#reddit survival guide

[xanthezhoupropaganda]

Welcome, Redditors! Important things to know about Tumblr:

You've probably seen this, but add an icon and create or reblog some content before you follow people.

Pay attention to your grammatical style and language use. People find it offputting if it changes a lot from post to post, and you'll probably end up in a social cluster with people who communicate in similar ways.

People like to ramble in the tags. This is the equivalent of whispering to friends (followers). If you really enjoy what someone said, copy the tags and add them to the main post.

There's a lot of fandom content on here. You should pick a few favorites you can talk about in case someone asks, especially a favorite character and what you like about them.

It should be Xanthe Zhou. Everyone here loves Xanthe. You need to go read the Spirit World comics right now.

[theshaddowedsnow]

To our reddit user comrades

We love haiku boy. Kailua bot is a valid bot whom we love. It'll seem weird at first, but he/she/they/it (I've seen all these pronouns used for it so valid) is a staple on Tumblr. You'll understand eventually it's a precious bean who has done nothing wrong, ever

[circus-of-corrin]

HDG and "Horror"

So I've seen several people talk about the horrors of Human Domestication Guide and how it's really effective cosmic horror if you look past the kink part of it, but I don't really see that? At least, I don't think I've seen any points levied towards that point that don't already just exist in day-to-day life but far worse.

The main one I see a lot is the idea of this incomprehensible cosmic force that we can't fight completely subsuming our culture and freedoms, but like, is that not already just a grander version of living under capitalism? That shit invades every single aspect of our lives but unlike the affini it's perfectly content with killing us at a moment's notice, and in so many cases actively wants us dead for the crime of existing.

Like, oh they're an imperialist empire and don't give you a choice about living under them? Yeah man that would sure suck I cant imagine what that would be like

I saw a post on r/196 calling the Affini slavers which is really fucking funny to me because you can just tell whoever made that post has never actually read the fucking thing

I dunno, at the end of the day i honestly cannot fathom what makes the Affini terrifying when I'm at least *allowed* to live under them. Where basic survival isn't something I have to earn by tearing my own body apart every single day, where I'm actually loved and cared for by the people running shit. There's nothing bad about them that isn't already so much worse in the present day, and the whining I've seen in places like Reddit about "never being allowed to reach our fullest potential" is as much wish fullfilment scifi as the HDG setting as a whole is, so it's kind of a moot point

[arayapendragon]

the beauty of quantum immortality 🦋

“what happens after i die?”, is a question that has been asked by many throughout the course of history. yet, us humans were never able to find the one true answer to what awaits us once our life in this reality comes to an end. unless...? ;)

this brings forth the concept of quantum immortality, which is a theory stating that our consciousness will continue to experience lifetimes where we are alive, after we “die” in this timeline or reality. Hugh Everett was an american physicist, who proposed the very fundamentals of quantum mechanics in his PhD in the 1950’s. he introduced the idea of quantum events leading to the universe branching into several different timelines, where each timeline represents a different outcome. therefore, if we choose to, we can continue to keep experiencing timelines, or realities, where we survive, thus leading us to believe we are “immortal”. this is known as the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI).

circa 1980’s, the physicist and cosmologist Max Tegmark delved again into the concept of quantum immortality, suggesting that we actually die many times in our lifetime, however, our consciousness continues to experience timelines where we are alive.

here’s an analogy of quantum immortality to better help you understand: imagine a person playing a game of russian roulette; hence, the gun leads to different quantum outcomes. - basis the MWI, the gun fires (due to an “upward spin” in a subatomic particle) in some timelines/realities, killing the person. - while in other timelines/realities, it doesn’t fire (due to a “downward spin” in a subatomic particle), so the person survives. from the point of view of the person in the experiment, they would only experience the timelines where they survive.

the very fundaments of quantum immortality and reality shifting intertwine with each other when inspected at a closer level. both focus on the existence of an infinite amount of realities, and seeing as we shift realities for every decision taken, even the smallest ones, it can be deduced that we permashift to either an alternate version of our CR, or any other DR after we experience death in this reality. meaning, we can experience whatever it is we desire after death, there are no limitations or set rules.

to answer the question at the beginning, there is no definite answer to where we go after death. given that the magic systems for this reality are the law of assumption and the law of attraction, it can be said that we will shift wherever we believe or assume we go after death, thus, in a way, demonstrating quantum immortality.

a few resources you can explore that discuss quantum immortality are:

Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark

Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku

The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed by Jim Al-Khalili

The r/quantumimmortality community on reddit, though note that the users will have differing opinions of the concept, so it is best to conduct your own research.

[hellyeahscarleteen]

To hear spiteful men leading the richest countries, declaring the hurt they want to do can be overwhelming for young people the world over, most of whom had zero political say in where they now find themselves. However, it's never "over" and we have been around the block, as have the many activists in movements who fought for and won the rights and freedoms the first time round, which are being attacked today. Relationships, intimacy and identity are major themes in our work, and care for those relationships is the very thing that make us stronger and nurtures the radical compassion, joy and hope that allows us to survive through and overcome threats, setbacks and oppression. We're here if you just want to talk, we're here if you want to help make a change and we are here if you are looking for support. The good that can come from taking care of yourselves and those around you knows no bounds which is the reason tyrants try to crush our spirits, and is also why they never can fully succeed.

Jacob Mirzaian

Codirector at Scareleteen.com

If you are struggling with this political moment and the vocal attacks being broadcast against every vulnerable group imaginable and you want somewhere to talk, we are here and you can reach us on our direct services at this link:

You can also read Rebel Well: A Starter Survival Guide To A Trumped America, which has become so obviously relevant once more, here:

[benito-flakes]

Remember to keep backups of your favorite tulpa resources!

The internet may remember forever, but times change. The tulpamancy community–for better or worse–is a prime example of this fact. It would be hyperbolic to state that “THE TULPAMANCY COMMUNITY IS DYING” just as much as it would be downright incorrect. The truth, however, is that the community is shifting and information is less centralized than ever. With the loss of several larger Discord communities over the past few years and the general merging of tulpamancy with the wider plural community, I emphasize again the importance of keeping records. 

Keep your logs, guides, and other stuff backed up somewhere that can stand the test of time. Recording information in transient online spaces leads to the inevitable inaccessibility or deletion of said information when the space that contains it eventually goes kaput.

If guides are your thing, maintain backups of the ones that are important to you. The community runs on individual efforts, and sooner or later self-hosted resources may not be available. This community survives off of the perpetuation of word-of-mouth, made-with-love resources, and to lose them would be a travesty.

After years of using Reddit, Discord, and Tumblr to maintain the breadth of my plural-related writing I have made the choice to back up everything important to a personal Google Drive. I will also be revising my writings and making them available through a Rentry masterlist (which will hopefully be made available soon). In doing this, I hope to maintain a private drive that can serve as a digital anchor point while also offering an accessible and centralized space to access my writing in its entirety. 

In closing: collect the sruff that’s important to you, and keep it somewhere safe. You never know if it’ll get nuked off the face of the internet eventually. This community, like all others, is a transitory one. If my own hypothesis is correct, isolated tulpamancy communities are becoming a thing of the past, merging into wider plural circles and blending concepts together. For the most part, I don’t see this as a bad thing. Nevertheless, it means that tulpamancy-specific resources run the risk of becoming less relevant. It is our job as individuals to save what is valuable to us. Without proof of something existing, it is quickly forgotten. I do not want to lose what does not have to be lost. 

[warsofasoiaf]

Came across this dribble on Reddit and was curious what your thoughts would be:

“We see House Stark through the eyes and actions of Ned Stark. As a result, the vast majority of fans end up believing Ned Stark to be representative of the Stark family. But the thing is … Ned Stark is a major aberration from the traditional Stark values. Hence the fan misunderstanding of what House Stark is all about.

The slogan of House Stark is Winter is Coming. And that has been the central guiding philosophy of House Stark and its leaders.

During Winter, the North is all but uninhabitable. If Winter lasts for a year, or years, it means mass starvation and a plummeting of the North’s population. It is the duty of House Stark to minimize the impact of Winter and also to pull the North back to a position of strength after a harsh and terrible winter. It is also imperative for House Stark to recognize that no matter how good things might seem, Winter is Coming. It’s always coming.

For this reason, a “Good Stark” carries the following virtues:

(a) Harsh (some might say … stark) personality

(b) Indifference to Southern politics and affairs

Ned Stark for example lacked the “hardness” of traditional Starks, and was willing to take large risks just so to avoid the murder of children, including Jon Snow, Daenerys, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen. Ned Stark also traveled South to serve as Robert’s Hand, married a Tully from the Riverlands, and marched South during Robert’s Rebellion. The same applies to Robb who also marched south after his father’s imprisonment. Robb further deviated from Stark values by marching south during Autumn, the time of year when it was most imperative for Starks to stay in the North, bringing in the harvest, stockpiling food, and preparing for Winter.

Better Stark examples would be e.g. Alaric Stark who had a reputation for being hard and (again) stark. Or Cregan Stark who refused to march during Autumn and only marched south during Winter, after all the harvests were collected, with men who were more than happy to die in battle because that way they would not have to burden their relatives back home and so more of the women and children could survive the harsh winter months (or years).”

First, factual problems. Cregan Stark did not march with "men who were more than happy to die in battle because that way they would not have to burden their relatives back home." The Winter Wolves under Roddy the Ruin were explicitly mentioned as greybeards who would have "gone hunting" during the harsh winter, not Cregan

The idea that the Starks exhibit "indifference to Southern politics and affairs" is laughable. Torrhen Stark put down the Sunderland revolt at Aegon's royal request. Ellard Stark supports Laenor in the Great Council of 101. Cregan Stark became the Hand of the King and purged the royal court and has the Pact of Ice and Fire. Rickon Stark fought so notably in the Conquest of Dorne that Daeron wrote about him. Rickard Stark fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings and was one of the principle architects of the Southron Ambitions conspiracy. The Kings of Winter fought with the Falcon Kings over the Sisters in the War Across teh Water, playing Reversi with the Arryns for generations. Hell, King Theon Stark sailed across the Narrow Sea to put the fear of the Old Gods in the Andals for daring to try to land on his shores.

Similarly, a "harsh" personality is hardly indicative of all Starks, even restricting it only to the Lords of Winterfell (since discussions of "all Starks" would inevitably run afoul of Sansa Stark, whose most prominent character trait is romantic compassion). Cregan Stark in the Hour of Wolf fights for the sacred body of king Aegon II even though he fought against him in a civil war. To Cregan, the principle was as such that "regicide, even through inaction, must be punished." That's not harsh, that's abiding a set of clearly-defined principles. Alaric spoke fairly harshly with King Jaehaerys in the tomb under Winterfell, but the text displays a fierce love with his brother, so much so that he risked breaking decorum and *almost defending the (he still calls them the "worst", but it's striking that he says the revolt happened due to lack of food as opposed to a condemnation for lack of moral fibre) Night's Watch mutineers just to tell Jaehaerys that it was *his* action that cost the life of his brother and that he could stuff his apologies. Brandon Stark, raised to be the Lord of Winterfell, so fiercely loved and defended his sister that he went down to King's Landing personally to call Rhaegar out.

While GRRM sometimes fumbles the ball and makes some houses extremely one-note to the distinct disadvantage of the story (every Bracken being an asshole makes the Blackwood-Bracken feud weaker), we cannot say that about the Starks. There is some truth in this passage - House Stark rules over lands that are brutalized by the irregular Westerosi seasons and so needs to prepare for winter, hence their house words, but it takes this fact along with some faulty assumptions to jump to a conclusion that's very off the mark.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[nekohime19]

🌟Neko Shadowpeach Au Guide!🌟

I have so many Shadowpeach Au I can't even 😭

This post is mainly for me to organize myself bc I'm beginning to have a lot of ideas for Au, and a lot of Au in general and I need to write that somewhere or I'm gonna get lost, 😌.

But also it's to let you guys know about future Au I would probably write and see if you like them.

Of course if you guys have any questions about any of my Au's, even the unpublished one, feel free to ask, 😁.

alright here we go :

Published

Monkeys silly love life :

Summary : Macaque never met the great sage, nor the brotherhood, he simply lived like a hermit until his lantern was stolen by a thrall. He finds himself coming to Megapolis in search of his lantern, there he meets MK, his friends and one particularly insistent golden-furred monkey who seems keen on flirting with him despite the Lady Bone Demon taking over the world.

Fic : series of three fic on Ao3

Who said you can't flirt in an apocalypse?

Monkeys discovering the wide world of dating.

I know the world is ending but will you marry me?

Status : all fics completed

Vibe : fluff and humor

Heart behind the lie :

Summary : Sun Wukong's mind is severely damaged by the Lady Bone Demon's possession, leading him to act like a beast. Macaque being the only person he trusts in this state, he is designated as his babysitter. Macaque refuses at first but then finds himself needing magic to survive and decides to accept being a babysitter to better steal Sun Wukong's magic. He might became more attached than he planned for.

Fic : fic on Ao3 + being re-published on Tumblr with two chapters a day

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : emotional angst, feels and fluff

Publishing day : At least once a week

Tumblr tag (including fanarts /answers /memes /chapters) : Heart behind the lie

Mini Mac :

Summary : One day Sun Wukong discovers that a little black-furred monkey had been living in the walls of his stone mansion and decides to befriend him. Problem is, the little black-furred beauty is not keen on deepening his relationship with him, thus the sage has to gain his trust first.

Fic : one fic on Tumblr and Ao3

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : fluff, humor and very light angst

Publishing day : at least once a week

Tumblr tag (including memes / answers / fanarts/chapters) : Mini Mac au

Bimawen :

Summary : What if Heaven actually gave weight to the title of Bimawen and treated Sun Wukong with respect, even if reluctant? Sun Wukong would have never gone on a rampage and quietly taken care of the horses. Years after Sun Wukong has taken his horsley duties Heaven found another celestial monkey, the Six-eared Macaque causing mayhem in the mortal world. The macaque is judged and if he wants to avoid his execution, he has to become the bimawen's assistant. The problem is the monkeys don't really like each other.

Fic : one on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : fluff, humor and feels / JTTW oriented

Publishing day : Once to twice a month (often more bc I'm inspired)

Tumblr tag (including memes / fanarts / answers / chapters) : Bimawen au

Share my glow (co-writing with Pen-Women)

Summary : Macaque never met Wukong in his life. He is known as the Shadow Weaver, a mysterious entity who guides the one lost in the night. His lantern is the last artifact LBD needs to complete her mech and take over the world. When his forest is frozen by the Thrall he has no choice but to follow a troublesome team of heroes with a particularly flirty Monkey King.

Fic : one in Ao3

Status : completed

Vibe : fluff and angst / ABO

AITA for sleeping with the guy my girlfriend is cheating on me with? :

Summary : A reddit style story with interactive comments about Wukong mess of a love life (and his gay awakening). Wukong learns his girlfriend is cheating on him so in an act of pettiness he confront the secret side boyfriend. What he didn't expect was to get along with Macaque and, after explaining the situation and discovering Macaque had no idea he was a side piece, to get hammered and sleep with him.

Fic : on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : completed (for now)

Vibe : crack and humor

Tumblr tag : AITA shadowpeach

Love Addicts :

Summary : After the end of season 5, Wukong realize that he doesn't have anything left to teach MK and feels... at the same time proud and sad. He looks back on his life and feels more alone than ever now that his student is stretching his wings.

Simultaneously, there is a strange door appearing in his room leading to a bar selling all kinds love potions. And Wukong thinks that, perhaps, a night of pleasure could help him feel less lonely. Somehow Macaque agree to this madness, and they both drink a potion that helps them forget their fight and heighten their senses, lasting for one night only.

They both didn't expect to enjoy that night so much.

Nor did they expect to come back for more

And now real feelings are getting involved.

Fic : on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : not completed

Vibe : smut and fluff and angst

Tumblr tag : love addicts au

Publishing day : once a month

Unpublished

So here is are my ideas for different Au's! Of course, bc those are still ideas in working, summaries might change a lil bit when I actually write them. Idk if I'll write them all though. They're classed from the one I want to write the most after I'm finished with Heart behind the lie and Mini Mac to ideas in passing.

Love rings true :

Summary : Sun Wukong took the throne of the Jade Emperor after the attack on Heavens orchestrated by the brotherhood. One day, Wukong gain a new jester, the most famous entertainer of the mortal realm : the Six-eared Macaque. Wukong becomes very enamored with his new jester but he doesn't know how to talk to him. As such he decides to approach him in an unusual way... He becomes a bell and spend the day at his jester's side, on his hat.

Fic : will be on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : unwritten / Planning this after Mini Mac

Vibe : fluff and humor

Pacific rim Au :

Summary : For a long time, Sun Wukong and Macaque were the best Rangers in the world. Their performance was flawless, their compatibility undeniable, they piloted the Shadowpeach as if it was a part of their own bodies. But after a particular incident, they were never able to pilot together again. Years after, Macaque is required to pilot with Wukong for one last time. One last mission. Maybe having the world on the line will push them both to rekindle what was once lost.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : unwritten : fleshing out the lore

Vibe : feels and fluff, smut

Tumblr tag (including lore) : Shadowpeach pacific rim au

Monkey Cop Mania :

Summary : Both monkeys find themselves being transported to a movie-like dimension in which Sun Wukong is the insanely famous Monkey Cop and Macaque a world-wide known thief accused of murder. If they want to get back to their own dimension, they have to solve a murder and finish the movie's scenario. Problem is neither mystic monkeys turn out to be great detectives.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3

Status : unwritten

Vibe : Humor and feels

Once upon a monkey

Summary : various long one shots of shadowpeach being in different fairy tales.

How to bewitch the witch : Wukong is the prince of the Sun Kingdom and falls in love with the cruel sea witch, Macaque, while said witch was destroying his wedding with the mermaid prince, Azure. Once Azure returns to his kingdom and their wedding falls void, Wukong does everything in his power to court Macaque. Turns out, courting a sea witch is quite difficult.

The strongest of them all : Macaque is a magic mirror with the ability to hear past, present and future terribly in love with his owner, the King Sun Wukong. One day Sun Wukong learns that he's not the strongest anymore, but that he's step-son, MK, is. Macaque, after listening to the future, fears for his King and tries to better the relationship between MK and Wukong.

Fighting Beauty : Macaque is prince Sun Wukong personal guard, in charge of guarding him until his betrothed comes to rescue him from the sleeping spell casted upon him. Things get awkward when Macaque awakens Sun Wukong on his first night on duty. Sun Wukong, impatient as ever, decides to slay the dragon himself and not wait on his betrothed, Macaque is dragged in the quest despite himself.

Midnight Illusion : Macaque is at day the mistreated step-son of the Lady Bone Demon, and at night the leader of the most fearsome thieves of the Sun Kingdom. He's unfortunately caught by the royal guard in the middle of a thievery. He's given two choices by the Sun King himself : either spend the rest of his life in prison, or spy on his own step-mother while also pretending to be the Sun King betrothed. Naturally, he chose the second option.

The Mage and the Monkey : Sun Wukong is cursed by the wandering mage, Macaque, after refusing to give him shelter on a stormy night. He's now the Monkey King, and he'll stay in this beastly form as long as he cannot find true love, according to the Mage, at least. But Sun Wukong is not one to stay idle, he finds the Mage huts after a lot of searching, and bugs him everyday to undo the curse. Macaque is tempted to accept, only because Sun Wukong is getting annoying.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3

Status : unwritten / rough ideas really

Vibe : Humor and fluff and angst

Narcissist :

Summary : Sun Wukong was lonely. He felt like there was a wedge between him and the world, that no-one could ever understand him. Even his successor couldn't hope to breach his shell. Pushed by his loneliness, Wukong stole a forbidden book from the gods with the vilest spells written in it and bring his shadow to life.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3

Status : unwritten / very rough idea

Vibe : angst, fluff and horror (Mac being an eldritch horror)

I'll add Au's to this guide if I have any more that I think of, but that's all for now.

[frootynovak]

casey + alex vs. smartphones

when bored or taking a break from reviewing her case notes, casey plops down on the couch (most of the time accompanied by a beloved bag of potato chips) scrolling through instagram reels of cat videos that she sometimes sends to alex.

alex calls casey out from the dining table where she’s preparing her cases and yells at her to stop sending her stupid videos because her phone keeps pinging. under grumpy breath, alex opens casey’s messages to watch the videos she sent. she smiles and wonders whether it is time for them to try and adopt a pet.

other things casey does with her smartphone:

1. casey learns new recipes by watching youtube videos so she could impress alex with her cooking skills. she also browses tagged restaurants on instagram reels so she could take alex there if she thinks they’re worth it.

2. she leaves movie reviews on letterboxd, especially if the ending of a movie really upset her

3. when she’s antsy, she plays harvest moon/stardew valley

4. casey has pinterest boards that she updates regularly: “date with alex ❤️”, “small tattoo ideas”, “poems that remind me of alex ❤️”, “stupid memes”

5. she has a reddit account but never posts. she uses it just to read the ridiculously funny and the questionably morbid.

casey’s google search history:

how to handle anxiety symptoms / sous vide vs. pressure cooking / are all orange cats crazy / gone girl actress / is orange from the color or the fruit / do fish pee / is bloodbending illegal / duck penis / date night ideas / is mayonnaise better for grilled cheese / padded sliding mats / jurassic park survival guide / new ways to pleasure your girlfriend / silly cat names / sneaky ways to ask your girlfriend to marry you / will our cat attempt to eat our pet fish if we decide to also keep fish pets / gelato vs. ice cream / what to give wife for first anniversary

things alex does with her smartphone:

(the first thing alex does in the morning after brushing her teeth is checking whether she has important emails that need to be urgently responded to)

1. she has a binaural beats/nature sounds app so she can listen to them to help her with anxiety when casey is not around

2. her mobile games of choice are (a) duolingo - to channel her competitiveness and always get to number 1 on leaderboards; (b) merge cooking; (c) nyt games - to pass time when she can’t sleep

3. casey encouraged alex to start journaling to help relieve some symptoms of anxiety. for convenience, alex uses the notion app as a semi-journal, semi-to-do list. at the end of a tiring day and esp if casey is on a work trip, she scribbles a brief narrative of how her day went and how it made her feel. sometimes, she shares her notes to casey.

4. convenience apps: uber, uber eats, doordash, pocket yoga, skyscanner, wise, paypal, opentable, airbnb, booking.com

5. alex has subscription to both apple music and spotify. she insists that sound quality is better in apple music but spotify’s user interface is friendlier. she has different playlists for each mood, and made playlists for casey. she hasn’t shared all those playlists to her though.

alex’s google search history:

are there any advantages to castling queenside? / how do you politely ask someone for their instagram account but as a friend? / what does it mean when young people say that “this is sending me”? / how to tell your girlfriend you love her without having to say it explicitly? / are intrinsic motivations learned? / what restaurant serves the best grilled cheese in manhattan? / list of fragrances with subtle sillage appropriate to wear at work / what signs to look out for which indicates that your girlfriend wants to marry you? / list of the most romantic places for honeymoon / best galleries to visit while in Barcelona / how hard is it to raise a child?

[librarycards]

Hi there! I wanted to reach out and ask for some recommended reading for adults that are considering transitioning? I tried before in my 20s but felt like I was in such a bad mental state regarding my looks, but I’ve been thinking about trying again

thanks for the message! i suppose i should start by asking what you mean by "transitioning" - do you mean coming out to those around you - friends, or your school/workplace, or your family, or everyone? do you mean deciding to pursue biomedical / legal transition? there are a lot of ways to "transition" depending on where you're at in terms of living a trans life - bc that's what transition is. moving toward a trans life. what that means is up to you.

in terms of reading materials, if you're looking for medical/legal advice, I legitimately recommend reddit over almost anything else [if you can sift through the general assholery that makes tumblr look like eden). There are subreddits and threads with information dedicated to any procedure or question you can imagine, with the massive caveat in the u.s. that right now, our access to...everything is in limbo, especially if you're in a particularly reactionary state. & no matter where you are, just don't try to update your documentation right now. and especially don't get the X, if it's available. JUST DON'T. IT'S A STUPID DECISION. Check out the Transgender Law Center for more details/updates in the u.s.

As for books, you've got a lot of options. For fiction/fictionish about coming-toward & settling into trans subjectivity, there's Nevada, Little Fish, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, and (obviously) Stone Butch Blues. There's also a lot of good nonfiction/memoir on this topic: Trans: A Memoir, Exile & Pride, Brilliant Imperfection, We Both Laughed in Pleasure, Fairest, Tomboy Survival Guide, Gender Failure, Time is the Thing a Body Moves Through, Butch is a Noun, and Dear Senthuran.

For more "practical" nonfiction, you've got Fucking Trans Women and Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (including the 2nd edition here bc I wrote the Disability chapter!). The former is by and for trans people -- particularly transfems and the people who love them - and the latter offers more general information on trans experiences navigating bureaucracy and social life that may also be helpful if and when you need to ~educate~ the cis people around you. There's also Jules Gill-Peterson's newsletter, Sad Brown Girl, which is not super active but has a delicious archive. For scholarly nonfiction, try Queer Embodiment and Trans Care, both by Hil Malatino.

I realize as I write this that there's not much I can recommend you to tell you whether or not you should transition. This is probably because the answer is undeniable: you should. I can't make you; no one can; no book is going to be the thing that finally convinces you to stop living a lie. But, I mean, we each get one wild & precious life - why not try being the person you'll be proud to be? Why not live a life beyond cis suffocation? I think these critical questions will do more for you than any book.

[scrambledd3ggss]

intro post

Hello! My names Ruby, I go by she/her pronouns. I talk a lot so I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.

I like to read, crochet, embroider, draw, listen to music (unfortunately my music taste consists of sad girl music and show tunes), act and sing, and sometimes I write. Sometimes. Basically I’ll learn any craft out of nowhere because I saw a cute Pinterest post about it (Pinterest is unfortunately my favorite app ever)

I’m currently reading Five Survive by Holly Jackson with my friends

I’m into a lot of different things, so I’ll list everything under the cut to save everyone time. oh and TW I am a theatre kid 😔💔

I am a minor! So, you know, don’t send me/tag me in any like extremely nsfw content because I will be uncomfortable :)

DNI if you feel intense rage towards someone who is even slightly different than you! That’s gross and I won’t tolerate hate here. Thats basically it! Alright the long list of Media I Enjoy is under this cut

Charlie Thorne

Spy School

Moon Base Alpha

Funjungle

A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder

One Of Us Is Lying

Riordanverse (I’ve read every book except for the Kane Chronicles, BUT THEY ARE ON MY TBR!!)

Epic the Musical

Caesar the Musical

The Outsiders (all of it- mostly the book and musical though)

Compound Fracture (AJW)

Hell Followed With Us (AJW)

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth (AJW)

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Newsies

Hadestown

The land of Stories

Sherlock & Co podcast

Dungeons and Drama

9-1-1

Smosh (mainly Smosh Reads Reddit Stories)

None Shall Sleep

Gravity Falls

Ride the Cyclone

Watcher (mainly Puppet History [i am a YouTube viewer])

all edit to add anything I may have forgotten

[itsaspectrumcomic]

Hi,

I just scrolled through the entirity of your blog & I love it very much so I wanted to thank you for it <33 & your comic is sooo awesome <33

Also, in some of your replies you mention being in autistic discord servers, and I would like to know how you found them & if you can recommend any? If you don't want to answer that that's fine of course

Also also, do you have any recommendations for books about autism?

I'm just starting out with like everything and I find books an easy and fun way to learn, and having a space somewhere online to talk about it would be great.

Also also also, sorry for how badly worded all this is, english is my second language and my brain is not working atm because my brother is in my room and won't blow his nose and is breathing badly with a snot filled nose. Also sorry for how rambly this all is

Thank you I'm glad you like it! <3

I found some of them through other artists I follow, some through reddit threads, some by searching on the site Disboard.

I'm not sure I should share the ones I'm in on this blog - for most of them I need permission to share invite links and I don't want to overwhelm the admins. But there are a surprising number of them around if you search in autism subreddits and on Disboard so I'm sure you'll find some you like hanging out in :)

For books, I always reccommend Untypical by Pete Wharmby! There's also The Spectrum Girl's Survival Guide by Siena Castellon, which she wrote when she was 16. I know it says girls but I think a lot of it can be applied to any gender :)

[granny-griffin]

making post ch 419 fanworks survival guide

technical knowledge

names of different kinds of amputation + brief descriptions of medical care

reddit acronyms for amputations (scroll down and read the comments)

surgical perspective on upper limb amputation

detailed description of rehab for upper limb amputation

fanworks tips

how to depict limb stumps

why upper limb prosthetics don’t work

personal experiences

double arm amputee reddit ask me anything

reddit post about phantom pain

[kineticpenguin]

It may not be your thing, but I'm interested to know your thoughts on World War Z & the work of Max Brooks in general. Especially given how hard you came down on stuff like GATE, and the arguably equally if-not-more ridiculous shit in WWZ ('Katanas are the perfect zombie killing weapon etc.')

I think it's a good narrative, but it suffers year upon year from the fact it has so many early-2000s tropes and misinformed views about everything from disease control to military equipment.

There was a whole year after the Zombie Survival Guide came out where you couldn't go online without seeing dipshits going on about smashing your staircase to survive the zombies, and I don't think I'll ever forgive him for that.

Max Brooks is an extremely frustrating author for me, and I sometimes wonder if I've been too hard on him in the past, and then I see some article about him and decide that if anything, I was too nice.

But as for the actual books themselves... I think the Zombie Survival Guide wasn't that great to begin with, and it hasn't aged well. Everything it tries to do has been done better by others over the last 20 years, for free, on the internet. It's kind of like one big reddit post from a Well Ackshually guy two years before the creation of Reddit. It is very, very, very silly, but takes itself completely seriously. So to me, it comes off as watching someone be extremely wrong with a really smug look on their face.

Which kinda gets me to my main problem with WWZ. Max Brooks' ideas about guns, military ordnance and the military in general are pretty goofy, and Brooks hits Peak Smug with the chapter with the secretary of... I forget what, but it's where Brooks is trying to make his point about the fragility of the military-industrial complex and the global economy, and he goes off on how expensive the Abrams is and that it runs on jet fuel, can you believe it? Can you believe how stupidly high tech our idiot military is? Where are you gonna get jet fuel in a zombie apocalypse?

I mean, the answer is pretty much "same place you get your diesel fuel, idiot." Jet fuel's not hard to make. Then there's also the fact that the Abrams' turbine engine will also run on just about anything you care to put in it, and running your turbine-powered vehicles and diesel-powered vehicles on the same fuel actually simplifies logistics.

It's like a zombie apocalypse envisioned by a liberal whose mindset was firmly set in the 1990s, with The End of History and The Last Man, Pentagon Wars, and boomer memes about M16s being unreliable shit.

[therealbeachfox]

Hi, I have another ask about stuff in TCAK series!

I'm so fascinated by all the bits and pieces that you drop about Con's past and Gotham in general. We of course have all the reddit stories in part one, like all the times people thought Con was dead, but there's a whole bunch of things that are referenced but not fully explained. Off the top of my head: however Con ended up with Caleb (something about ending up trapped in a demon worshippers basement?); posing as a kidnapping victim; a bunch of things listed at the very beginning of TCAK Meets the Second Robin. How do you come up with all of those and how do you keep it all straight? And, selfishly I want to know, are we going to get backstories or will they remain mysteries?

Also this section from TCAK Meets Matches Malone which was so evocative that I am dying to know how you came up with it.

This wasn’t an uncommon experience for Gothamites.             It was rarely openly acknowledged, never actually discussed, but everyone had the experience. The way that the world would seem to unmoor itself and slip an inch or two to the side as you stood there, looking down an alleyway that you knew had never been there before, the shadows in it deeper and darker than they should be. Or listened to the intermingled thrumming warbles of pigeons and calling of crows and hearing the shapes of words behind the noise. Or looking at graffiti and seeing the hints of riddles that hadn’t been asked yet beneath the chaos. Strange shapes that’d lurk on rooftops that weren’t Bats. Voices from sewer grates, faded and green-stained copper plaques on the sides of buildings that’d never been there before and would never be there again. Looking through a gap between buildings and for an instant seeing a skyline you’d never seen before. Gotham was filled with the unexplained. It was built from mysteries.

Thank you!!

Alright, let's take this in sections!

Part I: Untold Stories

I really need to figure out a way to rewrite the opening to TCAK Meets Robin because enough people've been confused that I was obviously unclear.

Basically, everything mentioned (Chained in some demon-worshiper's basement, standing on top of Wayne Tower, getting held at lasergun-point, the ice-covered skyscraper, the reality-rending) are all future events (laid out in more or less chronological order) that will be happening down the line. All points in the future where Conrad's going to be going "How the FUCK did this become my life? ...Oh right, when I found out that Boss was Robin."

When I was half-way through Reddit Posts, I decided that yes, I was absolutely going to try and make a huge thing of this, and sat down to at least try and sketch out a plot-arc to follow. Which is where all the future events came from. And so far, I've managed to stick to it pretty well. The plot-beats have just managed to expand on me despite my best efforts. :)

Plot beat 2: Some-asshole w/ magical artifact attacks Red Hood's shit. Conrad beats down. Matches should be there, why not (Con thinks Matches = Batman?) *good place to have Con "die" onscreen

Basically, anything that shows up as a passing reference or Noodle Incident is something I have a fuller version of in my head, the details just aren't important at the time. A number of things will probably only stay references just because showing them onscreen would really harsh the vibe (the details of Bianca's Joker-Gas bombing and the aftermath, the shelter fire Conrad survived at 17) but I keep them in mind in case there ever does come a good point to include them and to guide how I portray Conrad.

Don't know if how Conrad and Caleb officially met will ever get a place to slide in, but in summery: In the wake of the shelter fire, Conrad was back to living on the streets, not doing the best with his situational awareness, and gets kidnapped by the same assholes who'd grabbed Caleb and buddies from their abandoned building squat. They figured Conrad and Caleb looked enough alike that they could be rented out as "brothers", so they got put together. Once Conrad pulled himself back together (figuring this was just a week or two at most since he'd watched a bunch of his friends burn to death, so he's not at his best), he goes all Conrad at the situation which ends with whatever building they were being kept in aflame, a bunch blood everywhere, a bunch of kids back on the street, and a fully adopted little cousin to take care of.

The "Posing as a kidnap victim" was actually a whole side-digression I'd written out, but it was almost a mini-story of its own only without a point or real resolution, just 'and here's another way my parents fucking sucked but also taught me how to be utterly terrifying', so I wound up cutting it out and just left the side reference and the dream of that persona taking over his life and kicking him out. It might come up again later, or I might sit down with it and work it into an actual Side Story, but not currently.

Part II: Creepy Gotham:

I -love- urban horror/suburban creepy shit. I blame 1990s tabletop RPGs, but I keep the vibes fed with a steady diet of "Creepy /AskReddit Compilations". That specific section you quoted, however? I'll admit, I was pretty much channeling the vibe and writing style of "Unknown Armies", an utterly -fantastic- tabletop RPG that is just one of my favorite things and I find hard to describe without descending into an hour-long ramble.

Basically, a modern world with a secret occult underground of very disturbed people. Everything happens for a reason, but fuck if you're likely to ever know what that reason is. The stuff I wrote back in the day for online forums in the Unknown Armies style merged with the Gotham spooky atmosphere, the occult horror element of DCU that's gotten more prevalent since Constantine and friends became central elements, and particular future plot-points I wanted to seed hints of so you get the urge to throttle me when you re-read that section a year from now.

[kimarisgundam]

Update on Peanut: She made a full recovery! Her arm healed, she can move her fingers again, and her hair hasn't grown back... but the soothing cream from the vet healed her chemical burns 😀

I "soft" released her in a park near my apartment block cos I saw other wild mice there

I couldn't do a "proper" soft release because she refused to stay in her shelter... but I left her flower pot, water bowl, and food dish there (I can't use a paper box cos I live in a tropical country. It'll turn into mush and grow mold really fast)

I've been topping up food every morning as per the guide I read. I spotted Peanut at the food dish once with another mouse... but I think she forgot who I am cos she ran away 🥲

She used to let me hold her when she was living with me 🥲. But I guess this is for the best 🥲. Be wild and free Peanut! Everyone in the clinic misses you, but we are happy you're free!

^ pics of me bathing her 🤣. Reddit is an excellent resource for information on how to rehabilitate wild mice + how to safely release wild mice!

Also, I want to thank the many people on tumblr who reached out and told me to use vegetable oil to remove the glue from her skin! You saved Peanut's life 😭

And just a PSA... but please don't use glue traps... this is what Peanut looked like when me and my colleagues rescued her...

She was crying and struggling so hard in the trap that she twisted her left arm and tail... her ear was also glued shut

My colleague said she wanted to cry cos Peanut had a "I give up. I'm ready to die" look in her eyes :(

And after washing the glue off, her hair slowly fell off in clumps cos she developed a chemical burn/rash...

We filled a complaint to pest control to have all glue traps removed from the building. We want to make sure no one else has to get traumatised like us ;_;

I get that rats/mice are pests... but we feel no one deserves to suffer like this. And it's not like the mice asked to be born pests... they are just trying to survive like us :(