(yes, it was under the couch, yes I'm putting it on my mouth anyway. it's in a tube! no one puncture my illusions.)

...a DIFFERENT, my hand to God it is different, chapstick has appeared from the void.

So the whole thing works completely differently and the suggestions become... horrible.

Disclaimer my experiences are not universal and all that, but... yeah.

and a non-reaction doesn't make this boring because the amusement isn't you; the amusement is the performance the bully is putting on for their friends. You're a prop.

a school bully isn't trying to advance any goal except "be less bored than neutral," they can't leave, they have nothing better to do, and they don't assert their place in the hierarchy by compelling obedience, they do it by mistreating you without social censure

because drawing attention to that defiance damages their authority more than pretending it wasn't a Thing does

and none of this is how schoolyard bullies work

If someone is trying to assert their place in an official or acknowledged hierarchy by forcing you into compliance -- eg, my boss trying to tell me I couldn't take a bathroom break last week -- they often DO, ACTUALLY, fold under pressure

If someone is throwing a tantrum to try and get a specific result, and they just get flat unbudging nonresponses, eventually they conclude they're not advancing their goals, and leave.

if I'm going to be publicly visible anyway I'm going to 1) have a useful archive and 2) make my lack of a character unit EVERYBODY'S problem, I suppose

relocate cat to owner

🍅

🤨

bsky.app/profile/sean...

(whispers) can I get a vowel

I feel like this is not a you specific lesson for someone working in a LIBRARY

was it going somewhere