#reusable pads are the same way

[technicolorxsn]

someone should invent a menstrual product that doesn't make cramps hurt worse

[bahrlee]

I think shaming people who would rather wear pads than use tampons (and vise versa but I usually see it like this, probably because im a pad warrior and internet algorithms feed on showing you stuff that makes you angry lol) is rather stupid and seems to come from a place of internalized misogyny to me, especially when tampon users shame others for being afraid to put something inside of them, or call pads smelly and unhygenic, and compare them to wearing diapers (which completely ignores that some, usually disabled adults, have to wear actual diapers--wonder if they'd call that unhygenic too).

To me, one isnt truly superior, we are all just bleeding profusely once a month and trying to manage it in a way that's comfortable for us on an indivisual level. Ive watched cis men get grossed out over any used period product in general--they find used pads gross, they find used tampons gross, they dont care how we collect the blood that comes out of us. Many STILL quiver at the thought of even buying either at the store, when theyre not even out of the box yet. So what is the point of mestruators acting like using one or the other is more "clean" based on rather close minded rhetoric? No use being objective when in reality it's all just preferences and that's okay.

[thedeathwitchescats]

If you feel the need to gift your chronically ill friends things for whatever reason, here is my "starter pack/gift guide"

A pack of their favorite gateorade flavor, great for hydration, tastes good, easy and quick. Body armor, prime, etc are also good options if they dont like gateorade

Some of their favorite powder electrolytes. Liquid IV and drip drop are some good options. There are also the generic brand electrolyte packets at Walmart, I think they taste good. There is also bouy if they like the squeezy ones, i dont but if they do bouy has an unflavored one as well as like 30 different options

Kt tape. Regular, extreme strength, cooling, heating, literally any type of kt tape. They can probably find a use for it. Most ((not all but most)) chronically ill people, at least the ones I know, suffer from some type of joint issues and kt tape is a life saver. On this vein, I would stray away from braces unless you know what joints/muscles specifically give them the most trouble, kt tape is a bit more versatile

Compression socks, there are cute ones on Amazon, Walmart, many small business sell some nice ones. I would go for a higher compression, or at least upwards of 15 mmhg, for the best chance of them being worth it

Temperature devices, im putting these in the same bullet point bc it felt unnecessary to put ice packs and heating pads in different points. Ice packs are really nice for swelling and heating pads are really good for pain. Both are a good option ALWAYS. I will say, the reusable ice packs give you a better bang for your buck than the single use crack and use ones.

Their comfort foods. A bit of an ed tw for this bullet point, but i have noticed quite a few of my fellow chronic illness sufferers deal with an ed, and while it isnt all of us, those who do probably find it a bit extra hard to eat on rough days. So comfort foods/snacks

If they have to take their blood sugar for things, lancets. They usually come in like 100 packs for really cheap, like under 5 bucks cheap. Just check to see the brand of their lancing pen before you buy them tho

Batteries, it sounds weird but stay with me. Do you know how many medical devices I have that require batteries?? MANY. My hr monitor, my glucose monitor, my blood pressure monitor- like bro, a pack of triple a batteries will mean more than you think trust

A weighted blanket/stuffie. Stuffies are cute and easy to carry around, blankets are nice when you need some extra weight

If they have a service animal, an accessory for their vest/leash/collar could be nice

One of those reacher things that grab things for you. I want one of those. When your stuck in bed, cant move, ill, in pain and suddenly drop your mother fucking phone cord off the side of your bed and now you have to MOVE and grab it- 10/10 worst experience. One of those grabby things would be amazing

A migraine cap. I got mine from target but I have seen them at Walmart, on Amazon, weirdly one on depop, some on shein, some at places like tj maxx, etc. Migraine caps are especially wonderful for those days where your shut in your room, blinds drawn, fans off, three ice packs on you in constant rotation, barely mobile and for some gods forsaken reason your blinds wont close all the way so the light keeps catching your eyes and making you want to lose your ever loving shit bc you cant move to fuck with them. And more normal experiences Im sure lmao

If your short on funds, just being there with them, listening to them, watching a movie, body doubling so they can get some help with chores, running errands with them, literally anything so they remember their a human person with human feelings that you love and care abt. Who knows, it might help you feel better too

More than anything, listening to what they want and need is a bigger gift than most think

[starshideurfics]

Off the deep end - part two

part one

Wet dreams are super common for both alphas and omegas in the months post-presentation. Omegas usually have it worse even though no one talks about it as much.

But Steve’s pretty sure he’s an outlier.

He only had a few bad nights at camp, but once he’s home it feels like every other night.

And the dreams he can remember are intense—blood and fire, teeth and claws, all turning soft and sweet, dark chocolate eyes and callused fingers. He wakes with soaked pajamas and sheets, his pussy aching to be filled.

He’ll use his fingers, try to find relief, but it’s never enough.

Usually, nights after he’s seen Eddie are less intense for Steve, like he’s sated the animal part of him that cries for its mate. At least a little bit.

A part of him—that same animal part—loves it, that his body knows what it wants and takes it. He wants to roll in his soiled sheets, make his scent as strong as possible, rub his slick into his skin to draw his alpha to him.

But a much bigger part of him is annoyed. His mother insists that he do his own laundry when it comes to this, that he keep his space neat and clean if he still wants to be allowed out of the house.

This has him washing his sheets constantly, defaulting only to his white sheets, the acidity of his slick bleaching the color from anything else.

Which leaves him with two sets that he rotates through, his laundry needs slowing down his mornings and often making him late to meet Eddie.

And when Eddie asks, Steve is honest. It earns him some *very* heavy petting and the closest to dry humping that Steve can feasibly manage. They remain fully clothed that afternoon.

It starts Eddie’s mind turning, searching for a solution, and he happens across it in a slightly racy fantasy novel. He presents it proudly to Steve in the week before school is set to begin again, placing soft, quilted cotton into his hands.

“Eddie, what is this?”

“A bed pad. I guess they make disposable ones now, but I figured a reusable one would be better for you.”

Steve flushes all the way to his ears. Bed pads aren’t talked about much, mostly gifted to newlyweds for use during heats. Which has him thinking about heats. About sharing his heat.

About Eddie sharing his heat.

Steve slicks so much that it overflows his pad, and Eddie’s nostrils flair.

“You got a rubber?” Steve asks, knuckles white as he grips the bed pad, nosing at Eddie’s neck.

“Yeah,” Eddie breathes, hands on Steve’s hips, holding him close.

“Good.” Steve drags Eddie to the nearest restroom, they fuck, and he changes his pad before they leave the stall.

💦💦💦

Steve’s first heat after he presents should be tolerable. Nice even. His mother says early heats are easier—less painful—to trick omegas into thinking pregnancy won’t be so bad.

Steve figures no matter how bad pregnancy is, he’d get a baby at the end. A pup of his own, his and Eddie’s.

Which he knows is stupid. He’s not even 16 yet, he doesn’t want a baby right now.

He just wants his boyfriend to knot him through his heat.

And he knows his parents would never let him, not if they can help it. That’s why he’s been making plans, talked with Eddie about saving up for a heat hotel.

Steve has his allowance, even though his father threatens to cut him off every time he catches Steve with Eddie upstairs.

And Eddie has a job, helping out at Thatcher Tire, so one of the cheaper rooms is perfectly within reach.

The only problem is early heats are unpredictable. It can take a few years for an omega to settle into a regular cycle. Some omegas go an entire year after presenting without a heat. Some will have a weak heat barely a month after presenting.

Steve’s doctor had warned him that his situation meant his heat was likely to come in the fall—having a compatible alpha around would help his hormones settle his cycle.

He just didn’t count on it hitting over Thanksgiving break.

His parents are home all week—no business meetings or holiday travel because his mother’s parents expect them on time for dinner on Thursday.

Too bad Steve would miss it.

Steve is tired on Wednesday, not having slept well the night before, so Eddie gives him a ride home from school, and instead of making out in his newly-acquired, but still old van, Steve nuzzles against Eddie’s hair and nearly falls asleep.

Eddie practically carries him to his front door.

Then he goes straight up to bed, falling asleep in his clothes, content to snuffle against the t-shirt he stole from Eddie’s room the last time he was over.

Steve sleeps for 13 hours.

When he wakes, his skin feels too tight, itchy and sticky as he struggles out of his clothes.

His panties cling to him, absolutely drenched with his slick. Only then does he feel the deep ache between his legs, how his blood must all be in his pussy, his labia puffy and sensitive.

A keening whine escapes his throat, crying out for help—for Eddie—but all he gets is his mother.

“I could smell it on you this morning, and I pulled the phone from your room, so don’t even think about calling him,” she says through the door, voice tight. “Without an alpha, you should be through it by tomorrow morning. I’ll bring you leftovers from Nona’s”

“You’re leaving?”

If they leave, he can call Eddie. It’s like she’s forgotten there are other phones in the house.

Steve forces himself to his feet and wobbles over to the door. His stiff fingers close around the knob, but he can’t get it to turn.

It won’t turn. He’s locked in.

“Mom?”

“Steven, you’re staying in your room. Dad is staying home, and I won’t be gone long. Kisses.” He can hear her on the stairs.

Steve tries the knob one last time before sobbing as he sinks to the floor, overwhelmed as he peels off his wet panties, and grinds against his hand, needing relief.

But relief doesn’t come.

His only relief is Eddie. He only wants Eddie. Instead, he pants and cries, aching and horny, fingers going pruney in his pussy, his floor covered in slick by the time his heat breaks 17 hours later.

His mother hires a steam cleaner to get it all out of the carpet.

💦💦💦

Eddie meets Rick at Thatcher. He drives like an idiot, needs things looked at regularly, but he’s easy-going. Friendly.

When he sees Eddie on a smoke break, he asks to bum one. It turns to casual banter, which turns to Rick asking why Eddie’s got this after school job, what with Al’s reputation.

Eddie bristles, but Rick laughs, says he’s impressed that Eddie bother’s with grunt work, that Wayne must be a really good influence, and how much does he make? $3.45 an hour isn’t anything to sneeze at, ‘specially not for Eddie, being so young.

“But you could make 10 times that, working for me.”

Rick ashes his cigarette and quirks his brow, waiting.

“Like hell I could,” Eddie scoffs.

“More even, if you put in the effort.”

And $3.45 an hour is more than minimum wage, more than Eddie expected when he was hired, but he only gets 10 hours a week.

He’s not stupid. He knows what Rick does. Knows what’s being offered. Wayne wants him focused on school, on doing better for himself than any other Munson has managed.

But Eddie already has. He’s got Steve, his scentmate. And he’s gonna take care of him.

Besides, even if Steve doesn’t care much about popularity, he still gets invited to Loch Nora parties. And by extension, so does Eddie. In one night, he could make months worth of his pay at Thatcher.

He could get Steve something real nice with that kind of money, go on a lavish date night with a little sexy something for after…

And he can still work at Thatcher…

He just can’t let Wayne know. Or Steve.

Steve was so proud when he got his job. Not that Steve would care, he and Steve have gotten high together, just once, and he’s been so sweet and floaty in Eddie’s arms. But Steve’s parents, if he knows, and they find out that he knows, they’ll flip.

Eddie drops his spent cigarette on the pavement and grinds it out with the toe of his work boot. “Okay, what do I need to do?”

“Swing by my place this weekend, I’ll get you set up.”

💦💦💦

The first Loch Nora party Eddie deals at is Alex Thompson’s Halloween party.

Steve does shots with the swim team, and again with the cheerleading squad, then grabs a solo cup of jungle juice. Eddie nurses a single Budweiser all night.

So, Steve is loose and distracted, dancing every time someone comes up to Eddie looking for weed or acid. He moves his customer to the corner, exchanges his goods for cash, and threatens each of them with being cut off by every dealer in town if they mention any of this to Steve.

Eddie leaves around midnight a few hundred dollars richer, with a cuddly, sleepy Steve hanging off his shoulder.

The cuddliness lasts until Eddie gets Steve home, the omega promptly puking in the driveway, multicolored liquid splashing on the pavement and over Steve’s shoes. Snots runs from his nose and he coughs, whining, “Eddie, never let me drink again!”

“Oh, Puppy, it’s okay,” Eddie soothes, rubbing his back. “Let’s get you some water and an aspirin.”

By the time he has Steve tucked into his bed, it’s after 1AM. Wayne expects him home, not trusting the shit teens get into on Halloween, wanting him safe. But Steve won’t let go of his hand.

He cries when Eddie stands up, and he’s too worried about Steve dehydrating himself more that he kicks off his jeans and crawls into the bed to spoon up behind him.

“I’m here, Puppy. I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.”

💦💦💦

Wayne grounds Eddie for a week when he gets home in the morning.

Not that grounding him does much. Eddie still goes to school. He still goes to work. He’s allowed to go to Hellfire because he runs the game and that’s a responsibility. But he isn’t allowed at Steve’s house, or band practice.

And Steve shows up at the trailer after school, and Wayne isn’t trying to punish Steve. (He should be, in all honesty, if he knew how drunk Steve got, just to further drive home how stupid binge drinking is.) Wayne lets Steve come in, telling him he can stay until 8, but Eddie’s grounded, they can’t go anywhere or do anything or even watch tv.

Most importantly, they aren’t allowed to hang out in Eddie’s room.

Steve doesn’t care. He just wants to be with Eddie.

Eddie doesn’t really care either. It’s a pretty light punishment for breaking curfew, all things considered.

The following Friday, Eddie takes Steve on a date to the drive-in.

They see Creepshow, and Steve spends the movie half-hiding against Eddie’s shoulder, his sodden pad crinkling in his panties every time he shifts in his seat. Eddie focuses on the movie—he wanted to see it after all—and has an arm around Steve’s shoulder, hand playing with his tit.

The credits roll, and Steve climbs into Eddie’s lap, licking into his mouth. “Can we go to something with less death next time?”

“Of course, Baby.” Eddie slides his fingers into Steve’s hair, and pulls him into another kiss. “And I got you a little something, as a thank you for going to my horror movies.” Eddie reaches into his pocket, pulls out a box. A jewelry box, long and thin. “I’ve been saving up for a while.” Which is true; it’s just his new revenue stream moved up his timeline on affording it.

Steve opens the box, revealing a simple, gold bracelet, the chain links a bit more robust, a little gold heart near the clasp. “If you want something else, we can exchange it, but I thought I could add to it as we go, tell the story of us…”

Steve plasters their lips together, overcome with desire. He grinds down on Eddie’s lap, waking up his cock. “It’s perfect.”

Eddie carefully clasps the charm bracelet around Steve’s wrist, and kisses him tenderly.

Steve crawls out of his lap, whispers, “Take me home.”

He and Eddie fuck in his bed, then again in the shower, falling asleep with their hands clasped together over Steve’s heart.

💦💦💦

[lucysarah-c]

How would Levi react to his s/o getting their period? Like, would he know a little about it or would he be completely clueless? (He has to have helped Isabel in the Underground at least once?? But they could've also been malnourished, so I don't know) Would he try to help in any way? Also, behind the walls, do you think they had pads? I think they probably used like those fabric products (menstrual belt + reusable pads).

Post war I think his s/o would be introduced to pads if they ever get their period.

P.S. this is very on theme with the recent tampons/pads news. (not to spread more panic, like, more research needs to be done, so if anyone freaks out just do what I do - panic at 50% lol)

Hi! How are you?

Oh, I think Levi is far from clueless about periods. I've written multiple one-shots about it. In the manga "A Choice with No Regrets," Levi finds Isabel as a little girl and raises her himself. I hardly doubt that Levi was clueless or wasn't the one who guided her through it the best he could. Because of this, I think Levi is well-informed about periods.

Plus, as I've mentioned before, Levi is a very straightforward, blunt man. He knows women, or at least the vast majority of them, get their periods—it's natural, it's biology. He simply takes it for what it is: men get their dicks hard, women get their periods. This man will take what life gives and simply work with it. He'll be chill and ask her if she needs anything.

And if she feels a bit ashamed about it, he'll say, "Tch, your body is your body. It's the same body that I like. If men get disgusted or ashamed of what a normal woman's body does, then they don't like women," and carry on.

About the pads. Look, hun, not even Isayama knew what he wanted to do with the clothes and the period of time that clothes inside and outside the walls should refer to. It's all over the place during the entire story, and as someone who loves historical fashion, it's annoying how inconsistent it is. So, my best advice about the pads, etc., is you do you. If you want them to have pads, tampons, etc., do it. If you want them to have a more historical type, do it. But honestly, there's no way I could say, "this is what they would wear," because the clothes they wear inside and outside the walls make absolutely no sense in terms of fabric, fashion, and limitations. So, once again, you do you.

And about the news that came out—as a scientist myself—look, don't mind it, that's my best advice. There will always be something that may help or harm you during your life, which is later found out to be bad or good for you. Some can't wear menstrual cups, me included, for example, and some don't want to. You know what's well-known to kill you? Stress. So don't mind it.

Have a nice day!

[samueldays]

Sam Reviews: Factorio Space Exploration

That's Space Exploration the factorio mod (played v0.6), not Space Age the factorio expansion coming soon. I have finally completed SE with the cooperation of two friends across 300+ hours, I don't think I would have bothered to finish on my own, but it was a fine reason to hang out and chat. I had fun, but it was very irregular fun between good bits (spaceships!!) and facepalm bits.

It's A Scale Challenge

Space Exploration is a scale challenge, and I lead with this because I find the documentation misleading. On the Getting Started SE wiki page, which is also linked from the SE mod page, it says:

Space Exploration is mostly a complexity challenge and not a scale challenge. It's completely possible to beat the game with only 20SPM, unless you play with a science multiplier. But it'll still be hard!

Similar descriptions abound. However, Space Exploration has individual technologies mandatory for victory that cost more to research than the entire tech tree of the base game up to and including the Rocket victory research.

It's even worse than that sounds.

"Cost more" can be calculated in a quick and dirty way that vanilla Factorio's Rocket Silo victory tech costs 1000 sets of science packs to research.

Its prerequisite Rocket Control Unit costs 300, and so on back down to basic Automation technology costing merely 10, all of which add up to 5750 in total.

Space Exploration has a mandatory 6400-cost tech, some 5000s, a 4000 and a 3200, several 2000-cost techs used as filler in an already overpriced and bloated tech tree, and a 8000-cost (max spaceship size) that's theoretically optional but avoiding it requires you to play Tetris with your size-constrained spaceship layout.

But the numbers are not directly comparable, and the more detailed count makes Space Exploration look even worse. "5750 sets" vanilla includes several early technologies where the set is a subset, even one single science pack, it costs 50 of [Automation Science] for basic technology and gradually fills out to the Rocket Silo costing 1000 of [Automation, Logistics, Chemical, Utility, Production Science] which is a set of 5.

Space Exploration, meanwhile:

Which is 5000 of a set that's twice as large as the largest in basegame, so more like a 10K victory tech compared to the 1K victory tech in basegame.

But that number still isn't a direct comparison, because the multi-striped science packs in there are high tier packs whose ingredients include lower tier science packs that also need to be produced. Deep Space Science 4 (the black stripes) is made with various input resources + a DSS3 pack, which is made with more input resources + a DSS2 pack, and so on. If you count the fifteen intermediate science packs, it's something like a 25K victory tech compared to the 1K in basegame.

There's numerous techs like this. If you ever play Space Exploration, I advise you to slice a zero off everything. Set the tech cost multiplier to one-tenth. It is severely padded.

Pretty Cool Spaceships

Spaceships are of course the big draw of Space Exploration, though they come pretty late in the game, and before them there's two other methods of moving stuff between planets: Cargo rockets and railguns.

The rockets are very fuel-hungry to launch and also "consume" most of their ingredient parts as stages. The delivery railguns can't move fragile objects or players, and are same-solar-system only. (They double as expensive interplanetary weapons!) Spaceships are reusable as long as you keep them refueled, and much more fuel-efficient, as well as being able to mount laser/gun turrets for defense if landing on a hostile planet. You can even put artillery in a spaceship, which my team used to create a very short-distance-hop spaceship that was more like a suborbital bomber/mobile artillery platform for clearing the hostile fauna off our home planet.

Eventually you get spaceships to transport stuff at custom speed and scale between planets, with the ability to build and design your own. Then, the ability to set spaceship automation with docking clamps and the circuit network, and can give a spaceship instructions amounting to "go to planet X and wait until your onboard storage has 40K Cryonite, go to planet Y and wait until your onboard storage has 0 Cryonite and your fuel tank is refilled". It's the Factorio experience of automating stuff you were manually handling before, but at the much larger scale of interplanetary transport.

Here is my mini-spaceship for personal transport between planets, used to go over and tinker with things, has a few chests but doesn't take bulk cargo:

The side notch is to help me align the refueling underground pipes.

The Mod Maker Is A Control Freak

In the base game you have the opportunity to research Logistics Robots, small flying drones that carry items around for you, making automated transport more convenient so you no longer have to weave together transport belts, underground belts, railroad tracks and other physically connected means of item movement in the infamous "belt spaghetti".

Space Exploration comes with a mandatory dependency on the Robot Attrition mod, which makes logistics robots randomly collide and explode destructively if you're using more than 50 of them. (There's more than 50 item types in SE, so you will want far more than 50 logistics robots.) You can't not include this other mod when playing Space Exploration. There is a game setting which looks like it disables robot attrition, but it actually only disables robot attrition in the starting zone.

"Surely there's another mod which restores robot functionality?" you might ask, since Factorio has a lot of mods. Not that I could find, possibly because Space Exploration is distributed under a "no modding my mod any further" licence, formally the Factorio Mod Limited Distribution Only Licence.

You may make alterations for your own private personal use only. You are not allowed to distribute any content from the mod, or anything altered or derived from this mod with the following exception: You may post partial modified sections of this mod in Earendel's discord https://discord.gg/ymjUVMv for the purpose of providing bug fixes or enhancements.

Binding or not, I think that's an amazingly dick move for your Cool Spaceships mod to degrade some unrelated basegame functionality and tell people they aren't allowed to post a modmod which restores that functionality.

In other control freakery, Space Exploration is flagged as incompatible with infinite resource supply/non-depleting ore patch mods for Factorio, because the SE modder feels it would ruin the intended balance of his mod. It's flagged as incompatible with teleportation mods, to force you to use rocket/spaceship transport. It's flagged as incompatible with waterfill mods to prevent you digging wells where the modder wants to enforce a logistic challenge of delivering water in barrels. It's even flagged as incompatible with some mods that change the stack size of some items, because the modder wants to ensure you are inventory-constrained and pay for logistics.

Bizarrely contrary to the spirit of modding, if you ask me, trying to enforce that the mod is played the specific way one person wants you to play it.

Padding, Filler, and Bloat

It's not just the tech tree that suffers this, it's many aspects of the mod, and I'm going to list enough of them to make this post feel ironically padded.

In regular Factorio, when you put a drill on an iron ore patch, it produces iron ore, which you put in a Furnace to smelt into iron plates.

In Space Exploration, when you put a drill on an iridite ore patch, it produces iridite ore, which you put in a Pulverizer to crush into... a random mix of crushed iridium, stone (waste byproduct), and iridite ore that you have to feed back into the pulverizer and try to crush again.

To me this is something I shouldn't have to interact with in Factorio, it should be pre-automated below my notice. If an input ore is not properly crushed in the crushing machine, the crushing machine should keep crushing it until it's crushed, rather than demanding extra player attention to its one job. Reeeee. I have no interest in my factory's machines having what is effectively a random failure chance at doing their job. There is no upgrade tech or better machine which gets rid of that random failure chance.

It might have been interesting with one processing step whose unique gimmick is a failure chance and a need to filter-loop the output back onto the input, but Space Exploration recycles this recycle gimmick over and over again to pad out different processing steps with "do it again".

-

Speaking of random failure chances...

In regular Factorio, the "science packs" are kinda high-level abstractions. You put together a pair of engines, several electronic circuits, and a handful of sulphur to create "Chemical science", which could be taken to vaguely represent a process of destructively testing or consuming something and measuring it.

In Space Exploration, the advanced sciences are data-driven, which is a cool idea. For example you put together plates of iron, copper, stone, plastic, concrete and iridite with a blank data card to create "Tensile strength data" and recycleable scrap, then you use the data card in another recipe to create "Material science" and also outputs "Junk data card" representing data you've already analyzed and can't learn more from, and then you put the junk data card into a spacecomputer to erase the contents and get back a blank data card again.

It's a neat abstract representation of science involving data collection and material testing, with a reusable computer component and am expended material component, and it's undermined by the fact that erasing junk data has a 30% failure rate. That's the chance that the Super-Engineer Protagonist, with nuclear reactors and supercooled computers, will somehow fail to turn a Junk Data Card into a Blank Data Card and will instead break the card. So the data cards are in practice still expended consumables; you'll need to produce millions of them.

-

In regular Factorio, the various grades and kinds of steel (high carbon, low carbon, stainless, etc) are abstracted into a single "Steel plate" item which has many different uses. Storage chests, trains, power poles, handgrenades, armorplating, automation robots all use the same Steel Plate as ingredient.

This design holds true across the game: items represent broad classes of a material, also machines are multipurpose and an "Assembler" machine can be set to make gears, wire, pipes, or other stuff by configuration. One Assembler turns iron plates into gears. The next Assembler combines gears and more plates into engines. The next Assembler combines engines and more gears into transport belts.

In Space Exploration, there's several machines which only have one use, and there's even items which have less than one use.

The only thing the Xray Observation Telescope does is produce Xray Observation Frame items, the only use for Xray Observation Frame is processing into Xray Observation Data, and the only use for Xray Observation Data is combining it with Microwave Observation Data, Infrared Observation Data etc. to produce Astrometric Science. That's also the sole use for those other Observation Datas. All the different wavelength telescopes, the different observation data items, and the different observation data frame items collectively serve one purpose when put together, so I count them as having a fractional use each. Someone call an editor, fucking cut these.

-

In regular Factorio, drills on a copper patch produce 1 Copper Ore per production cycle, which smelts into 1 Copper Plate.

In Space Exploration, drills on a beryl patch produce 1 Beryl Ore per production cycle, and 20 Beryl Ore smelts into 1 Beryllium plate.

(both ratios can be improved somewhat with Productivity Modules in your furnaces)

Which brings me back to the extremely overcosted science packs, because that blue-striped Astronomic Science Pack that you need 5000 of for the rocket victory? Its cost in raw materials for a set of 8 looks like this:

displaying 580 beryl plates instead of the 5800 ore needed, 725 per pack, plus some more for the data cards that don't calculate raw material correctly, adding yet another multiplier layer of bloated tech cost. I am infuriated by whoever wrote "not a scale challenge" on the Scale Challenge Mod which asks you to mine millions of ore to research a single technology.

Arcospheres

I have another post on these, so I'll keep it short: There is a type of special item necessary to win the game, which are only available in limited supply, which you can permanently lose by accident or bad luck.

The available supply is several times larger than what's needed to win, so I wasn't actually threatened by this, but I dislike it on principle.

Also, they're spoiler-enforced by the control freak modder who keeps the helpful information off the official discord, wiki, and mod page.

Verdict: Thumbs Down

I was suckered into this partly because I believed the "not a scale challenge" advertisement when my friend group was considering what to play next, and I regret it. Halfway through we felt it starting to drag, but we were having fun and community and spite so we powered through. This is a reason I have emphasised the bloat so much in my review. This mod really, really needs an editor to cut down numbers and cut out items and simplify processes so you can get to the Fun Spaceships part without so many Mine Literally Million Ore part.

[4veslil]

Headcanons | Paul Lahote | You're Paul's SO and Neurodivergent

A/N: Hello! I thought this would be a great way to introduce myself to tumblr! I am currently writing a slow burn Paul Lahote Fic but to engage with the Twilight Fandom more I decided to do this! If you are interested in my VolturiOC/Paul Lahote Fic though here's the link! This is my first time doing Headcanons but please bare with me! Also if you have any requests I am willing to write for every Twilight character for preferences, imagines (<1.5k words), blurbs, drabbles etc. I will NOT write smut, not comfy with it and even if I did put an dni, children aren't stupid, we all faked our ages online once upon a time. All I ask is dni if you are underage! This blog 18+ only! Thank you for clicking on this and hopefully, I will hear some requests soon! Without further ado, ENJOY! ★ MASTER LIST HERE ★ P.S. Bullet points with a * is based off my own ND. Hope you don't mind!

This is new territory for Paul so he does what he does best- panics, gets irritated that he's panicking; get's angry when he can't calm down; goes for a run before finally, finding himself sitting at a library computer (in that order).

He sits at the library for hours researching before he's got a notebook of information on neurodivergence and enough questions for you to find it endearing.

He also takes out a few books written by people with ASD and ADHD and reads them front to back before skimming through them again to take notes.

When you get back home he's ready and puts you in the hot seat.

By the end he knows the normal stuff like favourite foods, animal and colours but also the textures you avoid, your quirks, your favourite fidget toys, what makes you overstimulated; everything that makes you tick.

You woke up the next morning to Paul ripping the tags off all your clothes, letting you know he's ordered new pillows for the living room to replace the velvet ones; he also got reusable cotton pads for the bathroom.

He keeps a hairband on his wrist for when your hair tickles your neck and causes your tick*

Paul also ordered some special ear plugs. He gets multiple- one for your backpack, one for his car's glove compartment and one pair to have on his person.

Paul also asked what your favourite fidget toys are and did the same as the earplugs.

Paul got you matching keyrings with the same fidget toy attached. His is black and yours is your favourite colour.

Paul knows a diary, schedule or to-do list doesn't work with you. He makes household tasks sound like a secret Pack mission, he makes chores fun.

Paul makes sure to put post-its about the house, sets your reminders on his own phone and reminds you gently. He knows you getting annoyed at the reminders isn't personal.

He double (more like triple) checks his notebook before he gets you something.

All his gifts have something to do with your special interest

Any clothes he gets you have tags removed and washed with your favourite detergent before he gift wraps them.

Paul is more than prepared for a break down, he doesn't try to touch you during those.

He knows not to feel rejected when you flinch away or say no to a hug. He just smiles and makes sure not to be too loud or make sudden movements around you.

Paul asked about masking and he could tell you were lying when you said you don't mask around him.

Paul takes you hiking to a secluded place in the forest and phases into a wolf if you've had a bad week. He lets you lay on him and read, just so you can unmask and relax. You find it easier to unmask when he isn't human.

You can go quiet and Paul learns to get comfortable in the silence, silence used to be the calm before the storm, now he sees it as the storm passing by at a distance.

Paul knows you hate touching carboard that's been in the fridge or freezer, after food shopping you find he's opened everything and repackaged it.*

Paul speaks straightforwardly, his communication is clear, especially when it's important or knows you're already overstimulated/overwhelmed.*

When you meet the Pack Paul hates how confused you look when some of the banter goes after your head- he tells you not to force yourself to laugh, says he finds it funny when you don't humour the boys.

The Pack started taking advantage of things going over your head, when Paul pointed it out you shrugged it off because it was only a bit of banter.

Paul pretended to leave it but roughed up the Pack (more than usual) when they were sparring, or would accidentally ram into them while running.

The Pack say he's whipped when they see memories of Paul letting you pet him in wolf form.

At Christmas Jared gets you a pink collar with studs for him, teasing you of course. While you're confused (and distracted) Paul yeets it at Jared's head.

When he gives a gift- of course it's something from your latest hyper fixation.

You get overwhelmed at the Pack's beach hang outs. You are not familiar with everyone's imprints and you get anxious.

You both sit a little away from the Pack and their imprints, silently laying together or drawing in the sand.

Paul always makes sure you're included in the conversation when someone approaches.

He holds you tight in his arms when you're feeling agitated because he knows you like to be squeezed, it grounds you.

Of course, when he found this out he ordered you a weighted blanket.

Paul wants to know everything, all your likes and dislikes- what's safe and what's not.

Paul smiles ear to ear when you tell him he's listed in the "safe" category, he notes it down with a smug expression.

But his face (half-)teasingly drops when you joke he's a close second to your all-time, favourite movie character.

He loves how your mind works, sometimes out of the blue you'll say something so off topic and he'll make you explain where you got that- he's fascinated by it and how easily one thing links to the other.

When the bad days happen he makes sure to just be there, knowing not to touch you- that you just want him by your side.

On those days he makes all your safe foods and separates them on the plate based on your specific eating criteria. He doesn't entirely understand but doesn't tease you for it either.*

He shares your safe food list with Emily because he knows you get embarrassed about eating in public- you used to get teased about how plain and boring it was.*

He goes back to the public library to look up the quiet shopping hours at your favourite stores and what restaurants have your safe foods.

Paul wants to understand everything about you and where it comes from, he fills up one notebook after the after and doesn't let you peek inside.

You try to reason they're all about you so you should get to read them, he still refuses.

The day you finally manage to get a hold of his notebook, you close it after reading the first page. On it is written: "Notebook #3 - everything I know about future Mrs Lahote"

[chickenisamazing]

I've tried a lot of period underwear brands over the last year and now own way more period underwear than anyone needs (but that just means I won't have to go through the hassle of buying more when the first ones get worn out, right?), so I figured I should write out my thoughts, perhaps so I can reference this later. Also my period ended a few days ago and I have to put away my laundry which includes my period underwear. Inspiration.

Saalt — This was the first brand I tried, and I still love them. They're comfortable and the gusset is really thin. However, they have underwear made from both natural and synthetic fabrics, and the synthetic ones are not comfortable. In general, I've learned that any underwear made of synthetic fabrics is not going to be comfortable. It's fine for the gusset to be made of synthetics, but the body should not. I do love my cotton pairs though. The only other annoying thing is that they sell each of their styles in a variety of absorbencies, but they don't have the absorbency written anywhere on the garment, so it's impossible to tell if you have two absorbencies in the same style. I treat them all as moderate for this reason and wear these in the middle of my period.

Hello Period — I like that they have high waisted styles, which can feel nice when I'm super bloated, as happens when I'm menstruating. They also say you can tumble dry them, so I do, especially because the pad part is kind of thick, which I don't personally mind but does lead me to not want to hang dry them. However, the entire thing is made of synthetic materials, and that gets kind of uncomfortable. I still wear them, and they're not bad, but they're not my favorite. I wear these in the middle of my period. I do not like their reusable pads, though.

Modibodi — Can't give a particularly thorough review as I only have one pair from them (boyshorts) and decided I didn't want to buy more from them while they had a collab with Puma, which was on the BDS list. They use natural fibers too for most of their styles. Overall, I really like the one pair I've used. Super comfy. I did think the pad would have more coverage, but it didn't go as far up as I had hoped, but neither did any of the previously mentioned brands.

Aisle — Probably my favorite brand. The pad coverage is good, they use cotton and tencel for the body, and I have the boxer and brief cuts from them which are super comfortable. I like using reusable pads, so I do find their whole Boost thing to be unnecessary for me personally and prefer the pads I already use if I want an extra layer, but it's not bad and they also do sell a version without it. These are my comfiest pairs, so I wear them at the beginning of my period when I'm feeling my worst.

Kayaness — The body is recycled polyester, which is the main thing I don't like, but I also wish the pad came up higher in the front. I have these in the boyshort style, and I do think these are comfier than my other polyester pairs. Because of the cut and comfort, I wear these at the beginning as well, despite the body fabric not being my preference. Still very comfortable.

These are all the brands I've tried. As mentioned, I also use reusable pads sometimes, though less so now that I've accumulated more period underwear. I like having pads for travel; it's far more convenient to change a pad in public than it is to change underwear. I've mentioned I don't like the Hello Pads; they use a thin strap for the attachment and it moves way too much. The other pads I have are the Hannah Pads, which I have in several sizes. They're really comfortable and are the typical style with the snap button closure. They do not move around for me. I imagine most fabric pads are like these, but these are just the ones I have, and I love them.

[elfyprincess]

🩸period chat🩸

I wish more women would give menstrual cups & reusable discs a try. I think a lot of women are intimidated by them because they think they’re gross ? But personally I see them as less gross than traditional disposable products. Most of the blood gets flushed away. Yes you have to wash it and a little gets on your fingers, but it’s barely any ?? I think that’s a lot less gross than having to wrap your bloody tampon or pad in plastic wrapping/toilet paper, but that’s just my opinion. (Plus there’s going to be way less trash in your bathroom’s garbage can.)

And I absolutely love being able to wear them overnight. I hate pads & I’m too scared of TSS to wear a tampon to bed. (I’ve heard of girls actually doing that ??? My mom always told me that was super dangerous…) But I can just wear my underwear with nothing else on them when I have a cup or a disc in. It’s amazing.

And I think a lot of women are scared that cups & discs will hurt. I will admit, the menstrual cup can hurt really fucking bad if you don’t know how to use it right. Because it works by creating a suction, you have to break the suction every time you take it out. I didn’t know this the first time I tried a cup and…yeah…ouch. Do not suction cup your pussy like I did !! All you have to do to break the suction is hook your finger over the cup’s lid. DO NOT PULL THEM STEM.

I think it’s harder to get the placement right with menstrual discs, but because it doesn’t use suction there is no risk of giving your entire pussy a hickey. You just pull them out easy peasy. The first time I tried menstrual discs they kept leaking because I was putting them in wrong, but I decided to try them again this month. I watched a bunch of TikToks that used anatomical models to show how to put them in and how they sit in your body. They were super helpful and I finally got it right. (You have to make sure it’s behind your cervix & tucked behind your pubic bone !)

And although I’ve been a cup girlie for a very long time, I think I’ve been converted to a disc girlie. I loved my cup, but I did experience issues with it “poking out” sometimes. When it’s in correctly, you can’t feel it at all. But sometimes it’ll slowly make it’s way out & I had issues with the stem poking my labia. Not fun. I haven’t had any issues with the disc trying to escape & that’s most likely because it sits farther up in your body. I think this makes them more convenient & more comfortable than menstrual cups.

(And let me tell you…masturbating with a disc in is so good. 🤭 I don’t have anyone to have sex with but if I did I’m sure that would feel amazing too.)

I would still recommend every woman try both because not everyone’s body is the same. I think both of these products are amazing & can change women’s lives.

However, I do have a warning for y’all about menstrual cups. Not all menstrual cups are created equal. There was a case where a woman’s cervix was suctioned out of her body. The menstrual cup she was using did not look like a typical menstrual cup. It was the FemmyCycle cup. If a menstrual cup looks a little too weird, I wouldn’t recommend using it. (If that scares you, definitely try discs because there’s no risk of something like that happening !)

I hope this post wasn’t too weird. Like I said, I really love these products & I want more women to try them because they’ve changed my life. I know they’re intimidating, but I think every woman should give them a try at least once. And if they don’t work out that’s fine ! I just want to remove some of the stigma around these products.

[imtwoburdsbitch]

This is my setup so far!

Things might change in the future but so far, I’m pretty happy with it!

Before anyone says anything I know a lot of the items I got were a bit extra and that cheaper alternatives are available but, this is one “big” tax splurge/birthday present!

I'm going to do my best to keep this up to date as things develop!

Cage/Perches

C&C Outdoor Large Cat Cage Enclosure - 4/5

So far I love this cage! With the set up pictured above, I actually ended up with extra panels to expand further in the future.

This cage offers a lot of versatility and would be great for odd shaped spaces or tight spaces that might require a little bit more creativity!

As far as durability goes, I would say that is pretty average for a C&C cage. With that being said... USE THE ZIP TIES! Or invest in additional wire cage supports or else the first time you move it... it will fall apart!

Pros

Weight - Light weight, easy to move and and tare down!

Price Point - Affordable and way cheaper than traditional bird cages of the same size!

Versatility/Customization - This is a build your own cage set! You can go wild and pretty much do whatever you want!

Add-ons - Because this is a C&C cage there are a lot of options for expansions and a lot of add-ons (ramps, doors, patios, etc) that can be bough!

Cons

Durability - So long as your using extra supports the durability isn't an issues. Without the supports... this is going to fall apart the first time you move it!

Bar Spacing - The bar spacing on this is large! 1.65" (4.1 cm). Because of the bar spacing your going to need to get a 2" Fender Washer in order to attach most standard bird accessories. An easy fix but something to be aware of!

Cleaning - Because this cages relies on joints there are plastic pieces that jut into the cage and run the risk of being pooped on. If they are pooped on... You will have to take apart a large chunk of the cage and remove the joint to clean it... It's a pain in the ass.

Corrugated Plastic Cage Liner Base 3/5

This works just as intended! It keeps what it needs to in and what it needs to out! It can be laid flat, and folded for storage if need be.

Pros

It works! Keeps poop and seed inside!

Cleaning - Easy to wipe down and poop doesn't seem to stick to the surface! Water and weatherproof is also a plus!

Cons

Price Point - I, admittedly, did not do my research before purchasing this base! This could have easily been made for about half the price from a local hardware or craft store with a sheet of Corrugated Plastic and either some hot glue or, if I wanted to get fancy, some Plastic Chicago Screws.

Cleaning - While the outside is easy enough to clean, corrugated plastic is hallow-ish on the insides and is IMPOSSIBLE to clean! To avoid dust build up you can use a length Rubber Edge Trim along the top! Make sure you check the with of your Corrugated Plastic before buying any trim.

Perch 4/5

It's a perch, it do what it do. Nothing super exciting.

Pros

It works as intended!

Cons

The shorter perch was NOT pink, lol. Not important to most people but it is important to notes that its defiantly more orange.

Lining/Hammock - 5/5 (I'm bias because I made them, lol!

The lining is simply two pieces of Anti-Pill Plush Fleece sewn to size! Anit-pill fleece is stain resistant, easy to clean and soft to the touch!

Pros

Price Point - Much cheaper then pre-made linings!

Reusable - Simply wash and reuse! No reoccurring monthly expense for something like puppy pads!

Customizable - Make them any color or all the colors!

Easy to Make - For real! Sewing a full bottom lining takes me about 30 mins from start to finish! If sewing isn't your think you could do it tie blanket style or simply cut a piece of fabric to size and call it good!

Food/Water

3 in 1 Cat Bowl - 5/5

I love this this feeder! Not only is it super cute but, it allows you to lock the bowls in place, preventing them form moving. The angled sides of the bowl also really help to keep seed where it should be! This is super easy to clean and the fact that it has two bowls and a gravity feed water dispenser makes it perfect for pigeons!

Pros

One stop shop - because of the two bowls and the separate water dish this works great for offering see, grit and water all separate!

Bowl Position - This feeder has a star shaped grid in the bottom that allows you to change the position of the bowls. This allows you to turn the bowl so the raised edge is facing the water dish preventing water from getting into your grit and feed!

Cons

Seeds under bowl - Because the bottom of the bowl holder is open if there are seeds under it the bowl becomes difficult to lock into place. Not a big deal but it can be annoying to deal with!

Water riser - The water dish has a white, circle riser that is open in the center. It's not a huge deal, Mango got use to it after his second attempt, and it's totally removable!

Toys/Enrichment

I'll make this part short and sweet, lol!

Mango doesn't care at all about anything but his Brick. Bitches love bricks.

10 PC Cat Toy set

Mirror

Doughnut Dog Toy

Cake Foraging Toy

Snuffle Mat

Brick

Nesting Pink Bed

Crinkle Paper

Paper Straws

Hay Feeder

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hi! I sent an ask before, earlier in the year.

here’s some real ent info about me before I ask my question:

I’m 15. I’ve had my period for a year. My mother and my bio aunt were both (very) late bloomers in that regard, but were never diagnosed with anything that may have caused that. I’ve had ‘crushes’ before, which I suspect may have been me masking because I didn’t actually like anyone. I’ve tried mastrubation before, but it’s never really done anything? I don’t do anything involving penetration (because ouch) but I do other things outside of that, ti absolutely no result.

Okay. Now relevant info out of the way. I have questions now;

Is it possible I’m ace? How does one find that out?

is it possible I’m aro? How does one figure *that* out?

Do you think there’s a reason mastrubation doesn’t work for me? Is that a thing that can be fixed?

Is there a reason why penetration hurts so much for me? Even just my pinky finger or a tampon hurts enough that I cried the first few times I tried (I use pads now and avoid penetration).

is there any important information that I should be given? I’m attending a Catholic school so sex ed is pretty much “literally just don’t do it.”

sorry for the barrage of questions. Thank you so much for running this blog, you have no idea how helpful it is. I’m not 100% sure if I turned on anon properly, so if this isn’t an anon please don’t answer it.

hi anon,

oh boy!! so much to work with here!! a veritable buffet of curiosity

this one wasn't even on your question list but I'll throw it in for free: there's not really any reason to worry about finding a diagnosis for starting your period at 15. while the average age that menstruation begins these days is around 12, anywhere from 10-16 is perfectly normal.

it's completely possible that you're ace and/or aro, because it's possible that anybody could be ace and/or aro. do you want to be? because that's pretty much what it comes down to. would calling yourself asexual or aromantic feel right? would it provide any sense of security or clarity to conceptualize yourself that way? the words don't define what you are; you pick which words you like and want to use to make sense of yourself.

god okay I have no idea how to say this without sounding redundant but if you don't feel good when you're masturbating it's probably because you don't like what you're doing. are you trying to jack off because you're horny and want to touch yourself or because you feel like you're supposed to masturbate? if it's the former then damn, try something else. literally anything, anything and everything can be masturbation if it feels good. get crazy with it. if it's the latter and you're just kind of going through the motions out of a vague sense that you're supposed to be masturbating, knock that shit off and dedicate that time to literally anything else that you enjoy. life is too short.

penetration is probably uncomfortable for the same reason it's uncomfortable for a lot of people our age: lack of practice and CRITICAL lack of lubricant. some people find that using a lube on their tampon applicator can help, but also no one is making you use tampons and if pads are more comfortable you can keep doing that forever. personally I haven't used a tampon since middle school and I'm thriving. invest in some reusable pads; you'll save so much money. penetration is 100% optional literally just living without that shit is fine.

as much as I would love to run an intensive and all-encompassing course on all of human sexuality for you right here right now (and I mean that sincerely, I wish this was the proper platform for that. should I write a book? let me know in the comments), I'll keep the info short: whenever you feel like there's something wrong with you, in any way, really think about what's making you feel that way, and who benefits from you feeling bad about yourself. because 99.9% of the time when people send in asks about something about their sexuality or gender that makes them feel bad, what they tell me about is something completely harmless that's just a little different than the common norm. the norm is nothing; as long as no one is being harmed, you do you.

for more specific questions, I'm literally always on this website answering q's, and I'd also really recommend checking out Dr. Lindsey Doe's youtube channel Sexplanations and the forum Scarleteen, which is run specifically for young people to address questions about sexuality.

[give-grian-rights]

I joined an frc team

-GRABS YOU-

hello and welcome to the first day of the rest of your life . first robotics competition CHANGES YOUR BRAIN CHEMICALS

you want to survive? LETS DO THIS

1: NO MATTER WHAT try and stick it out. Get the grades, get the hours, get the permission to travel to at least ONE competition- especially one that stays in a hotel, since I know some teams will skip out on hotels for events close to them. I don't think ANYONE, in any scenario, should say "this isn't for me" until they go and experience one full event.

2: if you don't use deodorant YOU WILL BE EXECUTED . no matter what your job is, there is going to be at least ONE point throughout the day where you are shoulder-to-shoulder with someone . if theres a time to be self conscious its then . use Convention rules as reference

3:you will be tempted to fucking come out of the closet at least at one point . you do NOT KNOW how much it hurt to skip out on a cool write-your-own-pronouns pin because i refused to use she/her and wasn't comfortable writing any. proceed with caution as you see fit.

4: are you surprised by number four? YOU SHOULDNT BE the women. ohh the women are so pretty. my entire high school (aka: less than a year ago) was me being OUTRAGOUSLY STUPID whenever i saw a fem presenting person . oh my god. oh my god they are all so hot. and then those hot students become hot volunteers and alumni and the gay never leaves. there was a trans woman mentor at one competition she rocked we talked with her for like an hour

5: if your team. goes to far competitions. TAKE A BLANKET AND PILLOW. new kids sometimes do NOT get this memo. do it. get silly with it, to what your team permits. our team, being older than me myself, gave up . . most rules. involving the bus. for better or worse.

6: bring a hoodie. i dont care where you go. bring not just a blanket, but a hoodie. so worse comes to worse you can put it on the floor and sleep. that was a fun 8 hour bus ride.

7: if you have a remotely decent team. you will be killed on site if you cuss at a competition. one kid's "bad" or immature behavior can lead to your entire team being disqualified to any award not related to robot performance.

8: LEARN HOW TO EAT AT LEAST ONE BASIC FOOD. this one might be silly but it could've killed me (dramatic). eat pizza. even if you have to take off the cheese just. figure out a way its worth it. FIND SOMETHING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST. at least one breakfast food, for if you're at a hotel that serves you. experiment a little. find something that works for you.

9: exercise what free stuff you take with caution . i have probably ten-fifteen pounds of buttons and pins, and i do not. genuinely do not. think thats an exaggeration.

10: headphones . soft, subtle earbuds. battery packs. and a BACKPACK. my senior year, i composed myself of:

fanny pack, attached to it my wallet which had a buckle, so i could easily access my money. a change purse also attachable, so i have somewhere for coins obviously.

reusable, collapsing drinking cup

a folded up draw-string bag, for hoodies, or eccentric amount of free stuff

one to two battery packs with a charger. if you have friends (or want to make some), consider having other types of chargers too!

wall outlet plug, incase i need to charge at a venue

miniature hairbrush

hand sanitizer

gum. a great way to make friends

a folded up sandwich bag with various medicines, and a piece of paper that describe which each medicine is (ibuprofen, anxiety meds, etc).

i genuinely considered wearing two fannypacks at the same time. also, tying your hoodie around your waist for extra storage works too.

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE HACK:

tampon box . your venue bans outside food or drink? tampon box with pads and tampons on top. contraband inside. almost NEVER looks. better to put it with team stuff like scouting equipment and spirit gear but a worthy inclusion. Same goes for if you have a backpack with pockets!

put food/drinks at the bottom, menstrual products on top. doesn't matter what you present as. lie. say your girlfriend needed it since she doesn't carry a bag with her to competitions. putting SOFT STUFF that mumbles wrappers crinkling also helps, like an extra hoodie. though I personally wouldn't matter to much about that, since competitions are LOUD especially when you're entering the venue when the doors first open.

a lot of the time though, security aren't too bothered. especially if you dont make it obvious.

this is my first robotics season as a college student. i don't like my team enough to go back, but god. god do i fucking love this program.

[aahsoka]

Vaginismus girls rise up!!! But seriously, reading your tags on that poll made me feel like I’m not alone ♥️

sorry I never answered this but glad to help u feel less alone!

I haven’t been formally diagnosed w vaginismus but I have enough problems re: vaginal penetration (whether with sex, tampons, the gyno, toys, etc) that I assume it’s either that or something similar and I know its a common problem for a lot of folks with vaginas, especially those like me who grew up in a high demand religion with an intense purity culture. And sometimes I think there are just a lot of us who still havent fully figured out how our pelvic muscles work in relation to our vaginas and no one has been particularly helpful in explaining it (like I have only recently learned what it feels like to genuinely relax those muscles and it took me a while considering I’ve had these my whole life yknow).

The first time I tried tampons when I got my period at 13 it was extremely mentally distressing to the point that I avoided using them at all until very recently. I still struggle to insert them comfortably so I tend to avoid them unless absolutely necessary (like if I wanna go swimming etc). So I just feel like its really ……… awful to be so judgmental about people preferring pads. I understand someone preferring tampons/cups bc they find pads uncomfortable but the thing about avoiding tampons (or cups) is it can be related to a very real medical condition whether its vaginismus or pelvic floor dysfunction, etc, that requires treatment. And shame very much does not help people with vaginismus overcome it.

Just. We still have a long way to go. And putting people down for their menstrual product preference just doesn’t help. Sometimes people use both at the same time! We should be holding hands emoji about how much it can suck to menstruate in general or how expensive all period products can be lol

And also if someone doesnt wanna use a tampon, they most likely arent gonna wanna use a cup. Recommend reusable/washable pads or period underwear if you’re talking more environmentally friendly options to someone who prefers pads. 🤷🏼��♀️

[bitchwholoveslife]

I finally tried cloth reusable menstrual pads and omgggggggg I'm in love. Never going back to disposable pads.

Obviously, they're way cuter than disposable pads are. I got some with galaxy prints, and it does actually kind of make dealing with the whole thing a little less sucky. Like, yeah I'm uncomfortable and leaking gore like a faucet, but at least it's getting absorbed by something that doesn't look--or feel!--like a diaper.

On the topic of feel: not being made of paper and shit, these cloth pads are wayyyyy quieter than disposables. They don't rustle lol. Additionally, as a plus size person, I have always had issues with disposable pads getting a little bit bunched up and stuck to themselves wrong because of my thick thighs and ass. However, this is not even remotely an issue with the cloth ones.

The absorbency really shocked me. I ordered a set of 3 overnight 16" pads because I have a heavy flow. And, well, unlike how I go through 4-6 overnight disposables in 24 hrs, I actually just have to pick a point and stop wearing these for health/hygiene. Because they are WAYYY beyond absorbent enough. So much so, that you no longer have to feel like you're sitting in a small lake on heavy days!

Another thing I love about them is that because they don't rely on adhesives to stay put--instead having wings with snaps--so I can change underwear while using the same pad, by simply moving it over. For the same reason, it's a lot easier to adjust where the pad is in your underwear without having to worry about sticking and re-sticking and using up an adhesive strip.

They're way easier to wash than I expected too! I just do a quick hand wash in the sink first w Dawn dish soap and then some hydrogen peroxide to get most of the blood out before throwing it in the washing machine with the rest of my clothes.

Also an obvious bonus is that cloth pads are better for the environment. Yeehaw

[deathsmallcaps]

Mirror Snow White for the WIP game, please!!

I’ve bolded the part you encouraged me to add onto! Thanks! :)

I met my true love while I was limping along an empty road cutting through the grey wintry plains of Sasriu. I had heard of a king with a mystery: the hand of one of his daughters and a title if solved, and three nights of hot meals, a warm bed and a quick death if not. Having no skills beyond war - for I had been sold quite young to become a soldier - and now possessing a pair of boots but only one leg, I despaired at the life I saw ahead of myself.

‘Retired’ soldiers rarely live long. It was the start of winter and already the nights dipped well below freezing. No forests stood for me to take shelter, and the little villages around I wouldn’t dare approach - this kingdom had been staunchly neutral in the nearby wars and many small towns chased out soldiers, for fear of involvement. There was no denying my past; I had been captured specifically because it would be difficult to confuse and lose me in the ranks of the local peoples, and the war raged still.

One kind, lonely farmhouse had offered me warm soup and a haystack to sleep in, but I saw the thin faces of each child and knew I couldn’t stay long. Thus, I headed for the city - I would hopefully find shelter and stability, and perhaps even an ambassador with knowledge of my homeland. And if my plans didn’t pan out, at least it would be a swift death - not ending up as a frozen stranger on the side of the muddy road or a penniless veteran on the cobbles of some dank alley.

So I hobbled toward the city. Being a plains kingdom, they didn’t build especially high buildings for fear of windstorms, but it stood out all the same against the flat earth surrounding it. Still, despite having such a clear goal, it seemingly didn’t get much closer, with night and what I hoped was merely a big cloud fast outrunning me. Knowing from my luck and the change in humidity, I knew it was rain. I tried moving faster, but the wraps around my crutch pads had worn away so it was even more painful than usual, so I soon had to return to my usual pace.

A small bump interrupted the tedium, coming from a side road I hadn’t noticed before. It moved slowly, but it was clear it was also heading towards the city, so with a slightly lighter heart I continued forward. A talking companion for the road would likely make the trip easier, and may even offer information on the king’s mystery. All I really knew at the time was that his daughters apparently had a problem with sneaking out at night.

Once I got close enough, it took me a moment to recall the local greeting, but then “All things must end!”

The shuffling figure, adorned in many ragged scarves, quickly flashed a look to me, too fast to make out any features. “But some begin now.” She replied in a raspy voice.

“What brings you to Wocosm this fine evening?” I inquired politely. I was desperate for conversation, but would drop it if she showed disinterest.

She laughed, a disused rattle that seemed to surprise her. She flashed her eyes at me once again. “You must be very hopeful indeed if you believe we will reach the gates before sundown. Still, it is no matter. I am looking for shards.”

“A shard? My good woman, I believe you are headed the wrong way! While I would not recommend any to enter a battlefield, there are broken bits abound back the way I came. I know my leader even pays people to go over the fields for arrows and other reusable things. As long as you do not have an apparatus that would impede your travel through the churned, bloody earth,” I gestured to my crutches for emphasis, “you could make a decent living doing as such.”

She shook her head. “I have seen that terrible place, and while it contains an evil most profound, it is human and mundane. The shard I seek is magical in origin, and to put it plainly, induces heinous thoughts and situations among even the most peaceable peoples.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, but before a true response could form I saw a terrible sight. “Holy waters, you do not have shoes!”

“Hm? Oh, that.” She seemed unbothered, but I knew the importance of proper footwear.

Unable to think of a particularly witty rebuttal, I merely said, “But it’s cold!”

She stared at me blankly. Finally, I could see her eyes - black like mine, but shaped in an uncommonly beautiful fashion and ringed with near translucent blond lashes. Her face seemed much more youthful than her posture and manner seemed to suggest, yet her eyes held an age unknowable. The woman quickly hid her eyes again once she noticed my returned gaze.

Unable to do nothing, I carefully stopped and leaned one crutch against my body while I pulled my pack around. “Here. I have no use for it.” I handed her my extra boot, my other sock, and then the same crutch. “If we both are to make it to our destination, we need to avoid frostbite.” I had practiced walking with one crutch, and showed her how. “Pull your naked foot into your wraps, and use the crutch to move forward. It’s better than wearing off your soles before you find those wicked shards!”

Her mouth twisted, but she took my offerings all the same, and we walked on as the darkness overtook us both. I told her my name was Walt, short for Walter Johnschild, and she did not proffer hers, but instead told me things about the castle.

“Do you know much about the king’s mystery?” she asked. When I told her no, aside from the reward, she continued, “No matter. It is thus: The king of Susriu has twelve daughters, and every winter’s night for the last decade, their dancing shoes are dashed to pieces, despite never leaving their rooms and the guards stationed outside reportedly merely hearing the occasional snore. The princesses tell their father nothing, and he apparently needs to start marrying them off soon. However, if they are sneaking out, he cannot guarantee their virtue,” we both scoffed, “and has become desperate. So, he will reward any man who can solve this matter within the three nights he is allowed to stay in their rooms.”

“How can h-” I broke off when the city walls’ bells started tolling, signifying that the gates were about to close. Coincidentally, the sky broke open a quarter mile behind us.

The woman turned to me and placed the coldest kiss I’d ever felt aware upon my forehead. “Now go!” And she puffed up her cheeks, blew out, and a great wind, cold and sharp, carried me to the gates, billowing a cloak that had not been on my shoulders a moment before. The guards did not seem startled by my sudden arrival, and I swung quickly past the gates and into town.

The castle was on the other end of the city, which was unfortunate. I did my best to make my way over, but the cobblestones were not kind to me or my crutches. The rain caught up to me before I was even approved to go through the castle portcullis, and I nearly slipped. A young guard sniggered, but an older fellow smacked his helmet in irritation, causing it to spin and cover his face somewhat.

We nodded at each other. The elder seemed hale, but not all marks of war are visible to the naked eye. The youth, grumbling as he set his helmet right, was ordered to escort me to the dinner hall. He slouched and side-eyed the entire walk, and when he opened the door and announced me, he tapped the crutch closer to him with his foot. I stumbled into the surprised feasting hall.

[bishopsbelova]

I’m still stuck on this conversation I overheard between two older women (not that old just older than me) because I was in the feminine hygiene aisle stocking our new stuff (we’ve gotten in more underwear and organic stuff and whatnot) and they were talking about how reusable products (mostly the period underwear) are gross and it took every fiber of my being to just not rip them a new one right in the aisle. 

It’s literally 2023 and women are still shaming over period havers for how they choose to deal with their periods. 

But I’m also just confused on what they do with underwear or pants they accidently leak through because like, bitch you literally just clean your period underwear the same way you would anything else?

Also the more you use the underwear or a cup or whatever, it can decrease your flow? Because guess what? You’re using a more natural alternative so you’re not putting all those toxic chemicals that are in disposable pads and tampons into your body