#something hopeful

[talictries]

a little drabble for my beloved at the f1wildside server <3333

Upon the rolling hills of their Swiss vineyard - on the moors warm enough to grow grapes for Sebastian's new-retirement activity - wine-making, they sit on fold-out camp chairs feeling like kings.

Lewis glances over to his love, his life now that the sport has grown tired of them, and they have grown old together. Sebastian whistles, the sound cutting through their languid, flowing silence, and their border collie pup comes panting up the hill - covered in flecks of mud from his misadventures. It reminds him of Roscoe, just a little bit. His heart tugs - he looks distantly to the lone tree his beloved bulldog is buried under - but change is a part of life. Time doesn't pause - not for the old nor the young.

"So silly, Schatz," he watches the German pull a long blade of grass caught in the thick ruffles of black and white blotched fur away - and flick it into the wind.

With a cracking joint, Sebastian sits up, a small wince replaced by a smile lined by mischief - acceptance. Lewis loves him - he always has - loves the way that even in their quaint, slow, fluid hills and greenery of Switzerland - so opposite to the world full of cars, and lights, and roars and cameras they once shared together.

He truly loves him. From the tips of his toes, all the way to his eyelashes - his own dark and curling; Sebastian's blonde and almost invisible - something his lover used to always moan about.

"Are you happy?" it's not a moan - instead a quiet breath, like a soft gust of wind covering their stretch of land - hidden away from the world.

Lewis opens his mouth to answer; closes his eyes to think, but when he opens them again, there is no grapevines, there is no Swiss hills, there is no Sebastian. Instead, there is the familiar pillows of his motorhome. No one beside him.

I will be, he decides, still trying to cling to his dream as Monza wakes him with a cheer - his final time in Italy as a Ferrari driver. Soon.

[ronkeyroo]

For the first time I see an image of my brokenness utterly worthy of love. I finally see myself — Through the eyes of no one else

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[emjaydoubleyou]

this post is fearmongering. the results of this study are concerning and should definitely be a matter of public discussion, but this is certainly not the conclusion the researchers came to.

the point of the study was to assess the risks of exposure to toxic metals- something one of the co-authors notes are “ubiquitous” fwiw- via menstrual products. Their research confirmed that these metals are indeed present in tampons, but no further conclusions are drawn. it is possible the metal entered into the cotton from the soil, which is a well-known phenomenon; cotton is so good at lifting heavy metals that it has actually been suggested as a part of the solution for revitalizing polluted ground.

the authors conclude with an acknowledgement that the study should be repeated- their sample size was 60 tampons- and a suggestion that further testing ought to be done to indicate whether or not these metals can even leech out of the tampon in the first place, let alone whether or not such leeching could occur at levels deleterious to human health.

there is, in fact, a body of research- too small, for sure, but much larger than this single study- indicating that long-term proper tampon use has no observable negative impact on health. i am grateful and thrilled that more research is being done and i hope that this study is the first of many on this line of questioning, but i am really frustrated at this post and the response it got.

obviously, if this study alters your approach to menstrual health, more power to you. consumers should be informed-risk-takers, and menstrual health is double-obviously a very personal choice. but it definitely wasn't the researchers concluding that you ought to “avoid using tampons at all cost," only this tumblr user did. the lead author of the paper, in fact, specifically says that she hopes people do NOT panic about the results.

(the notes of the post were disappointing. people affirming that they knew they were right to be suspicious of tampons all along, or even recommending alternatives that actually have very little to no research regarding the safety of long-term use, etc. it’s a different conversation, but categorical distrust of tampons is old-school misogyny. you certainly shouldn't wear them if you don’t want to, but there is nothing inherently scary or wrong about them, and people who prefer them are not being reckless or crass.)

((if you're really worried about exposure to heavy metals, you may want to turn a critical eye to fast fashion, as an aside))

[badolmen]

WARNING 18+

19

[liquidstar]

If my mom sees a significant amount of blood she gets lightheaded, and has fainted on some occasions. Once it happened when we were kids, I wasn't there to witness it but I heard the story from my dad. Basically my brothers, around 7 or 8 at the time, were playing outside while my mom was making their lunch, and she accidentally cut her finger. It wasn't anything serious, but it drew a fair bit of blood and she passed out. My dad saw this and rushed over, but he didn't really know what to do so he just sort of started slapping her to wake her up (not recommended, but he had no idea and panicked)

At that exact moment my brothers both came in from playing, and all they saw was our mom unconscious on the floor and our dad slapping her. So, like, without even saying a word to each other they both just INSTANTLY start whaling on him, like, full blown attack mode to defend our mom. Which obviously didn't help the situation, but she did wake up and everything was fine.

Now our dad says that he's actually really glad they attacked him over what they thought was going on, because it means he raised good boys. And I still think that's true, they're very good boys.

[chiptrillino-art]

(ID in ALT text)

"got your nose"

[theoldaeroplane]

worried that thing you put in your art or writing or game or music is too self-indulgent, too self-referential, too niche for anyone but yourself? fear not! you can do whatever you want forever. and you should.

[twisting-in-wonderland]

'Yuu!'

[parakavka]

MJ家・柴ボーダーシェパ on X: "新しい車にテンション上がる子 https://t.co/8sdYel5Vsx" / X

[inkskinned]

okay is she being actually immature or is it just a woman over 30 expressing a human experience you find to be immature.

like yeah. at certain ages... let shit go. im not defending the real immature shit. im not defending the karen you're picturing. i worked in retail i hate those people too. (once somebody got mad at me because she didn't like how our winter window decor was a snowman smoking a pipe. i wish i was joking).

but men at 57 will write books about how 17 year old girls are soooo sexy. they will invent worlds where women have to be naked for "armor reasons." they will write songs that treat women as objects. people rush to defend them. meanwhile a woman at 35 will be like "heartbreak is hard, actually" or "i feel betrayed by a friend" or "i am struggling with something emotionally." immediately people will say stuff like this woman is 35 by the way. by the way this woman is SO OLD to be experiencing this. BY THE WAY.

im 31, almost 32. the other day a poet was blasted online because at her "big age", she had written a poem about feeling unloved. top comment was "this woman is 29 by the way." this woman is too old to still be useful, by the way. she has to behave better . maybe if she was a good wife and mother she could stop existing loudly, and the story could continue on without her. this woman has served her purpose, by the way. she's so cringe, by the way. at 29 - so old! - she still hasn't figured out that her existence should be one of shame.

[makowcy]

widow

[beyhr]

you never know!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Dog Meshi.

[very-small-giant]

you have been bad friends to riz gukgak

[harboretum]

It's Make a Terrible Comic Day