s a step in the right direction.” Stella giggled. “Alright Jimmy deep breath in,” she breathed in with her free hand, “and out,” she exhaled. “Feel better?”

“I mean, yeah but what was the point?”

“To calm your frazzled nerves is what I was getting at.” Stella smirked at him. Tank nudged her arm and she gave his soft muzzle a pet. “Now walk over to us slow, shoulders back, in a non-aggressive manner.”

Jimmy took a few test steps closer to the pair. When the mustang didn’t overreact, he took a few more gaining confidence.

“See Jimmy? You just have to exercise patience. Not everyone is fantastic at things the first few go arounds.” Tank made a soft noise of intrigue at the lanky man getting closer. “Lord knows I’ve never been.” Stella admitted. Jimmy reached out and let the horse sniff his hand, but Stella warned him. “Go slow and give him an open palm, okay?”

Gingerly he lifted his hand and turned it so his palm faced the sky. Tank leaned his head forward to get closer without actually moving. Jimmy took the direction and carefully stepped closer. Tank sniffed at Jimmy’s hand. Stella petted the horse’s strong neck in encouragement as his lips started to dance back and forth along Jimmy’s palm in search of a treat.

Stella watched with a small ounce of pride as Jimmy smiled wider than she had ever seen thus far. He flipped his hand over and started petting Tank’s long nose and moved up to his forehead. When Stella witnessed Jimmy’s shoulders relax and he reached up to fix Tank’s forelock, she smiled.

While the two bonded, Stella could hear noises of the ranch coming to life for the day. She glanced around with a wide scope, searching for any sign of John.

Jimmy watched as Stella tried, and failed, to look around discreetly. “Did you lose somethin’?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “It’s nothing. I just gotta get out of here when I’m done with Tank.”

“Now come on, Stella. I’ve been around here long enough to know when you’re uncomfortable.”

Stella chewed on her bottom lip as she considered telling Jimmy about the situation with John. Her shoulders dropped. “I pissed John off, and I’m trying to make myself scarce to avoid him until he cools down.”

“What happened?”

“I just heard something I shouldn’t have, and I inserted my foot in my mouth when he confronted me about it.” She smiled sheepishly. “Classic me, you know.”

“Oh. Am I able to help at all?”

“No, not really. If anything, just please don’t tell anyone what I told you.”

He agreed and ignored her confession. “Yeah I should probably get back to the barn work, anyway.”

“I’ll follow you so I can put him back.”

Stella’s phone buzzed just as she finished putting Tank up. She sniffed and wiped her nose from all the dust. Stella looked at the text. It was from Kayce. Hey, you wanna come help me with a horse?

She glanced around and thought about her schedule. The rest of the day was pretty free. The wranglers didn’t need an extra set of hands, and Tank was really the only work she had for the day. She saw an opportunity to have Jimmy learn more from her and Kayce.

Sure. Leaving the ranch now. Can I bring a friend? She texted back. It was a blessing in disguise because she didn’t want to be around to run into John.

“Jimmy?” Stella hollered out. She knew he was still somewhere in the barn.

Jimmy dropped the last few feed buckets into a stack on top of each other. “Yeah?”

Stella’s phone vibrated in her hand as she shut Tank’s stall door. Do I know this friend?

Stella huffed and texted Kayce back. Yes. It’s Jimmy. I want him to learn something useful from us to help him here.

“You wanna come with me somewhere?” She asked, finally looking up at Jimmy.

“Uh, I probably shouldn’t.” He motioned to the outside. “Rip would lose his mind and turn the whole state upside down if I didn’t show up.”

Stella huffed and rolled her eyes. She moved out the barn doors at lightning speed, with Jimmy following close behind. She searched in all directions for the man in question. She spotted him and shouted. “Rip!” His head whipped to face Stella. “I’m taking Jimmy for the morning to teach him some shit. You’ll have him back in the afternoon. The barn stuff is done.”

Jimmy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as he expected Rip to argue back. When the head man didn’t say anything, Jimmy's jaw dropped even further.

Stella felt the vibration knowing it was Kayce. Uh sure.

Cool beans. Be there soon.

Be safe Stellfire. She smiled at the nickname.

“You’re gonna have to teach me how to do that too.”

Stella let out a howl at the thought of Jimmy doing what she just did to Rip. She locked her eyes on Jimmy, and he almost cringed. “You got everything you need?” He shook his head yes. “Alright, c’mon then.”

They pulled up to Monica and Kayce’s. Stella could see Sam standing on the fence of Kayce’s round pen. Kayce was in the process of getting acquainted with the horse he was working on.

Turning the car off, she glanced at Jimmy. He fidgeted in her passenger seat. “C’mon, you know Kayce just about as well as I do. We all went to school together. He won’t bite.” She smirked. “Much.” Stella hopped out of the car and wandered up next to Sam.

“Hey man, how you been?” She questioned.

“Oh little Stelly! I’ve been good. Well as good as we can be around these parts. Ya know?”

Kayce glanced over with a small smile, but his face hardened when he saw Jimmy sidle up beside her and Sam. He wasn’t a fan of how close Jimmy followed her.

Stella chuckled. “Yeah I’ve heard a thing or two.” Jimmy leaned on the fence next to her. “Oh Sam, this is Jimmy. Jimmy, Sam.” She leaned back so the two could greet each other. “He’s gonna learn a thing or two from cowboy and I today.”

Sam smiled broadly. “Well then you're in good hands, Jimmy.”

The horse squealed in displeasure picking up on Kayce’s aversion. Stella flicked her head towards the pair. “Good lord, cowboy. What’re you doin’? No wonder you need my help.” She jested at him.

“Stella shut the hell up. It sounded like you didn’t make out much better with that mustang of yours. So I don’t wanna hear it.”

A shy voice spoke up from Stella’s right. “Actually, she was doing just fine this morning. He listened to her great.” Jimmy cleared his throat as he tried to build his confidence. He had to remind himself that this was someone he went to school with. “He didn’t even try to throw her across the ranch.”

“Oh he did, huh? How would you know? How would he know, Stell?” Kayce questioned aggressively.

“Oh for the love of god Kayce. He’s not wrong. Tank is doing great, ain’t got a mean bone in his body, but anyone that’s not you… he’s not gonna completely trust.” Stella almost growled.

Sam laughed to cut the tension between the friend pair. “You were the one that invited her here. I don’t know why you’re pissed she’s givin’ you what for.”

“And anyway, I made out just fine with your mustang, thank you very much. It was your father who almost needed the medical help. And thank you Sam. At least someone,” she paused to glare at Kayce’s back, “sees logic around here.”

She gave Jimmy a side glance. “Watch and learn, Jimmy-boy.”

Stella wound herself in between the rungs of the fence. She announced her presence behind Kayce, reaching out to touch his mid-back quickly. His back tensed at her fast finger tips. She murmured behind him as she pulled her hand away. “I’m in with you.” She gripped the lunge line out of Kayce’s hands. The horse calmed down a good bit as soon as the rope switched handlers.

Kayce breathed out, willing the frustration to leave him. “He’s easier on the right, but cross firing to the left,” he murmured an explanation. “When I started making him go left was when he got pissed.” The friend duo could hear Sam as he explained to Jimmy what they were talking about.

Stella looked up at him, her face irritable. They locked eyes in a battle of Kayce trying to get her to forgive him and Stella trying to get him to understand he was out of line.

“Work your magic for me, ma’am.” Kayce smirked and tipped his hat.

Try as she might, Stella laughed through her nose and rolled her eyes. “Just be nice to him, Kace. He’s doing his best to learn.” She whispered.

Kayce backed up and took a spot next to Sam and Jimmy. Sam nudged his shoulder. “What was that, huh?”

“I was an asshole, and she was letting me know.” He gave Sam a look, and then gave the newcomer a once over. “Hey Jimmy. So you said that stud was good to our girl this morning?”

Jimmy nodded. “It was almost like seeing Lee work on him.” He fidgeted with his hands. “So you wanted her to come help?” Kayce nodded. “Why?”

Sam offered his opinion. “He just wanted a woman’s spirit here. To keep good old gelding boy calm.”

“What?” Jimmy brought his brows together, perplexed, not understanding the meaning.

Sam clarified. “Oh, some native teachings say that a woman is the best person to help tame wild horses. They have quiet spirits which helps keep them calm.”

“Well that was what she told me this morning when I asked her how she got Tank to behave. She said, “because I’m calm.” Even though calm isn’t always the word I would use for Stella.”

Kayce laughed at the idea of Stella being described as calm. “Quiet you two. I don’t want her to know she’s my secret weapon.” He stage whispered.

She retorted without looking. “I can hear you, idiot. You’re five feet away.”

Sam howled with laughter and slapped the fence post. “I knew I liked her for a reason!”

Stella smiled at Sam’s joy, and let the horse come to her. It nuzzled into her, breathing heavily. She kept her breathing slow and steady. Calm. She wanted the gelding to feel that and mimic her heartbeat. She was letting him know it was okay to be peaceful with her. She was safe.

“Kace what’s his name?”

“Titan.”

She backed up a good distance, Stella motioned to Titan with her head to the left. If this horse could roll its eyes, he would have. He let out a loud huff and began walking to the left. Stella clicked her tongue. “C’mon boy, trot for me.” She watched him begrudgingly pick up the pace. He started crossfiring. Stella pursed her lips and pulled her brows together. When she stopped moving, Titan stopped and faced her.

“Good boy.” She was proud of the cooperation. Stella walked closer to him and started to describe to him what she was expecting him to do. “So bud, when we do that trot, I need these two feet to move at the same time,” she tapped the corresponding legs, “and these two to move together.” She followed through gently tapping the other legs.

Moving back forward to Titan’s face, she waited for him to give her a look of understanding. His soft eyes blinked at her for a few moments, but then he dropped his head and brought it back up. Almost like he nodded to her.

Stella smiled. “Okay. You ready to try again?”

Titan took a wide stride away from her, already walking to the left. Stella moved back toward the center of the pen, and clicked her tongue. “Trot. No crossfires this time.”

Titan slid into his trot and crossfired at the beginning, but after a small bit of encouraging from Stella, the matching feet started to hit the ground at the same time.

“Hell yeah, there you go buddy!”

Stella let him work to the left for a few minutes and stopped her body causing Titan to meet her. She whispered, “now, you be calm and let Kayce work with you. Please?” She pivoted to face Kayce. “And you, don’t be a dick to him. Ya hear?”

Kayce hopped over the fence to come try and get up on the horse. He traded the lead rope for the reins with Stella, and she gave him a light shove that meant don’t fuck up.

She took her place back by Sam and Jimmy, enjoying giving Kayce a hard time with them. She turned to Jimmy. “So have you learned anything yet?”

“I think I’m starting to get it.”

Things got quiet between the three of them and she zoned out on the horizon. She thought about the situation with John. Stella knew that if he couldn’t be convinced that she wouldn’t say anything, she and her horse would be out of a job, and a home, and she would need pasture fencing real quick for her house.

She had thought about saying something to Kayce, but she didn’t want to overstep. She definitely didn’t want to have him go to his dad because that wouldn’t look good for her keeping her mouth shut. Kayce was also dealing with a lot, and it wasn’t his responsibility to mend her busted up fences. Especially the ones she had messed up herself.

A gunshot behind them snapped her back to the present. Stella ducked out of habit, but bounced back up. Sam and Kayce took off toward the house on the top of the hill. Jimmy looked unsure of what to do. Stella jogged up to Sam who had hollered at the kids to stay out of the house before darting inside.

Stella stayed behind to corral everyone and keep them a safe distance from the house. “Jimmy help me with the kids.”

Monica came out of her and Kayce’s house running. “Stella what happened?!”

“I don’t know! We stayed out here with the kids. Kayce and Sam ran up there.” Stella yelled as Monica sped up to her sister-in-law’s house.

Stella and Jimmy brought the kids up to the house a little closer, but kept a good distance. She spoke to them in a gentle tone and tried her best to keep them calm. Jimmy letting them lean on him when they needed to. When Kayce came out onto the porch, he locked eyes with Stella. Immediately she knew it wasn’t good. He looked like he was going to be sick for a brief second.

Monica came out and she looked heartbroken, distraught to say the least. Her face hardened when she looked at her husband. “You take the kids. Give them a bath. Keep them safe. I’ll clean this up.”

“What can we do to help?” Stella asked.

“Would you mind bringing me cleaning supplies, yellow rubber gloves, and a box cutter?”

“On it.” Stella grabbed Jimmy and rushed off to Monica and Kayce’s house to grab the things Monica had listed off for them.

Sam was still standing outside when they got back up the hill. Stella could tell just from looking at him that it was heavy. She felt wrong just barging in.

She whispered. “Is it okay if I go give this to Monica?”

He nodded. “Just you though. Jimmy, you stay out here with me.”

Stella timidly walked up the porch stairs and into the trailer. The air was thick and heavy. She looked over to her right where Monica stood. Her gaze didn’t linger long because she saw the blood spatter and realized it must have been Monica’s sister-in-law. Her eyes closed in a silent prayer and breathed out hard fixing her glasses.

“Monica, I’m —,” she stopped because those words wouldn’t help right now, “— I have what you asked for. What do you need from me? Jimmy?” She wanted to help in any way she could.

“I’ve got this. Just make sure Kayce keeps the kids away from here. Keep them at our house. Please. I don’t need them to see this.”

“Okay I’ll go. If you need a hand,” she placed her hand on Monica’s forearm and made eye contact, “holler.”

Stella and Jimmy made their way back inside Monica and Kayce’s trailer. She shut the door behind her and closed her eyes. This was not how she expected today to go. She felt a nudge against her arm.

“You okay Stella?”

“Ask me later, Jimmy.” Stella had to find Kayce. “You stay here for a minute.”

Kayce just finished giving the kids a bath. He looked up as Stella walked into the room. The best friends shared a sober look.

“Let me and Jimmy finish getting them ready. You go to Monica.” Stella leaned back out the door and directed the new ranch hand. “Jimmy, go turn on a movie or something for them after. We’ll be good here, right everyone?” The children solemnly nodded.

“Thank you, Stell.”

“No prob, cowboy.” She followed after the kids to help them pick out their outfits and their movie with Jimmy.

Kayce made the journey up to his wife. Monica asked, “Where are the kids?”

“Watchin' a show with Stella and Jimmy down at the house.” He leaned up against the wall. “You want me to finish all this?”

“Looks like a suicide. It's not what it is.” She placed the gloves down and started opening cabinets. “No job, three kids, no food.” She then made her way to the sink to look out the window.

“And my dad certainly can't take care of 'em. We can't.” She turned and leaned against the sink facing Kayce. “Samantha's parents, they do pretty good. They got a nice house in Seattle. Only problem is, they won't speak to her. Knew if she asked, they'd say no. Now they can't say no.”

Kayce looked at her speechless as she finished. “It wasn't a suicide. It was a sacrifice.”

Stella had been listening to Monica from the porch. She chewed her bottom lip, not sure if she wanted to interrupt or not. The kids were safe watching a tv show with Jimmy. She had a few minutes before they would come looking. She shook her head. The bad luck just kept coming.

She stepped into the kitchen and cleared her throat. “They’re watchin’ a show. Is there anything I can help with out here?” She placed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. She wanted to lend a hand, but didn’t want to be in the way.

Monica sighed, defeated. “No Stella. You’ve helped enough today. Unless Kayce needs you for something, I think you can go. He’ll take over for you with the kids.”

“Y’all stay together. I’ll go help Sam put up that horse for now, and me and Jimmy will be on our way. I’ll have Sam stay with the kids until one of y’all comes back.” As soon as she got back to the ranch, she planned on heading out for a ride. She had to clear the heavy weight on her chest.

[mariacallous]

Ukraine should be front and center this week when the Biden administration hosts the NATO summit in Washington. This is no time, into the third year of this terrible war, for obfuscation—either out of fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin might escalate into use of nuclear weapons (highly unlikely) or of the unknown if Russia were to suffer defeat in Ukraine (beyond our control).

The more weapons, technology, and assistance provided to Ukraine and the faster it is done, the more successful Ukraine’s outlook will be in defeating Russia. Success for Ukraine is difficult but by no means impossible. Failure is not an option.

Putin declared in mid-June that any negotiations would have to be based on Ukraine’s surrender of huge swaths of territory beyond those parts occupied by Russia, neutrality, substantial demilitarization, and a change in government. In other words: submission. So much for Western accommodationists who have advocated for negotiations to end the war.

Victory, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky and the vast majority of Ukrainians, means no Russian soldiers on Ukrainian territory, including Crimea; Russian accountability for the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide that Russian forces have committed against Ukraine; and Russian payment for the destruction it has caused, estimated to be roughly half a trillion dollars and rising. The United States should embrace this definition of victory wholeheartedly. After all, it is Ukrainians who are the ones doing the fighting against Russia, not U.S. troops. This means ramping up assistance to provide the Ukrainians with the weapons they need not simply to fend off Russian attacks but to achieve victory. That is the quickest and best way to end this war and the toll it has taken on Ukraine.

First, the administration needs to clarify that its goal is to help Ukraine win and defeat Russia. Previous administration slogans—from “as long as it takes” to “as long as we can” to help Ukraine have the “strongest hand possible” for eventual negotiations—are inadequate. Administration officials have offered muddled answers when asked for a clear answer on what the policy is.

Second, to achieve this outcome, the United States and its allies need to accelerate the delivery of weapons, new technology, and assistance to Kyiv. There are signs, albeit belated, that things are moving in this direction: The administration announced last month that it would prioritize delivery of air defense systems to Ukraine over other countries that have ordered them. It has also lifted the geographical restrictions on the use of U.S.-provided weapons against targets inside Russia—limits that had provided the Russians with a sanctuary to launch strikes against Ukraine.

But here, too, the administration should do more. It should allow Ukraine to use longer-range ATACMS missiles against targets in Russia out of self-defense—otherwise, it allows Russia sanctuary inside Russian territory to launch attacks against Ukraine without fear of retaliation. The administration should also do a better job of tightening the sanctions it has already imposed against Russian entities, especially in the financial and energy fields, tightening the screws on Russian revenue streams as much as possible. It should implement more aggressive secondary sanctions, including against entities in China, which has been providing support—albeit not overt military aid—to Moscow that has been critical to Russia’s economy and war effort.

It also should capitalize on the progress made at the recent G-7 summit, where the administration marshaled support for using the interest earned on Russia’s $300 billion in assets frozen by the West to securitize a $50 billion loan for Ukraine, to move to seize all $300 billion of those assets, not just the proceeds. Doing so is legal under U.S. law (i.e., the REPO for Ukrainians Act, signed into law in April) and international law and is guided by precedent, as in the case with Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait. It also is the morally right thing to do. How could the West ever contemplate allowing Russia to regain control over these assets and not use the funds to compensate Ukraine for the destruction Moscow has caused? Why should Western citizens pony up funds to pay for the damage Russia has caused when many of the costs can be covered by these Russian funds?

Third, it is possible that the upcoming NATO summit may be the last one on this administration’s watch. Thus, it must seize the moment and recognize that progress on Ukraine’s membership in NATO may get derailed if there is a change in the White House.

Recent excuses for delaying Ukraine’s entry into the alliance have focused on corruption in Ukraine. That’s a problem, to be sure, but one that is being addressed in a serious, if not complete, way as dozens of Ukrainian officials have been fired and investigated for allegations of corruption. Corruption didn’t seem to present a major obstacle for some existing members of the alliance.

More recently, the White House insisted that Ukraine must win the war first before it can be considered for membership. This excuse risks incentivizing Putin to extend the war as long as possible to make sure Ukraine never receives an invitation to join NATO. Extending NATO’s Article 5 security guarantees initially to the parts of Ukraine controlled by Ukrainian forces, and then over time expanding that sweep as Ukraine regains more land, is the best way to avoid risking a wider war.

Think about what Ukraine already has accomplished. It has inflicted more than half a million casualties on the Russian side. It has regained more than 50 percent of the territory Russia initially seized in the days and weeks after Feb. 24, 2022. It has taken out one-third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and made the Crimean port of Sevastopol unusable for Russia. It has restored use of the Black Sea routes for Ukrainian exports and developed a strong indigenous drone capability that is causing real damage to Russian assets inside Russia.

Much of this Ukraine did on its own, and much was achieved with Western assistance. Ukraine has suffered terribly, and much of that toll came during the holdup in U.S. military aid before Congress finally voted for the new assistance package in April. Even during the seven-month period when no U.S. aid was flowing, Russian forces made very little headway, and what they did gain in places such as Avdiivka came at huge costs.

Russia has had to resort to using prisoners and immigrants to man the front lines, given Putin’s reluctance to enact a second mobilization. (Ukraine recently has also turned to recruiting prisoners, but that is because its population is roughly a quarter of Russia’s.) Russian authorities have had to increase bonuses for joining the military several times. And without Iranian and North Korean support, Russia would really be on the ropes now.

All this means that, with the right and prompt assistance, Ukrainian victory is in fact possible. The Biden administration should embrace that prospect. It also should support an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, a process that would take several years and not happen overnight.

No country has had the unfortunate and costly experience of fighting the Russians like Ukraine. No country deserves membership in NATO more than Ukraine. And an invitation would let Putin know that he cannot exercise a de facto veto over Ukraine’s aspirations.

The steps outlined here are critical for U.S. security. Putin identifies the United States as Russia’s principal adversary, and his aim is to undermine America’s standing and interests in Europe and elsewhere. Putin is responsible for the worst security crisis on the European continent since the end of World War II. If allowed to change borders by force and get away with war crimes and crimes against humanity, he will not stop at Ukraine. He will threaten countries that already are members of NATO, with the Article 5 security guarantees that come with that.

It is in Ukraine that Putin must be stopped and defeated. Moreover, giving Ukraine the means to deliver Putin a clear defeat would also deter Chinese President Xi Jinping from moving on Taiwan and send a signal to all authoritarian leaders that the United States will not back down.

Nobody wants this war to end sooner than Ukrainians. The way to reach that point is to help Ukraine win as quickly as possible and welcome the country into NATO so that this war is never repeated.

[ask-codeearasure]

Ouija and Sarco's Master-Post for Character Design.

Struggling with character designs is a bitch, so here is a master post full of resources for you to help you bring your character designs to the next level, I shall also have some text that will elaborate on why I linked the video (and sometimes the channel) for you to understand why.

These are inspirations for Sarco and I and I wanted an excuse to share them. Okay, I wanted a huge excuse to share them.

1.) TB Skyen (Tumblr account @ohnoitstbskyen ) and his video "What's the Deal with Kindred?"

Why TB Skyen and this video in particular?

TB Skyen is a wonderful YouTuber and Artist who can look into the art of League of Legends and pick it apart and critique it in the context of being from a multi-billion dollar company, but also in the context of the story that the character is from.

His critiques can go from color scheme, body type, pose, and even animations that show you just how detailed those animations can go (watching his animation breakdowns is wonderful and hilarious at how geeky he is! If you want an excuse to have a dumb as hell smile on your face, watch his animation breakdowns and how much fun he has going in depth on it. Trust me!).

This video is my personal favorite because he goes into detail about the character's voice lines and how Lamb and Wolf talk as though they are in a play. Going very heavily into the writing of the characters because character writing is extremely important in the very design of the characters.

Every video he has on character designs shows how far you CAN push your character designs.

HOWEVER, you SHOULD NOT hold yourself to the standards of billion-dollar companies. I need to remind you, that he is actively critiquing a multi-billion dollar company and is pushing people to have higher standards for these companies.

DO NOT destroy yourself for not being able to push yourself to such standards. You should push yourself, but don't push yourself too hard. Remember, as an artist we all start somewhere, and stepping out of your comfort zones is wonderful, but you cannot do it all the time to the point of burnout.

TB Skyen doesn't even hold himself to that standard fully with his Building a Better series.

Art should also be enjoyable for the artist.

2.) Subjectively and their video "Redesigning League of Legends' Boring Champs: Zyra"

Subjectively actively have been making videos about Pokemon and League of Legends along with their ever-famous Apoctober concepts and stories.

If it's not obvious, I'm a League of Legends fan girl, and it's true. Sue me.

Subjectively, like TB Skyen, have been redesigning League of Legends champions, and critique Riot Games' shitty design philosophy when it comes to Female Champions.

With this video, you will find how sometimes character designs can go in many different directions and how you don't need to restrict yourself when it comes to being "human-like".

Yes, sex sells, but I'm honestly tired of every single female character having the same face and same body type and every female character having to be put in the "conventionally attractive seductress" box.

We should also have monster women who look monstrous. We should also have women who are buff, muscular, and terrifying.

Speaking of sex selling...

3.) NickyBoi and his video "Riot Refuses to Rework Cassiopeia... So I did it for Them."

It is no surprise that when it comes to women in the videogame industry as a whole and even in comics and movies, women are not allowed to be anything but conventionally attractive without having a reason for it. We often hear the “But why can’t women be powerful aaaaand conventionally attractive?” argument that isn’t really an argument. Being attractive should not be the ONLY part of our power fantasy.

Men can be anything from hideous monsters who can bite the head off of a motherfucker, to someone who is built like a Greek god with biceps on top of biceps with biceps as a cherry on top with 12 pack abs that you could cut a steak on.

If men can have a diverse set of power fantasies to choose from, then women should get just as much diversity with that.

Which is why I bring you to this video.

Sexuality and seduction are just as much of a power fantasy but it needs to have a purpose. So when it comes to the redesigning of this character Nickyboi had to legitimately overhaul a small chunk of her story: the fact that she was supposed to be terrifying to her fellow Noxians.

She was supposed to be considered “scary” and unworthy of civilization. But Nickyboi was not satisfied with his monstrous design for her, so he wondered that if being a seductress is supposed to be a part of her past and is supposed to get her magic from the ascended, then perhaps, he could combine both sides of the story and make her a villain that won, thus leaning into full-on fanservice.

 When designing your characters, you must take their past into consideration, and this is why Cassiopea was such a terrible design at first. Simply overhauling her story and actually taking into account the region she was born into and the one she stays in allows her new design to actually fit her as a character and keeps everything intact.

But when coming from scratch it can be hard but simply looking around and starting with the story can allow you to keep a level head and ensure that you are able to work within your means. But that means we have one last thing to address…

Character Writing:

When it comes to writing characters there are some people who want to say that there is no wrong way to write a character, but there is a VAST majority of people who will grab you by the shoulders and tell you, that there is a correct way to write a character and will give you a long list to go through to get you started.

However, I will tell you the truth: It depends on what you’re writing.

When I start creating a character I sometimes have to take a step back and prevent myself from jumping into a pit.

I am sure that you’ve noticed within mine and Sarco’s writing, especially when it comes to the Ocs, they are devastatingly dark.

But I’m going to level with you here. The majority of those characters are mine. Edelweiss, Sketch, Klezmer, Katagma, Izanagi, Occultatum, Cyberberry – they’re all mine. But we’re going to focus on one here in this exampleI am going to give you, and that’s Sketch.

Before I made Sketch, I had another character that was basically made during my childhood, and was a silent wish of mine. I didn’t want to have emotions anymore.

And there are times when I still wish that, and that is one of the reasons why Sketch is like that. He is that power fantasy. Unlike Ink, he has the ability to be completely emotionless and function as such. But when it comes to exploring that fantasy, it has its downfalls. And it is fascinating because as an adult I realized that that wish is not a wish – it is a curse. That isn’t to say that people with ASPD, or even just low-empathy are sick, or broken, or anything of the sort.

They have struggles. Real actual struggles. So when it comes to exploring such a concept is finding those struggles and figuring out how to humanize them. I had to take a step back and ask myself, “How would this be interpreted logically, with little to no emotion in it?” and I had to sit there for a fucking hour trying to answer that.

It was only after that Sarco informed me that little to no empathy is not indicative of little to no emotional basis whatsoever, so I had to start back at square one. Sketch having absolutely no emotion would not mean he has ASPD. With a complete lack of emotion, that is something else entirely. Plus, assuming those with little to no empathy have no emotional experiences at all is ableist, so I’m learning better from that. The psychology field is fucked, let me tell you that much. Each and every single mental illness can overlap with each other or trigger one another like a fucked up domino effect. But when writing Sketch, I learn more about him oddly enough, and even then I learn how he could be healed as a person while still staying the same person, not being rebooted, not just flipping a switch and making him “good” again, or “resolved”.

One of the things that truly inspired me when it comes to writing characters with mental illnesses, with “points” that don’t exactly make them good people, but people who believed that they are doing good, is Arcane.

If you haven’t watched Arcane, I highly suggest you do it. Get a Netflix subscription or find a way to pirate it. It is something that will make you think. And that is what I like to do when it comes to writing.

I want to make my readers think, even if they don’t realize that they’re thinking about it.

I have one question that I have to ask when I write Sketch, every single day I write him, even when I’m not writing him but rather coming up with future arcs that will involve him:

“How will this affect him in the future?”

And it breaks me.

It makes me sit back and realize that I’m the cruelest creature alive, and I grin like a maniacal villain who has caught the idiotic hero in a trap that was years in the making that they have no chance of escaping.

This question is there because every story beat that is supposed to be truly hard-hitting and even traumatic towards the characters is supposed to be addressed, it is supposed to be something that affects them. There is a reason that the Negativity Venom that is running through Dream’s veins in the story that Sarco and I are writing is stated to have a permanent effect on him. There is a reason that it is described as something that swings a door open and it can never be shut because that is what trauma is.

Trauma, mental illnesses, character arcs, what have you – they are things that cannot (should not) be undone.

Unlike Pandora’s Box, there is no way to put all the problems back. There is no shutting it. There is only finding a way to adapt.

When writing, you are adding a piece of yourself. You are opening yourself up and really introspecting, even if you don’t realize it. You are ripping a small chunk out of you and putting it to words. It’s one of the reasons why writing is so emotionally draining sometimes. But that is what makes good stories. They can be so incredibly human.

Or if not human, settle for alive, meaningful nonetheless. Make the characters living forces, something with a motive and a struggle. The characters don't even have to literally be alive, it’s just gotta be something that moves the reader. A lot of elements in storytelling are so impactful because some part of them was inspired by reality.

Character writing has just as much importance as visual design, because writing is just design in a different form, and there is no shame in reshaping it time and time again until the concept fits what you’re going for.

But most of all, you have to put in effort, thought, and research. I went on a rant once about how much I hate it when people do not put in effort into their designs or writing because it becomes so incredibly evident so easily. But when you put in effort. When you try your best, it becomes so incredibly obvious to all of those who have an invested interest.

Just do your best and have fun while doing it. While there are some very important concerns with writing the heavy and complicated stuff, there is no right way to write your character. To start, you are supposed to experiment. Don’t let “perfection” be the enemy of good enough.

[luxe-pauvre]

We see combinations of commodities, label them as trends and movements, assign them philosophies and personalities, and then decide to become the stock characters we didn’t even invent. Worst of all—we believe our tastes and desires are some sort of natural or innate phenomena rather than one that is shaped by a lifetime of socialization and a media culture that carefully selects the things that will allow us to access a feeling of group identity or community. Radical principles of joy are misunderstood; the fetishization of the commodity is mistaken as an expression of self-love and the cohort of consumers within a trend is mistaken for a group bonded in solidarity. Not only does this reduce our capacity to look thoughtfully at aesthetics and trend movements, but it actively deflects cultural criticism as negativity or misogyny (despite the pressure of an in-group, out-group nature fast-moving trend cycle being a force felt mostly by women). Clothing is political, it is historical, it is communicative. The nuances of fashion should not be reduced to data-driven fodder for algorithms and targeted advertisements. […] Perhaps this all seems overblown, unimportant, a too-close read into something as silly as popular fashion. But it is exactly because fashion trends are taken as mundane that they become so important: we are always wearing clothing; it is the one commodity we cannot leave the house without. It is laden with philosophies and histories that conjure subconscious associations in our head, dictating our ability to analyse ourselves and others without ever seeming particularly important or existential. Our consumption of clothing and discourses around fashion reveal how we think about commodities, labor, social groupings, our own self worth, and our relationship to power. The global textile industry—an industry obviously rife with human trafficking, slavery, and ecological destruction—is valued at over one trillion (with a T) dollars for the year 2022. The people that control garment production have immense economic and therefore political power; if the discourses surrounding consumption are of concern to them then they must also be of concern to us. Of course, it is human nature to want to be seen in a particular way, to identify ourselves as part of a group or culture or movement. We want to signal our values to our communities—it leads us to safety, companionship, love. But the solution is not blind acceptance of algorithmically generated shopping lists, polyester paradises to be changed with the seasons.

charlie, Personal Style Is Dead And The Algorithm Killed It

[girlactionfigure]

The Proper Objectives of the Campaign in Gaza

At this moment, the IDF is poised to begin a ground invasion of Gaza. The objectives of the campaign, however, have not been spelled out with sufficient clarity by the political echelon, other than by saying that Hamas will be eliminated as a military threat and sovereign power in Gaza. The following are my ideas of appropriate short and long-term goals for the IDF.

The first and highest-priority objective must be the restoration of Israel’s honor and power of deterrence in the Middle East. This is the part that is the most difficult to understand for the West, particularly by the elites in the US and Europe, but it is an existential condition for the survival of our state. A person or a nation without honor will not live long in this region. What was done to us, what we allowed to be done to us, was so shameful that today we stand naked, a target for anyone who wants to kill us, to invade our country, to take our property, to defile our women, to enslave our children.

You can say that this point of view is atavistic and uncivilized, and perhaps it is when compared to the (supposedly) morally evolved West, but we live in the Middle East, not in Europe or America.* The law here is not the post-1945 international law of the West, it is a code that has evolved in the harsh conditions of the region over millennia. It has been impossible until now for our own Israeli elites to internalize this, but one hopes that the viciousness of the attack on us – the worst since the founding of the state and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust – will shake them out of their dream of living in a villa in the jungle.

So what does this imply for the IDF’s short-term objectives? I see it this way: all important Hamas leaders, wherever they are, and every commander, soldier, and civilian that took part in the terrorist attack should be killed. Not “brought to justice,” not captured and tried for war crimes, not imprisoned. Killed. Overall Gazan casualties will need to reach a level of ten times more than the number of Israelis murdered and violated. There are other important objectives for the invasion, like the rescue of hostages and the destruction of weapons and military infrastructure, but the recovery of honor – revenge, if you insist – must be top priority. Only thus can the appropriate message be sent to all the players in the region, and the rest of the world.

The long-term objective must be to ensure that this cannot happen again. And from a strategic standpoint, that implies that Israel must either implement a military occupation capable of controlling the population and preventing the rise of a new terrorist regime, or she must force a change in the population to one that will not become a threat. Most of our leadership believes that an occupation is untenable. It would tie down a large part of our army, be very expensive, and provide a focus for continued terrorism and insurrections. But at the same time they shrink from the alternative.

Population transfer is anathema to the West, despite the fact that they’ve done it countless times in the past. But the tribal nature of humans implies that it is often an absolute condition for peace. Antagonistic tribes must be separated by natural barriers that make predation difficult or impossible. The Gaza Envelope – the location of the Israeli communities next door to Gaza – is not viable for Jews unless the hostile Arab population is removed or somehow prevented from attacking them. Israel built a barrier above and below the ground at a cost of a billion dollars. Sophisticated sensors above ground and hundreds of tons of concrete below were intended to provide a sense of safety to the people on the Israeli side. But like all Maginot lines, simple and inexpensive ways were found to bypass it, and Hamas brought death and destruction to the Jewish farmers who had trusted their leaders to protect them.

Some of our leadership seems to believe that we can sail peacefully between the Scylla of occupation and the Charybdis of transfer. The Americans are promising that they will help us bribe the Palestinian Authority to take control and that will solve the problem. The foolishness (or malevolence) of this plan is so obvious that only the most deluded or corrupt Israeli could accept it. As if the murderous Fatah would be a better neighbor than the murderous Hamas!

No Jew will return to live in the Gaza envelope while Gaza remains populated by Arabs. Not one. Are we prepared to give up the Negev? That is, in essence, what the Americans are asking in return for their ammunition and diplomatic support.

On Friday I explained that Israel should force the major part of the Gazan population into the Sinai, where they will become the responsibility of the international community, which created the problem in the first place. The area should be secured by the development of Jewish settlements, and ultimately become a part of Israel. And for the sake of justice, land in Gaza and financial aid should be provided to the descendants of those Jews who were so cruelly expelled from their homes there in 2005.

Abu Yehuda

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

One Man’s Opinion on Retirement

Stephen Jay Morris

5/12/2024

©Scientific Morality

            Once again, I must remind you that every human being is different. However, one gender has trouble with retirement: male. Why? The male ego. Thanks to the constant haranguing by advocates of masculinity, some men think that retirement is a death sentence to their identities. It’s part of the male castration complex. Upon retirement, you lose the respect of people who now view you as a useless, babbling nobody. You are regarded as a child again. Some dudes must be forced into retirement because they refuse to go there. In a capitalist society, you are either a master or a slave. Capitalists (masters) never have to retire because they have enough money to allow them 10 lifetimes. Now, as a worker (slave) who retires, you can no longer make any capitalist rich. However, your body ultimately breaks down from arthritis and heart disease, and you can no longer function without physical discomfort.

            A lot of retirees do not have any savings or investment income, so they are dependent upon pensions and/or Social Security. As such, they are on fixed incomes. Plastic conservatives point their boney fingers at them and declare it was their fault: “You didn’t handle your money right! You spent it on capricious stuff like a sports car or a 500-dollar pair of sneakers. You should have invested your money or saved more!” So, like a good little flunkey, you feel guilty for having burdened rich, White guys to pay taxes to fund your Medicare or Social-Security benefits. Even when you lost your job during your working years and were eligible for unemployment benefits, you didn’t sign up because of feeling embarrassed over your plight.

            Some men go through the extremes of depression and then suicide. Others become hermits and withdraw from society. Why is this? Because we live in society that celebrates wealth and downplays the proletariat. Plus, old people are viewed as annoying and useless, like children.

I am glad I have a different attitude towards retirement.

I am a subject of Gerontology. I state my case here. After an anfractuous life and being yelled at by alarm clocks, I am here to state: I love retirement! The money sucks, but the freedom is priceless. Many seniors go to Las Vegas and sit in front of those one-armed bandits all day, hoping for a big payoff. As for me? I was never good at making money. Plus, I never cared for it. To me, money was something you needed to buy art supplies and chilidogs. I had a passion for the arts and other things, like musical instruments. You needed money to buy birthday presents or other gifts to show your friends that you valued their friendship. Well, not me. A lot of people I knew thought I was a cheap asshole. Maybe I was.

            Retirement to me is living in freedom. I sleep as long as I want. I don’t have anything scheduled. I can literally stop and smell the roses. The only notable difference in my activities is that I see medical doctors more. But nobody points at me and tells me to be a man! I couldn’t even if wanted to. It takes me two minutes to get up from my couch. I don’t have to prove anything to anybody. I can walk away from anything and not care. I am happily married and in love.

In this country (USA), nobody has respect for elders. We are just a nuisance. President Biden is one those men who refuses to quit, just like Donald Trump. The selfishness of these two men is astounding! Should one of them die of natural causes during their term in office, it would put the entire nation in political crises. But, do they care? Hell no! They’re dead!

As for me, I am still alive, and I can take a long lunch if I want to!  Retirement: plan for it and have fun year-round!