#i have a feeling that most info is on reddit

[lazulisong]

urgh say a couple prayers and tell my damn twin to get their ass in gear -- im looking at 4250 as my out of pocket and that doesn't include post op expenses ٩( ᐛ )و

(it's surprisingly validating that an american insurance outfit looked at my case and agreed it was medically and/or psychologically necessary enough to cover top surgery lmao)

anyway i should not have looked that up when i was still recovering from the adrenaline but everything about this is coming together so i'm choosing to believe that the universe is moving towards this! the lawd will provide if i work hard and believe.

options that i'm looking at (since the ONE TIME i was like "why am i bringing my big TN with the top surgery insert with me, it's heavy and i want to read on my ipad" i get The Message)

setting up a payment plan with the hospital, which would involve paying a deposit and then paying monthly

seeing if i qualify for financial aid from the hospital system

juli says there might be a place that will give me a grant

overtime. so much overtime. but not enough to make myself sick.

part time work from home if i can find one or troll wework

original stories on kofi (probably pay what you want)

crowdfunding but i don't want to bet on it

fortunately oregon put a paid leave program into effect so i have options after i burn through my sick leave. i did some napkin math and i think, between my out of pocket and post surgery supplies, im looking at 5000$, but 6000$ would be a lot more comfy.

post op expenses look to include

"a really big comfy robe" - @dadvans

scar care stuff

high protein shelf stable drinks

mastectomy pillow and ice packs

food delivery and/or rideshare as needed

suitable tops (for extremely obvious reasons called "i could have probably called it a reduction and gotten it covered for back pain" i don't own any buttoned tops)

(i wish i could lie to myself about this but i am going to eating. a lot. of door dash. and riding the bus with new scars doesn't sound uh like something the group chat is going to let me get away with.)

circee flatly informed me that she Was coming for the surgery and she Was going to take care of me, so that's a load off my mind.

mom can't come up so i might see about going down south after the Drains are out? google says three weeks off work so that could be doable. (mom is kind of big mad she can't take personal charge of the Drains but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

[carrotpiss]

Hmm

[herhimthem]

KOSA ISNT BEING VOTED TODAY I REPEAT KOSA ISNT BEING VOTED TODAY!!!!

https://www.senate.gov/committees/hearings_meetings.htm

THERE ISNT ANY SENATE MEETING OR HEARING TODAY. PLEASE DO NOT PANIC. WE HAVE UNTIL AFTER MARCH 13TH.

KEEP CALLING YOUR GOVERNORS AND START ORGANIZING!!! START PROTESTING OUTSIDE BUILDINGS, START MARCHING, START FIGHTING IF YOU CAN!!!!!!! AND IF YOU CANT, START SPREADING THE WORD ABIUT THESE THINGS!!!

OH MY GOD WAIT WHAT

IS THIS TRUE?? SOMEONE PLEASE COMMENT OR REBLOG AND LET ME KNOW

────────────

Update #2 - 2/26/2024

edit in case folks don't see the reblog:

Update on this.

I looked at the website and yes, there *is* no mention of any voting on KOSA happening before or past March 13th, March 13th is where the schedule ends. I'm still not sure, so keep digging for more info.

putting the link again so others can examine

U.S. Senate: Hearings & Meetings

────────────

Update #3 - 2/27/2024

ANOTHER another update, somebody relogged this with extra info

I'm gonna start putting dates on these updates so people know what's happening when

────────────

Update #4 - 3/2/2024

So, today I was on Reddit reading about KOSA, and I found this on r/AO3

Here's the Invest in Child Safety Act, it only has five cosponsors compared to KOSA's sixty-three.. wonder why..

Anyways, I was wondering, could steering reps away from KOSA while leading them towards other and SAFER bills help? :P

If these bills really ARE safer, wouldn't it give us a better chance of KOSA not being passed if we gave our Senators and Reps examples of alternative bills they could support?

Like, instead of just saying "DON'T DO THIS!!!" We could say "DON'T DO THIS, but THIS is a better alternative that will keep everyone safe AND actually be helpful."

I have a feeling most of the Democrats supporting this bill have fallen for the "We're protecting the children!!" farse. So, let's not just tell them the problem, but offer a solution! An alternative that will ACTUALLY protect children.

I posted this as it's own thing, but I wanted to add it to this update thread so people are more likely to see it.

Please post this on other sites, on Twitter, TikTok, other Reddit pages, etc. I only ask that you cover-up my username :]

(link to the actual post)

[the-sleepy-archivist]

Blocking Ads on Mobile Devices

Blocking ads on our phones is way harder than it should be so I figured I'd make some recommendations. These are not the only options out there, just the ones that I know and use.

Please note that browser-level and system-level adblocking are complementary; you'll have the best experience if you use both of them together as they each block different things in different places. If you want a basic idea of how effective your combined adblocking setup is, you can visit this website in your mobile browser.

Lastly, there is some additional advice/info under the readmore if you're curious (EDIT: updated June 2024 to add info about sideloading altered versions of social media apps that don't contain ads on Android and iOS).

Android

Browser-Level

uBlock Origin (for Firefox)

System-Level (works in all apps, not just browsers)

AdGuard

Blokada 5 (completely free version) OR Blokada 6 (has some newer features but they require a subscription)

iPhone/iPad

Browser-Level

AdGuard (Safari extension; free for basic browser-level blocking, requires a subscription for custom filters)

System-Level (works in all apps, not just browsers)

AdGuard (requires subscription for system-level blocking)

AdGuard DNS only (this is free and does not require the AdGuard app, BUT I would only recommend it for advanced users, as you can't easily turn it off like you can with the app. Credit to this Reddit thread for the DNS profile)

Some additional info: browser-level blocking is a browser addon or extension, like you might be used to from a desktop computer. This inspects the HTML code returned by websites and searches for patterns that identify the presence of an ad or other annoyance (popup videos, cookie agreements, etc.). System-level blocking is almost always DNS-based. Basically whenever an app asks your phone's OS to make a connection to a website that is known for serving ads, the system-level blocker replies "sorry, I don't know her 🤷‍♂️💅" and the ad doesn't get downloaded. This works in most places, not just a browser, but be warned that it might make your battery drain a little faster depending on the app/setup.

Each of those types of blocking has strengths and weaknesses. System-level DNS blocking blocks ads in all apps, but companies that own advertising networks AND the websites those ads are served on can combine their services into the same domain to render DNS blocking useless; you can’t block ads served by Facebook/Meta domains without also blocking all of Facebook and Instagram as well because they made sure their ads are served from the same domain as all the user posts you actually want to see. Similarly, browser-level blocking can recognize ads by appearance and content, regardless of what domain they’re served from, so it can block them on Instagram and Facebook. However, it needs to be able to inspect the content being loaded in order to look for ads, and there’s no way to do that in non-browser apps. That’s why using both together will get you the best results.

These limitations do mean that you can’t block ads in the Facebook or Instagram apps, unfortunately, only in the website versions of them visited in your browser. It also means ads served by meta’s/facebook’s ad network in other apps can’t be blocked either (unless you're one of the rare beasts who doesn't use facebook or instagram or threads, in which case feel free to blacklist all Meta/FB domains and watch your ads disappear 😍; I'm jealous and in awe of you lol).

One note: some apps may behave unpredictably when they can't download ads. For example, the Tumblr app has big black spaces where the ads are, and sometimes those spaces collapse as you scroll past them and it messes up scrolling for a few seconds (UPDATE: looks like the scrolling issue may have actually been a Tumblr bug that they have now fixed, at least on iOS). Still way less annoying than getting ads for Draco Malfoy seduction roleplay AI chatbots imo though. And honestly *most* apps handle this fairly gracefully, like a mobile game I play just throws error messages like "ad is not ready" and then continues like normal.

One final note: on Android, you may actually be able to find hacked versions of Meta’s apps that have the ad frameworks removed. In some cases they are a little janky (unsurprisingly, apps don’t always take kindly to having some of their innards ripped out by a third-party), and they are often out of date. BUT in return you get an Instagram app with no ads whatsoever, and some of them even add additional features like buttons for saving IG videos and photos to your phone. However, use these apps at your own risk, as there is functionally no way to validate the code that the third-parties have added or removed from the app. Example altered IG app (I have not vetted this altered app, it's just a popular option): link.

It is technically possible to install altered apps on iOS as well, but Apple makes it much, much harder to do (unless you are jailbroken, which is a whole different ballgame). I'm not going to cover sideloading or jailbreaking here because even I as a very techy person eventually grew tired of messing with it or having to pay for it. If you're interested you can read more about the different ways to do sideloading on iOS here.

[doubleddenden]

So the stories leaked from gen 4 development are certainly interesting, eh? I'm sure everyone has their own feelings about it- some of you are apparently ECSTATIC about fucking your Machokes. Good for you, my guy. Some are horrified, thinking something's been defiled (it is fiction and most importantly non canon, you're fine, get a grip).

Me? I think the lady (yes, it was a lady) that wrote all of these is REALLY PASSIONATE about her craft, and was also referencing real world mythos and how they portray similar instances- I think we all know that Zeus has probably done worse on all giving and receiving ends of these stories, as well as Poseidon, Loki, and probably some other myths from Europe, China, and definitely JAPAN- key word there. In fact, the Typhlosion story is probably a reference to a similar story about a badger yokai that can alter its face to appear human, and the Octillery story is definitely a reference to- well, tentacle porn is a thing for a reason that goes pretty far back as a way to get around censorship in hand painted porn. The contents of the story aren't really much different or more terrifying than mythos we'd see in the real world (or if you're in the bible belt like me, probably EXPOSED to with morning bible studies before class growing up), and it's mainly just shocking to see it in the context of Pokemon.

And I think that's kind of the point. Sinnoh is already a pretty dark region in terms of lore and myth, and has surprisingly religious undertones considering the family friendly nature of Pokemon and its general target audience. Obviously none of the horse, badger, sloth monkey, octopus, god, or... Lapras fucking made it to the final cut, although in Japan they still reference People and Pokemon being so equal at some point that they could marry- that's even kind of referenced in Legends Arceus with I think a diary written by a man kidnapped by a Froslass? its been a minute, but you probably know what I'm referencing.

I think an interesting question would be "How did we get to these terrifying stories?" Especially Typhlosion and Slakoth.

Its important to remember this: None of this was meant to see the light of day outside that office circa 2003 to 2004ish. Yeah, surprisingly you weren't supposed to see the story of a man fucking an Octillery BEFORE throwing it back out to sea in a rated E for everyone game, and you didn't! You saw it via twitter, reddit, 4chan, tumblr, discord, or your local weed guy who all spread it from someone who got it from confidential office logs we wouldn't see unless someone took that info from Game Freak's darkest depths of other secrets they'd prefer to keep hidden. Every game and media company has this, good and bad, to various degrees of sfw and not. Did you know Disney has an entire vault of actual PORN that animators would make of their own anthropomorphized characters? Locked nice and safely, too... with uh, some exceptions breaking containment, I think?

So with that being said, we understand this is meant to be privileged info only a handful of people were supposed to see. That means they can use words and stuff you normally wouldn't see- Adventure time for instance had Finn and Jake saying "fuck" in story boarding, kinda funny- because its meant to be workshopped and tinkered with, refined until you get something desirable.

In fact, creators will often propose darker ideas than what they actually want so that they can more easily talk censors into an outcome they ACTUALLY desire. Alex Hirsch did this a few times in Gravity Falls' production, and you know Disney was a bitch to deal with (although he probably didn't propose stuff like this, but you get the idea). So this being said- Obviously nobody wants a story about a Typhlosion engaging in a non-con relationship with a minor it kidnaps. Nobody wants to read a story about humans MUTILATING Slakoths for fun and then getting revenge impregnated by a Slaking, only to give birth to a Slakoth and have it killed and thus kill yourself out of grief for your lost child (people reading this without context- ho boy you guys have missed out on some crazy shit that's popped up). So what is okay from here?

Maybe a little Pokemon death after going a while without it and accruing a reputation of being safe for kids? Mention of Pokemon bones being picked clean of meat and put back into a river so it can come back reborn? Some darker undertones of Pokemon being tormented by Team Galactic? How about a story of a boy slaying Pokemon with a sword, but less detail of mutilation of Ursaring and Slakoth? All of this made it into Diamond and Pearl, didn't it? Add in a little Human and Pokemon "Marriage" that is easily scrubbed out and replaced with "eating at the same table" for the more sensitive Western audience, and you have some pretty believable, dark, somewhat uncomfortable but child friendly lore for Pokemon.

Not to mention, a lot of this was probably pitched just to get a feel of the vibe they were going for in the game. If you read back through the stories, bits and pieces end up being used in other, non Poke-fucking stories, or recontextualized. See the above.

While its certainly a relief that they're non canon, it is a rather interesting look at the development of gen 4 lore and actually makes it feel more... realistic, in a way- again, comparing it to real world mythos and religious tales. That, and honestly? The religious backstory is actually, unironically amazing- HEAVILY based on real world religion, but plenty of real world religions steal from other religions and mythos anyway (coughchristianitycough).

Its actually a bit sad, because in any other JRPG, Arceus becoming a wounded woman that an ordinary man cares for, Arceus falling in love with this man because he treated her so tenderly, bearing human twins, the twins becoming Dialga and Palkia to fight some Titan that would become Mt Coronet, and Arceus loving this man so much that she took his soul to create Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit to spread love and joy throughout the world? That would literally be INSANELY GOOD world building. Plus! Arceus was a human woman when she did this! It was also consensual! Can you imagine what the world would have been like if we had gotten not only FEMALE Arceus- god of all Pokemon universes- but also a HUMAN INCARNATION of her? And this was BEFORE Giratina came into the picture, apparently. If anything, we got robbed a bit of some deep lore and potential story telling from this being cut, imo.

But one more thing to consider is this: All the stories, even if they did make it to the final cut, would still be stories within a story. Fictional folktales within a fictional setting. If we judge the above by how relevant the ACTUAL content that made it into the games were to the actual overarching plot... It'd be overall kinda useless beyond some flavor text. That's kind of the sad fact of it. Pokemon Players especially, grown adults too, are not exactly known to be well read and some play the game by rapidly A pressing every ounce of dialog they come across, even in brand new playthroughs. I'm sure some remember that one idiot on twitter that thought he made the discovery of the century when he found Snowpoint Temple in Legends Arceus, right? So understandably, especially when you're working on a clock, on limited space, on new and unfamiliar hardware, and trying to be as broad and reachable to audiences as you can- things get cut. Even... Some of the coolest lore building of all time SERIOUSLY A FUCKING PANTHEON WHAT THE HELL.

And I lied, there is one more thing to consider, especially for anyone actually morally offended by some of the content mentioned- Keep in mind that this is in 2003 to 2005ish Japan, with Game Freak (who we know are pretty out of touch in some regards, even by today's standards), before twitter, before tumblr, during a more edgy time for... well, everyone alive at the time, and especially adults. That's 20 years ago. Some of you may not have been alive at that point (did you finish your snacks and juice, lil guy?), some of you probably had a lot of your formative education influenced by the more puritanical side of tumblr or twitter, but it was simply a different time and place. That's it. The people involved in this have moved on and have probably grown into better people, and probably haven't made more fics like this. Maybe. Who knows. It's fiction anyway, and nobody real got hurt from it, and that's what's most important at the end of the day.

So that's my thoughts on it. I think I'm more annoyed by the fact that one of my favorites got a worse Vaporeon treatment than anything, and there's possibly the risk of Nintendo/TPC/Game Freak overreacting and gatekeeping Typhlosion out of the games for a bit. Sigh. My first pokemon, man. Well, anyway, try not to take it too seriously if you see the jokes and memes about it. It'll pass.

But hey, sexy Latina Skyla is canon! Shadow the Hedgehog wins!

[catboybiologist]

Hi! I'm Sierra. Time for a pinned post refresh.

Otherwise known as CatboyBiologist, or @hi-sierra (my SFW blog [this one is SFW too, but less so]). This page is remaining active, but if you want to find me somewhere else, I use the same username on reddit, Instagram, co-host, and tech.lgbt. This is me:

Trans woman, PhD student in molecular biology, boymoder, shitposter, freediver, hot girl on your phone, hiker, rambler (this post included), tgirl tummy tuesday supplier and enjoyer, former femboy, bane of bioessentialist fuckwads who try to use biology to validate biogotry, flaming bisexual, 196 nanocelebrity… whatever was the first thing that brought you to my blog, I hope it’s enough to get you to stay! I post selfies, hornyposts (minors and people who are averse to that be warned), stuff about the ocean, posts about my growing sense of wanderlust, my adorable lil tortoise, tutorials for transfemmes and GNC people, rambles about science, documentation of my own transition, rambles about transness, rambles about the eroticism of programming a machine to feel arousal, rambles about nature, and random shitposts. Please send me pictures of cute animals in your life!

If you wanna support my science career and my transition, consider dropping a tip here! PhD salaries are notorious for being negotiated to be exactly the cost of living…. And then forgotten about for years as inflation drops that below minimum wage. So I’m always a little strapped for cash. Anything helps!

Links to some of my tutorials and relevant resources under the cut:

I'm tracking my transition, and some people have said they found this helpful! This spreadsheet is generally updated monthly:

Usually, I write a little journal to go with it when it updates- you can find that under the #trans journal on my blog.

If you're interested in checking out some of the things I'm trying to write, here's a post with links to individual stories I'm making:

https://www.tumblr.com/catboybiologist/741010247774306304/writing-consolidation-post?source=share

My femboy guide, written well before I started HRT, but still has relevant info:

A "boyboob" tutorial, aka how to make it look like you have cleavage in an outfit that looks better with it:

A quick and dirty guide to taking better selfies, with a specific emphasis on people who may have stopped hating their body recently due to transition:

And here's a few of my personal favorite little rambles and posts about my transness, in no particular order:

CW for transphobia on this one:

A massive shoutout to @foldingfittedsheets for this amazing art of the lil borgir holding a trans flag:

I adore this so much <3 if you want to support their art, her commissions are open and really sweet!!!!

And of course, a massive shoutout to @whalesharkcat for this lovely pixel art of my tortoise:

I still love this so much, and will continue to into the future <3

For preHRT selfies, search the femboy tag. For post HRT selfies, use the "trans selfie" tag. I've been on HRT since August of 2023, so I'm still very early in the process! Day to day, I present male, but I plan to change that around the 1 year mark.

I guess that's about it! One final note is that I've been alluding to video/podcast style things for a while now. With my aderrall prescription, I've actually put in a lot of research work that might lead to 1-4 of those, so that might actually happen in the near future! No promises of course, life always catches up to you.

And if you liked my previous pinned post better, here it is:

Anyways, if you read this far, thanks for sticking around and bbyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

In Defense of Shinji/Rei

Out of all the pairings in the Evangelion fandom, Shinji/Rei is one of the most controversial and least popular, especially here on tumblr. It did have some popularity at one point but that has died down in favor of Kawoshin and Asurei. It’s a ship that I, and many others, feel is often mischaracterized and dismissed due to its more controversial elements but one that is honestly very emotional and deserves less hate in my opinion, as do it’s shippers who people also have a misguided view of. Fandom in general has become more moralistic and puritanical in recent years. It’s like no one learned a thing from the SU fandom discourse where people were bullied or called homophobic for liking a certain pairing over the other.

Argument 1: she’s his mother/sister

The most common criticism of the pairing is that it’s incest and that their relationship is that of a brother-sister or mother-son. First, Rei’s whole arc in the show is that she’s not just a clone or copy of Yui or Lilith. She’s her own person with her own desires which is why her loyalty to Gendo wanes as she becomes more of an individual. Her DNA also isn’t that similar to Shinji and only a small amount of Yui’s was used. The rest was affected by Lilith hence the differences in their appearance. So there is a little bit of blood relation but it’s not on the same level of say Bwen or Pinecest. Incest is terrible because it’s a betrayal of family trust and abuse but Shinji and Rei met as teens and were not raised as siblings, nor did he know of her origin until Ritsuko explained it.

I’ve also seen the argument that their bond is sibling-like or Shinji views her as a Madonna/mother figure. Anno has stated that he intended there to be a “love triangle” with the pilot trio and show’s proposal described Rei as having “learned about feelings when she fell in love”. While that info comes from Reddit and may not be reliable, it does challenge the idea that there was no intention for their dynamic to be romantic.

Next, antis really take that elevator scene out of context where Shinji was complimenting her on being like a mom while ignoring him telling her she’d make a good housewife. The rebuilds and manga make their connection more blatant but it was always there. Misato, Toji and Kensuke all tease Shinji about his crush and the two act as friends after warming up despite their icy first interactions. There may be some maternal aspects to it but it’s rather simplistic to dumb their bond down to a family connection. It seems antis argue that they’re siblings because the romantic implications are uncomfortable and antis don’t want to admit that they do have feelings for each other.

Argument 2: it’s misogynistic and queer erasure

Okay, this is a less common argument against it but one I’ve seen from popular Eva analysis writers that view Kawoshin as the only valid pairing for Shinji. I’ve seen it used against Asushin and Marishin too. This goes hand and hand with the idea that Shinji views Rei as a Madonna and is misogynistic. I have a lot of thoughts about the “Shinji is an incel misogynist and Asuka did nothing wrong” discourse but that’s for another day. He’s not a perfect uwu soft boy but fans seem to base his entire characterization off the hospital scene in rather single issue Eva analyses that cherry-pick certain scenes or dialogue.

The argument that it’s queer erasure is one I’m starting to despise. Yes, there are homophobic dudebro fans who hate Kawoshin but not everyone who prefers a “straight” pairing is anti gay. Shinji could still be bisexual and be in a m/f relationship. I’ve also seen some ship him in a polycule with Rei and Kaworu. Plus, not everyone has to interpret the show or character the same way. The writers made it so people can view Kawoshin as romantic and Shinji as queer, but never demanded that be the only possible interpretation.

This kind reminds me of something I’ve occasionally seen in the Ben 10 fandom too. A few fans, not all of them, treating the wholesome gay ship as the only good pairing because of the problematic elements in the m/f ships or because they view the male protagonist as a misogynist. The “male character is sexist or a bad boyfriend so let’s make him gay” is also a fandom trope that kind of irritates me. Not every ship has be gay or a girlboss romance either.

Argument 3: they’re kids and you can’t ship them

This is one of the least common criticisms but one that I’ve occasionally encountered. First, they’re 14 which is around the time a lot of teens start dating. Second, romance =/= sex and child/teen characters can have romantic feelings for each other. Yes, ship wars over fictional kids can escalate but there’s nothing wrong with just liking a pairing. This post about Chihiro and Haku’s bond from Spirited Away kind of applies here too.

My thoughts: why do I love this pairing?

I first fell in love with this ship because I watched the rebuilds first on Amazon Prime and didn’t know the series was on Netflix because my account, embarrassingly, still has parental controls on it. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea but I liked them. Shinji was a character I really connected to and so was Rei. Their relationship got me a bit emotional and the scene where Shinji attempts to save her had me on the edge of my seat, while the scene where Shinji accepts Rei Q got a tear out of me as did the apology scene in 3.0+1.0.

If I had to compare them to any other pairing, which I’ve done before, it would be Hodaka/Hina from Weathering with You which also is a bit divisive and a bit of a tearjerker. Ironically, EoE is one of Makoto Shinkai’s favorites and he considers Anno an inspiration. Everything from their bond to Hodaka’s character and Hina’s arc of a blue haired girl, blackish-blue in Hina’s case, that’s lived a difficult life and who’s only purpose is to be a sacrificial lamb, learning to pray for herself is a lot like Shinji/Rei, down the ending of WWY being a lot like that of 2.22. The scene where Hodaka gives Hina a promise ring is also a little like the “smile” moment from Episode 6/1.11.

Conclusion

In short, Shinji/Rei isn’t a bad pairing and is overhated and misrepresented by many in the fandom. It’s fine to dislike it or prefer another ship but one can do so without chomping at the bit to paint its shippers as homophobes, misogynists or people with incest fetishes or Oedipal complexes. Many of us like it because it’s one of the least toxic relationships in the series and is honestly a very powerful story. Are there some questionable elements in it? Sure, but you can like a ship even if it’s not up to golden moral standards and expecting every pairing to be unproblematic is ridiculous. Real life is much more grey than what moralistic fans claim.

[amiizuki]

(a 2 weeks late repost of my comment from this Reddit post, cause I forgor)

things RWBY "teaches":

if someone lies and hides info from you – beat them up, yell at them, and then proceed to later do the exact same thing they did to someone else. except this time consider whoever tries to call you out for lying evil

if, after you run away without explanation, one of your friends decides to follow you and try to help – slap them in the face repeatedly and berate them loudly

if a person, who previously helped you and your friends multiple times without expecting much in return, is on edge and looks like they're on the verge of a panic attack – scowl at them the whole time, like they murdered your family or something (add bonus scowling and start thinking of them as pure evil, if said person also starts to call you out for betraying and lying to him earlier)

when it comes to forgiving and offering redemption – only offer it if the person in question is female; if the person is male then continue villainizing them or kill them altogether

if your overly stressed sibling is having a meltdown in front of you – scowl at them, while protecting your date from said sibling, as if they were an insane lunatic ready to kill

if you see your friend/sibling commit sudoku, once again, in front of you – watch it happen, without even attempting to stop them, and then spend some time having a group hug with your friends, before remembering about your dead friend/sibling

bonus stuff, that were said by other people in that same comment thread:

also a somewhat long addendum to the 3rd point, because rewatching the Gravity scene, to grab screenshots of Yang's face, somehow made me angrier than it did the first time I saw it:

lemme fucking tell you, that Yang did not start to scowl at Ironwood after he called RWBY out for being lying hypocrites. her angry face, in fact, appeared the moment he started talking! sure, at first it looked more like a slightly confused scowl, but a scowl nonetheless. girl even had her hands in fists already, like c'mon (at least during the moment when Ruby realizes Cinder was the one who left the chess piece, Yang's hands aren't visible in earlier shots, so I can't tell if she had them like that the whole time or not)

so this potato sack looking cunt, who supposedly had PTSD and should supposedly know how it looks and feels like, saw this overly stressed man, who ALSO has PTSD, and who just got faced with an image reminding him of one of the most traumatic events in his life, starting to freak out about the safety of his people and kingdom, and, again, overall looking like he's about to have a full on panic attack, and her gigabrain idea was to fucking SCOWL the whole time he's talking. wowww Yang, what a nice and kind thing you're doing there! I can feel soooo much sympathy coming towards this distressed general, who you actively lied to with no remorse by the way, from your ugly ass scowl. this will definitely help to deescalate the situation and calm Ironwood down, and it definitely won't make him call you out for being a lying shithead and throw your desaturated blonde ass out of the window.

oh, but I guess Ironwood isn't a cute catgirl named Blake, so he doesn't deserve anything more than an angry look from Yang. makes sense, considering Ruby isn't a cute catgirl named Blake either, and so Yang constantly forgets that she exists, only remembering Ruby when it's time to scowl at her, call whatever she's planning dumb, or when it's time to go drink boba and go shopping with her, instead of spending that time planning on how to defeat Salem who has 2 or 3 relics.

[cleolinda]

The happenings, Tumblr edition

Obviously I am not happy about the prospect of Tumblr going into sunset "guess we'll just let it die" mode (or possibly "Let's sell it to fuck knows who!!"), if that is indeed what is happening. My clinical anxiety needs a lot of things. This is not one of them.

I've been using Tumblr as my primary hangout for pretty much exactly a year now. I am tired of watching platforms enshittify and crumble. Why does this keep happening to us. I am weary.

At the same time, yeah, Twitter is dogshit now, but a year after it got taken over, it is there still. There were some problems on Reddit, but it's thoroughly still there. There was time to figure out some migration for all the good it did.

I worked on essay-type posts and recaps all this year to figure out approximately how many spoons I have and how much I can expect to post a month, before I actually got the Patreon running in October. A solid 1-2 Long Posts a month, it seems like, and maybe more frequently if I do shorter posts. And Tumblr has great opportunities to just keep reblogging and sharing things, sometimes adding comments, so I feel like I'm active even when I'm stuck trying to finish a post of my own.

So now, fuck me, I guess

So I have the Patreon as a way to say, hey, I'm here no matter what else happens, sign up for the ~*free*~ weekend linkspam/check-in, here's what I posted wherever this week, I'll put up some early or extra stuff if you'd like to upgrade to a fancy tier someday. It is truly most important to me for people to just know where I am; you don't have to commit to the $1 or $5 tiers.

But I also want a way to post my writing publicly, so people can, you know, see it. So I'm gonna start mirroring my own longer posts on Dreamwidth, I guess. That's the place I know to go back to.

Hopefully Dreamwidth does not go also down in flames!!!!

I've started archiving some of my work (also from LJ and Twitter) as PDFs in Dropbox. Mostly as a safeguard for myself, but I'll make it a public link on the Patreon.

I would really like to keep up with where people are going, what sites people are going to try to migrate to next, and I'll pass that info on as I get it.

All that said, I think most of us will stay on Tumblr as long as we can, if only for the very unique shoot-the-shit culture it has. Like, people aren't leaving it so much as preparing for the future.

[lago-morpha]

It’s possible to diy ftm hrt???

yeah dude. you can do this all on your phone too though it is less secure to use tor on one. keep in mind it's not really the most anonymous thing to send people paypal money for crypto or use tor on your phone but the police could not give less of a shit about people buying steroids or drugs in general for personal use. if you're not selling or buying distribution amounts they doooon't care

all you have to do is download tor (google it and click the first result or use the play store)

go on tor.taxi and pick a market, open the market link in tor [I use incognito]

get a crypto wallet [I used cake wallet]

buy bitcoin/monero/whatever with a P2P market, basically crypto version of reddit marketplaces [I used localmonero and sent paypal money in exchange for monero, make sure to follow the directions the market gives you, like not sending any money unless it says it's ok, you can always cancel if you feel like you're getting scammed and make sure to pick someone with lots of reviews]

send the crypto into your wallet on the market, wait

look up testosterone and make sure that it is shipping DOMESTICALLY. don't bother with customs. keep in mind 10ml = ten doses, if you're like me and take 2[50]mg biweekly. it'll be twenty if you take it every week.

place order! just fill out your shipping info and pay lol

it's pretty simple, remember to log in and release the money once your package arrives! [go to your orders and click the button that says release funds]. the other person is waiting on their money and it's helpful to release it as soon as you get what you ordered.

I hope this helps anon

[codecicle]

ur one of the qsmp guys (in my mind at least) so i figured id ask u this but do u think itd be like achievable to like get into some of the qsmp stuff at this point. idk how crazy it got lore wise or how long it got but its always looked cool, issue was jrwi hyperfixation had me shackled. but its released its hold a little so i was just curious :3

Of course!!!! Fair warning that the QSMP is a HUGE project! So there's a lot of content to consume and understand. However, I think it's very very achievable if you'd like to try :-)

Starting off, QSMP actually planned for this to happen! They knew it was a huge project, so to help people get caught up they made a channel called "QSMP Info"

This exists to summarize the major lore/story beats of the island. It doesn't give you the full experience, but it definitely explains a good chunk of the plot ^_^

I'd also like to mention that the appeal of the QSMP was found in the various languages and constant streams. You could wake up to see the morning crew going live, then go from there to the usual daily streamers, then the evening group would log on, etc etc. There was always somebody live and having fun on the island with their friends :], so there's lots and lots of vods 2 sort through

I'd recommend picking a group of streamers from each and sticking with it. For me, I tried watching just one or two streamer(s) per language. Slimecicle, cellbit, baghera/etoiles, and roier/mariana were my mains! You don't have to stick with this (and I'm pretty sure this isn't the approach everyone went with), but it definitely helps it feel less overwhelming

Here's a good reddit post with tons of links and info:

Here's the major vods document:

Here's links to organized/in-order vods:

[ACT 1] [ACT 2] [ACT 3] [ACT 4] [ACT 4.5] [ACT 5]

I'd say pick the streamers that look the most interesting or appealing to you and just roll with it! (lmao) I'm obviously biased (my url is a qslime reference, and my special interest is his character + juanaflippa and codeflippa), but don't let me influence you on which POVs to settle on :-) everyone on that server was talented and funny as hell, and ABSOLUTELY worth a watch.

Welcome to the island!

[ly0nstea]

Some books and other resources in and about Irish

Roinnt leabhair agus achmhainn eile i agus faoi Ghaeilge

Honourable mentions to focloir and teanglann but you cant learn a language from a dictionary, its like trying to cook a meal from the menu. They're great for finding words as well as conjugating and altering words into the different cases.

GRAIMÉAR GAEILGE na mBRÁITHRE CRÍOSTAÍ le Liam A. Ó hAnluain: An irish grammar book, very comprehensive but it is written entirely in irish

Gramadach na Gaeilge: AN CAIGHDEÁN OIFIGIÚIL: The official grammar standard for Irish published by the Irish government, again written exclusively in irish.

Daltaí na Gaeilge: Some good lessons on irish grammer, proverbs, and other parts of language, also has info on classes in America, Canada, and other countries

Goodreads list of top rated irish language novels

TG4Player which has irish language tv and movies

You can also search youtube for irish language short films, and youtubers, youtubers would be a good way to pick up on everyday/conversational irish if you arent able to speak to people in real life, seeing as it wont be as formal as most online resources or films. You can also look for other media like tumblr, or tiktok, personally I love Úna-Minh on tiktok (she translated Among Us and got it officially implemented, and iirc she's written a biography in irish, and has even more irish resources than I could ever list, go check her out!! She also has a youtube, instagram and twitch account if you prefer those. She's definetly been an significant help to my turas as Gaeilge.

Easons and books.ie have good irish and irish language books, as well as being irish brands you can support (including dracula in irish for 10 euro + shipping???) Along with kennys.ie and litríocht

Also, writing irish is a great way to force yourself to learn, be it journalling, fiction, or just notes in irish. Talk to people online in irish too, social media posts, chatting in chatrooms, discords, reddit, etc., anythign to practice. That's the key to any language, consistent practice.

This is just a starter, feel free to add resources in rbs if you have any you feel are worth seeing!

Go raibh míle maith agat as léamh!!1

ALSO WATCH AIFRIC ITS FUCKING AMAZING YOU CAN FIND IT FREE ONLINE

[dionysianivy]

hey i hope this is okay to ask, i’m fairly new to paganism and am mostly just studying in my own time at the moment-

so i see people say things like ‘i asked *a deity* whether i should *do an action* and they responded with *eg: trust your gut*.

what do people mean they responded? how does it work, and how do you get a clear answer like that? it’s not like they can literally talk to you.

i really want to start seeking out deities to work with but i just find myself confused and unsure of how it actually works. i’m too embarrassed to ask this out of anonymous on here or reddit 😭

Hiii🕯🌻 Some people have different ways of connecting with deities, but I personally don’t believe you can actually hear them talk too. Or maybe that’s true for only some people but idk that to say. For me, when I have a question, I can feel the answer, or it immediately pops into my head without forcing it. And sometimes, I get no answer, which is totally fine. To communicate, you could also try guided meditations or tarot readings, where you might notice signs, symbols, etc. But mostly, you’ll feel it. Whether we like it or not, the first thought that crosses our mind is often the one being communicated (that's how it works for me) It’s happened to me a few times, I'd communicate with a deity and then see their symbol in unexpected places a few hours later, which I take it as a response. Some people also receive answers in dreams, though that hasn’t happened to me yet. The only time I experienced it was when I began working more intensely with Dionysus. I dreamed of Maenads, Dionysian symbols, and so on. So yeah, every experience is different, and you may feel it in your own way🍇

Also, when I speak with my deities and light a candle, I can feel their responses based on how the flame moves, how strong it is, and even its color. (experienced this a few days ago with Dionysus, Hestia and Hermes and it's so wholesome💓☁️)

Also, don’t be embarrassed about doing magickal things for the first time. It’s one of the most precious experiences. I honestly miss the time when I was new to paganism because everything felt so pure and fresh, but I’m also happy to evolve each day. There are lots of books, websites, and blogs where you can find useful info, and I’m always happy to answer if you have more questions. Plus, there are many pagans who post amazing content here on Tumblr. The only thing I’d say is to not rely on TikTok for information, it’s full of nonsense. Start by reading about the deity or deities you're interested in, and it’ll get easier from there. Be open and communicative! Good luck on your path 🌱 🤗

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

am I the asshole for backing out of dm-ing for a campaign?

🤖⚡ <- so I can find it later

characters in story (fake names)

me (17m)

cory (19x)

sara (19f)

gray (21x)

I was recently invited to a DND campaign by some people I'm friends/acquaintances with on discord.

For some context, this campaign would be mostly played by first-timers, had a little under ten people, and was mostly comprised of adults. It's a cyberpunk universe extremely different from the standard dnd story, with expansive lore and worldbuilding.

Cory, a friend-of-a-friend suggested I join as I'm a creative and they were interested in seeing me participate. Shortly after I joined they expressed a want for a DM, which I offered to be. I've DM'ed twice before, but only for small groups with standard stories. I assumed that's what this would be, then I was pinged with around 10 multi page google docs, reddit posts, etc. And then around five more people joined.

I invited my friend Gray who has more experience in DND than anyone there, and they joined. Gray doesn't know the group besides Sara briefly, but was happy to participate since they liked the plot synopsis I sent them.

Gray was routinely ignored by everyone except me whenever they talked, and were often railroaded by Cory during character creation anytime they were given the time of day.

I messaged Gray apologizing for it after it happened twice, explained I wasn't close with most of them, etc. Gray was sympathetic and agreed to stay since they had faith in me DMing and the story.

Today I woke up to multiple cases of Gray being ignored. In another server I told Gray I was unsure of my DMing skills, which they understood and suggested I drop out if needbe. I agreed with this. I planned to do it in a day or two,

But this evening I was pinged by Cory suggesting we start the campaign in a week, which is something I absolutely cannot do.

I put my foot down and explained that as a junior in highschool I don't have the time or energy to read thousands of words, write a plot for a couple sessions, and organize the maps for the sessions. I apologized for promising to DM, then dropping out.

Cory was understanding, but Sara, a close friend who knows me a lot more, began saying things like "We need to find someone to DM or all hope is lost" (I am paraphrasing) which caught me off guard. I asked if I could still remain in the server since I really enjoyed the plot and Cory said "If people are okay with it."

I'm honestly pretty hurt by that. To think these people were only going to allow my company if I managed the entire thing is pretty hurtful, but then again I did volunteer. The entire campaign was Cory's idea, so I'm still pretty taken aback they were expecting someone else to DM period. Gray has suggested they and I do a campaign independently which I'd love, but I still feel like I failed Gray and Sara by not delivering the dungeon master I promised.

TLDR, I offered to DM for a group I'm not very close with before realizing it was more than I could handle, and dropped out without much notice.

AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[toutvatoujoursbien]

Do you ever feel like this is a little too much of an echo chamber of people feeding each other crazy ideas so much that it becomes truth? I am floored by the N/L chemistry and would love them together if that’s what they want but they have never said that and it is feeling weird. Sometimes I feel gaslighted! I read something on Reddit about fandoms in general following this same pattern and I wonder if I have turned into a tin-hatter myself by shipping them (first time I have ever followed celebs like this). I hope this doesn’t get me blocked. I am feeling a little uneasy lately (I really lead a very normal life with plenty of friends and family and I “touch grass”) but just wondering if I am alone.

Anon, thank you for being brave and sending this ask. I know the past 24-ish hours have been absolutely insane in the fandom and I can understand that if anyone has a different opinion, they might be hesitant to share it (and I'm talking about BOTH sides of this "argument" right now - I know people are feeling riled up right now but everyone, please take some deep breaths). I want to make sure I'm answering your ask with thoughtfulness and sincerity, so here goes:

(Also, I started answering this ask at around 11 am EDT, so before some bombs started being revealed, IYKYK. So apologies, my brain is all over the place rn.)

I think it's totally possible to enter an "echo chamber" when it comes to fandoms and shipping. I will use myself as an example with how I was getting a lot of my info when I started in this fandom at the beginning of the year. I was really only on Twitter (cringe, I know...) and because I was interacting with one specific portion of the fandom, I had a skewed view of the whole situation. You are what your algorithm gives you on social media/what you teach it 😅 And even though I don't necessarily enjoy seeing certain things on my feed or timeline, at least for me here on Tumblr, it feels mostly less toxic.

I also think it's really understandable to feel gaslighted about the entire press tour and N/L's relationship. We watched dozens and dozens of interviews, behind-the-scenes and promos and I don't think it's a coincidence that so many in the general audience started to question whether or not they were dating. Like I keep saying, the chemistry is fucking off the charts between them. (Edit to add: I also don't think so many would have stumbled head over feet into this ship if it also wasn't for the deep and long-term friendship between them. I know that's what drew me in, for sure. There is HISTORY there.)

IMO, as much as we joke about our delulu and whatnot, I feel like as long as you're respectful and keep it to the appropriate corners of the internet, I don't think you've turned into a tin-hatter. The problem is when folks take it to their pages and/or feel entitled to individuals behaving a certain way, like an expectation is the given. Another issue I see is when projection starts to overtake para-social relationships. Lastly, I also want to emphasize that fandom/shipping is supposed to be fun and if you aren't feeling it anymore, then it's perfectly okay to take a break or move on.

Your feelings of unease are totally legitimate and you're allowed to sit in your thoughts and take time to process them!

For me personally, I'm taking the latest "photographic evidence" with grains of salt. I'm just not sure I believe a narrative other than N and JD are in the same friend group - a friend group who all attended the same festival for the most part. I'm also not sure what I think about these photos being dropped a week afterwards; the timing of all the various events over the past week is enough to raise my eyebrows, for sure.

I will also say - and this is probably an unpopular opinion - but if this rumored relationship turns out to be completely true - I will have the same issues about a power imbalance between N and JD because of their age, life experience, etc. I just have a hard time believing N, a woman near my age, would ever consider dating someone so young (and yep, aware that this is projection on my part). I just can't help but wonder that Nicola, someone we've witnessed be very private about her dating life over the last several years, has been so openly "caught" with JD without it raising my suspicions. It's at least enough to make me pause and question it all, you know? I won't get too deep into my conspiracy theories (maybe for a later post).

Anyway, I'm not sure if this has made you feel better, Anon. But I want you to know that you aren't alone. I'm always here to listen if you have any further asks 💕

[beastren]

I was told that you had some info/lore on Ser Beren in relation to the escort destination, but also the hot springs? Sorry if it's vague but I love Beren so any info/observations/theories on him is good info haha

YES okay, this is gonna be a bit long! To start off, I'm assuming you're familiar with this post by u/afro_eden, and some of their other recent posts, talking about the last emperor of Battahl and them doing inquiries into mysterious ore (potentially glimmercoal) that used to fuel ancient Battahli civilization ~2000 years ago. SO!!

Based on the journals of prisoner Bekresos, there are 2 things that'll factor into a revelation regarding Beren: 1- people attempted to spread the truth about the Lambent Flame not being quite what it had been presented as under emperor Faleri, likely even longer. And 2- that this happened at least 16+ years ago... It seems Faleri was likely corrupt in general, so that + any whispers of doubt towards the Lambent Flame, I can only imagine there'd be Battahli people who'd become a little disillusioned, potentially even choosing to leave for Vermund, hint hint.... Beren would've been around for Faleri's rule for sure....

NOW for the actual bits about Beren!! At the hot springs, he gave me some very interesting idle dialogue....

WOW!!!! I think he can say this during other points, I believe since then I've seen him say it when he returns to his childhood home, BUT!! I'd been pondering this dialogue April and what it could possibly mean, and seeing that reddit post made me have a huge aha moment!! Later the same day, I just happened to do his escort quest....

As mentioned in the reddit post, there are stone monuments denoting places Faleri had sent Bekresos and his team to excavate/research. What I feel they didn't mention, however, is that all of these monuments point directly to caves. Literally pointing, with the pickaxes depicted on them lol. Some are however, placed a little further down the road, as if to section it off and permit entry. (This one is the most obvious, pointing straight at Dimdark Cave, Enoa'Battahl Cavern is another one that has a monument slightly up the road from it.)

I always wondered why Beren requested to go to a cave.... It didn't make total sense to me. But lo and behold.... ONE OF THE MONUMENTS!! Just a little ways away, pointing up the path to Beren's destination! This lead me to the conclusion that a younger Beren must've heard the rumors and began to doubt his faith in the Lambent Flame, perhaps only subconsciously, thus his comment about not being quite sure about how his faith waned. As if the rumors just unsettled him over time? Maybe moving back to Battahl reignited his questioning and made him desire to seek out answers for himself, going straight to one of the dig sites.

I also wonder if him growing Moonglow has something at all to do with this.... It's a very mysterious thing in it's own right!! Maybe it has something to do with glimmercoal as a fertilizer (i have a pet theory that glimmercoal could BE parts of the moon), or maybe it's just a little easter egg that Beren's "in the know". But yes!! That's everything I think, and I hope this makes sense!!