My most millennial opinion is that the art of Rick Rolling is lost. A Rick Roll isn't any time you put Never Gonna Give You Up in someone face. Anyone can do that in the middle of any video. Lazy. There's no art in it.
The target that gets rick rolled has to be an active participant by clicking a hyperlink. The game teaches you an important lesson o internet safety: 'before you click a link, look at the url that it's going to direct you to. Do you want to go there? Is the link malicious?'
A true master Rick Roller made people so eager to see something that they would click the link immediately and skip their usual caution.
Unfortunately, recent studies show that approximately 35% of Gen Z internet users and 67% of Gen Alpha users don't even know what Rickrolling is. It truly is a dying art. One of the greatest cultural losses of the 2020s.
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The problem with the concept of the ‘nuclear family’ and further, the glorification of it by the American right and their feeble attempt at launching Nuclear Family Month, is that it is a concept built on the Christian patriarchal family structure. A man should be the leader of the house, parents should have ownership over their children, children having more than two parental figures or aunts, uncles and grandparents living in the home challenges this. It’s not that a straight couple and their children can’t form a healthy family structure, it is that the glorification of the ‘nuclear family’ as the gold standard of family situations pushes individualism, stigmatizes divorce and multigenerational households and continues to push the 1950s-esque ‘Children need a mommy and a daddy, no matter how fucking evil the mommy or daddy is.’ bullshit. There are so many children that did not grow up in ‘broken’ homes and suffered for it. Stop staying together for the kids. The support and involvement of the extended family in childrearing isn’t inherently trashy or lazy. Families come in so many different shapes and sizes and prioritizing and romanticizing the nuclear family continues to harm everyone.
My dad was a public defender when I was a child and he would have to drive all over the district to visit various defendants in various jails which I thought was very interesting and I liked to hear about his experiences in various jails and how different they all were. He drove me to school every day and sometimes I’d skip in and tell my classmates “My dad is going to the jail in [TOWN/CITY] today!” mind you, I went to public school in a not very nice little town so my teacher’s first thought wasn’t lawyer, she had other students with incarcerated parents. This was also occurring in the south where everyone is nosy as fuck so she eventually called my mother, presumably to scope out why her husband was a jail bird and if the chargers were relevant to me and my education in any way. My mom had to explain that my dad wasn’t an inmate who kept getting transferred and that going to jail is his job.
She worded it more like “Your child keeps telling his classmates that his father is going to jail, I wanted to touch bases and see if everything is alright at home.” you know, pretend concern for my social wellbeing. But I know she was just nosy and my mom picked up on that immediately.
I bet she went home every night and told her husband “We need to pray for one of my students, he definitely has some sort of undiagnosed something and his daddy is always in jail.”
Ok so I’m not fully sure how to get italics on here since I typically use mobile. So for now anything in italics will look like /this/.
Chapter 2: Three Nerds in Space (what’re you gonna do?)
After he managed to compose himself, Grace gave Danny the biggest bear hug he could muster. /Gosh, I missed hugs from an actual human being. I mean Rocky is great and all but it’s gonna take a little bit to get used to his hugs./
“What are you doing here? /How/ are you here?!?” Grace exclaimed.
“Well… It’s kind of a long story. It would be a lot easier to just tell everyone at the same time?”
“Right, right, You’re right.” Grace replied.
It was then that Rocky came rolling in in his little xenonite ball.
“Grace, Grace, Grace, Rocky can hear another heart beat now! Who is maybe-human and how did they hide from Rocky?”
At his entrance, Danny’s mouth flies open and Grace could /swear/ he saw the stars in his eyes.
“Is that…” He started. Grace smiled and said,
“Yep. First contact Danny!” he pats Danny on the back, “You’re now officially the second human ever to meet sentient alien life! This is Rocky, the Eridian!” Danny stares.
“Oh. My. Ancients. Ok, this is /definitely/ the coolest thing ever! Ohhhh man, do you know how monumental this is? What this means for science in its entirety? I mean, of course /you/ do, Dr. Grace, but like. /Still/!.” He pauses his excitement as more of what Grace said registers in his brain.
“Wait… second human ever? What about…” He meets Grace’s downturned gaze and quietly goes,
“oh.”
“It wasn’t painful or anything! I don’t think so anyway. They uh… didn’t survive the induced comas. They went peacefully.” Grace started, hoping to alleviate any sadness of the news of their deaths. Danny breathes a sigh of relief at this,
“Oh good. That means they didn’t become ghosts. So, I… guess that means you’re the only surviving crew member of the Hail Mary?” A strange look passes over Grace’s face but he ultimately decides to let it be for now. He has other, more pressing questions for Danny to answer.
“Yeah. Listen- why don’t we all move somewhere more comfortable and uh. talk?” After getting agreements from Danny and Rocky, Grace leads them all to the dormitory so they can all sit. As soon as everyone is settled, it’s decided that Grace and Rocky have a slightly shorter story to tell. so, Grace begins.
He starts with how he woke up, alone and confused because of the amnesia, how he figured out what he was sent to do, how he and Rocky first met. Then he continued with their discovery of Taumeoba, and finally, ended with how they had pretty much just sent the Beetles out and were preparing to leave for Erid when Danny appeared. All the while, Rocky interjected with corrections, quips, and snarky remarks about Grace. Danny sat there, listening attentively the entire time, mournful and laughing at appropriate moments. Grace purposefully left out the amount of times they almost died, he didn’t need Danny knowing all that. When Grace finished, Danny fell quiet for a moment, letting it all sink in.
“Dude, that’s so cool. You’re quite literally living my dream, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, I gathered.” Grace replied with a wry smile.
“How and why Danny here, question?” Rocky queries.
“Yes! I have /many/ questions about your whole… situation. Honestly, it’s a miracle I’ve stayed quiet so far, ask Rocky, he knows I never shut up.” Danny smiles for a moment before his face becomes more serious.
“Okay. I… guess this means I should start with it all started in the first place. My parents,” He stops, winces, and then continues,
“My parents managed to get their hands on some Astrophage.” He begins. This time Grace winced. Based on his knowledge of the Fentons, he could start to see where this would take a turn.
“They were experimenting and discovered that, when exposed to ectoplasm, the Astrophage… bonded with it. Like, really well too. It /energized/ the ectoplasm in ways no other element or form of life has. It made it… come alive. In a sense at least.”
Grace really didn’t like where this was going. The Fenton’s were already crazy about ectoplasm and the existence of /ghosts of all things/. Listen, Grace wasn’t one to put down anyone’s ideas in science (Unless it was the thought that there was no life without water because goSH DANGIT THERE IS SUCH THING- ahem. Anyways.) But even then, Grace knew where to draw the line. The self-proclaimed ecto-biologists and ghost hunters were obsessed beyond obsession. Them getting their hands on Astrophage held promises Grace never wanted to hear.
“Well, they finished their portal to the ghost zone, -you remember they had started on that right?- using Astrophage to help. It… didn’t work at first. So, one day I went down with my friends Sam and Tucker. Just… to have a look at it ourselves! it was never meant to be more than that! But then, well, they, kinda… sorta…dared me to go inside. At least we figured out why the portal wasn’t working! So, it turned out, my parents had put the ‘on’ switch inside the portal.”
Ok, Grace was like. /Realllly/ not enjoying where this was going. Not only were the Fentons known for their bad driving and crazy obsessions, they also had infamously bad lab safety. A miracle they never got shut down by the government honestly. Despite the looming dread, both Grace and Rocky leaned in, morbidly curious as to what would happen next. Danny paused to collect his thoughts before resuming.
“I tripped and fell onto the switch, turning… it… on, while I was still inside. The pure energy from it all… well. To put it simply, it should’ve killed me. It /did/ kill me. My molecules got rearranged to accommodate the energy. When I woke up later, I had snow white hair and glowing green eyes. I had become the very thing my parents hated. A ghost.” Danny was obviously struggling to get this part out. Practically choking on his words, tears threatening to pour from his eyes.
Grace leaned over and placed his hand on Danny’s shoulder. Mostly to remind him he wasn’t with his parents anymore and he wasn’t alone, but also because he didn’t know what to do or say. Danny cleared his throat and began again.
“Over the course of the next year or so, I developed powers. Ghost powers. Intangibility, invisibility, flying, you name it. Because of the portal turning on however, a bunch of ghosts started coming out of it and attacking the town. I took it upon myself to use my powers and protect everyone. I learned quite a bit from all that. The ghosts have mostly chilled out since then. I was even able to befriend a couple of them too! A few of them do like to cause trouble every now and then, but for the most part they all stick to their own respective things.
Anyways, moving on, I eventually managed to graduate high school and college and then I left to come find you out here. Especially once I learned Project Hail Mary was a suicide mission.” Danny said this with a slight frown. “Let me tell you, if it weren’t for the fact I’m friends with Time itself and a bunch of dead Yeti’s, it would’ve taken me so much longer to get out here. It took me long enough already, but still.
Anyway! The /reason/ I’m here is because /I/ am your ticket back home!” he says this last part with a dramatic flourish at himself.
“I can get us back to Earth in a fraction of the time it took for you to get here!” Grace knows he’s staring. He knows /Rocky/ is staring. That was a lot to process. Everything Danny told them was taking a bit to sink in.
“Can I…think about it?” Grace asks. Danny looks back at him, seemingly surprised.
“Oh, uh. Yeah, of course! take all the time you need Dr. Grace.” he turns to Rocky,
“The offer to go home is extended to you as well, Rocky. It just might take a little longer because I’m less familiar with where you’re from.” Rocky perks up at this.
“Rocky able to see beautiful mate Adrian sooner?” Danny nods and Rocky seems like his mind is made up.
Grace just sits there. Ruminating. He’s… not actually sure he wants to go home anymore. He’s become such good friends with Rocky by this point. They’ve both risked their lives for each other. What’s more, so much time has already passed on Earth. It wouldn’t be the same Earth he once knew. Yes Danny said he could get them home insanely faster than if he just took the Hail Mary back anyway. But thirteen years or so had already passed. Everyone he knew, the scarce number that it was anyway, was older. Grace hadn’t really aged during his time in space due to the coma. He would need to basically start a new life. From scratch. He’s positive that after throwing him onto the ship, Stratt had gotten rid of all his Earthly possessions. He wondered if he could establish a life on Erid with Rocky and then just… visit Earth every now and then. That was the most ideal course of action for Grace. He brings up his question to Danny after about two hours of sitting there thinking. During those two hours, Danny and Rocky had been exchanging information about Erid and travel plans and such. When Grace came over, ready to voice his queries, Danny listened. He thought for a moment before saying,
“That… could work. I mean once I have a clear path to Erid, it’ll be even easier to travel between worlds. I won’t have to spend any extra time trying to navigate around. Yeah sure why not!”
After deciding on this course of action, they finished getting the ship ready, and set off to head for Erid.
Dr. Ryland Grace reminisces on his teaching days and thinks of a specific student he had the year before the Petrova Line was discovered. Danny Fenton. Next thing he knows, said old student is saving him and Rocky from more years out in space! It’s not all without their fair share of pain and suffering though. (It wouldn’t be a Danny Phantom fic without angst after all)
This first part of my DP/PHM fic series is their reunion, travels, and how they settled into life on Erid.
Written because my brain finally broke out of it’s writing block because Project Hail Mary is my saving Grace of a movie (heheh) and also Danny Phantom bc why not? Obligatory DP crossover fic.
Chapter 1: Ruminations and Reunions
When Grace thought of his students, there was always one who jumped out more than the others. Danny Fenton. A thirteen year old science and engineering genius. One of the smartest kids Grace had taught.
His home life however… was chaotic, to say the least. And that was an understatement. His parents were forgetful at best and just plain neglectful at worst. They focused on their projects more than their own children. While Grace was a fellow scientist -or well, molecular biologist to be precise- even he knew when the line was crossed. Not to brag, he always felt more like a parent to Danny than his actual parents. When he could afford to, he would bring extra food for Danny whenever he saw the kid was struggling more than normal. Jasmine was the only other person who took care of Danny, but his older sister could only do so much. She was just a sophomore in high school at the time anyway.
Despite the less than ideal home life, Danny thrived in the classroom. Especially whenever space was brought up. Grace remembered one time after class when Danny confessed to him that he wanted to be an astronaut. His parents were late picking him up that day. After that Grace did everything he possibly could to keep that dream alive and to help Danny possibly achieve it one day.
It was the year after that when everything changed. The Petrova Line discovery. Astrophage. Stratt bursting into his life with reminders of his past and demands on her tongue. The kind you can’t say no to.
Grace missed his kids. He never got to say goodbye to any of them before Stratt had him thrown on the Hail Mary Project. One more thing he got to add to his growing list of regrets. Now he’s here, light years away from any humans, conversing with an alien as they finish saving their respective species. Alone together. Both of their crews may have died, but they were together now and they had managed to save their worlds. Yeah, Grace was with an alien right now. In fact, he was about to leave Tau Ceti to go live with said alien. Because he didn’t have enough fuel to get back to Earth. man, Danny would’ve loved to be here right now. Grace was pretty sure he was actively living the kid’s dream.
Grace was snapped out his stupor with a,
“Grace okay, question?”
“Yeah bud, Just… thinking. I know someone who would love to be in my place right now.” Grace replied to Rocky with a hint of a smile on his face.
“Grace friend, question?” Rocky asked.
“you could say that, I guess. He was a student of mine a couple of years before leaving earth. We were pretty close though.”
“Ahhh ok, Grace’s pebble.”
“Not qu- you know what? Sure. Yeah. I’m not gonna argue.”
“Rocky want to learn more about Grace children, statement.”
“I am always more than happy to talk about my kids!”
Grace was pretty sure he could talk about his students for hours. How smart and inquisitive they were. Their hopes and dreams and fears and thoughts that they shared with him. How he tried so hard to be the kind of teacher they could count on for that kind of thing. The favorite and cool teacher. How it paid off more times than he could count. He was there for his kids when no else was. Before he could say all of this however, the proximity alarm started going off. Was there another alien species coming to say hi? Another species hoping to save their world by studying Tau Ceti? He and Rocky share a look (or well, as much of one as they could with one of them being a sentient rock spider) and rush to go see what could be coming up on the Hail Mary.
Grace wasn’t quite sure he could handle discovering yet another alien species, he was still having trouble processing meeting Rocky! Ohhh why did this have to happen now? they were literally just about to leave the Tau Ceti system to go to Erid! It would just be plain rude to leave now. If that was an alien coming to see them, what would they think if the ship saw them, and then just left anyway? Who’s to say they wouldn’t be petty and shoot them down or something? Or if they discovered the beetles, and destroyed those? Ugh! Too many things that could go wrong! But, if they didn’t leave now, things would just get worse for him on the trip to Erid. He wouldn’t have enough food for the long trip, he would need to ration it, meaning they had to make as much of the time they had now while they still had it. Ugghhhhh Decisions. Yuck.
“Rocky, what do you think? Do we have time to stay? What’s our status?” he asked.
“Rocky not know, Rocky also conflicted” He replied. Great help bud. Thanks.
“Hmm. Fine. How about we stay for a couple more hours, exchange info if they ask for it, and then leave?”
“I like!”
“Alright. Cool. That’s what we’ll do then” Grace concluded.
They reached the control room and looked at the camera to see what was on the radar. ok. That was strange. There was nothing there. Grace checked the camera again, making sure it was working. Yep, still working. … Still nothing showing up though… That’s when the silence was interrupted. There was a quick knock knock-knock-knock knock knock on the airlock door. Shave and a haircut rhythm. Was that just a universal thing? Regardless, that was freaky. The proximity alarm was still going off, the camera showed nothing, and now there was knocking on the door? Was the Hail Mary haunted? Or was there some sort of… clairvoyant alien or something messing with them right now? Grace changes cameras to see over by the airlock, and, what in the world?
Is that…. Danny?? No. It couldn’t be. This was a -albeit strangely- humanoid being with white hair that was actively defying the laws of physics, green eyes, no helmet for protection from the void of space, no legs, just a body that… ended in little wisp, and also, something light years away from earth. So there.
“Grace, what is it? Rocky cannot see. Rocky only hear annoying alarm.”
“What do you mean you can’t see anything Rocky? Also there’s a… human out there. or, a maybe-human at least. They look human. They also look uncannily similar to someone I used to know.”
“Rocky mean Rocky no hear heartbeat or see figure outside. Nothing there for Rocky.”
“Huh. ok then.” I’ll come back to that later.
The knocking comes again, slightly more insistent. Shi-crap maybe they were just holding their breath out there! Gosh Grace, you’re so dumb sometimes!
“I’m gonna go put my suit on and let them in, ok?”
“Rocky think Grace idea dumb”
“Yeah yeah, I’m doing it anyway.”
Grace puts his EVA suit on and opens the airlock. Whoever was out there waiting patiently as he did. At least they were polite? When they got inside and the door was closed again, there was a bright light and suddenly, his old student was standing in front of him. Well, an older version, but his student nonetheless. There was no mistaking Danny Fenton.
Although how he was way out here in the Tau Ceti star system and also how he just… changed his appearance like that? It was a whole new thing to think about and Grace’s brain was going haywire.
“Dr. Grace! I knew I’d find you here! Oh man I was hoping I’d get here in time! Dude, I was flying for foreverrrr. Wait, hang on, you don’t know about that yet, oooh that’s ok, I’ll explain it later. Sorry if I’m talking too fast. I kinda haven’t talked to anyone in a little bit, are Captain Yao and Engineer Ilyukhina here? If so, where? I’d love to get you all together for this. What if I told you you could come back? it would still take awhile, I still haven't figured some things out but I could definitely get everyone back faster than how you all got here. Oh Ancients! I should slow down and let you talk, I’m sure you have a ton of questions right now.”
The kid says all of this in one breath, honestly Grace is surprised he didn’t stop for one sooner. It takes Grace’s brain a couple seconds to catch up, but once it does, Grace sputters. Yep. Ryland Grace is left speechless. His mouth opens and closes like fish gasping for air. “Danny??” He manages.
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I just got described as an "ad hating commie" by someone because I said a minute of youtube ads is unpleasant. fully spent 5 minutes arguing and defending youtube ads. insane stuff
This is your pleasant and kindly reminder from your kindly older trans gal that tucking is not good and also bad for you and your body and should not be done.
Seriously. Don't tuck. It's so bad for you and your body.
I know some folks, eventually, will tag or add comments like "HELL YEAH GIRL! SLANG THAT THANG!" and yes, that's cool and fine and slang that thang etc etc...
But also, imagine I am your trans mom for a moment. I am gently grabbing your face, telling you I care about you and your body and your health, and that tucking can be very dangerous and hurt you and that I care very much if you get hurt and I do not want you to be hurt.
So please do not tuck. Don't do it. Okay? Good girl.
People are saying “wait I never heard it was bad, what!?” and asking “what can happen?”
So here’s just a small (non-comprehensive) rundown:
Testicular Torsion which can cause even more complications and health risks and requires immediate medical attention/surgery to fix. If not fixed quickly it can cause tissue death/necrosis and do even worse damage to the entire area surrounding it.
Permanent skin irritation and tearing that can lead to infection which can, again, if left untreated turn into way worse things that will quickly turn life threatening.
It can also cause inguinal hernias, which increases additional risks, and must -again- be handled with surgery. And if you’re looking to get bottom surgery down the line you -cannot- get bottom surgery until all the inguinal hernias are handled and you recover from them. AND once you get a hernia you are now predisposition to get more at an increased rate afterward even IF you’re careful from then on.
Tucking can also cause urinary tract infections, which can lead to a kidney infection if left unchecked or improperly handled. Which, even if it doesn’t lead to kidney infection, will greatly increase your risks of bladder and prostate cancer.
… and again, these are just the tip of the iceberg, there’s lots of lower risk issues and other things and depending on preexisting conditions AND even if you’re even able to see a doctor, you have no guarantee that they’ll know how to or even care to examine you properly due to their own biases.
As for the final question I got, “What about safe alternatives for those of us with major dysphoria?”, I don’t really have a good answer… the best I can say is get breathable but slightly tighter underwear or light compression shorts… but even THEN wearing those for extended periods (even just a couple hours, 4 or less) can lead to risk of heath issues or problems. There really isn’t a “good solution or alternative” that is actually fully safe-safe.
Again, please, take care of yourselves and your body.
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I do not know why the U.S. is hosting the World Cup as we generally do not give a fuck about soccer. And I would not recommend traveling here right now to my worst enemy.
My mom likes to tell me about how when I was a little kid riding public transport with her I'd always smile and giggle and chat with weird old ladies who smelled like cat pee and homeless folks and strangers dressed in bizarre outfits but any time a tidy and respectable businessman in a suit and tie waved at me I'd immediately clam up, and she takes a great deal of pride in my supposed inherentability to clock personalities but the truth is I do vaguely remember those bus rides, and it was never about the clothes or the hair or the smell, but more because everyone "strange" asked interesting questions and listened to what I had to say and seemed to think about what I said while the neat and tidy and rigid folks only ever acted like they were going through the motions, which was boring as hell and also pretty annoying
Once I said "My gender is whatever's funniest at the time" and my coworker stops dead in his tracks, turns slowly and says "So are your pronouns honk/honk?" killing me instantly
I was talking to a friend I knew before I transitioned about my new relationship (my first one ever!) and I said "Yeah, I think I only indentified as aro/ace most of my life because I didn't have lesbian as an option" and he looked me dead in the eye and said "Oh? Why not? ...Ohhh"
Then he said "You know, I completely forgot you weren't always this way. Femininity really suits you" and let me tell you I started tearing up
Of course, not ten minutes later I mentioned that I had to relearn how to sing and he said "oh no, what happened?" so he might just be a little slow
Update on that friend: a bunch of people sent me "he's a little confused, but he's got the spirit" gifs in response to that story. I can tell you now with certainty that she definitely has the spirit, and she's not confused anymore
When you try to talk about enshittification, it sounds like conspiracy theories. (I'm not crazy)
Amazon made their service worse, to force people to pay for Prime.
Nowadays, if you order from Amazon, there is a week long delay before your package is shipped. (on purpose)
I remember when orders would ship out the same day. (I remember - it was real)
YouTube didn't used to have ads. Now, ads play in the middle of videos. (it's worse than TV ever was)
The best can opener I have owned is over 40 years old. Modern ones just don't hold up as well. (The ones I bought new broke ages ago)
The bread machine my mom got for her wedding lasted 30 years. It's been replaced twice in the last 5 years. (How can you fuck this up?)
The cardboard tubes in the middle of toilet paper rolls have gotten larger. (This too?) Companies increasing the price of the product while selling you less. (REALLY?)
It sounds crazy. (it's the truth) When you talk about it, YOU sound crazy. (it's true)
Even when people believe you (do they really), all they can say is "it sucks". (it's too big) Because the problem is so big, so pervasive, what can we even DO about it???
To get the necessary laws written and passed, we need politicians, to get the politicians elected we need information campaigns, to fund campaigns we need money, and all the money is being hoarded by the people profiting from enshittification. (it sounds so fake)
So I talk about enshittification (it sounds crazy), so people don't forget that things have been made worse on purpose (it's true), even though I sound crazy. (maybe I am)
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Every day I handle more money than I will ever make. Every day.
At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.
At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.
“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.
The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.
I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.
I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.
I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht.
i wrote this while i was working at orlando’s walt disney world parks.
i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.
as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.
disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.
at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.
i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.
i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.
