Kittybard

And rolling ankles over literally nothing >.<

And running one's hands/fingers/elbows into door jambs/counters/furniture

And tripping over one's own feet

Tbh, given how often I accidentally hurt myself, it kinda makes sense how thoughts disappear at room transitions; gotta not die first XP

"We would have lost so much if we'd driven him away" is the justification.

But we lost all those girls. We lost the women they would have become. We lost the work they would have done. Why was his future work so much more valuable than theirs?

This had never occurred to me before, and the more I think about it the more terrifying it is

Nopenopenopenope

Juggling an incredibly neurodivergent cast is already plenty

Add in things like the distinct stubble that a bunch of the guys had, and a few instances of really nice sideburns?

I saw a lot of goals

Took me a long time to realize as such, but now I can look back and understand what pinged for me, what demanded my attention, moved me to watch each day

But then you look at the sweepers' arms while they're sweeping, and how the musculature from their hands to their toes reveals itself

And I'm like damn

I don't necessarily want to be as lean as these guys

But I want that sort of strength that just melts out of nowhere and is made manifest

The intensity with which they're considering their throws, well past the moment their hand leaves the handle, and call how the sweepers need to manage the rock's motion

Paired with how gently they look like they're throwing these ~40lb rocks

And the guys don't look terribly remarkable at a glance

They didn't *look* like Olympians the way many athletes do

You can kinda spot the gymnasts and swimmers and skaters and rowers and runners and such, with the physiques their sports encourage

But the curlers? They looked like dudes

Pretty fit dudes, but dudes

And then the brooms came out

I forget now whether it was the Swedes or the Finns or maybe even soneone else, but one of those teams had like 3 dudes who have stuck in my head as goals

Mom poked fun at me for oggling the eye candy, but now I understand that wasn't what was going on at all

I wanted to *be* more like them

For 3 or 4 glorious hours each afternoon/evening, they'd have uninterupted curling coverage

Instead of dragging my heels to 'miss' the bus and hang out afterschool, I rushed home each day so I could watch (while nominally doing homework)

The women were also great, but my eyes were glued to the men

In retrospect, one of my earliest clear "I wish I could be like that" moments is associated with the Olympics

When I was in middle school iirc, the Winter Olympics coverage was mangled by NBC such that it was impossible to just watch a damn event start to finish

Except

Curling, on USA network

Perhaps everyone's getting a little zealous in their support of starving artists?

'Why not add makeup? Pair with a cuter top? Wear cuter shoes? Or why not wear different-colored pants than normal?' (khakis before menarche, then stretch jeans)

I just wanted swishy skirts damnit; I felt (and feel) joy wearing them

Swishy things make me happy, and are fun with ADHD fidgets

They still haven't gotten around to sorting through that issue, though tbf they are beyond busy (emotional crutch for fam + high school teacher + running a club + playing in like 2 D&D campaigns)

I've loved swishy skirts, but hated pressures around them; remove the pressures and I'm free to embrace

One raised-masc enby friend, who's always been a fan of pastel + other brightly-colored pants/shorts, tried on one of my skirts while visiting last year

They kinda BSOD'ed afterwards, running into the mental wall of that's-not-something-guys-wear (note: grew up with 4 older sisters + single mom)

Ime, the very pretty xianxia protagonists only really fail to serve for those who want body hair and/or to not get stabbed by their joints XD

I think re: enby skirts and dresses, part of it's about whether you've been pressured to embrace them or reject them, and then rederiving it for yourself

(One not-entirely-cis friend said he'd trade me his sideburns for some pairs of white capris; if the tech comes far enough we're speedrunning that shit XD)

But I'm low-key dreading unpacking whether I'm actually attracted to guys

Cuz I think a nonzero part of it is wanting to be more like them <.<

Unpacking all that did open up more fun clothing, though

I've come to describe it as my gender switch has two positions: 'yes' and 'none'

That opened up swishy skirts etc. again, plus opened up pinks as happy colors! (But I still need more masc options to pair with them, which is a pain)

Oh hey

(But from the opposite direction, and a slightly different inflection)

Turns out I'm enby, possibly transmasc enby (who's trying to find a way to trial low dose T but that's proving to be a pain in the dick; currently waiting to see an endocrinologist)

Loot that drops after defeating me:

- A Chirp wheel
- A half-eaten plain bagel + cream cheese
- A Brita water bottle that probably needs to go through the dishwasher
- A Yellow Submarine
- A trove of fun factoids and puns likely to make your audience lament language's existence
- Too much cat fur

More accessible design being baked in from the start means less friction during even those finite flavors of fuckeries, much less the permanent/totally life-altering ones!

Everyone's accommodation needs are going to vary; this is not a 'solve once' prob

But it can very much be a 'solve much less'

Plus, even before considering aging, most folks go through transient disability states throughout life (e.g. TBI + recovery, musculoskeletal injury, pregnancy, cancer, a 'flu' that sticks around and keeps kicking your ass, mono, pneumonia, cholecystitis/apendicitis/kidney stones, shingles, etc.)

And baked-in systemic hostility tends to perpetuate those dynamics

Gov funding/initiatives etc. are vital partly cuz at least gov can throw enough money to shift cost-benefit enough to push adoption of accessibility tech

But even then, it's usually an afterthought, and far more costly for it

It's one of my longtime frustrations with how disability advocacy vs. implementation is handled

Sure, disabled folks can be 'advocates' (or other terms people use as proxy excuses to ignore informed feedback)

But "it's too expensive!"

Or implementation's handled by folks with little/no experience

Lentil Curry - mega flavour lentil recipe! Hot contender for the best lentil recipe ever - creamy coconut Lentil Curry that's a streamlined version of Indian Dahl. Few ingredients, BIG flavours!

Another find from Bree's comments in a souper cubes thread, lentil curry

Also freezes okay, great with rice or polenta, and very satisfying

www.recipetineats.com/lentil-curry...

Huge bonus: it's yummy and warm, you can increase the quantity of kale and it's still yummy, and if you're cooking for one then a batch goes a fair ways

Housemate and I would make it more often if my body didn't pitch so many fits over existence

ziti chickpeas with sausage and kale Hearty chickpeas, sausage, and kale are simmered in a spicy tomato sauce then finished with melted and blistered mozzarella and pecorino. We like to scoop it onto garlic bread, but it’s also fantas…

Someone shared this chickpea ziti in one of Bree's threads a while back

Portions freeze/cook easily (freze before adding cheese; oven ~350F to heat it through most of the way, add your cheese, boom)

smittenkitchen.com/2025/02/ziti...

Squaredle Squaredle is a daily word building game. Swipe letters in the grid to test your vocabulary every day and rise to the top of the leaderboards!

If word puzzles are more your speed but you want to avoid NYT stuff, may I recommend Squaredle?

Ever since I was a kid, word puzzles/cryptograms/etc. have helped soothe me when my brain is trying to self-immolate

squaredle.app

Fwiw, I've got a dude who's nicknamed Moustache in my WIP

Everything else is US English, but the term 'moustache' is specifically is British English because Mustache does not have the same vibes as Moustache

I also keep getting dinged for 'ought have' --> 'ought to have'

Oooooh, I've been meaning to get around to Rakesfall! (The Saint of Bright Doors was fantastic!)

I'm not gonna have enough room to shout y'all out, but there's a bunch of y'all that are "that" author, to me
@tkingfisher.com
@nghivo.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com
@alixeharrow.bsky.social
@wiswell.bsky.social
@diane.dianeduane.com
@chucktingle.bsky.social
@clpolk.com
@tobiasbegley.bsky.social