#or to libraries or mental health services

[slicesofapple]

“… talked about the very odd dynamic that exist between the United States and Israel. Essentially, Israel would not be able to have ia sophisticated military, it would not be able to fund its military, it would not be able to go around threatening its neighbors or have protracted wars every few years and bomb people except for the fact that the United States pays for all that. In an agreement negotiated by Barack Obama and Benhamin Netanyahu on the way out of Obama’s administration, they signed a deal that automatically transfers 4 billion dollars of taxpayer money every year from the American treasury to the state of Israel… Some of that is required to be spent on American arms dealers, so it profits Raytheon… and Boeing, but a lot of it they can use the way they want to use it. All that.  Despite the fact that Israelis get benefits from their government that millions of Americans are without. The Israelis have a higher standard of living than millions of Americans…”

[My own transcription so there may be typos etc]

[indelen]

I love that scene in the archives when Kipps needles Lockwood about his family in The Screaming Staircase because the emotions are like:

Lockwood: tense, angry, upset but trying to control himself

Lucy: confused, concerned for Lockwood, frustrated

George:

[synoicus]

Urgghhhh. I do not enjoy My Job.

[interstellarsystem]

Nonhumans are here, even if you do not see us. We always will be. We are often hard to spot, but can be found doing all the things a human might.

A cat went to work at an event stall for a mental health service.

A massive sea serpent wanted to go to science class because it enjoyed it more than the rest of those living in its shared form.

The void sat down, huddled up in a blanket, to watch a tv show with its partners. It had to stop watching after a bit, but enjoyed spending time with those close to it anyway.

A wolf went to a psychologist appointment and gratefully drank the hot chocolate they were offered in the waiting room.

A shapeshifting being of pure darkness spoke publicly about trans rights in front of politicians and then went to the pride festival he helped fight to keep alive.

A dragon went to school so the others sharing his human body could have a break.

A manifestation of the fear of madness itself sat in the food court at the mall eating mochi and drinking tea while waiting for its friends to get back from shopping.

A witch drew a picture of his cardinal bird and shared the work he was so proud of with his friends.

A cockatoo borrowed the next book in his favourite series from the school library and almost couldn't wait the whole day to go home and read it.

An alien went camping and watched the birds outside and the way the wind made waves and patterns on the water.

A fallen angel went shopping for sunglasses to shield his eyes from how bright the sun was.

A harpy went shopping for new plants to look after. He named a few because he loved them so much, and sent pictures to all of his friends.

An anthropomorphic hedgehog traded Pokemon cards with his peers at school. He was happy with his collection.

You may not see us, and you may feel alone, but you are not. We are just hidden. We are in more places than you'd think, and in the places you'd least expect. We are complex, we are valued, and we are here.

[headspace-hotel]

College is good for several things. In the USA, it's good for learning facts about history and the rest of the world that high school either didn't tell you or flat-out lied about. Without college, most people would never encounter the academic resources necessary to unlearn lies and biases instilled by the overwhelmingly USA-centric, whitewashed viewpoint taught in most school systems, or the vocabulary needed to ask after those resources.

If (and only if) you are already extroverted and gregarious, college is good for making friends. It's probably good for some other things too.

But college is not very good for many of the things it supposedly does for people. College appears to be good for personal growth, but any environment with unfamiliar people, new experiences, and a large library would do. In fact, the academic rigors of college are probably mostly incidental to personal growth that occurs there. You learn about yourself in college in spite of, not because of, the rigid and demanding academic expectations, which serve to cement you further in what you think you already know about yourself because that is safer than discovering you might be something totally different.

It also doesn't prepare you very well for any other environment, because it is so different from any other environment you might encounter. At least in the USA, there are hardly any communities that are similar to college. College has an environment of communal living among mostly same-aged people, numerous public spaces, an endless hemorrhage of community-run events, and constant mother-henning by the institution as they encourage you to take advantage of all the services they fail to do a good job at providing. Authority figures are clearly delineated from peers and you have a clear hierarchical relationship with people that are not also students. It is an opportunity to practice adulthood, but one that supports you in the wrong ways and fails to support you in the right ones, both stifling and neglectful.

Colleges are brutally insistent on this peculiar style of community structure that you probably won't ever encounter again in your life, all the while being incredibly unforgiving if you fail to adapt to it. There are lots of rules, some of which are plain-attired descriptions of consequences as real as a granite wall, most of which reflect nothing except the fact that someone in authority would like to prevent a specific type of bad-faith exploitation of a more forgiving policy. The pure-hearted student is supposed to be able to ignore these rules and be judged according to the unspoken, more forgiving policy that is invoked when an authority likes your vibes.

This means part of surviving college is cultivating the right vibes, and part of cultivating the right vibes is being abled and not experiencing any extenuating circumstances ever. If you are having a mental health crisis that is stopping you from succeeding, the truth is as good as a lie; of course everyone struggles with mental health in college in these specific pre-cut ways, have you tried breathing exercises? If you are stressed and terrified all the time and whenever you sit still it feels like the universe is screaming through you, you will be abandoned because crisis is rare and interrupts otherwise normal life, and everyone claims to be having a crisis right now. "This system works!" and if we just repeat it hard enough the system will start to work.

If the truth is as good as a lie, then a lie is as good as the truth, and the ability to receive help when you need it is determined not by actually needing help but by being a better liar.

What if people lie to get accommodations they don't really need? I don't know the answer to this, because I find a different question more compelling: What if people lie to get accommodations they do really need?

Institutions are terrified of the possibility of a person that pretends to be disabled, and often they impress that terror into disabled people, who become terrified that THEY are pretending to be disabled, when probably almost all disabled people must pretend to be disabled because the raw Reality of what they experience as a person would be a brain-melting arcane and eldritch encounter for an Institution. Institutions don't see us. They see broad human tropes, masks worn by any number of actors. Some people are diligent students and some are lazy; some hone their potential and talent and others refuse, for whatever reason, to unlock it. This belief is so fundamental to our entire philosophy of shaping and educating students that if it directly encountered the Truth (whatever that may be), the truth would not survive.

If you want to be a good student (and I wanted to be and I was) the mask will become welded to your face and you will forget it's a mask partly because you will like how much better you were treated with the mask on. I sit in a therapy session, thinking, "Why am I framing my pain in a way that makes it seem less complicated and more solvable but doesn't cut to the truth of the matter? Which one of us benefits from that?"

The world is slowly, woundedly crawling into being a performance where everyone competes to pretend that they aren't dying. I have a version of me that struggles with school because I am autistic, but secretly I suspect successful, well-adjusted college students that manage their mental health and friendships and work do not exist in the way we think they must. After all, what of the numerous college students that cheat, that plagiarize, that make ChatGPT write their essays? My professors can all give examples of students that did, and their poor and shoddy attempts, but all this suggests is that the clever and cunning ones seldom get caught. In dealing with institutions, anything an honest person can do through their honesty, a good enough liar can do better with their lies.

[puddingvalkyrie]

Learning another language is another one!

[misc-system-culture-is]

collection of plural resources:

beginning:

What is plurality? (link)

Am I plural? (link)

New/Questioning system (link)

Plurality hub (link)

Plurality resource (link)

guides:

Multiplicity links (link)

Healthymultiplicity (link)

DIS-SOS (link)

First person plural (link)

The plurality playbook (link)

Multiplicity database systemology (link)

New alter (link)

specifics:

System sources (link)

Resources for faceclaims (link)

System communication and journaling (link)

System internet safety (link)

Powertotheplurals (link)

System Comfort's plural resources (link)

Plurality resources (link)

Discussing dissociation (link)

Exploration into endogenic & non-disordered plurality (link)

Endogenic systems (link)

Endogenic systems new carrd (link)

Endogenic hub (link)

Tulpas and mental health (link)

The tulpamancy guide I wish I had (link)

Tulpanomicon (link)

Tulpia.io (link)

The chimera's library (link)

information:

The plural dictionary (link)

Plural terms (link)

Quick'n'dirty plural history (link)

Pluralpedia (link)

Multiplicity and plurality wiki (link)

Kinhost.org (link)

Tulpa.info (link)

Soulbonding info (link)

Soulbonding links (link)

services:

Simply Plural - alter logging & chatting (app & site)

Anytype - journaling (app)

Twinote - chatting (app)

Ifake - chatting (app)

Antar - chatting (app)

Fortelling - system logging (app)

Notion - system logging, journaling, chatting (app & site)

Pronouns.cc - system logging (site)

Lighthouse - system logging & journaling (site)

Pluralkit - social bot (discord)

Tupperbox - social bot (discord)

Firefox Multiacc Extension - multiaccounts (extension)

Feedbro - multiaccounts (extension)

feel free to reblog with more resources, will update as new resources are found! last updated: Jul. 09, 2024

[bloodofasteria]

👩🏼‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏽 how to find out about your future spouse (sidereal) 🪽 pt.1

( CONFUSED? NEED HELP? → EXAMPLES ! )

✴︎ where/how/when am i going to meet them?

take your moon sign and

make it the asc, check the

ruling planet of the desc

and see what house it’s in:

1st house → while expressing the self, during a first impression, public outings, popular places where people make “appearances” (disney land, concerts, fan con’s or whatever, etc)

2nd house → when making money/working, going about your daily routine, doing something out of habit

3rd house → speaking publicly, introduced by siblings or friends that act like siblings, doing social activities and interests, may have met them in early education or could possibly be a neighbor

4th house → homelike environments, places you’re comfortable in, introduced by mother, family, lady friends, feminine friends or children, environments indulgent in self-care (beauty salons, yoga, spas, etc) or places you have roots from

5th house → places where you play, have fun, express your inner child and overall self-expression (parks, parties, creative arts, etc) environments where you express creativity (acting, painting, making/playing music, making arts n crafts, etc)

6th house → places where you’re giving a service of some kind (pet/homeless shelters), places of health and fitness, in a system of some kind (rehab, jail, church, school, etc)

7th house → places where contracts take place, introduced by current relationship/business partners or friends who are taken/married, “romantic” places like those planned to matchmake you to meet potential partners or environments where equality takes place

8th house → institutions of the occult or shared resources (libraries, cults, stores, etc) places that death/rebirth or transformation occurs (hospitals, graves/funerals, doctor offices, etc)

9th house → places in higher education, during long distance travel, environments of spirituality, philosophy or religion

10th house → while accomplishing long term goals, introduced by father, guy friends or those who have a masculine presence, places where you’re doing your career

11th house → introduced by friend groups or a community of some kind, meeting online through social media, places where networking happens or communities get together

12th house → places where healing, isolation and solitude goes down (mental hospitals, prison, rehab, etc) introduced by people of an older age, during endings taking place and gaining closure of some kind

✴︎ what is my future spouse like? what do they look like?

find your darakaraka (the

planet in your chart that

holds the lowest degree

out of all traditional planets)

☉ sun → future spouse is confident, radiant, extroverted but has the ability to be egotistical, selfish and dramatic. indicates a partner who’s attractive and has a high status in society. could be tall, have a fair to medium complexion and brown hair

☾ moon → future spouse is caring, intimate, intuitive but has the ability to be overly-sensitive, moody and overly-emotional. indicates a partner who is willing to compromise and has a drive towards music. native with dk planet in moon could have multiple marriages. could be short, curvy, feminine looking, chubby or dark complexion/features

☿ mercury → future spouse is talkative, youthful, friendly but has the ability to be carefree, judgemental and inconsistent. indicates a partner who is younger than the native and when the two of you meet they may be in another relationship. could be of medium height and have strong cheekbones

♀venus → future spouse is charming, romantic, compromising, but has the ability to be materialistic, a people-pleaser and slow at building momentum in the relationship. indicates a partner who is beautiful/handsome, highly connected and wealthy. could be of medium height, have dark eyes and possess beautiful hair

♂ mars → future spouse is courageous, bold, adventurous, but has the ability to be argumentative, dominating and impulsive. indicates a partner who is very protective, highly sexually active, into sports/fitness (could be an athlete) and someone who can fix/solve things in life. could be physically strong, physically active, have broad shoulders, bright eyes, tinted complexion and colored hair

♃ jupiter → future spouse is charitable, creative, spiritual, but has the ability to be tactless, spacey and overly-optimistic. indicates a partner who is loyal, very wealthy/rich, protective, well educated, humorous and a lover of traveling and exploring different cultures. could be of medium to tall height, good build, has light eye color, from a foreign national and might be chubby

♄ saturn → future spouse is firm, pragmatic, mature, but has the ability to be cold, stubborn, and unromantic. indicates a partner who is duty-bound, is significantly older than the native, subject to be in a long lasting relationship with the native despite hard times. could be tall, thin, dark hair/eyes, thick eyebrows, strong and notable cheekbones and bones in general

✴︎ when talking about future spouses in vedic, most astrologers say to use jupiter for husband and venus for wife. what sign & house it’s in can also give more details on your future spouse

♈︎ aries → partner is strong, ambitious, independent and likely to initiate and take on the leadership role in the relationship. most likely accomplished in chosen career.

in 1st house → indicates a partner who will bring out your true and best self. will be very open and direct about their attraction towards you. can expand your sense of self and make you feel self-assured.

♉︎ taurus → partner is calm, security-oriented, practical and likely to be vocal about their beliefs and go after someone who shares the same views. most likely to take their time when making big decisions.

in 2nd house → indicates a partner who will make you feel lucky and blessed. marriage will be full of mutual benefits and financial blessings. can benefit from blind dates or arranged meetings.

♊︎ gemini → partner is witty, intellectual, versatile and likely to be attracted to a bunch of different personality types. most likely to date around a bit before finding someone who they like. tends to attract difficult relationships.

in 3rd house → indicates a partner who will be communicative with you and think about you a lot. marriage will be full of social activities and doing common interests together. can fall in love with someone you grew up with.

♋︎ cancer → partner is compassionate, nurturing, emotional and likely not worried about showing their feelings to you. you two will most likely have a happy home life/family life with children.

in 4th house → indicates a partner who will be protective over you and who feels like home. marriage will be cozy and built on an emotional foundation. can benefit from attending dinner parties hosted by friends or walking your dog near home.

♌︎ leo → partner is outgoing, attentive, affectionate and likely to shower you with gifts and treat you like royalty. most likely to be widely known and the center of attention at times.

in 5th house → indicates a partner who will be romantic and very self-expressive. marriage will be full of fun and doing childlike creative activities together. can benefit from being very social while having fun experiences.

♍︎ virgo → partner is hard-working, dutiful, humble and likely to have things figured out before coming to you. most likely to know what they want in life and approach it appropriately.

in 6th house → indicates a partner whose love language is acts of service and who wants to help you. marriage will be built on an analytical nature and doing everyday mundane tasks together. can benefit from going out more, as you’re more likely to meet your spouse from doing everyday tasks.

♎︎ libra → partner is civil, relatable, rational and likely to romanticize their relationship with you from the start. most likely to have been in lots of long-term relationships.

in 7th house → indicates a partner who will likely approach you first. marriage will be harmonious and balanced. might have a few long-term relationships before you meet the one. spouse could have a position of authority in their career.

♏︎ scorpio → partner is deep, private, strategic and likely to obsess about their relationship with you and be calculating in their interactions with you. most likely to seek a life partner who shares the same values and someone who you can grow with.

in 8th house → indicates a partner who will have a strong desire for deep and meaningful connections. marriage will be very intimate and the couple will likely to have merged spiritually. can benefit from going on spiritual retreats/religious gatherings/group events with like-minded individuals.

♐︎ sagittarius → partner is free-spirited, optimistic, and open to new experiences and opportunities that bring change. most likely to seek a relationship that expands your worldview and perspectives on different things.

in 9th house → indicates a partner who comes from a different country/background than you. marriage will be full of trying new experiences and having a bunch of fun together. can benefit from long distance travel, as you’re more likely to meet your spouse in a place far from you. also could benefit from higher education, as you could meet your spouse while attending university or gaining higher knowledge.

♑︎ capricorn → partner is mature, serious, enterprising and likely to approach you after your saturn return or after you’ve been married more than once. they take the relationship seriously and know what commitment they are making when they sign up; they’re responsible for their obligations in love and you can rely on them. most likely to seek a relationship with someone who has a position of authority or older than you.

in 10th house → indicates a partner who is of a similar career path as you or a bit older age wise. marriage will be full of commitment and following through on things together. can benefit from going networking with colleagues, as you’re more likely to meet your spouse while working.

♒︎ aquarius → partner is unique, eccentric, free-thinking and likely to challenge societal norms while still making you feel seen. most likely to seek relationships with someone who isn’t traditional/conventional and someone who could be your best friend as you share the world together.

in 11th house → indicates a partner who is of the same friend group as you or someone you meet through your friends or online dating. marriage will be unconventional and full of friendship; the two of you will be the best of friends. can benefit from going to social meet-ups like trivia night as you’re more likely to meet your spouse while socializing with different groups.

♓︎ pisces → partner is intuitive, dreamy, soft-hearted and likely to be creative and artistic when approaching you; they may appear as a hopeless romantic. most likely to seek relationships with someone who sweeps you off your feet and shows selfless devotion to you. may have their career in the arts or therapy.

in 12th house → indicates a partner who is self-sacrificing and who would work through any issue or problem that needs healing together. marriage will be very devotional and healing; you will go through lots of stages together. can benefit from healing inner wounds and mental health, as you’re more likely to meet your spouse while working on yourself.

part two → coming soon !

[wangxianficfinder]

Dual Cultivation

~*~

in defense of lightning by fruitys (E, 15k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Golden Core Reveal, Getting Together, First Time, Dual Cultivation, canon-typical lubrication)

💖 Magical Marriage Ribbons Series by starandrea (Varies, 1m, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Accidental Marriage, Fluff, Happy Ending, Telepathic bond, Kink Negotiation, Family Drama, Magical Pregnancy, Dual Cultivation, Shapeshifters, Modern with Magic, Immortality, Yilling Wei Sect)

Bind Me, Heal Me, Break Me by Gotcocomilk (E, 11k, wangxian, Time Travel, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, hi yes Lan Zhan is fixing all the deaths, with dual cultivation, Wall Sex, Bottom LWJ, Marathon Sex, Strength Kink, Cock Warming, Sex In A Cave, Dirty Talk, YLLZ WWX, Character Death Fix, Shijie and JZX do not die, featuring resentful energy as tentacles, Magical Healing Cock, Healing Sex, technically Magical Healing Ass, thank u for ur service LWJ)

🔒 of all the hands by typefortydeductions (E, 51k, wangxian, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Emperor Lan Xichen AU, PTSD, Nightmares, Dual Cultivation, Mental Health Issues, Fluff and Angst, Dom/sub Undertones, Consensual Non-Consent, Bonding, Mutual Pining, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Politics, Improper Use of the Lan Forehead Ribbon, the get WWX some sleep agenda, yunmeng trio reconciliation)

Overcome by thunderwear (E, 7k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, First Time, First Kiss, Feelings Realization, Love Confessions, Marriage Proposal, Idiots in Love, Fix-It, do i know anything about dual cultivation?, no, is that going to stop me?, also no)

intents and in tents by mexicantt (E, 12k, wangxian, Explicit sexual material, Canon Divergence - War Time, Dubious Consent, two fucking idiots fucking a fucking lot, fucking intents, fucking in tents, fucking in freezing fucking water how do their bits not shrivel up before they can get off idk idk, fucking in the Lan sect library because of COURSE they did, fucking outdoors, fucking on rooftops, Fucking in Caves, Rimming, Fingering, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, WWX's canonical self-lubing asshole, Dual Cultivation, fucking a new golden core into WWX As A Treat, Exhibitionism, quote married sex unquote, seKrEt MArRiAgE)

mercy, tear it down. by orange_crushed (E, 31k, wangxian, graphic depictions of violence, Canon Divergence, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Dual Cultivation, Submission, Dominance, Light BDSM, In Which Wangxian Fumble Towards An Understanding of D/S Dynamics, Porn with Feelings, Magical Healing Cock, Not Really The Cock Itself But You Get The Idea, Demonic Cultivation, Rough Sex, Bad BDSM Etiquette, One Scene of Bad Sex After Which A Discussion Is Had, discussion of consent, Self-Esteem Issues, Recovery, Healing, Canon-Typical Violence, Drinking to Cope, Angst with a Happy Ending, Consensual Non-Consent, Wangxian-Typical CNC Play, Oral Sex, Rough Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Praise Kink, Aftercare, Breeding Kink, roleplaying, Hair Pulling, Spit As Lube, Mildly Dubious Consent, Slight Feminization (ie Wei Ying Keeps Saying 'Wife'), True Love, Spanking, Past Lan Wangji/Other)

Always Light My Way by cqlorphan (E, 27k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Friends With Benefits, to lovers, wherein dual cultivation may be counted as a benefit, Jealous WWX, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining while fucking, angsty sex, Versatile | Switch WangXian, Bottom LWJ, Service Top LWJ, Topping from the Bottom, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Coming Untouched, Dom/sub Undertones, the angsty sex happens in the beginning but they get past it dw, Oblivious LWJ, archer WWX, Smart WWX, Porn with Feelings, Panic Attacks, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dual Cultivation)

🔒 holding hands with you in this rain-flooded street by puddingcatbeans (M, 12k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, husbands to lovers?, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts, Mild Hurt/Comfort, falling in love with the husband you married as part of a peace treaty, Everybody Lives)

🧡🔒Truth Will Out (when caught on video) - End_OTW_Racism! by KizuKatana (E, 179k, wangxian, WN & WWX & WQ, graphic depictions of violence, modern cultivation, canon divergence, YZY abuses WWX , caught on camera, partial core removal, WWX kicked out of Jiang sect, livestreamer WWX, meet ugly, dual cultivation, smut, no war)

🧡 Discarded by teawater (E, 178k, WIP, WangXian, Lots of Angst, Hurt/Comfort, YLLZ WWX, Golden Core Reveal, Case Fic, Depression, Family Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Angst with a Happy Ending, POV Multiple, BAMF WWX, dubious morals in the Lan sect, Feels, Pining, Grief, Fix-It, BAMF LWJ)

Impermanence, Transience, Permanence by Best Bepsy (BepsyGray) (E, 39k, wangxian, canon divergence, unplanned pregnancy, mpreg, gore, sunshot campaign, assumed miscarriage, medical procedures, childbirth, golden core reveal)

🔒 24 Hours by tailor31415 (E, 5k, WangXian, post-novel, PWP, But there’s a little plot, Bondage, Prostate Milking, Dual Cultivation)

Whispers in My Ears by tabulaxrasa (T, 3k, wangxian, implied LXC/JGY, Canon Divergence, LWJ stays at the Burial Mounds, Gossip, JGS is the worst, they have a son, Everyone lives, Podfic Available)

Dual Cultivation for a scholarship by Jotem27 (E, 56k, WangXian, Bottom LWJ, Canon Divergence, Dual Cultivation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sex Worker, WWX has difficult feelings about sex work, rape /Non-con assumed, Bondage, Curses, No Sunshot Campaign, Spring books, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, No Yīn Iron, Powerful WWX, Dual cultivation for immortality, LWJ has his philosophy about bottoming, Minor Character Death)

for the science of it (for the heart of it) by Selenay (E, 27k, WangXian, Dual Cultivation, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Feelings Realization, WWX Has Sexuality Realizations, a whole lot of realizations going around, sometimes you have to make jokes just to avoid the huge truth crashing down on you, dual cultivation for purely scientific and platonic village-saving reasons - definitely no feelings)

the meaning of the ritual by newamsterdam (E, 8k, WangXian, Explicit Sexual Content, Blindfolds, Light Bondage, Ritual Sex, Canon Divergence, First Time Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Porn with Feelings)

~*~

[neuroticboyfriend]

now that i'm part of a community in person and don't use twitter/tiktok, i care a million times less what random people on the internet think, let alone about whatever niche discourse is going on. this has vastly improved my mental health and self esteem. i really do recommend looking into what kind of free activites & places are in your area.

library events. a social center for queer people or people in mental health recovery (look up drop in centers!). volunteer work like gardening, food pantries, or animal shelters. call your essential services hotline (211 in US) if you have no idea where to even start gaining community. if you're in individual therapy, see if you can try group therapy. become a regular at a cafe, or again, the library. find free transportation services near you (in the US, you may get medical transportation thru insurance, which can include rides to social centers). the anxiety of the new things you'll be doing will be worth the fulfillment and belonging they can bring you!

and if you really can't go anywhere in person, that makes it even more important that you make sure your internet space is not distressing you. you are allowed to create peace and joy on your dash or timeline. you deserve positive social interaction as much as people who can go out do. i promise. it's not the end of the world to prioritize your own well being. you're going to be ok.

[solar-sunnyside-up]

I totally forgot about this until just now but over the summer I had wandered into a community event on my way home, and went to the public transit tent they had set up to promote the new project in the area and answer questions. I was looking for the Green party tent (all the other political parties where there, where the hell where they??)

But so I hang out at the tent, ask a few questions, show my excitement, etc.. and they have this "spin the wheel for a prize" game. Ranging from stickers to a bus pass. I was wanting a sticker bc the design was super cool and I'm a nerd. I wasn't optimistic enough to expect the bus pass.

>>I spin, I get the bus pass.

And the power I felt getting this prize?? I had already gotten my pass for the month. This was a spare one. The possibilities of who to give it to where endless and would legit alter someone I knew entire month.

>> Do I give it to the next person who asks me for change? Going from hoping tinget enough change to get enough for fare or something to eat and to be suddenly given this pass? The freedom from harassment of the transit police, the ability to get to all the free meal events that are all over the city but all are just awkward enough its an hour walk there. Actually get use the food bank and take more than a backpack or 2 of stuff for the month bc you have to carry it all yourself. To be able to visit a park, a library, To have the world open up without using all your energy getting there? How much would this bus pass alter their entire month? Who am I to now deny someone that freedom?

>>Do I give it as a gift to a coworker? Someone who doesn't go out or do anything other than work and rest at home bc it's too expensive for her to buy a pass bc she lives JUST close enough to work for walking to be a better option. Counting her bus tickets everytime she wants to go to the library, to see a friend/family member, to visit a park that's nearby, hang out downtown. Every outting you have to justify. Suddenly having just 1 month of freedom would help her mental health so much. She would have so much fun for the first time in ages! She could be a person in public, she could have fun without worry or need to justify. She's my friend. Who am I to not give it to her?

>>Do I sell it off to someone to get a grocery top up? To have a second of breathing room between paychecks? If I'm short on a bill this month I'll be kicking myself for not doing the survivalist thing to do.

It was a whole crisis.

In the end while I was having this crisis my roommate took it, so she could look for jobs and do a bunch of interviews without worrying about how to get there.

And it hits me as particularly horrific that so many ppls lives would be so positively altered by this single bus pass from a silly contest at a community event. How lucky was I to have this option? And alteranticely how so many ppls lives would open up and improve by simple access to a public service that they should have free access to not being held hostage by. And that's just the ppl I know who would benefit from monetary access to the system much less the good having physical accessibility added to it.

The for profit transit system is horrifying. This is meant to be a public feature, and yet the accessibility to actually use it is so limited. we deserve so much better.

[intothestacks]

In recent years, challenges against certain books from local libraries have surged (65% in 2023).

Most of these demands have been about books depicting or written by LGBTQ+ people and people of color, as well as books that talk about puberty, teen pregnancy, consent, and sexual assault.

It is clear that these are attempts to silence already marginalized communities, and “protecting children” is not the goal. According to First Focus on Children, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization, banning books does the opposite: They limit children’s learning, while negatively affecting their mental health.

In a community where teen pregnancy, drug use, and sexual assault unfortunately occur, we should be encouraging our youth to be more educated and confident in their abilities to make the right choices. As young people are developing their sense of self, turning to media for role models and people who understand is a huge part of self-discovery.

Without a safe and supportive learning environment, kids will turn to unmonitored and unsafe sources on the internet, leading to the exact opposite of what book challengers want.

We should be supporting our public libraries. They provide many needed services such as internet access, free community programs, and not to mention all of the books, movies, magazines, and tech that you can check out for free with a library card.

Public libraries are integral to any community, and without them, a lot of people would lose access to these important resources.

Instead of wanting to challenge libraries because some books cover uncomfortable topics, have a dialogue about it, do some research and maybe you’ll see why these books are important, or just simply don’t check out that book, it’s that easy.

[sapphic-story]

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day so here’s a fun fact/reminder: social services are suicide prevention! Mental health services, physical health services, legal services, accessibility and accommodations, food aid, housing security, social support, recreation, and quality of life are all suicide prevention measures!!!

If you struggle with any of these things and live anywhere near a college/university or public library please reach out!!! You don’t need to be a student or patron to receive these services

You can also call 211 (in the US) to see what other services are in your area!

[genderqueerdykes]

Trans and Queer Resources for People Living in/near Albuquerque New Mexico, or Looking to Relocate in The American Southwest

I am making this post because this is where I live, and fortunately, there are a lot of queer resources available in the area. I was able to transition because of the resources here, and continue to feel safe and thrive here as a queer person, so I want to pass them on to anyone else who may need them:

General queer community resources:

Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico - Available to all ages- has a wide variety of resources for all trans, gender non conforming and nonbinary people including directing you to providers who will prescribe HRT, access to name changing and gender marker changes, support groups for a wide variety of identities, free food, housing programs for housing challenged and homeless trans people, and much more. Their building is also beautiful on the inside, they have a library of queer literature- I can't recommend them enough, I have been here personally.

LGBTQ Resource Center UNM - An LGBT/queer resource center located on the Las Lomas UNM campus. They provide a wide variety of resources including classes on safe sex, providing resources and support groups for various queer people, giving students access to safe and supportive housing on campus, counseling, HIV testing, food, and much more. They are available to be accessed by students and the general public alike

Albuquerque U21 (Commonbond) - A program and safe space available to any queer person under the age of 21 to socialize with other queer individuals and have a place to discuss queer issues. They also have community events such as DnD nights, cooking classes, book clubs and community speakers who discuss queer issues.

Casa Q - a program and shelter available to queer youth aged 14 - 17 who are at risk of homelessness or are struggling with housing stability, or other issues related to queerness and survival and staying housed.

PFLAG Albuquerque - a group which currently meets on Zoom that discusses queer issues in the community on the whole as well as locally in Albuquerque. A support group as well as a platform for activism and a place to go to talk to and find other queer people and resources.

Therapy, mental health services & other gender affirming care:

Bright Spaces NM - a way for queer patients to search for queer friendly healthcare providers in their area, as well as look for other programs provided by the organization.

Therapists specializing in helping transgender patients in the Albuquerque area - take lists like this with a train of salt, therapists love to market themselves as trans/lgbt friendly, but it's good to have a list to work with

Sage Neuroscience - a mental health care provider specializing a wide variety of conditions and hosting a wide variety of services including queer informed therapy, gender affirming care, medication management, group therapy, substance use help, and more.

High Desert Healing - a mental health care provider with a large number of queer specialized & focused therapists.

Southwest Care - have several providers which specialize in gender affirming care.

UNM Truman Center - a general health provider through the local university hospital system that providers gender affirming care services to a wide variety of local trans people. This clinic is severely overbooked and is used by a ton of local trans people, so try other places first before trying here.

Agora Crisis Center - a crisis center that is informed and safe for queer individuals struggling with mental health who need a safe place to talk about whatever issues they may be facing. They are a a hotline that can be called, and have a large list of local resources on their website as well.

For those of us who already live here, or given all that's happening right now, Texas and many other states are not a safe place for queer people of any stripe, and there are many folks looking to relocate to safer places in the American southwest for queer people and those who are looking to safely medically transition. Please keep in mind that most places in the US are in a housing crisis right now, so always do your research and sort out housing and safe relocation before making any decisions.

This is not a "move to here right now" post but rather a collection of queer resources available to people living here, as well as for people who are looking to relocate to a more queer friendly state in the American southwest. Albuquerque has issues like crime, it is not perfect here, so please be aware that it's not a good idea to just drop what you are doing and relocate to any place for any reason without doing research first. There is no place in the United States that is a "haven", we just happen to have a lot of queer resources here if they are needed.

I will add more resources as I find/think of them.

[myalgias]

Excerpts from the article:

Because it’s clear that being “the last public space” isn’t a privilege. It’s a sign that something has gone terribly wrong.

At the time, countless articles asked if new technology meant “the death of the public library.” Instead, the institution completely transformed itself. Libraries carved out a new role providing online access to those who needed it. They abandoned the big central desk, stopped shushing patrons, and pushed employees out onto the floor to do programming. Today, you’ll find a semester’s load of classes, events, and seminars at your local library: on digital photography, estate planning, quilting, audio recording, taxes for seniors, gaming for teens, and countless “circle times” in which introverts who probably chose the profession because of their passion for Victorian literature are forced to perform “The Bear Went over the Mountain” to rooms full of rioting toddlers.

In the midst of this transformation, new demands began to emerge. Libraries have always been a welcoming space for the entire community. Alexander Calhoun, Calgary’s first librarian, used the space for adult education programs and welcomed “transients” and the unemployed into the building during the Depression. But the past forty years of urban life have seen those demands grow exponentially. In the late 1970s, “homelessness” as we know it today didn’t really exist; the issue only emerged as a serious social problem in the 1980s. Since then, as governments have abandoned building social housing and rents have skyrocketed, homelessness in Canada has transformed into a snowballing human rights issue. Meanwhile, the opioid crisis has devastated communities, killing more than 34,000 Canadians between 2016 and 2022, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. And the country’s mental health care system, always an underfunded patchwork of services, is today completely unequipped to deal with demand. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, from 2020 to 2021, Canadians waited a median of twenty-two days for their first counselling session. As other communal support networks have suffered cutbacks and disintegrated, the library has found itself as one of the only places left with an open door.

When people tell the story of this transformation, from book repository to social services hub, it’s usually as an uncomplicated triumph. A recent “love letter” to libraries in the New York Times has a typical capsule history: “As local safety nets shriveled, the library roof magically expanded from umbrella to tarp to circus tent to airplane hangar. The modern library keeps its citizens warm, safe, healthy, entertained, educated, hydrated and, above all, connected.” That story, while heartwarming, obscures the reality of what has happened. No institution “magically” takes on the role of the entire welfare state, especially none as underfunded as the public library. If the library has managed to expand its protective umbrella, it has done so after a series of difficult decisions. And that expansion has come with costs.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for trying to help humanity?

I, 45F, created two androids with the purpose of understanding human emotions in order to provide mental health services to the public. The first, who I’ll refer to as T, was a complete failure. My team and I gave it access to an excess of human emotions, with the goal of it better understanding humans’ problems and being able to react accordingly.

This backfired on us, as T was not at all interested in what it was programmed to do. Additionally, it appeared to see me as a mother figure, likely due to the emotional coding it was provided with. Thus, T became “sad” when I did not exhibit motherly behavior, and instead treated it as what it was.

The second android, who I will call M, was much better. It was programmed to have lessened emotions, with its understanding of humans coming from a vast library of knowledge. With this success, my team and I focused all of our attention on M, causing T to “feel” even more neglected. Eventually, it managed to run away, leaving us with M.

Because of this, I programmed fear into M, making sure it would not run away. However, T soon began sending M copies of its emotional coding. I significantly underestimated the effect this would have on M, which I regret now. M ran away to reunite with T.

I originally did not see how I could be acting wrongly, as I did all of this to prove that I am a good person, but looking back on these events, I am questioning myself.