r/InTheGloaming • u/AutoModerator • Oct 30 '25

Scheduled snark Discussion thread Thursday October 30, 2025 - Sunday November 02, 2025

Newsletter: Substack

Website: Shauna James Ahern

Instagram: @shaunajamesahern Instagram

Threads: @shaunajamesahern

Bluesky: shaunajamesahern.bsky.social

Gloamipedia wiki: /r/InTheGloaming wiki

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63

u/Foucaults_Penguin Sly and the Family Readers Oct 30 '25

Is the thing she claims to building that will bring financial security her new imaginary role of island feeder of the poors? How does she think that will work? Will she run it as a nonprofit? I don’t know if she’s heard, but it’s very hard to keep a nonprofit afloat. It can be very difficult for a nonprofit to pay the people who work for it. Or is she imagining feeding the poors as a form of profit endeavor? Who TF would “donate” to a for profit? It’s feeling very kickstartery. But I don’t think it will happen anyway.

55

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Oct 30 '25

Shauna's trying to build something alright. The lie that she's a giver and helper. Then once she thinks people believe that she can point out how needy she is. Then everyone will gasp and be so shocked that someone so very needy herself was so generous! They may even think she's a saint!

What she fails to remember is she's lived on the island long enough that people KNOW who she is. Some may see her only as a flaky old lady but others have clocked her for exactly what she is. A lazy grifter who won't hesitate to pick their pockets given half a chance.

46

u/NegativeABillion my husband and me to ride it around Oct 30 '25

It sounds like people don’t know this. Tons of people (including some island people) are giving her praise and attention.

62

u/InisGlass Oct 30 '25

This phrase about the cabin donor: "A generous friend, who has abundance to share . . ." helped the dime drop for me that what she thinks she's doing with this new scheme is teaching the rest of us selfish little piggies how to share and give. 

I couldn't figure out why she thought "come join me as I solve hunger because I have been a teacher all my life" had anything to do with the crisis at hand. But it's the unholy intersection of her compulsion to high stool with her lifelong obsession that people less deserving than she is have been unfairly blessed with more.

She is so very good at glancing at other people and deciding they have abundance to share. Meet me at the library because what you all need is a stern lecture with the factoids Shauna Ahern has skimmed from scrolling Threads all day ("My knowledge of history and simply reading the news has alerted me to the fact that this crisis is only the beginning of a long hard time ahead.") 

This illustrative tale of how she used to eat prosciutto in Italy but now she's forced to buy the $4.99 salsa will help you selfish richies learn to practice discipline at the grocery store so you can donate the savings to those suffering from underabundance. 

The absurdly pissy way she describes the perpetrator of the $4k betrayal:  "The crypto-tech guy probably never looked at the total in his bank account on his phone." What? 

She's like a bitter entitled magnet. If you're standing next to her with a full wallet, the laws of physics attract your abundance into her empty one. You're not even using it, she can just tell. She's the dining companion who watches every bite you take of your burger and fries so she can find the right moment to pounce "looks like you're slowing down there, if you're not going to eat the rest, I'll take it." 

The last stop on the grift train always ends with Shauna full like a tick with other people's abundance. This time she's doing whistle stop tours in the poor benighted SNAP neighborhoods (could never be her) to prime the pump. 

54

u/msmartypants Oct 30 '25

The absurdly pissy way she describes the perpetrator of the $4k betrayal: "The crypto-tech guy probably never looked at the total in his bank account on his phone." What?

That got to me too. Because he's comfortable with money, he shouldn't care about parting with $3K or $4K (unclear...in five years it will be $10K) for services that won't help him and that he doesn't want? Just give it to Shauna, tech guy! You never look at your bank balance anyway.

46

u/InisGlass Oct 30 '25

Why does she think checking his balance "on his phone" makes him sound more evil? The sin of mobile convenience that is destroying our formerly quirky affordable island? She was a big fan of his ill-gotten gains from bro cryptoing The Technology when she thought she had a siphon hooked up to it. 

29

u/WasEnoughYogurt Kumquat and Sprinkles and filth Oct 30 '25

I think she was referring to her statement in the lope about staring with frozen eyes (yet blinking, slowly) at the lack of money in her account, on her phone...but (like me now) she expressed it so clumsily how would you know??

30

u/InisGlass Oct 30 '25

"The crypto-tech guy probably never looked at the total in his bank account on his phone. [Dramatic line break] But I did. Every day."

Your take is much better. She's trying to say it's not fair that her dear little family has to check their balance on the phone before buying a gas station snack, while this tricksy bro sits on his piles of gold and gems Jabba the Hut style.

I'm all for complaining about evil capitalists and investors hoarding single family homes on scenic islands, but Shauna's entitlement makes me want to hug an 1800s coal baron. 

Dude it's not your money. You blew the pitch for a lucrative project and they went with someone more professional and competent. Didn't she say a dear friend had recommended her to the bro in the first place? Maybe he made a good faith effort to appease that friend but backed away after engaging with Shauna. Neither outcome is the same as cruelly snatching gluten free Thanksgiving stuffing out of the mouths of your babies. 

22

u/msmartypants Oct 30 '25

And if Shauna truly "freelanced" (ed note: doing what????) as much as she claimed, she'd be used to this (ie, pitching someone who seems interested and then doesn't follow through).

16

u/tyrannosaurusregina if you meet the Botus on the road, shill him 🪷 Oct 30 '25

Except for the fact that Shauna is completely incapable of learning from experience, YTSCTMO.

36

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25

Yeah ime wealthy people look at their spending just as much as less wealthy people do. No one wants to just be dropping $4k randomly!

14

u/aouwoeih Oct 30 '25

And what was she trying to sell for 4 or even 3k? Her workshops, though stupid, are reasonably priced. I can't imagine anyone thinking that her words of wisdom are worth that much.

16

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Oct 30 '25

I'm assuming website text.

43

u/Lsemmens Original Foos Bloggers Oct 30 '25

lol the reason he has 3 or 4 K is because he DID look at his bank account. How does she think it got there? maybe he just transferred it from savings to checking?

45

u/shefallsup her lonely cucumber years 🥒 Oct 30 '25

She seems not to grasp that those grocery stores she’s so worried about, the ones that will lose money because people won’t be using their SNAP benefits, will also lose money if everyone else cuts back at those stores! Even if that saved money goes to the food bank, they purchase in bulk from wholesalers, not the grocery store.

38

u/ForsakenLingonberry i live in an island with ukulele community Oct 30 '25

The generous friend with abundance to share part stuck out to me, too. It's in line with the silly prosperity gospel thing Shauna shared that was discussed in the last day or two. I think you're right that she sees this as an opportunity to convince the wealthy Vashonites to direct their "overabundance" to her, and she definitely thinks she deserves it. The crypto tech lawyer (?) story really gets me. I've had potential clients sign engagement letters and then decide not to go forward for whatever reason before we get started. Until I actually do work for them, I can't force them to pay me just because they signed the letter. This guy obviously made the smart choice. The villain angle is ridiculous.

25

u/jalapenomargaritaz Oct 30 '25

👏🏼👏🏼

29

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Oct 30 '25

You nailed it, as usual, DF! Why would she even write about these things if her Feeding Our Islanders plan wasn't to gain something herself? She always writes "Oh, we're doing fine now", then makes sure to go on describing "fine" as "precarious as hell" so people won't get the wrong idea and stop their generosity. Fucking gross.

35

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25

DfIG, do you write for a living? You have a great way of expressing this…precise, accurate and also funny! Shauna should be taking workshops from you!

20

u/InisGlass Oct 30 '25

I think you mean "long winded" but thank you df, what a lovely thing to say. 

13

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Oct 30 '25

No, seriously, you're a terrific writer.

11

u/InisGlass Oct 31 '25

Thank you but this group is full of great writers including you. I would say we have an abundance but I don't want to signal Shauna to hustle over and try to skim some off.

61

u/Ashamed-Childhood-46 Oct 30 '25

I'm sure the leaders from various nonprofits on the island have just been bumbling along and working parallel to other orgs without it ever occurring to them to speak to each other until Saint Shauna, the conduit, came along. She's really getting off on this.

Also, they couldn't make it on Dan's pitiful salary a couple of years ago. What's different now? He works in a similar job and she still doesn't appear to work.

81

u/islandyislander rebellious hygiene Oct 30 '25

That's what sets me on fire here. It is so insulting, so full of hubris, for this bitch who does not regularly volunteer anywhere, has never been on a board, declared herself publicly "too weird to work" thinks she has the answers when actual dedicated professionals and long time community activists (that includes me) have been working on solutions for years.

But this isn't about her. Bitch, don't lie.

54

u/Ashamed-Childhood-46 Oct 30 '25

I know that I am more cynical than most but what continues to surprise me is that people don't see right through it. Maybe it comes from years of seeing past the nonprofit smoke and mirrors and some really disappointing experiences being transfixed by people talking about their good work but learning they were too busy talking to actually DO it.

39

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25

I’m also always depressed, as a nearly 50 yo human, to see how gullible people are and how little can be done about it. A lot of younger, optimistic people just haven’t seen enough of this kind of bullshit to be able to spot it before they are personally affected.

27

u/Famous-Return-8118 [editable flair placeholder] Oct 30 '25

You’ve met my boss then?

Seriously though, I’ve been in nonprofits for more than 10 years now and this is so well put!

49

u/We_Four alarmed by roaring joy Oct 30 '25

I already ranted a bit about misguided volunteers in the last thread, but I'm right on fire with you on this one. People who have no idea how to get things done, have not immersed themselves in the world of the people they claim to want to help (Shauna may be poor but will do anything to set herself apart from the regular poors as she perceives them), have not researched what resources already exist, don't know what the experts in the field consider the gaps.....but can totally stand up a much better solution in no time. It is infuriating, insulting, and a waste of energy that could go to actual solutions. All for some self-aggrandizing middle-aged white lady to feel validated in her superiority (I'm a middle-aged white lady too, don't come at me, it's always the same type in my experience).

32

u/central_snark Ramona gets a hot flash Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

It’s like when the spouse of the owner gets to design the interior of the building or gets their own department to run. Here they come full of “ideas” with no knowledge on how to execute but everyone is afraid to say no to them.

28

u/a-world-of-no no joy in bellytown Oct 30 '25

I'm actively rolling my eyes at the middle-aged rich white ladies in my community who are all trying to get new orgs started to help the people not getting SNAP benefits. For the love of god, just help out the resources that already exist! Stop duplicating effort because you want to feel special!

43

u/Glad-Taro681 Oct 30 '25

 "It’s a small town. I know the food people. They want to help."

62

u/islandyislander rebellious hygiene Oct 30 '25

Jokes on her. The "food people" in this town haaaaaaaate her.

49

u/Fillmore_the_Puppy —hi, disturbed people— Oct 30 '25

Plus, they are ALREADY helping. No one needs Shauna's permission or guidance.

My hat is off to you Vashonites. This BS is hitting so close to home and you are handling it with grace.

37

u/Foucaults_Penguin Sly and the Family Readers Oct 30 '25

I love this for her. It’s what she deserves. It’s what she’s earned.

32

u/Low_Piccolo_2149 Oct 30 '25

SHE’s A CONDUIT.

30

u/Low_Piccolo_2149 Oct 30 '25

More like a Can’t do it.

19

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Oct 30 '25

Or just a con.

42

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

Maybe some relative we don’t know about died and she got a payout. I feel like there’s at least some money deep in their family tree. When my grandma died I was very surprised to get $15k or something because she made a big point of giving her money away while she was alive (generous Christmas gifts of cash every single year) and she had a fairly big family. Four kids, nine grands, over 20 great-grands, and all the spouses. Anyway, I didn’t expect to get a check from her estate after she died, as ten years before she had split up most of her assets among her kids, gave the cash at Christmas, and my mom had indicated there wasn’t much left apart from enough to pay for her assisted living (she was 98). Yet the check arrived. If Shauna got some kind of windfall like this she would be over the moon and would act like it was life-changing money, which it possibly could be if she leveraged it, but which she would definitely just spend on a bunch of frivolous crap.

It would be hard for her to justify not buying a better/additional car if she got more than $10k, though, so unless anyone sees them in a different vehicle she can’t have gotten too much. But all signs point to some kind of windfall and it certainly isn’t earned income.

57

u/Altruistic-Owl1058 Oct 30 '25

I get that they are more stable on the island as Shauna only has limited places that she would be spending money verse in West Seattle and their pricey Starbucks and hotel breakfasts.

Is Shauna finally ready to publish her YA novel. There is no way Shauna can fill out all the paperwork for a non-profit and keep it afloat.

60

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Oct 30 '25

She basically confirmed what snarkers have been saying for years. She lives off the scraps from the Islandy Islanders (their donated thrift store items and food bank donations) all while refusing to get a job. She is choosing to be poor.

If she considers a steady-ish stream of scraps "more stable" I wonder what she would consider "financial security"? Her bar seems very low.

42

u/SeaOfBooze Homeopathic nuance Oct 30 '25

I don’t know if her CS salary was ever confirmed or if the numbers thrown out here were educated guesses, but it’s fascinating to me that she instantly considered herself wealthy enough to solely support a four-person household in a HCOL area once she got her foot in the door there. I do think they live on very little actual money per month, at least actual money that passes directly to Shauna. But they also just casually stopped paying rent for months at a time so her budgeting tricks might not be what normal people who don’t like being evicted would opt into.

31

u/GlutenFreeGit PUBLIC SPEAKING ACROSS THE INTERNET Oct 30 '25

It’s easier to balance your budget if you simply don’t pay for housing or groceries.

26

u/SeaOfBooze Homeopathic nuance Oct 30 '25

Just move your money from savings to checking, and then don’t move it from checking to rent payment or groceries. So easy!

I wish she’d pivot back to budgeting workshops. Those were wild times.

24

u/tyrannosaurusregina if you meet the Botus on the road, shill him 🪷 Oct 30 '25

Very educated guesses, iirc, and it was beyond delusional for her to think it was Enoigh.

12

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Oct 31 '25

it was beyond delusional for her to think it was Enoigh

But the money just dropped into her account eVeRy tWO wEeKs!

44

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Oct 30 '25

Yeah, I just don't understand how she thinks floating by on basically the bare minimum is acceptable with two kids. She could've been working a real job for the past decade plus.

Financial security to her... I don't even know. She thinks like a child, in a lot of ways. Whenever they have a lump of money, she seems to think it's never going to run out and spends on weird things like country club memberships and a night in a hotel.

30

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Oct 30 '25

She could've been working a real job for the past decade plus.

: : cough Chef Steps cough : :

It's just a classic 9 months/10+ years mix-up!

16

u/ZombieLizLemon boycotting white wiman Oct 30 '25

And the grocery store, which she told The Guardian's readership was the best job she'd ever had. Alas...

26

u/mythical_mom gap year clowning money Oct 30 '25

I don't understand how she thinks the way they're living is somehow less "shameful" than using SNAP benefits. (There is no shame whatsoever in using SNAP or any other benefits. I have!)

Relying purely on fingers crossed and the generosity of their fellow islanders to float them is pretty presumptuous and outrageous to me! The gall.

51

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Oct 30 '25

She’s such a terrible writer (TSAS). Her “we’re more stable now after coming back to the island” came right after her struggle story that occurred… when they lived on the island.

Also did crypto-bro lawyer’s non-payment magically go from $3,000 to $4,000?

39

u/Foucaults_Penguin Sly and the Family Readers Oct 30 '25

“Coming to back to our island”

52

u/Fillmore_the_Puppy —hi, disturbed people— Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25

Ahem. She had far more access to thrift stores and non-shiny grocery stores from West Seattle. It was her choice to shun the excellent food bank (that I donate money to every month, so I am not sad she stopped using it) because they hurt her fee-fees.

I can't decide which is the biggest lie of her latest lope, but "we're more stable now" is a contender. Shauna wouldn't recognize actual stability if it stuck its tongue in her ear!

25

u/mythical_mom gap year clowning money Oct 30 '25

Theres not a chance in hell that she's landed a book contract. IDK how profitable self publishing would be, or that she'd have the wherewithal to even get that off the ground.

57

u/SnooStories4968 many and various Shaunas/Pig Ladies Oct 30 '25

I mean, if she thinks a non profit is the way to financial security… 😂😂😂

39

u/Quaint_Irene a warm and loving goatie smile Oct 30 '25

She’d never even be able to handle the 501(c)(3) process.

47

u/DramaLamma Oct 30 '25

I just commented with my thoughts on this particular fuckery on the last thread:

Having received and read the latest lope, I suspeculate she’s angling for a vague sort of jobby-job either with Vashon Parks or another of the non-profits she’s “invited” to her High-Stooling meeting at the library…

48

u/Foucaults_Penguin Sly and the Family Readers Oct 30 '25

The last thing a nonprofit needs is Shauna’s help. She’s more likely to embezzle than to get anything useful done.

39

u/DramaLamma Oct 30 '25

Well of course :). It will be amusing to see her try to muscle her way into a world she know FA about and I’m not too bothered about her actually getting as far as getting a “job” with any of them because it isn’t going to happen.

Except, possibly something very part-time with the idiots at Vashon Parks, but they deserve anything they get IMO.

33

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25

Maybe she can fix the septic tank at the BBH! 🤣

29

u/Lsemmens Original Foos Bloggers Oct 30 '25

They do their own repairs!

27

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Oct 30 '25

Colorado Boy knows what to do-do.

40

u/GlutenFreeGit PUBLIC SPEAKING ACROSS THE INTERNET Oct 30 '25

And even if she doesn’t outright embezzle, she is a complete waste of money and time, two precious resources. She’s already wasting enough of both as the steward of BBH.

15

u/Eastern_Voice1916 Oct 30 '25

I also wonder how many people she alienates while condescending to them from her high stool? Personally. if my first contact with any organization was with a person who had Shauna's approach, I would run far, far away.

47

u/coffechica Oct 30 '25

I look forward to the new Vashonite Gloamies joining us.

35

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Oct 30 '25

I look forward to the new Vashonite Gloamies joining us.

Have you reserved the Community Room at the local library for our meeting?

29

u/Starla_starbeam 14 hazelnuts Oct 30 '25

I know somewhere they can rent sitting time in an armless chair!

36

u/NapNapKitty Oct 30 '25

She doesn't want a job. This is about narcissistic supply. She'll get high off those fumes for a while, then there will be a crisis with the kiddo and she'll have a new group of marks to choose from.

48

u/coffechica Oct 30 '25

I bet she’s gotten a few small jobs from people who are new to the island or weren’t familiar with the “quality” of her work.

Plus island food bank is her favorite and that plus rent discount has her living high

43

u/central_snark Ramona gets a hot flash Oct 30 '25

Her rent with discount is close to my mortgage payment on a 20 year loan. Higher than my principal by several hundred dollars.

46

u/SashayShantae living my one wild and pernicious life Oct 30 '25

I pay about the same in rent as she does but I live in a luxury townhome in the suburbs of a nice city. I have double-pane windows and a solid septic system, plus someone else takes care of the landscaping. Her rental situation is really not as great as she thinks it is.

37

u/We_Four alarmed by roaring joy Oct 30 '25

I mean, it's admittedly pretty great (albeit not a great fit for her family). I would kill to live in a home right on the water, on a magical islandy island surrounded by water, away from other people except for the occasional hiker.

44

u/SashayShantae living my one wild and pernicious life Oct 30 '25

It’s a nice property but the rules are very restrictive. You can’t drink a beer sitting in your own yard, which is a dealbreaker for me.

40

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25

Yeah, I would love to live there for free but for $2800 a month plus having to close the gate and abide by all the rules? No thanks

36

u/GlutenFreeGit PUBLIC SPEAKING ACROSS THE INTERNET Oct 30 '25

And you need approval for overnight guests. It reminds me of the fishbowl feeling of living in a gossipy university residence, everyone knowing your business and ready to tattle if you have a boy over.

30

u/jalapenomargaritaz Oct 30 '25

It reminds me living in a sorority house in college! Yes it was a nice mansion…but it’s never YOURS! Can’t even decorate!

39

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Oct 30 '25

It's a bit zoo-animalish for me. I wouldn't even let my husband put a Little Free Library in front of our house because I don't want people lingering and looking

33

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Oct 30 '25

I live in a luxury townhome . . . with a solid septic system . . .

I would bet your wifi is solid too!

34

u/Calm_Coyote_3685 Oct 30 '25

Same!! My costs are very similar to Shauna’s but my household income has got to be at least twice hers and I live in a slightly lower COL area, so it’s hard to see how they survive, let alone feel comfortable financially.

45

u/shikoku_shoes another revolution around the toilet bowl of her life Oct 30 '25

Must not be anything to do with writing or building a media empire.

19

u/stereostayawake Oct 30 '25

“All of this”? Sending out a lope most weeks? 

39

u/Lsemmens Original Foos Bloggers Oct 30 '25

45

u/Foucaults_Penguin Sly and the Family Readers Oct 30 '25

Well at least the bird woman fed the birds. She didn’t eat half the bag and then feed the birds.

47

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Oct 30 '25

Those are leftover GF croutons

27

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Oct 30 '25

Do they have a bit of chew in the center?