#keep skin younger

[thevirgodoll]

to all of my dolls finding themselves:

originality is the "aesthetic" you are looking for. individuality is the "it factor" you are looking for. from your personality, pieces, hair, cadence of voice...even down to your favorite foods or special interests. you aren't supposed to change every aspect about yourself to be more palatable for everyone you meet. that actually makes you BORING!!!

"but so and so is doing this" "but what if people don't like it" ... so??? don't take people disliking your aesthetic as a sign that you need to do something different. like, of course they don't like it or have second thoughts - it's because THEY wouldn't do it themselves because it wouldn't go with THEIR given aesthetic. HELLOO??????

unless they are like minded, stop asking other people to weigh in on the things you CLEARLY like about yourself. especially if it's a core personality trait or interest. your LIFE isn't a group project. your LIFE is not a co-op game.

and yes... people will try to force you to assimilate and follow the crowd by speaking misfortune on your rebrand, your expression, your hobbies, your chosen path out of jealousy. however, that jealousy is lowkey unspoken respect for the fact you have the candor to go against homogeneity.

your authentic dedication to everything that makes you YOU is what will bring you the illustrious life you so fervently seek in the end...not some book a celebrity wrote or a youtube video. it's in YOUR DNA to be a star already in anything you want to do.

there isn't one tutorial on this world wide web that will help you if you don't realize you have the components within you first. there is NOTHING wrong with you!!! you are EVERYTHING that is right already!!!

NEVER conform to the way they think you should shine.

[elvenbeard]

You're my World

Doesn't matter where we are as long as we're together.

New Pride Flags Makeup (AXL Edition) by @pinkyjulien 💛

[everysongineverykey]

and for my next trick i present... my Grand Tv People Freakout Extravaganza!!! *falls to the floor weeping violently*

[ask-elland-n-will]

[A Ravenclaw student walks past Elland and whistles at the sight of him.]

"Boy, you look as fine as a Sugar Quill. I would wouldn't mind giving a lick."

"I— Excuse me?" Elland questions, unsure if he heard it right. This sounds suspiciously like something from Will's romance books. Elland quickly composes himself and even gives a polite hint of a smile back. There's no good reason to engage in this conversation when he has homework to do.

[cherrysnax]

oh chara dreemurr, we’re really in it now

[jiubilant]

when i was still in the process of solidifying this particular cast i conceived of my older characters (ravi, lasa, laf, aina, duls, kur) as being a lot younger than they are now...couldn't stick with it though. i have the most fun writing people who have a lot to look back on

[freebooter4ever]

Hey thanks I thought I was the only one who didn’t like the joke. Everyone laughed yuck

Ahhhhh yeah :/ i thought the joke was definitely funny, but with that harsh twinge of sadness at just how normalized and accepted this sort of sexism STILL is.

' i was never good at telling jokes but the punchline goes, i get older but your lovers stay my age '

And its not necessarily a damnation of the man himself - obviously rami is a favorite of mine but i dont think hes ever dated anyone over 30 and is veering towards jake and leo disease too, and i still think rami is one of the most brilliant character narrative builders in the business currently - but its a damnation of a culture that treats romantic partners not as equals but as disposable play things with an expiration date. Look, i got flirted with by much older guys in pittsburgh all the time - usually it was cute, they were friendly, very complimentary and flattering about it, and they never treated it seriously or asked me out. Then i came to LA and the difference was night and day. Older (rich) men here feel entitled to younger women in a way that is frankly scary - at one point in a bar when a guy in his 60s was hitting on me my muscular male friend had to physically step between us and scare the guy off to get him to go away.

And it doesn't help that im sort of in the 'one of the guys' category, so i've heard the way these super rich dudes talk about the models they date behind their back while hanging with 'the guys', and, ugh, its not nice. I will say one thing for sports dudes - i imagine guys like ja*gr have way more respect for young women who are passionate about health and fitness than computer science executives.

But there's negatives in the sports world too - yall know how much i adore taylor. But even i recognize that she's not 'sports bro hot' - she doesn't have silicone, her make up is understated, she doesn't have that social media defined 'hotness' that sports fan dudes expect their sports heroes to date. So while i was naively scrolling insta looking for cute snapshots of taylor and travis being all lovey dovey at the end of the game, a good half the comments were men complaining about her. Saying they cant understand why travis is dating someone so old, that she will never be able to give him kids, that she's already showing her age (both of them are 34 btw). So far travis seems to ignore these types of comments but it would be hard to judge him for giving into peer pressure because this stuff is just so prevelant and exhausting.

And it does effect us older women - while i was dating Pilot Boy i was absolutely hyper aware of the fact that here is this rich, handsome, successful, and extremely smart guy dating beneath him. Like we bonded over being literally the same age - we had mutual friends in college without even knowing it. But i was always questioning like what does this guy see in me - why isn't he dating a gorgeous 25 year old whose only goal in life is to live on the beach with him??? Like he was honestly more the type of dude i would be friends with while he dates hotter women, lol. So i really was not surprised when he ended things (i was mostly sad that we couldnt stay friends and continue geeking out on airplanes and history together LOL), it just felt like it made sense, of course he wouldn't be serious about me, a guy like him should be dating a fresh, youthful, less bitter and cynical 25 yr old blonde. Six years in LA and this is just the pattern i see repeating itself over and over.

And im the romantic - when i fall in love its ALL in. Usually it's personality, usually its intellectual - that comfort in finding someone who just understands how you think. I love being so close to someone that you know them better than yourself, that you can communicate wordlessly. Shared humor, shared experience. As i age im learning that i actually dont pay much attention to the signs of aging when it comes to attraction - who notices wrinkles when what you're in love with is that look in their eye when they smile at you? The mental connection between romantic partners is the most important for me in my book. For me this typically means someone within the ten year range plus or minus - though i prefer it even within a five year age gap.

[dredshirtroberts]

feeling a lot more stable about everything, i decided to forego keeping a bandaid on because my fucking skin cannot take the adhesives for that long omg itches so bad around them

I have a plan in place to replace the bandaids should i require not needing to see my elbow again about it, but i also wanted to see for myself how bad it was.

BOY HOWDY do I bruise purty. That shit is dark where it's not already going greenyellow. looks like I put a sharpie in a chokehold and barely managed to wrangle it into submission like damn.

[laureldogbreath]

Can somebody just fucking hold me please

[scientia-rex]

A lot of younger people have no idea what aging actually looks and feels like, and the reasons behind it. That ignorance is so dangerous. If you don’t want to “be old,” you aren’t talking about a number of years. I have patients in their late 80s who could still handily beat me in a race—one couple still runs marathons together, in their late 80s—and I lost someone who was in her early 60s to COPD last year. What you want is not youth, it is health.

If you want to still be able to enjoy doing things in your 60s and 70s and 80s and even 90s, what you want to do, right now, is quit smoking, get some activity on a regular basis (a couple of walks a week is WAY better for you than nothing; increasing from 1 hour a day of cardio to 1.5 will buy you very little), and eat some plants. That’s it. No magic to it. No secret weird tricks. Don’t poison yourself, move around so your body doesn’t forget how, and eat plants.

If you have trouble moving around now because of mobility limitations, bad news: you still need to move around, not because it’s immoral not to, but because that’s still the best advice we have. I highly recommend looking up the Sit and Be Fit series; it is freely available and has exercises that can be done in a chair, which are suitable for people with limited mobility or poor balance. POTS sufferers, I’m looking at you.

If you have trouble eating plants because of dietary issues (they cause gas, etc.) or just because they’re bitter (super taster with texture issues here!), bad news. You still want to find a way to get some plants into your body on a regular basis. I know. It sucks. The only way I can do it is restaurants—they can make salads taste like food. I can also tolerate some bagged salads. On bad weeks, the OCD with contamination focus gets so bad I just can’t. However, canned beans always seem “safe,” and they taste a bit like candy, so they’re a good fallback.

If you smoke and you have tried quitting a million times and you’re just not ready to, bad news. You still need to quit. Your body needs you to try and keep trying. Your brain needs it, too. Damaging small blood vessels racks up cumulative damage over time that your body can start trying to reverse as soon as you quit. I know it’s insanely, absurdly addictive. You still need to.

You cannot rules lawyer your way past your body’s basic needs. It needs food, sleep, activity, and the absence of poison. Those are both small things and big asks. You cannot sustain a routine based on punishment, so don’t punish your body. Find ways to include these things that are enjoyable and rewarding instead. Experiment. There is no reason not to experiment—you don’t have to know instantly what’s going to work for you and what won’t, you just need to be willing to try things and make changes when things aren’t working for you.

You will still age. Your body will stop making collagen and elastin. Tissues you can see and tissues you can’t see will both sag. Cushioning tissues under your skin will get thinner. You’ll bruise more easily. Skin will tear more easily. Accumulated sun damage will start to show more and more. Joints will begin to show arthritis. Tendons and ligaments will get weaker and get injured more easily, as will muscles. Bones will lose mass and get easier to break. You’ll get tired more easily.

But you know what makes the difference between being dead, or as good as, in your 60s vs your 90s? Activity, plants, and quitting smoking. And don’t do meth. Saw a 58-year-old guy this week who is going to have a heart attack if he doesn’t quit whatever stimulant he’s on. I pretended to believe it was just the cigarettes, and maybe it is, but meth and cocaine will kill you quicker. Stop poisoning yourself.

Baby steps; take it one step at a time; you don’t need to have everything figured out right now. But you do need to be working on figuring things out.

[irritablepoe]

I'm a joke. Just ridiculous. A laughing stock.

[viscer-aa]

I keep thinking it should’ve been me who died. Idk.

[dutyworn]

@anderwhohn said: "anyone touches you, says anything to you, so much as looks at you the wrong way- you come get me, and i'll set them straight. understand?" (from Cmdr Izzy, younger Wren AU)

“i’ll keep you safe” prompts    /    ACCEPTING ↷

Wren peers at her older sibling, the bright lights of the bustling wards hitting her eyes.    ❝ I  can take care of myself,  Izzy. ❞

She’s 18, now, not a kid, and she’s headed for bootcamp in a few days, thus their little vacation on the Citadel. Wren has never been anywhere so multicultural before, and she’s itching to go running around just to meet people. Yeah, yeah, it can be dangerous in the lower wards, but it’s not like they can afford to stroll around the Presidium, and Wren would rather be where the real action happens, anyway. She was on the streets in Los Angeles when she was only ten, she can handle herself here, as well.

❝ Besides, ❞    she teases, with a grin, her favourite activity every since she had her growth spurt,    ❝ I’m taller than you, anyway, so, technically, I look older, so, technically, maybe I’m the one who’s gonna set them straight on your behalf. ❞    Nevermind that Izzy has 1) military training and 2) biotic abilities, and Wren doesn’t have either... yet.

[turtletoria]

(PRE-ORDER) FUNDRAISER STICKERS FOR GAZA!!

Pre-order will end on December 11, 2024 so get them while they're hot!!

GET STICKERS HERE!!!

100% of funds will be donated to families in Gaza! Check out their fundraisers below, and please consider supporting them!!

Ameera's family: They currently live in North Gaza that has been experiencing dire Israeli-made starvation. Her young kids, youngest of which is 2 years old. She has spoken to me about how she hasn't been able to find anything for her kids to eat, like milk for her baby, and getting funds would really help her afford to feed her family.

Ahmed's and Dina's family: A family with 3 kids and one newborn. Urgently needs funds for medical treatment and essential goods. With winter approaching, these funds become crucial for affording winter clothes.

Rawan's family: $8k urgently needed to help take care of her mother, who needs treatment for a tumor. The funds will also be going to support her family as they await the crossing to open for evacuation.

Alaa's family: She is trying to care for her two very young kids, the younger of which has a skin infection that needs to be treated. She is facing constant bombardment and needs help.

Aya's family: She is helping to take care of 19 family members, including 9 children.

Walid's family: Walid is 3 and has two sisters, Layan (2) and Toleen (6). He is disabled and needs treatment.

Rawan and Yemna's family: two sisters and their father who need access to essential goods to live.

All of these campaigns are equally urgent and I can understand the difficulty in choosing one to donate to, especially if you don't have much to spare.

But it's better to choose one than to let indecision keep you from choosing any.

Also, your one donation won't solve everything (unless you're a millionaire and can spare tens of thousands at a time LOL) so, and I say this in the nicest and most gentle way possible, get over yourself! Pitch in whatever you can spare like the thousands and thousands of people donating to these fundraisers every day, and acknowledge that you can't save the world BY YOURSELF - but with many others acting with you, you can make a difference!

As always, free Palestine and all oppressed peoples of the world!

[gashinamoon]

3 different people today in completely different places told me they think i’m around 22/23 but i actually turn 29 in just over a week. i’m THIRTY next year. it’s good to know i still got itttttt 🧘🏻‍♀️

[appsa]

URGENT: SLOWING FUNDRAISER!

Recently in an update, Siraj ( @siraj2024 ) has talked of the dearth of space in Gaza. He has described how the occupation has caged Gazans into a narrow strip of land; there is no humanitarian zone that has not been bombed or invaded. Deir al balah was considered one of the last safe zones in gaza- and now that illusion has been destroyed too.

Just a few days ago, Siraj had told us that the violence of the IOF had been only a street away from where he and his family were encamped, and that his extended family were displaced in the aftermath.

It is a claustrophobic, uncertain existence many of us will likely never have to experience.

I will try to keep this as brief as possible. Since Siraj's parents and siblings got displaced and have now become fully dependent on Siraj for funds, his family has been seeing some dire circumstances.

First of all, I need you to understand the kind of pressure Siraj is under right now:

His own family which consists of 5 members

His father’s family also of 5 members

His younger brother’s family of 3

His older sister’s family of 6- she is a doting mother to four children

His younger sister and her own family of 4.

I need you to understand that there are 23 people in total for whom Siraj is the sole provider for at the moment.

Currently all 23 members of Siraj's family forced to share two tents. While the funds did go into procuring a second tent, there is STILL not nearly enough space. The women are suffering from a lack of privacy, and it is dangerous for the children as epidemics are spreading in the camp- Amir, Siraj’s son is already suffering from a severe skin infection. Living in such close quarters with no option of quarantine only puts everyone else (including all Amir's cousins) at risk of infection, at a time where they quite literally cannot afford it with the way medical infrastructure in Gaza is in shambles atm.

With your help, Siraj has successfully raised 50K, but the fundraiser is slowing once again.

Currently Siraj is at 50.8k / 82k

To help his family, He needs to raise 55K by monday i.e the next 2 DAYS.

Vetted and appears #219 on @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi's list of vetted fundraisers

If you need further incentive to donate:

Art raffle - 24th aug is the last day of the raffle so PLEASE participate!!!

Enamel pin raffle

People offering digital commissions here and here

In case you wish to donate to his gfm with paypal, or are having any trouble donating in general, PLEASE DM @malcriada who is a trusted friend of siraj and will make sure to donate to the fundraiser on your behalf and send you proof of donation.

Please share and donate anything you can spare!

Siraj has a heavy burden on his shoulders at the moment, the least we can do is try to ease it as much as we can.