#and i really REALLY should cause how else will i get vetter

[lakesbian]

like there are multiple things i think were oversights or bad practice for doing vetting for fundraisers--the whole "we didn't want to post about how the vetting process works publicly until now because it would make it easier for scammers to fake it" statement makes no sense to me, because the process involving looking at government IDs/doing phone calls/speaking in a specific palestinian dialect of arabic/etc should mean that it's not easily bypassed by scammers no matter how publicly known the process is. and processes have to be known publicly if you want people to be able to trust your vetting and confidently donate when you ask. (i'm not going to donate to verified anything if i don't know how you verified, because i have Limited Money and i don't know for sure that you didn't fuck the verification up!) nor does "what else do you want us to do, post the man's ID online?" make sense as a response to accusations--people needing to know that you are looking at things like IDs prior to trusting your verification is a very different thing than people wanting you to actually post the IDs online.

but the thing is that if you want to see these concerns addressed, you could very easily reach out about it or make a querying post without immediately escalating to the most suspicious possible option of "i think this Entire Thing is a scam ring, and none of the people doing the vetting are real." because once you've called that shot and missed--a shot which you would've known made no sense if you spent 30 seconds checking that the vetters are, in fact, obviously real people with a real internet history as palestinians--the main thing you've done is cause an absurd amount of stress and pain for people who are obviously genuinely putting massive amounts of time & effort into trying to help save their community from ongoing genocide. which is a shitty thing to do, and also really really counterproductive to getting ideal clarification or transparency. because falsely accusing marginalized people of taking advantage of the genocide of their own people while they are actively trying to help tends to, you know. result in those marginalized people becoming rather stressed and upset and overwhelmed. which makes it a lot harder for people to communicate with optimal clarity and forethought.

the thing about people accusing el-shab-hussein and nabulsi and other palestinian bloggers of running a scam ring that's really bizarre to me is that it's just so completely thoughtless. and i don't mean that in the sense of "inconsiderate," it's far too dangerous to be called just "inconsiderate," i mean in the sense that it demonstrates that literally not a single second of meaningful thought was put into the purported "scambusting." the bloggers vetting have been openly palestinian and openly talking about palestinian politics and culture for an extended amount of time--you could literally go to, e.g., nabulsi's blog right now, open up the archive, and scroll to see posts about palestinian politics, muslim character headcanons, etc., from as far back as 2021. the idea that any of these people would be...what, successfully pretending to be palestinians for years online? prior to launching their scam ring is so ridiculous it beggars belief. and the fact that the people making the scam accusations started with implying that the palestinian bloggers responsible for the vetting spreadsheets were running a scam ring, and only later backpedaled to "well, i guess they're real people, but they're probably still bad at vetting and verifying scammers" (which is still, to be clear, a deeply uninformed and dangerous accusation to make) is extremely indicative of how little thought or care was put into the accusations. if the people making the accusations couldn't even take thirty seconds to check that the people they're accusing of being scam ring leaders have been openly palestinian for years online prior to insinuating they've been lying about literally everything, there's 0 reason any other 'investigation' they post about doing should be taken as intelligent or useful. completely callous and negligent behavior

[p0cketstitched]

I keep on saying that I’m going to draw these guys a comic and then I don’t

[onenicebugperday]

hey sorry, i'm usually 100% all for people reading the articles in posts jdslkd but i don't really want to see pictures of spiders right now, is there a version of the article without pictures, or something similar?

Full “Spiders do not bite” article pasted under the cut without photos of spiders - forgive any formatting issues, I literally just copy-pasted and didn’t fix anything.

Spiders do not bite.

by Chris Buddle

Last week, the arthropod lab was lucky enough to be highlighted on the website “Montreal Openfile”.  When discussing our work with spiders as related to McGill’s spider collection, I was asked about the most common misconception about spiders, and I responded quickly with the following:

 There are a lot of misconceptions about spiders. The most common is the idea that spiders frequently bite people – they do not. Most so-called spider bites are caused by something else. Spiders generally have no interest in biting us, and would rather feed upon invertebrates. I have been working with spiders for over 15 years, and I have handled many, many kinds of live spiders and I have never been attacked by a spider.

It is really quite astounding – almost anyone you talk to seem to know someone who has been bitten by a spider and/or they themselves have a personal story about a spider that bit them.    These stories often include anecdotes like “it really, really hurt“, “the wound swelled up and festered“, “I was bitten over and over again in the middle of the night“, “the spider ran right at me and bit me” etc. Related directly to this are the numerous questions I get about the brown recluse spider, and its occurrence in Quebec.   If I believed everything that people told me, I would NOT be an Arachnologist, and I would fear for my life – Venomous spiders everywhere!!!

Time for a reality check – Spider bites are very, very rare and other more likely causal factors should be given priority.  Let me go into detail:

1) Misdiagnosis:  other animals are more likely to be the cause of so-called “spider bites”.  The usual and more likely suspects include things like wasps, ants, bedbugs, black flies, etc.  Message:  these kinds arthropods are known to sting, bite, or “feed” upon mammals! (…and reactions to some of these can certainly be severe, and serious).  How do I know that spiders rarely cause reactions in humans? Two reasons:  experience and  the scientific literature (i.e., evidence or lack thereof).  For example, a few years ago colleagues of mine (Robb Bennett & Rick Vetter) wrote about this in a paper for Canadian physicians:

Approach to spider bites: Erroneous attribution of dermonecrotic lesions to brown recluse or hobo spider bites in Canada

There are two key pieces of information in this article: first, the medical community must recognize the possibilities of other likely causal factors for symptoms sometimes attributed to spider bites.  Second, to properly verify a spider bite, the spider needs to be collected and properly identified.  This takes me to the next point – the importance of taxonomy.

2) Incorrect identification: Several years ago a woman approached me after a pest-control company sprayed her home – she brought me specimens of the ‘deadly’ spider that they had sprayed for.  It was NOT a dangerous spiders – it was a completely harmless wolf spider (Family Lycosidae) from the genus Trochosa.   She saw a spider, called in the professionals, and these professionals did not accurately identify the spider (they told her it was a brown recluse).  TAXONOMY IS IMPORANT and TAXONOMIC EXPERTISE is essential.  It is critical that a careful identification is done (by an expert!) on any spider that supposedly bites someone.  In my experience, a casual image search on the Internet will not suffice, and will likely confuse the situation, and perhaps cause undue alarm.   [as an aside, this blog post about ‘the taxonomy fail index’ is worth a look]

3) Spider behaviour: Spiders are “scared” of humans.  Ok, I recognize this is anthropomorphizing things, but the reality is that if you approach a spider, it usually runs away, or completely ignores us.  With the exception of jumping spiders, most spiders have very poor eyesight and respond to other stimuli (e.g., vibrations, light/dark).  Humans make a lot of noise, and cause a spider’s entire habitat to shake, rumble and roll.   Furthermore, spiders prefer to live in damp, dark places, and when we lift up an old shoe box, or sweep under the fridge, we sometimes disrupt a spider but if you wait a minute, they invariably run back to darkness.  Spiders would rather run and hide than hang out with us.

4) Home range: Venomous spiders (i.e., to humans!) just don’t live in Canada.  Of the almost 40,000 spider species, globally, there are less than a dozen or so that can cause serious health problems to the average, healthy human, and these do not occur naturally in Canada (Australia, however, is a different story!). One of the authors of the paper mentioned above (Rick Vetter) has a terrific website devoted to the “myth” of the brown recluse. Also, his list of publications will take you to some key literature on the broader topic of medically important spiders.  Rick has put together a terrific map showing the distribution range of the brown recluse, and I’ve copied it below.  As you can see, Canada is not part of the native range of the brown recluse (or its close relatives):

5) Spider food: Spiders prey upon invertebrates and for the vast majority of spider species their venom is suited for invertebrates.  Their venom can certainly pack a punch, but it is generally not suited for vertebrates (at least certainly not in northern climes, there are spiders elsewhere who do prey upon birds, for example).

6) Biological constraints: For many species, the “fangs” of spiders (which are located at the end of the Chelicerae) are just too weak and small to be able to break the skin.  I have held many spiders and watched as they work away at trying to bite me, but they just can’t pull it off.  Our skin is generally too tough for their little, wimpy fangs.   Here’s a photo to show this (it’s another wolf spider, trying unsuccessfully to bite me):

[Photo removed]

To summarize this rather lengthy post: in general, and in this part of the world, venomous spiders are rare, and bites from venomous spider bites are exceedingly rare, and I would argue that most suspected spider bites are not actually caused by spiders.  The risk of a spider bite is very, very low.  If you want to reduce risk, it’s far more dangerous to get in a car than be bitten by a spider.

Writing this post has inspired me to think about other misconceptions about spiders.  Stay tuned…there’s a lot more to come!

[harrypotterimagined]

Hi! Tbh, i thought you don't write anymore, but i red your writings every day and almost gave up. I hope you're okay with your healthy. Maybe if you will have time you'll write clingy and jealous Cedric Diggory x reader. Although i am just glad you're here (sorry, eng is not my first language)

Hi, this is so nice, thank you so much. I'm happy you like my work 🥺 I'm pretty good! School is still kicking me in the butt!

I don't think this is exactly how you meant it, I hope you still like it!

***

You were sitting outside with Cedric and two other friends near the lake. It was always calmer there than just on the grounds. It was a favorite spot of yours, especially during spring time.

Cedric was leaning against a tree, your legs thrown over him as you laughed with your friends. He always loved to see you like that; happy, casual, carefree. When he watched you in that moment, he felt like he'd never been closer to angels.

He smiled as you laughed loudly, leaning back on your hands. "Right, Cedric?"

Hé turned to the friend, unsure of what was being asked. The girl just raised her eyebrows with a little smirk, and Cedric knew he'd been caught.

"Oh, leave him be," you swatted at your friend, though out of her reach, before you turned to him, giving him a smile that could light up even the darkest night. "I think it's cute."

Your friend snorted, making you take your gorgeous eyes off the boy to laugh with them again. He didn't listen to the bickering too much, just marveled in you. He'd never know how he managed to get you.

Then you lifted your legs off his, turning back to him. "Want to go?" You asked, hand reaching for his, making his heart flutter, still. "We can walk a bit and head to the library?"

"Oh, come on," one of your friends laughed loudly. "We all know you won't be studying."

"Well, I'll certainly be getting better at something," you climbed to your feet, one hand still on his, helping him up. You winked when you noticed his slight blush. "I'll see you guys later."

You waved a quick goodbye, lacing your fingers together with Cedrics. "Thanks for hanging with them today," you smiled at him, shoulders brushing every few steps.

"Of course," he said. He would like to say that he would do nothing rather than be with you, but he wasn't certain how to say that. Instead, he gather his courage. "Remember what I said before?"

"Oh, right," you swung your hands a bit, and he didn't need to look at you to know you were smiling. "You wanted to talk. Not a great thing to say to your partner, by the way."

He chuckled, slowing his pace. "Sorry," he looked at you, a smile not faltering as he met your eyes. Merlin, it was so clear to him. It wasn't the way he had wanted to say it, but the way the sun shone down on you, catching the shade of your hair so nicely.

"Why are we stopping?" He hadn't realized he'd stopped walking. The wind picked up, blowing your hair in your face. He reached over, tucking it behind your ear with a gentle smile. His hand came to rest on your cheek, your eyes expectantly. Waiting for a movement or words to spill out.

You looked so amazing, so warm and touchable, he leaned in, catching your lips with his. It was a feeling he would never grow tired of. Your soft skin beneath his fingers, the way your lips moved against his with a softness similar to the duvet after a long day.

As you smiled into the kiss, he broke away, a smile instantly breaking on his face again as he tried to linger in the sweet bliss a moment longer, already longing for your lips once again. "So what did you want to talk about?" You whispered softly.

"I love you," he said softly, without much thinking. He meant it,had never meant anything as much in his life. It had only been two months, but he was certain. He loved you and couldn't keep it in anymore.

He'd been almost certain you felt the same about him. Why else would you look at him like that? Smile at him like that, kiss him like that? But he felt you tense under his touch, smile washing off your face as you stepped back. "You-" he watched you suck in a breath, pulling away from his touch, eyes big. "I- sorry, I'll... I'll see you uhm, later."

You stumbled over the words, eyes darting to the ground, hands running through your hair. Then you walked away, rushing to get away from him.

He started to say something, but what was there even to say? You'd bolted off when he said he loved you, the message was quite clear.

***

A loud laugh filled the library, your hand smacking Sebastian's arm before anyone could shush him. "Stop laughing you asshole!" You snapped, pulling his sweater in a desperate attempt to shut him up.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, still laughing softly. "Can you just repeat that whole story one more time?"

You groaned, dropping your head to the table. "It's not funny!" You muttered. Merlin, you'd been so stupid. Why did you have to run off? Great job at being a good partner and person. Who does that? "I don't know what to do."

Maybe it was the desperation in your voice, but Sebastian pulled himself together, grabbing your wrist and pulling your head up. "Babe," he said with a smile, cheeks still shining from the tears of laughter. "You fucked up, but it's nothing we can't fix. Why did you run?"

You closed your eyes, sighing deeply. It made no sense. Everyone wanted to be with Cedric. You could name four people in the library that had a crush on the boy, and there he'd been, confessing he loved you of all people and..." I don't think I love him."

"Oh, y/n, that is more serious than I thought," the last amusement of Sebastian face vanished. "You want to break up with him?"

Your mouth dropped open, quickly shaking your head. "No! I care for him a lot, I want him to be my boyfriend, I just... It's not even been two months. How do I even know I love him?"

"I don't know," the boy admitted. "I guess it's just something you know. Haven't you read books that explain it?"

You propped your elbow up on the table, resting your head in your palm. It was all so... Complicated. You got butterflies when he kissed you, you wanted to be with him anytime you could, but was that love? You didn't look at him like he seemed to look at you. You don't even know if you love him, while he had been so certain. "I don't want to break up with him," you said. "I really don't. I just... It's too soon."

"Alright, then you should tell him that. It's better than running off, and he'll understand. Just... Say what you said to me but more considerate."

You chuckled, raising your eyebrows at your friend. "You don't think I'm considerate?"

"You could use some work."

You kicked him under the table, not to hard, and he laughed, pulling your arm from under your head. "You're an ass," you sighed, closing the book you hadn't read a word off. "Thank you."

The boy stood, wrapping you in a hug. "Yeah, you owe me big time."

At the words, you poked his side, causing him to laugh once more. He got shushed instantly this time, pulling himself free from your grip. "I'm gonna look for him," you grabbed the book, tucking it under your arm. "Talk to you tomorrow?"

Without waiting for an answer, you rushed out the library, hoping to catch Cedric before his next class.

***

Charms had always been a favorite class of his. He liked Mr. Flitwick, who seemed to like the boy as well. To this particular class, he'd been looking forwards for two weeks, but all he could think about was you wrapped up in Sebastian's arms before he laughed loudly. He would never forget how you looked at the laughing boy. It couldn't be much different than how you looked at him.

He'd thought vetter of you. Such a beautiful soul, a bright mind, and a heart to match. But there you were, in some lovers quirrel moments after you'd rushed away from his words. You certainly didn't seem afraid of the love Sebastián threw at you.

Maybe he'd read it all wrong, maybe you'd been looking for a moment to break up with him so you could be with Sebastián, you so called best friend.

Conveniently enough, Cedric didn't actually know the other guy. You never asked him to come hang out, he'd maybe spoken to him three times. We're you actually hiding a second lover?

"Mr Diggory," Flitwick said, Cedric's eyes flicking up again. "Please pay attention."

He nodded, eyes remaining on the professor while Mike next to him elbowed his side. "Thinking about your lover, Mr. Diggory?" He mocked. "What's it this time, their eyes? Their bum?"

Any other day he would have laughed about it. But not that day. "Shut up, Mike," he mumbled, scribbling down something from the board without paying much attention. He hated the grip you had on him.

After class, he wasn't in a mood to do anything, thiugh he'd agreed to help a friend with homework. He was thinking about canceling that when he say you pacing outside the classroom. Despite what happened, he couldn't help but admire your beauty for a moment. He was smitten, and it was proving to be a problem.

"Cedric," if he hadn't been looking at you, it might have gone lost in the noise of the crowd. You spoke it like it was a confession, eyes sorrowful. "Can we talk?"

He almost said yes. He would give you everything in the world, if only you kept looking at him like that. But then the image of you wrapped up in Sebastián arms rose again. The times you told him not to worry about the boy. "I'm busy," he said, a sharp edge to his voice he loathed. "I'm helping a friend with transfiguration."

He tried to move away from you, but you took a few steps, hand wrapped around his arm ever so softly. If he hadn't wanted to stop, he wouldn't have felt it. "Please, Cédric. Just a moment. I'm just... I'm really sorry."

He shook his head, scoffed and turned back to you. "Well, it certainly didn't look like that."

"What?" You said softly, never the best at reacting to a sharp tone. He regretted it instantly, and knew he couldn't talk about it to you. "I- what do you mean? I just want to say I didn't mean to-"

But he couldn't listen anymore. He knew he'd forgive you in an instand, and the lingering tightness in his chest would remain there. So he took off, leaving you stunned and behind, something he'd apologize for later. He needed to go to the library. Or where ever Sebastián liked to hang out.

***

Cedric seemed to be avoiding you. While you didn't blame him, it was hard to apologize when he didn't want to talk to you. The last thing you wanted was for the two of you to break up just because you did something stupid.

More than anything, you wanted you could say you loved him too and made a mistake, but you just couldn't lie to him. Not about that, not when you might mean it in a few weeks.

So, since Cedric wasn't spezking to you, and you were certain Sofia would laugh at you, you stuck by Sebastian.

"Yeah, the weirdest thing happened the other day," he said as you were sitting on the grass,, mostly because you needed a distraction. "Cedric rushed in the library, he looked at me and then just... Went away again."

"Doubt it has anything to do with you," you said with a smile. "You're imagining things."

The boy scoffed, laying down in the grass, the sun warming your skin. "Oh sure, all he does is because of you,"

"That's not weird! We're dating and we have a... Thing now." there was no other way to describe it. It wasn't really arguing when you didn't speak.

Sebastian rolled on his side, head propped on his hand. "Just talk to him, y/n."

"He is the one avoiding me," you reminded him, leaning forwards to pluck grass out of his curls. "I mean I get it. But he was always so kind, even when we argued. He was the reasonable one, you know. I'm not sure what I need to do now."

"Well, here's your chance," his eyes darted over your shoulder. "He's right there."

You turned around, the sight of him almost making you smile before you remembered that he might not talk to you. But he did move to you, making you anxious.

"Can we talk?" He asked, eyes darting between you and Sebastian.

"Yeah," you said quickly, pushing yourself up. "Of course. Let's go over there,"

You were prepared for the worse, or so you had thought. He would break up with you and you'd be heartbroken. But the Silence stretched as you leaned against the walls of Hogwarts, nervous to meet his eyes. "So..." you began softly, lip tugged between your teeth.

"You went to Sebastian?" He said softly, not entirely calm. "Did I mean that little to you?"

Your eyebrows knitted together. "Of course I went to him, he's my best friend. Who else would I ask for advice?"

"Didn't realize asking advice meant for you to play with his hair," and it was then that you realized he was jealous. Considering everything... You guessed it made sense.

Licking your lips, you took a leap of faith and stepped a little closer, hand moving to his. He didn't pull away. "There's nothing between me and him, I freaked out a bit when you said... You know. Not because I didn't like it or because I didn't feel the same, but... It's complicated."

"You could have said something instead of running off," he sounded calmer and you smiled slightly. "Complicated how?"

"I care for you, I really do," you whispered, stepping a bit closer. "I just... I don't want to say that I love you before I'm really sure. I don't want to lie, but you mea' so much to me, I don't want to lose you because of something stupid I did."

Cedric took a deep breath. You hated that your words probably hurt him. "You sure are honorful," he then said, smiling slightly. "I understand. It is a bit early."

A huge weight had been lifted off your chest as you nodded once. You'd be okay. He didn't hate you. "Can I kiss you?" You whispered, wishing it was all perfect again, though it would take a bit of work

As an answer, he leaned in, lips touching in a way that made your knees go weak. It wasn't hard to imagine yourself loving him. Cedric was a good man, and you were so lucky he loved you.

[fallingstarset]

IMPORTANT PSA, YOU NEED TO SEE THIS

You all here? Dont scroll away please, I need to tell you something!!!...... YES, you! You reading this, this is for you!! I dont care who you are, but if you're reading this you were meant to. It was supposed to happen, this is NOT a coincidence!

You all here now?! Good! Good to see you! I called you here to make an important announcement! Please listen, you need to hear this!!

YOU. ARE. VALUABLE!!!

Did you hear me? Do i need to say it again?

YOU ARE VALUABLE! YOU ARE VALUABLE AND MEANINGFUL AND WORTHY!

You are worthy of love, you are here for a reason!! It doesnt matter what youve done or what you think youve done! Trust me, everyone makes mistakes! Even if you think those mistakes make you bad, even if you see yourself as irredeemable or bad because of something that may seem like a huge deal right now— and yes, it may be a big huge deal, but it doesnt define you, whatever it is!!

Do you have friends? Do you care for them? Well then care for yourself dammit!! However awesome you think everyone else is, I can promise you, you are just as amazing!! You are NOT, I repeat, you are NOT arrogant or self centered for wanting to !! It doesnt make you a bad person to think of yourself every once in awhile!!

If you dont feel up to going to an event you planned to go to, you dont have to! Anyone whos worth having around will understand if you dont want to go to something! It doesnt matter if youve been looking forward to it but now you just dont feel up to it, it doesn't matter how ling youve been talking about how excited you are to go, because you know you, and if you think it would be better for you to not go, then dont!!

Trust your friends! Maybe you think they wont except you for something, maybe you think that theyll be just like others youve had the displeasure of having to deal with, and i am truly sorry for that, but if they are worth having around they will accept you for who you are, flaws and all.

And you know what else? It doesn't matter what youre going through, how insignificant and stupid you may or may not think your problems are, it does not matter. What matters is how it makes you feel. Even if others think its not a big deal, even if you think its not a big deal and that you should just get over it, screw that! If it causes you to hurt, or makes you feel bad in any way shape or form, then it matters! Your problems matter! So what if they dont matter to the people around you, so what if you yourself think your problems dont matter? I think it matters.

Cutting toxic people out of your life is a good, healthy thing to do! Think about it, if you have a virus in your body, what do you do? You take it out, make it leave, because its not healthy for you! Maybe while your sick you think it would feel vetter if you did nothing about it, you push help away because right then and there it hurts. But those you get better often dont regret it. Weird example, I know, its not an exact comparison, bu still! Think about it. I know it hurts, but sometimes you have to face the facts of whether or not this person will really honestly bring whats best for you!...

Maybe you dont have that option though, to cut people out of your life. I can understand that sometimes the toxic people are your family, maybe even your parents.. and if youre someone whos going through a hard time due to toxic families and parents, I am so sorry. You probably have a long way to go before everything is okay again. But trust me, eventually it will get better! Then itll get worse! Life is a goddamn rollercoaster, and when you get to the bottom of a hill, you may feel like it'd be better to just get off the ride, but wait!! There could be a turn up ahead, and if you never make it to the turn you' never know what was up ahead!

And you may be thinking: "What if all this stuff im dealing with just gets worse?!"

But let me ask you this:

What if it gets better?

What if one day you wake up and you look back at how far youve come, and youre happy? What if one day you wake up and find that getting out of ved doesnt feel like climbing Mount Everest? What if one day you can honestly say youre happy with how your life is? Maybe youre not there yet, maybe you have so so many miles to go that the journey just seems impossible, but i promise you, it will be okay. If you keep going, if you dont give up and keep trying, someday things will get better.

So please just hang on a little longer, okay? I believe in you. From one person struggling to another, I'm giving you some of my happiness through this post. Im ddoing everything that is in my power as a living breathing human being to pass on some of the positivity I have right now. And you know what? Even if this only helps one person, even if only a singlular person out of however many people read this find happiness or some form of positivity from this post, then it was worth making.

Do not hesitate to message me personally if you need anyone to talk to(this is my main). And i dont just mean venting, i mean literally if you want someone to talk to about a show you like, about something you saw on the news, even about the goddamn weather, i dont care, go ahead and message me.

I sincerely hope you have a wonderful day ♡♡♡