Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

tempted to make a wager on it actually being the end times in the form of maxxing out all my credit cards on art commissions of rubber and plastic raccoons

I'm still trying to get over the fact Shemp acknowledged his name. I really did not expect that video to go that way. I'm actually a little disappointed he didn't cooperate, because I have in fact gone "SHEMP! SHEMP! HEY CAT! CAT! YOU! CAT" at him for upwards of literally five minutes and it would have been freaking hilarious.

@JulieSqveakaroo (back out, rather -- i finally realized you're talking about them hiding out indoors -- i am not bright this morning)

@JulieSqveakaroo Oh dear. That's worrisome, yeah, but the point about cats still stands -- here's hoping the almighty power of the food dish brings them back home! *hug*

peg raised a real good point about the potentially ugly argument that seems to have been resolved cordially and catfully :)

this would have been so much harder at 280 characters at a time, praying things didn't escalate before i could get the "but on the other hand, you do have a point" part of my argument out

it's just so much fucking easier to have a debate stay civil here, where we don't have to talk in fucking soundbites >___<

and it doesn't hurt that we have a community of people from whom empathy -- many colossal failures of such though we've seen in this community, including mine -- is a core value

anyhow ty and ily <3

@mawr That is an A+ answer, mawr. Yet again you have erred by being TOO wholesome. <3

@JulieSqveakaroo Oh man, that's... that's a recognizable fear. *hugs tight* Best of luck to you and Stormy!

Just remember the inspiring tale of Umbra... EIGHT FREAKIN' MONTHS I fretted myself to a nub over that little knight of a cat. If there's one thing I've learned from researching "community cats," it's that their resilience should never be underestimated.

@mawr @Phorm

There. See, Youtube?" It's not that freakin hard to process a kitty pic...

As promised:

https://streamable.com/ob4ywv

@mawr And here's a video version of the book I was referencing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo

Which reminds me that I forgot to add "What Color Is Your Parachute" to my above litany...

@mawr @Phorm God damn it, Awoo won't let me upload the cat video I just took so you'll have to take my word for it that a minor miracle of positivity did occur:

For the first time in our acquaintence, I said Shemp's name to him -- granted, 5 or 6 times -- and he ACTUALLY LOOKED UP TO ACKNOWLEDGE ME.

If that's not proof that "impossible" good things can come out of nowhere, I dunno what the fuck is. 😼​

@mawr @Phorm If Shemp licking himself isn't positive enough for you both, IDKWTLF you want out of my life. 😽​

@mawr @Phorm oh and just in case my goodwill is not 100 clear i am taking the conciliatory kitty pics as we speak because you are both still good creatures :D

@mawr @Phorm That... uh... is not untrue but really not my point at all? I am just responding to your flat dismissal that such a thing is even possible, which is unfair to people who feel they've suffered from it.

I am not talking about "hey guys anybody got kitty pics" or "if we all stick together we'll get through this" or even "you know we are probably not DOOMED" all of which you should know by now I see the value of.

It's the toxic positivity of telling a terminal patient who's suffering that they HAVE to "fight" and do chemo because YOU need them to, even when their odds are 1 in 500 (like my parents did to my brother). It's the toxic positivity of telling a CFIDS patient "oh, everybody gets tired at work, it's nothing to complain about." It's the toxic positivity of The Secret telling you you're sick because of your negative attitude. It's the toxic positivity of a culture that won't talk about the fact we're all mortal and death is real. It's the toxic positivity of "let's all be color blind" and "all lives matter."

That's all I was saying, and... yeah. I'm QUITE happy to just drop this because I do sympathize with the worldview you pounced to defend here. I just react badly when someone says something I am concerned about simply does not exist -- ngl, it's straight up Transliminal trauma speaking and I do apologize if it sounded like I was assaulting your own FDA GRAS brand of mostly healthy positivity.

@mawr @Phorm if you dont think toxic positivity is "a thing" i strongly suggest you read barbara ehrenreich's "smile or die"

Huh. I just got a $60 rebate from my old Washington healthcare plan because they failed to meet some ACA standard for healthcare vs. corporate investment.

I'm gonna miss civilization.

The older I get, the more I sympathize with this classic Comedy Bang Bang bit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHIegpSmIyw

I was 45 years old when I realized that Norman Wilson from The Wire was Smilin' Al Gorithm from Square One TV.

(Reg E. Cathey RIP. :( )

(This opinion may or may not be caused in part by biases instilled from DEEP SEATED HATRED of my ex-girlfriends dipshit ancap space nut filker friends :p )

@LexYeen@snouts.online "Soviet candy bars killed twice as many people*, checkmate liberal scum!"

* this factoid will of course prove to be based entirely on a single chocolate factory explosion in 1957 that was caused by the CIA** and when you point this out, the Skittles apologist will immediately ghost the thread

** Confectionary Imperialism Agency

I'm answering this here instead of Reddit, because Reddit and I are Unhello at the moment...

Somebody asked "Does it depress anyone knowing that we may *never* grow into the technologically advanced society we see in Star Trek and that we may not even leave our own solar system?"

And my answer is "No, for the same reason it doesn't depress me knowing we will never be raptured into heaven, never discover the Secret City Of The Enlightened at the core of the earth, and never meet the Green Sex-Bee Maidens Of Venus."

Interstellar travel -- in anything resembling a form comfortable or even recognizable for modern humans -- is the stuff of science fantasy. We didn't know that then. We know that now. The rest of the cosmos is huge, unspeakably hostile, and utterly impractical to aspire for.

Let's just accept it and fix our own damn planet instead.