Ildsaye

the only person in that role that wouldn't listen to his bloodthirsty advisors

Maybe that kid who shot his ear was secretly very well trained in marksmanship, but at the last moment he heard the voice of Gandalf telling him that Trump may have a part to play, ere the end

I guess having them undertake public works as part of military service, like the DPRK, would step on Porky's toes too much

I've heard the average length of the individual fibers even in 'good' fabric is also often shorter than they used to be, so even with good construction, the fabric itself wears out sooner. As long as clothing is so unregulated, it's a race to the bottom.

If you don't condemn Hamas once every twelve hours, they can dig a tunnel under you

As a neurodivergent person, a big chunky old kitchen timer (a timer buried in a phone menu has too much mental friction to find it when I need it), and a supply of those little blue glass gems. I drop a glass token into a jar every time I do something I didn't feel like doing (even though I wanted or needed to do it). Something about the ritual acknowledgment that what I did was not easy, every time I drop a token in, helps to counteract all the eugenicist propaganda I grew up with concerning what struggles may be considered worthy of complaint

Hospital-Acquired Infection, you have a chance to do something funny

And it's not as if they even have to follow through on the good things

Be nice if that lead to the (for the wrong reasons) wide implementation of N95s and HEPA filters to protect the populace from the noxious fumes and pestilential vapours, but when push comes to shove between neoliberalism and crankery, the neoliberalism always gets its way

Cults often double down when their prophesies fail to come to pass, modifying or reinterpreting them or whatever. People can only abandon a load-bearing belief, or the social circle that comes with sharing that belief, when they have the ability to stand without it

Even pretty obvious hints can be hidden in plain sight if the red herrings are interesting and well-thought-out enough in their own right. It's also fun for the reader to pursue false leads and have a chance to see ahead of time that they don't offer an adequate explanation.