2022-03-13 - Snickerdoodles

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Put out a few extra cookies for me tonight? Really need a couple of days where nothing goes wrong, not even in the back yard.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Extra cookies, and I'll add some whiskey, too, just to be on the safe side. You doing ok? Need anything?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Are we sure we want drunk sidhe?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : You may have a point, now that you mention it. No bacchanalian sidhe orgies, pls. No whiskey.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'm mostly just exhausted. First I get used as a human tennis ball in that Bauer Building explosion, then that pirate mess? Love the Golden Age of Piracy. Mostly because it's 300 years back in time and there is no risk of it coming back.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : You really do have the worst luck. I'm just glad we weren't in the explosion, pirate-wise. No more explosions. You deserve a break, now.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Someone was joking the other day that there must be an Absurdist, and they're stalking me. Honestly, though? I knew I'd attract attention, getting involved with HOPE a lot. I just didn't think it would be this absurd. The other bloke they mostly tried to outright kill. Hell, they succeeded, only he got better, and I can't believe I just wrote that.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : ...

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Only in GH does 'killed but he got better' make any sense, and even then.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Sometimes when I am trying to give someone the welcome wagon speech I am forced to look at myself and the person I've become and all I can think is, this guy is certifiable.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Come to think of it, maybe this whole town is one of those mental asylums where it's all an elaborate ruse to make people accept what isn't real.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Or we're all on The Truman Show. Don't say the thought hasn't occurred to you.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Have you tried sailing to the edge? Beginning to feel like I need some proof here.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I haven't. But I have looked at what actually happens sometimes and thought, if this is some kind of ridiculously complex hoax, imagine the effects budget.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : The explosions, the very realistic ships, the costumes... just hope current dramas are enough to keep ratings high and maybe we can have a bit of quiet to balance it out now.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Even if you can somehow explain shared dream experiences like the one we just had with drugs or group hypnosis or whatever -- what about the things that happen in the waking world? The sudden explosion at the Bauer Building -- and a similar one in HOPE some months back, and ... hell, there's a lot of those. And the dragon in the park, and whatnot. I know it always does get explained -- gas leaks, escaped zoo animals and whatnot. But we were there, we felt it, we know what we felt and looked at and got run over by, you know?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : The HOPE 'gas leak' was the previous owner, his wife, and their friends, and believe me, they were the walking dead.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. I don't think I'm crazy. Not that crazy, anyway. Being fucked with, though? Absolutely.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : This town has an awful lot of gas leaks, that's all I'm saying.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah. We know what we felt. Know what just punched our lights out. But on a larger scale? It does feel like we're in some otherworldly reality show sometimes.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It really does. Not sure how that feels, really. All of this, for someone else's entertainment? Weird thought. Uncomfortable.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Sometimes I understand Vicky Barrett and her fanatical veganism. How she feels that if we don't like the Them doing this to us, we shouldn't do it to pigs and cows.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Then I remind myself that while I enjoy a steak, I don't poke it with sharp sticks and make the pig dance the hula for me first, for shit and giggles.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I hadn't thought of it like that. But... you have a

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ok, sort of a point. But also, that. No pigs dancing the hula.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Though if someone did do that, what's the bet we'd laugh too?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Brennon definitely pissed something off though. Or got its attention, whatever. Honestly? As long as there are dolphin shows and bull fighting arenas, maybe we shouldn't get too busy proclaiming our moral superiority.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That makes me nervous. How much more attention is she likely to get now?! Are they actively watching, now?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Point.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : If she keeps pushing the barrier of what's possible to do with healing, I suspect she may end up getting more than sticky notes, not going to lie.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That's the thing. I don't know her well, but... can't imagine she's the type to just stop.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : And I get wanting to know what's going on. She's a scientist, it's a question. But.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I think I know her about as well or not well as you do and -- nah. She's not. Someone who grew up in this crazy town either learned to keep their head down real well or they got used to the whole idea that everything is dangerous so might as well stick to their guns.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : This, exactly. So she's going to keep poking the bear.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I am asking myself whether it's common sense that makes me want to warn her off, or it's internalised oppression. Like when a woman tells another woman to cover up more and don't go to bars if you don't want to get assaulted by strange men. Putting the blame on the other woman instead of on the assaulter. And essentially turning it into a matter not of preventing assault, but of making someone else be the victim instead of you.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That's...

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ok, that analogy gave me pause.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Common sense says don't stick your hand in the fire. But internalised... whatever this is... might say, keep freezing, it's safer.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Because of course you're right.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It's not a perfect analogy. But it does have a bit of the same feeling sometimes. Some of the people who have been here all their lives do become -- kind of, just make sure it gets the other guy.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. It gives it some context, maybe. I'm so used to not having much power, so it's kind of a moot point? But when you do have it, and something denies it...

(TXT to Una) Ravn : We grow used to the idea that somebody has to get mauled by the bear, so instead of chasing off the bear, we shove the next guy in front.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : (Please no actual bear maulings, though.)

(TXT to Una) Ravn : That's why I'm not sure what to tell Brennon. Do I tell her to keep on pushing because she might end up discovering something that could become a literal cure to conditions like mine -- or do I tell her to stop rubbing barbecue sauce on her skin and running around a hungry bear?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : that... was a mental image right there.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ... I didn't mean it like that. I just tend to find that when I have to explain these things, waffling about it doesn't work. It's easy to start talking in light, none too descriptive terms, but it's a fact that there are things in the mist that see us as food.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Well, I don't think you do anything but admit your feelings on both sides. It's complicated. And whatever she does, probably talking it through with people will help her make a decision she's comfortable with.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Hahaha. Yes, no, I get that. It's an uncomfortable thing, but true.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Well, there's that. It's ultimately her call, she's the one putting her backside on the line if she chooses to do so. But I am trying to working through how I feel about it too -- because on some level, I stand to benefit from what she wants to do, and it does feel a bit like throwing some other guy to the bear.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Right. But it's not like you're begging her to do it. Or even asking her to.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : But I 100% get how it must feel complicated.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I think that if she asks my opinion I need to be ready to tell her yes, I think curing chronic conditions would be great, but she needs to understand the level of personal risk. And then make her own decision. Fact is, the Veil is not going to let us suddenly cure cancer and AIDS and what have you. In one rare case? Maybe. On a larger scale? It'd be too difficult to cover up, even with the reality revision powers we've seen.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : At a risk of causing some serious offence to people of faith: Last time somebody got away with curing the incurable and raising the dead, they created a religion around him.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. That makes sense to me.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ha. I mean, you have a point there too. Yes.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : And if you could cure all those things... imagine the pressure to do so.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It's a bit uncomfortable, thinking about it. The moral dilemma.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : And the price. I mean, believer or not, Jesus died in agony on the cross. Jesus of Nazareth is a historical figure. The man lived, he is not a literary construct. And he did die like that, and a religion did spring up to explain what happened. Whether you believe he was the son of God or that it's all a Veil cover-up for someone who managed to get away with it for a while doesn't really matter. What does matter is that if we managed to pull things like that? The impact would be massive, and the Veil would flat out not allow it.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'm sorry if I stepped on any religious feelings. I don't actually have much of an opinion on issues of faith. It's more that the impact on society would be so great that whether it was miracle or magic, we'd never be allowed.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Right, yes. And as fascinating as the idea is, of Jesus being like-- well, you know. You're right, it doesn't matter. Whether different things were possible, 2000 odd years ago is not the point. Ava is not going to be the next messiah or whatever, because the Veil wouldn't let it happen.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : The last bit is the important bit, yeah.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : But conversely, we don't have to internalise our abuse by stopping ourselves from trying anything that might improve our situation.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Right. Exactly. As long as people make the decision for themselves, how much risk they're willing to take.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It's ok for people to decide they're not comfortable walking home alone late at night, or wearing that skirt.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Not ok for other people to blame them for not doing so.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ... So, do you ever miss being a normal person who worries about the weather and their sports team and whether that guy at the bar was trying to flirt?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Only very occasionally. 😆

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah, pretty much. Sexual liberation doesn't mean you have to walk around naked and shag every bloke who asks. It means you can if you want to.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ok, I was very tempted to make a joke there about one of our other recent Dream experiences, but that was mortifying, so I'm not going to.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : (Sorry.)

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ... You don't get to hint at dirty jokes and then not make them. I hang out with Rosencrantz, believe me, I'm innoculated.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, but the actual joke wouldn't come together.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : -squint-

(TXT to Ravn) Una : ...

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That was not intentional.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I know I spend too much time with Rosencrantz, now I find myself wondering if that was an innuendo. Anyhow, yeah. Although, as long as the Dreams are just embarrassing as hell, no one gets hurt.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. I'm learning to deal with embarrassment. I probably won't ever stop blushing, but it's fine. Actual injury, less ok with that.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Speaking of... was that your boulder?!

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I've been propped into a corset and ridiculous heel and carried out a tower window, rescued by our very own action hero, Perdita Hood. I can handle embarrassment. I'll still blush and squirm and wish I could fall off the planet but I don't die from it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It's true. Humiliating won't actually kill you.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I -- am actually not sure what happened there. I can't throw things that big. I throw lighters, spoons, small things.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That was definitely not a small thing.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Maybe gravity got turned down temporarily.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I've noticed I make myself not think about those things. The people who died, I mean. I think I need to believe that they're essentially props and constructs for the set. Until I see some kind of evidence otherwise, I'm going to stick with that.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I... yeah. My brain will probably shut down if I think too hard about them being actual people.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Hell if I know. There's been a couple of other things lately. Older folks here do keep saying that the longer you stay around, the stronger you get. I used to think it obviously didn't apply to me since I wasn't exactly throwing heavy rocks around but I might be wrong.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I guess you could test it, sometime? Try moving something big when not asleep.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah. We can test a few things sometime no one is in bed injured or trying to cope with the relief of not being on that damned ship when it blew, or something.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yes. No need to poke that particular bear right at this moment.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I'm still trying to recover from the chafing.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : One of the first really powerful Dream experiences I had here, I was with several others in front of a couple of Aztec gods and a horde of zombies. We had to... treat those zombies much like a meat grinder. I mean, it was exactly the kind of gory mess you'd expect. I remember waking up and having to tell myself, it's not real, they are not real, if they were real, there'd be a knee deep mess of guts and blood on the marina now, and there isn't.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ooof.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ... I sympathise. Those breeches did not get more comfortable by getting wet, believe me.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Una : The explosion was bad enough, and weren't in proximity enough for... flying body parts or anything.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Meat grinder... I'll pass.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Honestly never thought much about the idea of breast binding before. That looked uncomfortable as all hell.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Me either, until then. I have huge, huge, HUGE empathy for trans men now, and anyone else who has to do it on the regular.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Parts of it are obviously real when we know that an injury sustained in a Dream will carry over. But I do firmly believe that most of the others, the things that aren't us, are constructs. That we're not actually known in other dimensions and realities as those murderous humans.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It does make one a bit more sympathetic to the idea that 'passing' is ridiculous, doesn't it? A trans man shouldn't have to pay for his identity with being in constant pain.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I have to believe that too. Else my conscience will never recover.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It really does. No one should have to pay for their identity with constant pain. I mean, ideally no one should have to deal with constant pain. But to have the choice of the pain or not being who you actually are... fuck that.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Fuck the idea that you're not a real man if you don't have specific physical characteristics, anyhow. Or a real woman, or whatever. That's one effect I've noticed from all of this: People either grow a lot more tolerant, or they turn into complete assholes. Ever noticed how many of us are queer in some way or other? I think on some level all those issues become a lot less significant when you live like we do. Does it really matter what the plumbing is like, if you meet someone to cling to?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, fuck that forever. I had noticed that-- yeah. For a small, conservative town, it's really notable how ok it is, and I love it. None of it matters; the only thing that does is making sure everyone is ok. Feels like a lot of things matter a whole lot less. And others matter a whole lot more. Like being good neighbours, and keeping an eye out for people who might ordinarily cross your path.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yep. You got this town that looks like it should be a hotbed of conservative white preserve-the-status-quo and what you actually get is a rainbow community of people who don't give two figs who you sleep with as long as they know you have their back when the bad things come to town. And that's a large part of why I don't feel trapped here, I feel like I'm home.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : The kind of town where the idea that someone's skin colour might be a problem, hello, count how many teeth they have and then start to worry.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Me too. Seattle's ten times more liberal, and yet... here's where I found a community. Go figure.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : The teeth thing is definitely a problem.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'm not going to pretend that the tone among the lumber mill workers on beer and lobster fight night is progressive. That's when I'm reminded where we are. But even among them -- there's a kind of something. You get Ray and Steve and Diego and sure, one of those has a funny accent and maybe you don't want to ask about his papers, but if someone from out of town thinks they're going to be pushing anyone around, Ray and Steve are going to want a word.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I have to imagine that even the people who don't know all that goes on know... something. Deep down. So there's still some of that protectiveness, even if you don't know why. I like that.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah, there is, at least among the manly plaid shirts I see on fight night. They don't know what's going on -- but they do know something in this town isn't right.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Their ideas of what differ, of course. A lot of them blame the Addingtons, the tourists, the Casino, the president, soap operas, you name it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I'm honestly not sure if that's not worse. Having the curtain down over the worst of this town and just... knowing there's something behind it, but never what. Ugh.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I mean, that makes sense. You've got to put the blame somewhere.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I can't help think sometimes that Gray Harbor -- the normal people in Gray Harbor -- they're not stuck in 1950. It's 1850. They're in a situation like poor working class families back in a time where you were considered to have travelled a lot if you'd gone further than the next county.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : And then there's us -- coming in from all over the world with our strange ideas and foreign languages, and it's really amazing that we aren't fighting the locals on top of everything else.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Shit. Yeah. That kind of makes a lot of sense.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I'm amazed they tolerate us so well. I guess it's no wonder we don't mix a lot. We're basically speaking a foreign language all the time.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I know for a fact that to the lumber mill workers, I'm this European ponce slumming it with the bluecollars, and that means I'm paying for the beer.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Well, not so far from the truth, right?!

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Kidding, kidding.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Hee. Pretty spot on, let's just be honest.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : You absolute ponce. 😆 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ponce is a great word.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : That's SIR Ponce to you.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : My mistake!

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Your lordship, Sir Ponce of Apples.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I think my hands may need a lot more calluses and engine oil before I lose that moniker around there.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : You're not wrong.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I think the Pourhouse is the only place I ever really interact with any of the real locals, except when like paying for groceries or whatever. And even then, it's only ever in passing. We live in a bubble.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : We do. And I think that might be very hard to change. Both because of the nature of our problems and because a lot of us might as well be aliens to some bluecollar lumberworker who's lived here since his great-great-great-great-great-great-grampaw came in on a prairie wagon.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. There's not really a lot of incentive on either side, I guess, either.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I mean, not in a 'I don't want to talk to you' way. But in a 'you don't understand me, so why should I really try' kind of way.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Myeh, I know how we feel about the millionaire yachters putting in on the Casino island in summer, about fat cat yachters filling up the marina and prancing around on the boardwalk and the beach bar like the rest of us exist to cater to them, I mean, I get it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That's a joy I've yet to experience, but... yeah. It absolutely makes sense.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I did a couple of months as a barback at Two If By Sea. I will never miss lawyers with bored wives and even more bored kids, throwing condiments on the floor because it's fun to see you pick them up, or pissing next to the pissoir in the men's room, for the same reason.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Outsiders mean money which this community badly needs, but that doesn't mean we have to like them.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Gross. That kind of thing... that's just nasty. There's never a call for that. And yet...

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. I guess that's probably a problem in lots of small towns. No wonder people like winter, and the quiet.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I argued with my old man about a lot of things. But one thing he used to say did stick with me in situations like that: New money advertises. People who need to remind you how rich they are, are an arsepain.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Can't argue with that, really. Money is gross, vote socialism.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : (Except blah blah, I know, human nature, it never works, etc, etc.)

(TXT to Una) Ravn : -cough- Yes. Yes, absolutely.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : She says, of course, not having immediately donated her inheritance to other people. So. Hypocrite, I know.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Eh, dunno, I think it's communism they say only works in theory. But then, I'm from a supposedly social democratic country where -- well, I won't say it works well, but it works better than a lot of the every man for himself attitude the US has going. Then again, I sometimes wonder who it is here that keeps voting against socialised healthcare, because I never meet any of them.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah, same. Bit hypocritical of me to hail socialism while owning a manor house back home.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ok, point. Communism is where it really goes wrong, I guess.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I grew up without healthcare. It's a miracle my teeth are semi-straight, and I didn't die of anything ridiculously simple as a kid. I don't know who these people are either, because they definitely weren't the working class families I grew up with.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah. You basically can't tell people to not try to improve their station when it's instinctive on the 'we are big apes' level to try to advance in the clan hierarchy.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Honestly? With the way I feel like I should take out a rewards punch card to the ambulance service in this town, I'm horrified thinking about not being able to afford the medical bills.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, exactly. People want to be able to aspire to more. I mean, people have weird ideas about the estate tax in the hopes that maybe, one day, they will have enough money that it might apply to them... even though none of them ever will, almost certainly.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. Ouch. It was my mom's greatest fear. The choice between medical care and bankruptcy. That is nooooot how it should work.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Oh yes. And that's how you get Musk and Bezos fan boys in trailer parks, defending the right of the 1% to hoard. The amounts of wealth held by the 1% is insane. Imagine knowing that you could donate a year's pay and solve world hunger -- and then going, nah, dun wanna.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It breaks my brain.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Billionaires break my brain. Why the fuck does any one person need that kind of wealth?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'm not going to pretend I ever lacked anything but bloody hell.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : The fact that there are whole orders of magnitude between 'I never lacked anything' and 'I could buy and sell whole countries'.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I mean, you're not wrong. There are entire staircases of steps between those positions. What scares me isn't that people own that kind of wealth, though, as it's as much what they don't do with it. Jeff Bezos has the opportunity to make one hell of a difference as an employer, and instead, he prioritises getting all that money into the bank instead of putting it in circulation in society.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : He wouldn't even get poorer if he did, given that his target group would be able to consume more.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ugh, yes. This.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Paying people a liveable wage actually helps everyone. Treating them like... I don't know, disposable workers, because you can always find more; that troubles me.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : When we say Musk -- or me, or whoever has some kind of trust fund or company -- are worth so and so much, it's obviously not money they have in their literal hand. It's tied up in investments, companies, production. But you get to prioritise where that revenue stream is going -- whether it goes into money in your palm, or into society. And I guess that does make me a socialist at heart because I do bloody well think that a company needs to be about increasing the life standards of everyone affiliated with it, not just the guy at the top.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Particularly because the guy at the top only very rarely built the damn thing. Media push Musk like a self-made genius but he bloody well had millionaire parents. José from the trailer park does not get that starting point.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Right. And liquidating the whole lot would be catastrophic. But-- Amazon is a hard one. Because all the Amazon money (and Microsoft and the rest) has priced people like my mom out of their own city. Great for the tech employees, and absolutely shitty for the normal people. And I guess that's the same any city that gets that kind of tech hub thing going.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. Some people are smart, and get to start life on easy mode. Some people are smart and get shafted on hard mode, and don't get the chance to do what they otherwise could.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah, gentrification is an issue. And then you can argue that economy is in a constant state of flux, and sometimes, that does mean moving demographics around, and that's not wrong -- but there are ways to do it. I bet your mum did not get to feel that her situation was improved by some tech millionaire needing a new parking lot.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Pretty much. And the rich cities still need people to work grocery, or clean offices, or whatever else.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : So it's all a mess.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Capitalism sucks.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Which kind of makes it obvious that you need to pay your office cleaner enough that they can afford to live within commuting distance but uh.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Madness.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Why should your cleaner, or your fast food worker, earn the same as your paramedic?!

(TXT to Ravn) Una : ... oh yeah, you should pay them more too.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I do think it does. I'm not sure how to fix it. Obviously, all things considered. Same as you, haven't tossed the entire inheritance at the nearest homeless shelter because it's not that simple. But I kind of wish it was.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Me too. I feel utterly powerless against it. The dollars I give away aren't going to change how fucked up the system is. They'll give someone a room for the night, or buy them a meal, but that's not fixing the problem.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : The hardest part is that it's a self-invigorating system. Let's say I make matches. I make great matches. And because I want my match making workers to eat and have healthcare, I pay them pretty well. So the price of my matches has to reflect that. Wham, some entrepreneur turns up with matches made by half-starved kids in Cambodia, and runs me out of business. No one wins but that guy.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. For it to actually work, everyone needs to be not an asshole.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It's not going to change until we start lifting up the people at the bottom. When the kids in Cambodia are fed and going to school, that other guy can't run me out of business. So the way I see it, lifting up the lowest is a good thing, also for me, the capitalist at the top.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That makes sense to me, yeah. So how do we start lifting up the kids in Cambodia?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I ... actually don't know that we can. At least not directly. This whole thing is systemic and self-perpetuating. But we can start with not being dicks ourselves, I suppose. I can't dismantle capitalism but I do get a say in where my money goes -- whether I'm a millionaire or I'm a middle class consumer. I don't quite include poor people in that because if you have to choose between sustainable coffee or clothes for your kids, that's not a choice.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I was afraid you were going to say that. 😆 I mean, no, you're right. We can't change the world, even with our 'super powers'.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It's one of the reasons I admire Hyacinth Addington, just to keep it local. She's pretty big on managing her businesses in an ethical fashion. She's pure hell on high heels to her board of directors, but the man on the floor can feel the difference or so I like to think.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : But yeah. I can choose to buy ethically and sustainably. Just like I can choose not to drive a car when I don't need to.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Oh, awesome. I'd love to see more of that. I mean, I'm sure there are others too. But more public demonstrations of it, because the more people see it, the more we expect it.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I think a lot of this is not dissimilar to the whole Veil stuff. The internationalisation. We teach ourselves we're not really allowed to talk about these things because it's not quite proper. So you get a lot of people who just maintain the status quo out of habit -- and then you get the extremes among the 1% who are honestly laughing their arses off about us.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I know I feel uncomfortable as hell talking about it sometimes. And it's a feeling a bit similar to how I feel about this thing Brennon wants to do -- that it's easy for me to sit here and talk bit, I'm not the one who's going to be in the line of fire.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : ... huh. I mean, you're not wrong. Look at us, conversation going full circle!

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. We have less to lose, I guess, compared to people whose livelihoods are at stake, and who can't afford not to be earning.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I've had to say that a few times. It's not as hard to find time to volunteer at a community centre when you don't have a day job.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. It's the height of privilege, really.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Except that so many people with that kind of privilege choose not to do anything with it.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Might be we shouldn't get in the way of some of the others who want a word in, at least. Sometimes, you need to just shut up and make space.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, true. Too easy for us to end up speaking for other people, when they have their own voices.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Had a bit of that feel myself when Perdita started talking about creating a shelter for abused women and implied that actually, no, I don't get to help. Because sure, she knows I'm not an abuser, but some woman turning up battered in the middle of the night doesn't need a man to be opening that door. Sometimes, you just got to shut up.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, definitely. Same thing with race, and sexuality, and any of those things. Those of us who aren't should let those who are have the loudest voices.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Which is really hard sometimes.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : With the best of intentions.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It really is. I usually keep my mouth shut a lot. Also because it's very difficult to not end up perceived like you think you're special.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. Exactly. And then to acknowledge when you do fuck up and speak up at the wrong time, or say the wrong thing.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Asshole Irving casts a long shadow. As does a number of my counterparts. It is difficult. That's why I argued with Jules about it that day we were buying hot cocoa down the street. It doesn't help the situation any if we just turn ourselves into martyrs for white guilt, privilege guilt, whatever guilt. Then it's still all about us. Just have to own our own fuck-ups, and do our best to undo the systemic fuck-ups along with everyone else.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : He sure does. Life was so much simpler when I was a working class kid with no ancestors to know about. 😆 But yeah. We can't change the world, or what's happened before, but we can improve ourselves.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : (And the more often I remind myself of this, the easier it will become, right? I am not my ancestors. I am NOT my ancestors.)

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I have 850 years' worth of ancestors and I'm sure that very few of them thought of themselves as bad people. And yet that covers several crusades, systemic oppression of serfs, profiting off a couple of world wars, profiting off the slave trade, West Indian sugar cane slave farms, the entire industrial revolution -- all of which is bloody god-awful, but I don't recall being consulted on any of it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Life would be so much easier if our ancestors just checked in with us first. 'Hey, so I'm going to do this thing... is that a problem in your time?'

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Except that begs the question of what we are doing that our descendants (you know, the ones we probably won't have) would raise alarm bells over.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : All of it, from Brennon taking up the gauntlet against the Veil, to you not carrying Asshole's sins, is about consent, I figure.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Oh. Oh shit. You're right.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'm a privileged white guy, of course I'm right.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : -duck-

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Hahahahaha.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I WILL come next door and kill you.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Take a number?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Oh, I bet that line is around the block.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : You know something I've thought about sometimes. Have you ever sat back a moment and thought about how many of us are privileged in some capacity or other? Us who shine, I mean. It makes sense given that the less privileged probably have a harder time leaving everything and ending up here, but still.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Huh.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : No, you're right. Most of us are, to greater or lesser degree. Jules is an exception, I guess, but she's relatively local anyway.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : The guy who runs the restaurant on the Casino island is in line for the British succession. Granted, he's number two hundred and something I think he said, but still. My room mate's long-distance girlfriend is some English baron's daughter. We got all these writers who were very well known before they settled here, and a number of media darlings -- streamers, gamers, what have you. Vydal whose brand is still a big deal, just no one remembers him.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It's more us not-so-locals, yes.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : When you actually squint and look at it, GH is teeming with ridiculously fancy people.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Gray Harbor is swimming with money, basically.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : And yet the town is in decline, trying desperately to rebrand as a tourist trap. Look at the amount of bank accounts that live here, and tell me the Veil isn't maintaining the status quo?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Fuck. Yeah.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : We ought to be making a difference. Which... ugh, that comes across in a way I don't mean.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Not 'we're waltzing in and saving this town for the normal people who should be grateful'.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : The sheer fact that all of us are here, paying our taxes and consuming local goods ought to make a difference, yes.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It really should. But it isn't. This town isn't doing better than any other towns that have less of a thing going on.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Arguably, we're doing worse.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Even if we acknowledge that a number of us are like me -- foreigners on extended visas -- who don't directly pay taxes to the town because we're not nationalised -- even then, the sheer amount of money we put into every day goods ought to make a difference.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : And all the people coming here to open shops and businesses.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yep. That money is bleeding right back out somewhere. And if you ask me, it's because there is a vested interest from someone on the other side in keeping us from getting resourceful enough to organise and fight back.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : God, that just makes it all seem so sinister. Like we really do need to find a way to fight back anyway.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I don't like being that guy but, somebody has to be. It is sinister. A lot of what we experience is exciting and fun but it's kind of the bait. I do think it's possible to have a good life here. But it takes a conscious effort to have each other's backs. Not just coasting along and hoping the bear eats the other guy.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. I think it's easy to just see the exciting, at first. I think it's only really beginning to sink in for me, now, and as much as anything, that's because I'm seeing more and more via people like you and Ava, who've had so much more exposure.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Just make sure to not fall into the other extreme. I see people sometimes who fall into depression or spiral into self sabotage. I'm going to die anyway, might as well do all the drugs, drink all the vodka, and beat the wife because fuck it all, nothing matters.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I can't fight the bear. But hopefully I can make some noise.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Right. Yes. I don't want to do that either. There's still good here. I mean, we already said that: there's a lot of good here.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Bears don't like groups of noisy people.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : So we just need to make sure the noise outweighs the possibility for tasty treats.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Accept that it's a trade-off, yeah. I have friends now. And bullet scars. Apparently, can't have one without the other. Still better than having neither.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I'm still hoping to avoid the bullet scars. But yeah.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'll, uh, try to roll with the explosion next time.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, you do that. I mean, there's healing and then there's not needing to be healed in the first place.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : -laugh- It's funny, though. I kind of hope Brennon does take up the gauntlet. Because that pink post-it? That really pissed me off. Sure, my neuropathy is not a life threatening condition but it's not a bloody cutesy pink post-it level joke, either.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Don't tell her I said that, I don't want her to feel pressured. But I kind of hope she does see it as a red flag in front of a fighting bull.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. Yeah, no post-its, that's just rude. I think you're in with a good chance, though. Her first reaction when you were in the hospital was to talk to other people with power like hers.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Guess it'll be up to us to have her back if she does decide to put her ass on the firing line.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I think I literally told her she had my axe. Una, you weirdo.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : It's less 'axe' and more... tiny dagger? IDK.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Haaa. And my

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ...

(TXT to Una) Ravn : .....

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ... bottle opener.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Okay, so maybe you and I aren't exactly champion scrappers.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Mine might as well be a rusty spoon.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Watch it, you can get an infection from one of those.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, maybe not. But chances are we can help somehow.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Point!

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Ain't a lot of pockets I can't pick. Everything counts.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Right, exactly. Power's not everything.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : And anyway, you may have more power than anticipated, so.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Hell if I know. I do know that if power was everything, a bloke like Rosencrantz wouldn't keep me around. Man's a light house. Same for Kailey Holt, couple of others. And they still need the rest of us to help hold the flood gates.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah. I mean, in theory, we attract less attention than them, so that's something too.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : There's more ways than power to attract their attention, see above, HOPE centre and whatnot. But yeah, it's definitely one of the ways. I worry about de Santos to be honest. Haven't seen the bloke for a long time -- and he's a lighthouse and the official spokesman for HOPE.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That's definitely not an ideal combination. It does feel like... people disappear a bit. IDK. People talk about these other people, and they're just... not around.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yes. Have you ever read Watership Down? We have a definite Cowslip's Warren situation going here. Don't ask where someone is. It'll be embarrassingly obvious that no one knows, and no one wants to be reminded.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : OH! Yes. Yes, I get that reference. It's kind of creepy to see happen in real life, though.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yes, it is. I like de Santos a lot. And when I think about it I feel like I should be raising heaven and hell that I haven't heard from him since last fall, and yet -- I bet you that if I call the Gazette he still works there, he just somehow got edited out.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That breaks my brain.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I wonder if it literally breaks our brains. Like, is it neurological? Or just...

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It happens a lot.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Every time I think I've gotten to terms the with weirdness...

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Last summer, well, August, September, I was kind of getting my arse in gear to maybe get involved with someone -- and then this happened, too. They're not dead. They're not reported missing. They're just -- busy, I guess. No one else seems to really have noticed.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Who knows? Maybe to her, I'm the one who's fallen radio silent.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : That's creepy. (And sad, too. I'm sorry that it ended up happening like that.)

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Could be worse, could have ended in tears. And 'getting ready' isn't 'got ready'. I might still have bailed. Probably would have.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, not that I can pretend to know. Don't ever let me pretend to be equipped to know anything about other people's relationships or whatever.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I just think it sucks that you lost the chance to see for yourself.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Yeah, same. About knowing.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'm sure I'll get another chance. And so will you -- neither of us have taken vows. Pretty certain it's not a rule written in concrete somewhere that if you're not married with kids by 30 you lose. And if it is, you're still in the race.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : What, I didn't mention my vow of chastity?! -- No, seriously. That's true. Life isn't over at 30 (or so I'm reliably told). It's not even over at 50, though I guess my procreative abilities might be without scientific advantages.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : You are the least formal nun I've ever met. And the only one I've ever talked to for more than five minutes, too.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Oh, that's your problem. We tend to have our guard up for the first few minutes, but after that... pow!

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Defeated. By cookies.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I really am a fairy, aren't I?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I mean, pretty much.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : (YES, ROSENCRANTZ, I HEAR YOU LAUGHING IN THE DISTANCE).

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆 😆

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I better get that new tailor lady to make me a pair of Peter Pan tights so I can fit in with the rest of the pointy-eared lot. And in case you haven't noticed, I actually do have pointy ears.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I'm going to start thinking you have a thing for tight pants if you do that. If you hang 'round the faerie ring more often, though, they might be prepared to share, and then you won't have to explain why you want them.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I had noticed the ears. Proof!

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I mean, I think I prefer to be the kind of fairy who can still just put on a pair of jeans, but green tights do seem to be the expected attire.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Do I get a little feathered cap?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I absolutely insist on the feathered cap.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I can spin it on my head and say, that's a feather in my cap, sah!

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Una : You loon.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : ... And now I am for some reason reminded of Halloween two years ago, and Rosencrantz in his Little Red RIding Hood costume, and I'm actually not sure I'm queer enough to pull this off in our community. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Una : ... omg are there photos?!

(TXT to Una) Ravn : I'll have to ask him!

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Please do. I demand it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Anyway, I think this community is accepting enough that you can be whomever you wish, and we will applaud you for it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : As long as you don't wish to be an asshole, and so far so good.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Yo, Rosencrantz, got pictures of yourself in that Little Red Riding Hood costume that aren't too indecent to show my neighbour?

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : 😆 😆 😆

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Look, he twirled on the ice and several ladies in town still talk about it.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Ok, so I wanted photos? Now I want video.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : aw shit they do??

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : I'm super fucking baked fair warning

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : I haven't held back on the pain killers myself. Which is probably how we ended with this discussion in the first place.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : I am completely sober, so I have no excuse.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : But please, carry on!

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Nice buddy. Wait who's this

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Oh. Ha. This is Una, Ravn's neighbour. Hi.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : I know I mentioned I have a nice cookie pusher, I mean new neighbour in number 5 now.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : (photo of Itzhak in a trashy "slutty red riding hood" women's costume dress. He has very long legs in spike heel red boots.)

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : See? I wasn't making that up.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : !! The look works for you.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : I believed you! I just wanted photographic evidence for me.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : ... that sounded pervy. It wasn't.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Ugh Abildgaard why are you setting up your neighbor to think I'm an idiot, hi Una

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Don't worry, she knows me. I'm pretty sure that so far, I'm still ahead on idiot. Should have seen my performance in some of the Dreams we've had lately.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Awww hey thanks! Abildgaard I forgive you

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : It's true. Ravn's an idiot, but he speaks glowingly of you. You're fine.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : See?

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : De la Vega was the big bad wolf, get it

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : 😆 That's even better.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Well, he's kind of a natural for that role, all things considered.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Dammit there he goes making me need to live up to my reputation, Abildgaard your ruining everything

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : (Yes, I have issues. His spirit wolf form carried me around by the bloody scruff of the neck like the helpless kitty I am Over There).

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Right it's a joke that works on several levels!

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Mew.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : ... lol.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Una tell me what your story is!

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Ooh now you're putting me on the spot.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : We're the embodiments of late stage capitalism, coming to take over Gray Harbor one dilapidated old house at a time. Or something.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : You live next to my violin buddy, it's a big responsibility

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : ... yes, that. Working class Seattleite, surprise inheritance, now unemployed layabout railing at capitalism, but hopefully soon to be employed by our resident doctor/coroner, IF she stops blowing up her clinic.

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : And I bake cookies, which appease the faeries and thus make Ravn's life easier by means of yardwork.

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Do I pass?

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Do you play banjo

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : -rofl-

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : I could learn?

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : I need to print 'unemployed layabout railing at capitalism' on my stationery and write my aunts.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : You're in

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Yay!

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Yes, please do that Ravn. 😆

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : A surprise inheritance is the opposite of what Abildgaard got, an inheritance everybody could see coming

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : (surprised you)

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Yeah, mine came from the grandmother I didn't know I had. I mean. I knew I must have had one. Two, even! But.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Yeah then Roen had to let me down easy that I was the only one in town left who didn't figure it out

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : 😆

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : And he's still pissed about it.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : No I'm not, it's real kind of you to let me drink your whiskey. You jerk

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : 😆

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : 😆 I feel the love between you~

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : You didn't know this grandmother? What did she do? You know to give you an inheritance

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Speaking of, it's been too long since we got properly wasted and tried to play our way through the entire Creedence Clearwater Revival discography.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Ffffuck yeah it has been

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : I think she disinherited my mom. Old family money, though, full of assholes.

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : This is something you've done before?

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Oh we got one of those in town

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : "Old family money, though, full of assholes." Are we talking about your family or mine?

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Both.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Though less money, in my case. Still assholes.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : I went to Abildgaard's cousin's wedding

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : God, don't remind me.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Oooh that must have been ridiculous.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : And that's something we do on the reg

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : I had the misfortune of being the only family member on the continent presently, and hence no option of being too busy, sending my regards, have a charmed life.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : So I brought my emotional support violinist, and now my entire family thinks I'm gay.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : I mean, you asked for it.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : You seriously asked for it

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : It has meant a change. 'When are you going to get married, have a son' has become 'but when you adopt, it's going to be a -- I mean -- you know -- right?'

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Meaning, Itzhak, want to be the legal adoptive parent of some snot-nosed grand cousin of mine?

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : You'd make an adorable family.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Fuck yes no son of mine is going to be born not a Jew!

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Your family will just gotta cope

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Oh, I don't think that part's even clicked. It's more the whole idea of blood lines -- if I don't spawn something of my own, at least adopt from a side branch.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : We'd make such a cute family

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Better find a nice Jewish girl to turkey-baste.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : You, in the kitchen, in your little red dress.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Adorable.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Una I like the cut of your jib

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : No, honestly? My family is a lot of things and probably racist too, but the issue here would be that an adopted kid might not have Abildgaard blood.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Not just anyone can tell me to spit roast a nice Jewish girl!

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : 😆 😆 😆

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : (He prefers it when it's the nice Jewish girl saying it)

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : (Fair)

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Know any?

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Alas, no.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Jewish girls or nice girls?

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : All Jewish girls are nice you goyische monster

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : 😆 I was going to say, I know girls where I'm not sure whether they're Jewish but I'm in short supply on the other variety

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Yeah, I'm pretty sure 'nice' is a heavy disqualifier. Clearly I don't know enough Jewish girls.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Mostly to be a dick. Actually met a lot of very nice girls lately, though I am not sure I'm really comfortable calling them girls. It sounds kind of patronising.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Man your neighbor just wants to text you without your stoned emotional support violinist tearing up the joint

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Dude, I'm in bed waiting for the next round of pain killers, gotta do -something-

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : (I will hurt you if you say do someone instead)

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : And we've already exhausted capitalism, Veil fuckery, and white guilt as conversational topics.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Aww and I missed it

(TXT to Ravn Itzhak) Una : Anyway, 'nice' feels milquetoast, and combined with 'girls' just plain gross. So. I vote fewer nice girls.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : Actually, when life gives you a bit more space, Itzhak, there's half a dozen ladies you need to meet. Jules, Della, Ariadne, Ava, and, well, Una.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : I wrote myself into a corner there about the nice Jewish girls

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : 'Nice girl' kind of does say 1950s obedient housewife in training, doesn't it?

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : You did. And yes, yes it does.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Because the girls I like, somehow, they're never nice

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : I don't think I've actually known you while you were chasing girls. You were in a steady relationship most of the time.

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Come to think of it, not the boys either

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : That I can testify to.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : Nice is boring.

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : So I'm told on occasion. 😃

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Fucking A

(TXT to Ravn Una) Itzhak : Okay gotta jerk off and pass out, hope I didn't say anything I'll need to apologize for sober

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : You do you.

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : You're good. Have fun!

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : (Is there any other response to that?)

(TXT to Itzhak Ravn) Una : 😆

(TXT to Itzhak Una) Ravn : See you for some CCR and Glenfiddich soon, Rosencrantz.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Okay, so, basically, that's my violin buddy. When you hear great playing from our garage? That's the guy.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆 The straight boyfriend one. Got it.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : That's the guy. I'm the straight in the equation, obviously.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, I figured that much, yes.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : You really took him to your cousin's wedding?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Look, the invitation said plus one. That means I get to bring somebody.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Can't argue with that!

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Right?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I think you enjoy fucking with your family.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : My cousin got out all her support for our relationship which was kind of adorable. And my other cousin thought he was my personal coke dealer which was less adorable.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : They deserve all the fucking they can get, and I don't mean that in the fun way.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Oh dude.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : 😆

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Listen, you know Leontes. My family are the kind of people she made an art form out of swindling, and I love her all the more for it.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I kind of love that. Makes sense to me.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : It wouldn't have worked to bring an actually female friend. They'd just have assumed that she was indeed my new lady friend, and put her through the interrogation from hell.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Yeah, that makes sense too. Not fair to do that to someone.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : I assume Rosencrantz didn't mind too much?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Not going to do that to anyone unless we actually are in a relationship and they have agreed to bite the bullet.

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Eh. Honestly, I managed to stop him from knocking my cousin to the ground -- the asshole one -- and then we departed early because neither of us wanted to be there, rubbing elbows with some new American inlaws whose name I don't recall but it ought to be Ewing.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ha. Okay, fair.

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Ok, I have more cookies to bake. If you need me to bring anything over, though, let me know?

(TXT to Una) Ravn : Bribe the faeries well. And uh, if you got more of those snickerdoodles... Ariadne loves them, and I think she was talking about dropping in with a casserole. I'm not quite in a position to go shopping for something to play good host with. Pay you back in some other favour later?

(TXT to Ravn) Una : Snickerdoodles, coming right up.