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bettyfrommars · 2 months

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Missed Connections

older!Eddie x f!Reader

We are in a new town with drifter!Eddie, he's in Oregon and it's the mid-2000's. He survived the Upside Down and has been traveling ever since, carrying his wounds with him. There is no "monster" action in this, as with the other drifter Eddie stories, there isn't even any smut, but I love thinking about him, and I wrote this purely for myself, and maybe two other people. Eddie is in his late 30's to early 40's, and reader is over 30.

18+ONLY, MDNI, mechanic!Eddie, alcohol consumption, mention of scars and depression, loneliness, mutual crush, surprise ending

wc: 1.6k

On the outskirts of town, just before you could catch the highway in either direction, there sat the only gas station for 20 miles. The tiny mom and pop market behind it housed various essentials including lottery tickets, deep fried corn dogs, and booze.

The liquor store was a separate entity, but a part of the same building, which made for one hell of a convenient stop, and over the past year, it had become a part of your routine to drop by after work every Friday.

It wasn’t long before you noticed him, the guy with the long hair and wallet chain with bats tattooed on his forearm. His work boots were scuffed, and he wore a long-sleeved flannel in the winter, but by the time spring came, his button-up, heather blue work shirts gave you a view of the rest of the ink and scar tissue covering his arms. One day, when he was going in, you were coming out, and he held the door for you. He had silver hair at his temples, and a thin white scar on his cheek that tugged down his eye a bit. The patch on his pocket said Eddie.

Another month of Fridays went by. You were lingering in front of the rows of bottles, humming to Hank Williams being played over the sound system, wondering if you wanted to try a new vodka. Maybe the coconut flavored one would change your life? A bit of fizz and perhaps you could close your eyes and pretend you were on that vacation you’d only been able to dream about for years.

“‘Scuze me,” the deep whisper was so close, it made your heart somersault.

It was that Eddie guy again, stretching his arm out long in front of you to grab a pint of Jameson. The fact that there was plenty of room for him to go around and get it without interacting was not lost on you. You took that opportunity to inhale a sharp breath, noting the hints of motor oil to match the dark stains under his fingers and in the creases of his knuckles. A touch of sandalwood softened with vanilla and nicotine, and a secret other thing you couldn’t put your finger on.

“My grandpa loved Jameson,” you mumbled, keeping your attention on the clear booze.

Eddie scowled curiously, searching your profile. “He had good taste.”

You offered a tight grin, not sure what else to add. You’d been alone for so long, you were starting to forget how to interact with people, but the clunky gears in your mind registered that he wasn't wearing a wedding ring. He did have a silver hoop piercing in one ear, though, and a few days' worth of scruffy beard growth.

It startled you to find him chilling on the sidewalk, lighting a smoke just outside the door.

“Have a nice night,” you hummed politely, beelining for your car.

The lit cigarette bounced between his lips as he spoke. “Same time, same place? Next Friday?”

With your driver’s door open in front of you like a shield, you paused to look at him. All the months you’d been crossing paths, you’d never caught him smiling before, but just then, one side of his mouth curled up and a dimple popped in his cheek. An unusual warmth crept through you, and you bobbed your head a few times to answer his question.

When you got home that night, you sat outside in your car and bawled into your open hands. Your life had been spiraling out of control for a while, and every so often the dam burst when you least expected it. You didn’t have any tissues in your car, so you blew your nose on an old fast food napkin and wished you could afford to relocate and start a new life. You wondered if Eddie was lonely, if he ever sat on the couch watching TV, wishing he had friends, wondering where all the years had gone.

You’d been wallowing so hard in your misery, you didn’t hear your mother stomp out onto the sidewalk. “ARE YOU COMING IN?” She shouted it, as if you were hard of hearing and had no neighbors. “The damn remote is broken or something. I can’t figure it out.”

Staring glassy-eyed at nothing, you took a deep, withering breath that made your lower lip tremble. Another weekly ritual of yours was to show your mother how to use the TV remote and listen to her tell you how tired you looked.

The next Friday, you were running late from work and only caught sight of Eddie driving out of the parking lot. It was then you realized that you didn’t really need anything at the market that day, so you wandered around for too long before settling on a Snapple and a few of their cheapest scratch tickets. You did not win anything.

He was late the next week, but your skin flushed with excitement when you caught sight of him zooming in off the main street in his beat-up work truck. When he came in, he scanned the store until he found you, and then you both picked up items nearby and pretended to be interested in them.

You shifted too close to one of the shelves and knocked a row of tampons to the ground, cursing as you fumbled to pick them up before anyone could stroll over to investigate.

When you stood to full height again, your Eddie had vanished. Maybe he’d gone to use the restroom, you had no clue, but now you had a box of super plus tampons in your hand that you actually needed to buy, along with a few other things in a shopping basket on your arm, and you wanted to check out before he returned.

Ten minutes later, he was still MIA.

What the hell were you planning to do, anyway? His truck was still there. Months of nothing but a few words and goofy stares was all it would ever be. Just a silly little corner market crush. Get over it.

You decided to start your car up and hit the road.

But your engine had other plans.

You pumped the gas a few times on the old Chrysler that used to be your grandmother’s, asking for her help from beyond the grave.

“Please, please,” watching the door to see who was coming out, you tried the ignition again.

The engine cranked a bit, and then nothing.

You tucked your chin to your chest, about to lose your shit right there at the corner market parking lot.

But then

there was a knuckle tap at your window, and for some reason, you weren’t surprised to see Eddie standing there. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail that day and he was still wearing coveralls like he’d been in such a hurry to leave work and had no time to change. Chocolate eyes were concerned as he made the universal sign for you to roll your window down.

“Won’t start?” He rested his hand on your side mirror. “Want me to take a look at it?”

One thing about you, it was nearly impossible to accept help of any kind, especially from strangers.

“No, I—” you tried the key again, knowing you’d get the same result. “I’m sure you have other places to be.”

“I got no place to be, I promise you,” he wanted to help, but he was also weary not to force himself and make you uncomfortable. “I’d be happy to help.”

“I’ll just call triple A,” you flashed a nervous smile.

“If you’re sure,” he bit his top lip and gave an awkward thumbs up before heading back.

Eddie sat back in his truck a second and thought about it. It didn’t take long for him to jump back out and go over to offer you the use of his flip phone, in case you didn’t have one. Maybe he’d think of some other clever thing to say, but probably not.

He found you in the same position, both hands gripping the wheel, a catatonic look on your face.

“Hey,” he waved as if it were the first time seeing each other that day.

“Hey,” you gulped. “I’m really glad you came back.”

“You are?” He cocked his head, jaw muscles tightening.

“Yeahhhh. I don’t have triple A,” you let out a strangled, self-deprecating laugh.

“Is the engine turning over at all?”

You bit the inside of your cheek and shook your head, and by the expression on his face, you could tell that was not a good thing.

With a deep breath, he glanced from you to the hood of the car, hooking a thumb into his pocket. “Well, we might have to tow it to the shop so I can get a better look at it there.”

“I appreciate it, but I can’t afford—”

“It’s on me,” he shoved both hands all the way in his pockets then. “The guy that owns the shop, he owes me a favor.”

Fucking right Lou owed him a favor. He owned him like 20. He'd been busting his nut sixty hours a week, while simultaneously keeping quiet about the illegal chop shop that Lou ran out of his second garage. Not to mention Eddie had never asked for a handout or so much as a day off in the eighteen months that he'd been there. Plus, Lou did not want to meet Eddie's bad side.

"I can change your oil, rotate your tires, make sure everything else is running okay."

You sought his eyes for reassurance. The neglected heart inside of you didn’t know what to do with the generosity.

You were grateful he'd opted not to lift up your hood right then and there. It would've been pretty easy for him to sleuth out that the distributor cap was missing, and those didn't just vanish out of thin air. For now, it was in your bag, and you'd find a way to get it back on eventually.

“Do you want to wait here while I go and get the tow truck, or do you want to ride with me? I'd love to buy you dinner, if you're hungry."

#Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson fic #Eddie Munson lives #drifter!Eddie #older!Eddie #mechanic Eddie

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everythingne · 6 months

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marketing ploy - ln4 / ch4

miami leads to the perfect 'date', sibling love, and a problem. Some things slot together too perfectly to be ignored, for better or for worse.

piastri!oc x lando norris / fake dating, brothers best friend

warnings/notes: alcohol, mentions of sex, mentions of hypothetical sexual situations, mentions of past loss of virginity (they're not whores guys it makes sense in context), mentions of past cheating, a singular kiss, this might be the longest chapter so far ! A lot of character growth here babes.

prev | next

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06 MAY -- MIAMI, FLORIDA↴

“Of all places in Miami, I was not expecting Seaspice.” I laugh as Lando pulls up to the lavish white building. I can hear people laughing, girls in flowy sundresses and guys in their best white button downs loosely hanging by the entrance as soft music pulses from some speakers--or maybe a cars stereo. Lando huffs out of his nose, a small amused grin on his lips as he turns and places a hand behind my seat as he looks through the back window while parking, his head occasionally looking back at the backup camera and mirrors. I never knew watching someone park would be hot. I catch myself staring when he pushes the shifter forward to park and looks over a me, his black tee clinging around his frame, gold chains resting against the thin fabric.

“Max told me it was good.” He shrugs, leaning back against his seat and looking out. We’d agreed that our ‘first date’ dinner had to be good food, and I had tasked him with finding it as long as I could dress him and I got to order the most expensive desert.

“You’re trusting Max Verstappen for good food?” I ask, giving him the most incredulous look as I grab my purse form my lap and my phone from under my thigh--texting Ada that we'd arrived as Lando turns off the car. Once I glance back up, he leans over, tucking a hair behind my ear and minding my piercings as he settles it back into place.

“And Shakira.” He murmurs, eyes looking down at my lips before he clears his throat and leans back, grabbing his waller and getting out of the car. I go to open my door after double checking everything is in my puse, only to have it whacked shut, and then reopened by Lando.

“Lesson one,” he says, offering his hand to me as he places another hand on the edge of the door, “if your boyfriend doesn’t open the door for you, break up.”

I laugh wholeheartedly, taking his hand and letting him hide my body as he pulls me to my feet and makes sure my skirt is covering everything. He takes my hand and lets me step aside so he can close the door, lock his car, and then he starts to bring me along to the main entrance.

“Astrid said she’s not calling paparazzi, but she’s expecting fans to be here. So the good ol’ papas might be lingering too.” He says, sliding his sunglasses up as the Miami sun starts to dip under some of the buildings and illuminates us in a golden glow.

“For the love of everything, Lando, don’t call them papas.” I groan, keeping my hold on his hand tight as we stop at the vacant hostess stand. He turns to me with a loose grin and I wrap myself around his arm as I catch a few lingering eyes, might as well sell this as best I can.

"Papas is better than pap, I think."

"Equally terrible." I hum, lifting a hand to fix one of his necklaces thats coiled as the hostess reappears with a big happy smile on her perfectly white teeth, her long blond hair swept in a runway model-esc fashion in the low breeze.

"Do you have a reservation tonight?" She asks sweetly, "if not, it will be around an hour wait."

"We should have one for Norris? Two." Lando says softly, the woman hums, tapping through an iPad before nodding and grabbing a few things behind the counter.

"Ah, wonderful, you guys will be dining with my favorite server Jett tonight! Come with me!" She guides us to a table in a back corner, right along the water. Lando gets my chair, ever the gentleman, and then sits across from me as the hostess kindly explains the menus and specials, then says our server will be there soon with the complimentary champagne.

"I'm popping the champagne. You don't need to break anything else." I say to Lando as soon as the hostess walks away and he doubles over in laughter. The restaurant is beautiful, candle lit with twinkling fariy lights overhead and I cannot picture Max ever wanting to eat here. Then, I spot some LED panel lights and realize this place is also a club at times and it makes a bit more sense as to why Max might've stopped by.

“Oh hush," he swats at my pointing finger and I laugh, his giggle falls into a gasp as he takes his turn to playfully poke at me, "And rule two, your boyfriend should always pull out your chair."

"Why the rules, may I ask?" I hum, making sure my bag is hooked on the chair as I look out over the water briefly. My hand finding my phone to take a quick picture of the sun on the water, as Lando keeps talking. I set my phone down as he speaks, giving him my full attention in the low lighting.

"Oscar told me you'd never been on a proper date," Jackass, I scowl, of course Oscar dimed me out, but my scowl is covered as Lando waves while he talks, "And that you last dated someone in year nine. So, I made it my personal goal to give you the best date ever. I would've bought you flowers too, if I had the time. Gotta set your standards high."

"You've already bought me flowers." I counter.

"Yeah but, I would buy you flowers everyday if I could. If we weren't traveling so much, you would have fresh flowers every time the old ones started to wilt. That's how it should be. It's like twenty pounds for something so gorgeous that makes anyone happy." He explains, but before I can answer, our waiter is setting down two glasses and wiping condensation off a bottle of champagne.

"Hello, lovebirds!" He smiles, cheerily as he pops the bottle into a towel and pours us our drinks. Him calling us lovebirds make my heart pound and my cheeks flush, I hate how easily it makes me feel giddy to be considered Lando’s girlfriend. Jett recites the menu, the specials, and asks if we want any appetizers. We settle on the steak tartare and the burrata, and as our waiter whisks away to give us time to figure out appetizers, I notice Lando lifting his film camera.

"I was wondering when she was gonna make an appearance." I laugh, and he laughs in turn, holding up the camera and I pose as he snaps a picture.

"I need to learn how to develop them myself." He says as he sets the camera on the edge of the table, and I lean over to pull it further into the table so it won't fall.

"I can teach you, I did a lot of photography in school." I hold up my drink, "cheers, to us, for being Formula 1s hottest not-couple."

Lando raises his drink and grins, "and to us, in general, for making this probably the easiest media stunt ever."

We clink the edges of the glasses together before taking sips. Champagne wasn't my favorite, but I had to admit this went down smooth.

“Do they always do champagne at your table?” I ask as I take another sip, “because this shit is so good I might come back for it.”

“They had some weird package thing?” Lando leans back in his seat as he sets his drink down, “I dunno, Astrid booked it through the owner. I think she told him it was a date or something so they’d bring us special shit. Oh, I meant to ask, how was your birthday?”

Lando settles in his chair, his foot knocking my knee as he leans back and props one leg over the other.

“I was so drunk, I do not remember anything after Oscar and I fell into the pool and after, we had a heart to heart.” I laugh and he laughs in turn, cheeks puffed up in a tiny smile. Fake dating Lando was gonna be easy. The conversation flows through us ordering entrees, for me it was the Lobster Risotto (after much convincing that Lando did not care how much it cost) and then he got Wagyu steak (and I forced him to promise to let me try.)

We were halfway down the bottle of champagne when our server, Jett, came back with waters and our appetizers. The food got absolutely devoured as we talked about the upcoming race, how his season was going, and then I got to the one question I'd been dying to figure out.

"Do you know why they think us dating is going to make people think you and Max hate each other?"

"No clue." He finishes off his glass of water as I pop the last of the tartare in my mouth and hum softly.

"Like, unless they plan for you to like break my heart or something. But then that would make like... Charles, Daniel, Oscar, and Max hate you."

"I don't think I would break your heart, even if they told me to." Lando sighs, running a hand through his front curls, the warm breeze rolling across the now dark marina, "I think I'd rather give them all the money back than do that."

"Me too." I finish off whats probably my ninth glass, feeling the wooze in my arms and my legs.

"This might be a fake relationship..." He says, and I watch his cheeks dust pink as he looks into his champagne, taking the rest of it asif for courage before looking up at me, "I'm gonna treat you how I would treat anyone I've ever loved."

"I'll treat you the same." I say softly, taking his hand over the table, "you've shown me more love than anyone else has."

A smile creeps across his lips, almost like accomplishment, and he squeezes my hand as he leans over to wipe a bit of sauce off the corner of my mouth. I resist the urge to poke my tongue out and lick my lips as he stares at my mouth for a few moments before looking up at me.

"I take it you havent had much expeirence with this? The whole dating thing?"

"I'm not very... open to dating in general. I havent been looking, havent been asked." I pour the rest of the champagne bottle into our glasses, and Lando leans forward.

“Really?” He clearly doesn’t believe me and I laugh.

“Yeah yeah, you probably have girls hanging off your arms in droves. I haven’t had anyone since the guy who took my virginity like…three years ago?”

“There’s years?!” Lando gapes and I feel my cheeks redden as he looks me over, “you’re like—one of the most attractive, most kind and just—one of the best women I’ve ever met! How in the hell have you not had someone try?”

“We’re not all hot Formula one drivers.” I sip my drink, "and I work long hours, I'm always traveling, guys don't want a woman they can't have any hour of the day."

Lando scoffs as if that's the stupidest thing anyone has ever said in their life, "Well, all those men are stupid."

I laugh because I can't agree more.

"Well, I'm too drunk to drive for at least another hour." Lando sets the empty check book on the edge of the table, waiting for Jett to come and whisk it away for his tip. We wave goodbye to the owner, who happily grins as he goes to post the picture of us he'd taken, and Lando stands, offering me his hand as he helps me get organized, "Wanna go sit somewhere and talk?"

"I've run out of things to say, I fear." I laugh as I stand up. He takes my hand with one, and he grins, using his other hand to grab his phone as he walks me to the marina with a tossed thank you over his shoulder I mimic. As we settle on the docks, he pauses and opens his phone.

"One hundred questions to ask your girlfriend." He says, turning to show me the Yahoo page and I laugh in disbelief as he continues to explain, "theres simple ones, deep ones, intimate ones."

"Oh my god, Lando."

"Sexy questions, and ones for 'if you've been dating for like, ever.'" He turns his phone back and a few seconds later the link pops up on my phone, "We should pick a random question from each and ask each other."

When I agree, we find ourselves on the end of one of the docks with a pretty big pontoon boat bobbing besides us. Our legs dangle over the water, making shadows in the dock lights as Lando asks me to pick a random number one to five. I pick four. He asks for a number one to twenty, I pick nine.

"Lights on or off during sex?"

"Wow, starting strong." I burst into drunken giggles and he follows suit, his jacket laying across my shoulders to combat the breeze as we lean into each other for warmth.

"On, usually. Not that I've been fucking that many guys in my life."

"I'm still shocked that a girl as pretty as you doesn't have guys falling at their knees before her." He laments, scrolling through the questions idly as he giggles at a few that we both know are far too inappropriate to ask right now.

"What? You wanna be the first?" I ask and he nods almost too enthusiastically, catching me off guard and making me giggle. I look down at my phone and ask him to pick a number.

His question ends up being from the third section, question fifteen, "Do you like to be complimented?"

"Fuck yeah." He grins as his hand finds mine, fingers interlocking as he looks over at me, "I love compliments. Racing, my looks, my personality, anything. I melt."

I write that down mentally.

My next question is from section two, question eleven, "What would you say to your younger self?"

"I would tell her she's incredible. That... she doesn't have to base her validation off of what other people are doing."

Lando gets section three, question three, "Biggest turn off?"

His answer takes a while, before he murmurs, "My last girlfriend, a fling for only a few days really, only used me for my money."

My last question is section one, question nine, "What ended your last relationship?"

I really don't want to answer it, but I do. For some reason I feel safe enough telling Lando, even if its something I've only admitted to childhood friends

"He cheated on me."

"No way."

"Don't tell Oscar." I sigh, rubbing my thumb along Lando's hand, "I...I've never told Oscar because they're really good friends. But, yeah, he cheated on me for nine months of our twelve month relationship. And... I-I don't know why I was even dating him in the first place."

"Shit, I'm so sorry." Lando says, squeezing my hand and then wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to his side, "One of the things I've never been able to understand is why people cheat. If you don't like the first person, or you find yourself attracted to someone else, you should just break-up."

"Yeah..." I sigh, leaning into his touch and closing my eyes. Lando sighs heavily, and curls me into his side just letting me stay there for a long while. We say a few more meaningless things, loose jokes, tired attempts at continuing the conversation before we just let the silence hold us in a sort of pause, in that moment, where it's just us.

We end up in his car maybe two hours later, his hand warm on my thigh as he pulls through the Miami streets. I adjust my instagram posts, smiling before setting my phone down as we pull up to a light.

"Oh, by the way, did they tell you about my home race?" Lando asks as one of the songs slowly pulls to a close on the radio and I snort.

"Yeah, we have to kiss on live-fucking-tv." I look over at Lando as he merges into a lane to get in the turn off lane towards the hotel, and he nods, shaking his head with a grin.

"Astrid told me we should 'practice so it's not awkward when you guys kiss for the first time on TV' because god forbid its awkward and their little thing is found out." Lando explains, but halfway through im dying of laughter and hiding my smile behind my hands as I cackle so hard tears are in my eyes.

"I know! I know!" He laughs, pulling to a stop and I look over at him. Theres a moment where our eyes meet, and I want to say something, but my words get caught in my throat. Lando watches me with a soft smile, his hand on my thigh tightening softly as his eyes flicker down to my lips and then back up to my eyes. We fall quiet, and I lean forward in my seat a bit.

"Olivia." He whispers and I bring a hand to his jaw.

"Lando." I mutter back, tracing the edges of his lips with my eyes, before looking back up at his eyes. We both swallow, and I lean in partially, our lips hovering inches away before a truck honks and we snap back into our seats as Lando pulls forward at the light.

It takes maybe thirty seconds for us to fall into awkward laughter. The rest of the car ride is quiet, Lando's hand only moving when he goes to get out of the car. I wait for him to grab my door this time, and he smiles as he opens it, helping me out and handing his keys to the valet.

Lando finally speaks again once he's dropping me off at the hotel room door, "You wanna do a movie cliche?"

"A goodbye kiss?" I say, and he nods, stepping forward to tuck my hair behind my ear before he leans in further and our lips softly meet with a flutter of my eyes shutting. It was delicate, almost like he was afraid to hurt me, and I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs as I step closer and wrap my arms around his neck. My stomach is flipping as his hands find my ribs, then slide lower along my dress to rest on my hip bones as we lean back, lips grazing eachothers before he presses in again. There's an interlock, everything sort of clicking together like it's meant to be, and I feel his fingers dig into my hips and pull me closer.

My back hits the door at one point, his leg between mine as his lips pepper my cheeks, before one final deep, teeth-clashing set of kisses has us finally pull back for space. My breaths are sharp as I slowly lean back from the kiss, him stepping back and fixing my skirt that he'd slightly ruffled up. We stand in silent, eyes met, chests rising sharply as I feel my skin buzzing with excitement. Eventually, my hand bumps the key to the door and I unlock it, pushing it open and turning back to kiss Lando's cheek as I whisper,

"Night, Nori."

I slip into the room, clicking the door shut, leaning back against it and letting out a loud giddy sigh as I bring a hand to my mouth to suppress the sound of the squeal that tries to leave my bursting chest. My skin is alight, my cheeks burning red, my hands shaking and I giggle at the bursting feeling at my chest.

"Had a good date?" Oscar calls and I nearly jump out of my skin, before Oscar laughs hysterically.

"God, fuck you! Give me a warning next time!" I whine, swinging my purse at him, "And yes, I had a very nice date."

"Good." He says softly, looking over at me from the couch before he points to a vase of red roses.

"For you."

I walk over to the bouquet with curiousity, and I'm unsurprised after I read the note attached: 'hope you had as much fun as I, happy belated birthday, my love. - lando'

Another round of giggles makes Oscar smile softly as I hug the bouquet to my chest and close my eyes. Shit. I was so falling for every little thing that Lando was doing.

06 MARCH -- IMESSAGE ↴

06 MARCH -- INSTAGRAM ↴

OLIVIAPIASTRI POSTED A NEW STORY

LANDONORRIS POSTED A NEW STORY

06 MARCH -- TWITTER ↴

f1s.newsoutlet: LANDO AND OLIVIA OUT AT SEASPICE IN MIAMI???

no.rizz4: BRO LANDOS INSTA STORY AND NOW THIS??

mclaritin: SO OLIVIA N LANDO CONFIRMED?

f1reds: norivia or oliss or oliviando or olando?

⤷ horsecarteam: I THOUGHT U WROTE ORLANDOOO LMAOO

oaklynpiastri: AND THIS BITCH DIDNT TELL ME??

⤷ opheliapiastri: girl. get with the program. check the kidastri gc.

06 MARCH -- PHONE CALL BETWEEN OPHELIA AND LANDO ↴

"Hello?"

"Lando."

"Ophelia?"

"Yep."

"Lovely to speak with you."

"Look, I'm drunk, so I'm gonna cut to the chase. I'm sure Ossie's already asked but I need to know what you're doing with my baby sister."

"Hah, uhm. Well, I'm taking her out. All of it's for her. Olivia caught my eye for a while now and I... I don't know. I haven't been able to shake her no matter how hard I've tried. I didn't want to cause an issue with me and Oscar, because I know he's the most important guy in her life and--Oscar's my teammate, so he means a lot to me too."

"Okay..."

"So, I've known her since she started working for Red Bull as head analyst, so what, two years? And ever since the first time I saw her in Red Bull's garage, I just had this pull. I had an opportunity to get closer to her, and I took it, and now we're--kinda dating? Nothing labeled yet. I'm letting her take it at her pace."

"Last question."

"Hit me."

"Promise me you won't break her heart like the last guy?"

"I would rather die than hurt her."

"Good."

#formula one #f1 #formula 1 #ln4 fic #f1 fanfic #lando norris #lando norris x oc #ln4 #lando norris fic

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phoenixyfriend · 21 days

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I've been thinking about how it might be useful, if not necessarily entirely fulfilling for whatever it is that I need out of them, to ask politicians how they would define a healthy economy, as opposed to just asking them how they would try to ensure a healthy economy.

President Joe Biden took to the White House lectern Friday to tout the healthy economy – strong job creation, lowering inflation and increased workforce participation and job satisfaction. - US News, Sep. 1, 2023

And

"I think we will see a big pickup in growth. We may not see it in the winter quarter...but I’m hopeful that we’ll see it in the spring,” Larry Kudlow, head of the National Economic Council, said on Fox Business. “It’s a fundamentally healthy economy,” he said, touting the 3.5 percent unemployment rate and “tremendous wage gains.” - The Washington Post, Jan. 30, 2020

In both cases they are offering a few signs of a healthy economy, the things that are quantified and measured as indicators, like unemployment, inflation, and wages.

But... wouldn't 'the ability to buy or rent a living space, and food security, for as many people as possible' make more sense?

Yeah, low inflation is the sign of a good economy, but what is the healthy economy actually doing? The jobs being created, are they actually full time and paying a living wage?

Fuck knows how many times a person at the podium has referenced the stock market as a signifier of the economy's health, and we all know that's barely relevant to the lives of us normal people.

I guess the question I'd want to ask politicians is "if the economy's health were measured in percentage of people who are able to afford housing, food, and other essentials on a full-time job with no government assistance, is the economy actually healthy?"

Low inflation means jackshit if the minimum wage is still no inflation. Job creation means something, but not if it's so far from your home that you spend most of your paycheck commuting. 'Tremendous wage gains' don't mean much if you're looking at an average that includes the CEOs and allows their paychecks to skew the data upwards.

How many of your citizens can afford housing, groceries, and medical care on a full-time wage, without government assistance?

#phoenix talks #economics #phoenix politics #healthy economy #terminology #this is more of a #vent post #than anything else honestly

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probablyasocialecologist · 2 months

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I think if you wanted to turn someone into a socialist you could do it in about an hour by taking them for a spin around the paddock of a Formula 1 race. No need for corny art singing tribute to the worker or even for the Manifesto. Never before had I seen so many wealthy people gathered all in one place. If a tornado came through and wiped the whole thing out, the stock market would plummet and the net worth of a country the size of Slovenia would vanish from the ledgers in a day. I used to live in Baltimore and remembered the kind of people who would go to the Preakness in their stupid hats and Sunday best while the whole swath of the city it was situated in starved and languished for lack of funds. This was like that, but without the hats. I saw $30,000 Birkin bags and $10,000 Off-White Nikes. I saw people with the kind of Rolexes that make strangers cry on Antiques Roadshow. I saw Ozempic-riddled influencers and fleshy, T-shirt-clad tech bros and people who still talked with Great Gatsby accents as they sweated profusely in Yves Saint Laurent under the unforgiving Texas sun. The kind of money I saw will haunt me forever. People clinked glasses of free champagne in outfits worth more than the market price of all the organs in my body. I stood there among them in a thrift-store blouse and shorts from Target.

[...]

I learned more about myself on my trip to Austin than I did about F1. I learned that I’m the kind of person who would rather be right than happy, would rather stand in my ivory tower than frolic in the fields below. I experienced firsthand the intended effect of allowing riffraff like me, those who distinguish themselves by way of words alone, to mingle with the giants of capitalism and their cultural attachés. It is to give this anointed everyman a taste of the good life, to make them feel like a prince for a day, and that if they do this with enough scribblers they will write nice words and somehow ameliorate the divide between the classes. My hosts were nice people with faces. They showed us extraordinary hospitality. If one takes many trips like this, I can see how it warps the mind, the perception of the world and our place in it. Power is enticing. Like Lewis Hamilton? You can eat steaks that cost the same as your electricity bill and meet him again. You, too, can bask in the balding aura of Prince Harry and the fake glow of Instagram models. Any wealth and status you lack, you can perform. What I received wasn’t a crash course in Formula 1 – in fact, Formula 1 only became more mystifying to me – but journalism, as viewed by the other side. The great irony of the other side is that they need journalism. The petrochemical companies, deeply powerful institutions, need journalists to write about all the things they attach themselves to that are not being a petrochemical company. Formula 1, on a rapacious tangent for growth and new markets, needs journalists to spread the good word of one of the richest sports in the world. Unfortunately for the other side, journalism still remains a double-edged sword. Send me on an experience and I’ll have an experience. Sadly, I suffer from an unprofitable disease that makes me only ever capable of writing about the experience I’m having. The doctors say it’s terminal.

#f1 #formula 1 #formula one #racing

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hpcottagecorefest · 7 months

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HP COTTAGECORE 2023 - MASTERLIST

This has been a wonderful event! Thanks to everyone who participated. 🧺🧺🧺

This is the masterlist post in which all entries submitted across all platforms will be listed.

The AO3 collection will stay open till the end of the year for any late submissions. If you want the blog to reblog your work on Tumblr, please tag @hpcottagecorefest and #hpcottagecorefest2023.

Moodboards

🖼️ Meadows || Gardening - @givereadersahug / emeraldlove Sirius Black/Severus Snape || Rated G

🖼️ The Herald - @givereadersahug / emeraldlove Harry Potter/Severus Snape || Rated G

Fics

📖 The Cottage in the Woods - @lumosatnight / lumosdrabbles (lumosatnight) Fleur Delacour/Hermione Granger || Rated G || 200 words

There is a cottage in the woods just outside of town.

📖 Moonlight - @givereadersahug / emeraldlove Hermione Granger/Luna Lovegood || Rated G || 340 words

This year marked their fifth year together, and Hermione already knew what she wanted to surprise Luna with.

📖 Speak Now - @avalynlestrange Draco Malfoy/Reader || Rated NR || <2k words

In which you rudely barge in on a white veil occasion.

📖 Under Our Feet - icefire_eyes23 Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy || Rated M || 4.8k+

Growth may be a natural and essential part of the human condition, but that doesn't mean Hermione Granger has to like it. Harry Potter Cottagecore Fest 2023.

📖 A Walk in the Woods - @thecouchsofa / thecouchsofa Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter || Rated E || 48.2k

After ending up in the Spell Damage Ward at St Mungo’s, Harry is put on mandatory holiday leave. The catch: he has to spend it with Malfoy at his cottage deep in the woods. Harry has no idea why Malfoy agreed to host him, considering he avoided ever being alone in a room with Harry before he left for his sabbatical a year ago. To complicate things, Harry’s enormous longstanding crush hasn’t waned at all in Malfoy’s absence.

Podfics

🎙️ Deadheading the Odd Dahlia by peachpety - Cailynwrites Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter || Rated E || 64 minutes

Harry is content to spend his days at Draco’s flower stall at the farmers market, burying his true feelings in artisanal coffee and rose bouquets. When forced to find new lodgings, he accepts Draco’s offer to live in a cottage at Malfoy Manor, and his long-hidden crush blossoms out of control. Turns out, proximity makes the heart grow fonder.

🎙️ Oh Your Love Is Sunlight by B1ackCatChatsBack - Cailynwrites Sirius Black/Remus Lupin || Rated E || 353 minutes

“James texted about an hour ago,” he called after Remus as he used his phone as a torch to get to the kitchen and dug out the bees-wax candles he stored there for emergencies, “Apparently there’s a weather warning ... says he won’t expect me home until tomorrow and asks if you could leave a bowl of water and a newspaper on the floor in the kitchen for me,” he finished, voice shaking with humour Remus snorted “I’m sure we can come to an arrangement,” he teased as he returned. “If I’m very good, can I sleep on the bed?” came Sirius’s reply, “I promise not to lick you awake at ungodly hours of the night,” he finished with a smirk lit by his phone as Remus re-entered the room by the light of a lit candle. “Now that’s not a promise I can let you keep, Darling,” he purred as he placed the candle on the nightstand and clambered onto the bed quicker than he’d done anything else in his life. OR Sirius is stuck in a rut - in a job that he hates without any time to pursue his real passion in the aftermath of a toxic relationship - and goes to visit his friends on the rural coast and finds much more than he bargained for - and maybe exactly what he needs.

🎙️ Silver lime and Thestral hair by gnarf - Cailynwrites Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter || Rated T || 39 minutes

The war had damaged Harry, something that had become very clear once he had started his Auror training. He had to hand in his robes after only three months. He just couldn't do it. So, when Hermione burst into his flat, a letter in her hands about a vacancy for an apprentice, Harry suddenly found himself in front of Ollivander's, nerves on edge, while trying to talk himself into just reaching for the door.

🎙️ The Art of Seduction: Kidnapping and Hypothermia by ChaosAndCrumpets - Cailynwrites Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy || Rated E || 73 minutes

Hermione Granger's battered old Ford Fiesta is not built for snowstorms. It's a good thing there's a flannel-clad tractor driver to come to her rescue. Or is it?

#mod post #hpcottagecorefest2023 #snirius #snarry #fleurmione #lunamione #draco malfoy #drarry #wolfstar #dramione #hp femslash

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van-eazy · 3 months

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Young women, gays and lesbians, people of color, and pretty much every minority often get pushed an idea that money, free market capitalism, and growth based economies are evil and wrong. They get told fantasies like “empires fall after around 300 years” so don’t worry, America is definitely gonna collapse at any point now.

So don’t understand capitalism.

Don’t learn what debt actually means and how banks operate. Don’t become mildly educated about growth-based economies or why nearly every nation on earth has one, or how banks are insured and bonded, or how lending is regulated.

Don’t learn any of that stuff. That’s for evil straight white men with their evil money. You just sit tight, vote blue every time, and wait for America to collapse.

Except it’s not going to collapse, and I promise no matter what you might think, you don’t want that anyways.

What actually is going to happen is that the world is going to become more complicated and scary, if you continue to trust these voices. Young white straight men are encouraged in read, learn, and invest! No wonder they retain so much wealth from generation to generation.

You can’t understand politics, science, or history without understanding capitalism and money. You can’t own a business unless you know what an LLC is and how it protects you. Science doesn’t even exist without capitalism. You can’t live a modern adult life, like buying a house or a car, investing, life insurance, etc, without some understanding of money and how it works.

Maybe next time question the motives of people who want minorities to distrust money and the marketplace and encourage ignorance of it.

This newest generation loves to protest but I promise you a check or cash is worth more than any protest no matter how many people you line up to march.

Money is power, and its good or evil nature simply isn’t up for debate cos it doesn’t matter. If you actually want to change the world, money is the answer, not reblogs, chats, marching, or boycotting. Even voting only happens rarely but you can spend cash every day.

Need an example? What’s the easiest way to get tumblr to change something we don’t like? Bitching at the mods? Boycotting? Or buying and owning Tumblr?

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ahedderick · 1 year

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Infinity

So. When I was in college, I majored in mathematics. One of the things you spend a lot of time thinking about in various calculus classes in infinity; things getting infinitely large, infinitely small, infinitely close to some value but never reaching it.

Number theory classes are great for making you really break down you mental steps in getting from one thing to another. Not just mathematical proofs, but regular ideas as well - you just get more analytical. [Plus Doc. White was an awesome human being who taught the hell out of Number Theory] And one of the core ideas is that if something has two categories (ie Thing either IS infinite or it is NOT) and you can prove it ISN’T one of those categories, it will sure-as-shootin’ be the other. Yes, I am going somewhere with this.

Then I left uni and got a Serious Job in an office doing pension plan math. Working with smart, suit-wearing, white-collar folks. It was jarring to say the least. I learned an awful lot, tho; no regrets. One thing that never stopped bothering me, though, was the idea of the Stock Market. The pension plans we oversaw invested money, usually in the stock market, and hoped it would earn a good return before being paid out to retirees as pensions. The Suit-wearing folk lectured me at length about the stock market, returns over time, GrOwTH, etc. And . . yeah, you can look back over a hundred years of stock market history. There is growth.

But remember the math concepts? If we say the Stock Market will always continue to grow, however staggered and uneven the pace, we are *technically* saying that economic growth is infinite. If we say instead that there are real-world limits on economic growth and productivity - then we are admitting that growth is NOT infinite. And it can only be infinite or limited, one of those two.

This was not a popular question/concept with my bosses. But.

But. I think we’re seeing that there is a hard limit on increases to productivity. We increased it with machinery in the mid twentieth century, and with computers and tech in the late 20th/early 21st century. But.

But. Human bodies can only do so much. There is a point where we can no longer increase productivity. Where making the same number of widgets this year as we made last year is going to HAVE to be enough. What then, Suitfolk? What will you do then?

#business #economy #mathematics #just pondering

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psychewritesbs · 1 year

Photo

Chapter 214: Cursed Womb Under Heaven, part 6—Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna Daddy Sukuna Sukuna Sukuna

Blessed / Cursed JJK-Sunday! Pick your poison...

I hate (affectionate) Sukuna because... well... this whole Megumi thing is so weird. Like... what is going on with the hair?

And yet I am a massive Sukuna simp (questionable) because... well.. this whole conversation with Yuji...

Like Sir. Yes, I will dedicate my life’s work to spreading the gospel of Sukuna to all who will listen. Ura Ume can cook, I can be your Marketing person and do your social media if that’s what you’re into.

I LOVE a character twisted by his own humanity. Yeeeessss...

More, please!

There’s more of me “yeeeeeeeeeesssss”+ing and promoting Sukunaism under the cut.

yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss.....

The King of Curses

I am perhaps projecting, but there’s something definitively very regal about Sukuna and the way he carries himself in an embodied state.

I also loved that there is also something very benevolent about the look in Sukuna’s face as he speaks with Yuji about the nature of suffering for weaker beings.

Almost like “oh you poor thing, you really thought you were just going to be handed your cake and get to eat it too, didn’t you?”

And I am VERY consciously choosing to use the word benevolent to describe Sukuna because... there is something inherently twisted and yet, extremely real, in the message that Sukuna embodies.

Almost like he’s doing Yuji a favor by enlightening him on the root cause of his suffering.

YES! yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!

Am I like a crazy person for loving Sukuna so much?

And there’s something so fascinating here about how, despite dropping deep truths about the human condition, Sukuna is literally the epitome of all that is cursed, a sort of container for all that is inherently wrong about humanity--to the point that you can’t even think of him as human, but rather, as inhuman.

But... really... what does it mean to be a human, what does it mean to be a curse, and where do we draw the line?

Are curses truly the sole source of suffering as Spooks asks?

After all... are curses not the result of negative human emotion?

Are we, as humans, not responsible for their existence?

You see, I became a cursed spirit apologist the moment Yuta kissed a cockroach. This forced me to start questioning what is good and what is evil.

The marriage of Heaven and Hell

Now... I am not asking for Sukuna to not be thought of as evil.

I am asking for a wider, more profound interpretation of evil. One that is not colored by the Western, white-washed, Judeo-Christian idea of the figure of Satan as a red horned creature that is evil for the sake of evil and makes people do evil #things.

I am asking for you to leave your pre-conceptions of evil at the door...

What if perhaps we saw Satan as Lucifer, the harbinger of light who was thrown out of Heaven for challenging the status quo and daring to seek enlightenment through embodiment?

What if we saw evil as as a corruption and degeneration of all that is good and humane--a sort of rejection of one expression of the self in favor of the trappings of self-gratification and self-identification?

What if we asked how Sukuna’s degenerated and corrupted humanity is an embracing and transcendence of suffering as not just inherent to the human condition, but a precursor of psychological and psychospiritual growth and development?

What if evil was a choice made in favor of the self and that is why Satan was cast out of Heaven?

What if evil was just trying to re-affirm the sense of self, and that is why Sukuna has chosen ego as his path of enlightenment?

After all...

“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”

When Gege introduced Jacob’s Ladder in chapter 213...

... he introduced one hell pun intended of a rabbit hole. One that I am not quite ready to talk about in great detail because I am unsure on how the symbols will be explored, or let’s be real here, whether they will get explored at all.

But with this tiny panel, Gege basically introduced the “upper” extreme of a metaphorical experience of psychospiritual growth depicted in the shape of a ladder. At the lower end of said ladder is the experience of descent into hell that is depicted in stories like Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Now. The interesting bit about Jacob’s Ladder getting mentioned, is that Gege added a neat little detail that is easy to miss unless you know what you’re looking for:

That is: Urizen’s Architect’s compass.

Now, for context, the painting above is a painting by William Blake, who perhaps not so coincidentally, also has a painting titled Jacob’s Ladder.

The painting is, indeed, inspired by the Biblical depiction of Jacob’s dream found in Genesis 28:10-17.

Again, the rabbit hole runs deep.

What I’ll say about this for now is that Gege might be using these symbols to present Sukuna as a character that personifies a sense of self that is beyond logic and reason where...

Good = logic bound by reason, and

Evil = imagination free from reason.

I still haven’t made up my mind about it because Gege is being a bit inconsistent with symbols, so we’ll have to wait to confirm.

But in a nutshell, this feels like a murky exploration of the sense of self and where it stands in relation to the question of “good and evil” or as Blake calls it “the marriage of Heaven and Hell”.

So if Gege is using William Blake’s philosophy then... I can’t help but see Sukuna as a character who has become enlightened through becoming entangled in the trappings of ego. Which is a nice dichotomy to how enlightenment is thought to be about transcending and leaving behind ego attachments.

But not Sukuna.

Sukuna is about experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows of the human experience.

Logic be damned.

“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom”.

In other words, Sukuna strikes me as being about willingly and consciously embracing the suffering that is inherent to the human condition, and growing in strength because of it.

After all, you cannot know pleasure without first having known pain, and you cannot know pain if you have not known pleasure. In Blake’s words, "without contraries is no progression.”

Quick detour here to expand on these panels above... Explaining the sense of self is not easy.

What I can say right now is that the sense of self is the result of the ego-self negotiating with reality as it presents to you compared to your expectations and hopes for your reality.

In the words of Westworld’s Robert Ford:

"...the thing that led... to... awakening [is] suffering. The pain that the world is not as you want it to be.”

Similarly, Westworld’s Man in Black tells us that

“When you are suffering, that’s when you are most real.”

Which is another way of saying that there is strength and transformation to be found in suffering and that turning away from suffering is what weak minded people would do according to the gospel of Sukuna.

Or basically, when life hands you the lemons, you make margaritas with them although I highly recommend you use limes instead of lemons and might I also recommend Mezcal instead of Tequila for a nice smokey twist on everybody’s favorite Mexican cocktail.

Suffering is an inherent aspect of the human condition after all. You either develop the mental fortitude to keep moving forward, or, in Sukuna’s view, you remain weak, defeated by your fate.

And what’s interesting here is that Yuji has a very infantile unwillingness to see suffering as an inherent aspect of human existence.

Or as Spooks reminds us all, it’s not just curses that cause suffering.

So to me, Sukuna’s philosophy is about overwhelming strength as a result of self-gratification. He is the kind of character who will put himself through hell for the sake of acquiring strength.

This is where Jacob’s Ladder becomes relevant, because in Blake’s philosophy, the Angels who are “good”, could only see ego attachment (which is a metaphor for hell) as suffering. As such, they could not comprehend why anyone would put themselves through hell for the sake of self development.

In other words, Sukuna is an exploration on hedonism and all that can be considered sinful if only because the ego’s attachment to pleasure is at the root of suffering.

“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom”.

A different execution of this trope is another one of my blorbos, Twelve, from Watanabe’s Terror in Resonance (Zankyou no Terror).

Twelve is the kind of character who wants to have certain experiences and will, at the expense of his better judgment and other people, force certain experiences to happen just because he wants to have them. In fact, he doesn’t stop to think about consequences, he just acts for the sake of experiencing.

Whether these experiences cause pain and suffering or joy and happiness, does not matter. The point is to have the experience because the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

For those of us who are crazy enough to be romantically inclined, it’s like the experience of falling in love while fearing rejection, but still choosing love.

Logic be damned.

But that’s just the thing, isn’t it? If you held back from the moments when you are invited to come alive every single time that you saw suffering in the horizon, would you cower from those experiences?

Or would you embrace them for the sake of self development?

Similarly, Sukuna who exists only for his own pleasure, is an example of how the ego is shaped and transformed through experience.

In Sukuna’s case, experience can come in the shape of fights and women and whatever will satiate the appetite of an ego hungry for embodied experience...

Hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence.

But I want to think that Sukuna also understands that you cannot forsake suffering, especially if you are in the pursuit of the better things that life has to offer.

There isn’t one without the other after all.

If you want to be happy, you have to be willing to suffer for that happiness.

You can’t know what wealth is unless you have known poverty.

You can’t know great love unless you have known heartbreak.

"Without Contraries is no progression.”

To reject this principle of human existence is, in Sukuna’s gospel, to be weak, to be prey to those who will consume anything and everything that is standing in the way of their hungry, insatiable ego.

God I love Jujutsu Kaisen...

Splat

Well, that was two *splat* moments in one month and I have to admit they are both just as brutal.

Anyways. This was an interesting chapter from a translator’s pov because there were subtle messages that may or may not have gotten lost in translation.

So just a heads up I kind of stuck to the fan translation for the most part for that very same reason.

Yuji and Megumi vs. Sukuna

Ok but to wrap things up...

I love that Sukuna is always impressed by Megumi...

THAT’S MY BOY!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!

And I also love that Sukuna underestimates Yuji...

Yuji is by far one of my absolute favorite mcs in Shonen. He embodies the characteristics of your typical Shonen mc and then re-defines them in a way that is very uniquely Yuji.

Anyways, sigh of relief about Megumi. I can stop holding my breath FOR THE TIME BEING!!!!

It’s not that I don’t trust that Megumi has what it takes, the one I don’t trust is the cursed cat.

Can’t wait to see these two beautiful boys fight together.

Happy Jujutsu Kaisen Sunday and thank you for joining me again this week in this hell pun intended of a roller coaster.

#god I love jujutsu kaisen #jjk ch 214

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dandelionrevolution · 24 days

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Good News - April 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Support me on Ko-fi! Also, if you tip me on here or Ko-fi, at the end of the month I’ll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn’t use each week - almost double the content! (I’m new to taking tips on here; if it doesn’t show me your username or if you have DM’s turned off, please send me a screenshot of your payment)

1. Three Endangered Asiatic Lion Cubs Born at London Zoo

“The three cubs are a huge boost to the conservation breeding programme for Asiatic lions, which are now found only in the Gir Forest in Gujarat, India.”

2. United Nations Passes Groundbreaking Intersex Rights Resolution

“The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed its first ever resolution affirming the rights of intersex people, signaling growing international resolve to address rights violations experienced by people born with variations in their sex characteristics.”

3. Proposal to delist Roanoke logperch

“Based on a review of the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has determined that the Roanoke logperch, a large freshwater darter, is no longer at risk of extinction. […] When the Roanoke logperch was listed as endangered in 1989, it was found in only 14 streams. In the years since, Roanoke logperch surveys and habitat restoration have more than doubled the species range, with 31 occupied streams as of 2019.”

4. Fully-Accessible Theme Park Reopens Following Major Expansion

“Following the $6.5 million overhaul, the park now offers [among other “ultra-accessible” attractions] a first-of-its-kind 4-seat zip line that can accommodate riders in wheelchairs as well as those who need extra restraints, respiratory equipment or other special gear.”

5. ‘The Javan tiger still exists’: DNA find may herald an extinct species’ comeback

“A single strand of hair recovered from [a sighting] is a close genetic match to hair from a Javan tiger pelt from 1930 kept at a museum, [a new] study shows. “Through this research, we have determined that the Javan tiger still exists in the wild,” says Wirdateti, a government researcher and lead author of the study.”

6. Treehouse Village: Eco-housing and energy savings

““The entire place is designed and built to meet the passive house standard, which is the most energy-efficient construction standard in the world,” says resident Wayne Groszko, co-owner of one of the units at Treehouse.”

7. 50 rare crocodiles released in Cambodia's tropical Cardamom Mountains

“Cambodian conservationists have released 50 captive-bred juvenile Siamese crocodiles at a remote site in Cambodia as part of an ongoing programme to save the species from extinction.”

8. The Remarkable Growth of the Global Biochar Market: A Beacon of Environmental Progress

“Biochar, a stable carbon form derived from organic materials like agricultural residues and forestry trimmings, is a pivotal solution in the fight against global warming. By capturing carbon in a stable form during biochar production, and with high technology readiness levels, biochar offers accessible and durable carbon dioxide removal.”

9. 'Seismic' changes set for [grouse shooting] industry as new Scottish law aims to tackle raptor persecution

“Conservation scientists and campaigners believe that birds such as golden eagles and hen harriers are being killed to prevent them from preying on red grouse, the main target species of the shooting industry. […] Under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill, the Scottish grouse industry will be regulated for the first time in its history.”

10. White House Awards $20 Billion to Nation’s First ‘Green Bank’ Network

“At least 70 percent of the funds will go to disadvantaged communities, the administration said, while 20 percent will go to rural communities and more than 5 percent will go to tribal communities. […] The White House said that the new initiative will generate about $150 billion in clean energy and climate investments[…].”

March 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 6 months

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[BANKSY]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

October 27, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

OCT 28, 2023

An article this morning jumped out at me. Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post noted that the U.S. economy “looks remarkably good.” A recent stunning jobs report, showing that the economy continues to add jobs at record rates—more than 13.9 million since President Joe Biden took office—along with yesterday’s stunning report that U.S. economic growth grew at an annual pace of 4.9% in the third quarter of this year, puts the U.S. economy at the forefront of most of the world. And inflation is back in the range that the Federal Reserve prefers—it’s at 2.4%, close to the Fed’s target of 2%.

The U.S. is outperforming forecasts made even before the pandemic began for where the economy would be now, even as other countries are worse off.

And yet, Rampell notes, Americans are about as negative about the economy today as they were during the Great Recession after 2008, when mortgage foreclosures were forcing people out of their homes and unemployment rested at about 9%, more than twice what it is today. In contrast, consumers give high marks to the Trump years, when average growth before the pandemic was 2.5% and the U.S. added only about 6.4 million jobs.

There is a crucial divorce here between image and reality. Americans think our economy, currently the strongest in the world, is in poor shape. They mistakenly believe it was better under Trump.

That profound and measurable disjunction ought to make us sit up and take notice, especially as the Biden administration continues to try to make the economy responsive to ordinary Americans and the country continues to pay little attention. Today, for example, the White House announced an effort to turn the dual problems of empty office buildings and a shortage of affordable housing into a win-win. It announced a series of actions to convert vacant commercial properties to residential buildings. Their efforts are designed to create affordable, energy-efficient housing near public transportation and jobs.

The importance of identifying the contrast between image and reality in today’s politics showed recently as the meticulous work of Nashville investigative reporter Phil Williams of Tennessee’s NewsChannel 5 appears to have had an important effect on the mayoral election in Franklin, Tennessee.

While far-right Christian nationalist mayoral candidate Alderman Gabrielle Hanson promised she was “committed to restoring and upholding the wholesome values that have long been the foundation of our city’s identity,” Williams exposed to voters Hanson’s shady history. He showed that Hanson had lied about having multiracial supporters and her ties to white supremacists, highlighted her bizarre behavior, and noted her embrace of Christian nationalism.

On Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly rejected Hanson and other far-right candidates. Hanson won just 20.6% of the vote to 79.4% for the incumbent mayor. Then, after losing, Hanson apparently had her husband drop off her computer and ID badge at City Hall, abandoning her term as alderman before its November 14th end.

Such deep investigation stands out in an increasingly turbulent sea of disinformation. Shayan Sardarizadeh of the BBC explained to Hanaa’ Tameez of Neiman Journalism Lab that social media posters on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, or Twitter can make significant sums of money from “engagement farming.” Posting outrageous material that engages viewers pumps up a user’s brand, making them able to command high prices from marketers.

Sardarizadeh notes that the Israel-Hamas war is a particularly attractive situation for engagement farmers, and rumors and fake videos are flying.

But there are plenty of opportunities for disinformation at home, too, for political purposes. In Ohio, the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate is using its official government website to push what Associate Press legal and medical experts say is “false or misleading” information against the proposed constitutional amendment the state’s voters will consider in the November 7 election. Their inflammatory language warns, for example, that the measure will “legalize abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy” and permit “the dismemberment of fully conscious children,” the rhetoric of anti-abortion activists.

Julie Carr Smyth and Christine Fernando of the Associated Press report that Republicans began their “On the Record” blog on the state Senate website after Ohio voters rejected their attempts to make it much harder to pass constitutional amendments. The Republicans bill the blog as an “online newsroom” where voters can find “the views the news excludes.” Republican Senate president Matt Huffman denied that the blog was a news service, but it sits under the “News” tab on the Senate’s website.

“My [Republican] colleagues say that this is done because the mainstream media won’t print their stuff,” Democratic state senator Bill DeMora told the reporters. “But of course, the mainstream media won’t pick this up because it’s factually incorrect and basically lies.”

But because the blog appears on an official government website, internet searches turn it up as a reliable source. Laura Manley, executive director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, told Smyth and Fernando: “It’s a really strategic way to make something appear to be neutral information and fact when that’s not the reality…. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Finally, after a two-day manhunt, law enforcement officers found Maine mass murder suspect Robert Card dead tonight from a self-inflicted gunshot. Reports suggest that Card had at least a recent history of mental illness and note that his social media accounts show a history of engagement with right-wing and Republican political content.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Banksy #peace #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #political #media #social media #misinformation

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highfantasy-soul · 2 months

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Re: Netflix's live-action Avatar the Last Airbender

I was 12 when the animated series started airing.

I caught episodes as they came on Nickelodeon, but I didn’t watch it religiously start-to-finish. I caught episodes when they happened to be on and I happened to be watching TV (I was NOT part of the generation that had unlimited access to shows - tv/computer/video game time was strictly monitored in my household) so there were some episodes I saw over and over again, and others I never did see.

I think it was around middle/high school (honestly can't remember - it was one of the two) that the show got put on Netflix and I started watching it from the beginning with my brother and some friends. Needless to say, I've been a die-hard fan ever since.

I think the animated show is incredibly well done and the storytelling is super on-point for what I love in media. Zuko's redemption arc is still the best arc I've ever seen, and the character growth is amazing.

I had never really fallen into the 'it's not perfect, but…' way of analyzing media, so I never dwelt too much on its flaws - I'd much rather focus on the things it got right as literally every piece of media has flaws and things that could be changed to make it better.

So yeah, hyperbolically, the animated version of ATLA is 'perfect' - but since people insist on anything that's not perfect being drug through the mud and hyperbolically being called 'garbage', I guess I have to dredge up the things I didn't care so much for in the animated version while analyzing how the live-action handled it (or avoided handling it).

I was super excited for the film adaptation - again, announced while I was in high school. I was looking forward to it so much - then, well, we know what happened there.

Things were changed that didn't make sense to change (the pronunciation of character names, the 'test' for figuring out who the Avatar is, the poor bending where movements didn't align to what was happening with the CGI, casting of white people when the characters were always meant to be indigenous and all asian ethnicities, among other issues people have made many essays about)

So, when this was first announced, I was SKEPTICAL.

While the trailer looked good, it seemed very safe - I recognized everything in it and it looked well made, but like, that doesn't mean the whole thing will be good - or justify its existence.

I tried to ignore any 'leaks' or interview quotes because those are always misconstrued so much and people hear one sentence and create a massive narrative in their head about what that sentence means and usually, all their bellyaching assumptions they made from that piece of info is just a non-issue once the show actually comes out.

I didn't give any credence to people screaming about "Sokka isn't going to be sexist anymore?? It's ruined!!" or "They're going for a Game of Thrones tone?? They don't understand Avatar at all!!" or "No side-quests?? They don't understand the point of the show!!"

First off, invoking the demon that is Game of Thrones is just a marketing tactic - that's all it is: MARKETING!! Just like EVERY YA book for years was 'The new Hunger Games' now it's 'The new Game of Thrones' even when the story at hand is NOTHING AT ALL LIKE THOSE THINGS!! It's literally, let me cradle your face gently in my hands, JUST a marketing ploy to get you to see a recent title you DO recognize and have (assumedly) heard good things about (ie popular) so that you then pick up the thing that they slapped that name onto.

Creators rarely have say in what their creation is likened to, they're told by marketing companies to go with it (if they're told anything at all) and they just say "yes, marketing team I have no control over, whatever you say".

Also, a passing comment in an interview is off-the cuff and when someone makes a comment like that, people read WAY too far into it and it's usually not nearly as deep as people make it out to be. That's why I just wait for the actual thing to come out and just watch it and judge it based on what it is, not some narrative someone else has created for it based on half a quote from some random interview.

So going into this: why the live-action adaptation? Why was it necessary?

In my opinion, the answer to this question is the thing many fans hate the most: altering the original story.

A beat-for-beat remake isn't necessary - the original is right there, so in order to 'earn' the right for this adaptation to exist, that necessitates changes to be made that add to the themes, deepen the lore, and delve into different aspects of the world in ways a child's cartoon can't.

So, I'm looking for not a 1-1 remake, but rather an adaptation that enhances the themes, irons out some uneven characterization/pacing, updates the story just enough to really get what they want to across, and delve more directly into some of the harsher aspects of the war.

I have always felt that Iroh's involvement in the Fire Nation military was glossed over a lot in the cartoon - I suspect because he's supposed to be a good guy and we can't have our good guys be overtly war criminals responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.

The effects of hard decisions made during war are shown in the animation, but the decision making process itself is rarely talked about until the very end with the gaang's struggle to keep helping people while also knowing where to focus their energy and Aang's struggle finding a way to stop the firelord without killing him.

something this adaptation can do is actually show the people making the decisions - and directly talking about the horrible effects of it. I'll get to it later, but that's one of the major themes in Episode 4 that I'll talk more on then.

Especially in Book 1, like many first books/seasons, the worldbuilding isn't fully fleshed out and the themes that really come to fruition later aren't as tight as they could be at the beginning. If the adaptation can go ahead and seed/tighten the themes that become big deals later on here at the beginning, it will 'justify' it's existence as the story retold after the whole story has already been plotted out.

Just like with the Percy Jackson and Wheel of Time adaptation, those writing for the show have the benefit of knowing how the story ends and all the stuff that's added to the world building as time goes on that wasn't necessarily known by the authors when they wrote and published the first books - the benefit of hindsight allows the show's script to take into consideration these additions and seed them early on to make the story more cohesive and reinforce themes.

So, this analysis is going to be long and filled with minute details, beat by beat for the episodes.

I have seen so many takes that I just sit and scratch my head at and think 'that was so obvious in the show - how did you miss/misinterpret that thing so wildly?' that I guess what I took for granted as obvious in the show, others didn't, so here's me being pedantic and over-explaining everything so maybe others can see that 1) they aren't the only ones who saw this interpretation and 2) maybe others will see the scenes a different way

Still trying to decide how to break up the analysis as the episode recaps are going to be LONG and since people now demand to see all the citations for stuff, the character analysis posts will be long too as I pull direct scenes to show why I feel the way I do.

I don't want to overload the posts and make it so they're just annoying to read, so I'll probably break them up into the sections of the episodes and maybe break up the character posts.

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

#natla #netflix avatar the last airbender #netflix avatar #avatar live-action #netflix atla #atla #I've already posted a couple blurbs about changes I liked - but I do want to go through the episodes too so we'll see how this goes #excess hate media is getting now that everyone has access to posting their opinions and outrage gets clicks is really wearing on me #and I think it's wearing on the industry too with how short of seasons we're now getting plus everything being canceled left and right #so I wanted to put out a whole bunch of positivity for a show I really really enjoyed and thought they did a fantastic job with

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obihiro-division · 3 months

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"Fear is temporary. Regret is permanent.” -Dan Skinner

Introduction

Hisoka Tetsumasu is the leader of the Obihiro division rap battle team, Veiled Vanguard. He is widely known by his old nickname, now stage name N. Although he is recognized today in the world of zoology as a man dedicated to breeding race and show horses in Japan, the shadow behind him details a long history of crime. The most significant of his old ventures cemented him as one of the first men to establish a black market on illegal hypnosis microphones. Now several years later, he reemerges back into the public eye, albeit unwillingly.

While most people may describe Hisoka as a strong, silent man who spares only a few words to his colleagues, Hisoka's true personality shows when he is isolated with his horses. That is a surprisingly soft, timid man who is absolutely obsessed with horses. While the circumstances that have led him to the northern part of Japan was unfavorable to say the least, Hisoka has been quite content raising horses for both racers, hobbyists, and even rich and famous people. This led to his connection with the Kamiyama family, the father of said family being a huge fan of the horses Hisoka and his colleagues raise.

Hisoka has been antagonizing the Chuohku government for years now, but with this sudden summons by the Chuohku officials, the man is doomed to sing and dance for his captors hoping he can find another way out from the mountain of damages and debt he has left in his wake.

Appearance

Currently Hisoka sports a head of long red hair that obscures a portion of his old tattoo; A dragon that wraps around the length of his right arm and up around the right side of his head. His eyes are a sunny yellow color.

Typically he sports a black, white, and pea green tracksuit, with the team's symbol on the front as a logo. The jacket of his tracksuit is typically unzipped and shrugged off his shoulders to show off his black turtleneck underneath. For footwear, he dons a pair of black combat boots. He also wears gloves, both to cover the end of his tattoo on his right hand and also for his work.

Hypnosis Microphone

Originally Hisoka had no talent when it came to wielding a real hypnosis microphone, which led to his making of faulty, weak hypnosis microphones. However after his life had been turned around and getting thrown into the D.R.B., his microphone actually takes form! Hisoka’s mic takes the form of a grey amethyst microphone with a silver horseshoe arching over the head of the square mic. Instead of being on a stand as most amethyst microphones typically are, it appears to be handheld. His speakers take the form of an abstract chandelier, with the main body acting as the main speaker. The branches of the speaker alternate between ordinary candle holders, to hands which wriggle and move around behind him (something he is having difficulty getting used to).

His rap ability “NULL” completely nullifies his opponent’s ability. This ability is dampened by the fact Hisoka is seemingly unable to use this ability on command, rather it is dependant on his emotions.

Hisoka’s gravelly voice makes for an intimidating factor. His chances for actually utilizing this effectively is dampened by his anxiety. While in the past he might have been able to egotistically sing about himself, a good majority of his tracks these days start with him repeating phrases as a way to hype himself up. But as soon as he can rid himself of his anxiety, he is surprisingly capable of returning to his old self, with a new appreciation of his teammates supporting him.

Entomology

Hisoka - Written as “scarlet”, “think”, and “song”.

Tetsumasu - His last name literally translates to “iron growth” or “iron expansion”.

Trivia

Hisoka is right handed.

He loves horses and nearly all forms of racing but despises police officers, detectives, and anyone else that may pry into his life.

His favorite food is carrots while he hates red meat and brussel sprouts.

Surprisingly, Hisoka used to live a very reckless and dangerous life in his past dabbling in an array of violent and addictive habits. This was all dropped after his life was literally and figuratively destroyed by ████.

Due to the trauma he suffered at the hands of ████ Hisoka has severe PTSD. He has difficulties sleeping and can be irritable in stressful situations (no doubt something that’s going to increase).

Hisoka used to be a researcher that worked under Rei Amayado when the war had technically ended. Hisoka however chose to betray him and steal from Rei to establish his black market business after being influenced by his brother. Hisoka lives under the assumption Rei may be trying to hunt him down, although it’s unknown what the conman really thinks of Hisoka.

He owes a lot to the Rikiya family, especially to Toshiko Rikiya as she was the one who helped him recover and get him connected with the owners of Spur Stud Ranch.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic oc #hypnosis microphone oc #obihiro division #veiled vanguard #hisoka tetsumasu #nugsters art

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hypaalicious · 1 year

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Black Hair Care myths BUSTED!

Since I’m fighting off the plague and have nothing else better to do but lay here pitifully, I’ve decided to talk about hair again after my last two posts on shampoo types and curly hair care , only this time focusing on Black folks’ hair and the misinformation lots of us grew up on.

Now, because I know the gowrls like to tussle (and Mercury in Microbraids along with an eclipse is upon us), lemme just say this: if you’re absolutely happy with your hair care routine, then this post isn’t for you.

This post is only for people who are curious and want to evolve and simplify their hair care routines.

OKAY LEGGO:

The hair typing chart is garbage.

Everyone and they mama should be familiar with this chart. So many of us use it to determine what type of hair products to buy that work best for our hair type.

Unfortunately, the chart is pseudo-science.

All hair types need the same basic care (shampooing/conditioning at least every week), and products that claim to cater to a specific hair type is just a marketing tactic. This chart also promotes texturism; Oprah’s stylist literally made up the type 4 category to say that the only thing to do to tight curls is to straighten or loosen them. 🥲

Products can’t give you the kind of curls you want.

I touched on this a bit in my first hair post, but it bears repeating here: Curl “activators”, Shea butter, raw oil blends, creams, leave-in conditioners, texturizing shampoos… all of them are finessing you, beloveds. If your hair isn’t holding defined clumps of curls immediately after shampooing, then your hair is likely chronically dehydrated and needs to be detoxed.

We’re kinda raised to product chase because we’re told that the way our hair grows out of our heads is bad and needs to be fixed, and the $2.5 billion Black hair care industry is always eager to offer us placebos for our coin. We see someone with the hair texture and length we want and we immediately ask “what products do you use??” as if the answer is in a bottle when it’s really just genetics. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Greasing/oiling your scalp does not moisturize it, get rid of dandruff, or make your hair grow faster.

As a kid I remember my hairdresser using a fine toothed comb and “breaking up” the dandruff on my scalp before applying Sea Breeze to soothe it. Every single time, the dandruff came back worse. 😩 If I put oil on my scalp, it would take only a day before build up and large yellow flakes would rain out of my hair. But I thought because my scalp and my hair needed moisturizing that I couldn’t go without oils.

Well, I was right on one thing; my scalp and hair def needed moisture. But I wasn’t gonna get moisture from anything but water, and at the time I was avoiding water like the plague because I always had a fresh silk press or perm and I didn’t want my hair “reverting”.

If you have a scalp condition or chronic itchiness, you are very much making it worse by adding any of that to your head. The only solution is to wash your hair, loves. Yes, you may have to choose between looking “laid” and what’s actually good for your hair and scalp, but them’s the breaks.

The hair growth oils that line the shelves at Sally’s? Literally snake oil. Same goes for hair vitamins, biotin, MSM, rice water, JBCO, egg white/tea rinse/fruit or food products, African Black soap, rose water, etc. Nothing topical, save for specific medicated prescription drugs from a dermatologist, can make hair grow. Save ya money, hunny!

Co-washing and water-only washing doesn’t get your hair clean.

Conditioner is incapable of doing what shampoo does. You’re just gonna add layers of build up on your hair doing co-washes. Water-only cleansing is like never using soap in your laundry and expecting your clothes to be clean. 😬 Only putting shampoo on your scalp and carefully avoiding the length of your hair is the equivalent of white folks not washing their legs in the shower. Don’t do any of this.

I actually do not know where the myth started that Black folks hair is somehow too fragile to handle shampoo, a thing that is specifically formulated for hair. 😅 If shampoo is drying your hair out, you need to make sure you’re using the right kind of shampoo, not ditching shampoo altogether. If you need help, I touched on shampoo basics here!

Using a spray bottle to “refresh” your hair doesn’t do what you think it’s doing.

Tiny water droplets from a spray bottle only sit on the surface of your hair, even more so if your hair already has product in it. If your styles aren’t holding until your next wash, you may need to re-examine what you’re using, how you apply it, and how you set it. If you need to refresh a style or get moisture, nothing less than washing your hair will do.

Finger detangling or using a wide toothed comb or denman brush isn’t doing the job.

I know we’ve been raised to think that because our hair is tightly coiled, that we have to treat it with kid gloves. But we actually do more harm to our hair by not detangling correctly. Detangling is the act of getting shed hair out from your head so it doesn’t wrap up in your healthy hair and cause breakage. A wide toothed comb can’t do that, and neither can your fingers. A denman brush is ONLY supposed to be used to hold tension in the hair when blowdrying it straight. What you want is a Felicia Leatherwood brush and to use that bad boy in the shower right after putting conditioner on sopping wet hair, trust me.

Protective styles don’t exist.

Buns, braids, wigs… all of them look fantastic when done right and it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t wear them. But they are all just alternative styles; nothing is being protected. I know a lot of us love the low maintenance that having these styles provide, but I want us to examine why they are thought of as low maintenance: it’s because folks are less likely to wash their hair/detangle while having them.

Any style that discourages you from weekly hair washing cannot be protective. It instead promotes hair neglect. Yes, I know, it can cost thousands of dollars for those waist length box braids or sew in, but you paid for the labor that goes into those kinds of styles, not the ability to keep them in for as long as possible. Not touching your hair for weeks on end means you’ll have dehydrated hair with mad buildup to get rid of. And btw, that type of damage to the hair cannot be fixed in just one visit to the salon. For as many weeks as you go without washing your hair, you need that many weeks out of an alternative style with frequent washing to help it recover.

Dry hair is determined by its behavior, not how it feels.

This one has a lot of folks tripped out because logically, we should be able to just touch our strands and know that it needs moisture. Unfortunately, so many of us don’t know what our actual hair feels like without it being slathered in products, so the moment that we stop using them we think our hair is “dry” when it’s really just how our natural hair texture may feel. It’s def not easy in the beginning to let go of the familiarity a nicely oiled head of hair presents. 🥲

So, how do you know if you have dry hair? If it can’t hold a curl pattern without manipulation, is hydrophobic (if water doesn’t completely flatten hair to your scalp when you wash it, it’s not absorbing), is extremely difficult to detangle, breaks off easily, etc.

You don’t need to rinse your hair in cold water.

Only reason you should even consider it is if you have vivid color in your hair, but… lemme tell y’all sumn.

Years ago when I started dyeing my hair, it was typical for a permanent black hair dye to act like a semi-perm and wash almost completely out or turn grey in a few weeks. Now that I have a much better hair regimen that keeps my hair in the best health it can be, my semi-permanent fashion colors last for months until I decide to touch it up again. And I absolutely do not relish being cold in the shower, so I just use hot water.

The health of your hair matters more than any gimmicks or products you can use to fix a problem.

Long hair/shiny hair is not an indicator of health, it is an indicator of genetics.

I want DESPERATELY for us as a people to break the shackles of thinking that the only hair that matters is long and thick, or that someone who has long hair is an automatic authority on hair care.

If you want an idea of how long your hair can get, then look to your family. If your mom or dad don’t have hair touching their waist then it’s highly possible you were not blessed with the DNA to get your hair waist length either. And that’s okay! You aren’t any less valid. It will just save you a LOT of heartache to learn to embrace your hair the way it naturally is rather than to run around buying products and chasing haircare trends in hopes that a miracle will happen. Not to mention, I’ve seen a lot of folks with long hair but they ain’t had a trim in years and it absolutely shows. 😬

A lot of folks do not have shiny hair, that is once again due to genetics not hair health. Matte hair has a different surface texture and that’s absolutely fine! Only manufactured beauty standards glorify long and shiny hair.

Speaking of hair length…

Shrinkage is not your enemy.

A general rule is that the only hair length that matters is how you regularly wear it.

My hair stays comfortably at the nape of my neck now that I wear my curls 100% of the time. If I pull it taut, then it’ll reach mid-back. But I don’t plan on straightening my hair ever again to show that mid-back length, so… 🤷🏽‍♀️ I have short hair because that is how it lays without manipulation. And that’s fine.

Shrinkage doesn’t scare me because it’s what healthy curly hair DOES. If my hair springs like a coil and retains shape, then I’m doing something right! I have always wanted long hair, I won’t deny that. But if I have to stretch my natural hair in any way in order to GET that long hair, it’s not worth it to me. I’ll just wear a wig for a hot min if I wanna whip my hair back and forth.

Air drying your hair isn’t better than diffusing it with a hair dryer.

Another thing we’ve been told is that heat damages our hair and that air drying is best. That’s not necessarily true.

DIRECT heat can damage your hair (flat irons, blow outs, pressing combs). INDIRECT heat (hooded dryers, a diffuser attachment on a handheld dryer) does not. In fact, diffused heat sets your wash and gos/twist outs way better than air drying. It cuts down on frizz and ensures your style will last through the week.

Also, it’s better to dry your hair completely rather than wait hours for it to air dry and then maybe sleep on wet hair. Fun fact: Leaving your hair wet for too long can cause mold to grow in your hair! 😱 And if you lay a wet head on a pillow, the bacteria transfers to your pillowcase and you continue to sleep in that until you wash the pillow!

You can’t “lock moisture in” your hair.

Water evaporates. It’s what it’s gonna do. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Putting leave ins or oils on your hair in hopes that water stays in your strands longer isn’t a thing, despite what a lot of us have been told. The only thing you’re gonna be left with is greasy, dehydrated hair if you don’t wash it weekly.

Avoiding getting a hair cut will not grant you healthy or long hair.

Hair grows an average of half an inch per month, regardless of race. The belief that “Black hair doesn’t grow” is rooted in anti-Blackness. 😅 If you’re not seeing growth, then it’s most likely that your hair is simply breaking off faster than the rate of growth, or you have an underlying health issue that needs to be addressed by a doctor.

I know I used to hate hairdressers who seemed “scissor happy” because I was always chasing length, so I would often only tell them to “dust” the ends if they do anything. Now, I will grab my clippers and cut inches off my hair in a heartbeat if my hair starts looking raggedy. Clinging on to scraggly hair because it takes “so long to grow” doesn’t do you any favors, trust me. 😭 Take better care of your hair and you will retain length a lot easier, and that includes getting quarterly haircuts.

Porosity does not matter.

How many of us did this whole “put a strand of hair in a cup of water and see if it floats or sinks”? Well, what if I told you that it means absolutely nothing for everyday hair care? 😭 Porosity isn’t even a static state, so many things can change it on a dime!

The only time porosity matters is if you are getting a color service and that is only for your stylist to determine. And you will never see a stylist worth their salt putting your hair in a cup of water to figure it out. Also, a lot of “low” porosity hair is just product build up.

Using home remedies to address hair loss concerns doesn’t work.

No, it doesn’t matter that your grandma did black tea rinses regularly to stop her hair from shedding. It doesn’t matter what women in India do with their hair, either. This may be a hard pill to swallow, but it’s perfectly okay to evolve past things that aren’t truly helpful even if it’s a Black culture staple.

Please don’t be afraid to go to a dermatologist. 🥺 There’s even a Black Dermatologist Directory to reference if you don’t wanna go to just anybody. Yeah, it may seem pricey, but Dermatologists have the training to cut through the guesswork, pinpoint what the problem is and save you a LOT of time and pain. You don’t wanna fuck around and make your hair loss WORSE by doing psuedo-chemistry in your kitchen.

“Do what works for you” doesn’t have the mileage you think it does.

When people don’t want to hear that their current hair practices aren’t really helping them, they default to “Well, it works for ME!” or “Everyone’s hair is different!”

Nobody’s hair is so different that it doesn’t need a weekly wash with shampoo. Nobody’s hair is the magical unicorn that grew 4 inches in a month because they used JBCO. Your hair is not “built different”, and believing that it is will lead you to spending money on things you don’t need. Doing what works for you only comes after you have nailed the basics of healthy hair care, and it only varies in like… if you prefer to use styling foam to set your wash n go as opposed to gel. Or using one brand’s shampoo over another. Not “my hair likes butters and oils and staying in protective styles for months on end and is doing just fine, and you telling me otherwise is anti-Black”.

If you have unexamined hatred of your natural hair texture, then nothing in this long-ass post will hit for you. If a large part of your identity as a Black person is rooted in product chasing, protective styles and taking an entire business day to wash your hair, then a lot of this will offend you. I’m really sorry for that, and I am not here to argue with anybody. I’ll just tell you “if you like it, I love it” and go on about my business.

For everyone else, I really hope this post helps to shed some light on hair care and set you on a better journey that gives you more time and more confidence in your styles! 🥹

#this post long as hell and I absolutely forgot how to do a read more cut #I hope y’all got that automatic post reducer option toggled cause I know that saved my life 😂#but as you can see I’m very passionate on saving my people trial and error in hair care #cause seriously if I was told this ages ago I would have gone natural way before now #the hardest part for most folks I think will be the mindset change required to let go of bad habits #cause no matter what the facts say if you not ready to hear it then 🤷🏽‍♀️ can’t be helped!#black hair care #natural hair care #hair care tips

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rippleclan · 5 months

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[Image ID: The AshClan logo, a white fire inside a black cat face silhouette. The text above it reads "AshClan Basic History & Culture".]

So you guys want to know more about RippleClan's neighbors to the northwest? The ones who killed the Ashes in the Water? The former home of Weedfoot and Puddlespeckle? There's a lot I could tell you, but let's start with the basics.

AshClan's Founding

AshClan was founded from a mixture of cats hailing from LynxClan, SlugClan, and WheatClan following a massive fire. Smokecatcher, a LynxClan cleric, blamed the culture of the existing Clans for the fire. In his eyes, StarClan allowed the fire to happen because the other Clans relied on one another too much. Smokecatcher lived in a peaceful era where trade first blossomed into a major aspect of Clan culture. The fire showed the flaws of relying too much on trade. He decided to form his own Clan out of others disenfranchised with the current diplomatic culture. Because they rose from the ashes of that great fire, they named themselves AshClan, and Smokecatcher became Smokestar. Since StarClan readily gave him nine lives, he saw it as further proof that the Clans had to back up on their diplomatic reliance.

Smokestar founded AshClan with a few core ideals. While AshClan has shifted and grown over time, they view these ideals as the foundation of their culture. In fact, AshClan holds these beliefs in such high regard, they call them the Code of Ash. This is an addition to the warrior code that only AshClan is expected to follow.

The Code of Ash: Self-Reliance

AshClan has developed its own brand of diplomacy with its mediators and artisans, but they have a unique view on the role of trade with their Clan. AshClan cannot trade for resources they can hunt, harvest, or craft themselves. This means no trading of prey unless they are in a dire situation where there is no available prey in their area (which, for something of that scale, would probably affect the other Clans too). They grow as many herbs as possible in their forest and craft everything they can. They make pottery from the Great Northern River and can craft some simple baskets. They have slowly taken the title of the best woodworkers in the Clans, having some of the most advanced wood-crafting tools around. Of course, they are limited in what they can do, since they are cats, but their stuff is quite impressive.

Some of the few things AshClan is forced to trade for include plants/foodstuff from WheatClan, stones/minerals from LynxClan, and specialized medicines from SlugClan. If you have something they want, they can be a great trade partner, as they have a wide range of goods. RippleClan is slowly developing a market for sea products, but with no mediators or artisans, it will be a while before AshClan is willing to accept their goods.

The Code of Ash: Stability

Since the tragedies following the Great Fire of Ash & Smoke could be connected to some of the softer attitudes of the era, AshClan makes a point of rooting out any potential threats immediately. It is the duty of an AshClan cat to keep an eye out for destabilizing forces and work to destroy them. This belief makes AshClan cats both beacons of righteousness and brutal traditionalists.

When someone goes against the code, even outside of AshClan, AshClan cats have an innate drive to stop them. They offer their services to other Clans at times to assist in driving out threats, as major changes or a collapse of a Clan would cause a lot of harm to both AshClan and their neighbors. AshClan codekeepers are some of the best investigators around due to their determination to find the source of conflict and danger.

However, different leaders have different views on what is "destabilizing" and can become overly restrictive on cultural growth or new ideas. This is why Autumnstar so violently opposed the idea of RippleClan and ordered the Clan to attack the Ashes in the Water without mercy. Many cats agree that this is one of the biggest flaws of AshClan culture, but to deny their desire to root out danger can result in lost lives. A good AshClan leader knows how to identify danger versus opportunity.

#rippleclan #rippleclan clangen #clangen #warrior cats #warrior cats clangen #warriors #ashclan #rippleclan lore

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manorpunk · 9 months

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A Brief Materialist History of the Former US in the Mid-21st Century

2030s: the Polycrisis. Unresolved issues of climate and pollution cause more and more intense natural disasters, which wipe out swathes of vital but poorly-maintained infrastructure. The US federal gov't is too hollowed-out at this point to fix anything, and the tangle of middlemen contractors responsible for actually building and repairing that infrastructure all try to deny responsibility, causing a massive growth spurt of federalism as state governments are forced to step in and try to put out the literal and metaphorical fires. All this embarrassing chaos tarnishes the US's economic reputation of stability, causing a feedback loop of economic contractions as more and more foreign investors pull back from US investments, causing stock market drops which make even more investors panic and pull back, etc. The decade ends with the signing of the Qingdao Accords, a sort of reverse Marshall Plan where the newly-formed Global Logistics Network pours money into infrastructure projects in exchange for creating their own tangle of middlemen contractors. The signing of the Qingdao Accords is generally taken as the end of the Second Cold War with a Chinese victory.

2040s: the Sheriff's Insurrection. A loose alliance of small-town sheriffs (as well as small-business tyrants, conspiracy theorists, retvrn types, and various opportunists, all collectively referred to as 'Sheriffs') resist the "Chinese takeover of America" in a 21st century version of the evergreen landowners-vs-industrialists conflict. They are quickly fought off by GLN-hired paramilitary forces (the same forces will go on to form the Surplus Young Men, an Armored Core/Outer Heaven style 'security force' which is technically unaligned but everyone knows they're cashing GLN checks). The Sheriffs flee to the Midwest, creating a decentralized zone of tiny feuding principalities derogatorily dubbed ‘the manors.’ Other former US states begin to unite into new regional nations - Boswash, California, Cascadia, Texaplex, and the Great Lakes Republic. These new nations actually seem like they might be here to stay, but with much less ability to go sticking their nose in the rest of the world's business, and the decade ends with a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, China’s victory in the Second Cold War proves to be a Pyrrhic victory as the death of Xi Jinping (probably of natural causes but who knows) allows the GLN to balloon in wealth and influence. The CCP takes a sharp nationalist turn, re-branding itself as the Chinese China Party and turning party politics into a game of who can dunk on Americans the most.

2050s: Things are… good? The GLN is delivering on their promise of a new economic order, an automated and algorithmic 21st century market socialism with an infrastructure-based middle class of technicians, data analysts, and civil servants. There's still a global underclass of cheap mobile labor to actually go out to the middle of nowhere and build all this stuff but, y'know, it's a smaller global underclass. The manors calm down a little as the GLN supports the formation of autochthonous American nations: the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota and Dakota in the Midwest and the Diné Nation in the southwest, along with the progressive majority-black government of Piedmont in the Atlantic South, make it feel like we might be doing something about that whole ‘foundational white supremacy’ thing (The GLN was, of course, happy to take credit for solving racism forever). The GLN gets to claim even more PR victories as various post-colonial regions peacefully unify as ‘leagues,’ EU-style intra-national coalitions that work together on economic on diplomatic matters while letting individual states largely manage their own affairs. The US nations start to wonder if it might be time to form a league of their own. (Incidentally, by this point the EU has split apart into Frankistan and Mitteleuropa, Spain has exploded again, and Punished Britain is not coping well with their fall from grace.)

2060s: Who knows? Things start getting tense as the global construction boom slows down and the money-hose starts to dry up. 'Minor' regional problems and potential long-term issues are swept under the rug because "we’ve got a good thing going here, don't fuck this up," and the once-radical new visions for the world are already beginning to seem calcified and sclerotic. The newly-formed American League is poised to be little more than a rubber stamp for GLN policy… or is it?

#manorpunk #unreality #lore post #timeline

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