Real life ranting…

I am beginning to question why I contact the police about anything anymore outside of my car insurance company wanting a police report. I’ve lived in the same apartment five years, the last two I’ve had three cases of a catalytic converter being stolen. (Twice on my older car, once on the new used car I bought three months ago.) 

What really sucks about this is this last time, it was done in broad daylight. Actually during a time if we weren’t running behind we would have met them at my car as we came out moments after they left. 

They live close by as they came by once, had to leave for 10 - 15 minutes to get a different tool and come back to finish the job. In their hurry to scramble out of their car and under mine, they knocked some papers out of their car. Papers that were all to the same individual, bank statements, bills, car parts and vehicle sales for cash… 

So I gave the police the video footage and all the paperwork. I was told yesterday, “Well we tried to call him twice and he didn’t answer, our hands are tied.” 

I just… I just don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t afford to keep getting my car repaired (the older one they would hack off almost the entire pipe in the process and rip up wiring) and while this new one wasn’t as expensive to fix since they just need to cut into a heat guard to get the part, I just don’t have that kind of money to regularly be letting a dude that lives less than 2 miles away help himself to parts of my car. It just blows my mind on how little is being done. It also scares me to death that if we left on time, what if they had weapons and attacked us when we caught them at my car?

I know walk out every time and have to frantically check underneath it, look at all the tires, etc. I’m so afraid of something else happening. (I say check the tires because for the older car, I couldn’t afford to have a new catalytic converter placed in it, they did too much damage ripping out the pipe from the front end to the back so we settled on replacing the pipe, putting the shell back on for when I could afford to put the part in I could do it once I paid off that balance. A year later, that entire pipe was hacked off, empty shell and all. Next day, the same person stabbed my tires. Again, all footage went to the police and I never heard anything again about it. I was actually really hopeful this time since I had all those papers that fell out of their car.)  

[lokihiddleston]

  › request by anonymous

[lokihiddleston]

STUDIOS ASSEMBLED - LOKI SERIES
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Bonus

[frownyalfred]

I love how all of the Batman villains are like “ah he’s not at the manor, it’s defenseless! and then alfred just racks an AK-47 and is like pull up bitch

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Batman’s Villains: The butler will be easy prey!

He’s just an old man…he doesn’t have any of the Batman’s gadgets or training or fighting skills!

Alfred: Oh my you’re right

There’s something else of Master Bruce’s I don’t have as well

(Cocks a shotgun) A CODE AGAINST KILLING

[welshronin]

Batman’s Villains: Wayne isn’t here to save you old man!

Alfred:

[dragonpuppies]

Alfred is the original “Call an ambulance — but not for me”

[frownyalfred]

@dragonpuppies I spent way too long on this

[qwertyu858]

[trader-j0e]

[a-boy-too-weird]

Bruce: I have a code.

Alfred: And I have a gun.

[prolifeproliberty]

Batman needs to respect Alfred’s right to bear arms.

[garrettauthor]

“And you’ll never find them all” is so fucking hilarious and a power move.

[daddys-littlewhitegirl]

Alfred is the true superhero, Batman is his sidekick

[veeaziel]

every day i am percieved™️

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

There is a reason for this though!

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I’m glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love–the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail. The fact that you find joy in the process of reading (or listening!) to stories–that is what matters.

[timeywimeywerewolf]

I feel understood 🥰

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

a bunch of people have reblogged this with the default “i feel called out” reaction….and i know when we say that we mean it tongue-in-cheek….but this comment sorta blew my mind & shifted my perspective up and to the left a little thank you♥

[moremetalthanyourmom]

Okay but after seeing this I started doing it too and it’s amazing how many men I’ve run into bc they expected me to move

[youcangofindatree]

Gotta try it

[clevermanka]

I work (and walk) on a college campus. I’ve lost count of how many men I’ve smacked shoulders with.

[emmagrant01]

Recently, I was standing outside my son’s classroom waiting to talk to his teacher. I stood on one side of the hallway, not even close to the center. At some point, a man came walking along. I was standing right in his path, but the hallway was empty, so I logically expected him to swerve around me. Instead he kept walking right toward me, got to me, and stopped, as if waiting for me to get out of his way. I didn’t; I just smiled politely at him. He finally walked around me, clearly annoyed that I hadn’t leapt out of his manly path.

Now I’m wishing I’d leapt aside, taken off my jacket and laid it on the floor before him, then bowed deeply and said, “My Liege!”

[mercurialkitty]

I also work at a college campus. I smack shoulders sometimes, but I find that if I stare straight ahead and follow the advice below, people get the heck out of the way.

[songbirde108]

Honestly this post changed how I carry myself when walking alone in public, or in a situation where I’m the one leading. People definitely move for the murder gaze.

[onethingconstant]

Confirmed. I once had to rush back inside a convention hall as the con was closing in order to a retrieve a sick friend’s medication, and I didn’t understand why people in the crowd were jumping out of my way (literally—one guy vaulted a table) until I realized I was dressed as the Winter Soldier and doing the Murder Walk because that’s just how I walk in those boots. I got the meds, got out, and made a mental note.

I repeated the experiment later, wearing the boots but otherwise my usual clothing and mimicking the expression I thought I’d had at that moment. People parted like I was Charlton Heston.

I now wear that style of boots whenever possible. I recently had a man do a double-take as I walked by and ask me, politely, where I had served because I “looked like a soldier.” I’m not current or former military. I was wearing a flowy purple peasant top and looked as un-soldierlike as possible.

Moral of the story: wear comfortable shoes, square your shoulders, and walk like you’ve been sent to murder Captain America.

[reddobastard]

WALK LIKE YOU’VE BEEN SENT TO MURDER CAPTAIN AMERICA

[retroasgardian]

Originally posted by soldieronsteve

Originally posted by theimpossibleg1rl

Originally posted by jlstreck

[blossombarnes]

It’s called the Murder Strut.

[elegantmess100]

IT’S BACK!!!!!! I was searching for this to show my daughter the other day and couldn’t find it. I’m so glad IT’S BACK!! I will always reblog the Murder Strut!!

[little-miss-stan]

A guy on a bike went around me because he could tell I had no intention of moving. Thanks to this post.

[linkedsoul]

One day and I bumped into a guy while doing the Murder Strut and he apologized to me even though I was the one who had bumped into him.

It works wonders.

[phoenixonwheels]

In case you were wondering, yes you can do this in a wheelchair. Same look in your eyes and let ‘em know you will run them down. Just picture yourself in a sports car accelerating towards someone with the intention of flattening them.

If there’s anything more satisfying than watching Abled men leap out of my way when they realize I’m not moving for them, I can’t think of it atm.

[sapphic-pink-kryptonite]

Originally posted by lucylawlessrocks

[seperis]

Walk like you’ve been sent to murder Captain America.

Wheel like you’re gonna win the Indy 500 and don’t care how.

Your crutches are short swords; walk like you can see them buried in the bodies of anyone who crosses (in front of) you.

Tumblr: teaching women how to be Moses and part the fucking Red Sea with the power of their minds.

[taraljc]

I had never seen these updates to the Patriarchy Chicken Game before and they are all a goddam DELIGHT

[inconstantsearchofperfection]

My walk used to be based on the Millennium Falcon in the Empire Strikes Back… going thrue the asteroid field: me spinning around people and dodging and changing course.

It still is. I get the fuck out of everyone else s way as a show of fucking respect . And if it comes down to a tall silver haired skinny older dude and a lady … I get the fuck out of the lady’s way first. Then obviously, the dudes.

But it is true.

Watch … for an example… the grocery store.

Men almost always go in a n aggressive ish ly beeline all over the store. And ( yes ) they expect people to get out of their way.

And they do it like : “ get out the fucking way ”.

It s unconscious.

[the-soot-sprite]

The pain of this...

[lokihiddleston]

TOM HIDDDLESTON as LOKI LAUFEYSON in ‘Loki series’

— Official Clip Disney+

[pointedahead]

Big mood.

[littlefreya]

Ahahaha yes!!!! My manager is always “hey guys, let’s all turn on our cams….”