#and personally pay you $10

[whumpfish]

I'm really gonna need people to let me, a person with chronic pain, write about that pain and label it what it is (chronic pain) without jumping my ass telling me it's "your" tag for "your" community.

It's my community, too. I'm allowed to write about it.

This hostility to the just the idea of fiction being anywhere near chronic pain spaces is so self-destructive and just perpetuates already painful isolation. I would have loved to find Word of Honor posts tagged "chronic pain," it would have led me to the series (whose main character has chronic pain! finally, rep that isn't some asshole doctor with a show about what an asshole he is) a lot sooner.

Here's the thing about this blog and the reference posts I make:

Whump saved my life.

This is not an exaggeration. It was the only place I could talk about pain where it would be not only not taboo, but appreciated. When my ME/CFS hit critical mass, I was more alone and powerless than I'd ever been in my life. I had lost my job, my "friends," my apartment, my independence, my health. Everything. I was devastated. I couldn't even write anymore. Everything was pain. That was the lens I now had to view life through, and in the able world, talking about pain is impolite and burdensome to others. So my existence became impolite and burdensome to others.

But then I found the whump community. I could write about pain and it wasn't weird. People didn't leave when I talked about pain, they were interested. They had questions. They wanted to improve their understanding of it. They wanted to improve how they represented it in their own writing. So I started making reference posts.

Now my pain was useful. It was positive. It connected me to others instead of cutting me off from them. Not all of these others have chronic pain or even disabilities, but I refuse to push away people just because they aren't like me. I literally have to live in a world where I'm on the receiving end of that every day, why would I continue it online?

If all my posts about chronic pain are meant only for those who also have it, what good have I done? We all know what pain is like. We all agree it's isolating, we agree isolation feels terrible, so why defend that isolation with both barrels?

Why attack anyone who unites real experiences with better fictional representation of those experiences and assume the person talking is an abled idiot who's in it for the "blorbos?" (I hate that word, by the way. Am I allowed back into my own community yet?) That's what's insulting. The idea that writing about my pain and allowing for the possibility that others might connect to me through both their writing and mine makes me no different from an abled person who's never felt a moment of pain in her life.

I have a chronic illness. I have chronic pain. I write about both. And I don't owe you an explanation.

Block me if you don't like it. But don't jump my ass about "your" community like it's not mine, too. Don't jump my ass about "the" community/tag as if writing about it means I have to turn in my disabled badge.

[bixels]

The idea that uni protesters are "elitist ivy-league rich kids larping as revolutionaries" on Twitter and Reddit and even here is so fucking funny to me if you actually know anything about the student bodies at these unis. Take it from someone who's going to one of the biggest private unis in the US, 80% of the peers I know are either from the suburbs or an apartment somewhere in America, children of immigrants, or here on a student visa. I've heard about one-percenter students, but I've never met one in person. Like, don't get me wrong, the institution as a whole is still very privileged and white. I've talked with friends and classmates about feeling weird or dissonant being here and coming from such a different background. But in my art program, I see BIPOC, disabled, queer, lower-income students and faculty trying to deconstruct and tear that down and make space every day. So to take a cursory glance at a crowd of student protesters in coalitions that are led by BIPOC & 1st/2nd-gen immigrant students and HQ'd in ethnic housings and student organizations and say, "ah. children of the elite." Get real.

[hybbart]

Fish people turn into avians... what do british columbians emerge as from the carts? (Is cart right word for those things?)

Broke

[uncanny-tranny]

Now that I've been working for multiple years, the whole "if we raise [minimum] wage to be livable, then prices will skyrocket!!!" idea is really just corporate bootlicking and pretty asinine when you're witnessing prices (in real time!) increase astronomically for the same quality of product while your raises as a worker are only 10¢ increases at a time at most.

The prices are already skyrocketing, yet the minimum wage is comparatively stagnant. I wonder why this could be, because it isn't the greedy workers that are price gouging you.

[blueskittlesart]

just ordered the loz comics zine prototype 😁😁

[wuntrum]

those airup partnerships must pay well because i keep seeing youtubers getting them. however i will not be buying the scent pod water bottle no matter how much i see it, love and light <3

[horsegirlhob]

Honestly the worst thing about being raised by and around professors is that I can't really do the whole students bitching about professors thing even when I mostly agree with it, because my whole life I have been hearing the professor's side of the story. Every time someone talks about how ridiculous mandatory attendance or participation is there's a part of me that starts loudly protesting about how actually being in class is really important for learning, and it must be so hugely frustrating for the professor when students just don't show up to your class half the time and then when they do show up they're playing sudoku on their computer.

[whentherewerebicycles]

in HUGE news i think i have found a highly qualified part-time nanny at a price i can afford!!!!!

[halorvic]

The danger is clear and present: COVID isn’t merely a respiratory illness; it’s a multi-dimensional threat impacting brain function, attacking almost all of the body’s organs, producing elevated risks of all kinds, and weakening our ability to fight off other diseases. Reinfections are thought to produce cumulative risks, and Long COVID is on the rise. Unfortunately, Long COVID is now being considered a long-term chronic illness — something many people will never fully recover from. Dr. Phillip Alvelda, a former program manager in DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office that pioneered the synthetic biology industry and the development of mRNA vaccine technology, is the founder of Medio Labs, a COVID diagnostic testing company. He has stepped forward as a strong critic of government COVID management, accusing health agencies of inadequacy and even deception. Alvelda is pushing for accountability and immediate action to tackle Long COVID and fend off future pandemics with stronger public health strategies. Contrary to public belief, he warns, COVID is not like the flu. New variants evolve much faster, making annual shots inadequate. He believes that if things continue as they are, with new COVID variants emerging and reinfections happening rapidly, the majority of Americans may eventually grapple with some form of Long COVID. Let’s repeat that: At the current rate of infection, most Americans may get Long COVID.

[...]

LP: A recent JAMA study found that US adults with Long COVID are more prone to depression and anxiety – and they’re struggling to afford treatment. Given the virus’s impact on the brain, I guess the link to mental health issues isn’t surprising. PA: There are all kinds of weird things going on that could be related to COVID’s cognitive effects. I’ll give you an example. We’ve noticed since the start of the pandemic that accidents are increasing. A report published by TRIP, a transportation research nonprofit, found that traffic fatalities in California increased by 22% from 2019 to 2022. They also found the likelihood of being killed in a traffic crash increased by 28% over that period. Other data, like studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, came to similar conclusions, reporting that traffic fatalities hit a 16-year high across the country in 2021. The TRIP report also looked at traffic fatalities on a national level and found that traffic fatalities increased by 19%. LP: What role might COVID play? PA: Research points to the various ways COVID attacks the brain. Some people who have been infected have suffered motor control damage, and that could be a factor in car crashes. News is beginning to emerge about other ways COVID impacts driving. For example, in Ireland, a driver’s COVID-related brain fog was linked to a crash that killed an elderly couple. Damage from COVID could be affecting people who are flying our planes, too. We’ve had pilots that had to quit because they couldn’t control the airplanes anymore. We know that medical events among U.S. military pilots were shown to have risen over 1,700% from 2019 to 2022, which the Pentagon attributes to the virus.

[...]

LP: You’ve criticized the track record of the CDC and the WHO – particularly their stubborn denial that COVID is airborne. PA: They knew the dangers of airborne transmission but refused to admit it for too long. They were warned repeatedly by scientists who studied aerosols. They instituted protections for themselves and for their kids against airborne transmission, but they didn’t tell the rest of us to do that.

[...]

LP: How would you grade Biden on how he’s handled the pandemic? PA: I’d give him an F. In some ways, he fails worse than Trump because more people have actually died from COVID on his watch than on Trump’s, though blame has to be shared with Republican governors and legislators who picked ideological fights opposing things like responsible masking, testing, vaccination, and ventilation improvements for partisan reasons. Biden’s administration has continued to promote the false idea that the vaccine is all that is needed, perpetuating the notion that the pandemic is over and you don’t need to do anything about it. Biden stopped the funding for surveillance and he stopped the funding for renewing vaccine advancement research. Trump allowed 400,000 people to die unnecessarily. The Biden administration policies have allowed more than 800,000 to 900,000 and counting.

[...]

LP: The situation with bird flu is certainly getting more concerning with the CDC confirming that a third person in the U.S. has tested positive after being exposed to infected cows. PA: Unfortunately, we’re repeating many of the same mistakes because we now know that the bird flu has made the jump to several species. The most important one now, of course, is the dairy cows. The dairy farmers have been refusing to let the government come in and inspect and test the cows. A team from Ohio State tested milk from a supermarket and found that 50% of the milk they tested was positive for bird flu viral particles.

[...]

PA: There’s a serious risk now in allowing the virus to freely evolve within the cow population. Each cow acts as a breeding ground for countless genetic mutations, potentially leading to strains capable of jumping to other species. If any of those countless genetic experiments within each cow prove successful in developing a strain transmissible to humans, we could face another pandemic – only this one could have a 58% death rate. Did you see the movie “Contagion?” It was remarkably accurate in its apocalyptic nature. And that virus only had a 20% death rate. If the bird flu makes the jump to human-to-human transition with even half of its current lethality, that would be disastrous.

[hypodermicfroggy]

From my experience, enjoyment of the worlds of Blizzard games comes in a spectrum:

Overwatch: Because the developers refused to elaborate further with the lore on account of corporate greed and mismanagement, everything is up to speculation and you can basically do whatever you want with these settings and characters.

World of Warcraft: Please, god, stop elaborating.

[kedreeva]

My setup today at the reptile expo!

I will definitely say, the Sunday shows are not as good as the Saturday ones. We'll probably be skipping Sunday ones from now on. I did hand out a lot of business cards and brochures today, though, and made a good impression on a lot of people. I even had one person drag her family to my booth after she handled a mouse, and we were able to work out trading in the mice her niece bought from someone else for some of mine instead.

I KNOW we changed some minds today, because there were several people who made disgusted faces until I started talking and they meandered close enough to see someone holding a calm, sweet mouse. Absolutely LOVE hearing "I never knew a mouse could be like this." I had one pest-control guy stop by and explain that he kills mice for a living, but he wanted to hold a live one that was calm and he kept quietly saying to himself "it's so different/it's so nice." I had so many people ask me "how much do you handle them to get them this tame" and be surprised the answer is "I do not handle them, this temperament is bred into their DNA." I had a lady who just... broke, standing there with a mouse laying in her hands calm as could be, and she said very quietly "do little kids hold these?" Just mystified.

I've learned now to say that they won't jump or bite because they are bred for show and have to be able to sit in a judge's hand without jumping or biting, and for some reason the judge part of this just clicks the info for people? Like I always say no they won't jump or bite, but they don't always believe me... but I say a judge has to be able to hold it? Every single person was like "oh" and just relaxed about it. Suddenly it's just like: Ah, Yes, this is a Professional Mouse.

Someone from my old job showed up, and didn't recognize me, though I recognized them. When I mentioned it, they said they'd left, too, they only "lasted" two months. I said I was there twelve years and they were like HOW and it's like my dude (neutral), I entered a fugue state in 2010 and quit the job 12 years later I guess. They ended up taking 2 mice home.

At any rate, I had fun as always. We have another one Saturday, so I'm hoping to sell the few that didn't sell today, and to bring a few more that weren't quiiiiite ready to go today. I wish the tricolors would get their act together and start breeding better, because I would LOVE to offer more of those. The siamese are working on it, which is great because those ALSO sell fast. But alas, I cannot make the mice go any faster than they want to go.

[tripably]

my one complaint about the booping day is that now that it's over, all the notifications regarding it are gone too, and though I would finally have time to go through all the random blogs I interacted with massively but didn't immediately think to follow are now gone from recorded history )-:

[northwest-by-a-train]

When Russia went to war with Ukraine, there were dozens of takes on here about how Europe & America had "snubbed" Russia. Despite Germany shooting themselves in the foot by hooking their economy to Russian oil & gas, despite the high prestige Russian culture still enjoys among the western bourgeoisie, despite the "appease & profit" attitudes of European political, business & education leaders. Despite all that and more, you could find people saying Russia was constantly mistreated, humiliated and belittled by the western world, and was left with nothing but bad choices. I saw people on here argue that the EU should've made Russia a member in the 90s, that western powers should've done everything to preserve its social safety net, and encouraged friendship initiatives with its neighbors. The war in Ukraine was regrettable, yes, and many were against it. But ultimately, the onus of it fell on foreign powers essentially being filthy russophobes.

Now, American libs use the same logic to promote Kamala Harris. "You have to vote for us, or we'll genocide Palestine even harder. We don't want the guy who will genocide harder than this one to be in power. We want to have the one that keeps genocide at around the same level, and who could maybe be amenable to lower that level." And if you say that's irrational or disgusting or predatory blackmail, they turn around and say "Well, if you don't appease our empire, and you don't give us the appropriate level of respect and approval, and treat us as a reliable and trustworthy partner, of course this country will turn around and char the earth. Of course we will commit genocide, and ethnic cleansing, and bomb civilian buildings 24/7. Of course if we don't win on every trade deal and don't get to live better lives than the rest of the world and we don't get to racially segregate our country and export that segregation, we will cause a series of mounting international crises drawing us ever closer to nuclear war. Of course. That's obvious. Everyone is supposed to know that. Now get to appeasing us, and making us comfortable, and making us loved and beautiful. Or else you leave us with no choice."

And now the onus of this genocide is on Palestinians not being nice enough and Lebanon and Yemen not being nice enough and on the third world not being nice enough and college kids not being nice enough and on the international community not being nice enough and on Israel not being respectful enough of its western protectors and people on here will yell at you that you're not being nice enough to Kamala and that it's making things worse for everyone everywhere on earth and that the correct way for this crisis to be solved is people being nice to Kamala, which in turn will make Israel nicer and more respectful towards Kamala, which in turn will make the middle East nicer and more respectful towards Kamala, which in turn will make us all nicer and more respectful towards Kamala and solve all problems for all time.

So the only way out of this is to play nice 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 and nothing bad will ever happen again 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 and if everyone plays nice you'll eventually stop seeing the mangled corpses of children 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

[snackugaki]

tmnt au doodlz

[hajihiko]

any news on when the next batch of paid sketches will be done?

soon! Just finished the last commission stuff (once PayPal kicks it o gear we'll have 400$ for Palestine!) so KoFi is next up

[sullina]

now that i managed to get meds for my adhd a couple months ago, i actually find it quite funny how so many people who "aren't addicted to anything" will look down on drug addicts who are addicted to "illegal" drugs like idk heroin or meth or what have you

and then turn around and go "i can't function without my morning coffee, but I'm not addicted, it just gets rid of my common caffeine withdrawal symptoms like headaches, dizzyness, tiredness (fatigue), general irritability, mental fogginess, nausea and my general bad mood in the morning, but seriously, I'm not addicted at all, I can just overall function way better with coffee in the morning and also throughout the rest of the day!"

yeah i bet you can function a lot better in your day to day life when you're not actively going through withdrawal and can get your fix several times a day at work or for less than 10 bucks at every corner in every city with even some fancy stuff on top that makes it taste even better.

yeah, you're SO much better and SO above the people who DO have a drug problem and have to spend half their paycheck or even more on their daily fix because their drug isn't so normalized that it's even considered a necessity of daily life and therefore can be gotten for cheap and the price of which is even regulated by the government is some countries.

and when i said "funny" i actually meant " incredibly infuriating and two-faced"