livingshad0w

[livingshad0w]

Planning for a flight now consists of planning out how to document the legal violations the airline is inevitably going to commit.

[livingshad0w]

ive found that partially treated mental illness can sometimes look to uninvolved onlookers like faked mental illness.

[livingshad0w]

Trans and intersex people in the UK need you to be loud and angry about the new "deception as to sex" guidance released which makes trans and intersex people legally guilty of rape if we don't disclose our gender identity and/or the sex we were assigned at birth to sexual partners.

This is particularly going to harm trans and intersex sex workers, who often have a higher number of sexual partners who we might keep our trans or intersex identity from for our safety.

"To summarize this guidance in the simplest terms, it treats a trans or intersex person not disclosing their gender identity and/or the sex they were assigned at birth as a form of deception which negates consent."

"This interpretation of part of the existing Sexual Offences Act (2003) places an unreasonable burden on trans and intersex people to inform our sexual partners of our medical history, while no such burden is placed on cis perisex people who are allowed to rely on assumption."

[livingshad0w]

Happy black cat day!!

Here are some black cats I've drawn through the years

[livingshad0w]

[livingshad0w]

I’m seeing a bunch of posts that make me think most USAmericans don’t know about The No Surprises Act.

It was passed in 2021 (thank you Biden) and essentially states that if you don’t have insurance or your insurance doesn’t cover a service you need (or want) you are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate of the cost of care. (If your insurance does cover the service, you should be able to estimate the cost of care based on your deductible and co-pay.)

As a healthcare provider who does not accept any insurance, I am very careful to not violate The No Surprises Act. Why? Because for every penny more than $400 that the Good Faith Estimate was “off” (or if it wasn’t provided), you are entitled to a refund for that amount.

Y’all. Ask for a Good Faith Estimate. Get it in writing. Compare it to what you are paying. If you are not provided an estimate or if it’s wrong by more than $400, demand a refund.

[livingshad0w]

I feel like I should make a post about this because it’s not something that’s very well-known, and that Americans in particular may need to know about given the uncertain state of our healthcare system at the moment. I’ve wanted to write this out for a while, It’s kind of a long post, so sorry about that!

If you have an emergency and have to go to the hospital, you’ll owe the hospital a lot of money. (I got into a car wreck and broke my ankle and my arm. My hospital bill was around $20,000)

You’ll also owe the ambulance provider, if you need one. (My ambulance bill was about $800)

You may get separate bills from the anesthesiologist or surgeon. (My anesthesiologist bill was $1,700)

You may need follow-up appointments. (My orthopedic surgeon billed me for the appointments and his surgery together and it was about $1,000)

You’ve also got to pay for medical equipment you need afterward, like crutches or a walking boot. (Mine cost about $75)

Altogether, I ended up with almost $24,000 in medical debt from one car accident. That’s a really scary number for someone like me who makes $10/hr at a 12 hour a week job.

I got my debt down to $1075 by making some phone calls and submitting some paperwork.

The first thing I did was contact the hospital. They don’t make it easy to find, but many hospitals (perhaps most hospitals?) have financial assistance programs for people who can’t afford medical bills. I don’t make a lot of money, and I have bills to pay, so they were able to help me. I called the billing department and asked if they had any assistance programs for low income people who can’t pay their bills. I had to call multiple times, and I got transferred in circles by people who didn’t know what I was talking about. Finally, I got an appointment with someone in “Eligibility Services” (I don’t know what other hospitals call it, if it’s something different). I had to bring my pay stubs and copies of all of my bills. When I got to the hospital for the appointment, nobody knew what I was talking about so I had to wander a little to find where I needed to go. I spoke with the guy in Eligibility Services, and I waited for a decision on how much of the bill they would forgive. A month later, I got a call telling me it was totally forgiven.

I did the same thing for my ambulance bill and my anesthesiologist, but the process was a LOT easier. I just had to mail some paperwork and it was totally forgiven.

I didn’t bother with the medical equipment suppliers, since the bills came from separate companies and I didn’t feel like going through the process twice for $75. I was assured at the hospital that they had similar programs for debt forgiveness, so I could have probably avoided paying that too.

The only thing I couldn’t get taken care of was the surgeon/follow-up appointment cost, but they were able to put me on a no-interest payment plan.

Medical debt is scary because it’s something that can come from stuff that’s already really scary. I didn’t need the burden of $24,000 in debt on top of trying to get around on a crutch with a broken arm (it’s not easy, believe me!).. but I can’t imagine what it would be like with a bigger debt or a more severe medical emergency. I see lots of people in even worse trouble than I was in, both financially and medically. Please know that there are options for you when that GoFundMe doesn’t do enough. Even if your income is higher than mine, it’s worth a shot even for partial debt forgiveness.

[livingshad0w]

The lyrics "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know" hit differently in the age of climate change

[livingshad0w]

Reached out to a biologist to request some info about an extinct species of freshwater shrimp and the email she sent in response was not only lovely and helpful but also kind of poetry to me? People who study invertebrates are actually the most hopeful and compassionate scientists that we have.

[livingshad0w]

why hasn't no one posted the kringlefucker yet. you guys used to love the kringlefucker.

[livingshad0w]

My favourite question to ask (mostly suburban) people when commenting about XYZ thing that they claim makes the city unsafe is "Is it making you unsafe or is it making you uncomfortable?"

Is the safe injection site making you unsafe or does see it make you uncomfortable?

Is the encampment making you unsafe or does seeing unhoused people make you uncomfortable?

Is the person asking for change on the corner making you unsafe or are they making you uncomfortable?

Is the person talking to themself at the bus stop making you unsafe or are they making you uncomfortable?

Is the queer couple kissing making you unsafe or are they making you uncomfortable.

People existing in a way that you don't approve of isn't unsafe. People need to get better at understanding the difference between those two feelings because when you feel uncomfortable and claim you feel unsafe you often make the people making you uncomfortable actually unsafe.

Calling the cops on the person talking to themself may well result in them being harmed. Pitching a fit about safe injection sites and petitioning your local government to close them will result in people dying.

Being uncomfortable isn't a bad thing. Often times you simply need to learn to live with it or you need to direct your discomfort toward the system problems that lead to your discomfort.

[livingshad0w]

It’s almost christmas. Palestine is still under the brutal oppression of Israel. Please, donate what you can to Palestinians.

[livingshad0w]

btw the majority of your life will be lived as a adult. yeah i don't make the rules. go have fun in your 40s or 70s or whatever. no one expects you to accomplish everything at 17 or 27. you've got time and in the meantime get some life experience, it will pay off

[livingshad0w]

Cats with knives.

[livingshad0w]

hey. this year's been an uphill battle, my work is worth half what it used to be and there's no relief in sight. and i'm tired. i'm very tired. why am i grinding and working my ass off on the holidays and thinking of ways i can make the last packs of lentils and rice work and one last egg last until some gig shows up

i've literally never done this because i've always tried to get work first and struggle in silence but nothing is showing up so here's my kofi. anything helps. otherwise ‼ i'm still willing to do simple portraits due for christmas or whatever For Real i don't want my phone line to be taken down again‼ 😭

[livingshad0w]

[livingshad0w]

your tumblr experience is not complete unless you follow:

the great beast

strange transgenders

the depressed gamer

prolific but unmarketable artist

1 old white guy who posts shit like: photo of vinyl record collection, photo of breakfast, photo of beautiful fat woman, photo of cigar

extremely niche interest

robosexual