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everydayyoulovemeless · 4 months

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I saw the teen post, but what about Arcade, Raul, Vulpes, Ulysses, and our man Joshua Grahm parenting a young (orphan) child in the wasteland?

(Also your post are sooooo good<3)

Arcade, Raul, Vulpes, Ulysses, and Joshua Parenting an Orphan Child

➼ Word Count » 1.1k ➼ Warnings » None ➼ Genre » Platonic ➼ A/N » I love all these teen/child asks! They're so cute!!

Arcade isn't sure what to do when he sees you wandering Freeside alone. He'll stand off to the side and watch you for a minute, contemplating whether or not you're accompanied by someone. He doesn't want to jump in if you already have someone taking care of you, but it is a dangerous place to be in, so the worry never leaves him. Eventually, he'll go up to you to ask you a few questions. He immediately takes you to the Old Mormon Fort when you tell him you don't have any parents. At least someone will have an eye on you there. He's not the greatest with kids, especially when it comes to raising one, so you'll be brought up by all of the Followers there. They'll all pitch in here and there as you grow older. They want the best for you, so they gladly teach you all they know to help you grow into a well-rounded and intelligent individual. Of course, Arcade will still be there, and you're always welcome to go and visit his tent. He just won't be the only one watching over you. It's ironically one of the safest places to grow up in, and you'll pick up a lot of medical knowledge during your time there. The KIngs will even come by sometimes to teach you how to fight (they teach all the kids in Freeside how to throw a punch) for when you inevitably want to leave and explore the Mojave on your own. Even though you're in the slums, it's a generally comfortable way to live. And, at the very least, you'll grow up around people who genuinely care for you're well-being.

Raul sees you all by yourself in a world like this and feels an immediate obligation to take you in or, at the very least, find someone else who can. He's nervous when approaching you. He knows what he looks like, and he's not sure how someone as young as yourself will react when you see him. So, when he does walk up to you, he's careful and as non-threatening as he can manage to be. You remind him of his siblings back in Mexico. Even if he hasn't known you for long, he'll come to see you like a little sibling. It's as if life is giving him a second chance and, this time, he won't mess it up. He'd die before any harm ever came to you, and he promises to keep you as happy as possible until he finally croaks. He'll take you back to his shack, set you up in a corner, and talk to you. He'll talk 'till he feels he knows you well. Then, he'll turn the radio up and try to cheer you up by teaching you old Mexican dances. It's hard to remember the hardships you endured all alone with the corpse doing a funny jig. Raul is great at getting you to forget and is a great father figure to you. He's patient, determined, and always does his best to make you smile. You'll be in good hands with him around.

First off, if you're a girl, Vulpes isn't going to care one lick about you. He has no issue leaving a starving, homeless, orphan kid to die out in the desert. If you're a boy, he'll begrudgingly take you in and train you as a soldier for the Legion. Chances are, he's not going to be the one to raise you, and you're just going to be thrown into a training camp, but maybe if he sees enough potential (or Ceasar orders it), he'll take you under his wing. Honestly, though, you're probably better off just wandering the desert alone. There aren't many positive outcomes that being raised by the Legion will bring you.

Ulysses feels nothing but anger and pity when he sees you. Anger at the world for allowing such a young child to suffer through the destruction of the Divide and pity that you're forced to live in it. It's disappointing at best, and he takes you in immediately. You seem to be one of the only things left of his old home, and he doesn't intend to lose you with it. He'll raise you to be independent and powerful--someone that the other factions will learn to fear sooner or later in your life--but for now, he'll focus on keeping you safe. Ulysses never leaves you by yourself, and, if he does, he makes sure you're at least with the eyebots. You'll grow up in a very isolated and indoctrinating environment, where the only real source of information you get is from the radio or Ulysses himself. He cares deeply for you and brings you up as if you were his own. There's nothing in the wasteland that could ever tear him away, and he'll shield you from the horrors of the Mojave as best he can. No matter how he has to do that. He's never afraid to get his hands a little dirty, especially if it's for your sake.

Joshua is confused, to say the least. Where did you even come from? As far as he's aware, the majority of the societies that were living in Zion had been destroyed, and you're definitely not from any of the tribes. If anything, he's concerned. Concerned about where you came from and what will happen to you if he lets you continue wandering. He thanks God that he found you before anyone else did and will quickly bring you back to the Sorrows camp to have you taken care of. The natives love you and teach you as much as they can about their cultures and way of life. They raise you as if you were one of their own, teaching you how to hunt, throw a spear, start a fire, etc. When he deems you old enough, Joshua will take you out and teach you how to shoot. Making sure you know how to live is his top priority. He'll train you just as he used to train the Legionaries, just with a bit more tolerance and patience than he had before. Joshua's biggest fear is dying too soon. He's old and has given God many reasons to kill him off. He's already made arrangements for you to inherit his gun and his bible when he dies, but that doesn't mean he isn't scared. He wants to be with you as a father for as long as he can and would do anything to keep you away from the Legion or the White Legs.

#fallout #fallout new vegas #fnv #arcade gannon #arcade fnv #raul tejada #raul fnv #vulpes inculta #vulpes fnv #ulysses #ulysses fnv #joshua graham #joshua fnv #fallout new vegas headcanons #fnv headcanons

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the-unconquered-queen · 6 months

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I’ve been thinking about a Blades modern college AU a lot lately and I kinda wanna share my HCs of what I’d see everyone doing

(they’d be aged down just a little bit for this one and we’re gonna do a bit of mental gymnastics to believe they’d be at the same place and everything and finally I don’t think the modern AU lives the writers suggested are in-character, so this does not follow that)

Aerin & Baldur: The easiest one for me. In a modern AU I still usually see them being princes so both of them are sent to uni to get political science degrees, but Aerin, who is a massive nerd and also looks forward to the peace and quiet once Baldur graduates, double majors in chemistry, too. As a bonus note, Aerin spends a lot of time in the library studying for his classes, but Baldur (who I cannot reason being an academic underperformer in a modern AU since he does have all eyes on him and a reputation to maintain) is more the kind of student who seemingly does no studying whatsoever but still manages to do reasonably well in his classes. It pisses Aerin off to no end. Also, in no universe is Aerin working at Starbucks if you try to keep the adaptation close to canon because either he's super rich with no reason to work for $14 an hour OR he's in prison for plotting an assassination, no in-between.

Imtura: Maybe she’s also a princess in a modern AU, or at least she’s the daughter of a diplomat or someone with a prominent government position, like a president or PM. She’s also expected to study something that helps her follow in her mother’s footsteps, but she says fuck that and does as she pleases. Goes for something like kinesthetics and also takes up a bunch of sports.

Tyril: Sure, he could be a noble, but I’m also fond of the HC that he’s the heir of a major company, so I could see him being a business major. Possibly takes on a minor that lets him study poetry, too. He also seems like someone who'd even go on to do a Master's, Naturally, he’s a star student even though he ends up deciding that taking over the family business isn’t quite the future he wants.

Mal: Most likely the one that does not actually go to college. Will tell anyone it’s a scam. Makes me wonder if in a modern AU he’d be a tech wiz, since in the 21st century stealing is less about physical theft and more about hacking and scams, which obviously he only pulls on rich people and assholes. Someone bothering you? Hit him up and your problem’s all taken care of. But I really like the idea that a little farther down the line he enrolls in college to study social work, because Mal is still Mal and he still wants to help kids in need.

Nia: Without a doubt she is a theology major. She was raised in a very religious community so she’s always been steered in that direction, even though her views evolve and she does a lot of personal growth as she meets a lot of different people while she’s at college, she still views her faith as a key aspect of her and wants to share it with others the right way. I could also see her taking some first aid classes on the side or in her free time, not because she ever means to practice medicine or anything, but just because she thinks it’s important knowledge. Also, sorry to everyone who thinks she'd be a super preppy influencer, but Nia is def more along the lines of a repressed Mormon kid so irl she can be kind of hard to stomach for some people even though she is incredibly sweet.

Kade: You KNOW this man is a humanities major, maybe without focusing on a specific one so he can study literature, poetry, music, and everything he likes under that umbrella, even though he does lean toward literature. Is currently the only person who can compete with Aerin on most hours spent in the library (they probably both know all the librarians by name and each has to get shooed out at closing time). If he has any of those professors who insist their own interpretation of a piece is the only valid one, then Kade’s about to become their least favorite student because he WILL debate them any day.

MC: MC’s a fun one because everyone can HC something that fits their MC’s personality, either based on the story or just what they would like to see MC doing in the modern world, but some potential majors I’m fond of for a modern MC are zoology (beastmaster), chemistry (alchemy), linguistics (MC can be fluent in at least two animal languages in the book, you can’t tell me they wouldn't be brilliant as a linguist), anything in the medical field (medicine/healing), social work if they want to work with Mal, or even something to become an international diplomat down the line (diplomacy).

#playchoices #blades of light and shadow #aerin valleros #imtura tal kaelen #tyril starfury #mal volari #nia ellarious #long post #funnily enough I got this post scheduled days ago & then started seeing some modern AU posts in the tag so truly a shared brain cell here

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kleenexwoman · 3 months

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I'm finally getting out of my fog and writing again!

Naturally, I'm writing about brain chemicals more. This time it's Steve and Eddie, and there might be a surprise mentally ill guest star I will make you feel unexpectedly bad for. (@thorniest-rose you are literally the mortal inspiration for me writing this all tbh)

Sneak preview:

Billy oozes by Eddie’s locker after lunch, and Eddie expects him to say something about Steve, but he doesn’t.

“Need some white heat,” is Billy’s opening line.

“Dude, your dealer in Los Angeles might know what the fuck you mean, but you gotta be a little more specific with us hicks,” Eddie says. “That could be, like, anything.”

“Nose candy, moron.” Billy rolls his eyes.

“Are you fuckin–” Eddie stuffs his books into his locker and lowers his voice. “What are you, a narc? You can’t just buy cocaine off me in the hallway, idiot!”

“I’m so bored, man,” Billy whines. “What, do I gotta come to your special little goblin rock in the woods or whatever for anything halfway decent?”

“Look,” Eddie says. “It’s pizza day. I have oregano, ‘cause the pizza here is basically grilled cheese, and then I have antacids so you can concentrate in class. And I have some aspirin for girls on their periods. If you want anything more interesting than that, you gotta come to my place.”

“I thought you delivered,” Billy says.

“You can walk to my place,” Eddie points out. “I don’t deliver when I can hear you blasting Speedwagon across the park.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Speedwagon,” Billy says.

“Didn’t say there was,” Eddie says. “I’m just saying, you can walk. Or drive, or whatever.”

“Fine,” Billy says, and points at him. “Five-thirty, sharp.”

“Yeah, whatever, man,” Eddie says as Billy walks off.

Whatever. He’ll be at home or he won’t. It’s not like Billy has that much money, not unless Hagan is sending him to get the drugs, which seems like a reversal of dynamic on their part. But the world has changed, who knows what bright new social order blah blah.

It’s a little more of a surprise when Eddie closes his locker ten seconds later and Nancy Wheeler, of all people, is standing there.

“I don’t sell study pills to bitches,” Eddie says.

“Yeah, I’m fine on the… study pills,” Nancy says, wrinkling up her nose like she’s not going to be slamming Mother’s Little Helpers come her frosh year of U of C or wherever the fuck she thinks she’s headed. “It’s about Steve.”

Eddie points at himself, then at Nancy, then raises his eyebrows.

“Please, please don’t sell him anything,” Nancy says.

Eddie angles his whole body towards the retreating Billy, looks back to Nancy, back to Billy, shakes his head, and then turns back to Nancy.

“That’s Billy over there,” Eddie says, “unless I’m very much mistaken.”

“I saw you sitting with him at lunch,” Nancy says.

“Yeah, well, nobody else was,” Eddie says. “Can I go to class now, hall monitor, or do we need to take this to the interrogation chamber?”

“I’m just saying that he’s been through a really hard time,” Nancy says, and raises her hands defensively, “and yes, I know I was part of that–”

“So you understand the unfeasibility, nay, the pure absurdity of your negotiating position here,” Eddie says.

“–but just because we’re broken up doesn’t mean I don’t care about him,” Nancy says. “I mean, six kids? Who has that many children in one lifetime?”

“Mormons?” Eddie blinks slowly. “I’m sorry. Are you coming to me to ask me not to engage in the commerce that is my trade, or are we discussing birth control now?”

“I’m saying that it’s probably unethical for you to target Steve for, like, drug-selling reasons when he’s just been through a really bad weekend,” Nancy says. “So please? Like, please? I don’t want to have to call his parents and explain why their son is in a straitjacket at Central State Hospital.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have called the guy ‘bullshit’ in front of all his friends then,” Eddie chirps. He opens his locker door, shoves his math book inside, and rattles it around for a few seconds just to make a point. “Seems like anything I’m gonna do after that is just gravy.”

“Look,” Nancy says from behind the locker door. “It wasn’t my best moment.”

“It wasn’t,” Eddie agrees. “Neither is this. But I’m willing to do you a favor and forget it.”

“But I’m really serious,” Nancy says. “You have no idea how much harm it could do–”

“Rule One of the Munson Doctrine.” Eddie slams his locker. “Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.”

“What?” Nancy tilts her head forward in that way smart girls do when they’re not sure if they’re hearing you wrong or they just think you’re stupid.

“Ethics,” Eddie says. “You mentioned ethics. I have ethics, and I’m sorry they don’t line up with yours, but that’s a big one. Rule Eight: Do not complain about that which you need not subject yourself.”

“Those are the Satanic Rules of the Earth,” Nancy says slowly. “I saw Anton LaVey on Geraldo too, y’know.”

“Okay, you got me.” Eddie throws up his hands. “Twenty bucks and I won’t sell anything to Steve this week. Are you happy?”

“Fine.” Nancy visibly sets her jaw, like she wasn’t the one just accusing Eddie of preying on the weak-minded for sport and profit, and digs a crumpled twenty out of her purse. “Thank you. I really appreciate this.”

“And I appreciate making a sale without even having to move any product,” Eddie says, stuffing the money into his pocket. “Break up with a few more guys, and I might be able to get into Warhammer.”

#steddie #steddie fic #nancy wheeler #eddie munson #billy hargrove #steve harrington #anton lavey #satanism #tw drugs

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slugbugda · 7 months

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An Old Friend

A/n: I haven’t written anything in months but I was talking with @skipper-the-cryptic-bastard about their kraken Kyle headcanon and I just had to >:^D

I can’t write g/t to save my life--

Stan leaned his head up against the back of his seat, watching mountains pass by as they drove through Utah. He wasn’t sure why they were there, exactly, but in lieu of Spring Break his dad wanted more than anything to take them to a place where he could “Get outdoors”, and “Man up a bit.”

The car pulled away from the backroad, stopping in a dirt driveway next to a wooden cabin. It was surprisingly nice; God knows where Randy got the money to rent it out. Stan took out his headphones and grabbed his bag as his parents talked away in the front.

“Maybe we’ll catch a sea monster or two.” Randy laughed, throwing open the trunk of the car. He pulled out two fishing rods, dropping them to the ground of the dirt driveway.

Sharon scoffed. “Don’t say that around Stan, you’ll scare him.”

Rolling his eyes, Stan got out of the car– leaving his discman in the back seat. “I’m 16. That stuff doesn’t scare me anymore.” He sighed.

“Yeah, yeah.” Randy gave a dismissive wave, “Can you come help me get this cooler out?”

It was just past 9:00 when they made it to the Great Salt Lake, and Stan was already lamenting Shelly for not being there. It’s not like he could’ve used college work as an excuse. Not that it mattered, though, as it was now one of the few times where Stan’s dad actually wanted to spend time with him– however that may be.

Sharon wanted to give the two some alone time, leaving Stan and Randy on the dock positioned just outside of the cabin. It was nice out– Stan sat down on the wooden pier, letting his legs dangle off of the sides above the cool water below. A soft wind blew through his hair as he did so. Meanwhile, his dad pulled up the cooler– leaving it only a few feet away from the ledge before propping it open.

Inside were a dozen or so beers, along with a jar of worms. Stan cringed as he watched them wriggle and move inside. It made his stomach lurch.

“Now I know you don’t like hunting,” Randy started, taking one of the two fishing rods from Stan’s hands. “But this is different.”

Stan raised an eyebrow at that. “They’re still alive, dad.”

“Not if you know how to fish. They won’t even know what got them!” Randy popped open the jar of worms, stabbing one onto the tip of the fishing rod. “Now you try.”

Reluctantly, he took out a worm and hooked up his own fishing rod; casting it into the water. He squinted his eyes as he took in the morning Sun’s glare, watching as it reflected down on the lake. For a few minutes they sat in silence, with Randy eventually breaking it. Stan picked up something about sea monsters before zoning out– finding himself lost in his own thoughts.

When he first told Kyle that he was going to Utah for Spring Break, he seemed nervous– despite the fact that he also wouldn’t be in South Park.

“My dad wants to take me hunting, I think.” He said.

“And you can’t just do that in Colorado?” Kyle asked; he was supposed to be visiting family over Spring Break. Sbf or not, why would he care where Stan was?

At first, Stan waved it off as something to do with Utah's Mormon population, but now he wasn’t too sure. He felt his eye twitch.

“It was in the pamphlet.” Randy interrupted Stan’s thoughts, “Krakens and all. It’s a curse, I think.” He cracked open a beer from the cooler.

The tip of his fishing rod bobbed in the water, but no fish was there. “Where’s the pamphlet, then?” Stan asked; not that he believed in it, but weirder shit has happened. He could suspend his disbelief for the sake of the trip.

“One second.” Randy got up, pulling his fishing rod out of the water. “I think your mother has it.”

Stan watched as he got up and walked away, half-drunk beer still in hand.

Once Randy disappeared behind the treeline Stan focused his attention back on the water. Something felt off; he shifted uncomfortably and looked around, but no one met him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up– as if he was being watched.

Suddenly, something darted past him; slipping under the deck just below his feet. Stan’s breath caught in his throat. Whatever it was, it didn't look like a fish– no, fish don’t have tentacles.

From the way it moved in the water he could tell that it was at least four to five times bigger than him. And now, whatever it was, he heard it go still; he was being watched. Keeping the fishing rod in one hand he pushed himself back, bringing his legs up from the dock.

“Just because it’s landlocked doesn’t mean you won't find any.” Randy’s words ran through his head, “They go here when they miss the sea.”

Stan cursed under his breath, looking through the wooden boards in an attempt to see what was there. Randy hadn’t come back yet, but he doubted he could do anything about it.

“Who’s there?” Stan choked out. He waited for a few seconds, but a reply never came. “Well no shit…” He muttered bitterly.

Suddenly, the thing bolted out from under the deck; it was faster than before, hidden by the glare of the sun. All Stan could see were those same tentacles, coloured a sea green– he paled in size to even one of them.

It made its way to a nearby rock, but stopped in its tracks. Stan felt himself jolt forward, pulled by the fishing rod clasped tightly in his hands. It was hooked onto something– Stan’s heart raced as he looked down.

It was hooked on a tentacle.

Stan’s hands shook, but he wasn’t about to back off. The tentacle jerked around in an attempt to get free; blood stained the water where one its suckers had attached onto the metal tip. He raised a hand over his eyes in an attempt to see better, cursing his empathy as he did so.

The other tentacles had splayed out around it, hiding the rest of the creatures form– at least, the parts that couldn’t make it to the rock. Stan squinted as he tried to make it out; a distinctly human torso connected to the tentacles from the hip. They were massive– giant, even.

“What the fuck…?” Stan said, not to anyone in particular; maybe to the sea monster, or kraken, whatever it was– but he wasn’t sure if it could understand him.

Carefully, he pulled up the rod and grabbed the end of the tentacle. It was cold and slick, and almost slipped away as he held it; the jerking stopped as he did so. Stan pulled the tentacle off of the hook before letting it go, watching as it slipped back into the water.

It started to swim away, albeit awkward and haphazardly, leaving Stan alone again on the dock.

“Wait!” Stan shouted out, and the kraken stopped for a second time. “Can I have that again? I’ll bandage it.” He was tense, as he could tell that it was, too; why? He didn’t really know.

To his surprise, it pushed itself back over to the dock; giving him ample time to roll up his sleeves and take grab of the tentacle again, holding it still as he used a free hand to grab the medical kit from the cooler. The final job wasn’t very well done, but he was able to wrap the tentacle in a layer of medical tape; stopping the bleeding. Stan wiped what was left of the mess with gauze, drying it off before dropping it back into the lake.

He didn’t expect the kraken to cooperate, but it stayed still through the ordeal– occupied with covering its face and upper-body. That was until Stan got a glimpse of something in the water; that being curly, orange hair floating out from behind the other tentacles. His heart raced, and his eyes met the kraken’s.

“...Kyle?”

#South Park g/t #G/t #This is fr awful

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dumbestthingiveeverheard · 9 months

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Dumbest Thing I've Ever Heard: 8/3/2023

Fifth place: Twitter user @eyeskewer

This is a little older than the stuff I normally cover on this blog, but I feel like this is worth highlighting as it perfectly shows my issue when many who make conspiratorial claims about transgender medical care:

my "informed consent" was my doctor I had just met handing me papers telling me my voice would drop soon, I could freeze my eggs, I might get acne, and whatever else. I probably didn't even hear everything she said, I just told her I wanted the shot. so I got it. I just turned 18

So you were told you wanted something medical done to you, were told about the risks and consequences, and then got it. I really don't see what the big deal is here.

Fourth Place: Marco Rubio

Elon Musk's time as CEO of Twitter has been far from perfect, but easily the best addition he has made is the community notes feature. For just one example, here is a Tweet from Marco Rubio:

Also, those claims about the 2016 Presidential Election were never proven to be fake--just wanted to add that real quick.

Third Place: Scott Lively

The deranged homophobe who wrote an entire book blaming the Nazis on homosexuality wrote a column a couple of days back with the headline "Leftist lawfare and the abuse of power." A decent chunk of it is spent defending Russian President Vladimir Putin, but here are some highlights:

In all my years of watching corporate U.S. news about Russia and Putin, I have never seen a single counter-argument ever being offered in defense of President Putin (coverage of him is even worse than that of Trump). It's been more than a decade since Obama restarted the Cold War to punish the Russians for banning "gay" propaganda to children, when every story began to paint him as a "brutal monster" – to the point that even many conservatives (who have zero reason to trust that same media on anything) seem to agree.

The hatred of Putin on an international scale has nothing to do with the anti-homosexuality laws he has put in place while President of Russia--although, don't get me wrong, that didn't help matters, but several countries with anti-homosexuality laws are still seen in a positive light by the international community (wrongfully so, in my opinion). It was more his imperial ambitions--starting with his invasion of Georgia in 2008--that caused the international community to move away from him.

Second Place: Abby Johnson

I've mostly been ignoring the story about a handful of far-right Christians refusing to support the fringe Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy because of his Hinduism, however given Abby Johnson was sold to us a few years back as a a reasonable anti-abortion activist--an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. And she has decided to take a stance against a Hindu President, saying:

Do not be a victim of Satan’s confusion right now. This is an important time for us to have clarity of mind as we are going into an election cycle. So please discern. Please use discernment right now because God hates those who are willing to put up idols over him, and he will not be mocked.

All I wish to say is that if you really want a President that's a dedicated Christian--can I recommend you a guy named Joe Biden? Oh who am I kidding, if Ramaswamy does get the nomination it's going to be just like when Billy Graham took Mormonism off his list of cults so he and his followers could vote for Mitt Romney in 2012.

Winner: Ben Shapiro

This man, considered by many to be serious political commentator, does not know the difference between eating and drinking:

[Trump] would face a whopping 641 years in prison. Which I assume means he would not survive prison. Although he is 70% preservatives at this point because he eats so much McDonalds and Diet Coke.

He eats Diet Coke? Ben, do you know how Diet Coke works?

Ben Shapiro you've said the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

#eyeskewer #marco rubio #scott lively #abby johnson #ben shapiro

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wowbright · 2 years

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Fic: Reid or Romney

Klaine Spring Fling: ballot

Words: ~1700 words

Rating: Teen and up

Summary: Emma introduces some new terminology to the missionaries.

This is part of my Mormon!Klaine universe. It takes place directly after Flash Fire, which I posted yesterday. I am planning to post a follow-up scene to this tomorrow or whenever I get done writing it.

My Mormon!Klaine Masterpost. (More recent posts are in bold.)

––––

Emma and Karl knew how to present a meal. There were entrée platters and salad plates and bread plates of coordinating Rosenthal china, an abundance of specialized flatware, and two wineglasses at each setting—one for water and one for soda. The white tablecloth was starched, and the Belgian lace on its edges matched that on their napkins.

The food was just as pleasant, a mix of German and contemporary dishes with the perfect balance of salt and savory.

Emma cheerfully told the missionaries about her work as a school psychologist, which more like a district-level administrative position than like being a school counselor in the United States. She said she worked one-on-one with students sometimes, but mostly she focused on educating teachers so they could better support their students. She was working on a series of pamphlets that used humor to address issues students commonly faced. “Not that much humor,” she said, “because the administration isn’t ready for that. But just enough to get kids wanting to read.”

Karl, for his part, was more congenial than when Kurt had met him at his dental office. He was more handsome, too, with frequent smiles and civilian clothes that fit more snugly than scrubs. He told stories about his year of military conscription, which sounded similar to missionary service in many ways: strict hours, uncomfortable beds, constantly pushing yourself (including through tedium), and bit of a fraternity aura about things—though with a tad more freedom. Conscripts had more time off, and were free to visit and make phone calls home or go party in the city. Under German law, they couldn't be sent to battle or even out of the country. It wasn't a terrible life.

“I made a lot of friends there,” Karl said. “Maybe because I was the base’s most reliable designated driver! But they didn’t get that my choice not to drink was for real. When your conscription ends, it's traditional to spend the entire weekend getting drunk and asking random girls to kiss you when, and they thought, surely, I would drink for that. I didn’t, and at first, they decided I was a pill. But then, when they realized I had to ask for all those kisses without the benefit of inebriation, they decided I was the cool one!”

Emma slapped Karl’s wrist affectionately. “I'm sure the missionaries don't need to hear about your conquests!”

“Oh, they weren’t conquests. It was a chore. The whole thing was a terrible chore. And then I got mono a few weeks later, so.” Karl shrugged and popped an olive into his mouth. “Besides, I would argue that the end of missionary service isn't that much different. Don’t your missionary presidents tell you to go home, date as many people as you can, and marry the first one who seems like a good fit?”

Elder Anderson nodded. Kurt slapped his knee under the table. Missionaries should never nod their heads to things that sounded ludicrous, even if they were true.

“It seems to me that's far more scandalous,” Karl said. “Jumping from mission to marital bed in no time flat.” He turned to Emma. “Have the sisters broached to the law of chastity lesson with you yet?”

“They've mentioned it.”

“And what have they mentioned?”

Schwester Wilde cleared her throat. “We don't have to talk about that right now. We're still eating dinner.”

“Oh,” said Emma. “I don't mind. It's not like Karl and I have anything to hide from each other in that area.”

That's what Kurt had been afraid of. Moving in together before you got married was dangerous territory. Emma had mentioned it having something to do with her rental term ending before the wedding, but Karl was raised in the church. He should have known better.

“So,” Emma said. “The law of chastity. It's like with the Catholics, right? No sex outside of marriage?”

“Exactly,” said Schwester Rose. She took a sip of her drink. Kurt thought he noticed her coloring go slightly pink.

“Well,” Emma said, “That's not really a problem for me. As long as we're not required to have it when we’re married.”

The sisters looked at Emma like she’d just said something in Chinese. So did Elder Anderson. Kurt, who tried not to let anything an investigator said surprise him, was pretty sure he looked the same way.

Meanwhile, Karl was looking down at his plate, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

“What?” Emma said. “There are requirements? Do you have some weird sex ceremonies like the Moonies?”

Wait, thought Kurt. The Moonies have weird sex ceremonies?

Schwester Wilde quickly regained her composure. “No. No requirements. It's between husband and wife. I mean, I suppose we would say that the married couple should carefully consider whether they are called to create a home for children, and one shouldn't withhold from their spouse in anger or bitterness, but … no requirements.”

“Oh, I see,” Emma said. “I don't withhold out of bitterness or anger, I'm just not very interested in that sort of thing. I’m asexual. Or maybe graysexual. I’m not completely sure. But, well, I'm not aromantic, obviously, or I wouldn't be in love with Karl! I guess we’ll try it eventually, if we both feel it’s right.”

Once again, the missionaries found it impossible to disguise their shock.

Karl set his hand on Emma’s. “Dear, I know I told you that Mormons are prudish about sex. But they're also prudish about not having sex.”

“What?” said Kurt. “We're not scandalized.”

“I hope not,” Emma said sympathetically. “I spent so many years being ashamed of sex and my lack of interest in it until I met Karl and he helped me start figuring it out. It's really nothing to be scandalized by. All the feelings are natural, whether you’re a person who's interested in sex or not. Whatever degree you feel—it’s just the way you are. You know, I think I have a pamphlet about it I can give you to look at. Or maybe you can only give pamphlets and not receive them? There seem to be a lot of rules around being a missionary.”

“We’d be happy to take any pamphlets you want to give us,” Elder Anderson said.

Kurt kicked his companion’s foot under the table. Elder Anderson knew very well they shouldn’t be taking pamphlets of any kind, especially ones about sex, or about not having sex, or— well, whatever Emma’s pamphlets were about. His politeness sometimes overruled his common sense.

The topic shifted to other things. Karl was a news junkie, it seemed, and he apprised the missionaries of the top headlines they had missed thanks to their sequestration from media. The European Parliament election was coming up, which led to Karl explaining the entire EU governmental system to the American elders. It was a good distraction from the law of chastity.

“How do elections work for you, elders, when you are in Germany?” Emma asked. “In Germany, we have absentee ballots for people who are traveling abroad. Do you have the same thing in America?”

“Oh,” Elder Anderson said, as if someone had just pinched his toe. “Yes, I think so. But we don’t vote while we’re on a mission.”

Emma set down her fork. “I’m sorry?”

“Well,” interrupted Kurt, because he was worried that Elder Anderson might be one of those missionaries who thought it was literally against the rules to vote while on a mission, “in America, you can get an absentee ballot if you're not in your district when you vote, but since we're on a mission, and we don’t have time to keep up with all the news from home, a lot of missionaries choose not to vote,” Kurt said. “Unless, of course, voting is required by law in their country of origin. We always comply with laws. But voting is optional in the United States.”

Emma frowned. “That's too bad. I think it's the duty of a citizen to participate in government. Religion shouldn't dissuade people from doing so.”

“Oh,” Kurt said. “The church doesn't dissuade us at all. It's a personal choice, really.” He wasn't sure he was being entirely truthful. When he'd asked his bishop back home if he knew where Kurt should have his ballots sent when he was in Germany, his bishop had asked him to reconsider. I didn't vote on my mission, and I think that was part of why my mission went so well. It was a presidential election year, just like it will be for you, and some of my fellow missionaries kept trying to sneak looks at newspapers to find out what the candidates were up to. It was very disruptive.

Kurt had thought that was weird reason. Kurt wouldn’t need to look at newspapers. A Mormon was running for president. He already knew who he should vote for.

But Kurt followed his leader’s counsel because that’s what you were supposed to do. He only found out, while a greenie to Elder Brody, that plenty of missionaries voted while on their mission. “What? Your bishop told you not to vote? That’s ridiculous! That’s disenfrachisement.” And then, pausing to look out the window. “Eh, maybe it’s for the best. You would’ve voted for Romney anyway, like all the other tools in this mission.”

“What’s wrong with Romney?”

“His politics,” Elder Brody said. “If you want a Mormon for president, get Harry Reid on the ballot.”

Elder Brody might have been right. Maybe it was for the best. Truth told, Kurt already liked Obama better than Mitt Romney, anyway. He’d just wanted to vote for Romney because he thought it would make him more righteous.

After dinner came dessert, and after dessert, it was time for Emma’s official discussion. Kurt and Elder Anderson weren’t sticking around for that, though; they had another discussion scheduled for the evening.

Before they left, Emma looked for the sex/not-sex pamphlet in her office, but couldn’t find it. “It must be at work. I can get a copy for the sisters to give to you, Elder Anderson. Or bring a copy to church, maybe?”

“That would be—” Elder Anderson started.

“No,” Kurt interrupted. “Thank you, but we're fine.”

#mormon!klaine #wowbright writes fic #klaine spring fling #Spring fling 2: Electric Boogaloo #klaine fanfiction #my klaine spring fling

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fairycosmos · 2 years

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I've had a number of strange occurrences in my life, as have my mom and both my grandmothers. Here are a few:

-In the house my mom and I lived in when I was a kid, there was a ghost named Chewie. He died in the house before my mom moved in, he hung himself. Pretty often he would leave the toilet seat up, turn lights off and on, close doors, open and close cabinets, but if you just told him to knock it off he would. One time my mom was getting ready for a party with her friend "M". M went into the kitchen to get something while my mom was in another room, and when she came back she asked my mom if "that guy" was going to the party with them. My mom told M they were the only people in the house, but M insisted there was a man in the kitchen wearing a flannel and jeans. They searched the whole house but no one was there.

-I don't experience sleep paralysis or anything of the kind, but when my girlfriend and I first moved to the city we lived in an old old duplex, with an unfinished basement and an empty apartment above. We would often hear footsteps, but we assumed it was squatters or rats. A couple times we called the landlords but when they went to check no one would be there. The first night we stayed in the apartment, our mattress was on the floor. I woke up in the middle of the night and there was a woman lying on the floor looking back at me. she seemed very old and was mostly translucent. We stared at each other until I fell back asleep. The landlords told us the next day there was an old woman who had died in the apt above ours a few months before, and she had lived there for almost 50 years. The basement too was incredibly creepy, I tried never to be alone down there, something just felt off. I always felt like there was a man down there, just out of eyesight. One night I was taking an uber home from work, and my driver mentioned that he had lived in the exact same apartment about a year before us. We were just chatting and he asked, without my bringing it up, if we also had noticed a dark something in the basement. I was surprised, because this guy didn't seem like the type to believe in ghosts. We both agreed that something felt very wrong in the basement, and that bad things just seemed to happen while we were living there.

-the night my cousin died of a heroine OD, i dreamt of swallowing mouthfuls of loose teeth and just new something was wrong. My dad called the next day.

-My elementary school was built in the 1800s, and I sometimes saw a woman in a black 1890s style dress waving from one of the attic windows.

-My grandmother is mormon and has multiple visions on record with the sakt lake city temple - this is not common.

-I have dreams of exact moments in time often. They usually aren't anything big - a kid kicking a soccer ball in a specific place and angle, a snippet of conversation between my mom and sibling - but they're always exact.

I think it's more likely that places remember than spirits linger, but there are definitely moments in my life that have stuck with me.

whew - you could literally write a book about these, and i'd read it numerous times LOL. the idea that a place remembers is so cool, i've rarely thought of it like that. about that guy chewie, it just makes me so sad. i wonder if he's sitll living some version of his life day after day somehow, not knowing he's dead. and that old woman on the floor. i wonder if she was looking out for you (positive) or watching you (negative) lol. just creeps me out. i think the taxi driver asking that would've sent me into such a spiral - the fact that you didn't even say anything to him but he brought it up first. very weird. also, the teeth dream, i didn't realise this was linked to death at all. my sister would talk about having it all the time, like so so much. we thought it's because she was stressed. anyway, these are all really cool and unsettling to think about. what does it mean, what does it all mean! maybe youre kinda psychic? or you can see into the places memories. ty for sharing <3

#anon #ghost stories

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bookoformon · 19 days

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Ether Chapter 6. 8-11. The Sea Monster.

A sea monster is one's oppressor(s). You have to go to them before they come to you. The outcome of Slavery in Egypt would have been very different if Pharaoh suspected Moses was starting a rebellion and decided to do something about it before Moses opened up a discussion.

8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind.

9 And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.

10 And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.

11 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.

To be marred is to be hurt by the things we love. If we are being marred instead of married, we are enslaved to an oppressor and the relationship has to end. The Book of Mormon is hardly advice for the lovelorn but it is quite poignant in its suggestions for persons who are heartbroken.

We are trying to stay married to a government that doesn't know what it is doing nor does it seem like it gives a shit about anyone or anything. Government is a science. The management of the government has objectives, it is supposed to consist of elected and hired persons who know how to do their jobs and get them done. Not only are all the forms of oppression America is a fount of illegal, they are unprofessional, they are obvious, and intolerable.

President Biden is not doing his job by allowing the randomness of an election to decide if oppression or legally mandated standards for human equity are going to rule over us or not. Civil rights are not subject to the whims of the voters. They exist to protect humanity from this very thing, the danger of which during times like these is unmistakable.

We are being marred and need to take the fight to our oppressors the fucking Republicans and get rid of them for good.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 8: The wind never did cease to blow. Do you assmunchers* think the government is behaving properly? Is it following the Constitution and all the laws of the land which are inflexible and have not changed?

The Value in Gematria is 13989, יגטח‎ט "I cut, you write."

God has revealed how He wants us to behave. We are supposed to write laws the outline the legal requirements outlined in the scripture. This is not happening.

v. 9: They sang praises all day long. The Value in Gematria is 8213, חבאג‎, habag, "the bug." One cannot sing praises all day long. That is silly. One cannot also bring food infected with bugs on a boat because infested food cannot be replaced. Allowing infested politicians into the government and trapping us together in a boat with them for four or six years is a mistake.

I'm still so fucking mad at Marjorie Taylor Green over Ukraine...I just can't believe it.

v. 10: Thus they were driven forth. The Value in Gematria is 14399, ידגט‎ט, idgett, "until the divorce."

Eventually, religion and the state have to separate. Our Constitution says it, the Torah says it, the Gospels say it, it says so in the Quran, and the Gematria for this verse says it.

v. 11: And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water. The Value in Gematria is 6673, ו‎וזג‎ ‎ ‎and zag, "first is the third."

Unity in Judaism is not expressed as one but as three.

1 is not a majority this is tyranny. 2 can fight and agree only to disagree, but 3 either breaks the tie or forms a moral majority, so in Judaism three is unity as it combines the other 2.

Without universal agreement which can only take place until there are three positions, we shall be driven forth, but never arrive at the Third Temple, the Promised Land called Mashiach, "global ethical responsibility."

The American government is a government of one or two, but we need it to be a government of three. It has responsibilities it is not carrying out and the world is slipping away. This sliding has to be stopped. God has prescribed it, secular law requires it, decent people expect and are entitled to it. This is why the Torah and the Law and laws are always unity of three in combat against slavery, delusion, and oppression. Praise of God is not a remedy for this, that is ridiculous.

*=637, "grandsons of the God of Farts."

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steamishot · 1 year

Text

setbacks

in my last post, things between matt and i were getting better. however, he since had a 100+ hour work week, one day on days and then 7 days on nights for a consecutive 8 day workweek. he became very irritable/sensitive and impossible to communicate with (imo) which led to bad communication and useless arguments again.

we had a couples therapy session last friday with a new therapist cindy that we both like and find helpful. she’s a POC (i believe some kind of hispanic) so it seems like she’s more understanding of the immigrant mentality. in summary of the session, i learned that i tend to have a fixer/”how can i solve the problem” mentality before offering emotional support. L has pointed this out to me recently when he was going through a hard time emotionally. he mentioned multiple times that he wants me to empathize and reassure him that everything will be okay, but i just try and ask questions or use logic to help solve what i think is the problem at hand - this makes him feel worse.

in the case between matt and i, i become a fixer when matt has anxiety/OCD attacks or starts spiraling. i try and remove the stressor (by handling it for him), or try and talk him out of the anxiety using logic (which almost never works when he’s at what cindy calls “cloud 9″ of anxiety). this dynamic has caused me to feel depleted when dealing with matt’s anxiety/OCD and act as an enabler, almost coddling him. he depends on me more to help assuage things, which in turn makes me more irritable/short fused whenever he does have anxious spirals. i overextend myself to try and “solve” his problems, when all i should do is offer emotional support and tell him it’s going to be okay.

cindy provided a very good analogy that really helped me put things in perspective. when matt has anxiety/OCD crises, it’s equivalent to him drowning. he is only using his reptilian brain at this point to go towards flight or fight. it has been over “small” things such as using the wrong credit card to pay for something (i.e. one would get 2% back vs 5% back as an example). would it work while he’s drowning to use logic and teach him how to get out? or is it more effective to throw a life jacket to help him ground instead? all this time, i’ve been stupidly trying to use logic and explaining to him why X is not probable/not worthy of being anxious over and probably making him feel dumb for feeling certain things.

she explained the difference between coping and grounding. coping is the consistent activities one takes to manage their stress/anxiety: exercise, yoga, meditation, socializing, etc. grounding is what one does when they realize they their anxiety is reaching a peak. she said it is the time to use one of your 5 senses to help distract your mind from reaching “cloud 9″. this could be something like smelling a perfume you like, watching something calming, listening to something soothing, etc.

i will need matt to really put in effort in the coping and grounding aspect, and i will also try and stop my fixer tendencies because it makes matters worse. i need to be more emotionally supportive instead of coming off as blaming when someone else is mentally suffering.

highlights of this week off:

book of mormon BOGO broadway. i watched it in LA with my brother and his friend (coincidentally named matt) back in 2014. they have since rewrote the play. it was hilarious and very liberal. the best performers are really in nyc

my director confidentially reached out to ask if i’m interested in a payroll manager position. i thanked him for considering me and said i’m very interested. it was really happy news because i’ve been at the same position for like 4 years now and itching for a promotion lol. i’ve also been helping my manager and him with faculty payroll the last half a year or so. nothing is confirmed at this point but he and the CAO both think there is a big need for this position. they would still be supportive of my remote schedule. fingers crossed that this will come to fruition.

autocamp trip in catskills for one night. the trip was too short but it was a super nice glamping experience. we cooked in the dark in 35F weather, got to have a nice hot shower and sleep on a tempurpedic (my fav mattress thus far). this time, we did the manager’s special at hertz and got a gigantic car - the dodge durango.

booked roundtrip business class flights and hotels (pending 2 nights) to portugal (lisbon and porto) in march. thanks to matt’s travel hacking expertise, the roundtrip flights only cost us $900 out of pocket +220K points that i’ve been hoarding in amex. the cash price of the fights would have been $20K for the two of us.

we decided to cancel our return stay at the equinox hotel. it would have still been ~$700 so we thought we should use it towards new experiences

loved our autocamp stay in catskills; immediately booked autocamp in cape cod for april

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the-firebird69 · 1 year

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It's a huge number of errors that Tommy f is making the biggest disease screwing up with us. And we're going to take him apart for it time to explain all the stuff to him that he's supposedly knows and he keeps asking questions like he's a retarded man. And times we believe he's actually stupid. And he is his frontal lobe is borrowed and he lost his mind quite a bit and he's been hit in attacks. But today he's going to be hit in the tax for real. Several times and it is in the beginning of the movie. And you see him get struck at the border at the end of the day and at night he's hit again and it is a scene at the house and he's pretending his security. And a suck at it. Max says again if you hit me you're damned I'm going to put real hips on you and make it work and contact all the FBI and CIA you're saying it's a green light on the IRS stuff and you see how it works she's the bumble attack is on family he doesn't want him to have money in any way. BG is supposed to it bja as opposed to it no BG doesn't want him to have it because he would be incriminated but he didn't he might be for it me getting it and otherwise people like cherry cheese has as a trap and as a positive and yeah he's helping me through a little bit but for real BG you heard it earlier Max says. I looked at and said this they're going to go after me anyways if I don't do this there's nobody doing nothing about it and he says I'm exposed to them and there's issues that they could come out bring up about social security cuz I didn't file last year for the last year this year and we noticed that so whether it's stupid or not and everyone's mind cuz it is dumb it's like the Mormons coming at me for talking about the bomb or something what's they do a little it's just insanity it's the same thing cuz they owe me money for real and time and much more but.. okay okay I get it and I talked to Mike and he seems to understand it it says it's horrible but they're going to beat the s*** out of each other and join the competition so it's not like a full-blown dive and I heard that and hear it and we talked about it and he said it isn't really and they lost money because we paid the bill later they said we didn't I might hire lawyers of our own because we got to look at that I see what you're saying too trying to put so many jail for 200 bucks or on the other side 200 billion but add zeros I mean it's ridiculous and they're going after my people he says we're not really in there that much anymore and a lot of people aren't Mac is but mainly clones. So they're green lighting it so be Tommy f in the way and yeah John Deere my Lord wants it cuz he's a prick man is he a prick he's a big prick he's a smiling penis mack Daddy says. And that's going on too but boy does he attract hate. And we're seeking them now on special warrant they're going to be labeled terrorists anytime now the investigation begins in Earnest tonight. It looks like a son might get some funds and we don't think today it's probably tomorrow because the storm. He overpaid taxes and Billy z wants it too cuz he says that's how we start off for a scam and it's true that is how he does it says he's going for money for that. And that's what it is so we try it see how it works.

Another news in my country Mexico that's the speaking they have a huge problem no solution it is beginning now the life cycle people's location are being tracedown that's one of only a few kidnapping houses and yeah Clint Eastwood and others go into it later in a shot up because people say they're the ones who found the houses and put them in the movies and all this and it's not really true. It's a great day for me it is the day of the soldier I've seen it's kind of the other way around. That people need to man up and hire more and enlist ours more in our army and armies it's just a huge number we need to do this work and we need it now and we're hiring people like madness it is a huge huge day for that humongous hirings. Gigantic companies we need Manning now or demanding it it's a huge day there's so many we would have time to post but we will.

And keep in mind that I'm in charge what I'm saying and he's just asking if there's something else it's probably hungry. Now we have huge things to do giant things take care of and we will get to you people who are complaining that you need to leave

One of the things we have to do is straighten out our son's life this place is a dump it stinks the sewers broken the streets are full of garbage it's really like a third world nation and he doesn't have any money he should be rich. So I'm going to send people in to do it very soon.

I have the high side on many lawsuits I'm going to start them up huge ones too and most of them involve our son some of them are outside it but most involve him and he's excited about it because he needs funding you can't go anywhere you can't have anything he has no backup and something happens and we're moving on it now and we have a ton of money to get to him they're always finding someone in the way and we're not understanding we thought it was a scam to do that but okay and do you understand it get it that you more luck have lives like jalopies and you're getting cut loose because of it tells you going to die today and Trump's areas right now the numbers are going up not down as you thought. Each area is the stashes and caches is approximately two or three thousand octillion an hour and that's on the trumpster side are dying and it's a 20 or so areas that are big and there's thousands of small ones and a few hundred bigger ones that have maybe 1, 000 octillion had a little ones up and it's 500 octane they need to talk about the parts and they're losing 30 or 40,000 octillion an hour it's a big number they're going to be out today

Bitol and Goddess Wife

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automatismoateo · 2 years

Text

airBnB christian let's his real self known via /r/atheism

airBnB christian let's his real self known

I have an apartment attached to our home. I get to meet several people from around the country.

Spent my whole life making room for people who aren't me. I was raised in a family of Methodist pastors. A few are just business people that have a business. A church is tax free big biz.....anyway....

Cut to: Arizona couple in thier 70s stays 5 days at my BnB. Nice people, at face value, and Husband sits down with me on their checkout day and just chat.

We chat about our careers, our backgrounds, and Colorado for a while. He begins to drift into his visit with his in-laws and how shitty they are. He makes sure to mention (5 times) they're Mormon when he discusses his displeasure. I'm in guest services mode so I play very neutral in my response.

While his compass navigating this small talk has began to malfunction...he starts talking about him a and I being better christians than his in-laws, and how he and his wife are ready for the rapture.

I interrupted him and blurted, "I'm not! Why do you think I'm Christian?" He makes this silent movie expression with his shoulders hands and face gesturing in my direction. I can only take this as him assuming this because I'm white blonde blue and don't wear my politics on my sleeve.

He starts getting self righteous at this point and starts telling me it's okay, the faithful will be raptured and saved:

Tldr-- He (a Christian) explains a scenario to a stranger where: him and his wife are raptured while speeding down the highway in his pickup, they float into the sky, and their truck smashes into a vehicle of non christians. Tldr--end Wtf!!!!?!?!?!!

I continue to use every ounce of my Atheism and Christian upbringing to shame this man for how ugly his version of Christianity and why it is shit. This old loon terrifies me. Not him by himself, but how absolutely evil he really is and the numbers of crazies like him. I have never had a conversation like this in my life. He was devoid of logic understanding and empathy. He would feel his shady personality come through while he floundered trying to defend his ugly positionings in our conversation. I would go on to tell him my grandfather's church would've really frowned on this type of attitude. The church has failed because of mentalities like his.

That man left my house realizing his ark has waaaay more holes in it that he sailed in on. I will now go on VRBO and one star this man. My review: He's armed, he's delusional, and he will express his excitement to be raptured. Proceed with caution.....in fact...don't proceed you won't want to be around when he begins his own revelations.

Values seem to improve when you reject mystical beings. Humans created language and self ordained themselves as mouth pieces of their own gods. Prophets seem to be drones, brainwashed by a story of a parental figure keeping an eye on things when your their parents died. Reject this...and you make room for being better for yourself and reciprocating that to others.

Off my chest thanks.

Submitted July 21, 2022 at 05:24PM by snoryder8019 (From Reddit https://ift.tt/gd8pmcz)

#reddit

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nightingaelic · 3 years

Note

Companions reacting to the couriers birthday

Thanks for the lighthearted one, anon, lately I've been getting some super plot-heavy, game mechanics-heavy or just plain heavy requests, so a birthday is just what the doctor ordered 🎂 Also a happy birthday to @profess0rjam!

The courier had been acting a little strange. They slept in for once, something that had hardly happened since the mess at the dam. They seemed like they weren't paying attention to anything around them, even though Freeside was in rare form that day with caravan traders, pickpockets and children hunting rats all over the place. It wasn't until the courier tripped over a crate of barrel cactus fruit outside a farmer's trading stand and had to apologize by buying all of the bruised produce that their companion finally turned a questioning eye on them.

The courier looked down at the armful of fruit they had acquired and sighed. "Remember when we went through Primm last month? I stopped in at the Mojave Express branch there, and Johnson told me he got those records in from the Hub. Most of it was stuff I already knew- height, weight, eye color, hair color, shoe size for some reason... but they also had my birth date. It's today."

Arcade Gannon: "Whoa." Arcade straightened his glasses. "Uh... happy birthday. How do you feel?"

The courier looked from side to side and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't feel any different. Is that normal?"

"Um... yeah?" Arcade chuckled nervously. "I mean, you know you're a year older, but it's not like a switch gets turned on or off. You were still getting older even when you didn't know when your birthday was, Six."

"Yeah, but now it's... marked," the courier replied, wrinkling their nose. "Like when Mr. New Vegas talks about me on the radio. I feel weirder about his news bulletins than I do while I'm actually out doing the things he reports on."

"Well, you're alone on that one, Six," Arcade said with a hint of jealousy in his voice. "Not everyone can attract that DJ's attention the way you do. Then again, if I ever wind up on the radio, it probably won't be good news for me."

He patted the courier on the shoulder reassuringly. "Come on. Let's get rid of the cacti fruit and head to the Atomic Wrangler to celebrate. I'll buy you a drink."

Craig Boone: "Did their records tell you anything else?" Boone asked.

"Uh... no," the courier replied. "Well, a couple of things, actually. They kept track of most of my trips when they first hired me. I've been all over the place, apparently: Circle Junction, Fort Abandon, around the Big Circle a few times, even Utah. They also wrote down that I refused to tell them where I came from, so no new info there."

"Mmm-hm." Boone frowned. "It's a start, for sure. Maybe you can retrace your steps, someday."

"Yeah." The courier picked a piece of fruit and held it up, inspecting its color. "We should do something fun tonight. Celebrate."

Boone cracked a rare smile. "For your birthday? Sure."

"Want to go see a show at the Tops with me? I think the Lonesome Drifter is playing the Aces again. Maybe we can catch him after for a drink, ask him about his travels."

Boone moved to accept a few of the cactus fruit and lighten their load. "Sounds good to me."

Lily Bowen: "Well isn't that just grand," Lily said with a smile. "How old are you turning, dearie?"

The courier made a face and giggled. "How old are you, Lily?"

"A lady never reveals her age," Lily answered primly. "Point taken, pumpkin. You should walk that fruit home to the icebox while Grandma gets going on her shopping list."

"Shopping list?"

Lily nodded. "Of course. Flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and a few other things."

The courier gave her a sly look. "What are you up to, Lily?"

"It's your birthday, dearie!" Lily replied, seizing them and the fruit they were carrying in a hug. "We have to bake a cake!"

Raul Alfonso Tejada: Raul grinned. "Feliz cumpleaños, Six. Happy birthday."

The courier looked back at him with frustrated helplessness in their eyes. "What am I supposed to do with that information? What do people do for their birthdays?"

"Well, it's a bit different now than it used to be," Raul answered, scratching his bald head. "But back in my day, we threw a little party if we had the time and money. Some years were better than others, and some were bigger milestones. In my experience, once you got past 18 there wasn't much left to celebrate except staying alive for another year. Or if you were en los Estados Unidos, 21."

"Okay." The courier nodded, then kept nodding. "Okay. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sí."

They dumped the armful of fruit into his hands. "Take those to the Old Mormon Fort and pass them out to anyone who looks hungry. I need to track down some friends and see what they're doing tonight."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "It's your birthday?!?" Cass was positively beaming. "Well shit, Six. Could've told me sooner, and I'd have planned some kind of surprise."

"Eh-heh." The courier looked sheepish. "That's what I was afraid of."

"What?" Cass put her hands on her hips. "I didn't think my surprises were that bad."

"No, no, it's not that," the courier reassured her. "It's me. You know what I do, what I've been up to. I wasn't sure I'd... I have a lot of enemies, Cass!"

"Ohhhhh, I get it." Cass threw an arm around their shoulder and steered them through the Freeside marketplace. "You weren't sure you'd make it to today, so you didn't say anything. Gotcha."

"And I'd feel like crap if I told you my birthday was coming up, and then I bit the dust after you'd already bought me a present or something," the courier added.

"Pffft." Cass waved their concerns away. "I'd just give that present to myself, then. Don't let the ones gunning for you dictate how you live your life, Six. Now come on, let's pick out something new and shiny for your gun cabinet up in the Lucky 38. My treat."

Veronica Santangelo: "Six!" Veronica squealed and did a little dance. "Happy birthday! Oh my goodness, there's so much to do, we need to round everybody up, we need to go book a table at the Gourmand, we need to-"

She stopped when she caught the courier biting their lip. "Orrrr we could not do any of that. Whatever you like, it's your birthday."

"Can we just... I don't know." The courier shuffled their feet in the dust. "My life has been kind of crazy lately, and the people on the Strip won't leave me alone if I show my face in one of the casinos. I went up to the cocktail lounge in the Lucky 38 last night and pushed some tables together. I think we can fit everyone, even if the Securitrons will have to squeeze around us to serve drinks."

Veronica's smile returned. "Okay. Yeah, that'll work. But I don't know what kind of food House has in his pantry, nowadays."

The courier answered by holding the cactus fruit up. "This'll help."

"That's not nearly enough." Veronica looked around the marketplace. "Stay put. I'm going to go find some of those kids chasing rats. They'll probably help us carry some groceries back to the Lucky 38 for a few caps."

ED-E: The courier's eyebot bobbed and beeped quizzically, as if unfamiliar with the term.

"Um, how do I..." The courier wracked their brains. "Today is the anniversary of my... creation. My assembly."

ED-E blipped a few times in quick succession, surprised.

"No, no, that's not- no." The courier shook their head. "How do you know what that is, but not understand what a birthday is? Today is the day I came out of my mom, ED-E."

The eyebot blatted understanding and disgust, as if displeased with the mechanics of biology. The courier laughed. "Well, that's what it is. Yes, I know, humans are strange, and no, I don't know why it's important. It just is. Come on, let's go hand these out to those kids we saw earlier."

Rex: Rex cocked his head to the side, tongue lolling happily. A cactus fruit escaped the courier's arms and fell to the ground, but the cyberdog gently picked it up again and offered it to his companion.

The courier smiled down at him. "Thanks, Rex. Let's go see if the King has any more refugees in need of a meal."

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witchyangela · 3 years

Text

Team Edward vs Team Jacob? ( or Maybe it can be that deep)

Unless you’ve been totally removed from popular culture these past few years you have heard about Team Edward vs Team Jacob. It was everywhere for a while and it was one of the things that both drew people to twilight and drive people away. It also, while not inventing love triangles, added a huge amount to their popularity and prevalence in fiction (particularly YA). The other most famous love triangle in YA is of course from the Hunger Games.

However if you ask any self respecting Hunger Games fan about it, they will tell you it’s more than just that, that Peeta represents peace and rebuilding while Gale represents retribution and destruction (at their most simple) and Katniss choosing between them is in fact her choosing her future. This symbolic view of love triangles is rarely discussed Re. Twilight, and with good reason as it’s unlikely Smeyer intended one to be there. However I think, that twilight can be read in an equally allegorical way, so please take a trip with me to find out what’s beyond team Edward and team Jacob.

The very first question, is what do Edward and Jacob represent? The most obvious answer in life and death. Language describing Edward is full of metaphors describing him as cold, as drug like, as painful. Smeyer describes Bella feeling “withdrawal” when she is away from him. Jacob however is associated primarily with the sun and with warmth. There’s also the factor that physically Edward is dead, he has no heartbeat, doesn’t grow, doesn’t eat human food. Whereas Jake has a quick heart beat, grows more quickly that the average human, and needs to eat more human food. In this way Jacob seems to represent humanity at its most extreme, he is more human than Bella, Edward is less.

However this falls apart around eclipse, when Jacobs warmth becomes “burning” however it’s wildly accepted that Smeyer changed Jacobs characterisation drastically in Eclipse, even reverting back to his og characterisation in Breaking dawn. So If we take away that element then Edward and Jacob representing life and death makes sense. However Bella choosing death over life is wrong, right?

Well maybe not. At least not in Bellas mind. From the first line of the series we know Bella is borderline obsessed with death. She is distressingly self sacrificing, the first line of the entire series is her deciding to die “in the place of someone ( she) loves”. And throughout new moon Bella continues to be self destructive. It’s interesting that the famous cliff dive, is to get towards Edward in the form of a halluncination. And she is saved by Jacob. This scene shows at its most basic that Bella leaping towards Edward is her jumping to her death. And yet she chooses it. So it’s fair enough to say that Bella doesn’t particularly want to live.

Which is why Edward is the one she chooses. He offers the option for her to stop aging, to have to never make the difficult decisions that come with age. In many ways Bella choosing Edward is a symbolic death. But it’s also a very attractive prospect for a teenager anxious about aging, with a complex about responsibility. Which let’s face it lots of the people reading twilight were. Choosing Edward is easy because her is an end to all problems. Wheras while Jacob may offer solutions too through friendship and warmth. His path requires effort.

Which is why I think that Life and Death might be too reducative. When in reality they represent Stagnation and Recovery. Bella is put in a position where if she chooses Jacob she will have to work on herself. With him she is actively building the bikes, which are a fairly obvious metaphor. They were broken by someone else, but by putting time and effort in they can work again. Which is very much what is happening with Bella in New Moon, she feels broken but begins to put in work to put herself together.

Continuing the metaphor, in eclipse Edward presents Bella with his own motorbike. It’s fancy, fast, and ready to go. It doesn’t require work to be put in. And Bella sees it how the audience does. That it doesn’t meant the same as it doesn’t have the same love put into it. It isn’t the motorbike that matters but the time spent building it. And again and again Edward and Jacob are shown like this. Jacob gives Bella a wolf charm he spent time and love carving, but Edward gives Bella a diamond, that’s flashy but has no real meaning.

So she should have chosen Jake right? Well yes but it’s not that simple! Bella is clearly vulnerable and what she thinks she wants is what Edward is giving, something ready made, a perfect family, wealth, security, but she doesn’t see that they’re as empty as the bike Edward gives. She could have these things with Jake but she would have to work for them, would have to put effort into making his friends like her rather than have them be her “best friend” immediately. And putting work in is what makes things matter, as I established, but Bella doesn’t see this, she sees the security of the Cullens and is blinded by its flashy-ness. And Jacob can’t compete. Bella wants the end product immediately and he is a work in progress.

So what does this mean? If Bella chooses death and refuses to recover her ending is surely a tragedy? Well maybe! But it’s easier to understand once you look at it from the Mormon perspective it was written from. Because Edwards symbolic death isn’t a end. It is a beggining, and from then on its “paradise”. Bella choosing death is just a fast track to heaven. And hey, why bother trying to make your time on earth good when you know what comes next will be a thousand times better?

But if you remember that post that said “an immortal will never love as a human loves because love is about survival”? Yeah that’s the real Edward / Jacob divide. Eternity is impossible to comprehend, and maybe this is just me but even a “perfect forever” sounds like it would be unbearable. Jacobs version of a happy ending may be shorter and less complete but like the bike and the wolf charm it’s also more real. So it’s easy to understand why Bella, Smeyer, and many readers chose Edward, as a fantasy it’s unbeatable. But if I had to choose? Team Jacob forever!

#oh this is crazy #twilight #bella swan #edward cullen #jacob black #twilight saga #twilight meta #i call this can you tell what my belief sytem is from this meta the game show #tw suicide mention

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joezworld · 3 years

Note

Any headcanons about Ever Ace and the other new A-class Evergreen ships? This totally isn’t just because I love your version of Ever Given and want more of her and her family XD

The following is an excerpt from How to Avoid Huge Ships, Or: I Never Met a Ship I Liked by Capt. John W. Trimmer (National Writers Press, 1982)

Chapter 14: The Emotional State of Ships

For most captains, the emotional state of a seagoing vessel (other than your own, of course) is often seen as irrelevant - after all, who cares if the seven hundred foot tanker about to run over you and your ketch is a nice person or not?

However, like many common beliefs in the marine industry, this is an incorrect one. The mental state of vessels is vital to continued safe navigation.

First, we must mention the obvious: An unhappy ship is a dangerous ship. Think about the last time you drove to the store while upset. Now pretend you weighed several thousand tons and required a mile and a half to stop in an emergency. I imagine your car insurance premiums might be a bit higher, no?

Then we must mention Fleets.

Allow me to explain: While this may be seen as a massively reductive statement, most large vessels (and most living machines for that matter, including commercial aircraft, railway locomotives, and even large dragline cranes) are best viewed as pack animals. When left alone to their own devices (and the growing economic benefits of 'machine autonomy' have meant that more shipping lines are allowing ships to go off by themselves!) vessels will often form a "fleet", as they call them, which substitutes for what we humans would call a joint family.

A fleet may include any number of vessels and relationship combinations, ranging from a number of single vessels who consider themselves siblings, to sets of separate married couples, and even groups of non-monogamous vessels whose conduct would make a Mormon blush. That being said, regardless of type, bonds formed in this manner are extremely strong, and will often overcome any difference between vessels - see the growing trend of former US Pacific Fleet vessels and their former Imperial Japanese Navy spouses!

Now, what does any of this have to do with the continued safety of marine navigation, I hear you ask? Well, let me put it to you in the simplest terms possible:

If you were to wrong me in some way, I might decide to take legal action against you, or I might lick my wounds and walk away. I might even go to the police if the offense were serious enough.

If you were to wrong a ship, and the offense were serious enough, they wouldn't lick their wounds, they wouldn't pursue legal action, and they most certainly would not go to the police. Most ships believe quite strongly in the merits of what could be charitably called 'extrajudicial punishment'. Most ships, if they are in such a relationship, would bring this to the attention of their fleet-mates, at which point you would not have one, but several, maybe even a dozen, extremely large and extremely angry ships going after you.

Of course, any discussion of the often-overlooked subject of Fleets is incomplete without at least a brief mention of the US/Canadian Great Lakes Fleet, which has managed to continuously add to their numbers through a process they call 'Lake-napping'...

-----

April, 2021 - Great Bitter Lake, Suez, Egypt

The Egyptians were insane, Given concluded. Aside from the obvious - where in the name of all that floated was she going to get nine hundred million US Dollars? - they'd actually called their Navy on her, like some kind of Triad enforcer making sure a mark didn't get away without paying.

He was a tiny ship, really - some old design that made its priorities clear, judging from his open-air flying bridge and thick hull, but the massive anti-ship missile pods on his aft deck showed he could punch well above his weight.

She'd tried speaking to him, but they didn't have a language in common - and that was impressive all on its own. From the short, clipped sentences, and badly accented Arabic, he seemed both Eastern European and decidedly unfriendly.

As the sun set on the end of the first week of what might be a very long stay in Egypt, she wondered if the line might abandon her here. The cheap fucks had already been making noise about replacing her with another, bigger ship, but Ace - still in the shipyard, but already proving herself to be just as loud and annoying as any proper 20,000+ TEU ship, bless her - had made enough noise about "not being a rebound date" that their hand had been forced.

Of course, that was all before the Egyptians decided that they wanted nine hundred million dollars, so who knows?

Another ship went by - the backlog still wasn't through, and convoys continued at all hours. This one was one from CMA CGM, and while she couldn't quite catch his name in the dark, she could absolutely catch the scathing French insults being hurled her way as he passed by.

"Je parle français, toi voilier sans hélice." She sniped at him, relishing in the startled yelp that trailed him into the night. The tugboats pulling him along laughed, and he growled at them as he moved further into the lake.

The missile boat looked at her with what might have been admiration, but it didn't stop him from keeping his guns trained on her as he changed his watch position to a spot off of her stern.

She honestly considered running - the mockery she'd get once she left Egypt might be too much.

As the next ship in line approached, she got a ping on one of the company radio frequencies.

Tuning in, her brow furrowed in confusion - now that everyone had satellite internet downlinks, internet chatrooms had become the primary communication method across the fleet. Evergreen Lines ships had all gravitated towards Discord instead of WeChat or Line, but their server had been strangely silent for most of the last week.

Opening the channel, she caught a flash of a call sign - What was Elpida doing out here? Wasn't she on the Australia run?

"Don't say a word, we've got it under control."

"You what? Who's we?"

Elpida swept past , literally - she was breaking the speed limit for this part of the lake, and had probably been doing so in the Canal too - the ropes to her tugs were taut, and judging by the Arabic screaming, they were trying to get her to slow down or at least let go. She was high in the water - her decks empty of containers - what the hell was going on?

Given was too big for the swells to affect her, but the Egyptian Navy ship wasn't, and he yelped in whatever his native language was as he rocked and rolled in Elpida's wake.

Behind her, a distant cry that sounded suspiciously like the word "Now!" rang out, followed by a deafening cacophony of foghorns.

She'd shut down her radar - because what really was the point? - and it took a worrying few seconds for the Furuno system to spin to life and return a clear result.

Or... what might be a clear result.

All hell seemed to be breaking out behind her - the convoy had broken formation and was going in what seemed like every direction possible. At least ten ships were now going berserk behind her.

The Navy ship, by far the smallest vessel out there, (except the tugs, who were fleeing for their lives, it seemed) spun around towards the main shipping lane.

Collision alarms immediately started wailing on the Canal's common channel as a very large blip on the radar screen (Who turned off their AIS transponders in the Canal?) slowly swung towards him.

The Egyptian seemed stunned for a moment - he'd drifted back into Given's range of vision, and his expression ranged between sheer horror and mildly poleaxed - before he calmed himself and stood down the ship bearing down on him.

That calm look lasted for a few minutes, but as the blip got closer and closer his confidence faded. The doors to his missile pods swung open, but his nerve broke before he could fire them, and the water around his stern frothed up into a roiling tempest as he set off at full astern.

It wasn't enough. He'd held his ground for just long enough for the other ship to reach him.

Slowly - this whole event was playing out in breathless slow motion, because nobody was actually that speedy - a bulbous bow, riding high out of the water without a load of containers, ploughed towards him. It was followed by a bowsprit, one that was so huge it looked like it could have been Given's own.

Then came the name: EVER ACE.

Then came the collision.

Ace (?!) didn't so much collide with the Egyptian ship as she drove over him. His low freeboard meant that the impact with her bulbous bow had his far side dipping into the water. Once his deck hit the swells, it acted like a giant scoop, and his keel was to the night sky within a few seconds. He'd been hit at an angle, so once he'd been pushed free, he slowly rolled back up, a much more traumatized and injured vessel than he had been a minute ago. More importantly, the water gushing out of his missile tubes meant that he was no longer a problem.

"Hey!" Ace boomed as her pilothouse drew even with Given. "Best Sea Trials Ever!"

Behind her, another ship - this one laden and looking a lot like Golden - steamed by. "Stop hanging around and get her out of here!"

"That would be my cue." Another voice called from behind her.

"Tex?" He was in Manila!

"Who else would it be?" Texas Triumph, thick Texan accent and all, steamed up. "now let's jus' get you settled up here and we'll blow this joint."

"This is a rescue?!"

"For sure pardner! We've been planning this since those highwaymen said they was keepin' ya here."

"Stop talking and get her out of here!" Golden bellowed from further up the river. It seemed like she was now intimidating some other tugboats from intervening.

"Well, ya heard 'er." Tex said. "Les' go!"

Given had been so distracted by the appearance of so many members of her family that she hadn't even noticed Tex slipping lines through her hawseholes until they went taut and she was yanked from her moorings by Tex steaming out in pursuit of Ace's retreating form.

She just barely managed to get her anchors retracted before Tex really put some power on, and began to pull her across the lake entirely.

------------------------------------

Later...

The War Zone

Ever Given Escapes Custody Suez Canal Authority claims no responsibility, Egyptian Navy vessel possibly damaged. BY TYLER ROGOWAY April 17, 2021 THE WAR ZONE

📷@mahmou10_ships VIA @SUEZWATCH_EGY

SHARE TYLER ROGOWAY View Tyler Rogoway's Articles @Aviation_Intel Details remain limited at this time, but there was an incident in the Great Bitter Lake. At least one Egyptian Navy vessel has been severely damaged, and MV Ever Given, who had been held in the Great Bitter Lake by the Suez Canal Authority, has now fled the Canal into the Mediterranean Sea.

Again, details are extremely limited, but based on social media reports, marine tracking data, and radio reports, at approximately 11:47 PM Egypt Standard Time (EGY) a disturbance was reported by the Egyptian Navy craft - their identity is still unconfirmed, but images posted to social media seem to indicate that the vessel is a former Soviet Osa-class missile craft. The vessel reported that "A convoy has gone mad" and he was "under attack from multiple vessels".

While a convoy had transited the canal at that time, it is unclear if they were involved in the attack, or if one occurred at all.

We've reached out to Evergreen Lines, The Suez Canal Authority, the Egyptian Navy, and the individual ships believed to be involved, including Ever Given.

We will update this piece as more information comes available.

Contact the author: [email protected]

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#fic #ask response #ever given #the evergreen discord chat is going buck wild with this article #background info #sentient boats #sentient boat headcanon #sentient vehicle headcanon #having sentient boats messes with so many historical events #sentient vehicles

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nerdygaymormon · 3 years

Note

Hi, I’m going to byu this next year and I’m quite scared. Is there anything I should know? Also, I’m toying with the idea of going back into the closet just to make it easier in class and around extended family, because I know going to byu will hurt, but maybe I can make it hurt less? Idk, I’d just really appreciate some sort of response about this because you seem like the kind of person that can give a knowledgeable response. Ty for reading :)

Let me begin by saying my BYU student days are long ago and most of what I share is what I’ve learned from students the past few years or from when I visit campus and speak to people.

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I know people who've been out but went back into the closet for reasons like going to BYU or moving to a new ward. And after experiencing what it's like to be out, being back in the closet the second time is a tougher experience. They recognize they are suppressing themselves.

I understand your desire to go back in the closet and how it gives you the opportunity to come out to roommates and friends after you test the water, maybe ask them questions and get a sense of their level of acceptance.

An alternative to going back into the closet is find an apartment with another queer person living there. If you know some queer BYU students, ask them to help you find housing with a queer roommate. If you don't know any queer BYU students, perhaps some will read this and message you, or I can contact a few for you.

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The Out Foundation partners with Flourish Therapy to provide therapy for free to queer BYU students. I've only heard good things about Flourish, other than there's typically a wait list and may take weeks/months to get seen and assigned a therapist.

There's also CAPS, the university's counseling & psychological center, and I believe they're included in your student fees, so no additional costs to meet with their counselors. I've also heard good things from queer students who seek help from here.

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USGA is the off-campus group for queer BYU students & their allies. They meet at the Provo library (the old BYU Academy bldg). They meet weekly and have activities. I highly recommend. This is a chance to meet other queer people in a situation similar to you. USGA may also be a route to find a queer roommate.

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If you find that BYU is too much and you need to transfer, The Out Foundation might assist. Last year they raised money to help queer students transfer from BYU after the Honor Code change fiasco. They have a guide to transferring. It's better to get a degree from UVU than to be depressed and suicidal at BYU. Plus the name of the institution you graduate from will follow you the rest of your life and people will assume things about you based off of where you went.

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Caleb Stewart put together this map to Gender Neutral Bathrooms on BYU Campus

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At BYU, your ward will assign you into FHE groups, often it's 1 or 2 men's apartments and 1 or 2 women's apartments assigned together.

Here's the thing, FHE isn't mandatory for your ecclesiastical endorsement, so skip it if going makes you cringe. There's a social aspect of going to college, and many find FHE contributes to that.

If you have roommates, they may pressure you to go, but tell them you have class/study group or your going to your parents' house or whatever excuse you want.

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If you want to avoid a calling, there's a couple strategies. Don't draw attention to you the first 3 weeks of school, that's when most callings are extended, maybe go to a friend's ward. If possible, leave your records in your home ward for 2 or 3 weeks until the big rush of callings is over.

You can avoid your BYU ward only a few times because you will need the bishop to renew your ecclesiastical endorsement. Elders Quorum and Relief Society are where your attendance will be taken.

If you really don't want a calling, you can decline the calling. Some callings are more demanding than others.

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The school network used to be monitored, or had software that blocked certain sites, I don’t know what the current situation is. Until you know, be careful what stuff you access on the school network. Things that come across as anti-Mormon may be noticed and get flagged.

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A different strategy would be to tell shame to take a hike and hang up a rainbow Pride flag when you first move in. If your roommates ask (which they probably will), you can choose to say you're an ally or you are queer. You make the move to indicate this is going to be a queer-safe space.

If they really are uncomfortable with the idea of living with someone who is queer or an ally, they may try to transfer to a different apartment. And if so, good move as it will remove a hostile person from your life.

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Ben Schilaty is a gay man who works in the BYU Honor Code office. Arranging to go by his office to introduce yourself and ask him for advice on how to have a better time at BYU is a good idea. His position is to enforce the Honor Code, so you can ask him about what is or isn't allowable at BYU, but don't go confessing things because he is a school official and would have to take action.

Blake Fisher is a gay man who works as an inclusion advisor in the Office of Student Success and Inclusion. He's worth a visit to see what steps BYU is taking to include queer students. He likely will have some advice on how to be successful as a queer student.

You'll probably be surprised by the number of faculty who are allies and display a rainbow or trans flag outside their office door. One faculty member I would recommend meeting is Roni Jo Draper. She was head of PFLAG in Provo, and is on the board of the ACLU. She'll likely be able to recommend other professors who are queer-friendly.

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You can generally have a good time at BYU. However, anytime you mention queer topics, there's the possibility someone will overhear and respond negatively. You never know when a queerphobic talk will be given at church or a bigoted comment made in class. Feeling like you may experience these things at any time can make a person feel a bit paranoid and that they need to be careful.

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While individual professors may call out people who make such comments in your class, don't expect the administration to take your side. In questions of personal dignity versus someone who claims they're defending church doctrine, the personal dignity of queer people gets sacrificed every time.

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There are opportunities, such as volunteering at Encircle House or running for USGA leadership, that give you an opportunity help better the lives of queer people, and that is a fantastic feeling to know you're making a positive difference.

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A recent poll found 13% of BYU students identify as LGBTQIA. Queer students are there and if you can find some, they'll introduce you to others. Being at BYU as a queer student can feel isolating, but you're not alone. Finding other queer students is very helpful. That group of students are generally very loving and supportive because they know what it's like.

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As BYU is not an affirming, welcoming place for LGBTQIA students, it is up to you to build yourself a support network. This includes faculty who are allies that you can talk with, finding other queer students with whom you can talk about the ignorant things you have to deal with, USGA where you can hang with other queer students, and so on.

Also monitoring your mental health is important because there's an ongoing low-level of stress that goes with being a queer student at BYU. If you need help, get into CAPS or Flourish and look at the possibility of transferring to another school, you may qualify for in-state tuition depending on several factors.

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