I have no pity to spare for thee...

And thank you!!

Here's your snippet:

Charles couldn't help it. The magic weighed him down in such despair that his thoughts kept circling back to Edwin the last time he'd seen him. Charles could not speak, couldn't even make a muffled sound and Edwin had said useless.

Is he damaged beyond repair or just temporarily useless?

Even though they'd shared a look that said this was a lie, this was a charade, this was only because revealing Edwin's hand too soon could get then both trapped in this place forever, it still felt devastating.

Charles had worked so hard to not be useless. It was the shadow that he could never get away from, it was waiting for him around every corner, threaded into every case, woven into every interaction with Edwin, his best mate and the most brilliant boy in the world.

The boy who had, however deceptively, used that shadow word that pinned Charles against the floor.

And it pisses you off because bruh how am I supposed to practice this shit if I can't even do this first couple of fucking lines to make a good cylinder.

And then you start drawing and it sucks and you keep doing it, and you learn new skills and tricks, and you even end up developing an art style naturally (which they told you you would do, and you didn't believe them, but it came free with the constantly drawing in a way that made you comfortable and learning the medium).

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” is a trap. It means there’s a good chance the officer doesn’t actually have a good reason to ticket you, and is trying to get you to waive your 5th Amendment rights and incriminate yourself. If you make a guess, that’s a confession of guilt.

Dr. Mensah, Dr. Bharadwaj, Dr. Ratthi, Pin-Lee, etc.

It's come to my attention that I never posted the parasol I made for Pride LAST spring! (which also came home with a blue ribbon from a local fair last fall.) I'm much more into bright rainbows with fuchsia pink than the traditional red rainbows, so I fell deeply in love with this yarn immediately.

Pattern is Starflower Parasol by Jenny Amos/bythebeachcrochet, with additional inspiration taken from Marcus Miller/chiaroscurity_designs, who also made the cute rainbow umbrella earrings I'm wearing in this picture of me.

Yarn is Scheepjes Whirl 792 Rainbow Popsicle. It didn't take a whole cake of yarn, so I separated it into mini balls of yarn to be sure I got through all the colors.

Crystals were added using jump rings, and the parasol frame came from Umbrella Joan; it's the 10-spoke Georgia Parasol Frame.

It feels like a uniquely American capitalist take to assume these traditions will make you completely self sufficient. You need a lot of people, a lot of time, a lot of knowledge across a lot of subjects, and a lot of luck to provide for everyone's nutritional needs.

So should you even bother trying to be more self sufficient with your food? I argue yes. Foraging and gardening are fun and will teach you so much about many things. They are deeply rewarding activities that can supplement your diet. There are herbs I haven't bought in years because I grow my own. There are dishes I can only make with foraged ingredients because I can't get them in stores.

It's all very "rugged individualist" in a way that's both dangerous and unrealistic. For example, the propaganda is that homesteaders did it all themselves, built cities from nothing, etc. etc. Reality is that they had significant support from the federal government. That's before getting into the racism/genocide of it.

Anyway, I love gardening as a hobby. Great way to get outside, be active, etc. It'll help you learn more about food production and your local environment, and plenty of places will also have gardening groups where you can meet friends.

In addition to this, they also had massive trade networks. So not only was it a community level undertaking versus a single individual or family, it was an undertaking between communities.

July magic, Switzerland

It’s the way Wentworth talks to Mrs. Musgrove about her dead son. He knows better than anyone that Dick Musgrove was a useless good-for-nothing, that it was a piece of “good fortune” for his family “to lose him before he reached his twentieth year.” His first reaction to Mrs. Musgrove talking about “poor Richard” to him is to laugh inwardly–but. Instead of laughing at her, he goes over and sits next to Mrs. Musgrove and speaks to her so kindly and patiently–“with so much sympathy and natural grace, as shewed the kindest consideration for all that was real and unabsurd in the parent’s feelings.”

Austen goes on for two paragraphs about how ridiculous Mrs. Musgrove looks while lamenting over her idiot son, and the entire time, Wentworth is keeping a completely straight face, focusing only on the fact that this woman is sincerely upset and he can relieve her feelings a little by showing compassion.