One-Third.
Of all the news that's bothered me today, this one bothers me the most. So I'll mention it.
I'm not in the habit of telling people what to think, or do. I'm an anarchist, that's not my brand. And sometimes I don't even know what to think or do.
So! Despite the wall and the crimes against humanity, Trump yeeted fewer human beings back across the border in four years than Obama did in his first four. And being deported in a sweeping, ultranationalist fervour is not the end of one's story. The family pictured above were ejected in Eisenhower's Operation Racial Slur, because brain rot is nothing new in my country of origin. They came back legally, reunited, prospered, and now they make tamales for the holidays like I do. It's hard to crush the people your economy depends on, isn't it? They just won't stay down!
Cartoonish evil posturing is not very effective. Silence, subtlety and charisma are much better at achieving their goals. I am left wondering if fewer people would be willing to let the genocide slide if Trump were funding it, and quoting Hitler about it to the media.
But I shouldn't wonder that. Of course more people would yell about it if Trump were doing it. They know what Trump is! He never lets you forget it! He'd be screaming about eradicating the Arab Menace on Fox News 24/7. When he passes out from lack of oxygen, they'll rerun his greatest hits. Biden, on the other hand - Hey! At Least He's Not Trump. And, judging from other articles, that seems to be the platform he's running on. Again.
I carried water for Obama when he was in office. I was a hell of a lot younger and less cynical, but I bought that a person would not put children in cages if there were any other option. I do not buy that anymore. And I barely remember hearing anything about the deportations until his term was almost up. He was only sending back the criminals, you remember that? Did you accept it as politically expedient like I did, or were you smarter than me?
That water I carried was full of lead, you should not drink it no matter what the nice man in the tan suit says.
This is why I'm not up for choosing the lesser evil. Stories like this suggest that, if we tote up the numbers like soulless accountants, the calculations for most/least harm are fucking fucked. Kant is bullshit and I am not a goddamn utilitarian. I'm not about to vote Idiot and keep my fingers crossed that he's too loud and stupid to do much damage. I don't know what opportunities for damage will occur in the next four years, or who will be in the best position to take advantage of them.
Polling suggests that most Americans don't want to make this choice any more than I do. But we're goin' ahead anyway, and we've already decided two evils will be the only viable candidates, months ahead of the primaries. You'll just hafta guess the lesser one! Have fun weighing all those human lives against each other!
I can only reiterate: Don't ask me this. I don't have the answer. And I'm not going to do the math, the math is evil too. I shouldn't even be TEMPTED to do math like this. Please call me when you have a candidate who doesn't want to harm anyone. I am no longer responding to folks asking me who I'm willing to throw under the bus.
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KIM KITSURAGI - “Is that. My kineema.”
COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] - Something in him is about to break, *big time*.
EMPATHY - And it’s not going to be pretty, do something!
- DRAMA [Formidable] - Everything is fine!
- “Sure is.”
DRAMA [Formidable: Failure] - Surely he’s aware that he’s not the *only* person in the world who owns a Kineema?
YOU - “Is it really *yours*? I mean, plenty of people have their own Kineemas, right? Like working men, government offices, uh, firefighters I guess, maybe even animal control people? Exactly! A million different people who could’ve driven it into the uh…”
DRAMA - Pause, my liege! Ixnay on the Ineemakay!
YOU - “It could even be our *mysterious* joyrider!”
KIM KITSURAGI - Your frenzied babbling falls deaf to the lieutenant's ears. Instead, he approaches the broken vehicle, sunken in the ice. He moves with a caution and gentleness you haven’t seen him display before.
INLAND EMPIRE - It must be cold and lonely down there, in the icy water. Maybe he could sense its sorrow, calling to him…
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Success] - His hands, which are always stiffly placed behind his back, are trembling.
ENDURANCE - This is the shuffle of a tired, tired man.
HALF LIGHT - He’s going to do something drastic because of you. Oh god, terrible! You’re a terrible liar! You can’t look at this, you just can’t!
VOLITION [Formidable: Success] - It's not *you* who drove his kineema into the sea. You have plenty of faults, but this one is decidedly not yours.
KIM KITSURAGI - He kneels down with his head bowed, casting his face in shadow. He plants a hand on the ice to stabilize himself, squinting to get a better view of the motor carriage. “Detective, it says ‘57’ on it.”
YOU - Sweat drips down your brow, and you feel a terrible headache coming. “Maybe our joyrider has an affinity for that number?”
LOGIC - He's not stupid, he knows that it's not that.
KIM KITSURAGI - “57.”
YOU - “What about 57?”, you brace yourself.
KIM KITSURAGI - “Precinct 57.”
YOU - You wince. “Kim, look-”
KIM KITSURAGI - “When I woke up in the Whirling-in-Rags with no memory of what happened during the days before, I've taken note that something of mine has gone missing.” He grits his teeth. "A very. Important. Something."
He runs his hands over his face, messing his already unkempt hair in the process. Regret creeps up on his features. “God. Fuck. They’re going to fire me over this, they’re not going to hear me out.”
EMPATHY - Desperation settles in the lieutenant's tone. Sadly, you find yourself in agreement, even if you don’t want it to be the truth.
YOU - “People are more valuable than machines, Kim.”
KIM KITSURAGI - “Not people like me.” He rasps.
YOU - “…”
KIM KITSURAGI - Before you can say anything more, you fail to notice the lieutenant carefully walking onto the edge of the ice. He looks over the frigid water, a dizzying blue that mirrors and distorts his exhausted face back to him.
YOU - “Kim?”
KIM KITSURAGI - Seconds pass as he looks to be contemplating something. Out of nowhere, he casually takes another step where the ice ends and the sea begins. It happens all too quick for the lieutenant to even voice a call for help— if he even wanted to — his body plunging into the cold water before your eyes.
YOU - “KIM!!!!”
uhhh bonus stuff? sorry i have swap au brainworms pfttt
(im not sure what skills kim has at the moment so rn he only has narration as his inner monologue ok whoops, i would like to keep harry as the guy who thinks in dialogue trees so im still figuring it out pfttt)
also, this was done bc i wanted to expand on these old scribbles of mine, just like an idea, i just think that he'd be having an even worse time wheezes
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i know people are good because of this: the universe often assigns me side quests. in a circular strangeness; despite my inability to locate my-own-anything, i am almost-always finding someone else's lost things. dogs, coats, phones, cash, laptops. it happens so often it's almost tiring; suddenly being looped into a tiny amount of detective work.
but when i'm with other people who are not used to this: the response is almost invariably delight. yes, maybe they are simply thrilled by the mystery. it's just... they light up so much. i think maybe more... i think they like the opportunity to do something kind.
a few weeks ago, i was at a bar and i found a wallet as soon as we stepped outside. i felt nervous to ask for help, worried i would be holding up the night. i picked it up and said go on without me, i should help this get back to its home.
instead, three people pulled out their phones - to find him on facebook, to help cancel his credit cards. two people went back into the bar to tell the bartender, two others went calling down the street. group texts, facebook posts, instagram stories. people, without even seeing what happened, start offering help to me. fifteen minutes and: someone knows someone who knows the guy. the cheer that went up - just for finding him, just for this small thing. someone gets him on the phone. strangers dance around me, hopping on their feet - are you the girl that found that wallet? good for you, that's a good thing you're doing/same thing happened to me and somebody did what you're doing and i thank god everyday for people like you/i can't believe you found him so fast this is so exciting
i gave it back to him in a parking lot. i watched his shoulders sag with relief. there was cash in it still - he checked the pocket, and then sheepishly held the money out to me. i didn't take it. i held up my hands. "it's no problem, man. i know you'd do the same for me."
i don't know him, to be honest. i don't know if he is the same kind of person i am. but he nodded at me.
and i know people are good. i know people are good, because the way this story ends isn't surprising. we wave goodbye awkwardly. my friend loops their arm around me.
"i can't believe we got it back to him," they said. "i'm going to be riding that high for weeks."
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Lykoi the werewolf cat breed
So I’m not going to be arguing because I’ve seen enough from enough owners over the years to have reached this conclusion, and I’m not in well enough health to come back to this. But I’m seeing the lykoi breed get more attention around tumblr lately, and I’ve gotta speak up because the breed has a dirty little secret.
I joined the Lykoi Lovers group years ago because I loved this breed, they’re super cute! I love werewolves! However, over the years, as more people got these cats, and their cats aged up (3-5+yo is when skin issues become REALLY evident) the group turned into a horror show.
This mutation really reminds me of lemon frost in leopard geckos. In the geckos, it was the desirable appearance which CAUSED the cancerous tumors. It wasn’t something that could be bred out. Similarly, it is the werewolf appearance which causes the skin issues, cysts, pimples, bleeding in the cats. You can breed away from it... and end up with a normal looking cat with fewer skin issues. You cannot seem to keep the werewolf look AND have good skin.
More below, and it IS graphic so be warned. Pus, blood, sad cats under the cut.
Let’s start with "what to know before getting a Lykoi”
Okay, inevitably bumpy? What’s that mean exactly?
“The gene that is specific to Lykoi that creates the semi hairless and roaning look is thought to be responsible for less hair follicles and possibly smaller pores. This in turn could be responsible for the cyst/pimple issue. So, it's not going to be in Sphinx or any other breed, it's specific to Lykoi. Responsible breeders are currently working on breaking away from some of the older lines with bad skin and breed Lykoi that have no or less bumps. However what happens when you breed for more coat and better skin is that it seems to lessen the look of the Lykoi. Many of the heavier coated Lykoi without skin issues lack a mask or have a very slight one.“
^^^This is pretty damning as far as the future of the breed goes. Well bred ones will not look like werewolf cats.
Okay, but that’s just a couple cats, and just one cyst. That’s not so bad---
“They definitely bother me more than her.” You sure about that?? Look at her...
Okay but that’s just a FEW cats, how bad could it b--
Again, this issue typically appears after the cat is 3-5 years old, so people buy their little werewolf cats unwise to the fact it’ll live with painful skin problems for the majority of its life.
It is the very mutation which reduces follicle count and pore size which causes the werewolf appearance and the blackheads and cysts, so I think “breeding it out” is nothing but a pipe dream. The mutation itself is what causes the problems, as mentioned earlier just like lemon frost leopard geckos.
Anyway, this has been a PSA.
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