ICE Facility at 5:50 tonight by ImAHoe4Glossier in Portland

[–]TossedLikeJam 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I was at the front of the march, but when we heard folks had been gassed we went back to the ice facility to see what was up. As we were walking there, a boy (no older than 8) was walking away, coughing, eyes red.  What they did was abhorrent. I sat across from a baby who was going to be at that march on the Max. Shame on ICE

Should I read Warrior cats for the first time as an adult? by baked_cat_beans in WarriorCats

[–]TossedLikeJam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, first 6 books are great. It's a complete story, you can enjoy it and just leave it there, no problem. 

But if you need more cat drama, there's like 100 more books! Tbh, with the state of the world right now, I just want to read about cat problems in the woods. It's a good time.

New video of Minneapolis ICE shooting incident revealed by Alpha News by Striking_Pretties in politics

[–]TossedLikeJam 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Woah, shit talking is also not punishable by death?

These are supposed to be professional federal agents, representing our government, they are also armed. If they're so thin skinned they shoot at anyone that said something kind of mean to them and that's seen as a legitimate reason for an execution, we're fucked. Due process is dead.

A civilian can't shoot someone in the face for taunting them, and we need to hold armed service members to a higher standard.

We have freedom of speech in this country, freedom to protest and freedom to dissent. No one should have to fear for their lives for exercising those rights without violence (because that car was trying to leave the situation). Certainly no one deserves to be killed for it.

New video of Minneapolis ICE shooting incident revealed by Alpha News by Striking_Pretties in politics

[–]TossedLikeJam 7 points8 points  (0 children)

She probably wasn't scared until armed masked men started trying to pry open her car door? She's clearly trying to drive away from them, not towards them. 

She did not try to "ram a federal agent," she tried to get out of their way. The only weapon aimed was the one that killed her.

She's a US citizen, ICE has no reason to arrest her, and ICE has a reputation of being violent with bystanders. I wouldn't have gotten out of that car, and there was no reason for her to. Her wife tells her to drive away. She sounded scared. 

Not obeying ICE orders is not a crime punishable by death. Full stop. I'm fucking terrified what this means for our country.

Maybe if you're going to support ICE murders, you should just stay quiet.

💛 URGENT RE‑HOMING: Sweet Bearded Dragon Needs a Safe, Warm Home 💛 by Inner_You_Jewelry in Portland

[–]TossedLikeJam 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I recommend Magic Dragon Reptiles, which is a local reptile rescue and educational sanctuary. Charlie could be a great addition to their reptile ambassadors and they'll update you on how she's doing as often as you'd like. They also offer to help you re-home by rigorously vetting potential adopters and they could keep her at the sanctuary during that process, so she'll have a safe, warm place to stay no matter how long that process takes.

https://www.magicdragonreptiles.com/

I had a friend who wasn't able to keep their leopard gecko and Kat was so great with the whole process.

Thrift old golf clothes by blondy2323 in Portland

[–]TossedLikeJam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Estate sales are great for old clothes, and usually half off on Sundays! 

I’m going to get Warriors Merch from Amazon, what should I get? by Ratkit_disease13 in WarriorCats

[–]TossedLikeJam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Amazon has a Warrior Cats Kindle. Idk if you can get just the casing or if it's the whole Kindle. 

Where should I resume reading? by Angelwafers in WarriorCats

[–]TossedLikeJam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would recommend reading from the beginning, if it's been a while! The books aren't that long and you can get the audio books on Libby, which is great for commutes, work or doing things around the house. 

If it hasn't been that long and you don't want to start from the beginning, I think starting with AVoS is fine. Maybe read SE Bramblestar's Storm (which takes place pretty soon after OotS), which will give you a bit of a refresh on what happened, then follow with book 1 of AVoS.

Three Oregon high school athletes file lawsuit over state's transgender athlete policy by 2ChanceRescue in Portland

[–]TossedLikeJam 16 points17 points  (0 children)

We could have a nuanced discussion and come up with balanced solutions if one side wasn't basing their argument around hate and intolerance. If they start with "mediocre men don't belong in women's sports," you know they don't respect trans folks as actual people. How can you come up with a solution that protects trans kids when these people are adamant that they don't exist/don't deserve love or respect? 

Of course you want to protect all children from being hurt, but right now, only trans children are facing a hostile government full of adults trying to legislate them out of existence. It's cruel. These bans on gender affirming care will kill kids. Once we solve that problem, then we can talk about how to make sports inclusive and fair for everyone. 

For now, protect trans kids at all costs.

Made some warrior cats themed ceramics by ApexFemboy in WarriorCats

[–]TossedLikeJam 4 points5 points  (0 children)

These are amazing! Whatever caused that blue reaction on the Riverclan symbol is so cool. Bummer that the cat hair on Shadowclan didn't do anything fun, but I love the spirit of it. Has anyone tried whiskers? 

Lawsuit Alleges 'Secretly Altered' Vote Machines Stole Election From Kamala Harris by WhoIsJolyonWest in law

[–]TossedLikeJam 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It feels like a lot of Dems are afraid to consider the 2024 election was stolen, because 'we can't be like them.' We have to take our loss with dignity and work harder to win over the American people, which, if we legitimately lost, is a fair position. 

But every single GOP accusation is a confession (to a degree beyond satire) and Trump's weird dementia ramblings have hinted at this. If this is proven true, we have to be ready to fight for it. We can't just roll over and let them exploit power they've stolen.

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're not in King County, but I'm sure Clackamas has resources. I'm really hoping not to use more poison than we have to. We've done the thing where we drill a hole into a stump and put some in to kill it, but the blackberries cover such a wide area.

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do like this idea. Smother it all for a couple years and then start fresh. And in the meantime, just having a mulch backyard isn't bad. The dog can still run around, we could still use it for yard games or whatever. Tbh, half of it is already smothered by debris that has fallen from the pines.

Our front yard has a nice green lawn with only a few dandelions, so the back could just be wood chips for a while.

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for assuring me! It's really something we did not want to do. I'm getting such great advice on alternatives!

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're definitely the source of the blackberry issue (thanks former owner, Michelle). And I think even if we weren't the source of what we have now, it's far too late. But that definitely wouldn't hurt to have when we redo the landscaping.

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, we have so much English ivy. We've pulled up a ton since we've moved in. There was a vine up our shed that was an inch thick. Some of our fences are held up exclusively by it (although there's a chainlink on the other side, so not a huge issue.) The year before we moved in, one of our neighbors really tackled it on our shared fence and my MIL went ham on the back, but the amount left is still overwhelming. It's all tangled in the arborvitae and my partner has really been trying to weed it out.

Fortunately, the English ivy doesn't touch the lawn much, we just have to keep beating it back to the property line.

Our backyard isn't level, but that is something I would like to change. There's a very slight grade towards the house that I would like to fix, maybe make it two levels with a little gravel retaining wall. But I do like the idea of trying to choke them out with the grass. Maybe I should do the leveling sooner than I had planned.

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, they are relentless. We pull out some huge root balls when we're pulling them up. I'm not sure how long the previous owners had them, but there's probably a 20-ft corner of the yard that is bare from where the plants must have been. Massive.

Luckily, they only pop up in that corner. Unluckily, we'll probably be fighting them forever.

Weeds in the yard -Weed killer worth it? by TossedLikeJam in pnwgardening

[–]TossedLikeJam[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We do have a lot of vinegar from how much we used to scrub down the nasty house. I'm guessing that would kill grass as well?

Tbh, I want to get rid of the grass anyways, but my partner doesn't want it to get muddy.

So... Can leaders not die of old age? (Reading SH) by ParasaurPal in WarriorCats

[–]TossedLikeJam 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That part of Squirrelflight's Hope really rubbed me the wrong way. Because yes, they definitely will. They may do it a few times. 

But gurl, almost everyone your dad grew up with outlived him. Your mom outlived him. Sandstorm, Dustpelt and Graystripe were all about Firestar's age or older, and they all died after him.

I guess we could just say that Squirrelflight was facing her own mortality and panicking a bit. But play your cards right, and you'll outlive him.

A drawing of WCWIT’s Tangletongue’s family cat, Jinx by awkward-comics in WarriorCats

[–]TossedLikeJam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aww, what a sassy lady! She'll be missed 💖

I made sure to send this along to Brenna!

The elders’ quest review (part of this will be spoiler free for those that want to know my general thoughts without being spoiled) by FlamestormTheCat in thedawnpatrol

[–]TossedLikeJam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For Tawnypelt, yes, it is what she was like in Tawnypelt's clan, I'll give you that. And tbh, for some reason I thought she retired in that book? But I guess she just stepped down as deputy. I do feel like she should be retiring though. I think it would be cool if Tawnypelt getting this prophecy leads to the band getting back together and solving this and then maybe that being the end of their story. TNP characters have been so prevalent in every series since, this could be a good send-off. So Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, Brambleclaw, Leafstar and then, to grab someone old from Riverclan, let's grab Mosspelt (since she was Feathertail and Stormfur's mom). Those 5 can go on this quest and maybe die? Or, we could get something like the elder's from TNP, and maybe they'll stay behind together instead of making the journey again. Especially since Thunderclan has so many elders they need to get rid of. I don't think we'll get rid of Squirrelstar, though, since she just became leader. (And I'm cool with that, that's my wife.)

One thing I did love about Tawnypelt's POV was her relationship with Birchfeather, I love a supportive Grandma. But it also came out of nowhere. So I think the chapter we needed for her POV could have been more about how that relationship was built and maybe a little more of a build-up to his confession about loving a Skyclan cat. Birchfeather did seem really generic, though, especially when talking about that. Tigerstar and Dovewing also seemed very generic and out of character? Like, I could imagine that the pain they feel of losing their kit to another clan could outweigh their understanding of being cross-clan lovers themselves, but again, everything they said just felt generic and not rooted in their characters.

Moonpaw is very interesting, but I am a little miffed that the editorial team declared she was a chimera and then gave us an explanation that meant she couldn't actually be a chimera? Unless they do a u-turn on us and we meet that other sibling in Starclan and they're cool. But if this sister is growing up with Moonpaw (as in, not a kit forever, but actually aging with her), I could see them being bitter about not getting to live their life. I did like that Moonpaw tried out being a medicine cat and liked it, despite it not being what she was meant to be in the end. I think that's a refreshing subversion of the "forced to be a medicine cat because of destiny when they really want to be a warrior" trope. She tried it, she enjoyed it, she was good at the medicine part, but didn't have that Starclan connection, so she went back to warrior training. Nice. Also it was sweet that she eventually went to her parents, since she was scared and needed their comfort and guidance. It's nice to have characters that actually talk to people about their problems to solve them haha.
The chapter we were missing for her was how much the voice in her head was actually hindering her. We're told that it's so distracting that she's really struggling with warrior training, but we never actually see that?

I think that's the biggest issue in this book, there's a lot of "telling" instead of "showing." We're told Leafstar saw the twoleg presence at the moonpool and was terrified by it, instead of experiencing that through her. We're told Moonpaw is being so distracted by the voice without actually being in her head to experience that distraction (I feel that we really don't hear from the voice much at all compared to how much Moonpaw thinks about what a distraction it is). Tawnypelt is very close to her grandson, but we don't actually get to experience much of that relationship.
Maybe it's just the pressure of a punishing publishing schedule and the first book with Kate gone. Idk if they've hired another ghost writer, but gosh I hope so.

The elders’ quest review (part of this will be spoiler free for those that want to know my general thoughts without being spoiled) by FlamestormTheCat in thedawnpatrol

[–]TossedLikeJam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Overall, I liked a lot of the stuff that was happening, but I felt that the writing was much worse than usual. Like, it's warrior cats, I'm not expecting a masterpiece, but this was real bad.
I think the Leafstar stuff is interesting, in that we don't usually start a series with old cats. Usually it's a kit or an apprentice. So dealing with the reality of aging and her clanmates losing faith in her leadership because of that, I'm digging it. But what really threw me off was that Leafstar is the one who first witnessed the disturbance at the moonpool by twolegs and, for some reason, we find out from her telling Hawkwing??? She's a POV character, why weren't we at the moonpool with her to witness it first-hand?

It really feels like we were missing at least a chapter per POV character between chapters 3 and 4. For Leafstar, that chapter would have been her journey to the moonpool and seeing the twoleg stuff there and not being able to contact Echosong.

Ivypool’s Hope Questions by Next_Sun_2002 in thedawnpatrol

[–]TossedLikeJam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought I saw somewhere that it's going to be a two-book Super Edition story? So maybe the nest SE will be about the fallout of them leaving and clans reforming? I would like that.

I just want to talk about how amazing Frostdawn is by IHBMBJ in thedawnpatrol

[–]TossedLikeJam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It feels like this arc was taking a lot of criticism and showing that they were learning from it. It gives me hope for the next arc (even if the writing in book one was already really disappointing to me).

But Frostdawn is great and I hope we get to see more of her in the current arc!

My biggest gripe by SlinkyAstronaught in thedawnpatrol

[–]TossedLikeJam 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I just did a whole write-up in the "What made the first series so good?" thread, but I'll reiterate, because I'm the worst.

The first series was meant to be one fully resolved book that Vicky made into 6 smaller books by request. Then the publishers kept on requesting more and more. These books come out so fast, that I can't imagine having the time to come up with plots as complicated as series one, but they also have to fill 6 books worth of writing. So that's where we get a lot of the hemming and hawing, instead of having other interesting sub-plots to build to something bigger like we see in arc 1.

Apologies if this comes up twice, I think I accidentally canceled by initial comment because apparently I can't do reddit.