if you are a parent, or may become one, or you are otherwise likely to arrive in the situation of caring for a child while they eat, promise me this: if a child doesn't like a certain food or food group, you will ask them WHY. and specifically, you will pay attention to either confirming or ruling out "it makes my mouth itch" or "it makes my stomach hurt," both of which are medically important info that children may not provide unprompted. which i know because this PSA has been brought to you by "i spent my entire childhood and much of my early teens eating peas and lentils while wondering why everyone else liked the Violently Itchy Mouth Sensation so much, like were they a bunch of legume masochists or something, before i finally realized that Violently Itchy Mouth Sensation was in fact a sinister demon appearing only to me, and her true demonic name was: Legume Allergy"
As an aside consider asking how your kid perceives foods they DO enjoy, as someone who DID enjoy Painful Mouth Sensation and assumed Mundane Food (Cilantro) was just one of many Spicy Spices a'la cayenne pepper. And did not figure this out until I was an adult, eating cilantro rice with my mom and laughing about how it was especially fresh because it was so spicy. And her going. "What?"
i know in my heart that post-outing, ilya is using the FUCK out of "because you are homophobic?" when he's not getting his way
you will not let him have the seat he wants on this bus? ah, he sees. clearly the homophobia.
you will not give him the lemon-lime gatorade and are trying to keep it for yourself? you think gays should have to drink only fruit punch? he is telling twitter IMMEDIATELY.
you will not come cuddle with him instead of doing the dishes? just because he is queer? "ilya, i am literally your gay husband." "yes, violence from within the alphabet is the worst kind. 😔" "🙄"
i feel like the youth should be reminded that the point of shipping is not for a ship to become canon. the point of shipping is to collect all the canon crumbs like starved mice, run away cackling and make some fun little scenarios with them just for the hell of it.
in new zealand, our evil government are trying to legislate definitions of women and men, in ways that are legally incoherent but clearly trying to pave the way for more horrifically transphobic legislation. we have an election in a few months but our main opposition party, and all our mainstream news media, are so spineless and cooked that there's a good chance the ghouls will win reelection.
it took 2 whole months for local terf group 'speak up for women' to get 2,000 signatures on the petition that led to this new bill in our parliament.
it's taken five days for this pro-trans 'they don't speak for us' petition to get 17,000 signatures.
this is a show of support that is really heartening for a lot of trans people in our corner of the world.
cis/ish women, if you're from here but haven't signed yet, please do. and if you're not from here and you know any new zealanders, could you send them this petition? a full fifth of our population lives overseas, and there's a good chance they don't follow the news.
nobody needs to know your real name or your hometown or where you work or your home country or your race or ethnicity or skin color or phone number or the name of your first pet or the model of your first car or your mother’s maiden name or how many siblings you have or what school you go to or your credit card number
first post for context / see the tag 'open relationship au' for more snippets.
2014
It's been two weeks since they last ate dinner together. The last time they did, they got into a stupid argument about something Shane can't even remember and Brian ended up storming out and sleeping at his own place. They met up for a short lunch the next week and made up, but they haven't been able to spend any substantial amount of time alone together since.
Shane is determined for tonight to go well. He got food delivered from Brian's favorite restaurant and picked up a bottle of his favorite wine to pair it with. He even busted out the candles. He's not the best boyfriend, he knows, but he can at least show Brian that he's trying.
Brian seems to be on the same page, because he shows up with a bouquet of flowers and an apologetic smile. He swoops Shane in for a passionate kiss on the doorstep, sending Shane's heart fluttering.
They sit down to eat and it's nice. Cozy in its familiarity. There's still some tension lingering between them but for the first time in two weeks, Shane feels confident they can work through it.
There's a lull in the conversation and Brian straightens, looking uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"You okay?" Shane asks, reaching for him across the table.
Brian takes his hand, squeezing it gratefully. "I'm fine. Just... thinking."
"About?"
"There's something I've been meaning to bring up," Brian says. "I'm just not sure how to say it."
"You could just say it," Shane suggests with a wry smile. He prefers to be told things bluntly and clearly, even when the topic is uncomfortable.
"Right. Things haven't been great between us lately, have they?"
Shane straightens, stomach clenching. He wants to pull his hand back, but Brian is still holding onto it tightly. "I guess so," he agrees reluctantly.
Brian's not about to break up with him, is he?
It would be ideal timing, Shane recognizes distantly. The season is over, he'd have all summer to get over it before he's back on the ice. Or maybe next week would have been better, after the MHL awards in Vegas.
"I think part of the problem is we have so little time together," Brian says, pulling Shane's mind back. "We get frustrated in our time apart, and we take it out on each other."
That's not true, Shane wants to say. Brian's always the one to snap, the one to escalate a disagreement into a fight. But even as he's thinking it, Shane knows he's not being fair. They have different styles of communication, and Shane's bottling up of his emotions is no better than Brian's explosive anger.
"We've also been together for so long," Brian continues. "And I'm afraid we might have fallen into bad patterns."
"Are you breaking up with me?"
The words burst out of him without permission. Shane feels stupid and childish as soon as he's said them.
"Oh, babe," Brian says, squeezing his hand tighter. "Of course not. I love you and I want to be with you."
Relief floods Shane. He manages to give Brian a wobbly smile, which Brian returns, raising Shane's hand to his lips and kissing it.
"I was just thinking... how would you feel about opening up the relationship?"
Shane blinks. For a long moment, he doesn't understand what Brian is saying. It's such a foreign concept to him, a thing he knows other couples do but he never would have thought he'd need to consider.
"What?"
"I think it would be really good for us," Brian says. "Your schedule is so crazy and we can't always line up our free nights. I think this could really take the pressure off for when do find time to be together."
This must be a nightmare. "You want to fuck other people?"
"I want us both to be able to enjoy new experiences. It wouldn't mean we love each other any less. It would just be sex, no strings attached."
"I don't -" Shane's voice catches in his throat. He feels vaguely nauseous. "Are you tired of me?"
Brian pulls back his hand. "Of course not. Jesus, Shane, don't be so close-minded. I know you're surrounded by hockey people all the time and it's a really conservative culture, but open relationships aren't anything unusual. Most of my gay friends are in ones."
"They are?"
"Yeah. And if anything, it brings them closer together."
Shane can't believe he's considering this, but. He's still not over the shock of thinking Brian was about to break up with him. That the person he's been with his entire adult life, the person who's loved and supported him since before he was drafted, could be gone from his life just like that.
If Shane says no, will Brian just break up with him anyway?
"We can try it out," Shane says cautiously. "But I'm not sure - I don't know if I could sleep with someone else."
Briefly, inexplicably, Rozanov flashes through his mind. Shane's heart jumps and he chases the thought away.
Brian gets up, rounding the table to pull Shane in for a kiss. "You're so sweet, but don't say yes just for my benefit. This could be good for both of us. You should at least try."
"...Okay."
Shane can't say he's comfortable with the idea. It feels too much like cheating. But then, he wasn't exactly comfortable with sleeping with Brian at first, either, and that turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life.
Brian smiles at him fondly, stroking Shane's cheek with his thumb. "If it helps, you can think of it like practicing for a game."
The implication sits sour in Shane's gut but he ignores it. Brian's just trying to put it in terms Shane will relate to.
Brian stays the night. Once he's gone, having given Shane a lingering kiss goodbye, Shane pulls up his phone.
He scrolls down to Rozanov's contact. It still feels wrong, but Brian hasn't just given his blessing. He's explicitly encouraged Shane to seek someone else out for no-strings attached sex and if there's one person Shane knows is reliable for it, it's Rozanov.
Besides, it's not like Shane's swimming in other options.
Shane keeps this firmly in mind as he types out his message, ignoring the way his stomach twists in anticipation. He's not excited about this, he reminds himself. This is just an experiment, something he's doing because it will please Brian.
Could we meet up at the awards in private?
His phone buzzes a couple of minutes later with Rozanov's reply.
if you promise not to be a sore loser when i win mvp 😈
+
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alright I've got to do some quick math to explain attitudes towards AI to my boss.
we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)
please rb for larger sample size!
Question 1/3
What is your age, and do you feel AI is a net positive or net negative in our lives today?
I’m gonna be so fuckin real I don’t actually care what actors, authors, anything creators say about shipping-wise with their characters
I have been a crackshipping rarepair fiend since I was a wee tiny thing, canon means nothing to me!
fandom shipping is for fandom. it does not need word of god from creators for us to enjoy it.
ship the things you like, the things that you vibe with, the things that you pick up from the characters. play with the dolls however you like! don’t let canon stop you!
(and also if you don’t like certain ships or whatever, simply don’t engage with them. we are all allowed to play with the dolls as we wish.)
Further context: Durham city council (Reform UK) cut funding and support for Pride. The Durham Miner's Association and other trade unions raised enough money for Durham Pride 2026 to go ahead - a direct call back to when Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) raised money for mining communities when Margaret Thatcher seized union funding during the miner strikes of 1984-85.
At the 1985 Labour party meet, the motion to support LGBT rights as a party was passed due to a block vote from mining unions.
Stephen Guy, the chair of the Durham Miners’ Association, said that when it became apparent Durham Pride was under threat, he took it upon himself to “encourage the trade union movement to step up and do the right thing, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT+ community […] They not only raised funds for us, but came to our communities, uplifted our spirits when they were down, and showed their solidarity.”
