#and i don't have access to any of this information myself because everything was planned throughout a fucking travel agency

[supercantaloupe]

i think one of the worst things is that. literally no one is telling me Anything. i have no idea what's going to happen when we get to madrid i have no idea how we're getting to bilbao i have no idea how this is gonna fuck up our itinerary or if they're gonna make us cram an extra concert in somewhere we don't have time for it or make us stay later than planned (i don't have enough meds with me for any extra days!) i have no idea if i'm going to have to shell out extra fucking money for more stupid plane tickets i don't even want because i don't even want to be on this fucking trip i don't want to be here i just want to be in a fucking bed

[iamnot-crazy]

Pushing the line part 2

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary: The heart pirates have finally collected 98 hearts and are in the final stretch on your goal to promote your captain to warlord. However Law had other plans. He finally confronts you regarding the adjustment to the plan which you don't take well. This happens months after part 1 and you and law refused to talk about that day and continue as if nothing happened between the two of you but your actions and judgement for each other has slightly changed.

****

You sat in the library, surrounded by newspapers, poring over notes and calculations. A sudden entry caught your attention, and you jumped up excitedly. "Captain, we just need two more hearts before you can ascend to the Warlord ranks!" You breathed, showing him your notes. "I think we should go all-out for the last two, and I've narrowed it down to four pirate captains. They all have incredibly high bounties and large crews, but with the right plan and timing, I think we can do it." You smiled proudly, gesturing at your notes and charts. "I've outlined plans for each of them and ranked them by difficulty. You can decide which ones we should target."

Law flipped through the pages, his expression impressed. "It'll be so nice to reach Warlord status. No more people running scared from us. We can relax in towns without worrying about the government." You fantasized, while Law grimaced. "I can finally talk to my sister again without fear of her trying to arrest me," you added, smiling blissfully.

Law sighed, lowering your notes. "Y/n, we've discussed this. Our plan is to use the Warlord title to destroy that system."

"I know, but it'll still be nice, even if it's just for a little while," you insisted, smiling.

Law slumped down beside you. "Maybe," he sighed, his frown deepening.

You raised an eyebrow, concerned. "What's wrong?" you pressed.

Law shook his head. "Nothing."

"You're not telling me something. Captain, as head of tactics, I need to stay informed."

Law sighed, removing his hat and fidgeting with it in his lap. "Remember how I told you about Corazon and how he died protecting me?" His eyes remained fixed on his lap. You reached out and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Law continued, "The person who killed him was Doflamingo... his brother."

You squeezed his hand tighter, patiently waiting for him to finish. "The day he died, I swore to avenge him by not only killing Doflamingo but destroying everything he created."

You nodded in understanding. "And becoming a Warlord will bring you closer to that." Law nodded. "Okay, we can make that happen. I'll go through everything we have on Doflamingo, and when you become Warlord and get access to government information, I can help formulate a plan."

Law shook his head, gripping his hat more tightly. "I already have a plan, but it's something I need to do alone."

Confusion creased your brow as you searched his face for clues.

"I went out last night and got the last two hearts already," he admitted. "Tonight, I'm going to the marine base with all 100 hearts alone, and Bepo will take you and the rest of the crew to Zou."

"What!" you exclaimed, standing up angrily. "No! We worked so hard to get you here. You can't just abandon us! We can help! We are a team!"

Law shook his head. "No. I have to do this part alone."

"Why!" You slammed your fist on the table. "You haven't done any of this alone, why now!" Your blood began to boil as you hovered over the captain.

"Because it's too dangerous. I can't lose anymore people I care about."

"I can take care of myself! The entire crew can! We knew what we were getting into as soon as we joined a pirate crew!"

"It's a discreet mission. I need to operate quietly, and you know as well as I do that this crew doesn't operate like that," he reasoned.

"Then take me! Just me," you pleaded, starting to sob. "I can help you! I can protect you."

Law stood up and grabbed your shoulders, steadying you. "I can't lose you," he said, placing his forehead against yours. "And you need to take care of the crew."

You pushed back, looking into his eyes. "It's Bepo's job to take care of the crew. It's my job to take care of you," you sobbed, tears filling your eyes. "Please you don't have to do this alone."

Law kissed your forehead and pulled you close, holding you tightly. "I'm sorry. I can't risk it."

You grab his back holding him tightly. Before you could respond, his form disappeared from your touch. You whipped around to see he had transported himself to the door which he quickly slammed shut locking you in.

You ran to the door, screaming and pounding, "Law don't do this! Law please! Law!" You shout as you watch Law walk away, looking back at you longingly he mouthed some words before putting his hat back on and disappearing down the hallway.

You continued to scream and pound on the door, trying to jiggle the handle, but it wouldn't budge. You searched the room frantically for anything that could help you escape, throwing the bookshelf in frustration when you found nothing.

After an hour of destroying the room, you sat by the porthole, watching the bubbles pass by as the submarine moved through the sea, and began to cry. You didn't understand why he could just leave you like this on a possible suicide mission. A shadow passed in front of the porthole, and you jumped up. Peering out the window, you saw Penguin walking past.

You slammed on the window, gaining his attention. "Penguin! Help! I accidentally locked myself in here!" you shouted, causing him to turn around and look at you. "Penguin, please! I've been stuck in here for an hour," you begged.

Penguin slowly approached and stood in front of the door. "Captain said he locked you in here for your own safety," he said, and you cursed under your breath.

"Okay, fine, he did, but did he tell you why?" you demanded, looking at him with pleading eyes. He shook his head. "Law wants to go on a suicidal mission and leave us behind."

Penguin's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

You slammed on the window. "Let me out, and then I'll explain!" you shouted angrily, growing impatient. The ruckus finally drew in another figure, Shachi.

"Penguin? Y/N? What's going on?" he asked, stepping away from the door as your angry aura seeped through.

"Y/N says that Law is trying to go on a suicidal mission," Penguin answered. "Do you think it's the Doflamingo thing again?"

You slammed on the window, scaring the two boys. "Again! You fucking knew about this shit! He is basically your brother and you just THINK that he might still be hung up on this vendetta!" Your face turned red with anger as you shouted at them. "Let me the fuck out now! I need to go with him!"

Penguin and Shachi looked at each other, terrified, before sprinting down the hallway. You screamed and pounded on the door some more, practically denting the metal.

You groaned in defeat, resting your head on the window. You looked over to see a white figure peek over across the hall. "Bepo?" you called, causing the figure to jump out of sight. "Bepo! I know you're there! Please! I just want to make sure he comes home when everything is over," you cried, your voice now raspy from yelling.

Bepo crept back into view, looking at you with sympathy. "Is he really trying to go after Doflamingo again?" he asked shyly. Tired of yelling, you simply nodded. He looked up and down the hall before placing a hand on the latch. "And you promise to make sure he comes home?"

"On my life," you stated confidently. Bepo shook his head.

"That's why he won't take you or anyone else. He doesn't want anyone to sacrifice themselves for him again," he sighed.

"Who gives a shit! If that's what it takes to keep him alive!" you shouted, causing the bear to step back. You sighed and lowered your voice. "Please, Bepo. I'm sorry. I just... I... I love him," your voice cracked as you finally confessed your feelings. "I'll do anything to keep him alive." Tears began to flow down your face.

Bepo sighed, reaching for the latch again. "Just try to come back alive. I don't think Cap can live in a world without you either," he said, lifting the latch and opening the door, freeing you.

You bolted out of the room and dashed down the hallway. As you ran, you skidded to a stop and turned to Bepo, jumping into a large hug. "Thank you," you sobbed into his fur as he wrapped his arms around you. "I promise to bring us both home."

You felt the submarine shake as it docked, and you jumped off the polar bear before dashing down the hallway.

You ran out the door to the deck tosee Law walking off the sub, holding the crate full of stolen hearts. When he reached the dock, he placed the crate down and gave one final look at the submarine before hitting the side twice to signal for it to leave. You took your chance to jump off the deck and onto the dock as the engines whirled up.

Law turned around in shock, staring at you. "Y/N!" he gasped before raising his hand to cast his room ability to summon you back into the submarine.

"No!" you screamed, running up to him and pushing his hand up in the air, preventing him from activating his powers. You huffed in his face as you held his arm. "I am coming with you, that is not up for debate!" you snarled.

Law's breath began to shake as he stared down at your angry expression. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I can't stand the thought of losing you," you declared. Law paused as he searched your eyes. "Because I love you!" you shouted, confessing your feelings. Law blinked, pulling his arm out of your hold, dazed.

"Why?" he asked again.

"Does it ever matter!" you retorted, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him into a deep kiss. Law initially froze but slowly melted into it, wrapping his arms around you for support as he kissed you back. You could barely hear the cheers from the ship as it began to float away, and you lifted your finger in a rude gesture at the crew.

Law pulled away from the kiss, looking into your eyes. "Fine, but promise me that you won't die protecting me. I don't think I can live in a world without you."

You smiled, hearing the words Bepo had said echoing through him. "I promise if I die, it will be through my own stupidity and actions, not for protecting you. If you promise to not get yourself killed on purpose."

Law shook his head. "How about we both promise to do everything we can to stay alive?"

You smiled. "Deal." You pulled him back into the kiss, sealing your deal.

****

A/n thank you for reading let me know if you want a part 3 or if I should finish it here.

but hey if you wanna read more of my work check out my MasterList

[fyeahlolita]

Secret Lolita Information From The Distant Past: Dashcon Lolita

A very long time ago, myself and another Lolita who maybe wants to remain unnamed, ended up joining the Dashcon "Lolita Committee"(before it was called Dashcon even, it was still going to be called Tumblrcon at the time), because they were sending out messages to a lot of Lolita bloggers/groups to advertise on their behalf and it seemed like a complete clusterfuck even in that early stage. It was still really really early in the planning and we were like "maybe we can unfuck this a little bit?" but we couldn't, and the rest of the team seemed to have zero interest in unfucking it, so we bounced after a few weeks. Obviously, Dashcon happened how it did, so me and mystery-chan didn't really mention that we were let in behind the curtain for this particular internet fiasco. But it was very surreal, even at the time, and we probably both definitely told like every person we knew in real life, just not openly online so there was no proof. The way it was set up was there were, like, "fandom committees", where there were literally dozens of "fandom committees" headed by one person with a small team of recruited people under them. They were in charge of fundraising for Dashcon (then known as Tumblrcon though), mostly supposed to be done through auctioning off fandom stuff, as well as organizing events for their particular fandom. The "Lolita Committee" was fronted by some like teenaged cosplayer/brony, who I don't personally fault for not knowing a single thing about Lolita, but they didn't seem to know anything about Lolita and were trying to set up all these Lolita events for a convention that, at the time, had no venue or money. I think ultimately the Lolita committee raised like less than $60 from one of the members doing some Etsy sales and spent a lot of time discussing a budget for a dream tea party and wondering how to get Angelic Pretty involved, but also were concerned about Angelic Pretty wanting to host a "competing" tea party at the con. We had money raising goals, but none of them ever happened, with any of the Fandom Committees really, at least early on, for some reason I was given access to a TON of google docs for all the other Fandom Committees like the instant they added me to the group.

I was very confused about the name change from Tumblrcon to Dashcon

What you got if you donated to this particular Committee. Although I don't think it even got as far to tell people this. Everything was just... conceptual. Then I think the Committees were mostly purged once Tumblrcon became Dashcon?

This was a message from the main admin for the con.

Ouch, sorry Committees. A section from the same admin written doc.

Hello, just me gossiping about it with a friend back when it was happening live.

Again, I don't fault the other members of the Lolita Committee, because they were absolutely young and unqualified and in over their heads, and they were trying really hard, but this is a weird part of my Lolita history that I've never publicly talked about before.

[apricotbuncakes]

Some tips to help trans people:

Since America and other places are currently going super fast down hill (and is only foreseen to get worse) here are some tips to help you get through certain situations.

Please note: These are coming from a white trans masc 'guy' who is like, 9 mo. on T as of the making of this post. Not everything here will apply to everybody. Some words or phrases can be substituted for other equivalent words or phrases:

Ex: Testosterone -> Estrogen

If you still get your periods and use the mens bathroom, consider bringing a backpack or satchel and a plastic bag with you to carry period products until you can dispose of them more discreetly. (You can also use the 'chip bag' method where you dispose of a 'bag of chips' instead of your period products).

Straight up lie about being trans. I've had several cis people believe me when I told them I had a testosterone deficiency (while I was pre-t no less). Cis men tend to be more sympathetic to this excuse. Don't engage in situations where the other person may be dangerous to you!! This excuse may become less believable over time as I have heard more trans men use this excuse over the years.

If you ever have to do HRT injections in a public place, try doing it in a changing/disabled stall of a bathroom. You can use the changing station as a place to hold your supplies. If someone else needs the disabled stall or you can't get to a restroom for whatever reason, do your shot in a corner or hard to see area. If someone asks, claim it to be insulin injections.

In an emergency, the leftover testosterone in your vials (if you do injections) can be used to continue your dose. Make sure the vial you are using is recent and the medication shows no visible signs of 'going bad'. Just don't let your friends use your leftovers if they run out of their testosterone because it is prescription medication and sharing prescriptions is illegal in many places. I started saving my vials for craft projects but I am going to start labeling them by the date they were used to better keep track of which ones are newer in case my prescription gets messed up or I run out for whatever reason.

I have never done this myself, but many places have needle exchange programs designed to help those addicted to drugs get new needles so they don't contract diseases by sharing/reusing them. If you run out of needles and can't afford/access new ones, it might be possible to exchange some of your old needles for new ones in an emergency.

Lots of places will have free food and or clothing banks to help those in need. Some don't even need proof of your financial situation to access it. If you can't afford/access new clothes for whatever reason, consider donating some of your old clothes (ones that don't fit or make you feel dysphoric) and getting new clothes from these places. (Please don't take more than you need, these resources are for EVERYONE who needs it, so be considerate).

Make an EEP (emergency evacuation plan) for yourself and anyone who may want to stay with you. Pack some clothes you don't wear regularly in some bags and store your medicine nearby for easy access. If you can afford it, pack some extra toiletries such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, bar soap, and spray/dry shampoo, as well as period products. I would say pack for a week and a day (8 days) at minimum, and for 30 days (a month) max. Also prepare a 'plan of escape' that includes where you will be moving to, how long you can stay there, and other information such as homeless shelters you can reside in, local food and clothing banks, as well as some job opportunities you can apply to after you move. Be sure to have a small amount of cash if you can afford to put any aside. I would also recommend making two EEPs minimum, one for staying in the country, and one for if you plan on evacuating to another country. This is for worst case scenarios, which will vary per person and situation. One person's reason to evacuate may not be enough for another person to consider hitting the road. Have a list of some criteria for what qualifies the use of the EEP to make sure all parties are on the same page.

And lastly, please consider helping me afford top surgery. I'm super worried that if Trump is elected I won't be able to access Gender Affirming Surgeries. Aside from that, it will also help my overall physical, mental, and emotional health. Plus, as a bonus, it'll piss off TERFS and transphobes.

Gofundme

[galaxyostars]

The de Rolo kids are public schooled.

Preface

So I've been thinking. I don't believe Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third would (at least immediately) allow someone other than him, Vex, and perhaps the rest of Vox Machina, to privately tutor his kids. I'm using a combination of CR and TLOVM here, as the main campaign playthrough doesn't really linger much on Percy's relationship with Anders as the animation does, but the overall gist is that Anders betrayed the de Rolo family in favour of working for the Briarwoods (and in CR's case, Vecna).

You're the face I saw when murder entered my heart.

^ Percy, to his teacher, Professor Anders.

Home-tutoring

Is it impossible for Percy and Vex to teach their kids? Absolutely not. Is it impossible for them to teach their five kids, whilst also maintaining their own hobbies (and lives)? Eh... it's doable, but doing a Master's degree in Education myself, I cannot imagine the level of Percy's intended teaching and their kids' learning after Gwendolyn was born being left to just Percy and Vex as being remotely comfortable for them.

But then you have to consider what type of learning these kids are maintaining. I think Percy was initially within a factory model of education (based on what we saw in TLOVM) but broke out of it when he was on his own and started tinkering. I'm not well-versed with Vex's formal education -- I imagine she has one outside of her learned practical skills given she was in Syngorn for an amount of time with Syldor, but I imagine her idea of education is probably a little more "free" than Percy's. I like to think they had a conversation about what their kids' education would look like. Vex is not like Caleb and Beau in the Mighty Nein who constantly go to the library for additional information about anything and everything they don't know, but is instead already knowledgable, can deduce using logical reasoning, or goes and asks someone else (not to say Caleb and Beau can't do this either, but regardless). I think that indicates she's probably a little more world-wise than she is interested in classroom etiquette.

(Note: Taliesen Jaffe has joked that Percy probably took hits of pot now and then, delivered by Keyleth/Vax!Crow, to get through the day with his children around ("Do you see how many kids that is? Oh my god."))

I should also point out the interaction with Gwendolyn indicates she's at least accustomed to Percy's office/library where there are rules in place and it sounds like he might've said "Leave the book" because his kids have been taking them and not putting them back (which probably mortified him upon first incident).

Public Education

There is, however, an alternative I do like very much: this generation of de Rolo kids may actually be "public-schooled" (or at least, the Whitestone version of that).

Again, speaking as an Aussie pre-service teacher, it's a lot harder to be a good teacher while also planning to overthrow your government/be a cult leader at the same time when you've got a class of 20+ kids to look after and educate. Doable, but rather unlikely. Vex might've actually thought it safer and more to Percy's liking to put their kids' education into the system they have a direct gubernatorial say over, rather than allowing an educator direct access to his home, his family.

This would not only benefit the de Rolos, but also other lower/middle-class families in Whitestone, as there's no doubt they'd pump that education system with as much coin as would benefit their kids' learning.

Additionally, mentioning the pot joke again, it gets said five kids out of the home giving these parents some peace and quiet.

Obviously there'd be nobility etiquette teaching they'd have to undergo, but it's probably much, much easier to do that in-house than it is the entirety of their education.

I put it to you, fellow Critters: At what point, if any, would Percy relinquish the education of his kids to someone outside of Vox Machina? And, would that be in a regular school classroom with other kids?

[thomas-jefferson-miku-binder]

Translation of q!Cellbit's final monologue

The tribunal is this wednesday, 24/05. Cucurucho has no interest in the Creative blocks and revealed that when it didn't even think once before accepting Bobby's negotiation. 

It will not accept to give the blocks for armor and every information we try to extract in exchange for the blocks will be processed and mitigated so that it means nothing to us.

But if we had a new surprise, that not even our side expects, maybe things will change. Cucurucho made a mistake amidst the chaos and the fights. Maybe that's the secret.

The plan is to try to use Forever's breaking of the rules as currency exchange to create a direct conflict between ME and FOREVER, surprising Forever just as much as Cucurucho in the negotiation, and asking for Richarlyson's paternity as a form of "treason", showing that I'm willing to join the Federation and don't have a problem with antagonizing my friends to protect Richarlyson and have him only for me.

After this, the idea is to purposefully distant myself from everyone for a day, create something like an evil castle of darkness far away from everyone just to see the reactions from the Federation/Cucurucho, the codes and any possible impostor among us.

If anyone decides to join me, they could be a possible suspect or someone that wouldn't be trustworthy for the Order.

[ UPDATE - DAY OF THE AUCTION ]

Things went a bit differently than expected, but the main plan went well. Instead of surprising everyone with the treason at the auction, I used as an excuse the fact they lied to me and tried to blackmail me with the Vivo meme to make a scene.

Took the opportunity to change my skin of defense attorney to district attorney to add to the drama

It's a positive point because it makes it look like I have a genuine motive/grievance in relation to my friends and diminishes the Federation/Cucurucho's  suspicion towards my intentions. It doesn't look like I betrayed them "out of nowhere".

Considering that the Federation watches the streams canonically to acquire information, I think it was the best option to make a whole narrative arc to have a big twist later.

As proof that the plan wasn't a lie, I left only one signed book for Richarlyson revealing my plan, and didn't want to risk it by showing it on stream.

It's still risky, considering the Federation still has access to the items of the eggs, but honestly it broke my heart to see him sad and disappointed like that. I hope I don't regret that.

I also blocked the access of the others to Sofia to see how Max reacts. I don't want to suspect him, but everything in relation to both of them is weird. I'll avoid mentioning her existence to the Federation, and if they bring the subject up, I'll try to bypass it. 

IMPORTANT - CODES

THE CODES attacked me not long after I "joined" the Federation.

"01000011" - C

A code made exclusively to kill me? It practically ignored Richarlyson

It strengthens the theory that the codes attack those that seek to keep the others on the island

WHY DID THEY ATTACK MAX?

FINAL PLAN

With luck, the Federation will also wake me up at the hospital Max woke up on. I'll try to persuade them the best I can to acquire new information.

Continue the plan with the members of the Order and try to charm the other members of the island with explanations on how I realized that the life and the people on the island are better than what I had before and I don't want to lose that. They don't need to involve themselves with this.

Use the eventual tribunal of Richarlyson, where everyone will probably be present and watching, to reveal all the information of the Federation I managed in front of everyone.

Thus, if they kill/arrest me, I'll become a martyr and all those present will know the truth about the Federation.

[monigeko]

What Cellbit wrote/read at the end of stream 5/25 English translations

Court is on Wednesday, 5/24. Cucurucho has no interest in creative blocks and revealed this when he didn't even think twice about Bobby's negotiation.

He won't accept giving the blocks for the armor, and any information we try to extract in exchange for the blocks will be processed and mitigated in a way that means nothing to us.

But if we have a new surprise, which even our side expects, maybe things will change. Cucurucho made a mistake in the midst of chaos and bullshit. Maybe that's the secret.

The plan is to try to use Forever's rule breaking as a bargaining chip to create a direct conflict between FOREVER and EU, surprising both Forever and Cucurucho in the negotiation, and asking for Richarlyson's paternity as a form of "betrayal", showing that I'm willing to join the Federation and I have no problem antagonizing my friends to protect Richariyson enca from sé para mico

But if we have a new surprise, which even our side expects, maybe things will change. Cucurucho made a mistake in the midst of chaos and bullshit. Maybe that's the secret.

The plan is to try to use Forever's rule breaking as a bargaining chip to create a direct conflict between FOREVER and EU, surprising both Forever and Cucurucho in the negotiation, and asking for Richarlyson's paternity as a form of "betrayal", showing that I'm willing to join the Federation and have no problem antagonizing my friends to protect Richarlyson and have him all to myself

Then the idea is to purposefully get away from everyone for a day, create something like a dark castle of evil away from everyone just to see the reaction of Cucurucho/Federation, the codes and any possible imposter among us.

If anyone decides to ally with me they can

be a possible suspect or someone who would not be trusted in the Order.

TUPDATE - DIA DO COURTS

Things went a little differently than planned, but the master plan worked out. Instead of being surprised by the betrayal during the court, I used as an excuse the fact that they lied to me and tried to blackmail me with the Vivo meme to make a scene.

I took the opportunity to change the defense attorney skin to the prosecutor skin to add to the drama

It's a plus point because it makes it seem like I genuinely have a motive/grudge towards my friends and lessens the Federation/Cucurucho's suspicion of mine

intentions, it didn't look like I betrayed them "out of the blue"

Considering that maybe the Federation watches the streams canonically to get the information, I think it was the best scam to do a whole narrative arc to have a big twist later.

As proof that the plan was not a lie, I left only a signed book for Richarlyson revealing the plan. and I didn't risk showing it on the stream.

It's still risky considering the Federation might have access to the egg items but it honestly broke my heart to see him so sad and disappointed. I hope I don't regret it.

I also blocked access to Sofia for others to see how Max reacts. I don't want to suspect him, but everything about her is very strange.

I will avoid mentioning its existence* to the Federation, and if they raise this matter, I will try to circumvent it.

IMPORTS

CODES

THE CODES attacked me shortly after I "joined the Federation.

A code made exclusively to kill me? He practically ignored Richarlyson. Strengthens the theory that codes kill teles that seek to keep others on the island.

WHEN THEY ATTACK

FINAL PLAN

With luck, the Federation will also wake me up in the hospital that Max woke up.

I will try to persuade as much as I can to acquire new information.

Continuing the conflict with the Qrdem' members and trying to please the other members of the island with explanations how I realized that the island's life and people are better than what I had before, and I don't want to lose that. They don't need to get involved in this.)

Using Richarlyson's courtroom event, where everyone will likely be present and watching, to reveal all the information I can get from the Federation in front of everyone.

So if they kill/arrest me I will become a martyr and everyone present will realize the truth about the Federation.

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/733536361807806464/you-know-what-medical-pet-peeve-i-kind-understand

To "answer" the first point: I know why it's a requirement, that's why I started of with "I kind understand it but I still find it stupid and hate it." I could have made it clearer that I know exactly why, but I didn't want to spend too much time on it. But to elaborate, when I was told about the requirement to take birth control, I also got an entire 10 page A4 pamphlet with every side effect and explanation as to what to expect, and what/why I'd need to do, and why I'd need to take birth control. I understood the reasoning they gave, but I also found it dumb because I'm just not in the "risk" category because I simply do not engage in any activities that could result in a pregnancy, nor would I have an interest in carrying one out if it still magically happened. Sorry Jesus 2.0. Also, I'm not in the US, and where I am abortions are legal and accessible.

As to the IUD thing. The dermatologists I spoke to, two of them, said that even if I did use a IUD I'd still be required to take birth control because it might fall out, and they also said that it's an issue of them having to prescribe the birth control together with the Isotretinoin. Basically the birth control and the acne medicine would have to be prescribed by the same doctor as a confirmation that I'm not doing it without birth control, and since they don't do IUD's it wouldn't "count" even if it was a valid option, which it isn't. No clue what happens if another doctor already prescribes a patient Birth control.

As to just not taking the birth control, I actually don't know what they'd do if you don't take the birth control, best case they don't care, worst case they might just deny me from getting the medicine I actually want I guess. I also don't know if the piss test also covers checking for the birth control, what I do know is that it tests for pregnancy, and you also get a blood test to test the liver status. Idk what more it does, I don't remember everything from the pamphlet.

There were no notes on what happens if you still get pregnant even if you're on the BC, I'm guessing you'd be taken off Isotretinoin. Not sure, didn't ask, I'm not planning on getting pregnant so it wasn't a question on my mind.

Also since I'm already talking about the pamphlet. If you are a woman, a person with an uterus, or are listed as female like on your birth certificate, you have to take birth control. Which was kinda funny because it seems to cover everyone except cis men. Menopause, transmen, even if you've had your tubes tied/hysterectomy you'd have to take it. And trans women, though I'm not sure if that was just a "cover our asses" and you don't actually have to take it if you have medical proof of being a transwoman.

It's honestly just very frustrating because I understand the reasoning, but it also makes people like me completely unable getting a treatment which could help me with a giant insecurity and give me a quality of life upgrade, just because I can't take birth control without giant side effects that could make my life much worse. Just because some people decided to fuck around and find out. It feels kinda like I'm being punished and forced towards a basically impossible choice, because of the dumb choices of others.

You know, just because some people are dumb, they ruin it for everyone who's not dumb.

TMI originally I took birth control to try and fix my skin, which is why I know the side effects on my body and stopped. I remember at some point in my teens my insecurity was so bad, and my mental health, if I had been given the information of this medication that could help me and then been basically told that I can't take it unless I again take a medication that I know causes me so much pain and I think I might have done something to myself. Like I mentioned when using birth control I had "bloating, nausea, periods , weight fluctuation, itchy for some reason, one even made me leak and then my breasts got so badly inflamed wearing a shirt was agony..." to add and explain it made my periods worse, including cramping and instead of helping with my skin it actually made that worse. I have no idea why birth control made me itchy but it also ended up with me constantly have welts all over my body because I kept scratching, maybe it somehow made me my skin more sensitive and "thin". I tried a few birth controls because my doctor back then tried to find one that worked, and none of them did.

--

You could be allergic to anything in the pills from the actual hormones to the dyes, though this description does sound like online descriptions of reactions to synthetic progesterone. Very annoying.

[xdesiress]

IT IS ABOUT TIME!!

I will be listing some byi and dnis here, besides some side informations. I'd highly appreciate you reading it if you're new to this blog!

So to not clog, everything will be under the cut.

Greetings you may refer to me as Desireè, Desires, or Galaxy, a Brazilian artist who's birthday is at the 9th of March :)

/I/ use mainly he/they pronouns. I do not mind what you refer to me as, but I'd appreciate these two most.

My Instagram account is mainly for cosplaying now, and SCPTale is used for an SCP x Undertale crossover project I'm working on with a very close friend of ours.

I also have a TikTok but only post MLP content there as of the moment. I DONT USE ANY OTHER SOCIALS. DO NOT TRUST ANY THAT ISNT LISTED HERE.

I like SCP, zombie media, Dark Deception, Skullgirls, Minecraft, Monster High, My Little Pony and more.

I have a Discord server for friends and moots that is SCP themed, anyone is free to join so long as you message me privately for a link! We tend to play games, watch movies/series or draw together in Voice Chats a lot, sometimes we just talk and info dump to each other.

⚠️ I don't mind my Art being used for PFPs BUT YOU MUST CREDIT ME. ⚠️

If I've known you or followed you for a longer while you are free to ask to just add me there and not join the server itself, I don't mind it either. I'd love more buddies to talk to.

Asks are likely to be always open as well as my PMs unless something dire happens, so feel free to shoot a message anytime! I don't bite!

At that.. feel free to ask these Alagadda goobers ;)

_______

DO NOT :

- Reblog my artwork with hate. (Ex; specific character praising and bashing another one involved. I deeply love all the characters I draw and it really saddens me when I see that happen.)

- Ship my Rubedo with Nigredo.

- Whitewash my characters.

- Tag my work with Br/ght. Refer to the BYI section for insight.

- 049-J hate. Just don't, please.

BYI :

- As someone with new access to psychiatrists and medications, I am still trying to figure out just what exactly affects us. It is important to note that the i take BPD and Depression meds and as well am on a list for possible ADHD and Autism. Mood outbursts and unintentional blindness to how I speak is bound to happen and not intentional. Please, let me know if I accidentally say something hurtful.

- Despite having taught myself English for 2 to 3 years it is still not the best and I don't know a lot. Have patience with my grammar and be polite. I am also learning French and Spanish and on the same page in those regards.

- People who still use Br/ight, I /gen won't block you or anything. You can talk to me and everything. But please do not tag my work with his name! Only THEN will I take any action, especially if it's under artwork I make of any of my friends' versions.

- I would likely prefer that people under 15 don't interact with my blog, unless I already know you and you already follow me for a longer time. Then you're chill! I won't block you or anything, it's moreso for your own good than anything, really.

- Talk to me about my hyperfixations and I'll love you for YEARS.

DO NOT INTERACT :

- If you think I owe you explanations about my personal life. What I want to speak of freely I will, what I don't, I won't.

- Basic DNI criteria.

- You hate on furries 'just because'. I'm not one, but I'm not ignorant to people just having fun.

- If you partake on discourse every second of your life and try to drag me into it. I don't have the emotional stability to deal with that type of stuff.

- If you plan on acting like a jerk and drastically change my character designs into something that erases their traits.

MORE TO BE ADDED SOON.

[mooniebunny]

Here I tried to translate to English all Cellbit's plan he showed on stream for people who don't understand Portuguese. I apologize if there's any misspelling i tried my best and English is not my first language :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trial was on Wednesday, 05/24. Cucurucho has no interest on the creative blocks and revealed that without even thinking twice during Bobby's negotiating.

They (Cucurucho) will not accept trade the blocks for the armor and any information we try to get in exchange for the block won't be a serious one and it will be useless for us.

But if we have a new surprise that even our side isn't waiting for maybe things will change. Cucurucho was the wrong one in the middle of the chaos. Maybe that's the secret.

The plan is to try use Forever rule break as a currency trading to make a direct conflict between FOREVER and ME, surprising Forever and Cucurucho in the negotiation and asking for Richarlyson custody as a way of "cheating" showing that I am willing to join the Federation and I don't have problems at antagonize my friends to protect Richarlyson and have him only for me.

Later, the idea of isolating myself from everybody for a day, create a castle of the evil darkness far from everyone only to see Cucurucho/Federation reaction, the codes and any possible impostor between us.

If anyone decided to ally with me it can be a suspect or someone who can't be trusted in the Order.

Update - Trial Day

Things got a little bit different than I have planned but the main plan worked. Instead of surprising with a betrayal during the trial, I used as an excuse the fact that they lied to me and tried to blackmailed me with the "Vivo" meme just to make a scene.

I took the opportunity to change my skin of defense lawyer to a district attorney to add more drama

It's a positive point because make it seem like i genuinely have a motivation/grudge with my friends and makes the Federation/Cucurucho less suspicious with my intentions, it doesn't look like i betrayed them "out of nowhere".

Considering that maybe the Federation watches the streams canonically to get the informations, i think that it was the best choice to do a narrative arc to have a big twist later.

As a prove that the plan wasn't a lie, I left a signed book for Richarlyson revealing my plan and i didn't risk to show it on stream.

Still very risky, considering that the Federation may have access to the items from the eggs but honestly it broke my heart see him (Richarlyson) sad and disappointed. I hope I don't regret this.

I also blocked people's access to Sofia to see how Max would react. I don't wanna suspect I suspect him but everything regarding her is very weird.

I will avoid mentioning her existence for the Federation and if they talk about this subject I'll try to avoid.

Important - The Codes

THE CODES attacked me a little after I "join" the Federation.

"01000011" - C

A code made exclusively to kill me? Practically ignore Richarlyson.

It strengthens the theory that the codes kill the ones who want people to stay in the island.

WHY DID THEY ATTACKED MAX?

Final Plan

Luckily the federal will also wake me up in the hospital Max woke up. I'll try to persuade the best i can to get new informations.

Keep the conflict with the members of the Ordem and try to please to other members of the island with explanations on how I noticed life and the people on the island are better than the ones i had before and i don't wanna lose it. (They won't need to get involved into this.)

Use the event of the Richarlyson trial where maybe everybody will be there watching to reveal all the informations that I gathered from the Federation in from of all.

There, if they kill/arrest me I'll become I will become a martyr and all present will see the truth about the Federation.

[onyxisnotuniqueenough]

i have 35 followers on this account.

and while 35 is not a lot, this is the most amount of people i can reach. i should have been doing this sooner but have been FUCKING STUPID about it and have kept silent about it on tumblr to maintain some kind of semblance of escapism for myself here. but my escapism doesn't matter. can palestinians enjoy the luxury of escaping their situation right now? are they LITERALLY able to escape the bombing. nevermind escape, survive any of the tactics pulled by israel to ensure their genocide?

there's a sense of guilt looming over my head telling me that i should be doing more, but in truth, there is not much i can do to help. telling me that i shouldn't take for granted the roof over my head, the safety of my loved ones, food, water, electricity, the ability to literally communicate with the outside world. so let me do the best i can and spread the message with as many people i can.

if you're also wondering what you can do to help, here are some things i am doing and am in the process of doing :

- follow news about gaza through livestreams from the outside : multiple sources have provided access to a livestream of what's going on in gaza. israel has cut off all communication and electricity in gaza and i have a pit in my stomach telling me that they just want no eyes on them for whatever they want to do. all we can do is watch from afar. stay updated.

- watch tiktoks from people who have signed up for the creativity fund on tiktok or similar stuff on other platforms : if you're not able to donate yourself, you can find lots of creators on tiktok using their 5 seconds of YOUR watchtime to donate to help palestine.

- continue sharing, promoting, and "liking" content about palestine : israel is literally doing its best to keep us and palestinians in the dark, metaphorically and literally, from what's happening and what they're planning to do. raise palestinian voices, help them grow, share their stories. everything is forever on the internet ? great. take advantage of that. sharing is a way to ensure that all information we have on the situation stays alive and can't be shadowbanned or deleted or anything. the more people palestinian voices reach, the harder it would be to silence them. it also makes it accessible to anyone and everyone to see the horrors committed by the state of israel, and debunk any fucking idiotic shit their twitter accounts is trying to spew with their photoshopped cartons of milk, their very false infographics and their general flow of lies and propaganda.

- if you can, email or contact your elected representatives. they're...well...supposed to represent you, and their position is more advantaged to get something done. here's a video on tiktok that i found explaining the importance of emails (specifically in canada, bit i'm sure it applies to other places too) :

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMjsax5Qj/

- boycott brands that support or fund israel. now first, let me tell you : the 729 or 871 you find at the beginning of a barcode is not a certain sign the product has been manufactured in israel. this has been debunked since the origin of this lie in 2021 :

https://factcheck.afp.com/social-media-posts-share-misleading-claim-barcode-prefixes-can-show-if-product-made-israel

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thelogicalindian.com/amp/fact-check/barcode-israel-28806

if you have a doubt, fact-check whatever company owns the product to buy, it only takes a few clicks.

second, if you think that boycotting is useless because you're just a grain of sand in the universe : that's absolutely not true. humanity is just a bunch of grains of sand. humanity is a COLLECTIVE. stop thinking your actions don't have an impact. they absolutely do. that's how we've been capable of making such an imapct on companies' stock already!

you probably already know about Starbucks, McDonalds, and Disney. Here are some more companies and brands to stop giving your money to :

- HP : Hewlett Packard helps run the biometric ID system that Israel uses to restrict Palestinian movement.

- Siemens : is complicit in apartheid Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise through its planned construction of the EuroAsia Interconnector. This will link Israel’s electricity grid with Europe’s, allowing illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land to benefit from Israel-EU trade of electricity produced from fossil gas.

- Puma : Puma sponsors the Israel Football Association, which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

- Sodastream (has been bought by Pepsico) : Soda Steam is actively complicit in Israel's policy of displacing the indigenous Bedouin-Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Naqab (Negev). SodaStream have a long history of mistreatment of and discrimination against Palestinian workers.

- Ahava : Ahava cosmetics has its production site, visitor center and main store in an illegal Israeli settlement.

- Sabra : Sabra hummus is a joint venture between PepsiCo and the Strauss Group, an Israeli food company that provides financial support to the Israeli army.

these are the first results that popped up with a simple google search, but that's not all. There's also L'oréal, Garnier, Nestlé, and so many more. it's hard to keep track of all of them and jaw-dropping to see just how many of them are involved and actively supporting Israel.

here are some more links for brands and companies to boycott :

https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts

multiple instagram and tiktok pages also

if you've already purchased products from them, obviously, don't throw them away. If any product from one of these companies is absolutely essential or if you don't have any other viable choice, it's understandable. Do your best, and whatever effort you make on your scale is helpful. This is also an opportunity to support local shops and businesses, diy your own beauty products, cook more on your own, and instead of directing your money towards genocide, you could direct to donating to aid-to-palestine charities or literally to your pocket. but honestly, the idea of a 70+year ethnic cleansing and literal genocide should be enough.

- now this seems like the most obvious one so that's why it's the last bullet point : donate to charities that support palestine, sign petitions, etc.

there is footage out there of thousands of trucks that cannot cross palestine/"israel" borders because. well. of israel. these trucks contain food, water and hygiene products that donations were supposed to provide. this is heartbreaking that the help you hoped to provide couldn't reach the people it was supposed to reach. if you're thinking your donation is useless, well, i get it. i am having trouble even saying anything about that, because I myself am worried that it could be useless. But you have to stay hopeful, cause that's all most of us have right now. I would say to absolutely continue donating whatever you can to charities that support palestine, that provide water, food, shelter, and emergency medical care. You have to hope that it'll somehow reach them. You have to hope that it'll somehow stop.

At the time of writing, voting results at the UN General Assembly show a margin of 120!! to 14 (and 45 abstinents) for a ceasefire and immediate humanitarian truce between Palestine and israel. And now while that might seem like amazing news, let's remember that the General Assembly is for non-binding resolutions. FOR A BINDING RESOLUTION, the decision must be made by the Security Council. I'm not gonna explain everything, but the permanent members of the UN Security Council are fucking it over. here's full context :

Also, the letter tO THANK Biden that countless celebrities ??? disappointing too. some names on that list really surprised me, and i'm disappointed that people i have supprted in the past have turned around and thanked biden for supporting a genocide. it's so stupid and disappointing.

of course, feel free to tell me if i've cited the wrong sources, if i've missed something, or have said false info in anyway.

i'd also like to add that arab palestinians are not the only victims and that countless innocent jewish people have also been affected by the genocide. that the press vest has meant norhing so far. and that israel is not looking that closely into who they're killing. as Daniel Hagari said, Israel's method is "destruction, not accuracy."

MY HEART GOES OUT TO ANY VICTIM IN GAZA. IN PALESTINE.

BTW : I am not open to conversation with zionists or pro-israels. keep your anon asks very very very far away from me. i will not lend a ❤️listening ear❤️ to someone who ignores or defends genocide, and i don't see anything wrong with ignoring that kind of rhetoric. fuck you.

[cikrovat]

spoilers for crosscode

while writing down my dream I had an urge to just tell my thoughts about Sidwell, because this man doesn't leave my head. this man is probably the most gray villane I've seen in a while, but the more I read everyone's else's thoughts about him, I'm thinking "am I weird of thinking differently about that guy?"

so, Sidwell, the evil person without sympathy or any remorse. or is he? we know for a fact that he didn't cared for any other evotars, using them as a profitable business, source of income

everyone but one - Lea. He gave her name, he cared enough to show his "face" because he didn't wanted to scare her, he cared enough to teach her, to spend time with her, to talk about himself, to comfort her. But reading wiki I just see

Despite this, he didn't seem to care about her being deleted for completely malfunctioning.

what do you mean he didn't seem to care, what, what do you mean. if he didn't cared about her, he wouldn't just even attempting saving her, giving her a key access to Evotar server, in the server dream he even breaks because nothing seems to work, nothing is helping Lea. He was so desperate to save her that he gave her a key to Evotar server, Sidwell, the person that didn't trusted even himself, gave a key access to Lea.

In the end you know that it didn't helped because it was all plan Satoshi, because he broke Lea intentionally to get the access to server, but before "deleting" Lea, he gave Sidwell one last hope in form of trying to "delete her memory's", maybe if she could forget everything she could return to normal state. And Sidwell agreed on this, this is how Satoshi was able to secretly upload Lea to CrossWorlds server, and then telling Sidwell that welp sorry all hope lost

Satoshi used the only weak spot Sidwell had - his care for Lea, because of how strongly she resembles Manuela to him.

Manuela. She is interesting character because we don't fully know what happened to her, wiki suggests that she simply left Sidwell when learned that he lack sympathy, but my theory is - she is dead. Thing is, Sidwell always use very specific wording when he talks about Manuela, he always talks about how "she was" or "she would've loved that place" like she couldn't now. So for me she probably died and it was the last straw that broke the camels back, also seems like Sidwell works not in the cleanest cycles possible (he is probably selling information through black markets and he stated himself that he had a lot of connections here and there) so he probably was tied to the crimes even before picking up Satoshi, Shizuka and Gautham. And in the crime world you had to adapt, you had to break yourself, because everyone having a knife and you never know would it ba aimed at you.

Note, I'm not justifying Sidwells actions, he chooses to do everything himself, yes he is probably a very broken man, who lost someone who he actually cared about, and then proceeded to spiral further, because of his involvement in the criminal spaces, that killed any of his trust to anyone

but that not how you handle things my guy...

I just think he is very complex and interesting character, he is still bad, he did a lot of bad things to others, but when we had the last dream before the raid, I really questioned myself "what if everything was better?"

But that we slowly drifting towards the Boy. The Tronny. oh boy where do I start.

He literally the answer to that question, without memory's he slowly developed into his own character, but thing is he absolutely has resemblings with Sidwell, like Lea has some with Shizuka. I bet Sidwell also loved ice cream and nerding about stuff before he broke, and thing is I think that Tronny is probably Sidwell, but when he was student, before he was unburden, before he became what he is today. And expiriance really do making a difference, even if we talk about two similar people

Sidwell really interesting character, very complex, he made a lot of people, who Lea cared about, suffer, but she remembers him way more nicer. But even though he is upset that now Lea know everything, the part of him also glad that Lea gets to meet so many people, see so many places, and just grow up as a person. he is genuinely, truly glad

well, at least The Boy wouldn't go by his steps, he is definitely in much more nicer environment and he is just not Sidwell we know anymore. Even tho their emotion faces are REALLY similar with each other, its not even funny how eery similar they are, you don't even notice it until the dlc and now I cannot look at The Boy's face because God dammit Tronny

[davidmariottecomics]

Save Your Work!

Hello, friends! 

This week is going to be very quick because, not to get ahead of myself, but next week is likely going to be pretty long. I didn't mean to time things out so there'd be a long one right after I'm done with work for the year and most people are off for that final week, but that's how things worked out. And the week after that, the last weekend of the year, I'm going to do a Best of 2023 round-up. 

But, in my brief update this week, I wanted to talk about some very straightforward best practices. 

I turned on my computer this morning and was shocked to find that I was *turning on* my computer this morning. One way or another, it had shut down since the last time I used it. Maybe it was Becca or a planned restart or something, but however it happened, my computer was off. And as any artist should know... you neeeeeeeeeeeed to make sure your stuff is saved again and again. You see, I was working on my holiday gift guide that I'm building for my Patreon when the computer shut off and I lost a whole spread and some change. All of it. The images, the hyperlinks, the text--both in terms of what I wrote and the font choices I made--everything. It shouldn't be terrible, but it'll add at least an extra hour on as I have to rebuild all of that. So, if you ever work on anything that would benefit from being saved, make sure you do!

The other best practice I want to emphasize today is something I say a lot. If you'd like to work in comics professionally, please make it easier on yourself and any potential collaborators/hiring folks, by making your web presence clear and accessible. Something I've slowly been working on over the past few weeks is going through my Twitter as I get ready to delete it before the end of the year and looking to make sure I have contact information from anyone I'm interested in not losing. I'm looking for emails, or agents, or websites. And the more varied the information, the better. Because I'm trying to incorporate that into my existing digital rolodex, whenever possible, while emails (for talent or their agents) are the things that are most helpful, I am looking to add your website info so I can quickly pop to it before emailing you and make sure you're who I think you are and your style is what I think it is. As much as possible, when I look through info I got from old like Visible Women sheets and the like, I'm looking for people who aren't just including their handle on one social because those can change, or who aren't just linking to an Instagram or Twitter account with "DM me" because while I know some people work best in DMs, for legal paperwork and the like, an email is so much more helpful. 

Lastly, and this should go without saying, but this is a post about common sense practices, be kind to folks. I don't know why this seems so counter-intuitive to certain people, but if you're openly hostile toward your peers, they don't want to work with you. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy of ostracization. It literally can't be said enough. Comics as an industry is doing just fine and differentiation in the medium in both format and talent is only a good thing. 

Alright. More next week! 

What I enjoyed this week: Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Nancy (Comic), Lego Masters (TV show), Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (Short story collection), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Dandadan (Manga), Godzilla: Minus One (Movie), Godzilla Raids Again (Movie), Cunk on Earth (TV show), I'm a Virgo (TV show), Clyde Fans by Seth (Comic), getting and making some really exciting 2023 news. There's some amazing stuff to come! 

New Releases this week (12/13/2023): Sonic the Hedgehog: Winter Jam (Editor)

Final Order Cutoff next week (12/18/2023):  Godzilla Valentine's Day Special (Editor) If you haven't seen it, I put together a little explainer on what exactly a "Final Order Cutoff" is and why it matters! And if you found this helpful and have a platform where you think people should know, those explainers are watermarked and good to share! 

New Releases next week (12/20/2023): Godzilla: The War for Humanity #3 (Editor) Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon (Editor)

Announcements: If there is one blog this year that you should not miss, it's next week's. Big news to come. 

The Cartoonist Cooperative is still doing E-Sim cards for Gaza. You can donate a digital sim card so that residents can get access to the internet and have more functional phones and, in exchange, get some comics or a drawing or whatever else is available from the many participating artists. Additionally, the CC is hosting their mini-comic awards! It's a cool way to maybe get your mini-comic recognized and make some scratch! 

You can also give more directly. If you don't have money, and I get it, you can call or fax or email or show up at the offices of your representatives. Keep your eyes open for actions too, whether they're another general strike like what happened last Monday or demonstrations and marches in your area. Given the nature of the things, they often come together fairly quickly, so do exercise your due diligence. Also, of course, being informed and just giving your time to Palestinian writers is incredibly valuable. Whether that is journalists on the ground--who are being murdered at extraordinary rates--or reading Fiyah's Palestine Solidarity issue or anything from Verso's solidarity reading list, having and sharing that knowledge is significant. 

Becca just did their Art vs. Artist post for 2023. They did a lot of really cool work this year! They also posed a spicy art version. And as if it could not be said enough, while we've got some things brewing (and now on a schedule), you should reach out if you'd like to work on comics with them! I think we're both looking to do more next year! You can find their gallery on their website and also, y'know, maybe pick up a few things for belated gifts while you're there! 

If you aren't a Patreon backer yet, well, like I said above, I've been working on something pretty cool. I'm building a holiday gift guide. It won't probably be out with a lot of shopping time for Christmas in particular, but I thought it'd be a fun way to showcase some of what I've been learning more generally about design and how to make comics and zines and stuff. I'm really proud of it and it'll be exclusive to $10+ backers for December and then will be made public in a couple months. Also at that $10+ tier, there's stuff like a tour of my workspace, an adults-only podcast pilot that Becca and I recorded called "Abandoning the Premise" (short sample here), a review of root beers is also coming up quick, old D&D campaigns I ran, and more! Another goal of mine for next year is to grow my Patreon and also have it start making some money to fund more comics ventures for myself. 

Pic of the Week: I teased it last week, but the Winter Jam team did a Winter Jam-piece! Our fabulous leader, Iasmin Omar Ata, got Reggie Graham, Adam Bryce Thomas, Abigail Oz, Shawn Lee, and me to put together a happy holidays card from the Winter Jam cast! I did the thought balloon Froggy because even when Big is holding "Froggy", he can't stop thinking about that frog! 

[ramons-elevator]

Cellbit's Document English Translate

This was done very quickly with google translate but I believe it gets Cellbit's message across. Feel free to add more if need be!

The Court is on Wednesday, May 24th. Cucurucho has no interest in creative blocks and revealed this when he didn't even think twice about Bobby's negotiation

He will not accept giving the blocks for the armor and any information that we try to extract in exchange for the blocks will be processed and mitigated in a way that means nothing to us

But if we have a new surprise which even our side doesnt expeacr, maybe things will change. Cururco made a mistake in the midst of chaos and bullshit Maybe thats the secrer

The plan is to try to use Forever's rule-breaking as a bargaining chip to create a direct conflict between forever and me by surprising both Forever and Cucurucho in Negotiation and Asking for Richarlyson's fatherhood as a form of betrayal showing that I'm willing to join the federation and have no problem antagonizing my friends to protect Richarlyson and have him all to myself

Then the idea w Purposely get away from everyone for a day Create something like an evil dark castle away from everyone just to see Cucurucho's reaction Federation of codes and of any possible imposter between us

If someone decides to ally with me it could be a possible suspect or someone who would not be trusted in the order

Things went a little differently than planned but the maste rplan worked out. Instead of being surprised by the betrayal during the court, I used an excuse the fact they lied to me and tried to blackmail me with the vivo meme to make a scene

Its a plus point because it makes it seem like I genuinely have a motive/ Grudge towards my friends and lessens the Feds's suspicion of my intentions, it doesnt look like I betroyed them "out of the blue"

Cosidering that maybe the Fed wates the streams canonically to get information, I think the best way to do a whole narrative arc to have a big twist later

I will avoid mentioning its existence to the Federation and if they raise this matter I will try to get around it

As proof that the plan was not a lie, I left a signed book for Richarlyson revealing my plan, and I didnt risk showing it on stream. Its still risky, considering the Federation may have acess to egg items, But hoenstly it broke my heart to see him sad and dissapointed like that. I hope I dont regret that

I also blocked access to Sofia for others to see how Max reacts. I dont wanna suspect him, but everything about her is weird

THE CODES attacked me shortly after I joined the Federation

A code made exclusively to kill? He practically ignored Richarlyson. It strengthens the theory that the codes kill those who seek to keep others on the island.

With luck, the Federation will also accommodate me to the hospital Max woke up to. I will try to persuade as much as possible.

Continuing the conflict with the members of the Order and trying to please the other members of the island with explanations of how I realized that the island's life and people are better than I am had before, and I don't want to miss it. They don't need to get involved in this.)

Using Richarlyson's court event, where everyone will likely be present and watching, to reveal all the information I can get from the Federation in front of everyone. So if they kill/arrest me I will become a martyr and all present will realize the truth about the Federation.

[genderqueerdykes]

do u have any advice for being trans and just dealing with the,, unadulterated queer rage that comes with just seeing,, everything that’s been happening?

ooooo boy. kinda

admittedly i'm very angry every day, it's impossible to quell the anger. that's honestly why i do what i do- i put a lot of my time and effort into helping people get access to resources and get the help that they need because now more than ever we need solidarity and knowledge more than anything

if you're able to, work with your local trans and/or queer community especially, see what you can do to help people you can directly affect. if you are disabled or homeless or struggle with getting out and helping in person i understand, that's not always doable.

some people find success in helping pass along resources online. you can organize chats and facebook groups and things of the like for local queers and help pass along information about informed consent clinics, planned parenthood, local endocrinologists and sex reassignment surgeons, gender affirming care resources, etc. even as so much as sending a few emails with resources to someone can change their life

i am very scatter brained so admittedly i'm not great at figuring out how to affect the legal side of things yet. i do not work well with authority figures and i can't figure out how to stay civil and sane while thinking about the disgusting tyranny we are now living under. my best advice is to try to get people to safety and resources. i don't really know much about contacting senators. if anyone does feel free to pitch in, but this is where i struggle. see if you can organize a protest if possible, that may be a good place to start

anyway, if none of those things are your cup of tea, just be yourself unabashedly. i wear drag every single time i leave my home now. i wear wigs and makeup and garish outfits and let people know i am not cis at every opportunity. i cover myself in trans flags and pronoun pins and am very uncaring of whatever assholes may try to fuck with me. sometimes being brave and being yourself helps others, too

i hope like, any of that helped. i am also very angry right now and i understand, there is a fire under my ass that i cannot ignore, this is absurd. thanks for reaching out, take care, i hope you feel better soon

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

Writing Resources: Chronic Migraines

Sp's resources for Content Creators Materialist

This is a long post!

Trigger warnings for discussion of chronic migraines. Other authors are more than welcome to add their own points and I will update the link in the masterlist as more is added. Alternatively, send me an anon ask or DM if you want to remain anonymous. I live with this condition every day and it has a serious impact on my life, don't be an ass.

This is a follow to this post I am over the moon at how many people are using/sharing it. Thank you so much!!

Basic facts

If you take anything away from this post, please make it this, migraines are not just really bad headaches. Migraines describe a wide range of neurological issues.

Remission happens, but it is a pipe dream for most people and many people who go into remission end up getting them again. This means that there is no cure, only treatment. Partial remission (less than ten migraines a month) is far more common and is what most people aim for.

Three out of four people who have migraines are AFAB, as the last post states being AFAB makes it much harder to access treatment.

Migraines are a registered disability and cost people/counties millions of dollars a year in treatment.

Miragines run in families but that doesn't mean they can't come from other sources.

There may be no clear cause.

Some people have spots on their brains that show up in MRIs others do not. Not having spots doesn't mean you are lying.

Some migraines mimic strokes.

For some people, nothing works, they have tried everything below and get no relief.

The Migraine

It starts with the prodrome this is the attack phase. Some people get an aura which might mean vision changes or smelling things that aren't there. Some people (myself included) don't get auras this does not mean we are lying.

The attack phase, this is when the pain starts. See symptoms for more information.

Postdrome, this is what happens after. Some people become very hungry, some people get huge bursts of energy, and some people are so tired they can't get out of bed.

Symptoms

Head pain, but not always, silent migraines and/or stomach migraines exist. The pain can be crushing/squeezing, pounding, sharp, burning, stabbing or a mix. Pain is often not isolated to the head and can affect the face, neck and shoulders as well.

Sensitivity to light (this is a huge one of me, I live in the Batcave) it can be so bad during an attack I can't even stand the light of my powerboard.

Sensitivity to sound, some people may find the spinning of a fan unbearable.

Sensitivity to smell. Anything from flowers to strong perfume and food smell can make a person feel very ill.

Sore skin, being touched can hurt.

Aggravation by movement/changing in position. Imagine being worried about getting up to use the bathroom because you know your pain will go from severe to "oh my god I want to die." When I am very bad, I have to spend around five minutes going from lying down, to sitting up to standing.

Tingling and numbness.

Facial drooping.

Nausea and vomiting. I have often said that if it was just pain, I could cope (bullshit) feeling nausea is horrible.

Brain fog. This can be so bad that people can forget very basic things.

Emotional ups and downs, being in pain can be really rough.

Triggers

The heat/cold.

Getting not enough/too much/poor sleep.

Certain foods.

Alcohol

Strong smells, I cannot use public transport without serious planning because most people don't know how strong their perfumes are.

Too much/too little/any exercise or exertion.

Changes in the weather. I used to love the rain, but I had to stop taking a drug due to its side effects, the rain now ruins my day.

Treatment Information/Treatments

A neurologist is the main treatment doctor.

People have to keep headache diaries.

To be diagnosed with a migraine disorder a person has to have more than head pain and/or head pain a certain number of times a month.

For some treatments a person has had to have others fail.

Emgality

Emgality sends people into remission. However, its use is limited because the body devolves antibodies. Imagine finally being pain-free years after of trying, then having something that works fail a year down the line, that's what many Emgality deal with.

Emgality is an auto-injector that goes in just below the skin, the is less body fat you have to more it hurts. My pain ruins my appetite and I'm thin, had it worked for me (it didn't) using it would have been difficult as I found the injection very painful.

Emgality can be very expensive.

There are two initial injections then one, once a month. They need to be kept in the fridge.

Botox

Botox can be very effective, it consists of up to forty injections every 8-12 weeks in the jaw, forehead, scalp neck and shoulder. I don't find these painful. In the case of where I live, the co-pay is every 12 weeks.

It is nothing like the botox you get for wrinkles.

Protocols for getting botox can be very strict, like all other treatments, botox can become ineffective over time. In the case of where I live, you had to either have had 8 days a month with migraines and/or 15 days with head pain.

Cost without a co-pay can be in the thousands.

Continued treatment with a co-pay may mean botox has to be effective after two rounds, it can take up to four for things to really work.

I start feeling it wear off at 9 weeks, which means for three weeks I am back to 5 pain days a week. This is very common and is mentioned in a lot of botox information.

For me the injections feel like being grabbed by tiny little hands.

Many people (myself included) get a post-botox migraine, they are not fun.

For some people botox does nothing or makes them even worse.

Below is the most basic injection map, I and many people I know get more than what is listed. It varies from person to person and often takes multiple rounds to find out what extra sights are helpful.

Preventive Medications

Daily pills that can be anything from anti-depressants to epilepsy medication.

They may work wonders, but side effects can ruin them. These can include, damage to internal organs, serious changes in weight, brain fog so bad you can't function and some drugs cause fetal deformities.

Most people will try a lot of preventive before they find one that works, some people will never find anything.

Daily cannabis can also be a preventative, both CBD and THC.

The list below is the most common

Abortives

These are used in the prodrome or attack phase.

The drugs could be triptans in the form of pills, injections and nasal sprays, muscle relaxants, sleeping pills, antihistamines and opioids and other pain medications including cannabis (both CBD and THC).

Other options.

A dark, comfortable room.

Heat and or cold treatment.

Magnesium injections and fluids.

Hot showers.

Physical therapy.

Dental treatment.

Roll-ons, creams and pain sprays with or without THC and CBD.

Tips on writing

Suggesting things like drinking water, doing yoga, taking xyz out of your diet, getting some sun, going for a walk or seeing a therapist is a really shitty thing to do. If you're doing this in your writing, then try to show it for what it is, an invading experience that happens over and over and over again. It's really nice when someone I know calls a person out on this.

Miragine sufferers often force themselves to function, if your character has a migraine and they have stuff to do, show that it's hard for them. Show that they are angry and distressed and want nothing more than to go home and rest and be out of pain.

Show the desperation that can take place. There are times I would have done anything to get out of pain. I would do whatever I could even if I knew it wasn't going to help. When all you can think about is how much pain you're in you will do anything to make it go away.

Being in pain all the time can make your normal abnormal, I can function fine at pain levels that send some people to the ER. You have no choice but to cope and many people (myself included) grow to dismiss their pain. Putting into words "it doesn't matter that I can't even keep water down or that the light shining through my eyelids makes me want to die, there's shit to be done."

I have cried when people have told me they have believed me, Many people do not want to be looked after, they just want to be acknowledged.

Fiction around someone looking after someone else can be wonderful (it's a part of many of my fics) If you want to write a caretaker fic/screen have the caretaker ask what the person needs, have them do research and show them being an advocate.

Please DM me if you have any questions.