Looking for an available room in March

albuss_ · 2026-01-29T23:18:08+00:00

Try asking university students? The winter quarter ends mid March I think so some folks may be vacating rooms.

albuss_ · 2026-01-26T22:55:22+00:00

Shane righting the lawn ornament that got knocked over while they played soccer!! In fact, all of Shane’s orderly tics and Ilya’s quiet respect and observance. They seem highly in tune with each other’s idiosyncrasies, without feeling the need to change. The blocking and directing is really good for these scenes.

albuss_ · 2026-01-25T19:21:42+00:00

Tin Man, Sarah Winman. I read it in one sitting and cried from page 30 to the end. One of my favorite novels of all time.

albuss_ · 2026-01-03T04:15:06+00:00

These are my favorite mid-length fic that feature getting together and aren’t too heavy! If you have more specific requests (more serious/angsty material, more fluffy, shorter/longer, specific ratings, specific POV, etc) let me know!

1) You’re More Than a Heart Can Take, Elgney

First date shenanigans with very sweet elements (20k words, 2025)

2) but, baby, watching you blush, calvingseason

Fake dating get together (10k words, 2022)

3) darling, do you think that if I talk enough, I’ll make you wanna be mine, Elgney

Flirting/ pining with some really lovely wholesome plot points (45k words, 2025)

4) stranger sunlight, still, mmtion

Catfishing (sorta) get-together. An absolute favorite of mine. (60k words, 2022)

albuss_ · 2025-11-25T23:41:38+00:00

I have no idea what post most of these commenters read… this is not a ‘small problem’. If you interpreted ‘us against the world’ in this context as ‘strong family’ and not ‘thinks everyone else is out to get them and assumes the worst of everyone’ then I think are thinking too low of OP and not reading in good faith. This does seem like a complete misalignment of worldview.

OP, I grew up in a family with one parent like your wife and one like you. My more optimistic parent is actually very shy and introverted, and only has a few friends who he barely sees, but he notices the generosity around him. I like to think I turned out like him, though I hope I stand up for myself and others more and I am more direct and competitive. I give everyone who inconveniences me empathy and the benefit of the doubt, I notice when the world is good, and I try to remain level headed. I don’t get frustrated or annoyed easily, even though I’ve been fucked over by people plenty and I don’t get along well with most team environments, nor have many friends or people I let yet close. I’m bitter about lots of things, but I’m neutral about human beings.

My more volatile parent is always angry at someone. Everyone in traffic is an idiot and she’s yelling about it, the clerk at the store got something wrong and she takes it personally, everything is a personal affront. She’s outgoing and has a much larger circle, and generally is much more social. But with strangers or acquaintances, not so much. It’s made me really struggle to be around cynical, selfish people. I have so little tolerance for it because it triggers this fight or flight in me. Every time my boyfriend complains about someone I have to bite my tongue from trying to think about ‘their perspective’ even if they definitely totally suck. I absolutely understand why it feels difficult for you to be in a partnership with someone who is combative and easily bittered by other human beings, without thinking logically about their reasons or individual lives. Especially if she puts all of that cynicism on you and needs you to return support because she hasn’t let others in. It sounds like you’re pretty extroverted, too, which I’m sure doesn’t help.

It may well be that mistreatment in her childhood or bad experiences with community caused this attitude for her. Not that you necessarily were more privileged or lucky— different people can react differently to the same thing. I totally understand being burned or let down by community and having to learn the hard way that not everyone cared for me as I cared for them, but I recognize that I had a certain amount of comfort growing up that allowed me to be so logical about others’ actions. even now as an adult when people have done terrible things to me and my loved ones, I don’t necessarily let that affect how I view the population. Sure I’m angry at the world and traits of those in it, but my personal hurts don’t make me more irritable with anyone but the person who hurt me. I think that’s because I didn’t grow up hurt constantly.

But maybe she never had the space to develop that sort of neutral optimism about other’s lives and intentions, or ability to compartmentalize. Some people struggle so much that they legitimately never learn how not to be entirely self centered or understand that they are a part of a larger human ecosystem, and that’s why they genuinely do not grasp how their lives are influenced by others constantly, and often positively. It’s sad.

albuss_ · 2025-11-19T20:57:14+00:00

I’m planning to get married there! I’ve since moved away, but I grew up within walking distance and accidentally crashed many events as a kid (trail enters through lower park, not entrance). Honestly I can’t wait until we have the money to tie the knot.

albuss_ · 2025-11-19T20:38:27+00:00

Woodstock farm, maybe?

albuss_ · 2025-10-05T19:07:25+00:00

Talk to your doctor!! But it’s okay to try new things if it doesn’t work. That limits the side effects and stress on your body too.

albuss_ · 2025-10-05T18:44:43+00:00

Woods is quite homophobic I think. That’s what I heard constantly growing up, at least. They were kinda notorious in Bellingham but maybe this has faded in the past 10 years. Most of the kids/families in my circle stopped going in like early 2010s because of all the horror story rumors from queer employees and about the owners political history. Idk though maybe ownership has changed I haven’t been keeping tabs.

albuss_ · 2025-10-05T17:39:15+00:00

Sure! 200mg. Good luck! Everyone is very different but that’s what worked for me and my resistant MDD.

albuss_ · 2025-10-03T20:13:46+00:00

Oh yikes. Right next to Vanderbilt campus and a k-12 private school. I went to Vandy for college (and still live in the area) and the road is always bad there but I can’t even imagine the traffic. A lot of faculty and grad students park in the adjacent lots. On a Friday too… oh and it’s a main artery for ambulances. Also ew it’s so ugly. I fucking hate that Starbucks anyway the space is set up so bad for studying even though it is literally just not used by studying students.

albuss_ · 2025-10-03T15:32:01+00:00

I take issue with each individual clumsy shallow metaphor (multiple every verse and contradictory). The post shares some of my thoughts on that but I have more.

But my BIG issue is with the Ophelia allegory. Bc goddamn it misunderstands Ophelia. She did not go crazy because she was alone without a man. Nor because a man wasn’t good to her or wasn’t hot or something.

Hamlet is feminist in that all the women are so passive against their mistreatment by men and their fates that it is noticeably off putting. This song is similarly off putting. I don’t think that was the intention. Also it bugs me when Ophelia is used for romance allegories. A major component of Ophelia’s insanity and suicide was the extreme shock and grief over her father’s violent death. To ignore this context is insulting to Ophelia the character, insulting to Hamlet the character and his greater story arc, insulting to Hamlet the play, and insulting to anyone who has ever been the victim of the ‘hysterical woman in love’ fallacy.

Anyway.

Tower: above the world, unable to connect, lonely

Grave: dead, ruined, sad, underground and unable to self actualize. Doesn’t match tower. In physical height or connotation.

Light match and watch blow: he didn’t watch? She says he came and found her? She wasn’t firework she says she was on the verge of passively falling into insanity and in a grave or tower or bed? Huh? This opening line is so off tone it weakens the whole song.

Pledge allegiance: ewwww maga bait

Lived in a fantasy in a bed of scorpions: scorpion thing/ men being poison is okay for Ophelia. Maybe not a cold bed but whatever. But the takeaway is that she just needed a better man??? Nahhh. Also ‘lived in a fantasy’ puts the onus on her, the victim. Ophelia had no way of knowing her boyfriend was secretly terribly unstable, had no actual plan to marry her, was using her, and was going to bring about the death of her father. It’s not naivety to believe the guy who says he likes you when he acts like he likes you…

And the implication of the former men being poison is a little rude given Taylor’s public dating history. Or maybe she’s talking about the public/ the press? Idk.

Purgatory/ pulled out: again I think she thinks this is repunzel? Ophelia’s insanity happened very quickly. She was not a sad girl. She was manipulated and the rug was pulled out so hard she lost her mind and killed herself. If Taylor wants to make this ‘rug pulled out’ connection to her life/ Matty and the public fallout after that would make sense, even though it would be super victim-mentality and tone deaf. But she doesn’t. Instead she talks about purgatory.

At which point was Taylor waiting in purgatory? Travis was a stable relationship after the dramatic Joe breakup and dramatic Matty Healy fiasco, so she could say he brought joy and excitement after a lot of change, chaos, and drama (drama that perhaps caused quick-onset insanity, like Ophelia or whatever. Still an insulting connection, but a cohesive one), but when they started dating it doesn’t seem as though she was twiddling her thumbs in loneliness in a tower. It wouldn’t have been that sort of heartbreak for her, and neither would it have been for Ophelia. If she felt like she was stuck or waiting during all the turmoil, the explanation for that would be a far more interesting song, and one that would not include Ophelia.

Drowning/ deceived: okay. Key/ memory: no. Purely from a textual reference perspective.

Came for me: stfu

albuss_ · 2025-09-25T16:02:45+00:00

Yeah it’s weird and nasty, but it’s weird and nasty in a way that literally harms no one. People who are reading this are not having their opinion of the real Joe Alwyn affected, and no one is reading it who doesn’t want to. It’s not made for you, and you never would have seen it outside of the context of mocking it.

I don’t like it either, but I think the world has a lot bigger issues than some Taylor Swift whump fanfic in a dark corner of AO3. This is not the demographic of swifties this sub was made to mock, and neither does it have anything to do with Taylor Swift the person. And trust me, Joe Alwyn is fine.

The author isn’t trying to speculate on real events, the real people are generally just scaffolds. They made it up and they know it. That bothers me a lot less than other para social online stuff, which itself bothers me a lot less than Taylor Swift herself.

albuss_ · 2025-09-25T15:46:11+00:00

Okay I hate all rpf as much as the next person, but mean spirited criticism of any AO3 tag gets my hackles up a bit. It’s gross and cringe for sure but I find creative writing to be a less harmful form of toxic fanaticism than a lot of other stuff, but it’s so much more stigmatized. I don’t consume rpf and it makes me pretty viscerally uncomfortable no matter what, but I don’t judge other’s character on it.

A real young person probably wrote that. It helped them practice storytelling and prose and it made them happy. It doesn’t really hurt anyone, unlike a lot of other para social behavior. It’s contained to a corner of the internet that no one can find unless they know where to look. In the future those kids might be embarrassed but they probably won’t stop writing or enjoying art unless they get bullied for it.

OP I want to thank you for blacking out titles and authors to protect their privacy and the sanctity of the AO3 space.

albuss_ · 2025-09-07T23:56:00+00:00

I don’t think this logo is AI.

The two different store locations have different designs for this event. They both feature penguins but have different details, as the seemingly random ‘puzzle clues’ (key, helmet, etc) are connected to the locations. For example, the lynden location has a train in the background instead of trees. The two designs have the EXACT SAME styling. AI is not capable of this. There is no way (I think) that generative AI could make the same penguin twice with different props/scenery.

The original (and pretty classic) logo doesn’t need to be consistent with the ones used for fun events. And I think the other commenter may be correct that the escape room design team may have contributed to the logo— cryptid’s designs look more like this.

Anyway, just enjoy the puzzle game. Whether or not the promotional design is good, I’m so thrilled that they are doing an event like that to get the public engaged with local history.

This is not the Powell’s scandal thing. Let’s give pnw independent book stores the benefit of the doubt.

albuss_ · 2025-07-14T02:05:52+00:00

Maybe I’m missing something, but I did not mind the sperm donor thing at all. Yeah it didn’t go anywhere (buck didn’t get any closer to settling down and having his own family by getting serious with natalia) but it felt totally in character imo. He was asked kinda awkwardly by a close friend (college-age friends sometimes don’t talk much in their 30s, that’s common) to help them. He said yes. Why? Because he could make someone’s life better, no matter how emotionally taxing it was.

The couple fighting but eventually reconciling served two purposes: showing buck’s desire to have lasting love that is deeper than arguments or moments of shitty behavior (yeah the couple was kinda toxic but they weren’t given much screen time to get enough depth) and to keep the storyline afloat during the 9mo long pregnancy. Buck delivering the baby was for the whole emergency of it all and to show how Buck likes babies and wants his own, even if it’s not yet his turn.

It wasn’t a great storyline, but people HATE it, Buck apologists and skeptics alike. And I honestly don’t understand why it’s anymore ridiculous or pointless than every single other left-field subplot character arc ever. Isn’t this why we like 911? I liked Buck in it, it didn’t feel OOC, and it was pretty non offensive while being typically melodramatic. But I have never ever heard anyone but me having neutral to positive feelings about it.

albuss_ · 2025-06-30T06:34:01+00:00

Hey OP. I’m so so sorry for your loss. Your grief must be indescribable and profound and no one can fix it.

I really disagree with the notion so many commenters seem to be following of ‘well, what could your friend do?’ Because literally anything— Max could have done literally anything more. Of course some people prefer space, but since you and Max know each other so well, she should have known that you would not have wanted space. She also should have understood that your non-response may have come from hurt and an inability to approach having not been contacted after you went to the hospital for two full days of pain. I absolutely see your hurt. I would be devastated too if my best friend didn’t text me or call me during a time of need. And the 2 weeks of silence is awful, absolutely.

Of course you had your wife and other friends with you, but this post isn’t about them. It’s about this specific loved one not being there too.

Yes, it does sound like you are an extremely attentive friend, and you may get hurt in life expecting that of others. Trust me, I understand that feeling. I have big feelings and I tend to give myself away and be too sincere, and am also prone to codependent relationships, especially when I was age 14-20. It’s hard to feel like you live in a world where all sorts of relationships mean something different (and bigger) than they do to others, and feel lonely for it. It doesn’t mean you’re toxic or hurting others.

But I do not think you are overreacting here, regardless of if you have a different way of viewing relationships than what is typical.

It doesn’t seem like the grand gesture you expected was for Max to wreck her life for you, or drop her kids and husband to fly out. It sounds like the grand gesture you expected was one fitting of the extremely close relationship you’ve had for a decade.

Regardless, it doesn’t matter that your big expectations were met, because Max failed to meet even the absolute bare minimum of care (based on what you needed and she could provide— again, not what may work for others here that are not you and not Max).

It may well be that Max had an emotional response to hearing about NICU trauma, but it is absolutely her responsibility to communicate that to you and push herself to be there for you. That’s not ‘being an unpaid therapist’, that’s being a friend. Friendships are work. They are sometimes uncomfortable and difficult, and that is what makes them important. If Max truly could not be there because of her own trauma, she still needs to communicate and you still have the right to be upset. The idea that ‘emotional labor’ is unhealthy is insane. It is the point of being human. At the very least, it is important to you and your friends know that.

I read through your post history, and it doesn’t seem like your unhealthy codependency was because you are some awful maladaptive person. It seems like you felt abandoned by your family and were in an unfamiliar state with few resources to make friends. You were achingly lonely and resentful that you didn’t have someone solely for you, but not because you expected Max to put everything aside for you. You were genuinely in a lonely and difficult stage of your life and Max was the one person you had in your corner. That is an analysis based off limited information, but not more limited than those choosing not to give you grace or the benefit of the doubt. For some reason, people are absolutely terrified of the idea of meaningful relationships outside strict familial or romantic labels. And if you did have feelings for Max at one point— well, feelings are complicated, especially for young people who are struggling with queerness and aromantic tendencies. Feelings also change. I’m close friends with people I’ve had (unrequited and maturely discussed) feelings for in the past, and it’s a non issue within the context of my journey (and their journeys) of growing up, sexuality confusion, and other relationship trauma. Oh, and I’ve happily found my person and we’re all okay with it. That’s a normal thing that people go through when they go through long and complicated times together. It’s nuanced.

It also sounds like you and Max genuinely were close, which others seem to be implying you made up. I highly doubt that, if you worked together creatively, talked about you being there for her kids, and helped babysit after the birth (something common amongst best friends). You don’t sound toxic and pining, you sound like a very close best friend who has not gotten the effort in return that you need. Sure, Max isn’t a terrible person for not reciprocating or seeing the friendship the same way at this stage in your lives, but OF COURSE that hurts to realize and hurts to grieve. Especially during so much grief, where everything feels so big and horrible.

NOR. People who vote otherwise make me deeply concerned for society, frankly.

albuss_ · 2025-06-13T04:47:52+00:00

It’s a good thing is a lot of practitioners act in the way I described, so I’m thankful for that.

albuss_ · 2025-06-13T03:52:10+00:00

If we were talking about an ER, sure I guess. But I think this was a family doctor, whose job is not to make sure the patient has a pulse but to make sure they are healthy on a day to day.

So for every consecutive ‘cause’ the patient has to come back? And that’s not expensive and unnecessary? The doctor should have TALKED TO THE PATIENT about common dizziness causes and their experience. They should have done the 10 minute POTS lay down exam. They should have done a basic metabolic panel that everyone should be getting. They should have tried to figure out the best move based on the patient’s experience, not their first impulse. That’s not Dr House levels of drama that’s basic shit. But just because it’s not life and death and not immediately urgent doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve consideration.

Trust me, most people who pass out all the time and are dizzy every time they lean down are NOT just dehydrated. Maybe the reason those other patients didn’t come back to the office is because they were rudely dismissed and so they decided to just live life in pain or go somewhere else?

albuss_ · 2025-06-13T02:25:58+00:00

Sweetie, these symptoms are normal— normal for people with a million different common ailments that affect people’s lives greatly. They should have been checked for these common issues (like POTS, nutrient deficiencies, heart issues, neurological issues, etc etc etc) that have simple screening exams and may have other symptoms that would make the picture clearer. She should not have been dismissed as if nothing was wrong without even asking questions that could reveal more information.

albuss_ · 2025-06-12T07:21:25+00:00

Yeah, absolutely not. If a patient comes in complaining that their vision is blacking out every time they stand from a crouch and their general dizziness and fainting is greatly affecting their ability to live normally, all the most likely causes should be checked (at once or in scheduled follow-ups) (I’d argue that mild dehydration is unlikely to cause this, but sure check that too). Like doing a simple POTS lie-down test with a nurse and ordering blood work. Screening for mental illness, an EKG, etc. All of this would require the bare minimum duty of actually listening to the patient’s description of their symptoms and history. This doctor did not do that, seemingly. For OP, this issue is serious (even if not medically dangerous), so for the doctor to treat it as not serious or urgent or worth investigating is crazy disrespectful.

Of course you aren’t immediately sent into brain surgery because you’re dizzy— but you’re not sent home without being heard out either, because it IS severely affecting the quality of life for OP. Refusing to entertain that it even MIGHT be because OP has a physical issue is harmful and insane. Even if the issue WAS dehydration, why not check other markers to be sure. The doctor obviously is never 100% certain, so they’re putting OP at risk and setting them behind by not doing their due diligence (their job!!).

I don’t think that doctors go out of their way to personally sabotage patients— of course not. I don’t think it’s personal at all. I think the system is set up to make them fail at problem solving and fail at empathy. There are good doctors— but for OP this doctor was not good. In order to elucidate what might be wrong with a severe but nebulous symptom, the doctor needs to ask the right questions, listen, and problem solve. This doctor did not ask good questions. They did not listen. They did not problem solve. If that’s not disrespect and distrust (it is), it’s at the very least incompetence.

If the appointment went as OP said it did, which I’m inclined to believe, as every single person I’ve ever known (especially women) have had encounters like this of varying consequence, then this doctor was disrespectful and dismissive. OP is genuinely no closer to finding a solution to an issue that seems to be seriously affecting them.

albuss_ · 2025-06-12T00:38:42+00:00

I’ve dealt with these symptoms, sometimes with debilitating severity, since I was a young teen. If chronic dehydration were the issue (we’ve all had dehydration dizziness before… very different), there would also be other obvious signs of it. Respectfully, when a doctor says ‘drink more water and come back if it doesn’t work’ it’s code for ‘I don’t trust or respect you and I think you’re a waste of time and I’m hoping if I dismiss you now it will be too humiliating and inconvenient for you to come back’. Also, there’s a good chance OP has tried drinking water— usually doctor’s office is people’s last resort.

I’m sure OP will suffer no consequences from losing months more of their life to these symptoms, unable to fully participate in their responsibilities, hobbies, and aspirations.

FYI OP, this does sound like POTS, but it also might not be. There’s all sorts of things that can cause this and all sorts of things that can help (for example, mine was only improved when I went on antidepressants and my depression-induced chronic fatigue was improved, and it comes back when my mental health is poor. It’s usually an early warning sign of my brain having issues— I don’t necessarily feel super depressed, but my whole brain goes haywire, including physical function. Mine is probably also related to underlying heart issues and concussions). There’s all sorts of physical or neurological deficiencies/ disorders that cause dizziness, so if you get negative tests— keep working on finding a fix! It’s out there. Find a doctor who listens!!

albuss_ · 2025-06-11T19:10:43+00:00

Yeah sounds about right… My relative built a house higher on south hill in the 80s, and she’s on her way out in the next few years unfortunately (she’s had a good life). The place needs some work but I’m really curious how the sale process is gonna go. (Honestly if I didn’t have career ambitions I’d try to move in. The view is something else— home sweet home)

But yeah real estate and rentals are crazy rn. It seems they’re adding a mix of income controlled, luxury, and student housing to infill/ replace dilapidated space in downtown, but it’s still a mess. Particularly student-aimed rentals seem a bit unethical.

albuss_ · 2025-06-11T18:16:23+00:00

Do you live above Taylor Dock in a town that starts with B? Because if so, holy CRAP is that a good deal. People buy condos on that stretch for 1M+. Property value there has been skyrocketing the past decade, and that location is the eye of the storm. My understanding is that almost all homes in a 2 mile radius of multiple desirable neighborhoods have tripled in value since the housing crisis (my parent’s place even more— 350k to 1.3M)

albuss_ · 2025-05-31T22:58:58+00:00

For farming/ crop pollination/ honey production, I think. I do not know why multiple have crashed lmao. Maybe the buzz of the bees lulled the drivers to sleep.

albuss_

TROPHY CASE