#which happens to be a significant portion of the time

[leafstem]

thinking about the time when we were younger and would always floss our teeth because it was easy, and would never brush them. then our dad banned us from flossing unless we brushed our teeth and since then we've done neither

[inbabylontheywept]

my grandpa was a good man. and it really wasnt his fault - recreationally lying to kids is a proud family tradition - but he told me, once, that cutting a worm in half resulted in two worms.

i think he said it so i'd be more morally okay with fishing? i actually dont remember the context.

point was, he told me this, and he understimated (by a very large margin) how much i liked worms. i was a worm boy. very wormy. and after hearing that, i went home, and i dug through the garden, flipped over every rock, did everything i could to gather as many worms as i could, and then i uh.

i cut them all in half. every worm i could find. all of them. with scissors.

i then took this pile of split worms, and i put them in a box with a bit of lettuce and some water and stuff and went to bed expecting to double my worms overnight. i have math autism, so i had a vague understanding that if i did this just a few times in a row, i would eventually have a completely unreasonable amount of worms.

i was very excited to become this plane's worm emperor.

(i think i was...six?)

anyway, i did not become the inheritor of the worm crown. i instead woke up to a box of dead worms and cried. a lot. i got diagnosed with panic attacks as a teenager, but i think i had them as a kid, i just had no idea what they were. i was kind of processing that a.) i had killed what i had assumed was every single worm in my yard, and thus would have no more worms, and b). i was going to like, worm hell.

(six year babylon spent a lot of time worrying about god.)

so i kind of freaked out, and i climbed a tree, because god can only smite you if you're touching the ground (?) and i sat up there mostly inconsolable until my mom came out and asked, hey, what's up? what happened?

so i explained to her that i had killed all of the worms, forever, and was also Damned, and she took me to the compost pile, and we dug for all of five seconds and found like twenty more worms.

the compost pile was full of worms.

she then told me that a). there were more worms, and we could put them back under rocks and stuff and recolonize our yard and b). that one day, i would die, and go to heaven, and be able to talk to the worms face to face. that i'd be able to tell them all that i was very sorry, and that i killed them on accident, driven only by excessive Love, and that she was positive they would forgive me because worms have six hearts and no malice.

at that point, i think i was sixty percent tear-snot by weight, and i had no choice but to gather enough worms that i could hug them. which my mom helped with. and then after that she helped me put some worms back under each rock.

and for my epilogue: i spent a significant portion of my childhood in trees. and for many years after, even when my mom didnt know i was watching, i would catch her giving the space under the rocks a light spritz with the hose. not because she loved worms.

but because she loved me.

[fxrheisenn]

Andrus Laansalu talked about making Disco Elysium at EKA (Estonian Academy of Arts)

"Initially, the church wasn't a focal point. There were certain characters that needed to visit this location, and I asked, "Seriously, what do we have in our church?" The others replied, "Nothing at all. Our church is completely bare—just a wheel, really. It's quite basic."

That's when I decided to unleash my creativity in the design. For example, they chose to install a glass structure at the top of the church to create a reflective surface. It was like placing an optical clock up there. Therefore, one of the most crucial aspects of designing the church was ensuring the lighting was just right to create the desired atmosphere."

"Let me show you an example of Baroque architecture, which is rich in detail. We're also designing the interior of the church based on large cathedrals. However, the foundation you use might not yield the expected results, because the church itself doesn't require such intricate details. Sometimes, it's about simplifying the design."

"I used Articy for the initial scriptwriting of Disco Elysium. The image only represents a tiny fraction of the text and choice variables involved. This system was also the reason I eventually abandoned the project after a year of outlining the script and shifted my focus to becoming a sound designer. My mind struggled to keep up with the dynamic graphic rules, but fortunately, a more talented writer took over afterward."

"In terms of sound design, it's essential to develop different layers to bring out the charm of the church as a cohesive space. Although this represents only a small portion of the overall design, each layer actually requires a significant amount of time to compose the whole....... Whenever there's a shift or a change due to the dialogue itself, you need to adjust the background sounds. Each time you modify the details in the dialogue, I have to refine the background audio, ensuring that these elements build upon each other like an intricate layer of work."

"It's funny how many scenes involve characters getting smacked in the face. My job was to recreate those, so I locked myself in the bathroom with a recorder and hit my forehead until it turned red.

As a sound designer, I really dig those unsettling, drill-like sounds. So, I mixed in creepy lectures, metal scraping, moans, and cries of pain—because I just love that stuff! (laughs)

Players will be moving through all kinds of areas, so it's super important to make the sound transitions feel natural, trying to create a more immersive vibe in certain spaces.

With all the scenes featuring big cranes, you can hear them from far away, and I wanted to capture that eerie ringing in your ears. That's going to be a thing throughout most of the game. I've found ways to really mess with players while they're playing!"

"I've come across a lot of old objects (like phones and radios) that I needed to perfectly replicate the sounds. I started to become a bit of a hoarder, buying up different models of old phones whenever I found one to add to my collection. The sound effects I can simulate from them are really impressive."

"Some of the devices don't actually exist in real life—just a mix of architecture and tech. When I need to create sound effects, I first look for something similar that exists in our world, then I try to simulate what the sound and appearance of that thing might have been like a century ago.

Towards the end of the game, there's a character carrying a fuel canister. We needed the sound of the canister, so we dug one up from our garage—it had been sitting there since it was five! I realized this would make the sound perfect. So, it had been there for 50 years, and after 40 years, it finally found its purpose.

In some places, I needed unique sound waves, and recreating them was a real headache until one day I happened to walk by a swimming pool and stumbled upon an old wartime torpedo. You can rotate the torpedo's probe, and it slowly rises up, like a proud zombie head. The sounds it made were exactly what I needed!"

🙋How did you manage to get funding?

"Well, since we're in Estonia, you just need to know a wealthy person. You don't need five people—just two who can network, hang out together, and convince them to keep investing! (laughs) Back then, we constantly ran out of money and would tell them, 'Oops, looks like we spent it all! Can you invest a bit more?' That's how we made it through!"

🙋How did you all come together to make the game?

"Luck. It usually doesn't happen this way, and that's the key difference. It has to be. If not, you couldn't create a game of this scale - well, I mean in terms of budget. But creatively, Estonia definitely has writers and artists who can pull it off. With such a small population, there are a lot of quirky folks who are good friends. We were really lucky, though - lots of fortunate circumstances came together. It brought the right people together, allowing those talented fools to collaborate with us. They had experience but hadn't tackled projects of this magnitude before. So yeah, luck is pretty important!"

Lecture experience shared by 白兔YIYANG SUN on 小红书, reposted & translated by me with her permission.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So--long story short, a FedEx driver killed a rattlesnake that happened to be on someone's porch, not causing any immediate problems. This is an all too common practice here in the United States, where a significant portion of the population has the backwards idea that "the only good snake is a dead snake" and that the only way to deal with a venomous snake in the proximity of a house, or people in general, is to kill it. Never mind that snakes tend to move on if left alone, and that there are numerous entities that can be contacted to move the snake safely to another place if so desired, and that most bites occur when someone is harassing, handling, or trying to kill the snake.

Dr. Emily Taylor of California Polytechnic State University (@snakeymama on Twitter) has requested that people contact FedEx about their recent commercial glorifying the killing of the snake, which you can view here. I've included both her and my letters to the appropriate folks at FedEx. There are options for both email and snail mail correspondence, and the more people FedEx hears from about this appalling matter, the better.

It's 2024, almost 2025. We have tons of information on rattlesnake behavior and best practices in coexisting with them (to include training your dogs in snake avoidance). We know plenty about the importance they have in local ecosystems, and the devastation that has been done through people slaughtering them, sometimes in the thousands (I wrote about the ongoing problem of rattlesnake roundups and their inherent cruelty here.) There are multiple rattlesnake species that are endangered or otherwise threatened with extinction.

The vast majority of encounters with venomous snakes are benign, and the vast majority of bites come from someone (person, dog, etc.) confronting the snake that was just trying to defend itself. We've spent a lot of time in this country defaulting to killing anything that inconveniences us, but there are better ways to live safely in proximity to wildlife that don't involve violence. It just takes a little more effort and awareness, and most importantly a significant attitude change that no longer vilifies native wildlife simply trying to live their lives.

As Dr. Taylor mentioned, if you want to contact FedEx, here are your options:

"You can help by reposting this or by emailing to express your concern about the commercial: mediarelations@fedex.com and to the CEO at FWSmith@fedex.com. Or send letters to: Fred Smith, CEO Brie Carere, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Ryan Kelly, Vice President of Marketing FedEx Corporation 942 South Shady Grove Road Memphis, TN 38120 USA"

[infizero]

FIONNA AND CAKE GOOD BTW. im kind of obsessed i need the next episode NOW

[kawaiijohn]

Storms! Friday 3/14 and Saturday 3/15

🇺🇸 there hasn't been a day 2 (tomorrow) high risk severe weather forecast since 13 years ago in 2012.

this has happened three times. ever.

tomorrow is looking to possibly be a significant tornado outbreak preceded by another tornado/wind storm outbreak today late into tonight.

The NWS does NOT use strong language unless they are certain something IS going to happen.

So for them to be this certain an outbreak is going to happen means /it is likely going to happen/

Today/Tonight

...SUMMARY... A regional outbreak of severe thunderstorms is likely this afternoon through tonight across parts of the Lower/Mid Mississippi Valley and portions of the Lower Ohio Valley and Mid-South. Numerous tornadoes, several of which could be strong to intense, widespread severe gusts ranging from 60 to 100 mph, and scattered large hail up to baseball size all appear likely.

Satruday/Tomorrow/Late Tonight

...SUMMARY... A tornado outbreak is likely on Saturday across the central Gulf Coast States and Deep South into the Tennessee Valley. Numerous significant tornadoes, some of which should be long-track and potentially violent, are expected on Saturday afternoon and evening. The most dangerous tornado threat should begin across eastern Louisiana and Mississippi during the late morning to afternoon, spread across Alabama late day into the evening, and reach western parts of the Florida Panhandle and Georgia Saturday night.

As of 4:20pm Friday, here is our tornado risk for Saturday. Hatched means SIGNIFICANT, EF2+ tornadoes.

30% hatched hasn't been used in a long ass time.

Tell your loved ones who live in these areas about the weather. Have a plan. Have a go bag.

Do you know where your pets' carriers are? Can you get them contained/leashed/moved during an emergency?

Do you know where your medications are if you need to shelter?

Ask yourself these questions before bad weather strikes.

Don't be scared! Be prepared!!

[anartificialsatellite]

Hitting a hornet's nest like a wiffle ball off a children's tee-ball tee but:

I am glad it's dead. It should have happened sooner. But there was a time just short of 20 years ago that 4chan was the wretched primordial soup from which a significant portion of the internet's humor and recurrent memes spawned and it's weird that people are acting like it wasn't.

It's been a spawning ground for nazi pigfuckers far longer than it wasn't (portions of it always were, but there used to be a lot more division between those parts), and I don't say this out of any love for the site but rather because I think there's an important discussion to be had about radicalization on the internet and why certain spaces go one way or another.

Tumblr is constantly parroting memes that started on 4chan and they don't even know it. And that's fine? They entered the broader internet lexicon before many of Tumblr's current users had stopped shitting in their own pants on a regular basis, they're certainly not the property of the Nazi Website anymore, if they ever were, but that is where they came from.

I just don't want people thinking they're immune, or that this element doesn't exist on every website and social space on the internet, or that someone being angry but funny makes them less serious and dangerous than someone who's angry but isn't funny.

4chan was particularly egregious - mandatory sitewide anonymity plus a culture that rewarded provocative (edgy, let's call it what it is) behavior and offensive humor allowed the truly rancid elements to flourish in an unusually strong way.

The thing is, back in its heyday, a lot of people dismissed most 4chan users as edgy teens or angry but ultimately harmless nerds -- and I think at one point that was probably true, but also helps explain how it got SO bad.

4chan would not have been successful as a radicalization chamber had it been The Nazi Site from the beginning, you know? And you need to remember that.

[copperbadge]

Thank you so much for your post on ADHD and managing communication. It was really interesting see your thought process and an example of how you set up systems that work for you. I was wondering if you'd mind sharing a little about how you handle task management (the “make sure you do the tasks promptly” part). This is something I (also only diagnosed with ADHD as an adult) feel like I really struggle with, especially at work. Thanks!

I wish I had as...systematic an explanation for that as I do for other aspects of my work and life management, to be honest. For me the most important part is remembering that I even need to do the thing in the first place, so I always focus on systems that will help with that. While I do have trouble starting projects sometimes, I rarely have trouble finishing them, so that aspect is not the most significant part of the struggle for me and not something I've spent as much time on. Still, I do have some advice!

For me the problem, when it happens, is almost always with getting started. I have a few strategies for that. The very first is to remind myself that it's never going to take as long or be as hard as I think it is. That kind of reminder has to feel true and that truth really only comes with time -- you have to be taught over and over, through experience, that "the task isn't that awful". For this the best I can recommend is, every time you finish something, take a moment to stop and reflect how hard it was to get started, and how once you got started it was actually much easier than you thought it would be. If you can identify "being scared of starting" as being the hardest part, eventually you can come to believe that the fear is normal and can be ignored because it's also your brain lying to you.

Another thing I do very often is break tasks I don't want to do (or am struggling to start) into extremely granular portions. If I have to make a powerpoint presentation, and I'm struggling to know where to begin, I'll take it really small steps at a time. Like, my to-do list for the presentation might read:

Open Powerpoint

Fill out the title slide

Gather all research into a folder (do not open any of it)

Start reviewing your research one file at a time

Start sorting your research into appropriate groups based on subject matter or where in the presentation they'll go

Look at the way your research is grouped, just look for a while

Which part of the research would you tell someone to start with if they're new to the subject matter?

That's slide one.

Usually at that point I'm in the "flow" enough that I can stop looking at those granular steps, but it's also fucking astonishing how often just opening the program I need to do the thing in can drop me into the project so deep I'll surface hours later having nearly completed it.

So my first step for any task, once I know it's time to work on it, is just to open the program needed and gather all my resources in one place and give myself permission to ONLY do that. Those two things, which are easy in themselves (they usually don't need much thought) trigger that "this is what I'm doing now" state and even if I don't finish the project, I will at least make headway. This works in non-digital, non-work ways too -- if you're going to paint a wall, gather all your supplies first in one place and make sure you have everything you need. In the process of doing that you start to become more at ease with the idea of actually doing it, and even if you don't do it right that minute, now you're actually feeling prepared for when you do.

And honestly even knowing all that I still struggle sometimes. That's just the nature of the beast. Adderall helps a lot, and age has helped because I know what I'm capable of and it's often more than I believe at the start. But it's just always going to take more energy for me than for some people. Making sure I'm fed, rested, clean, and medicated helps a great deal, so I recommend looking after yourself when you DON'T have a project looming, but I also recommend giving yourself some grace when you do -- these things are just the challenges we face.

[voidaspects]

The Zyglak in bionicle are so funny because they like barely show up in the story in literally any capacity and every time they do it's for like a split second. And yet it's also emphasized that they are both a relatively large portion of the sentient population, with their own established culture and way of life, and also an absolutely massive threat and this ominous force of destruction and death. and it's like... all just... something happening. over there. this massive population of homicidal giant lizard pirates who hate everyone. just like this absolutely massive component of the entire universe of the franchise. a significant portion of all sentient life. and they just like... get mentioned five times. and show up three times. and they just sorta exist. somewhere else. like what on earth do you think they were thinking during... really any major event that happens to the great spirit robot. Apparently during the reformation of spherus magna, the Zyglak were still being isolationist and were not evacuated from the robot. so they just sorta lived in the wreckage until forced not to be. It's honestly kinda fascinating to imagine their perspective in all that. and like... what they were up to while alone in there...

but yeah like the degree to which they exist should make them like a massive part of the worldbuilding as a whole. but they just aren't. they're an anecdote in a story that they exist beside. I bet a lot of people might not even know they exist. there's probably a whole ass society just happening over there just entirely unmentioned.

[buttercupjosh]

The Perfect Proposal (the 4 times you expected that Mat was going to propose + the 1 time he actually did)

(Gif credit to @mattymartin)

word count: 1,968

genres: established relationship, fluff, self-insert

warnings: none

A/N: This story is based off of the song “Joy of My Life” by Chris Stapleton and I make references to this song throughout the story. I highly recommend listening to this song before reading my story. This story is short, sweet and fluffy. It’s not set at a specific moment in time (It’s taking place in a fictional future but you could also say that it’s set this upcoming season or even a past season). It’s written with a female reader in mind because I’m a female of color but the reader doesn’t specifically have to be a POC or a woman and there’s little dialogue. This is not a sequel to Your Favorite Secret (which you can still read and check out and if you want this to be a sequel to that, you can interpret it that way). As always, I’m open to any and all feedback, comments or questions; just put them in my inbox or dm me. Thank you so much in advance for reading, I appreciate it😌

(P.S. I have other stories (linked here) that I have written for other players as well if you want to check it out)

“Someday it will come right on cue.” -Somewhere Love Is Waiting for You from the Schmigadoon TV series soundtrack

Prologue

Meeting Mat changed your life in the best way possible. You took Mat’s breath away when you met up for your very first date and since then, you continued to take his breath away in small doses every time you saw him. He added so much goodness and love into your life and you did the same for him. Mat felt so grateful to have you in his life and even though he made millions, being with you was his greatest treasure. You and Mat deeply appreciated each and every moment you had together, no matter how big or small it was; the two years that you had been together so far were some of your greatest times. You were both so smitten that you always looked at each other with such deep love and devotion and couldn’t get enough of your significant other’s presence. For a while, Mat knew that he wanted to propose to you but he just needed to figure out the best way how to and time when to ask that all-important question.

————————————————————

It finally happened. After 3 challenging years, you finally completed law school and earned your Juris Doctor degree from NYU. All of your friends and family came into town to celebrate your accomplishment. In order to accommodate everyone, Mat graciously rented a large AirBnb house in the Hamptons to host your graduation party. You handled some aspects of the party planning while Mat handled the rest and the party went very well. During the congratulations portion of the evening, Mat wanted to give a quick remark to acknowledge your achievement.

“For the past 2 years, I watched this wonderful person ambitiously work their way through law school. There were a lot of late nights, early mornings and so many case reviews and vocabulary study sessions that I think I could go get a law degree. Y/N, to say that I am proud of you is a massive understatement. My love, you are so amazing and you did it. I love you so much. Because I love you so much, I have a surprise for you.” Mat spoke.

This moment seemed like it was the right time for Mat to ask for your hand in marriage; you had been dating for a while, you lived together and blended your families together, and he had just finished a great speech that made all of the party’s attendees realize how much he was in love with you. Instead, Mat handed you an envelope. Inside the envelope was a copy of a check for the exact amount that you owed in student loans and a letter informing you that your loans were fully paid off. You couldn’t believe what was happening and began to cry.

“How did you do this?”, you mustered out through your tears of joy.

“So you know how you gave me access to your book of important information in case anything happened to you? Well, I asked Liana to call the loan office to pretend to be you and ask for your account balance”, Mat cheesily revealed.

Mat saw firsthand how much distress and frustration law school caused you so he wanted to help out someone he deeply loved by eliminating the stress of having to pay for a student loan; this surprise was better than an engagement ring.

————————————————————

After your graduation party and after the Islanders were eliminated from playoffs, it was the official start of the off-season. This year, it was a milestone birthday for Mat’s dad so the Barzal family decided to do a European summer vacation to celebrate. You were important enough to their family that you had been invited and Liana, Mat’s sister, also invited her best friend to accompany her on the trip.

Hand-in-hand with the man you considered to be the love of your life and his family, for 3 weeks, you explored England, France, Monaco, and Mat’s ancestral homeland of Italy. In England, you indulged in English culture while Mat hilariously attempted a British accent. In France, you shared plenty of kisses with your lover in the City of Love, swooning every time Mat spoke French. In Monaco, you and Mat felt like the protagonists of a spy thriller while hanging out in the city.

Once you arrived in Italy, you got to see a different side of Mat that rarely came out. He had been to Italy several times before but he was thrilled to share all that he knew about that special place with you. Mat glowed differently whenever you got authentic gelato together or when he swam in the waters along the Amalfi Coast. Of course, throughout the trip, you still spent plenty of time with Mat’s parents, sister, and her friend and attended a lovely birthday dinner on a boat for Mat’s dad while visiting Sicily.

On the plane ride traveling back to Canada after your whirlwind European tour, you thought to yourself that you were going to come back to North America with a new jewelry addition to your left hand; you did have a lot of date nights and one-on-one time with Mat on the trip. However, your wonderful boyfriend did get you a gorgeous Cartier love bracelet from the official store in Paris and you were returning back with the gift of good memories that were created with your future in-laws.

————————————————————

The remainder of the off-season went by so quickly; between weddings, summer holidays, and other events all happening, you and Mat were swept in so many different directions. Time flies when you’re having fun and soon, it was already time to return to Long Island for the hockey season.

The usual ups, downs, and chaos of the hockey season lingered in your household but you navigated through it together. As the season went on, you spent a lot of time studying for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam and Universal Bar Exam, which allowed you to become eligible to be admitted to the New York State Bar next year. Even though you had those responsibilities, you still supported Mat at most of his home games. One of the things about Mat that you loved was how he would always quietly tiptoe into your shared home after a late game but he loved how you always waited up for him to come home after every game, regardless of what time he returned. Before you both knew it, the year was winding down and it was almost Christmas time. You and Mat had decided to host Christmas this year and both of your families were coming. This wasn’t the first time that both of your families had been together to celebrate an occasion; they were there all together for your law school graduation earlier in the year and both sides enjoyed being together as one cohesive unit but for some reason, things felt different to you this holiday season.

You spent hours preparing and making sure that everything was right for the arrival of your guests. Christmas came and went wonderfully. It was so nice to have your families together during the holidays. You gifted Mat a new game day tie and a gift card to one of his favorite road restaurants; Mat got you a nice bag to carry all of your work things and a personalized padfolio for you to take all of your legal notes in.

Yes, you were secretly expecting a diamond underneath the tree this year but it was okay because you still got other great gifts as well. Despite wanting something else, you still deeply cherished the time you got to spend with your loved ones.

————————————————————

After the holidays were over, you and Mat settled back into your respective routines until it was All-Star Break. Mat was not chosen for the All-Star Game that year and some of the Islanders players and families decided to go to the Bahamas for their team All-Star Break trip. The time away gave you and Mat both some essential rest and relaxation. At the end of February, you were scheduled to take the Universal Bar Exam but you took a break from studying to enjoy your mini-vacation. You stayed with your lover and company at a phenomenal resort; you swam with dolphins, relaxed at the spa, and ate so much tasty food. You also enjoyed lots of group activities with Mat and his teammates and their respective significant others. During the trip, one of Mat’s best friends’, Anthony, and his long-term girlfriend, Emma got engaged. It stung a little to see someone else reach the relationship milestone you deeply desired to share with Mat and you had expected that it was going to be you and your lover’s turn to share that special romantic moment on this trip, however, you were happy for your friends.

————————————————————

One evening, you came home from a long, exhausting day of work. After passing both the Universal Bar Exam and Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam and completing some other requirements, you were admitted to the New York State Bar last month and got a job as a junior attorney. It was a pleasant surprise to see Mat cooking; he was subtly singing in the kitchen and tenderly caring for some handmade pasta. You couldn’t quite make out what song Mat was singing but it didn’t matter what it was because you had caught him singing songs that you’ve played around the house and pop songs from the radio plenty of times before. You smiled to yourself as watched him in his element before slipping away for a much-needed shower.

After you came out of the shower and changed, there was a beautiful plate of pasta waiting for you on the table. Mat tapped deep into his Italian heritage and made a delectable dinner for the two of you. You shared with Mat the details of work and although, he may not quite fully understand everything you were expressing your feelings about, he still listened to you as you rambled on. After dinner concluded, you and Mat were going to share a box of bakery cannolis and watch a movie on the couch but Mat told you to wait at the table and suddenly got up. He returned to the room with a look of nervousness on his face. You asked Mat if he was okay but you could tell that he had something important to say.

“I’ve been holding onto this ring for a while. There were so many other times that I wanted to ask but there’s just something that feels so right about this moment. Sitting here, I realized something very important. I want to spend the rest of my life, making you dinner when I can and listening to you speak. I want to continue to come home from my games to you and wake up next to you. I have the greatest honor of knowing and loving you. You have the sweetest heart that’s made of gold and you are like an angel brought down to Earth from Heaven. I want to be by your side forever. Y/N, you are the joy of my life. Will you marry me?” Mat declared while holding out the engagement ring of your dreams in a Tiffany blue box.

You were speechless because Mat was right; this was the perfect moment. You looked straight into Mat’s green eyes that you admired so dearly and accepted his marriage proposal; you were both super excited to embark on this new journey in your relationship. You and Mat swayed with each other to the sound of your fiance’s voice, serenading you to “Joy Of My Life” by Chris Stapleton, the same song Mat was singing to himself earlier. Patience was an important virtue and all of that waiting paid off at the right time.

[anghraine]

what happens to charlotte lucas if mr. collins dies early (before he inherits longbourne)?

That is the worst possible scenario for her, basically.

Mr Collins's living with regard to Hunsford only lasts for the duration of his life, so she gets nothing from it. Unless her child (she's implied to be pregnant at the end of P&P) is a son and, iirc, falls within a set number of generations as laid out by the original entailment, she also gets nothing with regard to Longbourn (and if the child is a girl, she now has another dependent to worry about and provide for; I think Mr Bennet's daughters would receive preference over Charlotte's if Mr Collins never inherits and there's no son).

There would have been legal documents accompanying their betrothal that laid out exactly how much property or money Charlotte and her potential children would receive during and after the marriage (this is what is meant by references to pin money and jointure; pin money is what the woman will regularly receive for her private expenses during the marriage, and jointure is what she gets if she survives her husband). There's a straightforward example of this with Mr and Mrs Bennet, for instance.

Mrs Bennet brought a dowry of four thousand pounds to the marriage. Mr Bennet or his family settled an additional one thousand pounds on her at the time (23 years earlier). So there's five thousand pounds attached to Mrs Bennet and her children specifically that is essentially secure—the income from it can only go to her or her children. Since her children are all daughters, however, this pretty much automatically includes her daughters' husbands as well, since women were legally and financially subsumed into their husbands' identities upon marriage and it took some legal shenanigans to protect their resources. Lydia's share of Mrs Bennet's fortune, one thousand pounds, effectively goes to Wickham as part of the marriage arrangements, and it's not clear if Lydia's money is legally secured to her in the same way since it was part of bribing Wickham to marry her at all.

(Tangent: a lot of analysis tends to assume that income from a lump sum of this kind would generate an income of 5% of the principal via low-risk, low-reward government investments. Mr Collins himself explicitly estimates that Elizabeth's portion of Mrs Bennet's settlement would generate an income at a 4% rate, leaving her with a mere 40 pounds a-year. This might seem Mr Collins-style negging, but in reality these kinds of safe government investments could and did drop to rates closer to 3% due to various economic upheavals at the time.)

Returning to Charlotte's situation, eighteenth-century advice urged men (even much less affluent men) to set aside a significant portion of their incomes every year to add to what was settled on their wives/children, so that if they died, their children and widows would have more to live on. The original settlement, as in Mrs Bennet's case, could be pretty small, especially for multiple people to live on. Mr Collins is enough of a rules guy that he might set aside the suggested percentages of his income, especially if Lady Catherine considers it proper. But even if we assume he's setting aside, say, 20% of his income, I doubt that would amount to very much if he dies soon; the Hunsford living is good, but not that good, and he's only 25, so there just hasn't been much time. Charlotte would essentially be a poor cousin by marriage of the Bennets and dependent on her own family (already in straitened circumstances) for anything more than her settlement, which given the circumstances wouldn't amount to much.

People often kill Mr Collins young to given Charlotte a chance at a better life, but in reality, this would likely be a disaster for her.

[bunnyteetharry]

You Before Me

summary: you do the serving yourself little and more to your boyfriend trend

warnings: none?

pairing: boyfriend!harry x girlfriend!reader

————⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚⋆ ˚｡⋆ —————⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚⋆ ˚｡⋆ —————⋆ ˚｡⋆

Harry and you were craving pesto pasta so you took this opportunity to pull a prank of him that everyone has been doing on their significant other. Feeding them more and yourself less to see how they’d react to it. Now with Harry, the sweetest man to ever walk the earth, you weren’t worried about the reaction you’ll get, you honestly feel bad for doing this in this first place but it was such a funny trend you had too.

Harry was currently sprawled on the couch with his lyric journal in front of him, nibbling on a pen. You told him numerous times to stop with that bad habit because the last time he did that he broke it and got a bit of ink in his mouth.

You had just finished making dinner and called out for him “M’comjng my love” he yelled back. Usually around this time when the both of you weren’t too busy that day, you talk about how things were and how his time in the studio was going, so once he entered the kitchen he went on about how he is stuck on this one verse that just can’t escape his head.

While he was going on about that you were getting the plates ready, giving him the largest portion and yours the smallest. Once you set the plates down he immediately stopped in the middle of his sentence, a confused look growing on his face. He looked at you then back at your plate “What’s wrong H” you tried to hold in a laugh so bad as his pouty face emerged. “Why’d you serve yourself that little” he questioned “I didn’t make enough but it’s fine I’ll just eat a snack later” he shook his head “Baby no, you barley ate today and a snack isn’t gonna fill you up with just that” he grabbed you plate and switched it with his. “Harry-no it’s fine you had a long day you need to eat” you finally let yourself laugh a little at his actions, you couldn’t help yourself at this point.

“No, fuck that. I’m not letting you starve, never in a day of my life will I do that or let you do that.” you can tell that he was starting to get angry by this. You’re his girl, soon to be his wife, why would he ever allow something like this to ever happen to his love. “Baby-Harry!” He smacked your hand away from your-now his plate “No, need you happy and healthy even if it means I don’t get as much you’ll always get more than me.” By then you started to tear up which freaked him out even more “Hey what’s wrong” he caressed your head “Nothing I just love you” he smiled and pulled you in for a kiss “I love you more than you could even imagine.”

a/n: this was so much fun to write, I’m finally getting more out of my writers block, hope you’ve had such a good day/night my loves!!

[mesetacadre]

Is the belief at all valid that ultimately there is nothing much we in the imperial core can do for the global south (i.e palestine) and that liberation is largely in their hands only? Was there any time historically where that wasn't the case?

Maybe I am just doom and glooming but it really doesn't feel like there is much we can affect (though I still attend protest and do whatever my party tells me to, I don't air out these thoughts because I don't think they are productive)

Primarly I feel like building a base here for when shit goes south is the only thing we can do

My friend, we can't forget that, while imperialism is committed outside of our reach, it is fueled, supported, and justified in our countries. National liberation movements fight in their own frontlines, and we fight in the rearguard. If you have the impression that any real progress is impossible from our position, that is a product of the very limited development of the subjective conditions in your country. You and I have seen a myriad of protests and encampments this last year, which have had overwhelmingly no material effects on the genocide, but this is not inescapable.

In Greece, where the KKE is a legitimate communist party in the eyes of a significant portion of the Greek working class, their organization in and out of the workplace is very capable. In the 17th of October they, co-organizing with the relevant union and other entities (small note because when this happened some tumblr users seemed to misspeak, this action would have been impossible without the help and involvement of the KKE, take a look at the US to see what trade unions do without communist influence), blocked a shipment of bullets to Israel:

And merely a week ago, they blocked another shipment of ammunition meant to further fuel the imperialist war in Ukraine:

The differentiating factor in Greece that is not present arguably anywhere else in Europe and North America is their strong and established communist party, even their presence exerts an indirect influence in the broader working class, communist or not.

So are the rest of us meant to sit in our milquetoast protests and watch on with envy at the Greeks? No, because these are subjective conditions, and we have control over them. Even if most actions we do don't achieve anything materially, we gain experience, and the base for a proper organization of our class is built up. It's not just building that base for when something goes wrong in our countries, it's building a better base for the very next mobilization, the next action, the next imperialist aggression. The student movement of the imperial core is better off now in terms of lessons to be learned after the encampments than if they hadn't done anything (and the utility of the encampments wasn't completely null anyway, some unis in Spain have ceased all economic and academic relations with Israel).

[the-ladyguinevere]

The most important post I ever make.

Please help me with custody of my daughter.

This is a donation post. I don't know what to say that I haven't already said, so I'm going to copy my statements in the GoFundMe. Please signal boost this and donate if you can, every little bit helps.

I am Guinevere, mother of a six year old daughter and survivor of abuse. In late 2021, I left my then partner with intentions to have shared custody of our daughter. At first he allowed me to have her at my new home, but since mid-April 2022 he has only allowed me to see my daughter when he takes her to my grandmother's house for visits. I do not know when she will be there beforehand; I find out the morning of every time my grandmother has her over, and have kept my schedule open in case I may see her, usually on every other Saturday.

I received a letter on Friday, August 9th, asserting that his current wife wishes to adopt my daughter and that they did not need my consent to do this, they are only required to notify me of the filing to adopt. The reasoning given was that I have not had "significant communication" with my daughter since April of 2022. I have thirty days from the time I received the letter to file a dispute. I object greatly, I will not allow him and his wife to take my daughter from me if I can stop it. She is the most important thing in my world.

I am in touch with a lawyer and am building my case. In addition to preventing the adoption, I wish to form a formal custody agreement so that this cannot happen again, and a formal custody arrangement would mean that I am guaranteed time with her. Before I am able to proceed, however, I have to pay my lawyer at least a portion of the retainer fee, which I am unable to pay on my own on such short notice. Without financial assistance, I won't be able to fight this and I will lose my parental rights.

Please help me keep my daughter in my life, and help her keep the mother that has loved and cared for her since the moment she was born. I will see every donation, and every dollar means the world to me. https://gofund.me/858c21e7

Currently Raised: $0 / $3000

[lesmisshippingshowdown]

Hello and welcome to the Les Mis Shipping Showdown!

That's right, we're bringing ship brackets to the Les Mis fandom! The Shipping Showdown is an all new, 5 round contest intended to answer some of the internet's greatest questions, such as "is E/R's dominance really as overwhelming as AO3 statistics would have you believe?", "what is the fandom's all time favourite Les Amis pair the spares combo?", and "what would happen if we tried to Jurassic Park the ship wars of 2013 back into existence 12 years later?". Ignore that last one, maybe.

The voting portion of the Les Mis Shipping Showdown is now complete - congratulations to our winners, Enjolras/Grantaire!

But your task is not over yet - STEAL OFF 2 is currently open for submissions until 19:30 BST (UTC +1) on Wednesday 30th April!

Special rounds between particularly iconic matchups may occur at a later date if they do not get a chance to face off in the bracket proper.

CURRENT BRACKET BELOW:

Please see below the cut for FAQ, rules, and mod details:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Who is responsible for all this? Great question! The Les Mis Shipping Showdown is the brainchild of @lonelyroommp3, with invaluable assistance including graphic design, bracket seeding, and wildcard suggestions from @glindalesbian. We are both veterans of the Les Mis fandom, and although it's not been either of our main fandoms for a while we're both still filled with love and nostalgia for both the work itself and the memories the fandom and its myriad shipping messes evoke<3

Q: Woah, wait! How did you decide upon these specific ships? 29 of the ships are - as far as it's possible to accurately sort these things on AO3 - the 29 most popular romantic relationship tags in the Les Misérables (All Media Types) fandom category. This sorting method isn't foolproof, and if we've missed something major we can only apologise! If you bring to light a really notable ship that we've missed, it may get included as part of a special round at a later date if demand is sufficient.

In addition, between the two mods we have chosen three wildcard entries based on such scientifically rigorous selection criteria as "one of us personally shipped this back in the day", "we remember this being really popular but the AO3 stats don't seem to reflect that", and, in one case, "we thought it would be really funny." It is up to you, dear reader, to try and figure out which ship fits in each category.

For the sake of transparency, a couple of ships have been excluded because they have significant overlap with another, more popular ship. For example, both Joly/Bossuet and Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta have AO3 works in the hundreds, but including them both felt a little redundant, so we made the executive decision to just include the more popular combination of the above characters.

Q: Are platonic/familial/queerplatonic relationship tags included? What if I like a combination of characters in a given match up, but only platonically? All my love to the non romantic relationship dynamics in Les Mis - after all, "to love another person is to see the face of God" is a lyric that intentionally does not specify a type of love! However, to keep things streamlined, this poll is specifically about romantic/sexual ships. Whenever you see a match up, assume you are being asked which combination of characters you personally would prefer to see depicted in a romantic relationship and/or sucking and fucking.

Q: Can I submit propaganda? Where should I do this? Yes! You are welcome to add propaganda in the reblogs of any given poll, or send asks or submissions to this blog. However, if your propaganda is in the form of a new fanwork (fic, art, etc) it may be of more use as a steal - see the link above for more details!

Q: Can I share this blog/contest/specific polls outside of Tumblr? If you're sharing on a small scale with a discord server, individual friends without Tumblr accounts, etc, please go ahead! We would, however, politely request that if you are lucky enough to have contacts who are, or have been, involved with professional productions of Les Misérables in any capacity that you do NOT share this competition with them directly or go shouting about it in places they are likely to see it, no matter how funny you think it may be to try and get some organic propaganda off the US Tour's 2nd cover Grantaire or whoever. Some of us are fujos in the sheets and actual theatre professionals in the streets, and we'd prefer to keep those two streams of our lives as separate as possible. Please respect this!

Q: You've used my fanart in a post and I don't want it in there/it's been credited incorrectly. If this happens to you, please let us know via asks ASAP with a link or clear reference to the offending post & artwork, so we can either remove your art or amend the credit accordingly!

FURTHER RULES

We were both around in this fandom in 2013 when people were in the actual trenches about certain ships, and we know this can be a testy subject. We also think a bit of healthy competition and ship warring is fun from time to time, and the Les Mis Shipping Showdown is not intended to be a totally sanitised arena where we take everything super duper seriously and everybody has to be really really niceys 100% of the time. However, we do ask that good taste and interpersonal respect is considered:

You're free to fight about ships until the cows come home, but please refrain from personal attacks on other users in any arena related to this tournament.

Any hate speech in propaganda, notes of official tournament posts, asks/submissions, or any posts about the tournament brought to the mods' attention will NOT be tolerated and will result in an instant block (+ the offending account being reported if deemed necessary).

We've both seen shipping tournaments play out in other fandoms and know that it's absolutely impossible to avoid botting & vote rigging. However, any cases of the above that are deemed excessive, malicious, or generally against the spirit of the tournament may result in a match up being aborted, repeated, or, in extreme cases, a ship being permanently excluded from the tournament. This also goes for poll stealing - egregiously low effort works or those which seem designed to exploit loopholes in the scoring system to get as many points as possible may be marked down or disqualified. Just be normal pleaseeeeeee

[jikooklove9795]

On Twitter recently there’s been JK & Jins special bond threads going round, JK & RM, JK & V, JM & JHope, JM & Suga - everyone is retweeting them and hyping them up. And yet every. single. one. of JK & JM recently has been reported and copyrighted and taken down. It really says a lot about the state of the fandom right now. Sad to see :(

Hi there 😊

What Anon mentioned is a significant concern that shouldn't be overlooked.

I'm an ARMY too but this needs to be said.

For the past two years, I have been wondering if there any true OT7s (other than jkkrs) who genuinely appreciate Jimin and Jungkook's bond. I'm not even talking about acknowledging their relationship in a romantic light but just as close friends who have shared years of memories, experiences and an undeniable connection. But it feels like the majority of the fandom will go to greater lengths to dismiss or downplay their dynamic, latching onto anything that shifts attention away from them.

Its frustrating because regardless of how one interprets their relationship, there's no denying that Jimin and Jungkook have always had a special bond. Yet so called OT7s seem to erase or ignore that closeness WHILE readily celebrating other friendships within the group. It makes me wonder, are they truly OT7 if they selectively appreciate certain dynamics OR rather all other dynamics while disregarding Jikook?

Its interesting how the fandom will go out of their way to celebrate every other ship in BTS while acting as if Jimin and Jungkook's bond doesn't exist or worse like you said trying to diminish it by reporting and taking down Jikook videos. Its one thing to have preferences but its another to actively ignore or downplay a connection that has been evident for years.

What could be the main reason for this behavior?

A significant portion of the fandom struggles with the idea of any of the members being in a same sex relationship and this is especially evident when it comes to Jungkook.

Many fans have a deeply ingrained perception of him as the epitome of masculinity which in their minds aligns strictly with heterosexuality. They readily accept the idea of him being with women but resist any suggestion that he could be romantically involved with a man.

This is precisely why most of the fandom, even Jungkook's solo fans, are tkk shippers. Because to these fans, Taehyung does not pose a threat to their fantasies of Jungkook being with a woman or more specifically their own Y/N dreams. The same goes for his ship with Seokjin.

However, when it comes to Jimin their reaction is starkly different. Jimin is the one person who directly challenges this rigid, preconceived notion of Jungkook's sexuality.

Jungkook has always shown a special kind of thoughtfulness when it comes to Jimin. Back in 2016, out of all the members, Jimin was the only one he personally got a birthday gift for. And in 2017 he took it to a whole new level, going all out to celebrate Jimin's birthday.

Remember the hickey? Jungkook didn't just wear Jimin's mark for the world to see, he refused to hide it and wouldn't let anyone else touch it, as if it was something sacred. Its with Jimin, Jungkook shares countless inside jokes, little moments only they seem to understand while the rest of the members are left puzzled. Isn't that telling? Its proof of the sheer amount of time they spend together, just the two of them. That kind of connection doesn't just happen. Its built through endless hours of shared moments, laughter and conversations no one else is privy to.

Unlike his interactions with others, Jungkook's actions toward Jimin often carry an undeniable exclusivity. There's an added depth, a level of attention and care he doesn't extend in quite the same way to anyone else. Its this dynamic that unsettles those who want to believe Jungkook fits neatly into their "traditional" ideals.

The same holds true for Jimin. While he is naturally affectionate with all the members, there is an undeniable difference in how he interacts with Jungkook. This distinction has been evident as early as 2013.

There's no one in Jimin's life quite like Jungkook. It was for Jungkook that Jimin took a 13 hour flight to Seoul. Its waking up to Jungkook that brightens Jimin's mornings, the first sight of him setting the tone for his day. Its Jungkook, Jimin chose to be part of his deeply personal solo album, something so intimate that he couldn't imagine anyone else sharing in it. Its Jungkook's birth time that Jimin quietly set his 1997 model watch to during his September 1st 2023 live, a very telling gesture because this was on Jungkook's birthday. And the list goes on, moment after moment, choice after choice, all pointing to one undeniable truth: for Jimin, Jungkook isn't just someone special. He's the one.

The fandom sees this. No matter how much they try to downplay it, there's no one else for whom Jimin has said and done things he has for Jungkook.

This realization unsettles them because it can't be dismissed as simply team camaraderie. It goes beyond brotherhood, beyond friendship, beyond anything they can easily explain away. And that's what unnerves them the most. No other Jimin or Jungkook pairing even comes close to the depth and exclusivity of Jikook. Time and time again the way they stand apart from the rest only reinforces one thing, Jikook aren't just special. THEY ARE DIFFERENT.

We all know that a very large part of the fandom are tkkrs. Is it because they genuinely support taekook?

The answer is a big NO.

There's only a small, very small, portion of the fandom who believes taekook are involved romantically. And I don't know what they're on to be so gone and delusional enough to believe in a ship which was never real to begin with and has been actively debunked by Jungkook and Taehyung.

But I'm talking about the others who ship taekook despite knowing (yes they know it) that there's nothing romantic between Jungkook and Taehyung. The same can be said about Jinkook whose dynamics are purely sibling coded.

The truth is not because they believe in the ship but because of the deeply rooted homophobia within the fandom. For them Taekook or Jinkook or Yoonmin are a "safe" ship because it doesn't challenge their perception of BTS.

Jikook erasure isn't just about shipping, its about preserving a heteronormative narrative and refusing to accept a reality that contradicts fandom fantasies.

Anyone thinking rationally can see that Taekook or Jinkook or Yoonmin isn't real. But acknowledging that means Jikook might be, and that's what the fandom is desperately trying to avoid.

They can joke about Taekook, Yoonmin or Jinkook because they see them as harmless fantasies. But when it comes to Jikook, the fandom notices how Jimin and Jungkook's dynamic feels too genuine, too intimate and too plausible. This forces the fans to confront the reality of LGBTQ relationships in a way that they're not ready for. So, they dismiss, deny or downplay Jikook while embracing other obviously unreal ships.

Even in progressive spaces people are conditioned to see same sex relationships as unlikely or just friendship while automatically assuming straightness unless explicitly stated otherwise.

The fear of Jikook being real isn't just about them, its about what it means for the fan's own worldview, comfort zone and sometimes even their parasocial attachment to the members.

This is the only explanation that makes sense to me for why the fandom refuses to acknowledge Jikook's connection. Its not that they can't see it, its that they don't want to. Accepting it would mean confronting something they're uncomfortable with. So, instead they choose to ignore, downplay or much worse mock it.