#Donor eligibility

[sanshofox]

Did I read that correctly…

PBS was the only news outlet that dared to call it what it is, namely a nazi salute and today PBS got defunded??

Edit:

As I stated in a reblog:

this question above (because that‘s what it is, a simple question to american followers) was taken out of context. In a way that got completely out of hand. I never wanted any of this. I am european and I know that nowadays you have to be cautious about american news, so I asked so I could understand (because there were news tickers and articles that confirmed it and I doubted it).

I know these are trying times, but please stay kind. I will now cancel reblogs for this post, because it is really sad to see what is happening here and I am only trying to deescalate now.

Down below the article posted in a reblog by @fandom-frenzy . PBS is still funded but getting defunded may or may not happen in the future. Despite that you can support PBS on your own through subscription.

[lexlawuk]

Private Medical Treatment Visit Visa

Individuals wishing to travel to the United Kingdom to undergo private medical treatment, donate an organ, or be assessed as a potential organ donor can apply for the Private Medical Treatment and Organ Donation Visit Visa. As a specialist sub-category of the UK’s Standard Visitor route, this visa allows eligible applicants to stay temporarily for medical-related purposes without leading to…

[bunnydracula]

EXTREMELY TIME-SENSITIVE: i'm offering FOUR highly detailed traditional character commissions to be sent to donors via mail through this direct aid market on behalf of the al manasra family currently fundraising to evacuate the beseiged gaza strip and pay for medical treatment in egypt. MARKET CLOSES DECEMBER 14th! this is a critical fundraising time, so please check out what we're offering ASAP! browse the market and donate, or donate now and see what last-minute gifts you might be eligible to receive as a thank-you! we've also re-opened artist submissions as of dec 10th, so if you'd like to help this family that is so dear to my heart by offering something you've made or can make, please fill out this easy form!

the Al Manasra family is vetted #192 here by El-Shab Hussein and Nablusi.

read some of my posts and comics about the Al Manasra family here.

you can alternatively donate to Mohamed’s still-active GOFUNDME page if you have an issue with Chuffed.

mohamed’s Tumblr page is @save-mohamed-family here is a post about their current goal that links to an additional FAQ!

[bewitchingbanshee]

please? 🥺👉🏻👈🏻 please spoil your favorite unhinged goth tumblrina so she shuts the fuck up about her birthday and shit lmao? 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

everyone who sends me a birthday tip up til the day after my birthday (birthday is 4/29) gets a personal thank you audio (or video depending on the amount sent, these would be rather sfw, maybe a tit flash involved), and if it’s a large enough tip, a free 6 month sub to my paid OF as well

ko-fi | cashapp | paypal

[stele3]

Blood donations through the Red Cross: a guide

Blood drives are always going on. You can go to the Red Cross website and find one in your area.

The website sends you text reminders the day before, as well as a link to the Rapid Pass, a questionnaire that determines you eligibility.

Yes, you can give blood if you’ve had gay sex; Biden fixed that. Yes, you can give blood if you’ve got tattoos, so long as they were conducted in a licensed facility.

On the day of, you go to the drive. You need your driver’s license, which they’ll scan. If you didn’t do the Rapid Pass ahead of time, you do it there.

They then check your hematocrit — usually by pricking your finger — your blood pressure, and your temperature. You sign a form saying you understand they’re gonna test your blood for diseases and will contact you if you’ve got any.

Time for the scary part. You walk over and lie down on what looks like a massage table. They put a blood cuff around your arm and have you squeeze a squishy thing to enlarge your veins. Once they’ve found a good one, they mark it with a pen.

They apply disinfectant to the whole area.

Steps 4-7 take about half an hour.

They insert the needle, tape it to your wrist, and wait while the bag fills. The normal blood donation takes 3 units, or 3 pints. Each unit is one transfusion, which is why the Red Cross says every donation can save 1-3 lives.

How long step 9 takes depends on you. Several factors are at play: your cardiovascular fitness, your hydration level, and the size of your veins. My speed record for filling the bag is 4 minutes and 4 seconds, but I’m told that’s insanely fast. (I guzzle water the day of.)

Once you’ve filled the bag, they take the needle out, apply gauze, and tell you to hold it over your head while they secure your donation. Once they’ve done that, they wrap tape around your elbow, which is to stay in place for an hour. The gauze needs to stay in place for about 4 hours.

SNACKS.

There is a critical shortage of O type blood, both O- and O+. There is always a critical shortage of O types, because O- is the universal donor (can give to anyone). However, because of its rarity (only 7% of the population), its use is restricted to babies and pregnant people. The most common blood type used in ERs is type O+.

Yes, this has the potential to cause side effects for people who have any type of - blood. Considering the beyond-critical shortage of O- and the prevalence of + types (85% of the population) vs - types (15% of the population), ERs will usually roll the dice and give you O+ until they figure out what blood type you actually have.

IF YOU HAVE TYPE O BLOOD PLEASE DONATE. Everyone should donate but especially type O.

If you don’t know your blood type, good news! The Red Cross will tell you after you donate! That’s very useful information for you to have, and they give it to you for free.

And I mean….theoretically, you could use this process to check for blood diseases like HIV. It’s free! If you have no other way of accessing that info, the Red Cross will absolutely test your blood and alert you if you’re positive. Scratch that, irresponsible advice. Apologies!

I’m not scared of needles, but I faint at the sight of my own blood. I still go every 8 weeks, because doing so SAVES LIVES. I have donated 8 times. That means I’ve saved the lives of between 8-24 people. Can you imagine how good that feels? 8-24 people are alive because every 8 weeks I plop my ass down in a gym or church or whatever and white-knuckle my phone for 5 minutes.

50% of people are eligible to give blood but only 5% do, and that number falls to catastrophic levels among young people. Millennials and Gen Z give 40% less blood than older generations, and that’s placing us all at risk.

So if you’re in the 50% of the population who’s eligible to donate, roll your sleeves up and avert your eyes, guys. This is THE most basic form of mutual aid you can possibly do.

[queerandprochoice]

So I’m about three weeks post-op for my hysterectomy and I’ve been thinking about something a lot lately.

I have O- type blood, meaning I’m a universal blood donor. Anyone can receive my blood, and O- is in constant demand because of this. If there’s no time to blood test in an emergency situation, O- is essential.

I’m nearly 26, and I’ve never donated blood. Why? Because I’ve never been eligible. The guidelines for donation are extremely strict in order to protect both donors and recipients. You have to meet age requirements, weight requirements, sexuality requirements, and can be ineligible because of a host of health conditions, because of certain medications, having new tattoos or piercings, travel to certain areas, etc. You can get turned away for being even slightly anemic.

Blood donations save lives; just one donation can save three people’s lives. It’s relatively quick, mostly painless, and extremely low-risk. But we don’t force anyone to donate; it’s entirely voluntary. If I was required to donate blood as frequently as possible, I theoretically could save a dozen or so people a year, but we don’t do that because that would be a violation of my rights. We don’t force people who are ineligible to donate anyway because it still might save a life. We don’t try and pressure people into donation if they don’t want to. Nobody says “well if you didn’t want to donate blood, you shouldn’t have gotten your blood typed.” There are no fake blood donation clinics that coerce you into donating if you’re ineligible or uninterested. There are no incentives or bribes or remuneration to convince people to donate blood, aside from a juice box and maybe some cookies. We don’t make cis men donate every 56 days, or cis women every 84 days. We don’t let underweight or underage people donate. We don’t deny people certain medications because they might want/have to donate blood. We protect the privacy of blood donors.

Blood donations save lives, but we only allow people to donate under extremely safe and 100% voluntary conditions. Are there some legitimate problems with some of the requirements, especially those related to gender and sexuality? Yeah absolutely, a lot of them are super outdated and homophobic. But the point is that our society values personal choice and bodily autonomy, as well as the health and safety of the donors, over potential lives saved. The same principles of consent and bodily autonomy apply to organ donation. You can’t even remove organs from a corpse to use for transplants unless that person had consented while they were alive.

Before I went into surgery, I also had to sign a consent form that would allow me to receive a blood transfusion if it was necessary.

We don’t allow forced blood or organ donations, and we have pretty stringent requirements for blood donors, because we value safety, consent, and bodily autonomy over quantity of life. And yet, anti-choicers want to force people to undergo pregnancy and birth—a far more dangerous, lengthy, and painful ordeal—because “it’s a life.” A ten year old isn’t old enough to donate blood, but is apparently old enough to carry a pregnancy to term.

It’s pretty fucked up how when it comes to abortion rights, it seems like health and safety, consent, and bodily autonomy suddenly don’t matter anymore.

Also, please consider donating blood if you can.

[pathetic-gamer]

fellow Americans, there is a MASSIVE blood shortage right now.

If you're able, please consider donating blood, especially if you have type-O. Supply is low and there are so few donors right now, even compared to typical summer dips. Your community almost definitely has a local blood bank that you can go through, just search for a blood drive in your area.

If you choose to go through the Red Cross, they're giving a (digital) $20 Amazon gift card to anyone who makes a donation appointment in the month of August (extremely rare to get any kind of monetary incentive for giving whole blood!!!)

this link has extra info on eligibility for queer donors (HRT is usually fine, PEP/PrEP requires a waiting period, etc)

you just have to weigh at least 110 lbs and be in "generally good health" (as in like, you don't actively have the flu). but even with chronic conditions, medications, etc., as long as you're managing them and feel well, you can probably donate!!

so in conclusion, for the love of all that you hold dear, consider donating blood in the next few weeks 🙏

[pixelpastry]

🕊️im participating in Artists 4 Gaza! i am offering two tiers for this initiative — please donate to families GFM efforts in the spotlight campaigns and get an art request from our artist team!

For instructions and fundraisers, see artaction4gaza.carrd.co

image descriptions below

image 1: graphic pertaining to Artists 4 Gaza, an art action to provide art for donating to fundraisers for families in palestine. 4 pieces of artwork are displayed - two halfbodies, two busts, and two chibi-style drawings. the two halfbodies are horned humanoids/tieflings with various expressions,.the two headshots/busts feature a tiefling and an elf, both are smiling at the viewer. Lastly, the chibis show a star-themed tiefling and a human rockstar in a jumping pose with her guitar. the text reads: donation tiers: 5-70 USD for tiers 1-4. to find more information, follow artaction4gaza.carrd.co for donations and art request form.

image 2: a "how it works" graphic, with text that reads:

donate to our spotlight fundraisers or other eligible fundraisers for art

click on "art request form" under artaction4gaza.carrd.co

take a screenshot of your GFM receipt as proof of donation

our volunteer art team accepts art requests based on their own preference

when your artist is finished with your request, they will email your completed work

request that dont get matched will be put on a waitlist pending future artist availability.

image 3: a "proof of donation" how-to graphic. shows a screenshot of a gofundme receipt where the donor's name is redacted. the text reads as follows: Find the receipt email GFM sends you after you donate. click on the arrow after "to me"on mobile to display the email and timestamp. three things must be visible for your donation: your payment email, donation date, and donation amount. all payment emails will be kept confidential.

image 4: graphic for artists 4 gaza that displays a dove on the left side of the image with a hat and poppy flower in its beak. the text reads: Art Requests Open! Donate and receive an art request at artaction4gaza.carrd.co.

Donation tiers include: tier 1 - 5 USD. tier 2- 20 USD. tier 3 - 35 USD. tier 4 - 70 USD.

Artists 4 Gaza is an independent art fundraising project raising evacuation & relief funds for families in Gaza. This intiative is spotlighting campaigns highlighted by the Dallas chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, but we accept all donations to Palestinian fundraisers seeking relief and/or evacuation funds.

[things-arent-what-they-seem66]

WTFuture Evesworld

For that one anon. @fanofstuff01

Adam wasn’t sure what to make of their future selves coming back to stop Eve. Or what to make of that he apparently works for fucking Lucifer in the future.

He shuddered, no way in Hell was he going to let that happen.

Although...... His sight has been getting weird lately maybe he should get it checked just to be sure he doesn't need glasses, they don't frame his face. He looked to his right and an optometrist office was right there.

Adam: How convenient.

He went in and the doctor saw him right away and did many different tests

Doctor: Well, it's official. You have eye cancer.

Adam: WHAT!? Isn't there anything you can do?

Doctor: Well, we can do surgery or a transplant. But you're nowhere near eligible for either, you'd have to basically be blind.

Adam: So you can't fucking help me because I caught it too early?

Doctor: Yup!

Adam: .....

Doctor: ...... Sorry.

Adam left in a huff and stalked down the sidewalk, stupid doctor what good is he if he can't help him? What was he going to do he didn't want to go blind.

He was hit with a headache and leaned against the wall gripping his face as it was located in his eyes. It hurt so bad, was he crying? It felt like he was crying.

The sound of two guns clicking caught his attention, when Adam looked up he saw two women pointing guns at him and a man got out of the backseat of the car.

He knows that man......

Lucifer: Adam! My old friend, you're not looking so hot.

Adam glared: What do you want?

Lucifer: No need to be rude, I only wish to help.~

Adam: Yeah right.

Lucifer: Oh but I do. I can't help but notice your situation, let me help you.

Adam: Why would I let you?

Lucifer: It would be better than going blind, no?

How the hell did he know that? As if knowing, his vision went more blurry and the pain for worse. In this light, Lucifer looked like the devil and you know what they say when you make a deal with the devil.

Adam: I-I-I.... F-fine.

The last thing he saw was Lucifer's grin as the woman went to Adams side and picked him up.

When Adam woke up there was a loading screen.

Loading screen.

Adams hands flew to his face and he felt a visor on his face, it felt as if it were embedded into him.

Adam: No no no no no no no!!

When the screen loaded his vision was perfect, better than its ever been in his life. It looked as though he was in a bed in a lab, not a hospital.

Lucifer: Oh good you're awake now. I hope you like it.~

He handed Adam a small mirror and to his horror it was the visor that his future self had. Yellow/gold LED's for eyes.

Adam: What did you do!?

Lucifer: I helped you! You're welcome by the way. Your eyes couldn't be saved and no donor around I did the next best thing. You should be grateful old friend.

Adam glared or at least hoped he was glaring: Helped me!? There's a computer in my face! And you're not my friend.

Adam yelped when Lucifer reached forward and gripped his jaw, Adam shrinked down the best he could as those cold blue eyes looked at him.

Lucifer: You're right, we're not friends, I'm your boss and King now. I saved your life when you asked me to and now you owe me.

Motherfucker!

Lucifer: You have three options Adam, I can either rip that seeing visor out of your face letting you bleed to death, I hit a button and make you do as I say, or you be a good boy and follow my orders. Your choice. And I would much rather have you willing.~

Adam looked down, how could he have just let himself into this situation? Eve and Lilith were probably worried about him.

Well, Eve more than Lilith and they were probably making out on the couch.

Adam: ....... Fine.

Lucifer: Fine, what?

Adam grit his teeth: Fine sir.

Lucifer smiled and let him go: Excellent! And for future reference I will also accept your majesty, my King, or Red Leader.

Lucifer turned away from Adam and walked towards the door: Vaggie will be in to give you your new uniform. Oh, and Adam?

Adam looked up to see a smirk on Lucifer's face, his eyes shining like an otherworldly demon.

Lucifer: Welcome to the army.

[tgft212]

Wanna Marry This Old Ass?

@agathaallalongweek

Day 2: Fake dating/marriage

Fandom: Agatha All Along (TV)

Relationships: Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal, Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal & Nicholas Scratch (Marvel) & Adria Vidal (OC), Agatha Harkness/Rio Vidal

Characters: Agatha Harkness, Rio Vidal, Nicholas Scratch (Marvel), Adria Vidal (OC)

Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Useless Lesbians, Fake Marriage, Their children ship them, AAA Week | Agatha All Along Week, Rio Vidal Loves Agatha Harkness, Agatha Harkness Loves Rio Vidal

Summary:

"We need to get married."

"Come again?" Agatha raised her eyes from whatever had lost her interest in her book. Messy hair, half up in an untidy bun and eyebrows well on their way into said hair.

"We need to get married." 

"Come again?" Agatha raised her eyes from whatever had lost her interest in her book. Messy hair, half up in an untidy bun and eyebrows well on their way into said hair. 

"They're tearing the building down in a few months, and people, translation men, prefer renting to 'one family', which, apparently, we aren't without that peace of paper, I've started looking into where we could move, cause you know, we'll have to." Rio willingly succumbed to gravity and fell on the sofa, having just put Nicky and Adri to bed, legs immediately flying over its back and back twisting in such a way that her head landed right by Agatha's thighs. 

"I knew that we were getting looks, we always are, but still," Agatha says. Then she gets a look in her eye, a dangerous one. Rio likes it; most people do not. 

"You know, there's still the part of my inheritance. The one that says I get access to it, once I get married." Agatha said not as nonchalantly as she was pretending to, but Rio actually got up into a mostly normal sitting position in under a second.

"What?" Her head was dizzy. Since when did Agatha have an inheritance?

"I found out like, yesterday. Apparently, grandparents put it in, the sperm donor's parents. The only way we know is because they somehow managed to go over the birther's head, wish I knew how to do that earlier. If I get married, I get everything of theirs and money that was intended for the sperm donor, but apparently he also kicked the bucket, a few years back, actually. It would have been split evenly between surviving grandkids, but I'm the only one alive and therefore eligible. There would have been one other, but he died two years ago. Maybe one other, I wasn't paying much attention at that point." She tried to sound unbothered, but Rio saw the twitching muscle in her cheek and decided to pretend to eat the bait. 

"Your mysterious meeting yesterday." She wasn't asking. There was no other time Agatha could have had such a meeting. Not in the past eight years. A side effect of living in the same room was a certain lack of privacy.

"Yep", she popped the p and continued staring at Rio's face.

"Wait, how'd you even find out? I don't suppose birther wanted you to know, and you said that they had to go over her head." Rio raised her eyebrows, reaching for the water on the coffee table.

"Birther finally kicked the bucket." Agatha's smile could not be wider, and it should have been concerning. It wasn't. 

"Wait, for real?" Rio's voice was light, lighter than she'd thought it could be. Oh, if Evanora were dead, they would have a family celebration, because that deserved every single party in the world.

"There is one thing I don't joke about, it's her." She knew that, obviously. But this had been a wish for so long it didn't feel real.

"Well congratu-fucking-lations." They raised the water glasses from the table in a sign of cheer. 

"We can celebrate later, now I need you to focus." Agatha jumped in before Rio's brain could go somewhere and start planning a celebration for such an occasion, and be a nuisance for the entire evening.

"Right, we need to get married for two reasons now." She didn't like how unsure that sounded. 

"Think Rio, it will set us up for life." Agatha reached out and held one of her hands in both hers. 

"Us?" Duh, married means two consenting adults. She did ask you to marry her, too, idiot. Stupid self-esteem issues.

"You, me, the kids. Sperm donors' parents weren't loaded rich, but they had a house in a good town and enough money to change our entire lives. We can pay off the remaining debts and start anew." College and medical. Not that they would ever say the second part out loud, not until all the lights were off and they drank a bit of alcohol. 

"So, you.." she doesn't dare finish that sentence. 

"Want you and Adri to come along? Duh, it's the four of us against the world, now literally." Agatha looked at her like it was the surest thing in the world.

"Right" Rio's brain short circuited, damn issues and childhood trauma.

"Rio, I'll say this only once, because we both know that unless it's the kids, I'm allergic to feelings. I'd be happy with Nicky, goddess knows I would. But, life without you, without Adri, would not be worth the same." Cue Rio's lesbian brain just, kicking the bucket, momentarily. 

"Right", she doesn't know what else she could say. Agatha went right in there and put a bandage on her metaphorical bleeding heart. Nope, there will be time for this later, when everyone has gone to sleep.

"Ditto, by the way. If we're doing this, we need to work out the logistics fast, and also, tell the kids." Rio refused the useless lesbian to take over. Time to work, brain. 

"Obviously, they're big enough to know about, well, technically the scheme," Agatha smirked in the way she did whenever she had a master plan slowly forming in her brain.

"Not all of it." Rio knew she didn't have to remind Agatha of that, but it was important for her to keep the communication clear. 

"Please, they'll never be old enough to know all of it, but they can know most of this ploy," she knew, Rio saw it in her eyes. But this was Agatha, emotional spoons were reserved for the kids, and then maybe after some wine and something that reminded her of whatever asshole helped mess up her life.

"They like being in on something, goddess knows we won't be bored with the two of them once they become teenagers."

"Nope, we do not think like that." Agatha got up and started to quietly pace, she needed to move to get some of the adrenaline induced energy out, "And that they hate the city, Westview will do them good." 

"That's the town?" obvously idiot, but it was getting late and she was fucking tired.

"Yeah, idilic, nice big houses, good schools and after-school programmes, not too far from NYC, should something go very wrong. And there is a community centre. And the town isn't more religious than your average American, so we should be okay enough."

"So New Jersey?"

"Yep."

"Okay. Worst case scenario we sell the house and find somewhere without dicks." Identical smirks settled on their faces as now Agatha fell back onto the sofa.

"Okay", Agatha sighs with relief. She wasn't too worried about Rio not agreeing, but when it comes to people, she never is certain, not even with Rio. It's the last part she hates the most. 

"Let's get scheming", Agatha cracks her knuckles, and Rio, after she stretches and twists her back in inhuman ways to get some of the knots out gets up and heads towards the kitchen. 

"I'll make us tea, there's a lot to cover."

They spend the rest of the night going over everything and planning. The kids don't remember living apart; they never really have. 

Rio's parents left her with a kid sister to raise, abusive assholes who died months after she was born and Rio took her in without a second thought. Right when she and Agatha moved in together and Agatha had Nicky. Her last attempt at a boyfriend left seconds after he found out about the pregnancy, and she had just managed to hunt him down to sign away all of his parental rights. 

So it was them, the kids, against everyone else, through thick and thin. Adri and Nicky got along wonderfully, siblings in every sense of the word. Protective of the other in ways parents can only dream of. Rio is mami, Agatha is mama and while they tried explaining and laying out that technically they should call their non-biological parent by name, it never stuck, since they started talking. Adri never bothered asking for more, never asked for her biological parents after Rio told her that they died when she was a few months old, and that they weren't the best people to be around. The second part was only when she asked why Rio didn't look too sad about it, she didn't have it in her to lie and have Adri idolise people who would have probably tried to break her. 

Neither kid knew the full extent of what actually happened to their moms, and Rio and Agatha vowed to never let them find out everything about their lives, ever. Not when they were old and dying, not when the kids grew to be eighteen. Never.

"Do you think we can manage to do this before the summer ends? They have two weeks left of school, and then we can move once everything is settled." Rio was now lying on the floor, legs propped up on the sofa.

"I may have told the lawyer that due to the lack of family and friends, we were planning to get married in three weeks, a small wedding at the courthouse. He said that once the confirmation came through, about a week later, we should be able to move." Agatha was lying on her front, facing Rio on the floor. Their teas were long gone.

"You counted on me saying yes?" Rio shouldn't be surprised, this is Agatha after all.

"Technically, you asked first." There was a shit eating grin on her face.

"Yeah, well," Rio got up without another word and went to their room, fuck you city prices, and came back with a small purple box. 

"What? How do you even?" Agatha wanted to laugh, but the way her heart clenched had her shocked, speechless, unable to properly display her usually loud opinion. 

"Figured I should get you a ring in case you said yes," Rio shrugged and sat back down in her spot, opposite Agatha, who had straightened her spine into a sitting position, and opened the box. There was a ring, a simple, nice ring with four different stones set in a row. Nothing overly extravagant, but intimate.

"It's us and the kids. I was going to get all of us some for Christmas this year, but figured this was a good way to utilise it." Rio has had it for longer, not that she would ever admit it. She was waiting for when the kids were older to lessen the risk of them losing it.

Agatha did not have tears falling from her eyes, she did not. For all her and Rio always said that they were best friends and nothing more, it was moments like this that kept her patient. Because while this was yet another mess their makeshift family has gotten into, it's always felt like a lot more. Like everything. And Agatha has managed to keep her cool the entire time, but then Rio would do something like this and she would be left wondering exactly 'what the fuck were they'. 

"Oh my, Rio", it sounded a lot more broken than she wanted it to. 

"So what do you say, want to marry this old ass?" Rio joked, still scared shitless mind you, and took the ring out of the box, wordlessly asking for Agatha's hand. Hand that was freely given. 

They kept eye contact, and she could see Rio's searching gaze, looking for any signs of uncertainty, fear, 'no', anything that would tell her to immediately stop. But she counldn't find anything, because there wasn't anything to find. 

So she slipped the ring on. Agatha was still staring in awe. It was beautiful and clearly made to fit, because it did, like a glove. She wore rings all over her fingers all the time, so they could easily get lost, unless you knew where to look for it. 

"I'm glad it fits." There is undeniable smile to be heard in Rio's voice. Agatha wouldn't know; she couldn't stop staring at the ring. Her ring.

"Like it was made for me", it was, a stupid comment to let out of your mouth Agatha. 

"I mean, it was. I have Adri and Nicky's tucked away. Theirs are on necklaces, I wasn't sure I trusted them to both wear a ring and also not loose it."

"What about yours?" she laid her head on Rio's shoulder, and the other woman immediately started playing with her long hair. 

"Not done yet, or more like, left it to be the last, and it'll be at least a month before I can buy it."

"What?"

"Well, it's the actual stones, the band is more expensive, so it holds for a long time. And there is an engraving on the inside, too."

Agatha takes hers off and looks inside. 

Our Love is Unconditional and a symbol of a book.

Agatha didn't respond, not immediately, just, rested her head on Rio's shoulder and tried her damn hardest not to cry her heart out. 

"I never wanted them to wonder, I know that we've done our best so that they never do, and talked about it all at length, both between us and with them, but figured a reminder wouldn't hurt, especially considering our lack of childhoods." she ran her fingers through the part of Agatha's hair that wasn't still in the bun. "And everybody has a different symbol, of course."

"I want to make a joke, but this is too sweet to be made fun of, maybe later." After a small pause, she adds: "fiancée." 

Rio chuckles, "Yeah, I was pretty sure you'd end up saying something like this. Want me to take your hair down?" Agatha nods, and so Rio goes through with the offer. She takes the down, carefully, from the half bun Agatha produced after she came home from work, and starts running fingers through her hair, gently detangling along the way.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes, until they heard the kids walking around, and glanced at the clock to look at the time, after midnight, that was not good. Technically, it was the weekend, but Nicky and Adri were a bit too young to be still up. The financièes exchanged a glance and without any other words get up and headed towards the kids' room. 

It's big, the biggest room in the flat. Each little one has a bunkbed, table underneath it and space that was theirs to decorate, as much as renting allowed (and some more because their ability to express themselves was important to their moms). 

Both eight-year-olds were out of their beds, their bestest plushie in hand, clearly getting ready to go and search for them. 

"What are you two.."

"Adri had a nightmare"

"Nicky had a nightmare"

The kids started talking over each other. Agatha and Rio didn't need to share a look or ask to know that one got up, started eavesdropping and then woke the other up to be complicit in getting information.

"Can we sleep with you?" they asked in sync, puppy eyes on, heads slightly tilted down.

There was no question to be asked. Agatha and Rio, without sharing a look, each reached out with their arms and bent down, waiting for an eight-year-old to fill the space. 

Usually, Nicky would run for Agatha and Andri for Rio, at least initially, before something like this turned into a cuddle pile. But the kids ran into their arms, head first, reaching for both adults. 

Only then did Agatha and Rio share a look, and each scooped up the kid closer to them. Rio took Nicky on her back, and Agatha held Adri on her hip. 

They were both in enough of a PJ clothes that they didn't bother thinking about changing. 

In the master bedroom, which was barely a bed and a shared closet, they let the kids down on the bed and were immediately pulled down by them. 

Their eight-year-olds, aren't usually that clingy. They like touch, and will just come and cuddle up during whatever time of day.

"Are we leaving?" Adri turned to face Rio, moving closer to her mami. 

"Why do you ask, mi amor?"

"Because we heard you, you and mama talked about leaving and getting married..." Adri clearly wasn't a fan of the idea of her and Rio leaving their two favourite people behind. 

"No, no. Well, we wanted to tell you in the morning, but Agatha and I will be getting married to each other. And we will be moving, but all of us together." Because their kids deserve to have their input heard, even if they do have to move somewhere else, either way, even if they were fairly sure there wouldn't be an issue with it. 

"We wanted to talk to you rascals in the morning, to properly explain everything, but I guess tonight is as good a night as any" she waits for Rio's nod before she lights the lamps up and sits against the headboard with the other three following her cues. Rio copying her position and Adri climbing into her lap while Nicky climbed into Agatha's. 

"Agatha found out that her sperm donor's parents left her some inheritance, but only if she gets married."

"And because everyone already mistakes us for a couple, you two treat each other like siblings anyway, we thought it best if we got married. There are a lot of benefits to this, adult ones neither of you needs to worry about."

The kids only object to one thing in the entire sentence. 

"But we are siblings!" they yelp out in a chorus, and then point at each other from their sitting places in the claimed adult's laps. 

"We know loves, but not to everyone else. Now you will be." Rio strokes Adri's back as she feels that the girl is about to jump off her lap.

"Does that mean that you and mama will finally start kissing?" Nicky looks up at Rio from Agatha's lap, and she is oh so glad for the dark and shadows and only a small illuminating light on. 

"We're still just friends, mijo, that doesn't change. But you can tell people that we do." She smiles at him, trying very hard to project all of her feelings about the entire situation.

And the kids, to their utter surprise, cheer and then high five. Because of course they do. 

"And what about the moving?"

"Well, my biological grandparents had a house in a town, and once we get married and the lawyers review everything, we can move there."

"Out of the city?" Once again, they ask in unison.

"Yes."

The kids, despite it being about half past midnight, get out of their laps and start jumping on the bed in excitement, holding hands and jumping in a circle. "We're getting out, we're getting out!" They chant over and over again. 

Agatha and Rio exchange looks. They really won't be getting much sleep next night. There is too much that still needs to be discussed, things they will not have the time to talk about during the day with two very active eight-year-olds on their hands. 

"Okay, okay, you two need to sleep. And we will talk more tomorrow, after breakfast." Rio raises her eyebrows at them, a universal sign of 'listen or the consequences will not be to your liking'.

They visibly don't want to, but the yawns betray them and soon their little bodies give in to the lull of sleep and dreams, and the safety of their moms. They either hold onto their plushie, curled up into their adult. Safe, protected.

Rio and Agatha keep a small light on and stroke the children's hair. They whisper, theorising what and why the kids said while actively soothing them, not to disturb their sleep. They do end up turning the light off soon enough, not wanting to face two very active eight-year-olds exhausted, especially when there have been no previous plans for the weekend. 

In the morning, when they wake up, Rio is spooning Agatha, and the kids are nowhere to be seen. 

Author's note:

The author doesn't know much about either rental prices in the US (except from the things I've seen online) nor the family law nor the prices of rings, and as I am unfortunately in the middle of my exams, this will have to do for now.. 

This whole chapter was a writing experiment, the style is new to me and absolutely goes against my writing instincts, but oh well, challenging myself and whatnot.

This is the first chapter to something I would like to continue once school is over for me, but who knows what'll happen then. 

(Final note: Adria is named after Adria Arjona, because I haven't been able to stop thinking about her performance in Andor.)

[dontyoufeelitangel]

Small Pinch, Big Impact Project - Day 3 : Ekko

Donate Blood Today

Wildfires in California have left many injured and in need of blood.

Every 2 seconds, someone in the world is in need of blood.

One pint of blood can save three lives.

In one city alone, 200 donors are needed a day.

Check your local blood bank to see if you are eligible to donate blood today!

[canisalbus]

I hope this isn’t unwelcome but here are a few of my personal Vascete modern AU headcanons:

As a child, Vasco was usually voted as a team captain when playing sports with other kids. Not necessarily because of his sporting ability, but rather because of his leadership qualities and general agreeableness and ease with others.

Machete always uses perfect grammar when he texts, but can take a while to respond. Vasco often responds instantly but with less attention to grammar. Machete texts in unbroken paragraphs (when he has a lot to say) but Vasco’s texts come through in small, sporadic flurries.

Machete is very familiar with hospitals, particularly so in his childhood due to his various medical issues. As a result he actually finds their cleanliness, and the politeness of the doctors, comforting. These experiences also made him more patient than he might otherwise have been.

Vasco donates blood and is on an organ donor registry.

Machete always carries hand sanitiser around and is constantly offering it to Vasco, who always carries hand cream around, and is constantly offering it to Machete.

Both are well-versed in music and have refined musical tastes.

Vasco hums wholeheartedly whilst doing the dishes - a chore Machete likes to avoid where possible. Vasco knows this, so he pretends he doesn’t mind doing them.

Machete often has a headache and Vasco’s usual first response to this is to ask Machete if he’s had enough water today. He’s often right.

Vasco scarcely thinks of the other paths his life could have taken. Though he knows pain, he feels very fortunate for all the good he’s been dealt in life, and attributes his good luck mostly to happy accidents. Machete on the other hand has unexpected moments of stark awareness of all the possible forks in his road. It’s a sudden deja vu that creeps up on him when he’s alone, almost as if he can remember all of his and Vasco’s past/ potential lives together. The feeling vanishes just as soon as it arrives.

Hot dang anon I LOVE these. Unwelcome UNWELCOME? You come to my house and present me with thoughtful interpretations of my characters, I feel nourished.

I can definitely see Vasco being a popular choice for a team captain. He's physically active but not ultra sporty, and even though he can get excited and carried away, he's never been that competitive (he's got that 'I just hope both teams have fun' sort of vibe that people tend to like).

The texting bit is terribly cute. Vasco rapid firing message after message vs Machete intermittently slapping half an essay in the chat.

Machete is hypochondriac and his threshold for seeking threatment is low, especially if he's experiencing anything he's not already familiar with. To my understanding Italy has a good quality universal public healthcare, but he typically chooses to go with private sector anyway and has been investing in pricey health insurance for years (probably way more extensive than what is necessary or reasonable).

I also thought of Vasco as a habitual blood donor. He wouldn't like it per se (medical surroundings unnerve him), but I think he might just get a kick out of being a good boy and potentially helping people. (I know gay, bi and msm men used to be banned from donating (or at least severely restricted) but it looks like many countries have revised their criteria significantly in recent years and there's a good chance he'd be eligible these days.)

The hand sanitizer/hand cream combo is so good. It made me chuckle. (Are you a hand sanitizer person or a hand cream person?)

Their respective tastes in music and cinema have more overlap than you might initially think, and they keep aligning closer and closer over time.

Machete wouldn't like doing dishes. Having to touch wet food (weird texture + unhygienic) is bad times all around. But he genuinely enjoys a little bit of vacuuming, dusting, laundry and general tidying and organizing. He doesn't leave that much for Vasco to do, just the occasional visibly messy jobs that squick him out more than he cares to admit.

That's very considerate of him. That's a very considerate thing to do to anyone in general. Dehydration and low blood sugar can really sour your mood and you wouldn't even notice they were the reason you're feeling so bad all of a sudden. (When I'm having a difficult day I try to remember to ask myself whether things are truly collapsing or am I potentially just a little too thirsty and hungry and unaware of it. Usually it's the latter).

Ah yes, Machete and the horrors. Vasco might be aware of the horrors as well, but perhaps he possesses the specific kind of galaxy brain that is near immune to this particular flavor of existential dread.

[fans4wga]

August 4 - Hollywood Food Insecurity Spikes Amid Strikes

The entertainment industry’s most vulnerable workers are increasingly unable to feed themselves amid a historic double strike with no clear end in sight, according to non-profits tasked with addressing the food insecurity crisis. They describe Hollywood’s ongoing work stoppage — prompted by the contractual impasse between the writing and acting guilds on one side and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on the other — as a humanitarian emergency broadly affecting the community, not just striking union members.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which runs pantries for those in need throughout the county, attributes a meaningful portion of its nine percent uptick in year-over-year distribution to the strikes’ impact. “When income stops immediately, the demand rises very rapidly,” explains chief development officer Roger Castle.

“This is happening right after the pandemic, which drained a lot of people’s savings,” observes Keith McNutt, executive director at the Entertainment Community Fund, which has distributed $3 million to more than 1,500 workers as of Aug. 1. “So, you have the financial burden on people who’ve already been depleted.” As a result, his organization — whose donors include Seth McFarlane, Steven Spielberg, and Greg Berlanti — has seen an unprecedented wave of immediate requests for basic living expenses, including groceries. “Before this started, we would do about 50 grants out of the L.A. office a week. Now we’re getting 50 applications a day.”

On July 28, below-the-line unions IATSE and the Teamsters Local 399 held a drive-through food drive for industry members affected by the strikes at IATSE’s West Coast headquarters in Burbank. It drew about a thousand vehicles throughout the day.

According to the relief nonprofit Labor Community Services, which helped to organize the event and is planning another in August, the organization distributed 1,740 food boxes, feeding an estimated 8,700 people, that day.

In California, striking workers are ineligible to receive unemployment assistance, while nationally, they cannot receive SNAP food benefits unless they qualified pre-strike — something Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is aiming to change with a new bill, introduced July 27. One place that striking actors in particular can turn to for help during the work stoppage is the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which offers emergency financial assistance and other resources, including grocery store gift cards, to union members. SAG-AFTRA made a seven-figure donation to the Foundation early in its strike to assist these efforts. (The WGA West does provide its own members with emergency financial loans from its strike fund and Good and Welfare fund.)

Cyd Wilson, its executive director, has seen an explosion in demand for the organization’s help. “People are making these decisions: Should pay my rent, or should I put food on the table? Should I put food on the table, or should I pay my utilities?” she explains. “There’s a great deal of suffering that’s happening.” By Wilson’s estimate, the foundation is now handling 40 times its typical number of applications per week, and it has already distributed as much in grants since the beginning of the WGA’s strike three months ago as it typically would in the span of a given year.

Meanwhile, Groceries for Writers, a direct aid project administered by Humanitas, a non-profit focused on film and television writers, has distributed more than 1,100 gift cards to WGA members since the onset of its work stoppage in early May. Humanitas executive director Michelle Franke says that “many of these writers have left notes indicating they’re in very urgent financial situations. Writers describe struggling with student debt, falling into eligibility gaps with CalFresh and EDD [state unemployment assistance], eviction notices, writing teams splitting low pay, having only just moved to Los Angeles and not having a large local support network as a consequence, dwindling savings.”

Groceries for Writers is hardly alone in addressing the growing need. In July, L.A.’s World Harvest Food Bank founder and CEO Glen Curado estimated to The Hollywood Reporter that his organization, which is offering free food to striking writers and actors, was serving an average of 150-200 members of this group per day. That effort was inspired by The Price Is Right host Drew Carey’s gesture of paying for all striking writers dining at Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank and L.A.’s Swingers Diner for the duration of the work stoppage.

THR asked both the AMPTP and the talent unions whether they bear any responsibility for the worsening situation. In a statement, a spokesperson for the AMPTP said: “Like those negotiating on behalf of the guilds, representatives from the AMPTP and its member companies came to the table in good faith, wanting to reach an agreement that would keep the industry working and prevent the hardships caused by labor strikes.” SAG-AFTRA didn’t respond to a request for comment, while a WGA spokesperson said in a statement: “The public knows that working people are putting everything on the line in order to negotiate a fair deal with the studios who have caused this strike and the resultant suffering by refusing to address the reasonable proposals that writers brought to the table over 90 days ago.” Neither the AMPTP itself nor any of its major studio and streamer members responded when THR asked if the companies or their philanthropic arms had made any contributions specifically to address the industry’s food insecurity crisis since May.

Support staffers — early-career workers who fill roles such as assistants and coordinators and tend to be low-paid — are especially at risk at this time. “So much of the compensation that they receive is, no one’s going to say it, but it’s implied to be food-based,” notes Liz Hsiao Lan Alper, the co-founder of advocacy group Pay Up Hollywood and a WGA West board member. Alper says that support staffers are often paid the “bare minimum” but access complimentary food through writers’ rooms, craft services on sets or in agency kitchens and conference rooms. And so, when the strikes occurred, the need was “overwhelming,” she explains: “It’s invisible compensation that just went away when the work stoppages happened.”

For that reason, on June 7 Pay Up Hollywood relaunched its COVID-19-era Hollywood Support Staff Relief Fund. So far, the fund has distributed around $45,000 in one-time financial need grants up to $1,000 apiece, according to organizer and support staffer Alex Rubin, who says she’s encouraged support staffers to obtain free food distributed on picket lines. “I think that there is a little bit of embarrassment and insecurity about not being able to feed yourself,” she says. “It is the reason why we give our grants as just like, ‘Here’s a one-time grant. You don’t have to tell us how you want to use this.’”

Helping people in entertainment with food during work stoppages is a “tangible message,” says James Costello, a Teamsters Local 399 driver and an IATSE Local 44 prop master, who was volunteering at IATSE’s July 28 food drive. A second-generation Teamster, Costello still remembers a union strike in the 1980s that prompted his parents to warn their children that their Christmas holiday would be affected that year, and the Teamsters emergency relief that arrived in the fall, offering groceries and a Christmas tree.

As the strikes drag on and both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have yet to formally reprise negotiations with the AMPTP (although the Writers Guild is set to have a preliminary meeting with the studios’ organization on Aug. 4), the non-profits on the front lines of the industry’s food-insecurity crisis are girding themselves for a long period of need. SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Wilson says it’s pursuing a “very aggressive fundraising strategy” to meet the demand. (Already, it’s netted over $15 million in emergency assistance from stars like George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Matt Damon and Dwayne Johnson, who are donating $1 million or more apiece.)

The Entertainment Community Fund’s McNutt notes that pocketbook pain will outlast the current conflict. “Just because the strike ends, it doesn’t mean the need will end. Everyone doesn’t go back to work the next week. We’re going to be looking at this [elevated] level of need for months afterward.”

Give to the Entertainment Community Fund

Give to Humanitas' Groceries for Writers

Give to the Green Envelope Grocery Aid mutual aid fund