#that we stand a chance

[kedreeva]

Following the author of The Last Unicorn on Facebook is the only thing that makes being on that site worthwhile.

(source)

[thelastharbinger]

So...H5N1 (Bird Flu) is here

And all signs are pointing to a global pandemic more fatal than the one prior. The initial stages of this are a rinse and repeat of Covid-19's arrival, which saw a lot of state repression of information on the severity of infection rates and delayed enforcement of safety protocols.

Earlier this year, the U.S. saw its first death of an animal-to-human transmission of H5N1 in Louisiana; however with the rollback of safety and health federal regulations in the wake of the returning Trump administration, compounded by an executive-mandated communications blackout of the FDA, CDC and withdrawal from the WHO, conditions are ideal for a nightmarish outbreak scenario should transmissions evolve to human-to-human.

The following are reports coming from the U.K., U.S., and China in the last couple of days:

This is a CDC report from 2 weeks ago:

"As of January 6, 2025, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024 and 67 since 2022. This is the first person in the United States who has died as a result of an H5 infection. Outside the United States, more than 950 cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization; about half of those have resulted in death."

As of right now, I would highly implore everyone to cease the consumption of eggs and poultry products for the time being. There is currently an egg shortage due to "quality standards" in the U.S. and prices have already gone up dramatically. Get involved in community gardens and get in contact with local farmers--see what you can get directly from there! Mask up, update your vaccinations, practice proper hygiene, avoid physical contact with wild animals (birds especially), and stay safe! Look after your neighbors!

UPDATE: Weekend of 1/24 - 1/26/2025

Related: As of 1/26/25

- Kansas, USA is experiencing its highest record cases of tuberculosis in its entire history!

- New case of Polio recorded in Afghanistan

- India saw its first death in 101 confirmed cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (16 people are on ventilators)

A warmer planet is only going to exacerbate the spread of diseases worldwide moving forward. Mask up!

[inkskinned]

so one of the things that's so horrifying about birth control is that you have to, like, navigate this incredibly personal choice about your body and yet also face the epitome of misogyny. like, someone in the comments will say it wasn't that bad for me, and you'll be utterly silenced. like, everyone treats birth control like something that's super dirty. like, you have no fucking information or control over this thing because certain powerful people find it icky.

first it was the oral contraceptives. you went on those young, mostly for reasons unrelated to birth control - even your dermatologist suggested them to control your acne. the list of side effects was longer than your arm, and you just stared at it, horrified.

it made you so mentally ill, but you just heard that this was adulthood. that, yes, there are of course side effects, what did you expect. one day you looked up yasmin makes me depressed because surely this was far too intense, and you discovered that over 12,000 lawsuits had been successfully filed against the brand. it remains commonly prescribed on the open market. you switched brands a few times before oral contraceptives stopped being in any way effective. your doctor just, like, shrugged and said you could try a different brand again.

and the thing is that you're a feminist. you know from your own experience that birth control can be lifesaving, and that even when used for birth control - it is necessary healthcare. you have seen it save so many people from such bad situations, yourself included. it is critical that any person has access to birth control, and you would never suggest that we just get rid of all of it.

you were a little skeeved out by the implant (heard too many bad stories about it) and figured - okay, iud. it was some of the worst pain you've ever fucking experienced, and you did it with a small number of tylenol in your system (3), like you were getting your bikini line waxed instead of something practically sewn into your body.

and what's wild is that because sometimes it isn't a painful insertion process, it is vanishingly rare to find a doctor that will actually numb the area. while your doctor was talking to you about which brand to choose, you were thinking about the other ways you've been injured in your life. you thought about how you had a suspicious mole frozen off - something so small and easy - and how they'd numbed a huge area. you thought about when you broke your wrist and didn't actually notice, because you'd thought it was a sprain.

your understanding of pain is that how the human body responds to injury doesn't always relate to the actual pain tolerance of the person - it's more about how lucky that person is physically. maybe they broke it in a perfect way. maybe they happened to get hurt in a place without a lot of nerve endings. some people can handle a broken femur but crumble under a sore tooth. there's no true way to predict how "much" something actually hurts.

in no other situation would it be appropriate for doctors to ignore pain. just because someone can break their wrist and not feel it doesn't mean no one should receive pain meds for a broken wrist. it just means that particular person was lucky about it. it should not define treatment.

in the comments of videos about IUDs, literally thousands of people report agony. blinding, nauseating, soul-crushing agony. they say things like i had 2 kids and this was the worst thing i ever experienced or i literally have a tattoo on my ribs and it felt like a tickle. this thing almost killed me or would rather run into traffic than ever feel that again.

so it's either true that every single person who reports severe pain is exaggerating. or it's true that it's far more likely you will experience pain, rather than "just a pinch." and yet - there's nothing fucking been done about it. it kind of feels like a shrug is layered on top of everything - since technically it's elective, isn't it kind of your fault for agreeing to select it? stop being fearmongering. stop being defensive.

you fucking needed yours. you are almost weirdly protective of it. yours was so important for your physical and mental health. it helped you off hormonal birth control and even started helping some of your symptoms. it still fucking hurt for no fucking reason.

once while recovering from surgery, they offered you like 15 days of vicodin. you only took 2 of them. you've been offered oxy for tonsillitis. you turned down opioids while recovering from your wisdom tooth extraction. everything else has the option. you fucking drove yourself home after it, shocked and quietly weeping, feeling like something very bad had just happened. the nurse that held your hand during the experience looked down at you, tears in her eyes, and said - i know. this is cruelty in action.

and it's fucked up because the conversation is never just "hey, so the way we are doing this is fucking barbaric and doctors should be required to offer serious pain meds" - it's usually something around the lines of "well, it didn't kill you, did it?"

you just found out that removing that little bitch will hurt just as bad. a little pinch like how oral contraceptives have "some" serious symptoms. like your life and pain are expendable or not really important. like maybe we are all hysterical about it?

hysteria comes from the latin word for uterus, which is great!

you stand here at a crossroads. like - this thing is so important. did they really have to make it so fucking dangerous. and why is it that if you make a complaint, you're told - i didn't even want you to have this in the first place. we're told be careful what you wish for. we're told that it's our fault for wanting something so illict; we could simply choose not to need medication. that maybe if we don't like the scraps, we should get ready to starve.

we have been saying for so long - "i'm not asking you to remove the option, i'm asking you to reconsider the risk." this entire time we hear: well, this is what you wanted, isn't it?

[inkedfictionista]

I must confess, it’s growing on me. I love him as the sad little egg he is, but that ginger hair is just 👌

[stagefoureddiediaz]

The Helena diaz of it all has me fascinated. I’ve said for a long while that Eddie’s real issues are his mommy issues and this episode just cemented for me that we’re gonna explore that and deal with it.

Because it’s Helena who forced Eddie to grow up to fast - because her husband wasn’t around much - so she pushed Eddie into de facto parent and husband role ls - selfishly filling her needs and ignoring the damage it was doing to her son (it is a form of abuse in my book).

Eddie then had the audacity to fall in love with and marry Shannon and get her pregnant. It’s why Helena was always so off with Shannon - she was punishing her. She is also punishing Eddie for all of this and his refusal to return to El Paso only cemented further her bitterness and resentment.

Now she does have Ramon back she doesn’t need Eddie any longer to fill that role so she is still punishing him and part of that is tied into her glee over now getting to parent Christopher - something she has always been intent on doing the doppelgänger just gave her the opportunity- as well as allowing her to further punish her son and his love of Shannon.

Her barbed comments about building a pool were all about showing what she can provide Christopher - how she is parenting him better than Eddie - it’s part of her mind games - making Eddie feel like more of a failure as a parent to his son.

The reality of course is that the reverse is true - Helena’s parenting is all superficial, flash and showy - it isn’t the hard day to day parenting when things get tough and you have to be the bad guy. While Eddie has made mistakes, there is nothing superficial, flash, or showy about his parenting. It’s why bucks comments about Eddie being a great dad are so important.

Eddie feel like a failure right now and that he is entirely to blame for everything. But in reality, while he does bear a bit of the responsibility, the truth of the matter is that he needs to learn and deal with the fact that all of it actually stems from Helena and her abuse of her young son - Shannon never stood a chance just like Eddie never has.

[fairylando]

somebody needs to study the gargantuan levels of cunt carlos used to serve at tororosso .. this is literally the peak embodiment of "the devil's favorite prince", "il diavolo rosso".

he is lucifer, the morning star.

he is the planet venus.

[meteortrails]

law and luffy are just like. what if I saw you at the peak of your miracle working competence, and then the literal next time I saw you it was at your most isolated and broken. and what if that moment of seeing you alone and grieving and terrified was the moment where I decided you were someone worth keeping, someone who I personally cared about and wanted around. how does that not make you wanna lose your fucking mind.

and then the other thing on top of that which always gets me is the way that you can just so clearly see that neither of them has any idea how to fit this relationship into any preexisting context - Luffy calls him part of his crew, but law is the captain of his own crew and would clearly die before giving that up; law calls them allies but it is glaringly obvious that they care about each other in a way that goes beyond that. of course Luffy is generally a lot less bothered about this than law, who routinely wants to put his own head through a wall about it, but it’s just such a fun layer to their dynamic I think.

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 808: The jerseys competing for the lead!!

Pag 1

2: Onoda-san, now the lead have all left and entered the downhill towards the sea!!

3: Yeah!!

6: Do your best!!

Naruko-kun!! Imaizumi-kun!!

Pag 2 / 3

1: The men who are staring at the Inter High's first day's victory!!

(Congratulations!! 17 whole years of publication!!)

Pag 4

1: We're all here!!

Five teams, ten people!! These are

4: the jerseys

Pag 5

5: that are aiming

7: for the Inter High's first day's finish line!!

Pag 6

1: Let's go, Ninoshima!!

2: But be careful!!

Don't worry, Higashimura-san!! Downhills require courage and will-power!!

3: Don't leave any space!!

Those people are skilled!! The opposite lane

6: of the road, that we don't normally use and was closed for this race.....

7: Don't worry!!

Pag 7

1: They're using every inch of the inner side of the opposite lane!!

Ah!! There's only a small gap between them and the guardrail!!

Pag 8

2: I was bravely thinking of running as close to the guardrail as possible, yet in that tiny space on the inner side they....!?

I even moved before them exploiting the moment when Kyofushi and Gunam were talking... and yet!!

5: Downhills are all about “choosing a line” and “weight”, yon

Pag 9

1: Gunmaa!!

Yon

While taking the curve.... he gave me advice!!

2: Calm down, Ninoshima!! Just cling to them!! Follow me now!!

Dammit, and what was that about “choosing a pine” and “fruit juice”, Higashimura!!

…. no, he said “weight”*

(*NdT.: the words for 'weight' and 'fruit juice' sound the same in Japanese)

3: Ah, really

4: If in road racing downhills are all about choosing a line and weight, then it's easy!!

Pag 10

1: Sonomoto-chan

2: In MTB, on downhills there are so many bumps and trees' roots

3: Tires lose their grip, and you're busy trying to get traction and grip

4: In road racing, though, the tires are always on the ground!!

5: It's too easy, road racing

It even makes me

Pag 11

1: want to “play” a little!!

Pag 12

1: Uh-oh

4: What the hell was that just now!? Did their rear wheels slip!?

Did they let them slip!?

5: Huh...

7: Don't make such sudden grip turns

Sorry, since it's you I thought you'd get it

I did get it, but still (haha)

8: Kakaka, a friendly performance right before the Inter High's finish line!? You sure are confident, Gunma.san!!

9: Puku, what was that, so cool....

Puku

Pag 13

1: Are those the skills you cultivated through MTB? You originally raced in MTB, so you're showing off what you can do

Showing off how freely you can control your bike

So cool, will you

2: teach me too?

3: Teach me....

4: Teach

5: Number 41 is clinging to him!! He's getting too close

There's a left curve soon, get back....!!

Pag 14

1: me

me

me

2: Me me me me

3: We're in a curve, it's dangerous, so could you please back down a little?

4: Me me me me

5: Why won't you teach me that cool thing? Are you keeping it a secret from me?

6: Well, it's just that

Pag 15

1: I can't feel any impetus at all in your words, yon

2: You got me

Pag 16

1: They're taking the curve while his head is on his shoulder!! What incredible balance they have, Gunma's number 181 and Kyofushi's number 41!!

3: Even though the speed going downhill is frightening!!

4: But now, I

5: understand you a little, yon

Puku? Me? You understand me?

Pag 17

1: It seems like your impetus to win is fierce, yon

2: You too, you're not just a fancy small-fry

Not a small fry!!

Pag 18

2: Not bad

Yeah!!

3: Except for Hiroshima, who unexpectedly attacked earlier than usual, this lead is just what I had imagined

4: Kyofushi and Gunma too, even while arguing are still showing restraint

5: And Hakogaku too is carefully waiting

Pag 19

1: The real movement still hasn't happened

Get ready. If they move, we step on right away!!

Got it!!

2: 8km left until the finish line!!

3: There's no one else who'll join the final race for the finish line!!

Pag 20

2: Kakaka, what's wrong, Hotshot

Did you drop the energy bar in your pocket!?

3: No.... it's nothing, I just misheard

4: Sometimes, when I concentrate too much, I hear strange sounds

Ah, that's it!!

Pag 21

1: Kuaaaa

3: I hear...? A voice... and besides

Pag 22

1: I know it!!

2: No, that's impossible!!

He has probably fallen behind a lot with his team on the mountain!!

3: Moreover... there's no way with this “lead”...!!

4: No indeed, there's no way

I'm concentrating too hard, I'm even dreaming about the buddies training camp

6: Ah, there's one person catching up, yon

Yeah, the guy who was working so hard to cling to us

7: when we left the pack

Pag 23

1: I don't even know his name... the guy from the selected team

Pag 24

1: Kuaaaaaagh

2: That's the target!! That's the target we set!!

Pag 25

1: I'll catch up!! I will!! To the lead!!

2: Sugi.... moto!!

5: Now it's... eleven people!?

6: Insect....

[stlamb]

when capitalism invented sanrio they really got the hook on us i swear

[dayurno]

what gets me re: kevin with jean is that kevin is seriously the worst. like we see in-text specifically that kevin used to lean into jean’s space to whisper to him and it seems it was common enough to him that he didn’t think much of it (he did it once for asking jean to teach him french then again to make jean promise not to off himself), he said horrible things like ‘it could be our secret’ and ‘i don’t want to lose you’, he wrote jean memories and notes in postcards, he bought jean silly little magnets, even up to the point of tsc canon he was cradling jean’s face and gently touching his hand. so flirty! no wonder jean was down so horribly. no wonder nora sakavic said kevin was always the problem child

[lulublack90]

Prompt 13 - Defend

@jegulus-microfic February 13, Word count 520

Previous part First part

James felt an almost imperceptible tremor run through Regulus. He felt a deep protective urge take over him, and he found himself shoving Barty Crouch into the opposite wall by the throat. He blinked a few times at the wide-eyed Slytherin. James was not known for using his broader size against anyone. “Whatever you were thinking of doing stops now. You won’t spread whispers about Regulus. You don’t come up with theories. You just shut up.” He leaned in close, staring into Barty’s dark brown eyes. “Got it?” Barty nodded profusely. “Good,” James slowly let him go, manoeuvring himself so he was blocking Regulus. 

“Reg,” Barty coughed, rubbing his throat. “I swear, I’d never do anything to get that bitch on your case.” Barty coughed again, and James winced; he hadn’t meant to actually hurt him. 

“And how exactly am I supposed to ensure that you don’t say anything?” Regulus asked. He’d moved forward, his shoulder bushing James’s. Barty threw his head back dramatically, letting out a long-suffering sigh.

“Fine. I’ll tell you something that will make my father throw me in Azkaban if he ever found out.” He squared his shoulders and inhaled hard through his nose. “I am in love with Evan. I love him. I want to have his babies and run off into the sunset with him on the back of Abraxians,” James heard Regulus groan. 

“Barty, that is not a secret. Literally the entirety of Slytherin house knows you two are shagging. You are not subtle and are worse at silencing charms than my brother and Lupin,” Regulus told him, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Well shit, I thought we were being quite stealthy. Oh, well. Erm fine. I’m the one who put a colour-changing potion in Dorcas’s shampoo.” He shrugged in defeat. “Wait, your brother and Lupin need silencing charms?” Regulus grabbed James’s wrist and pulled him away from Barty. James felt they should have talked a bit longer to Barty to make sure Regulus was kept safe, but he trusted Regulus to deal with it. Barty was his friend after all. “Are your brother and Lupin shagging?!” Barty yelled down the corridor. “That’s so hot!” He shouted, dodging the barrage of stinging hexes Regulus shot over his shoulder. James had to bite his bottom lip to stop himself laughing at the look of disgust on Regulus’s face. 

“Are you sure he won’t tell anyone, love?” James asked as they slipped behind a tapestry and climbed the concealed staircase behind it. 

“If I told Dorcas what he’s just told us he’s done, she’ll hunt him to the ends of the earth. She’s far more terrifying than either of our parents. We’re safe.” So James let it go. He didn’t need to defend Regulus anymore. So he scooped Regulus into his arms and raced down the corridor with him, waiting impatiently for the come-and-go room’s door to open and rushed in, throwing Regulus on the bed they’d left only a few hours ago. He hoped one day he’d be throwing Regulus on his actual bed at home, but for now, this one would do. 

Next part

[raving-two]

the fact that so many people are willing to submit themselves to the affini, despite the fact that they are merely concepts just goes to show how much we mightve needed them in the actual setting.

like, these people are only concepts to us, and im willing to sell my actual measurable soul and body to be a floret. like.. we stand no chance.

[respectthepetty]

Both Ming and Joe are stuck in the past.

Wanting something they lost.

And being miserable about it.

But old habits die hard.

And love is a habit.

Which makes it the hardest to kill.

[pseudophan]

Nora. Phan is trending

LOL oh my god did they seriously let it trend finally because dan and phil are tagging it

[lainalit]

Every time I read theories about the ships

Elucien: here is a detailed essay with canon text that's supports my theories

Gwynriel: here is a detailed essay with canon text that's supports my theories

Elriel: here are theories I made with text that wasn't written like that in canon or with canon text that is so vague that it can apply to anyone also here is SJM who evolves her life around them with her music taste, clothes and emojis she uses

[crunchesloudly]

i feel like if etho wins wild life we might break tumblr.