miss me?

friend: oh like romantically?

me: no. like cursed object passed between hands for centuries, they are cosmically linked, probably bonded by blood ritual, I think they’ve fought in a war together in at least three lifetimes, and their souls make direct eye contact every time they breathe in the same room

friend: so… romantically?

what really got me was angel immediately registering what happened but not understanding the context of it. all he knew was that husk just fully hit him

“what the fuck, husk, did you just punch me?”

angel instantly is so angry at husk, and probably ever so slightly betrayed too

but angel realizes what was going on by LOOKING AT HUSK

the phrase "say her name" is to used honor and bring attention to the murders of black women by the police or the state.

That anti-abortion trafficking law that says if you bring a minor out-of-state for an abortion without parental permission? If successful, they’ll try it on adults next.

The ‘Kids Online Safety Act?’ If successful, they’ll monitor and censor content for adults, too.

The anti-trans healthcare for children Supreme Court case that’s going on right now? Same deal. If they can get it so they can deny trans kids care, that opens the door to prevent trans healthcare for adults, too.

I said, "That's just not true. Sometimes what doesn't kill you leaves you brittle and injured or traumatized."

He stopped and thought about that for a while. He came back later, and said, "It's like wood glue."

He pointed to my bookshelf, which he helped me salvage a while ago. He said, "Do you remember how I explained that, once we used the wood glue on them, the shelves would actually be stronger than they were before they broke?"

I did.

"But before we used the wood glue, those shelves were broken. They couldn't hold up shit. If you had put books on them, they would have collapsed. And that wood glue had to set awhile. If we put anything on them too early, they would have collapsed just the same as if we'd never fixed them at all. You've got to give these things time to set."

It sounded like a pretty good metaphor to me, but one thing I did pick up on was that whatever broke those shelves, that's not the thing that made them stronger. That just broke them. It was being fixed that made them stronger. It was the glue.