#one day ill learn how to use this website

[bf-rally]

okay finally colored this!

idk what the sites color theme will be, so the colors will most definitely change but for now we have a logo (ft. my oc A)

[tiniestkitty]

―୨୧⋆ ˚ tips for regressors struggling with depression and anxiety 🌧️

🧸 one thing that has helped me tremendously has been starting a therapy / mental health journal. you can find prompts online, or even come up with your own ! I find tracking my triggers (what makes me feel upset or anxious), reflecting on how I handled my day, writing my thoughts, and what I'd like to bring up in my next therapy session helps me feel a lot better. ૮ ◞ ﻌ ◟ ა

-- you can take time to learn about your brain and how it makes choices; for example, learning about and researching your trauma responses, mental illnesses and how to ground yourself during panic attacks. sometimes our brain can make us feel or think things that we can't control, so its important to differentiate between what we are telling ourselves and what our brain is telling us.

🫧 be kind to yourself and take time to rest if you need to. Indulge in things you like and find calming activities to do after a hard day such as coloring, doing a fun craft, playing a video game or using play therapy.

🧸 distance yourself from relationships or people that make you feel uncomfortable or are harmful to your mental health. its not mean to say you need space. you can still be friends and have established boundaries, and if someone dose not respect those boundaries its okay to distance yourself from them or take a break from talking to them until you start to feel better and are more capable of saying how important those boundaries are.

🫧 make sticker charts and schedules ! I have one for brushing my teeth. I also use a fun app on my phone called Pokémon Smile that reminds me to brush and sets a timer. ૮₍ ˃ ᵕ ˂ ₎ა

🧸 find little things to look forward to, like a new movie coming out, a birthday or a Holliday you love. sometimes I order little gifts for myself in the mail after doing a big task or getting trough a hard day hehe ! ૮ ◞ ﻌ ◟ ა

🫧 clean your space, and maybe even redecorate a little to give yourself a fresh start 🤍

🧸 find ways to "work around" overwhelming tasks like running errands or going to the doctor by bringing a comfort item or stuffed animal with you. you could keep them in your bag if you are too shy to hold them, but from my experience, no one seems to mind hehe. /lh I also like to pack fidget toys to hold when I get anxious.

note: I'm not a medical professional and I'm just speaking from my experience as someone with generalized anxiety disorder and severe depression. not everything listed here might work for you, but I hope you found this helpful. 💕 /lh

˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚ extra recourses 🌧️

how to use agere for self care - YouTube

hotline numbers for emergencies - tumbr

inner child healing journal prompts - Silk + Sonder website ( no adds )

[fortunelowtier]

I was gonna reblog my original post but I didn't wanna spam people with a long ass post (this post is already long enough) so instead I'll just link the previous post here and if yall wanna go look at it you can, but the short version is that a few days ago I made a post talking about HBs incredibly high turnover rate, and apparently within a few days it got enough traction to where it started spreading to the higher-ups of Spindlehorse, including Viv herself. I decided to make this update post just as a way to debunk what I can and as clearly as I can. 

First tweet:

So for starters, they say this as if IMDB's numbers aren't publically available, it's not like I pulled these numbers out of my ass without merit, these are numbers I got off of IMDB. And I know some people might pull the high school English teacher card of “Anyone can edit that!!” and to be honest I dont feel like going into the semantics of one of the most non-arguments you can possibly use so all I’ll say is that the process of editing a Wikipedia or IMDB page is not as easy as your English teachers taught you to think it is. Sure you can edit it but it's another story if the edit will be saved. There's moderation, it's not a free-for-all.

Also, I find it interesting how this tweet was made (and subsequently deleted) mere days after their promotion to Animation Director, and if there's anything I've learned from Spindlehorse controversies it is that if someone is in any real position at the top of the companies proverbial food chain they shouldn't be allowed to speak for the experiences of employees lower on the ladder than them, especially when a lot of them seem to have a habit of denying certain claims despite the public availability of numerous pieces of evidence pointing toward the contrary

It's like if you visited a bunch of former employees of a restaurant with a high turnover rate with proof that they had worked there and for exactly how long they worked there and then the manager comes along and tries to basically say “NUH UH” despite information proving the contrary being publicly available (maybe not the best analogy but you get what I mean)

—

Ok now onto the second one by Viv herself:

There’s a lot to dissect here so I’m gonna break it down bit by bit.

Firstly:

"They’re listing every single credited person in EVERY art department"

So the way I got my numbers was by going to the Series Animation Department section of HB's IMDB, highlighting every name from the beginning of the section to the end, and then pasting them into this website which gave me the line count of 444. Was that the most optimal way of doing so? No, especially after I learned after the fact that there's a way to just see the numbers straight up, but that hardly matters considering the fact that there are allegedly more people in the animation dept who were uncredited, however, I'm still waiting on some more info from my source as to the validity and the scale of these claims (How many people were uncredited, how little were they paid for their work, etc etc) to make a proper post about it, so until then ill just leave it at that as to not make accusations without merit.

So, humoring Viv, I added up the total IMDB credits for the Art Dept and Visual Effects Dept, as well as the Sound Dept since I qualify sound as a form of art and because I wanted to give Viv as fair a chance as possible and actually tally the total credits of “every art department” as Viv claims I did, and it still only equals 155 total credits, a little over a third of the credits in the Animation Dept

Secondly:

“That includes the TC and Chaos credits”

So these are in reference to Toon City and Chaos Emporium, 2 companies known as a source for outsourcing animation, and just to humor Viv I decided to go onto IMDB and tally up all of the Chaos and TC credits since according to her that's where I got most of my final number.

After doing so, Chaos Emporium had a total of 15 credits, and Toon City had a total of 45

So Viv is making it seem like the TC and CE credits make up a large majority of them, which is why I got the number I did, when in reality when combined they only equal 60 credits. 14% of the total (technically it’s 13.5% but I’m rounding to the nearest whole for the sake of convenience)

Thirdly:

“We dont even have 400 people. Simply Misinformation.”

You’re right Viv, you dont have 400 people, because I never said you did, nor did I imply you did. I said you've had 400. Of course you dont have 400 current employees, your company burns through them like paper because you underpay them while you go burning your Amazon and merch money on cruises and vacations and continuously post photos of you buying from zionist companies knowing full well that they're part of an active boycott.

—

So yeah, that's my 2 cents. Sorry if this sounded like some shit you'd see on a Twitlonger but after Viv was made aware of the posts I made about the turnover rate (and subsequently blocked me within the hour after seeing it) I knew that it wasn't gonna be long before I had people DMing me about how wrong I was because “Viv said it was wrong so it must be wrong”. 

One more thing I wanna add because I've gotten a lot of angry messages/asks about this, a lot of Viv stans seem to think I have this bizarre hate boner for Viv when I really don’t. I don’t hate Viv, I hate what she’s become. I hate how ever since the HH pilot she’s become a bully who can’t take criticism. And not just on the surface level of “criticism makes her upset”, because yea no shit, criticism makes everyone upset at least a little, and it's why I hate it when people see someone being upset at criticism and going “ERMM, CANT TAKE CRITICISM?”

When I say “Viv can’t take criticism” I mean she actively tries to shut down any convo about it without trying to learn from it. She blocks anyone who talks poorly about her or her company and makes baseless claims knowing full well her fans will follow her to the ends of Hell regardless of whether or not what she’s saying is even correct.

That’s all I got for now

[belades]

Thank you for your long post on Switch 2 prices. It does suck that things are more expensive and I totally get why people are having a knee jerk reaction to it, but there are so many external factors demanding a more nuanced take than "Nintendo just greedy."

Exactly, and part of what bugs me is even "Small" bits of misinfo like a $10 difference can make it that much worse. Hell I'm not happy at the price increase.

But like, yesterday MoistKr1tikal(AKA penguinz0 AKA Charlie) put out a video titled "Nintendo is the greediest company ever" and like

It is literally NOTHING but misinformation, with zero fact checking, and barely any acknowledgement that those are anecdotal reports, and it was posted I believe WHILE the real information was available. And that's, well that's frankly really frustrating because in that video he HIMSELF says he thinks while it's upsetting, the console's price is understandable, and that while it's upsetting, he himself thinks $80 games would be fair, even if it's tough to stomach...... And then goes on to go "But charging $90 for every game and you don't even own it, it's not physical, it's just a download code, is reprehensible"

And literally none of that's true but that video has over 5 million views now and for many people that is their first impression of this.

And the difference is "small" enough that frankly, even when corrected, their opinion's likely to remain very different than it would be if they learned about, you know, the actual price and situation.

And it's extra frustrating because while it's probably ill advised, this is a guy who a fair amount of people get news from, and to my understanding despite how casual he is, he has a reputation for fact checking and people trust him. There are STILL people finding out about this from that and he hasn't made an "oops, I made a fucky wucky, literally none of what I said was true" followup.

You have journalists interviewing retailers about nonexistent price differences (Albeit this is about the European version of said games, for all I know there IS a price difference between physical and digital there for Some Fucking Reason.)

I've looked on multiple websites that claimed that switch games have a price difference between physical and digital or that they top out at $90 and not a single one has issued a retraction and it's just.... It's frustrating and baffling.

I've also seen people go "Nintendo knew people would hate the prices so they didn't include them in the direct" and like..... No? I can't guarantee that had no part in it, but it takes two seconds to figure that out as well. Nintendo kind of infamously bases their base prices for games and systems outside of Japan on USD, I say infamous because it fucks over a lot of consumers in other countries.

And the US has very publicly been on the verge of massive blanket tariffs. Meaning that tariffs could change the potential price of the Switch 2 between the time of the recording and the time the direct aired, or even shortly AFTER the Direct aired. And if Nintendo brought this up in the Direct, lunatics would probably take it as a "political stance", and other people would just be kinda stressed by the reminder of that shit, plus it'd potentially change the length of/amount of content in the direct across different regions.

And one can further infer this from the fact that, according to a video I watched last night from former Nintendo Treehouse employees, at a recent press event (possibly the same day?) Nintendo explicitly said they won't answer any questions about the price "or politics." And the only political question people would ask them would be tariffs.

And then, lo and behold, that very same day, Trump announces unprecedented 10-20% blanket tariffs against every country on earth with the conspicuous exception of Russia, and the conspicuous INCLUSION of multiple landmasses with literally zero human population, listed as if they were countries.

And, well, remember on my post where I said that the Switch OLED costs $350, the increased prices of the dock and joycons (both due to pretty notable manufacturing differences that would absolutely raise the price even just for materials) is $50, and that's $400 right there? Again, the "basic" minimum tariff that was announced that day was about 10% (yes this link is almost pure propaganda but it is an official statement by the US government reading "alright fuckos, 10% tariffs for everybody"), and 10% of $400 is $40 and oh look, there's $440 (technically $446, the dock's MSRP is actually $106. Also there is, in fact, risk of the retail price being HIGHER because most Switches are currently manufactured in Vietnam which has blanket tariffs of nearly 50% what the fuck. Tariffs aimed toward Japan are about 20% if you're curious, )

This is excluding some price weirdness with how the switch 2 is rolling out in Japan (there's two versions, and the US is only getting the Latter, better one) along with the price difference between Switch OLED already being weird between Japan and the US, although I wouldn't be surprised if expected tariffs are the whole reason Japan's even doing that. Shoot, my hyperfocus and need to be thorough crept in again. Oh well, I suppose this covers some notable information I haven't seen anybody else talk about?

UPDATE:

My understanding of the timeline is, Trump announced 10% tariffs against all countries roughly that morning, saying he'd add reciprocal tariffs on top of that for "The worst offenders" (read: almost everyone) that evening. And that evening, he announced, well, the shitshow you're probably hearing about now (not that 10% tariffs against all countries isn't already a shitshow).

Why am I mentioning this? Well:

Nintendo has officially halted all US preorders of the Switch 2 based on those combined tariff while they figure out what the fuck to do.

Whether you think the peripherals increase+10% matches the final price too closely to be a coincidence, or you think this announcement fairly decisively proves that it is in fact a coincidence, I'll leave up to you.

[skyfallscotland]

Some updates since the last summary post. I didn't go to the convention on Sunday, but @caitm1 did and she said the workers told her that Rebecca's wrist swelled up from the amount of signatures she was doing (already, one day in!) and she had it taped up.

Rebecca also mentioned last night (Monday) at the second event I attended that she'd had a vestibular migraine just before and couldn't walk in a straight line a few hours ago, so I mean, I felt like I wanted to mention that first because as a chronically ill girlie I know how fucking hard it must be and I don't think a lot of fans appreciate what she does for us and how much she puts her body through.

Her signings this weekend were free and even though we paid for a ticket on Monday night, if you bought the ticket with the pre-signed book, that was at cost. $20 for a signed paperback. So yeah, just...I know it's a business, but she does a lot, ok. Don't be unappreciative of the extra mile.

Now, I recorded both Saturday's panel and Monday night's, I'm trying to figure out how to post it, but no website wants to cooperate with such a big file, so stand by, or like...help if you know tech things 💀

If you haven't seen my post with what we learned from Saturday's, it's here. Below is a summary of what we've learnt since then.

Bombshell alert: @caitm1 tells me that on Sunday, Rebecca said one of her original ideas for the end of Iron Flame was for Violet to become venin and not Xaden. *crickets* let's just take a moment here together... 😨

Honestly, I'm all for it, I low key feel like I would have liked that better, it would have been so good, but alas, we have venin-Xaden now, so we have to deal 🥲

Now, about Monday. A lot of the questions asked and things spoken about were the same as Saturday. The host picked the fan questions she asked and didn't really pick much that was plot or character related. She didn't pick any of mine and yes, I'm still mad about it. WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES

Here's the quotes, questions and tidbits I found interesting:

• Her editor for Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, is the head of Red Tower, so she's the publisher. I did not know this. I don't think I've seen this in practice before? She's also involved with the Amazon series because of this.

• "I'm not afraid of hurting you." That we already knew. 💀

• "Because we knew what had the television series when I was in edits, so we had to write out a synopsis and when I first thought it would be five books, I immediately sent the synopsis to my editor, who, you know, we sent it to Amazon because we needed to tell them; this is the definitive vision for the story. I can tell you, in Onyx Storm, I've already deviated from like...who I thought would pass in that book, as opposed to...I've already deviated some from that."

Sorry, what? Who was meant to die? My money is, as always, on Rhi or Garrick. You know I have thoughts/feelings about that. Look, if I've learned anything this weekend it's that someone important is going to die, a lot of people are going to die, ok? She's very frank about death and the realities of war and if you're worried about your favourite side characters for the next few books, well...you should be.

• She loves writing Ridoc. @yanny-77 no chance to ask about bodoc, sorry! 😂

• On Xaden and people's perception of him: "It's always funny because I always hear...he gets compared to Rhysand a lot? Xaden's like twenty-two at the beginning of Fourth Wing; Rhysand's like what? Five hundred? Ok, twenty-two, so it's very much like—it is a college. It's a college romance and that first love."

• She was surprised at how much people loved Aaric, given how little he's on-page.

• She also defended Dain again 🥳💗 #DainApologistsClub

• She expanded a little more on Jack. So perhaps what she meant on Saturday about his reasons, was simply that his reason will be touched upon in OS, but it's clear. "Jack's motivations are clear-cut, which makes him so easy to write. He's such an example of the hunger for power and what happens when you aren't selected for the power you think you deserve, which is one of the themes of Fourth Wing. So Jack's an easy character, he's straight-on."

• Are there any easter eggs that you put in the first two books that you don't think were caught by fans? "Violet's second signet! I totally thought it was obvious. Um, I did, to the point where my editor was like 'hey, we should probably put a line in here' and I was like dude no, people will catch it." Y'all know my thoughts on that so I'll stay quite over here in my corner.

Someone asked "what is it then?" and she replied, "no, no, no, now we're having fun with this, now."

• The hardest scene for her to write in Fourth Wing was the battle scene, because it was her first fantasy and so her first one. She wrote it and her editor said no, it has to be a little longer than this.

"So that was really hard for me to write, especially because in the moment she loses Liam, she has to get up and go. And I'm used to being able to give my characters this moment to grieve, this moment to take the news, this moment to absorb it and really feel it. And it's hard to get the reader to really feel that emotion when death is coming straight for you. So that was really difficult. And I was crying."

ME TOO, TBH

• If she was to describe Onyx Storm in two Taylor Swift songs, it would be Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? & So It Goes.

• If Empyrean was written in interconnected stand alones, she would have already jumped to Rhi or Imogen.

• Her favourite sections are the epigraphs that she writes above the chapter headings. "It's my most valuable real estate, the fact that you guys skip over them sometimes, I'm like—I'm wicked funny in there, ok?"

• If Violet and Xaden visited Australia, what would they do for fun? "I'd say go visit places they can't catch on fire. I guess they could find a beach." @empyrean-thrones there you go, we're on point! 😂

And that's about it! Happy theorising! 💗

It was a wild weekend, but so worth it. I was in my feelings a lot. I hope you guys get a chance to meet her or hear her speak in person one day, too 🫶

[schizopositivity]

So I was searching for a new psychiatrist online, and every website filter, every description they have, for individual providers and medical groups will include a whole bunch of different mental illnesses and life situations that they specialize in. Basically every mental illness and stressful life situation you could think of. But I didn't see schizophrenia or psychosis on any list. They had mental illnesses that can have psychotic symptoms (like bipolar disorder or PTSD) and mental illnesses that have overlapping symptoms with schizophrenia (like ASD and ADHD) but didn't have psychosis or schizophrenia anywhere.

And this is so frustrating, because I'm used to therapists not knowing how to treat schizophrenia/psychosis at all, that's been every therapist I've ever had and I've sadly learned to deal with that. But for psychiatrists, I'd really love to be able to be prescribed high doses of antipsychotics by someone who knows how that affects people. Someone who has enough experience to list that as a specialty. I live in a small city with a long list of psychiatrists, I even checked ones farther away that could do online sessions. Still after hours of combing through websites I found nothing. I was even told by my therapist that normal primary care providers regularly hesitate or refuse to prescribe antipsychotics because it's a "liability".

And it feels so unfair. Seeing psychiatrists say "mental health is so important! I can help you find your best self!" while ignoring all of us who rely on antipsychotics to function. For me my antipsychotics are the biggest reason I'm alive today, that I have a job, that I have a long term relationship, that I have friends, that I can even function. Going off of antipsychotics is not a safe option for me.

The pharmacy requires refill approval from a psychiatrist or Dr. so that I can have access to my meds. And I shouldn't have to keep settling for mental health care workers who don't understand my illness, don't want to prescribe my meds, and don't care to try.

I don't understand how there can be such a major gap in mental health care that's never even talked about. For a lot of us with schizophrenia, antipsychotics are extremely important, and going off of them can have major consequences. The fact that medication can dramatically improve our lives is incredible, but the fact that so many mental health care workers don't understand it, don't want to prescribe it, or just guess when prescribing it is horrendous, and has life-changing consequences for us.

It feels so isolating to not even be on a long list of mental health problems, and to speak to countless people who've dedicated their life to the mental health field, yet don't even consider you as an option. I just got rejected by a group of 6 psychiatrists working in an office together. In a quick email they said they wouldn't be able to provide care for me. Apparently all of them, who are available and licensed to care for people with mental illnesses, don't even think it's possible that any one of them could help me. All I need is medication refill approval, but apparently they can't do that. It feels so defeating but I'm going to keep trying because I have to.

I am not an anomaly, I am one small part of a large group of people with my same diagnosis. And we all need care at the bare minimum, but we deserve care that has us in mind for once. One day, I'd like to think, that a profession centered around helping people with various mental illnesses and struggles, would add us to the list. Because we are here regardless.

[skele-bunny]

No one asked for it but I'm gonna share it anyways bc I want to. Queued post don't kill me.

World Building!

(Specifically during Era 3 bc I can do what I want.)

CW - Privacy Violations, inhumane punishment

Despite Terzo trying so, so hard for his ghouls — to make changes to the regulations, to give them a chance to simply live, Terzo wasn't able to do much. He was so restricted. Again for example, have you seen those uniforms?? Terrible :(

Ghouls were monitored heavily, and still only really acknowledged as weapons/servants. They had duties and they had to perform, and if they were unable, they were retired or simply sent back. A cruel thing to many, but no one able to protest.

To even simply want to buy personal items, a form had to be filled out and could STILL be rejected despite it coming out of the ghoul's wallet. They made so little as is, but the rejection was truly a punch in the face sometimes. It was little stuff, too!! A band shirt, or one of those cheap necklaces, toys, anything ranging to even personal shoes! It could be denied. All those days of waiting and saving for nothing.

When Dew wanted to merge his and Aether's room, they had a GIANT packet to fill out. They had to list all of their items, why they wanted to merge rooms, why it would be beneficial, why it should be approved, and signed. The waiting process took longer than anything else, so much so that it was only after Dew's transition that their form got approved.

Very fuckin strict curfews, too!! Every morning and night, a Sibling would come in the den and do a roll call. If a ghoul wasn't in the den and claimed to be at work, it had to be double checked. If the ghoul was labeled as missing, they'd get SERIOUSLY reprimands like weeks of detention, or stuck with the weeds in the garden back to back, or lose a privilege like their cellphone. If it was super bad, then solitude. Stuck in a cell-like room with only a toilet, sink, and a bed.

If a ghoul was caught sneaking out? Immediate confinement for MONTHS until they learned, practically weeping at whoever's feet, that they'd never do it again.

Speaking of cellphones, they were confiscated a lot. Some of them figured out how to jailbreak their system and be able to consume media or go on websites not allowed at the time. A looot of privacy violations happened as pictures and texts would be gone through as well. When Pebble first experienced it, he literally cried in a Cardinal's office as his nudes were gone through.

Masks were strictly enforced if not inside the den, but even still had to be on for roll call or visits from humans. Even on tour, they weren't allowed to show their face to any of the stagehands/techs; glamoured or not.

Era 3 had the highest turnover rate simply because of sickness and torment inflicted by the clergy. Zephyr, Alpha, and Ivy all having their own severe illnesses that forced them to retire but still able to work; so somewhat useful... Delta who was literally mangled in the mind from being the first surviving elemental transition, left as only half of who they were — retired. Omega who's essence just simply burned out and he couldn't continue, try as he might (and he did try!) — Retired. Aether who eventually succumbed to his own fate like Omega in later years; but could still work. Aër who was stuck in solitude for years and years until he passed simply because he no longer wished to be a pawn.

There was a LOT of violence during the first 3 eras, mainly 2&3 from how exhausted and cooped up the ghouls were. Barely given days off, but always could rely on the holiday festivals (unless you were one of the unlucky ones still forced to work.) They needed enrichment and they simply couldn't get that properly until Copia became Papa, just as limited while Cardinal.

Needless to say, the Ghouls weren't always happy go-lucky and prosperous. There was a lot of favoritism and neglect going on, and it took multiple times and working protests for certain things to be done; such as accessibility and better living standards.

[littlehen]

this is about cat fleas, disgustingly 🪳😞

ugh, my cats have managed to get fleas. I found one flea at the end of March, I thought, well you never get one flea on its own, so this must mean we have a budding flea problem and I’d better nip that in the bud. Must say, I’ve never given them flea treatment because they’ve never had them before, but now I’m wishing I’d done it all along as a preventative measure.

The next morning I went to Pets at Home and said, please give me the strongest flea medication I can get without going to the vet. (The dog already gets a vet-prescribed one called Credelio, which is expensive but it kills fleas/ticks/worms and he goes outside every day which is where the ticks are.) The assistant recommended Advantage – you apply it externally once a month and it’s supposed to make both your pets and your home a hostile environment to fleas. I’m sceptical about whether it’ll work, and the website says it might take a long time to clear the problem, but I’ve got to give it a try. (Treatments like this only work on adult fleas, not eggs or larvae, so you have to persist with treating several generations.) The assistant said that fleas are really bad everywhere at the moment. She was sweet, she asked me what weight my pussycats are and when I wasn’t sure, she brought me bags of kibble to hold and judge whether they were about as heavy as my pussycats. She kept calling them pussycats, which is a word people don’t tend to say any more but my mum used to say it.

I signed up for a repeat order where it arrives automatically once a month (or is it bi-monthly? Feels like it’s taking ages for dose number 2 to arrive). Quite pricey to treat all three cats but I suppose I don’t have kids, so it’s not like I’m buying school uniforms and swimming lessons like lots of people my age.

I stopped seeing fleas for a few weeks, but in the past day or so I’ve started seeing them again. Maybe they’ve just hatched. Susie is on my lap right now and I just found one crawling on her fur. They’re very difficult to squish because they’re so tiny and also they quickly jump away and vanish. She doesn’t seem to have any ill-effects yet – my childhood dog Sophie got them and she was scratching and nibbling at her bum and ended up with a lot of sore bald patches before my mum got them under control. Susie isn’t even scratching. Apart from that individual, I can’t find any more on her, but she’s so fluffy that it’s hard to tell. I’ve seen videos of rescue kittens getting washed in dish soap but I can’t imagine my adult cats putting up with a bath without scratching me to ribbons, and those kittens are visibly hoaching with bugs, we’re not that desperate yet.

I am furious to know that they’re in my room and in my carpet (apparently vacuuming is key) but I’m not going to banish my cats or stop touching them, even though I am massively insect-averse and this whole thing is so revolting to me. I feel sort of resigned to it, as long as it’s temporary, I can cope. I’ve put plain white sheets on my bed so that I can spot them. I’m flinching at every speck of dirt or lint that I see, and imagining them, like how you automatically feel itchy when people talk about headlice. But adult fleas that you can see are just 5% of the flea population, the rest of them are eggs and larvae in the carpet, grim but at least they’re not hopping about and biting you.

The dog could’ve carried them in, but I might have brought them home from school. There’s a particular family of children at school who always have fleas. In the holidays we had to get a bug bomb for the classroom, I don’t think it worked though.

Another interesting fact I’ve learned is that fleas are species specialists – cat fleas hang out on humans/dogs/rabbits and they do bite, but they can’t process anything except cat blood, so it kills them. I can’t wait for all the little bastards to die. A lifetime of cat-ownership and this is the first time I’ve had to deal with this particular issue, obviously my luck has just run out.

[official-magnus-institute]

hey Jon can we have that book recommendation I’m curious

STATEMENT OF DONNA RHETTE, REGARDING 'THIS FUCKING BOOK'- VERBATIM FROM TEXT. STATEMENT TAKEN FROM REVIEW LEFT ON www.lionstreetbooks.com/i-spy-housewarming/K-6482749278.html

(tw: stalking, scopophobia, loss of child, arson)

STATEMENT BEGINS.

@_Donnarhette

★☆☆☆☆

do not purchase this book do not buy anything off this website theyre stealing your information. this website is unreliable and customer service does not respond they do not pick up their phones.

i bought this book for my 5 year old daughter. she kept waking me up in the middle of the night for weeks beforehand. it was normal, kids do that, kids are scared of monsters. but i would always read her i spy. we have every other edition, down to the miniature versions and the seasonal ones. eventually, she learned where everything was, though, and the books got boring, so i looked up 'i spy books' for the 80th time this month. it brought me here, and i purchased the book for shipping.

the very next day it was brought here, and i was astonished at first, but once i saw the condition of how it was packed, i figured why it came so fast. it was a wreck, the corners all beat, a handful of packing peanuts and some thin paper tossed cattywompus inside. the shippers mustve played hacky-sack with it before tossing it up to the house

even so, my girl was excited. she had completely forgotten about the supposed monsters, she just wanted the book. it's a unique edition for sure, instead of looking for small items on a small scale, it just looks like pictures of parks or buildings, along with riddles like 'i spy a tricycle, i spy ten cards, i spy a crack in concrete that's hard'. it was a change of pace for me, even- a challenge. but my daughter was doing phenomenally.

the photographer must be local to my area, because i recognized the photos soon. hell, i think i saw the back of my head in the bank one. but it got strange when it came to a picture of a street.

my street of my home.

now im thinking, 'maybe it's personalized, it's google maps, and they look up the address for the buyer before they send it out?' but that was... impossible. after i ordered the book it came the very next day, there was no way theyd be able to just cram this page in last second. not only that, but there was the riddle.

i spy a sewer grate, a baseball, a torch,

i spy a busted-up box on the porch.

i shut the book on that page and told my daughter to go to bed. there was fuss, but something was wrong. i tuck her in and she complains again about monsters in the window. all through the night, theres monsters in the window, and i snap at her when she wakes me up the 3rd time.

at that point she was crying, and i was.. yelling. i dont feel good about it, god, especially not now, but i was tired and scared. thats no excuse. so was she.

after telling her it would be ok, she slept in my bed with me. i held her tight the whole night through, and i would do my research in the morning, i assured myself.

but i didnt het a chance. by sunrise she was gone. not in her bed, in her pillow fort, not in the kitchen, the den, nowhere. i phone the police, and i end up running down the street screaming her name.

as i get back home, though, i felt compelled to that damn book. god, why did i go back to that damn book??

it was a picture of us through the window.

'i spy ten earrings, 2 rings, and a comb

i spy a mom and daughter at home.'

it was like my tears froze from shock. i steeled myself and flipped to the next page.

'i spy a woman, big tears and brown curls

i spy a book, but i see no girl.'

as i said, the police are investigating this store. burn in hell you freak. ill see you there.

Well. It took some digging, but there's your recommendation. We were able to get I Spy: Housewarming from the crime scene - or, more so, the wreckange. Donna was griefstruck, this adding onto the loss of her husband shortly before this, leading to a burst of arson. The book was recovered just fine, seemingly one of the Leitners that can withstand some flames.

J. Sims, The Archivist

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hi hi! I love how in depth and detailed you are when making/creating characters, or even when talking about other characters.

but I was curious, I wanted to be more inclusive/have more representation of PoC with my art works. But I do not know where to begin, or how to properly do research especially with how to research history and find accurate articles or so on.

Which I was curious on if you have any tips or pointers on how to do this/do my homework correctly?

THANKS!! OOOOhhhh I love research! And for a recent Spidersona, I had to do something like this. So here's the process I use to say things that kinda sorta make sense sometimes

How to Learn Any Topic RIGHT NOW- (kinda)

[A slightly LONG length post where I talk about my biggest resource and my number one tactic for sounding like you know your shit in an hour or less. Plus a list of educational Youtubers]

In High School, I mastered an art. The Art of 'Skyrim Speech 100'. The way to sound like you know what you're talking about, and form a pretty solid foundation of information in one sitting.

I am DEADASS CONVINCED that I have it boiled down to a very specific scientific formula. I got this I okay. I gotchu I swear I'm bout to have you like this im so deadass -

For me personally, the best resource is YouTube. One Website - Three Videos. And you're GOOD.

I have ADHD so - huge attention issues, so videos are a go to for me.

But I also really appreciate seeing the person explaining things to me. Finding good websites can be HARD, especially nowadays where a lot of websites might not even be written by humans, just clobbered together by AI.

For me, YouTube lets me see the person behind the channel, and it's a lot easier for me to vet the information if it's coming from one person who is open about their identity/certifications.

If their whole channel is dedicated to one thing, you can usually tell when they're very dedicated/educated on a topic, and I feel a lot more comfortable listening to them. Rather than reading random websites with writers I don't know/can't see.

Longform Youtube can be SO GOOD.

I'm gonna list some at the bottom - but you can find channels on everything. From architecture, to historical dress, to subway systems, entire cultures, etc.

In recent years Youtube has made a big push for longform content - so I recommend checking out videos that are 15 minutes OR MORE.

Not only is that enough time to go in depth, but because it's a video - the information is fed to you in a linear fashion. It's a lot more conversational and visual than reading a website.

If you hear something and need to remember, you can always go back. It can be hard to go back to a webpage and find the exact line, but videos are a bit easier.

Tips:

Try for find Youtubers that focus on ONE topic - or creators who go in depth about a wide array of interesting things (like Tom Scott or Anthony Padilla). Look for Doctors and Professors - A lot of educational professionals have youtube channels now. And they'll usually be upfront about it, searching things like 'History Professor explains X' or 'Doctor explains Y'. TEDTalks are good for this too. Look for people who are, or have the thing you're representing - If you're writing for a disability, it's always good to watch a video about the day in the life of someone with it - mental illnesses too. And there are a lot of great youtubers that easily break down things like cultural practices - or the issues they face because of their identity. Look for news channels. Watch current events. Vice, BBC, Channel 4, and have a lot of good current news, and they're posting videos every day. These videos show real life conditions while explaining it all, and they're really helpful for knowing about current political/cultural topics. DOCUMENTARIES!!!! - There is a documentary on anything. You can quote them in academics, and unlike movies, people post them on YouTube ALL the time, and people make them all the time. If you need to know about something, DOCUMENTARY.

I love using videos for everything, and below is how I use them:

I have a method that usually helps me sound like I'm super knowledgeable - By casting a very wide and very specific net over any topic. By narrowing any topic down to three parts, you can learn about 40% of a topic, but sound like you know 80%.

How to Teach Yourself Any Topic (in an hour and some change)

Three step method.

Watch three longform videos (15+ mins) about the topic. Each video about something slightly different.

The first video is about The History. This teaches us about the background of the topic. The second video is about The Expert Opinion. This teaches us about the reality of the topic. The third video is about a Random Topic inside of the main topic. This is to make us sound smart (in school)/add details or inspiration (while making characters).

Watch a fifteen minute video about each of these things, and in less than an hour, you'll have a pretty solid foundation of what it is, where it came from, and random (but surprisingly useful) details.

And when I say random I MEAN RANDOM. Can be anything - the niche, the better.

I'll give an example below with real search results and videos.

[I also give tips on how to search by topic (culture, religion, time period, etc) - as well as a list of educational BUT FUN Youtubers]

Example: I wanna make a Victorian Era Spider-woman.

The History Video - I watch a video about the general era, or what it was like being a woman in that time. I searched: Women in Victorian Era I found a real video titled: The Daily Life of a Victorian Lady

The Expert Opinion - I wanted to design her outfit accurately, so I looked for a Dress Historian's opinion on 1880's outfits I searched: Victorian Era Fashion I found a real channel: Bernadetta Banner (a channel all about recreating historical dresses - by a Broadway costume designer.)

The Random Topic - I don't know much about the Victorian Era..but I know theres two topics people always relate to the era - Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. I chose Sherlock. Sooooo, I watched a video about whether BBC sherlock was better than Downy Sherlock. Why? Because in 15 minutes it tells me about the show, the movie, AND the book - ALSO while teaching about the time period. I searched: BBC Sherlock vs Book I found a real video titled: Sherlock vs Sherlock - Which Iteration is Superior.

So after three 15-20 minute videos I know the history, the facts, and some random niche details of a topic.

Do I know everything about it? Not at all! But doing that, usually you can probably get through a conversation without freaking out too much.

By doing all that - I now know enough about the Victorian Era. From those videos I can accurately write an average Victorian woman, design her outfit accurate to the era, and also infuse some Victorian literature influence into her story.

All in an hour.

It works for other people character's too. Watching a video on the 70's, a video on the Punk Movement, and then a video of lets say a video about the band Ramones

Methods:

Some ideas for different topics:

If you want to show a character from a different time period -

If you're trying to write a character like Hobie, first watch a video about the history of the period - to understand when they were living. Then watch a video on their style/subculture - like the Punk movement. Then pick a specific band/media from the era and watch a video on it.

Sidebar: This is actually how I made Diane! I have little to no idea about the 70's outside of Punk. So searched up the history of 70's Disco, a video by Glamour about 1970's fashion, and I only knew one or two Disco singers (Donna Summer & Diana Ross) - so I chose Diana Ross. Diana is the direct inspiration for Diane's name and big hair. I never reference Diana, but it helps Diane fit the Disco theme, by emulating one of THE disco queens.

If you want to show a character from a different country -

Like India for example, a good place to start is watching a video about the history of India, then watching a vlog from someone in India (in the area you're thinking of), then watch a video about Indian fashion, or indian street food, or indian family traditions - so you can sprinkle those details into the story or conversation. Then you can build from there. Big tip: If they're from the city watch a video about the city's transit/subway system if they have one. It's a VERY fast way to learn the city, and make it sound like they actually live there, even if you're just name dropping stations and town squares.

If you want to show a character with a mental illness, disability or condition -

Start off by searching the background of the condition. Have a doctor break down what it is, how it effects the body, the mind, or both. Then watch a video of an average person with the condition, and their experience day to day. Then try and find a specific advocate, celebrity, or influence who goes into depth about it and how they empower themselves.

If you want to show someone from a different religion -

Watch a video about the beliefs of the religion, then the history of the religion, then a video of someone who practices the religion.

ETC-

Now disclaimer, this won't make you actually know everything about the topic - but at the very least, you'll probably be using the terms and words right. And you might be able to think up your own thought from there.

I used this ALL THROUGH High School.

If I know next class is about Marie Antoinette - yeah sure lemme go run and learn about her life history, her fashion taste, and the architecture of the Palace of Versailles in an hour.

Now I can talk about her childhood, personality, and where she lived.

The Great Gatsby? Never read it and I never will. The movie? NEVER SEEN IT. I searched up the history/inspiration of the author, watched a video on the book's plot and symbolism, then watched a video on the book vs the movie.

From there I kinda understood what the book was about, why the author might have written it, the symbolic ho-ha, and the extra details as if I watched the movie too.

And from there I could formulate whether I think the symbolism matters to our modern day society and why the director changed small details from the book, and etc, etc.

It was enough for me to bullshit and say words and usually people are like 'yeah you seem to be making sense' lol

HELL throw in ANOTHER video about the lives of women in the 1920's and I could probably bullshit an argument on how the Great Gatsby reflects gender roles in the Flapper Era. Like gun to my head I could probably come up with something im so deadass

HEY IM NOT SAYING SLACK OFF IN SCHOOL OKAY - DO NOT THIS IS JUST MY TESTIMONIAL - USE THIS TO LEARN TOPICS NOT BOOKS ITS A GREAT TOOL

Also disclaimer: use this for good don't be walking around like you Know Know Shit cause someone might check you and then i cant help you this is just a way to understand the basis of topics and be able to form thoughts and hold conversations about them or use them in your art and writing.

Plus it's a great way to gather strong resources for your art and writing.

It's a lot easier to show characters in a natural accurate way when you've curated a very rounded understanding of the topic or era - not just in an educational historical sense.

For the purposes of character creation, essays, sounding like you know anything in conversations - this does help. And you do start absorbing stuff. It's just about breaking the topic down, and learning about it in blocks.

If you understand the history, you can understand the now, and if you understand the now, you can understand the nuance. Like that.

I hope this helped! And because tis customary here, take this photo of Hobart Brown and go forth

And because I cannot send you off into the wild with no place to start here are some of my favorite youtubers that are actually FUN - here's a list.

Bye.

Youtube Channels

Bernadette Banner - Historical Clothing Expert specializing in Edwardian - Victorian

RMTransit - Videos about subway systems, buses, and public transit across the world. VERY quick way to realistically learn about a city

Anthony Padilla - Has lots of 'I Spent a Day With-' videos, where he sits down with people. Has videos ranging on things from Dipolar Disorder and ADHD to things like Asexuality and Ex-Mormons. Good for getting multiple honest experiences of people.

ReligionForBreakfast - Simple approachable videos about religions, their histories and beliefs. Made by a doctor of Religious Studies

Cognito - VERY good historical, cultural, and geographical videos, all cutely animated

Tasting History with Max Miller - Historically accurate cooking videos with really cool stories and histories to match

Vice News - Very good, very vetted Left-leaning news source. Vice and Vice News are two different things. Vice News is really good for current events videos on things like conflicts in countries.

Johnny Haris - slightly longer explainer videos about countries, geography, history, and weird quirks

Vox - Short detailed explainers about....anything really.

Weird History - .....It's history that's weird

Absolute History - Longer Documentaries about History, mainly the 1900's

CrowsEyeProductions - Really good Historical Fashion videos of 1400-2000's

Morgon Donner - ANOTHER Historical Fashion channel (they're really interesting yall) that focuses more on Medieval era

J.J McCullough - REALLY good videos about culture in general, as well as geography videos full of full interesting facts (did you know Nepal is the only country with a flag not four sided?) He also has some spicy takes on Canadian and Quebec politics that are interesting to me as an American but ????

Kati Moron - A therapist who makes videos about the experiences of mental illnesses and their treatment

Dr. Tracey Marks - A Doctor who makes short videos explaining the symptoms and experiences of neurodivergences and mental illnesses

[astral-tracer]

I'm ill and not really good at words to begin with but. I think we should just hard reset the entire USA. Like burn the whole motherfucker down and start over. And here's what I would change personally

(readmore bc this is getting Lengthy)

- almost every state is its own individual country. It's too fuckin big and there's too many people for a central federal government to Work. I say almost because some of the really small states could clump together if they want idk I live in one of the bigger ones. In fact most physically large countries should probably do this

- likewise, the "union" of the state-countries should become like Europe where it regulates like. Travel and currency. And emergency wartime shit. Keep free travel open between the states like you can just cross most country borders in Europe

- if we MUST stay as a single country, COMPLETELY rework the voting system. Make it like Australia in particular that shit fucks severely. Honestly even if the states become their own countries we should do this.

- universal basic income. Like do I even need to explain this. Give everyone a basic livable wage that covers basic housing & food comfortably.

- shorter work hours. I'm not an expert but I think it's been proven that like a 5-hour 4-day work week would be just as productive or smth. Don't quote me on that one.

- ban private prisons. Like come on what the fuck.

- (ubi should cover prisoners too. Btw. And literally everyone else over 18. And ppl like 15-17 should start to get a smaller amount that goes into like a trust account that they can access when they're 18. just as a boost)

- COMPLETELY rework school funding oh my GOD what the fuck are we doing. Give grants to struggling schools and schools in poor areas. Abolish this "no child left behind" CRAP that incentivizes memorization over actual learning. MANDATE A HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE FOR TEACHERS.

- Actually tax the 1%. Also no one should be able to be a billionaire. Any income over like $10m (am open to constructive criticism on exact amount cap) should be taxed at 100%.

- universal healthcare. I will *allow* private hospitals to exist (for now) but EVERY state should have at least one easily accessible non-privatized hospital system where every individual hospital is a certain radius from each other so that p much everyone has access to it. The reason private hospitals COULD still exist is so that ppl could choose to pay a bit for expedited care if wanted. Open to constructive criticism on this one.

- decriminalize drugs. All of them. Rehab centers should be covered under universal healthcare too. People turn to drugs most often when nothing else is helping them - it's a systemic issue, not a personal failing.

- abolish student loans. Colleges should run on grants and donations. I shouldn't have to go into debt to learn, even if I just want to take a class or two a year. Also all textbooks should be available for free online, at least to students, or be available in bulk quantities in the library of any college that requires them for any course.

- decapitalize the Internet. It should be ILLEGAL for certain public websites (search engines, wikis, news, etc) to run ads. For websites like YouTube ads should be limited to like 5-10 seconds PER VIDEO.

- (also this isn't like a government level thing but they should totally bring back the branded game sites. Like the sites w barbie browser games n shit. That shit SLAPPED.)

- there should be both an increase in minimum wage and a cap on how expensive necessities can be. Things like bread, eggs, meats, locally growable produce, etc should be capped at a certain price point and not allowed to go above that point. This includes things like medications and menstrual products and also like condoms. "Luxury goods" (premade meals/snacks, coffee, alcohol, etc.) could be exempt from this. Open to constructive criticism on that.

- ban use of oil/gasoline wherever possible. Full stop. There's no fucking reason for it. Also power & water shouldn't be allowed to be privatized in any way and use of renewable energy like solar and wind should be mandatory. Also it should be free to everyone ever

- all companies and their products should be required to be under a certain carbon footprint/pollutant threshold. This includes limited or outright banned use of plastic products forever. We can find disposable alternatives that don't fuck us and the planet.

- nobody over like 60 should be able to run for office I'm fucking sorry but I'm sick to death of old ass motherfuckers running shit get outta here grampa no one likes ur policies

- medical euthanasia should be legal to perform but NOT legal to professionally recommend. Like a doctor can perform it but doctors and nurses cannot tell you that you should. It should also be regulated in some ways but I'm not about to get into that rn

- decriminalize sex work. Just. Full stop. People are gonna do it no matter what laws are in place, it's the oldest profession for a reason, decriminalize it and put in place laws protecting sex workers from abuse & exploitation.

- (obvs with above there should be SOME laws against specifically shit like performing sex work for/with a minor & other shit like that but that falls under "pedophilia is illegal" which like yeah good.)

- (on that topic though any CLEARLY DRAWN/NOT PHOTOGRAPHICAL porn REGARDLESS OF CONTENT should be fully allowed so long as it can e reasonably determined that no real life people were used as reference or could be recognized via the art. Like I'm Not Into even fictional children being in porn art but it isn't hurting anyone even if it's gross and I don't get it. Adults can to photo porn stuff as long as everyone's consenting tho)

- decensor the Internet. I don't care that there are children here. Sure you can have specific sites catered to children but they should not be allowed to have ads AT ALL (see "decapitalize the Internet") and anywhere not designated as specifically "for children" should be completely uncensored or have options to be completely uncensored. Make people parent their own fucking kids again.

- actual separation of church and state. If the only root argument in favor of a law or bill is "bUt ThE BiBlE" it should just be tossed full stop no exceptions. Also businesses and such should be incentivized to allow people of any religion their holy days off (unless no one is guaranteed to have their holy days off)

- On that note strengthen anti-discrimination laws. No one should ever be denied anything simply for their gender, presentation, religion, sexuality, race, etc.; this does not apply to any closed religious practices (where no one outside that particular religion is supposed to take part in a ceremony, style of dress, etc.) by any recognized nonprofit group.

- just give the native americans back their lands already. National parks should be allowed to be "maintained" (lived in) by indigenous people in whatever ways they want tbh. The only "rule" should be that visitors/tourists should still be allowed to enjoy the spaces so long as they are respectful of the land and the people. Humans are not inherently separate from nature.

- (if anything in the above point is worded badly I'm sorry once again I am The Sick and words are hard)

- work with Canada and Mexico on fully opening borders bc seriously what the fuck.

Idk I'm sure there's more I would change but I can't think of anything else right now tbh. But like to do any of those we'd have to completely uproot the entire system and I dont. Know how we would do that. without putting people through unnecessary risk. Idk I'm just fuckin weird rn

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

im a info sys student and ur website is so inspiring I want to make something similar. what technologies did u use? do you have a github?

Waow thankyou so much 🤩🤩 I just used html :) i dont have a github i dont really know what it is!! Its For sharing code ? Well maybe ill make one somedau cause im learning other types of coding rn. Working on~~~something~~ im Still not sure how i'll make available to the world. Learning evary day ... Good luck w ur website if u choose to pursue that goal It Really doesnt take much to get started w neocities 😽🧠🧠🧠💋

[nashoye]

my about me !!( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) i already did one but ill be going more in depth here. (not really...)

▪ i go by nas or naho, whichever is fine! '06 (17) she/her and im west african. my time zone is EST btw!!

▪ i like drawing(sometimes). the stuff i draw are mostly fanart of animes i like and my ocs! but im trying to get into drawing foods.^^ im still learning how to draw.

▪ there are many animes i like but i cant list them all.. however this website(not up to date..) basically has all the animes i watched and what anime i am watching, planning to watch and completed!! the current anime im watching is one piece and im episode 984!!(my goal is to catch up before the end of the school year, so im binging.) my favorite anime is FMBA!! JJK, CSM, BLEACH, HXH, one piece and more.. i live for action animes. >_<. a manga im currently reading is sakamoto days(i love it sm) dungen meshi, frieren, sign of affection, loving yamada, and the apothecary diaries.(theres more but im not listing them all :p).

▪ i dont really play that much games but i do play sims 4, animal crossing, roblox, minecraft, botw, homicipher and stardew valley.. and some otome games ^_^. i used to play genshin but stopped, same with honkai star rail and wuthering waves.

▪ the type of music i listen to varies, but my favorite artist are lamp, melanie martinez, lana del rey, the weeknd, tv girl, men i trust, newjeans, mitski, faye webster, cigarettes after sex and the neighbourhood!

▪ some youtubers i watch are coryxkenshin, ldshadowlady, smallishbeans, rebel D, penguinz0, lilsimsie, dish, Jarvis Johnson, antonychenn, itsfunneh, RubberRoss, and Tuonto! (i need new youtubers recommendation..)

and thats all for now, ill add stuff on if i remember anything ^^ feel free to ask to be friends, i need some lol..( • ᴖ • ｡)

[nothing0fnothing]

Hey! So I have some lived experience in being poor and mentally ill I had to learn the hard way in my adulthood after growing up with abusive neglectful narcissistic parents. Maybe it will help someone else.

1. Instant pot. Crock pot. Rice cooker. You only need one, but all 3 are versatile, can use very little electricity to run, and are perfect to dump ingredients into and come back later to a healthy, cooked dinner.

You can research which is best for you by looking up "crock pot recipes" "rice cooker meals" to get a feel for what types of meals you can prepare in each and how it's purposes can best fit your cooking style.

2. Get your electronics secondhand. Phone companies make so much off of poor people bc they contract us into pay plans that mean that by the time our phones are needing replacing, we've paid for it 2 or more times over. Consider going Sim only and getting your phone secondhand.

Websites like backmarket and envirophone sell refurbished phones, tablets, laptops, smart watches, TVs, consoles, headphones, all sorts like new and for a fraction of the price point you'd usually get them at. I've not bought an electronic new since 2015 and the products I get refurbished last just as long as if I'd bought them new. Plus it's better for the environment. Even if I had money I don't think I'd go back to buying new honestly.

3. Static charger. If you're Autistic and can't sit still, like me you might be finding that the first thing to go on your electronics is your charge port. It's really annoying because it's not a cheap fix and I have had to replace phones early when they won't charge any more.

Last year my girlfriend and I got static chargers. It's an adapter that sits in your phone/tablets charger slot that magnetically connects to a universal charger. Its great for us because now everything rechargeable (phones/tablets, but also headphones, game controllers, keyboards/mouses) takes the same cable. It's really handy, but for me the best part is that the adapter doesn't move. So even if I'm fidgeting with my phone on charge it won't wear down the charger pins over time. We paid £20 for 3 and it's paid for itself because I've not had to take my phone for it's yearly fix since I got it.

4. Make a cozy space outside of bed. As a bedrotting girlie I know the allure of just saying "fuck it" and curling up in bed is so strong. I also know that when I do it for days at a time my sleep quality gets worse, my days blur together and my mental health gets so much worse. Especially if I'm working, watching TV, eating all my meals and doing my hobbies all from my bed.

One thing that helps me break up the bedrotting and at least helps me get some decent sleep so I might wake up feeling better tomorrow, is having a cozy spot that isn't in bed I can spend at least some of my day in.

For me, it's the couch in my living room. I've furnished it with pillows, blankets, and a little coffee table I can rest my stuff on so I can feel as comfy as I do in bed, but not actually be in bed most of the day. For You it could be a book nook, or a floor bed, or a desk with a chair in your bedroom.

5. Giant water bottle. This one is really simple. We need 8 glasses of water a day to be healthy and hydrated. Basically nobody depressed has the energy to fill up a glass of water 8 times a day. If you can get a water bottle that holds 2 litres (65oz) of water, now you only need to fill one drinking vessel once a day to be healthy and hydrated.

It's really simple and sill but it honestly saved my life. I buy those drink flavor packets because I drink more when it tastes nice. Is it as healthy as plain water? No. Is it healthier than no water? Yes. Easy peasy.

My bottle is from Meoky, its the 64oz stainless steel camping bottle with a flip straw I got for under £20. I like it because it keeps my water cold and I'd rather walk on hot coals than take a sip without a straw, but I've bought same size BPA free plastic bottles for like £3 and they have lasted me 2-3 years too so the budget options are absolutely worth it too.

6. Reconsider what's worth getting second hand. Generally when thinking about buying secondhand we mean clothes at the thrift, and that's great, but buying pre loved can be anything, and you can buy some high ticket items at an affordable price point that way.

If I ever want an appliance I always look second hand first. My rice cooker is secondhand and it is my favourite appliance. I've also bought a popcorn maker for a fraction of the price I'd buy it new, and I'm looking for a Kitchen Aid mixer for no more than a third the price they usually sell at. My vanity houses my shark air styler, I got it refurbished second hand and it was like new when I bought it. I use it every day and it still has so much wear in it.

Generally, the bigger and heavier something is, the closer to free you can get it, because the people getting rid of it just want it gone. If you ever need a washing machine or some furniture, look on gumtree or local no buy groups first. Type "free ___" followed by where you live into Google to get an idea whats available. If you're furnishing a space it's very likely you can get everything you need for the cost of the van you hired to collect it all.

7. Frozen vegetables. Fresh produce is getting more expensive and because we neurodivergent and mentally ill people can have a habit of letting fresh produce rot in the fridge, wasting money and making more mess to clean up, it's usually not worth it. The thing is, frozen produce is cheaper because it is picked in season, healther because it is frozen at optimum ripeness, and can be safely stored in your freezer for months, it's so worth doing.

They're usually pre-cut and can generally just be chucked into your dish frozen to defrost while cooking, making them easy and accessible. You can buy mixed vegetable packs (in the UK the most common is sweetcorn/peas/carrots and broccoli/cauliflower/) for some variety too, which I like to just dump a portion into soups or broths for some added vitamins.

8. Medication delivery. I've been medicated for mental illness for years, and a regular problem I used to have was I would neglect going to pick up my meds because I was depressed, then I'd run out and be unable to collect them because the lack of meds was making me more depressed.

Now however, I'm signed up with an online pharmacy. They processes my prescriptions exactly the same way any other pharmacy would and dispense them through the post in a box that fits through my letterbox. I never have to leave the house for meds again which is actually a lifesaver, the shipping is super cheap, like free for 3 day delivery and £2.99 for next day, and it's all processed through a super simple app that I only have to use like one a month when I request my refill.

It's so worth it and if you struggle to get out like me I absolutely recommend it. In the UK it's called Lloyd's Direct Pharmacy, but I'm sure it's a service you can find in other places of the world too.

9. Laundry separation is a lie. Which isn't a big deal for people who don't care about throwing money away on extra loads or people who have the spoons to faff around separating their clothes arbitrarily, but for poor neurodivergent people, it is.

So here's the thing, the rules of separating laundry by colour came about when clothes were made of all natural materials that would stick to each other when agitated and natural dyes that would run in water. Nowadays, clothes are made of synthetic or blended materials that can handle the friction of a modern machine and synthetic dyes that hold up to basically anything. 99% of clothes on the market, and therefore probably 99% of your wardrobe, is polycotton or some other poly-blend. So generally, everything you have can just all go in together on a warm wash.

Now, if you have woolen, linen or cashmere pieces, you should be separating them and following the care instructions on the label, but everything else, just shove it in mate, nothing bad will happen.

10. Protein powder. Protein powder is cheap, it's stored dry to it basically never goes bad, it's obviously protein so it's a really good addition to your diet, it tastes of whatever flavour you buy it in so it's a good meal substitute if you're depressed and your appetite is low, and it comes together really easily.

I usually get it in big tubs because they're cheaper per gram that way and I just add them to my coffee/hot chocolate for a boost or stir it into some Greek yogurt for a quick healthy snack. Thats actually my favourite way to get protein in because it's like 2 minutes and it covers up that sour taste yogurt has. I've also stirred it into milk for my cereal to varying success but it's good because the fat in the milk and the carbs and fortified vitamins in the cereal make it basically a meal. If I'm struggling for breakfast I usually add a scoop or two to an instant porridge pot and I have a ready to eat nutritional meal ready in the time it takes to boil the kettle.

[apiswitchcraft]

tarot deck reviews

click here for the second part, where i review my oracle decks

another poll suggestion post!! this one will just be all my tarot decks that i currently own (i have given away two decks, the robin wood tarot and universal waite pocket deck, and they will not be featured here) plus some others that i think are really cool and deserve a spotlight. my next post will be all my oracle decks, which are just tarot decks but someone made up entirely new cards and meanings (if you didn't know)

in this post ill go over physical pros and cons, special features, and where i got them/the artist. what i will NOT be trying to do is comment on the "vibes" of each deck or how my personal relationship with them is, that varies between individuals and is between you and your cards

buuuutt before we get into the actual reviews lets talk about

STORAGE

i like to keep my tarot decks stored in a drawer away from the sun (UV can leech colors) and any heat/moisture sources (can cause some cards to warp) however, as I've moved from place to place this does occasionally change

for a majority of my decks I like to put them into a cloth bag, wrapped in a bandana or scarf or large handkerchief. this is because i learned that a piece of cloth (blessed/enchanted) will protect the deck from negative energy from people/spirits. it Also just helps to prevent wear/damage while i'm moving or transporting my stuff around

in the occasion that a card gets bent or creased, you can sandwich each individual card with a damp paper towel (removed after a few hours/a day and replaced with a dry one to prevent mold) on the bottom and a very heavy FLAT item on top for several days until you are ABSOLUTELY sure the card is dry.

WARNING: if the ink on the card is water soluble, this could cause the art to warp or smear. do a test on the corner of a card or the guidebook (if printed the same way) to make sure. if you're still concerned you can put a piece of plastic in between the card and the paper towel, and then put the whole thing in a bag (so that you can still put a heavy item on top)

THE ACTUAL REVIEWS

okay i know i just said i wouldn't comment on my relationships with my decks but these are my ride or dies. my meow meows some would say. if im not in an oracle mood these are ALWAYS the decks i reach for

FYODOR PAVLOV TAROT

PROS: the stars on the back are actually metallic, sturdy but still bendable enough to shuffle, printing quality is so detailed, metallic (gold) edge

CONS: plain back design, WARNING: NSFW designs including nudity and sexual themes, pentacles are replaced with the suit of coins (if that bothers you)

SPECIAL FEATURES: each suit is color themed (so tasty for my brain), so much of the art includes trans, poc and queer characters!! comes with a guidebook

i just got this one at Barnes and Noble, but you should check out the artist on Instagram

THE MUSHROOM TAROT

KEEP IN MIND SOME OF THESE THINGS MAY HAVE CHANGED IN LATER EDITIONS

PROS: yay metallic (copper) edge!!! amazing print quality, and i also weirdly like the plasticy material it's printed on? makes them smooth and easy to cut (shuffle)

CONS: really flexible, to the point i get worried about creasing them, metallic edge wears easily/quickly (i've been VERY gentle with these)

SPECIAL FEATURES: comes with three extra cards and a guidebook

i got this on the official website, but it seems like it's often sold out these days, so check out listings on etsy or ebay

THE ZOMBIE TAROT

PROS: i fuck with this art style so heavy, printing quality is great, and i still have the box it came in lol, i use it for trinkets

CONS: made out of pretty stiff card stock that i'm not a huge fan of, WARNING: some designs have gore!, no metallic edges :(

SPECIAL FEATURES: comes with a guidebook, replaces the pentacles suit with "hazards" (i don't mind it, but some people will)

i got this baby at Barnes and Noble a LONG time ago, right around the beginning of my journey as a witch!

THE GRAND ETTEILLA (printed 1977 in france)

PROS: long and thin, flexible, still feels very sturdy despite being almost 50 years old

CONS: the box is a whisper away from disintegrating, the designs and print quality leave a bit to be desired (but i mean these designs are hella old so i'm not super upset about it), something about the cards make them stick together while I'm trying to shuffle them

SPECIAL FEATURES: comes with a guidebook, cards and book are translated to both english and french, includes all the major arcana and suits of modern rider-waite tarot just in a different order/under different names

i got this off of ebay second hand (obviously), although recreations printed by USGS are pretty easy to find around the internet

ugh, okay before we get started YES these are different decks, and NO i did not know they'd be nearly identical before i bought the gold illuminated version. i'm giving that one away to my brother on his birthday so it doesn't go to waste

ETHERAL VISIONS: LUNA

PROS: the card material is smooth and flexible, AWESOME holographic film incorporated into each card's design, if you like to shuffle cards kinda aggressively these seem good for that

CONS: see the illuminated version's section

SPECIAL FEATURES: lots of queer/poc/trans characters in the designs, comes with a guidebook and three extra cards

i think i got this one off amazon

ETHEREAL VISIONS ILLUMINATED TAROT

i bought this one second hand off ebay thinking, oh, i really liked the luna deck lemme check this one out cause i bet it'll be cool. WRONG. little did i know that the Luna deck is actually a rerelease of the illuminated edition to include more diversity. more like ANY diversity because the illuminated version is ALL WHITE, CISHET CHARACTERS. god i wanted to strangle myself for this one.

obviously, this deck is still beautiful, and it's just as high quality as the Luna version, I'm just mad about a) the lack of inclusivity and b) lack of transparency about these being the SAME deck practically. more than half of the card designs are the same, including the bonus extras, the back is just changed + the metallic film color is different

and if i had never bought the gold illuminated version i would never know because luna is the more widely distributed one nowadays, but NOOO i had to have some semblance of brand loyalty >:(

ON MY WISHLIST:

check out these amazing artists on etsy (see alt text if needed)! i adore their work

the background of my pictures is a bandana by KateOHaraArt on etsy!

[wolfertinger]

I don't understand how people can call documentation "stalking", because it really isn't hard to grab evidence of someone's lies and keep up with them, especially when they overpost about everything and keep it up, sometimes for hours and it gets spread around anyways. Not to mention, on this website where it's almost permanent once it's up.

We keep everything in one condensed place with multiple contributions because Salem is known to lie about either the most harmless shit or the most harmful shit. There are levels to it and yeah I agree most of it is corny, unimportant, but it's still important to show that he's capable of lying...constantly, about the most random things that makes you think, why even say or do that. What are you getting from this

Nobody is trying to ruin his life. Nobody (here on this Tumblr, at least) has done anything to him except publicly criticize him, ask him for answers, and show his exact words without context taken out. We're here to show others that he hasn't changed. He claims to have changed from the Puppychan days, but hasn't. How do we know? Because this blog exists with the evidence to show you why. Past issues, current issues, and comparing them together. Since he claims to have grown up so much, and people all around defend him, will keep holding him up high and letting him say and do whatever he wants because he's just doing "so much better" now, which is just so clearly said to make passerbys go, "oh okay!"

The entire thing would go away if he did what he claims he's doing and matured. He hasn't and won't and blames the internet and trauma for everything. It's sad to say that it's not an excuse. You have to let it go and stop using excuses to act out. It takes time to get better which is why people constantly tell you to get offline for a little bit. I'm so serious when I say a private account would benefit Salem so much. If you can't get off the internet which I understand internet addiction, you can at least vent on a side account to help with the suicide baiting allegations. You just need to work on the lying. Please stop lying. I want to like you so bad but it's so hard when you can't be truthful about anything and keep deleting posts when you admit things or accidentally contradict yourself. If you just dropped everything and made a huge post addressing your lies WITHOUT DEFLECTION and using mental illness as a fallback, and hang onto that and keep going and trying to imrpove and stop lying, you'd be on the path to healing, getting better. You'd still have assholes on the side trying to anger you but I'm sure most of the people here would learn to forgive and interact again. I at least hope.

I'm not really mad at the art or anything, I'm not pissy at your depictions of trans characters (until its overly fetishistic and you make like 3 addon posts about "rep" when it's just a character with a bulge showing, presenting to the camera obviously sexually. Being horny isn't evil and bad and should'nt be hidden under the guise of representation, and you should know this...). I'm mostly hanging onto the constant lies and using alters and DID, your trans identity or that you're black as an instant argument and win to everything. It fucking sucks because excuses like that is what causes other people to hate us even harder for using our identities to keep a shield around ourselves 24/7. You act as if you can never be wrong about anything and it's so infuriating. Nobody can talk to you directly or in replies either, because your girlfriend will be right there watching and ready to harass randoms who even attempt. So. Here it is. On this account. Which would be dormant if you allowed yourself to step away for a second and realize that holding onto lies is actually a massive weight on yourself and is a massive cause of anxiety and poor mental health on you.

I'm not fakeclaiming as I don't know your diagnoses, but I am still saying that using mental illness as an excuse isn't acceptable. An explanation, sure! An excuse, no. I'm aware that not all mental illnesses are the same, but you seem to be on the less severe end, especially with recent postings on how much better you've been doing. If not, you can get better, improve. Therapy exists and meditation exists and you talk about both. Maybe you can make another gameplan if the therapy isn't working as well? There is so much you can do to just improve mentally.

Not everyone is out to get you, even if frustration takes over some of the people here. You understand, especially with your situation with Ibraham. Frustration happens and you get snippy sometimes.

I feel like I'm begging for something I can't get. I just wanna see you actually try.

.