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yelenasdiary · 15 days ago

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hi, I only recently saw your Yelena Belova x Reader! Super Soldier and I really liked it, idk if you did but can you make a part 2 or write something similar to it?

Whispers of Hydra

Pairing: Yelena Belova x GN Super Soldier! Reader

Summary: Life was peaceful until a knock at the door reminds you of what you were designed for.

Angst & Light Fluff

Warnings: Mentions of Red Room, Trauma, Scars, Hydra, Mentions of the conditions of Red Room, Mentions of brain washing, Mentions of weapons, Mentions of blood| 1.6K

AC: Thank you for sending this! It made me miss these two so much! I had so much writing this one that I am 100% open to a part two!! I hope you enjoy! x

The fireplace crackled, casting dancing shadows on the log walls of the cabin. Outside, the wind howled a soft lullaby like song through the tall pines that helped keep the cabin hidden from any hikers that dared to tackle the harsh conditions of the mountain. In the kitchen, Yelena, stirred a pot of stew she had been making for the last two hours while you sat in a worn armchair taking in the peace that you both had created.

From the armchair, you could see Yelena stirring away at the pot of stew, watching as she was focused on making another tasty meal for the two of you. You pushed yourself up from the armchair and wandered over to the doorway that separated the small living room and kitchen.

“You know” you began, your voice soft, “you’re a much better cook than I ever was”.

Yelena scoffed, looking over her shoulder at you, “I knew that when you set fire to the toaster trying to make pop-tarts!”. You chuckled lightly, “that was an honest mistake”.

“Well, maybe if you watch me cook, you might learn something!” Yelena replied, a small chuckle escaping from her as you pushed yourself off the doorframe and made your way over to the blonde. You wrapped your strong arms around her waist, resting your chin on her shoulder, “I guess the tables have changed” you smiled softly, “teach me to cook” you added.

Yelena naturally leaned back into your hold, her free hand softly finding yours, weaving her fingers with yours. “So, you remember” she said softly. A faint memory of when she was just a young adult in training while you told her commands to spar against her fellow widow. Your eyes slightly dropped, “I do but I don’t want that to ruin this moment” you replied, watching as the wooden spoon circled the pot.

The shared history was complex. You had been one of Yelena’s trainers in the Red Room, an almost mythical figure in the blonde’s younger life. To you, you were nothing more than a weapon to cause harm, to train others to cause harm but to Yelena? You were everything she didn’t know she needed. You had been forced out of the Widow training program before Yelena’s graduation, leaving a void that nothing and no one had ever filled.

Natasha was the one that found you with the help of Steve and Bucky. Hydra’s grasp on you was strong, your brain washing was severe with a tangled web of false commands and implanted memories. Nothing seemed to work, no therapy or desensitization. You were injected with the super serum well after Steve and Bucky’s time, leaving Bucky to be somewhat thankful that his therapy and treatment worked but seeing you suffering daily tore at every body's strings. When things didn’t look to be getting better for you, it was Natasha that took the risk and brought in a reluctant Yelena to the compound hoping that maybe if you saw somebody real from your past, it might break Hydra’s toxic hold.

It had, like a tsunami flushing out all the horrible things you were made to do. It took some time for Yelena to rebuild her trust within you by reconnecting with her, your mind allowed the therapy and desensitization to work its wonders and finally free you from Hydra.

Now, trying to live a life of normalcy, you and Yelena spent your quiet days hiking through the woods, creating new memories together and now Yelena teaching you to cook was added to the list of things you wanted to fulfill in your new life.

“Do you mind handing me the pepper?” Yelena asked, respecting your wish to not dwell on a memory that was still so fresh to you.

----

A week later as a harsh winter storm began to descend, blanketing the woods in a thick layer of snow. Yelena was in the city, helping Kate with a lead on a mission, leaving you at the shared home. You didn’t mind, you enjoyed the peace and a little down time to yourself, but it was the weather than made you uneasy that morning. As you pour yourself an extra hot mug of black coffee, a knock at the door echoed through the wooden cabin.

Your body tensed in a familiar sense of readiness as you slowly and quietly walked over to the door on cautious feet. A hidden knife in arms reach for protection, you peeked through the small peephole. A tall, broad figure stood on the porch wearing a long, black trench coat that failed to hide the weapons at his belt.

As you opened the door, allowing the cold wind to rush into the warm cabin, the man was large and his face showing no expression as he held a small metal case in his gloved hand. “I believe this belongs to you” his voice was rough, deep and laced with an accent you hadn’t heard in a long time. “I was told you’d come here, that you went soft”.

“Who sent you?” You asked, keeping your posture on alert for anything.

“That is not important. What’s important is this” he tossed the metal case to you, landing at your feet with a dull thud.

Not taking your eyes off the unknown stranger, you leaned down and picked up the case, opening it to find a familiar set of files. Images from the Red Room back in the day but most disturbingly, a picture of you and Yelena that had been taken only a few days ago. Your blood turned to ice knowing that the peaceful sanctuary you and Yelena shared had been breached. You weren’t forgotten like you had hoped.

“This isn’t going to work” you said, your voice dangerously low.

The man laughed, “I thought you’d say that” he said, drawing his weapon from his coat. “There’s a big number above that head of yours, soldier!” He added. Quickly, you raised the metal case to your face, blocking the bullet that was meant for your face. The fight was brutal, fast and explosive. Years of training and somehow you managed to not forget a single thing. You skillfully dodged the soldier’s attacks. Blocking the flurry blows that would have broken the ribs of any ordinary human.

His gun now knocked out of his hand, you kicked it to the side, making sure it slid out of arms each before you threw the soldier across the small cabin, sending him into the support beam. He grunted as he hit the floor before shaking off the blow and launching himself back at you. Throwing a punch at you that you were able to block and delivered him a left hook that sent him reeling.

The soldier laughed, “you’re not as fast as you used to be!” He said, spitting out blood onto the wooden floor. He looked at you for a brief moment before pulling out a second weapon, “you’ve spent too much time being soft!” He said, breaking the silence as he charged towards you.

Using your enhanced strength, you grabbed the man’s weapon, wrenching it from his hand. “Or maybe you’re just weak!” You spat as you spun, using the barrel of the gun to deliver a sharp blow to the soldier’s temple. His lifeless body felt, sending a thud through the cabin as his blood pooled around him. You dropped the gun in relief as your eyes dropped to the floor, watching his blood river over the photos of you and Yelena on the floor.

“Y/n!” Yelena called in a worried voice, rushing over to you. “Y-you’re hurt!” She said, looking at your face. You didn’t hear her motorcycle roaring up the snowy mountain, you barely even heard her voice over the shock that took over you. It had been so long since you took the life of another person.

“I…I’m fine” you stuttered as your eyes slowly looked up at her.

“Who is that?” Yelena asked, stepping over the body to get to you. “It doesn’t matter” you replied as Yelena gently cupped your face, wanting to draw your attention to her. “They’ll just come back” you added. Yelena could see the fear in your eyes, the realization of the danger that they were now in crashed over her like a wave. She knew that the peaceful life was now gone but she refused to let you see her own fears.

“Then we’ll fight them” she said in a low, soft whisper.

The weight of the fight fell heavily on you; after removing the lifeless body from your shared home and Yelena cleaning up the blood left behind, the next few days were spent in a tense silence. Fear of the unknown taunting you. Each night Yelena woke up to find you staring outside the window over the snow-covered woods. She wrapped her arms around you from behind, pressing her back into your back.

“I’m afraid too” she whispered, her voice trembling.

You turned around, her green eyes filled with fear as you pulled her into a tight embrace, “I’m afraid they’ll take you away again” she admitted.

“I promise you, they won’t” you replied, your voice firm. “I won’t let them”

“We…” Yelena started, pulling away to look up at you with her eyes now filling with tears, “We could leave, find a new place. Tell nobody” She suggested but you shook your head, “baby, I’m not going to take you away from your family and friends” you said, gently cupping her face, “I’m done running” you added.

Yelena nodded softly, “then we fight them together. Promise me…. promise me we’re in this together”

You hated knowing that Yelena was in just as much danger as you, that you were the one that put her in this position. “I promise” you replied softly, placing a kiss on her forehead. You knew better than to argue and if you were being completely honest, you needed her just as much as she needed you.

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#yelenasdiary asks #anon #fanfiction #marvel #yelena belova #Yelena Belova x reader #Yelena Belova x you #black widow #thunderbolts

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proshippers-against-censorship · 4 months ago

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In recent times, we've seen the rise of conspiracy claims related to the QAnon movement, with claims that secret rings of pedophiles infiltrate our government and entertainment industry.

Pizzagate was, to a degree, where these claims began, with wild and frightening claims of sex-trafficked children in a D.C. pizza restaurant allegedly associated with Democratic politicians.

Then Jeffrey Epstein was charged and died after he predated on young, vulnerable teens.

Finally Netflix released the film “Cuties”, it was promoted with clips that objectified young girls and showed them mimicking adult, sexualized dance in hip hop videos.

Suddenly, it seemed like we were at war with people who want to "normalize" sex with children, and social media is filled with cries for murder of anyone associated.

Children deserve to be protected, but to truly protect young people, we must deal with reality, and not fantastical conspiracies. Here are some vital facts:

Most children who experience sexual abuse are abused by people they know. Over 90% of sexual assaults against children, are committed by relatives, siblings, parents, teachers, pastors, ministers, or neighbors.

Less than half (around 40%) of sexual assaults against children are committed by pedophiles. The majority of sexual crimes against children are perpetrated by people who do not have a history of disordered sexual arousal to children. Instead, issues of drugs, alcohol, anger, isolation, and control motivate these tragic events.

Pedophilia is a sexual disorder that involves repeated sexual arousal, fantasy, or behavior toward children, but is not, in and of itself alone, a highly significant risk factor for sexual abuse of children. I know this seems hard to believe, but research demonstrates that it is antisocial personality traits, low empathy for the victim, disinhibiting drugs and alcohol, and isolation which lead to sexual abuse of children. People with pedophilic arousal and attraction are at greater risk compared to the general public to engage in child sex abuse, but these other risk factors may carry more weight.

Many people with pedophilic disorder never sexually abuse children. We don't know very much about this population, or how many never abuse children, because most keep their fantasies and thoughts a secret for shame and fear of punishment or exposure.

Pedophiles appear to be born, not made, and have distinct neurological differences which correlate with these disturbed sexual desires. But when pedophiles have empathy, have an awareness of the need to follow social rules, and are sober, these people appear to have no clear risk for sexually abusive behavior.

Treatment of sexual offenders against children used to be highly punitive, coercive, and filled with shame. But today, these treatments have been shown to potentially increase the risk of recidivism, and to put more children at risk. Punishment and revenge against sex offenders may make us feel vindication, but it comes at the price of future victims. Treatment models such as “The Good Lives” program have strong evidence for reducing future risk, and rely on building up former offenders, developing skills, resources, motovation, and social connections, not on breaking down these people.

Anger, rage, and fear over the sexual abuse of children not only hurts our chances of preventing future abuse, but it harms the children themselves. It is exactly the rage and shame over sexual abuse, and sexuality in general, which leads many victims to keep their abuse secret. They fear that they are now tainted, that it was somehow their fault, and that people’s rage will leak onto them.

People need to have better, louder, and more conversations about the way our society and media sexualizes children, for example in beauty pageants, television shows, and daily life. But these conversations need to be based on facts, not myths. People need to recognize that these tragedies are due to social policies that perpetuate neglect, poverty, and dehumanization, not the actions of secret, powerful pedophiles.

I see only facts here.

#proshippers against censorship #jackal barks #proship please interact #proshippers please interact #proship positivity #proship #proshipper safe #proshipping #proshipper #anti anti #ask #asks #pro stance

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xjulixred45x · 8 months ago

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Hi I would like a reader who is like Hunter from Owl house with the Hazbin crew if that’s ok

Awwww, i love The little guy!! Done

Hazbin Hotel crew with Hunter like- Reader

OKAY, I have two possible origins for this HH Hunter.

The first and most interesting, Reader is a Hellborn.

I imagine that maybe this reader had a life similar to Loona, that is, living quite badly in a ring with terrible conditions, until someone "saved" him.

that person could be any royal person, a deadly sin like Mammon or Satan, a Goetia like Paimon, etc. someone egocentric but who knew how to manipulate the reader from the beginning so that they saw him well, as a savior, but nothing in this life comes for free, right?

reader was trained, "hardened" so to speak, to protect important families from hell, which wasn't exactly a good thing for someone so young. Reader was definitely not only manipulated as a child, but also physically abused through this.

The reader grew up and became the perfect guard, just as his "boss" wanted him, someone who did not question, someone who followed him and who could command. even if it was at the cost of his mental health.

At some point in his reader's life he was given as a "gift" to the Morningstars, as Charlie's personal guard, thus beginning his slow process of "detoxification" from all the years of grooming.

NOW, definitely reader has already had certain flashes of "rebellion" before this and several of them he retains (because well, he is still a teenager), such as certain hobbies or tastes that he hides from his "boss" for his own good .

There is also the fact that being a hellborn, Reader is painfully aware of the treatment that many of his "kind" receive and wants to participate in certain forms of activism, but the fear of what would happen if he did is very strong. .

In general, thanks to this, he is 1- Good at keeping secrets and 2- bitter about not being able to participate in the things he wants because of his "cowardice" (fear of the consequences).

(a sinner reader was probably a victim of some kind of cult that followed him even in death, did horrible things UNDER THE INFLUENCE of the cult and is more prone to being manipulated. Even if he is interesting, I prefer the Hellborn reader).

When he arrives at the hotel he definitely shows his more hostile side at first (because well, sinners kinda give him the ick) and it would definitely be difficult to get him to interact with the staff at first, but when he does it would be... interesting...

Charlie, being the first to interact with Reader, is definitely excited by the possibility of a new resident for the hotel or even just a possible "friend", so she is surprised by Reader's attitude towards her.

It takes her a while to realize that the reader thinks Charlie only sees it as a "rehab program" and she feels a little offended by that (since she doesn't consider that she needs help when in reality she definitely needs some safe adult).

Charlie wants to hear the reader's opinions, and several of these opinions definitely leave her thinking (ahem, THE HELLBORNS, ahem). She would be happy if he even participated in some exercises, but not forced anything.

Vaggie is a little more hostile because she feels that her position as Charlie's protector is threatened, but when she realizes that he is a BOY, she calms down considerably.

Vaggie tries to be patient with Reader, but sometimes her sass gets under her skin and she snaps, it just feels WRONG to be in the same position as a child. although he eventually rationalizes that the reader definitely did not have it easy.

Vaggie and reader TOLERATE each other and do their things separately, but there is at least some respect between them.

Alastor at first finds him annoying, precisely because he is always on his or Charlie's heels. Although he'd be lying if he said he didn't find the perspective of an orphaned soldier amusing.

He definitely likes to scare the reader when he gets the chance, making sudden Jumpscares and sometimes appearing right next to them as they follow him. It's hilarious to him.

Alastor couldn't care less about the reader, it's just one more possible step in reaching Charlie.

Angel Dust at first would try to playfully flirt with him until he realizes that 1- he is a minor and 2- he is a bitter child. He doesn't mess with him much because he knows he will jump straight to violence.

Surprisingly, he tries to lower his tone when the reader is present, perhaps out of habit or for his own good, but he does it. and is quite surprised when the reader drops the "little soldier" mask even for a moment.

He definitely jokes about it A LOT, but he understands what it's like to use an act for your own good, so he doesn't bother him for long or judge him.

Husk sees through everyone, including the reader, and it honestly depresses him to see the boy at the beginning, it's like the times when he died, children fighting wars that are not theirs.

definitely the most reader friendly, just not in the conventional way, gives him free apple juice/water when no one is looking, gives him things or magazines that he thinks he might like with the excuse that "I was going to throw them all away" ways," and generally treats him like a child.

I think it would be the first (if not the only one) with which the reader feels comfortable to be normal, without facada, just a child. and it makes you understand MANY things in general.

Sir Pentious at first would be a little uncomfortable with him (because the reader probably kicked his ass for the wall thing) and he was expecting a scary soldier...only to bump into a child.

Pentious doesn't think it's so strange that he is so young (because he died in the Victorian era) but he tries to be friendly and make conversation, it doesn't go very well but at least the reader doesn't see him as a threat.

I think they could get along eventually, but it would take time. apart from the fact that Pentious's inventions definitely don't help the reader to let their guard down. but with power it is possible.

Niffty scares him, plain and simple.

She was definitely interested in the "bad boy" until she found out he was a teenager. After that, she only interacts with him to clean his clothes (he gets them dirty often).

Niffty thinks he's adorable, reader is scared.

All in all, it's a tumultuous road, but I definitely think Reader could thrive in the hotel with the right help.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

#headcanons #drabbles #male reader #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #hotel hazbin #platonic #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel vaggie #hazbin hotel husk #hazbin hotel niffty #tw child abuse #hazbin hotel pentious #toh hunter #the owl house hunter

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getvalentined · 10 months ago

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Differentiating the "Black Robes"

For folks who didn't catch it on their own playthrough or (or watch-through) of FF7 Rebirth, here's a quick breakdown of the apparent nature of the people in black robes seen throughout both this game, and previously in Remake.

This differs from OG canon, where everyone in a black robe was a Sephiroth Copy, but in the FF7R timeline they appear to be broken into three "types."

SPOILERS BELOW — READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

NO NUMBER TATTOO means this is a G-type SOLDIER suffering from degradation. These people are terminally ill. Degradation sets in within five years of enhancement [see Note 1 below], and accelerates very quickly without aggressive treatment.

Known G-type SOLDIERs: Roche, Azul, Rosso, and Shelke Rui. Population: over 100.

A ONE- OR TWO-DIGIT NUMBER TATTOO indicates S-type SOLDIERs in the throes of Reunion. These people are not terminally ill, based on dev comments confirming that S-type SOLDIERs don't degrade, but they have a cellular leash that is being constantly yanked on by Sephiroth/Jenova. Without Reunion taking place, most of them would presumably live long, fairly healthy lives. [See Note 2 below.]

Known S-type SOLDIERs: Zack Fair, Kunsel, Luxiere, and Broden. Population: presumed fewer than 100.

A TATTOO STARTING WITH "SC" confirms these people are successful Sephiroth Copies. Failures do not receive a tattoo. They may or may not be terminally ill, contingent upon which type of SOLDIER they were prior to the procedure to make them into a Copy, and the leash on their own cellular makeup is much stricter, much more direct, and gives them a clearer concept of where to go and what to do.

Known Sephiroth Copies: Roche (successful), Zack Fair (declared failure), and Cloud Strife (declared failure). Population: 4 subjects in total, plus 2 known failures.

Tattoos don't seem to be applied at the time of enhancement, since none of the SOLDIERs in Crisis Core have them, but it's possible that early inductees like Broden were marked when they survived the treatments; this seems likely, as Broden's tattoo is in a slightly different typeface than the tattoos of others in his "type."

I didn't include Sephiroth, Genesis or Angeal under known members of their given types, as they were never normal humans and were not enhanced using one method or the other as teens or young adults. Those who are Jenova babies from birth don't count. I also didn't include two members of DeepGround due to the fact that they canonically cannot actually be G-type SOLDIERs based on the lore of how the two of them were made and how they function in general; they may be G-type on paper, but they are not G-type for the purposes of this analysis.

Lastly, I'll admit that this breakdown may appear to be slightly inconsistent during gameplay, but this seems to be due only to the reuse of models between black robed individuals, presumably to take stress off the dev team. I'm fine with this, obviously, no crunch is good crunch. As far as I can tell it's pretty consistent in full cutscenes, though, so I'm sticking with it until the third game proves me wrong.

—

NOTE 1: The timeframe for degradation is based on Roche suffering from the condition prior to his becoming a Sephiroth Copy, which is visible in the fact that he has a handful of incongruously pale streaks through his hair prior to the procedure; an attempt to cure this is presumably the reason he volunteered to work with Hojo in the first place.

According to the Remake Ultimania, Roche joined SOLDIER after the Nibelheim Incident, so he's only been in the program for five years at the most; this timeframe also allows us to recognize S-type SOLDIERs, as they've been in the program for significantly longer with no known ill effects (e.g.: Kunsel has been in the program since at least 2000, but is mentioned by name and indicated to be at headquarters in Remake, showing that he's still on active duty in 0007; this wouldn't be the case if he were suffering from degradation, so he can't be a G-type.)

NOTE 2: The capacity of S-type SOLDIERs to live fairly normal lives with minimal major health issues is proven by the existence of Broden, who identifies himself as a SOLDIER but was certainly part of Project 0; he and Mildred left home as teenagers and wound up with Shinra, but Mildred doesn't know the name of the project into which he was conscripted, only that it was "top secret."

Combined with the apparent age of both characters in-game, this indicates that Broden took part in the project before SOLDIER was even SOLDIER, putting him as one of its earliest successful operatives, probably enhanced sometime between 1983 and 1985 based on the timeline provided in the First SOLDIER Battle Royale opening cutscene—hence why his number is the lowest shown on a person in a black robe in the entire game. This puts him in his forties at the youngest during the Crisis, and he functions just fine (albeit with some other issues we can assume were caused by the enhancement procedure being imperfect at the time of his enlistment) until Reunion starts to call him toward the end of 0007.

#fandom ramble #lore analysis #ff7 rebirth spoilers #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ff7 rebirth #ff7rb #ff7r #innkeeper broden #broden ff7 #soldier third class roche #roche ff7 #jenova project #project 0 #soldier ff7

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alleycatrecue · 5 days ago

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This Giving Tuesday, we ask you to consider donating to Alley Cat Rescue’s Life-saving Program, which is used to ensure we can get cats with urgent medical care.

This program will ensure that ACR can continue to help save cats that are who are severely ill or injured. Cats in such poor shape don't have time to wait for the funds to be raised.

In the past, we have used Alley Cat Rescue’s Life-saving Program funding to save numerous lives.

.....

MAIZIE - Late one Sunday, we were alerted to a very young mama cat who was stuck at a city shelter and had been in labor all day. She had given birth to four stillborn babies early in the morning and was still suffering. She needed to see a vet as soon as possible.

Maizie was rushed to an emergency vet and it was determined that there was one large kitten still in the birth canal. Sadly, the kitten had no heartbeat, The vet performed an emergency c-section as Maze would not have survived otherwise. She was also severely anemic as she lost a lot of blood with the placentas for each birth. She was in intensive care and is now being monitored closely. Unfortunately, she's suffered permanent nerve damage to her back legs.

OLIVE was found by our Los Angeles team with her ears mutilated and a back leg broken in two places. She needed her leg amputated but after recovery, she was pain free and adopted.

SIMONE (aka Cally) came to us with three nursing kittens and a severe viral infection. Her fever shot up to 105 and we rushed her to an emergency clinic. Simone stayed at the clinic for a week, receiving IV antibiotics, fluids, anti-nausesa medication, and many tests.

ASH's jaw was badly broken in a domestic violence situation, leaving him in terrible pain and unable to eat. He required a feeding tube, hospitalization, and three surgeries.

TEDDY was only a few days old when he developed pneumonia. He spent several days at the vet, requiring round-the-clock monitoring and care. He also required a feeding tube because he was so congested that he could not eat and breathe at the same time, and he was placed in an incubator.

ROO was born with both back legs wrapped around his body and badly deformed. ACR got him physical therapy, massages, and laser treatment, which fixed his legs. Though he eventually lost his right paw, ACR was able to give him complete mobility.

BUBBLEGUM was born 1/4 the size of his littermates. He's had multiple issues including a heart murmur, digestive trouble, and delayed growth. we have taken him to the veterinarian and multiple veterinary specialists many times throughout his development to try to determine what is wrong. Almost an adult now, he shows signs of weakness and has an enlarged spleen and lymph nodes, inflamed gums and teeth, and ACR continues to work with vets and specialists on his healing

......

Some cats need emergency treatment for a week, recover, and then find their forever home. Others require continued or follow up care for much longer. We are gratified to be able to give happy endings to kittens and cats in dire need. Please help us continue to do this by donating to Alley Cat Rescue's life-saving program this #GivingTuesday.

#cats #cats of tumblr #black cats #cute cats #funny cats #kitties #animals #donate if you can #donate

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dandelionsresilience · 6 months ago

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Good News - August 8-14

Like these weekly* compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my new(ly repurposed) Patreon! (*sorry this one’s a day late, I had a family emergency)

1. Rio’s grassroots agroforestry sustains birds, bees & communities

“[Community-created and -maintained] agroforests have reshaped the urban landscape and now attract an array of fauna, from birds to bees and even fireflies, drawn by the diversity of plant life thriving on improved soils. Perhaps most importantly, the agroforests offer free food and medicines to residents in need, plus shade and educational opportunities for the whole community[….]”

2. First giant pandas from China in decades make their public debut in San Diego

(image source) “Tensions between the U.S. and China had temporarily paused the program known as "panda diplomacy" in which China loans its native animals to zoos around the world […] as a show of goodwill[….] But the presence of [the two pandas in San Diego] appears to show a mending of the diplomatic relationship, which Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to work toward in a meeting with President Biden last year. [… Gov. Newsom] called the giant pandas an example of how strong worldly partnerships can protect wildlife and their habitats[….]”

3. Good news for Europe's top economies as disposable income rises

“Poland experienced the largest increase in disposable income per capita, rising by 10.2% compared with a decrease of 2.7% in the last quarter of 2023. According to the OECD, this growth was "mainly driven by increases in employee compensation, social benefits other than in-kind transfers, and property income". […] In Germany, [household income per capita] rose by 1.4%, compared to just 0.1% in the previous quarter, partly driven by an increase in employee compensation.”

4. FDA approves nasal spray as first needle-free treatment for anaphylaxis

“The spray, which will be sold under the brand name Neffy, is seen as an alternative to EpiPen and other autoinjectors. […] “Some people, particularly children, may delay or avoid treatment due to fear of injections,” said Kelly Stone, an associate director at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, adding that the availability of the nasal spray may reduce barriers to rapid treatment.”

5. [Colin Farrell] is launching a foundation to support adult[s] who have an intellectual disability

““We want to take a good look at residential potential for families with young adults who are ready to go out into the world and have a greater sense of community and connection,” says the actor. […] "It’s really important for James and for all of our kids to feel like they are wanted, to feel like they’re part of the community. Not just out of charitable endeavors or being nice and doing the right thing, but out of a sincere desire to engage and learn about each other."”

6. The Berlin Zoo is hoping for more German-born giant pandas as scans confirm a pregnancy

“Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide. […] The zoo noted that female pandas are only capable of reproducing for about 72 hours per year.”

7. Arizona school district highlights the benefits of free lunch

“A study by the University of Washington found free meals at school help reduce hunger, reduce the stigma tied to free lunch, and can help reduce childhood obesity. [… A cafeteria worker] said since the school district began offering free lunch, they have seen a positive shift in the cafeteria culture, and students seem happier. […] In September of 2023, the USDA […] loosened up its application threshold for applicants, allowing an estimated 3,000 more school districts in high-need areas to participate in the [CEP] program.”

8. Gigantic millipede lost to science for 126 years rediscovered in remote Madagascan jungle

“A further 20 species 'lost' to science were rediscovered during the expedition, including three iridescent species of fish and several species of ant-like flower beetles.”

9. The climate law’s $8.8B in home energy rebates are starting to roll out

“New York and Wisconsin are the first to launch their long-awaited Inflation Reduction Act programs meant to deploy everything from heat pumps to insulation. […] Once deployed, the DOE estimates, the home energy rebates will help save consumers up to $1 billion in annual energy costs and support an estimated 50,000 U.S. jobs in construction, manufacturing, and other sectors. They’ll also help clean up buildings, one of the biggest sources of carbon pollution in the country.”

10. Advance in stem cell therapy: New technique for manipulating stem cells opens door to novel treatments

“Recently, a team of McGill researchers discovered that by stretching, bending and flattening the nuclei of stem cells to differing degrees, they could generate precisely targeted cells that they could direct to become either bone or fat cells. […] The first applications of this discovery are likely to involve bone regeneration, possibly relating to dental or cranio-facial repair[….]”

August 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

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mellowsadistic · 2 years ago

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Mindy wailed and thrashed as her Nanny spanked her forcefully, aiming for the top of her thighs, what little of her bottom that wasn’t protected by her thick, crinkly, heavily loaded naptime nappy.

“Bad girl, Mindy!” Nanny scolded, “Very bad girl! You do not yell at Nanny, and you especially do not complain about your treatment!”

“Ow! Ow! Ow! STOP IT!” Mindy cried.

“You need to learn your lesson, little girl, “ Nanny continued sternly. “Your loss of night-time bladder and bowel control is a good thing. Waking up with a soaked and stinky diaper sagging from your bottom shows that our regression training methods are working.”

“But I don’t want them to work!” Mindy shrieked. “I don’t wanna be some big baby freak!”

Nanny’s arm began swinging down with all her might, smacking against the skin of Mindy’s rapidly reddening bottom with so much force that the girl’s squealing doubled in volume. “BAD GIRL!” she shouted. “VERY BAD GIRL! You’re here to be punished, young lady! The court sentenced you to four years as a two-year-old, but since you were too proud to allow your boyfriend to treat you accordingly, he had no choice but to enrol you here! State-run discipline nurseries have a 100% success rate at putting regressed girls in their place, and you’re not going to be any exception, missy! A big baby is exactly what you’re going to be!”

“OW! OWIE! PLEASE!” Mindy begged, tears streaming down her face. Her bottom hurt so badly. She didn’t even know what she was begging for. For the spanking to stop? For her adulthood back? To be let out of the discipline nursery and get sent back to her loving boyfriend? How could she have pushed him to enrol her here? If she could turn back time, she would. Who cared if she had to live like a two-year-old, to have her boyfriend change her wet and messy nappies, to have him feed her and bathe her and burp her like a baby, if this was the alternative? Spending her time playing with baby toys and dancing along to toddler songs, and spending hours a day gazing into those screens, swirling colours and faint music that infiltrated your head and whispered to you.

Mindy could never remember the exact words, but the results were clear. After a few days she noticed her bladder and bowel control beginning to weaken, her hands becoming slightly uncoordinated, her walk turning into more of a toddle – and when she’d asked the nursery staff if it could be reversed, they’d only smirked at her.

And now she’d woken up from her nap to find her nappy absolutely drenched, and worse, packed with a yucky mess that she certainly didn’t remember making. The evil bitches at the discipline nursery had turned her into some kind of oversized two-year-old who filled her diapers in her sleep!

“Once we drop you off with your boyfriend at the end of your training, you’ll be a completely different girl!” Nanny said happily, not letting up with her furious swats. “Just like your little friends that are almost done with their conditioning!”

Mindy sobbed and screamed and kicked her legs over her Nanny’s lap. She couldn’t become one of them. She couldn’t! Not those dim-witted baby-women she shared the nursery school with, the diaper-dependent losers with their adult minds still more or less present, but so heavily conditioned with spankings and hypnosis and all the other foul training methods the nursery employed, that they may as well have had their personalities reverted back to toddlerhood – nothing but babbling, screeching, pants-wetting babies in the bodies of beautiful young women.

Mindy wanted to fight it. She couldn’t think of anything worse than ending up like one of them. But it was hard to think straight when her bottom was blazing like it was on fire. She couldn’t help herself. It was just too horrible! She wanted it to stop! She needed Nanny to stop!

“I’m sowwy, Nanny!” she wailed, hating how easily the baby talk came to her. Another gift of the hypnosis programs. “Baby was just cwanky ‘cause she did a poo-poo!” She cringed with shame as she said it, but she knew it was what Nanny wanted to hear. She wasn’t complaining because she was being turned into an oversized toddler who waddled around in full Pampers all day. She was just being cranky. “Pwease, Nanny!” she sobbed.

And then, mercifully, Nanny did.

“That’s a good girl,” she cooed, her voice soft and sweet, but with a definite note of condescending satisfaction. “What a good baby. Well done for taking your punishment, little Mindy. I’m sure you’re right. You were just being a little cranky because of your yucky, stinky nappy! But I’m afraid I’m not going to change you anytime soon, sweetheart. Babies need to get used to being in full diapers. You need to learn that you’ll be changed at an adult’s convenience, not when it’s convenient for you. Is that clear?”

“Yes Nanny,” Mindy whimpered.

“Good girl! Now let’s get you over to the playroom. We’ve got some lovely programs for you to watch this afternoon. Isn’t that nice?”

Mindy sobbed and sniffled, but didn’t resist as she was led off to sit in front of the television in the nursery’s main room alongside all the other infantilised women, to stare into the screen and allow herself to slip further and further into her new life.

#mellowsadistic

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transmutationisms · 25 days ago

Note

for the ed ask. i was similarly very disillusioned with therapy after years of going to stupid therapy as a teenager/young adult and did not find a lot helpful about ed treatment. for me though my executive function issues or whatever you want to call it around food and cooking made the ed behaviors a lot worse once i had actively decided i wanted to pursue recovery and the one thing i found useful was outpatient group meals. i did the program over covid and it was on zoom, i probably would’ve hated it in person, but just having outside structure around meals and cooking three times a day was very useful if you can find a way to replicate that. they wanted us to record everything we ate and i kind of just refused because i was like what the fuck that’s just replicating my worst ed behaviors lol. which i think i only got away with because no one knew how to handle the remote thing, but if that resonates i recommend finding a way to recreate a structure like that for yourself if possible

yea if this type of structure is something you would find helpful i do know there are still some of these groups digitally (still do some background checking on any organisers before you say anything sensitive or potentially reportable) and you can also set this kind od thing up more informally with a friend or whatever. idk i restrict worse in front of other people so it's not my thing but some people do really benefit from the company & accountability of this type of thing

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mvnvgedmischief · 5 months ago

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unremarkable days: Sirius black is trying to be a good man, a good brother, a good person. Sirius has a steady job designing book covers for a publishing house, a flat he never leaves, and a traumatized brother who was just removed from the custody of his parents. All in all, it's wildly unremarkable.

archive tags: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Regulus Black, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Modern Marauders (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), ok so this is mostly just sirius trying to take care of a traumatized regulus, Modern AU, Sirius trying to be a father figure, to his brother who was just removed from his home, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Artist Sirius Black, Writer Remus Lupin, Young Regulus Black, Past Child Abuse, Trauma, everyone is sad, Custody Battle, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Past Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Anorexia, Eating Disorders, Domestic Violence

words: 103,104 chapters: 27/?

this is kind of my baby in terms of fics i’ve written, i love it so much. it will probably end up around 30 chapters, but lord knows. artist!sirius x writer!remus in a modern take on a high society young adult recovering from his fall from grace while trying to hide his sexuality, take care of his brother, and fall in love. will his secret self destruction be the only thing that stands between him and the future he wants?

read it on ao3 here!

It was stressful to figure out what he needed, in the way of treatment. He had finally gotten things sorted today after several hours of meeting with Vincent Square and then following up with Orri. He would be spending the next weeks in the Orri PHP program, while he was working through supervised visitation with his parents, as well as the holidays. If, during that process, he needed a higher level of care, he had to take a bed at Vincent Square. If they decided, upon the completion of the holidays and the scheduled return to his life, January 15th, that he needed a higher level of care, he needed to take a bed at Vincent Square. None of this was binding or anything, but it was something he agreed to, so it wasn’t like he would be comfortable backing out. He wished he would, somewhere in the back of his mind, because he was just so much more comfortable at home, making the same disordered decisions he was making right now. He wanted to keep avoiding meals, expelling his demons with his purges, and destroying himself. But he couldn’t. No, if he wanted to continue to be Reggie’s guardian.

It was a long fucking year.

Sirius had crashed on the couch. If he was honest, he crashed on the couch more often than he slept in his bed. He was sure that it was overwhelming to Reggie upon his arrival here, but they were coming up on a milestone soon. Almost a year of the two of them living together, almost a year of his parents trying to ruin him. He almost wondered when they would start trying to laud him with money, considering nothing else had worked in strong-arming Sirius into giving them what they wanted. The worst part, if you asked Sirius, was that he would consider it. He would be a liar if he said that the amount of money he could surely get out of his parents could really change his life. He could buy his flat, and instead of worrying about rent each month, he could take the time off he needed to make sure that he got his head on straight, he could finally maybe stop feeling like he was a ghost haunting his own life. That would be nice.

Going through the motions was becoming exhausting for the artist. He was struggling desperately to be an active participant in his life, too bogged down by the static in his brain. His tether to reality had been fraying for a long time, and it had become dangerously worn. How easy things would be if he could give up. Sure, Reggie would be left in the lurch, which was why he didn’t. But giving up had a level of appeal to him that nothing else could. An end to his exhaustion, to his fear, was so far out of his reach. The only way out he could see from where he was right now was his end. As of now, he was staring down what felt like an unending torment of visits with his parents, meetings in court, stacks of work, appointments with therapists, and answering to Severus somewhere in the middle he would have to find time for maintaining his relationship with James, even though he was still resentful, trying to be supportive to Pete in the absence of his father, hopefully building a relationship with Remus– fuck he was overwhelmed. To die felt so much easier, but so completely unattainable.

The loud buzzing of his phone vibrating on the hardwood floor pulled him out of his restless sleep, and he answered without taking a moment to check the caller ID. He would regret that he was sure.

“Why did you answer, it’s four am?” No greeting. Typical Severus.

“Most people start with something like alright, mate? Greetings are a part of a civilized society.”

“Are you not sleeping again?”

“I cannot imagine you called me at four am to confirm I wasn’t sleeping, Sev. And for your information, I was sleeping.”

“And you’ve never heard of the do not disturb function?”

“What do you want, Sev?”

“I wanted to leave a voicemail.”

“Why can’t you just tell me?”

A pregnant pause met Sirius from the other side of the phone call. Sirius didn’t want to think about what it meant that Sev wasn’t answering the question. He wanted to let his brain keep blurring out of his understanding. He wanted to go back to living in his isolated, foggy brain. He didn’t want any of the struggle of actual interaction. “Please don’t make me humiliate myself by actually telling you to your face.”

“This is a phone call.”

“Close enough.”

“Why are you calling me, Severus?” Sirius was sure that the other man could hear the way his silver eyes were rolling back in his head. He wanted to go back to sleep. It felt as though Sirius was constantly in sleep debt, even when he had hours of sleep. Any number of hours greater than one felt like a win to Sirius. He was so exhausted, his eyes permanently half-lidded and glassy with his deprivation.

“Please,” Severus responded, and Sirius felt like he could taste the other man’s desperation. Maybe that was why the universe never let him sleep. Maybe his vigilance was some kind of superpower he unlocked when he didn’t sleep. He found his mind wandering back to the past, whirring on his time believing in something. He was never one for faith, never a true believer in god. He remembered the way his family forced him into itchy, uncomfortable dress clothes to sit on a pew that was far too uncomfortable. He remembered being eight, and the way that it would hurt to sit on that pew. He remembered the way he would shift, and be smacked by his mother for moving too often.

“Would you prefer I hang up and let you call back?” Sirius responded, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I somehow find that would be more humiliating.”

“Whatever,” Severus mumbled, and it was then that Sirius tasted the saltiness that was the tightness in the other man’s voice.

“Shit,” Sirius mumbled, sitting up on the couch. He was sure Severus could hear the crinkling of the couch around him. If he wasn’t full of a toxic mixture of existential dread and sleep deprivation, he would be confronted with how awful it felt to make such a noise. God, it was so stupid when he thought about it all honestly. How pathetic, to know that the way a couch moved would be enough to send him reeling. “ Areyoualright ?” The words stumbled out of his mouth all as one, for fear of leaving too much space in between them for the acrid taste of even more emotions. If he were on the other end of the phone, he may have heard it the way Severus did. He would’ve heard the way his voice was heightened and the way anxiety seeped into his voice. But he couldn’t hear that, it was drowned out by the ringing in his ears, and the way his blood was rushing up to flood his vision with stars. If he were like Remus, if he were a poet, he would say that the stars couldn’t wait to meet him, and he couldn’t wait to meet them. That all of his issues were an outward expression of his soul’s desire to take his rightful place amongst Canis Major. If he were a scientist, like Severus, he would say that he was starving his body of necessary nutrients and that these were the standard consequences of that. But he wasn’t a poet, and he wasn’t a scientist. He wasn’t even sure he was an artist anymore. Artist implied some level of care, compassion, and vision. He didn’t have any of that anymore. All he had was a hollowed-out gnawing in his stomach, a desire to be swallowed up by the earth, and the pathetic rocking back and forth of his anxiety.

Whatever Severus said in response fell on deaf ears because Sirius couldn’t anything over the loud sounds of his stars falling all around him. It felt like they were careening into the leather around him, burning up on entry to his atmosphere and crashing to the tune of his heart hammering in his ears.

“– about you. I care about you a lot alright? I know I’m not Remus and I know you love him, but I just–”

“Severus?” Sirius interrupted, “You called me about this at four in the morning?”

“Couldn’t stomach the idea of you dying without knowing....” Severus mumbled in response, “Couldn’t stomach the idea of you dying at all.”

“I’m not going to die, Sev,” Sirius sighed, as shaky footfalls carried him out to the fire safety window.

“Could’ve fooled me, Siri,” Severus sighed, voice tight on the other end of the line, “are you seriously going out for a smoke right now?”

“You have a problem with smokers now?”

“Christ,” He mumbled, “I hate you.”

“Oi,” Sirius chuckled, “I thought you were calling because you didn’t want me to die thinking you didn’t care about me.”

“Fuck off.”

This was off-limits, and they both knew it. The easy banter between them wasn’t something they could have, and they both knew it. It was too much history, too complicated, and involved far too much of their shared trauma. Even if Sirius had wanted it, which he didn’t, it required sacrifices Severus could never make. He was too close to his mother to distance himself, and Sirius was too far from him to reintegrate. Severus had a tight, bitter, and stiff relationship with the Black family. Sirius couldn’t remember anymore how, but he was sure Severus’s mother knew his mother somehow. He knew that the Snapes were also very close with the Rosiers, and if he thought back on it enough, Sirius had fuzzy memories of Eileen, sitting in on the book club, or whatever it was, that his mother ran on Sundays after church.

“Sev,” Sirius mumbled, “Do you ever wonder....”

“What if?” Severus responded, his voice tight with desperation and disappointment, “What if it was all different? What if we met at school instead of at your mum’s house?”

“What if they didn’t hurt us?”

“Maybe, in that world, we would’ve ended up together.” Came Severus’s watery whisper, like he was afraid to even say it out loud. It wasn’t like Sirius never thought about it. Of course, he thought about it. He had thought about it when he was younger, more naive, trapped in both the literal and figurative closet with Severus. He had even thought about it before he met Remus when he first gained custody of Reggie because maybe it could’ve made everything make sense. But he never took it seriously, especially because back then, they were still hate fucking, as far as Sirius was concerned. He knew, sure, that Severus was all over him, and would get jealous about him, but he thought that they both viewed each other as a prize to be won, a conquest to be made, a dance they did before they fell into a familiar pattern. It was easier for Sirius that way. Finding a new partner, someone who he viewed as more than a sexual conquest, was something had long since given up on until he met Remus. Love had gone out the window a long time ago, and new sexual conquests had been abandoned since he welcomed Regulus into his home. It made everything easier, especially when he thought about the idea of someone new seeing his body under the soft, warm lighting of his bedroom, or the harsh overhead lighting of someone else’s. The thought of someone new seeing the twists and turns, hills and valleys of his body had made Sirius feel physically ill, and it was only when Remus came careening into his life that he considered welcoming someone new in.

“Don’t cry, Sev.” Sirius replied, his own voice sounding tight, “Maybe someday, it won’t hurt to think about it anymore.” He mumbled, “You’ll find someone who can love you the way you deserve. I could never do that for you, no matter how much I wanted to in the past.”

“I know, I see your family too often,” Severus mumbled back, with a tight chuckle. Sirius felt a tension in the pause between them before Severus’s voice came through the phone again. “You’ve wanted to?” The question hurt in a way he wished it didn’t. He had wanted to when they were younger. He wanted to, but he wasn’t brave enough to ask. He wanted to ask Sev to put distance between himself and Sirius’s family, he wanted to stop the game they played of irritating each other in front of their respective friends so they could storm off and meet in a broom closet, but Sirius was so insecure. He had been so scared of asking for something he couldn’t have, so he settled into their routine and never said anything. Eventually, he grieved what he knew he couldn’t have, and found his way into his life now.

“Sixth form...” Sirius mumbled in response, feeling his chest bloom with shame and his cheeks break into a blush.

“You never said...”

“Of course not. You hated me.” Sirius chuckled, his own eyes welling up with tears at the thought of their youth, a youth that was so broken and marred with problems. “Even if you didn’t really, I couldn’t fathom that.”

“But you should’ve –” Severus began before Sirius was quick to cut him off.

“Oi, I’m pretty sure you didn’t say anything until three months ago. Glass houses and all that.”

“I don’t know, Siri. Thinkin’ it’s probably time for me to give up on love.”

“Sev, we’re way too young for that,” Sirius responded, taking a long pull of his cigarette. “I think it’s probably time you give up on me.” That pulled a broken sob out of Severus, which the former aristocrat hadn’t anticipated.

Why was Sev crying? He couldn’t understand that, even if an outsider would have to be blind to miss it. There was so much subtext in that kind of statement. Everyone knew that Sirius wanted them to give up on him, to let him starve himself off and die in peace. You’d have to be an idiot to miss that the statement twisted the knife in Severus’s chest, making him yearn just that much more for the world where he could have exactly what he wanted. Too bad Sirius was an idiot, and he couldn’t read his own subtext, let alone someone else’s.

“Why do you insist on saying that?” Severus snapped. Once again, Severus was beyond his understanding. “Why do you insist that everyone should just let you destroy yourself?” His voice was tight with his tears, but his tone was harsh. “The people in your life care about you, you fucking dickhead. I love you for fucks sake, and I keep tearing myself apart to be here for you even though you’re an arsehole, and your brother because you’re losing your shit. I let your tosser of a best mate run around saying I’m into his girlfriend, just so that nobody asks you a godforsaken question you don’t want to answer. Why do you have to beg me to give up on you all the time? Don’t you know how that feels?” A broken sob ripped out of Severus amid his rant, and Sirius couldn’t help the way he felt guilty.

“Severus, hey–” He tried to interrupt, but it was fruitless. Severus was going to keep saying his piece until he got everything off of his chest, and it seemed like he really needed to get the rant out, despite however much it hurt Sirius to hear. “Sev, it’s okay...” Sirius whispered into the phone, “I’m okay. ‘S not what I meant, mate.” He would be a liar if he said that none of that was new information. He knew Severus was into him, and always had been decently intro him enough to sleep with him, but he had been under the impression that Severus was in love with Lily, as was the widely held belief in his friend group. It never occurred to him that Severus would be trying to protect him. It never occurred to him that everything he said sounded like a veiled plea for everyone to just let him go.

“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you, Siri,” Sev whispered. Sirius could practically feel the earnestness in his bones, the whole conversation had grown bitter and sad.

“I wish you could see you deserve more than endless pining,” Sirius responded in kind, prompting them to sit silently. It was an unfair response because even though they both meant exactly what they said, they were subtle digs at each other. Severus knew Sirius couldn’t fathom anything but his own bitter hatred for himself, just like Sirius knew his endless chaos kept Severus’s wrapt attention.

He heard his door buzzing inside, which was his cue to wrap this up. “Thanks for calling, mate. I’ve gotta jump somebody’s buzzing and I dunno who could possibly be here at this ungodly hour.”

“Cheers, mate” Sev responded, although Sirius could tell he wasn’t happy about it. Granted, Sirius wasn’t exactly shocked by that.

He collected himself and made his way back into his home. It wasn’t the most comfortable for his tired joints, but he ignored their loud protests and climbed back into his living room, taking notice of the clock on the wall, when had it become 5 AM?

“Oi, do you know what time it is?” Sirius mumbled into the buzzer’s microphone.

“Can I come up?” Remus’s voice garbled through the speaker, and immediately Sirius was buzzing in the other man. God, he was glad Remus was here. He didn’t remember asking Remus to come over, but if Remus was here then he was sure he must have. Either way, he was glad Remus was here. He wanted to be held, to be loved, to be touched. He just wanted to feel okay again, even if he knew he wouldn’t any time soon. He unlocked his front door in preparation for Remus arriving at his flat. Sirius was overtired and he knew it, he was practically buzzing, and as he looked around his home, it struck him that his living room made him look like a slob. There were cups everywhere, his couch cushions were all kinds of fucked up, and his blanket was crumpled up in a ball. Bleary, wide eyes remained unfocused as he collected the dishes around the room, hoping to make his home look slightly less like a pigsty and more like a legitimate home.

Remus walked into Sirius’s home, his rambling steps ringing loudly in his ears, and the man felt ashamed. His voice cut through the white noise in Sirius’s mind, and he felt himself sinking deeper into himself.

“Shit, Siri,” Remus mumbled, “You alright, love?”

“Yeah,” Sirius mumbled, silver eyes cast down on his hands. God, he should’ve cleaned up more. He should’ve kept his home nicer, he should’ve kept himself together, he needed to be better. The subtext in his mind was always that better was thinner. “I’m fine,” He shrugged, “just tired.” It took him a moment, to step outside of his own selfish mind and notice what was going on. Remus’s eyes were rimmed with red, his skin had adopted a pallor, and his frail body was shivering.

“Re–” Sirius said, eyes trained on the other man. God, he wished this was easy, He desperately wished he could keep himself from spiraling or getting too worried. “Are you alright?”

“‘M fine,” Remus responds, grey eyes trained on the tile.

“I’m fine...” Sirius trails off, his eyes blown wide with a desire for the floor to swallow him up

The two of them were both sitting there, across from each other, trying to distract the other from just how out of it, and how fucked they felt. Neither was going to be able to shake this discomfort or fear. Sirius didn’t realize that Remus didn’t ask again, his mind too busy elsewhere.

Maybe he was distracted by his fears, his stress, or the ever-looming holidays. Maybe it was everything, maybe it was nothing. Either way, in an instant Remus was clamoring into his lap, pressing a hungry kiss to his lips. Sirius responded in kind, scabbed and angry fingers tangling in Remus’s golden hair. If he was just a bit more with it, just a little bit more aware of the world around him, maybe he would have noticed the way Remus’s hands shook as they tangled into the hair behind his neck or the fact that he only had a jumper on and it was freezing outside. It took Remus’s cold hands on the back of his neck to snap him back into the dark reality of the moment. “Moony, you’re freezing.” And my heat was off was a silent understanding between them.

“Then warm me up,” Remus responded, pulling on Sirius’s hoodie to bring them closer together. He was daring Sirius not to take exactly what he wanted, and god, was it hard. But Sirius could taste some kind of desperate fear in his overtired hypervigilant state, and he cared too much for Remus to wholly ignore it. “How did you get here?” He whispered, before pressing his lips to the hollow beneath Remus’s ear. In between leaving hickies in his wake, maybe he could get some information out of the smaller man.

“Ran,” Remus responded, a small gasp escaping him as he leaned into Sirius’s attention. However, the response prompted Sirius to pull away and stare blankly at the other man. “You ran over here? In this weather? With no jacket? From your flat?” He asked, voice blown with shock, “Fuck, do you need a cup of tea or something, love?”

“No,” Remus responded, his voice still dripping with a desperation that was starting to feel like one Sirius didn’t recognize. The fear that he could previously taste at the back of his throat was starting to creep further and further to his awareness, and he was starting to pay more attention to what was happening around him. Remus’s cold hands met the waistband of Sirius’s boxers, where it stuck out from his pajama pants, and whined, “I want to blow you.”

“Re–” Sirius mumbled, trying not to let his resolve to figure out what was going on crumble because of his desire for the older man. “Why didn’t you ask me to come get you?” He asked, steely eyes looking over the smaller man.

“What’s with the twenty questions, Sirius? Don’t you want me?” His voice was sharp with his insecurity. Sirius felt like he was watching in slow motion as Remus’s golden brown eyes welled with tears, and he whispered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to–” This time it was for once Sirius’s turn to hush him and press a gentle kiss to his forehead like Remus had for Sirius so many times before.

“What happened, love?”

“Nothing.”

“Moony, something must have happened...” He replied, his arms wrapping tighter around Remus.

“It’s fine, Siri...” He responded, “Just leave it.” Once again, he was closing the distance between them with a crushing speed. He let his hands wander down to Sirius’s waistband once again and pulled Sirius’s lower lip between his teeth.

Sirius pulled away, which elicited a high-pitched whine from Remus. “I’m serious, Moony. Something’s wrong.” It tasted like metal.

“If I wanted to talk about it I wouldn’t have run over here unannounced.” Remus snapped back, “I don’t want to talk.” He mumbled, “Did you get bored of me?” He whispered, golden brown eyes cash down and brimming once again with tears.

“No,” Sirius replied, a sad chuckle pulling from somewhere deep within him. “No, Moonshine, I’m not bored of you. I just want to know what made you so upset you ran several miles in freezing weather with no jacket.”

“I can’t have just wanted to see you?” Remus replied, pulling a smug smile.

“Not without a jacket, you can’t,” Sirius replied, “Let me get you a cup of tea, love.” He replied, scooping up the smaller man and carrying him to the kitchen. He knew he was pushing it with his body. He knew that this was a bad choice for him, as far as risking passing out again, but Remus was so cold he could feel it radiating off of him. He sat Remus down on the counter walked over to the thermostat and turned the heat on. When he returned to the counter, Remus pulled Sirius into another kiss. “Turning on the heat for me? How romantic,” Remus chuckles.

“Of course,” Sirius responded, leaning into Remus once more, “Moons, please talk to me.”

“Fen called me,” Remus replied, his eyes drifting off behind Sirius. He couldn’t look the other man in the eyes while he talked about this. Those three words made Sirius’s heart drop into his stomach. He immediately pulled the smaller man into his arms. “I didn’t know it was gonna be him. It was a Bangor number.” Remus mumbled, burying his face in Sirius’s chest and tightening his arms around Sirius’s waist.

Sirius wished he wasn’t reminded of how awful he felt about himself, about his insecurities about his body. He didn’t have time to dwell on his thoughts, about what was going on. So instead he focused on pressing kisses to the crown of Remus’s head and whispering sweet affirmations. “You’re safe. He can’t hurt you here. He can’t find you here.”

“I just feel so awful.” Remus whimpered, “and weak.”

“You’re one of the most resilient people I’ve ever met,” Sirius responded.

“I’m so scared, Siri.” Remus replied, “What if he finds my flat?”

“Why don’t you stay with me until you go up north?”

“What about the PI?”

“They called off the PI when they won visitation. Now it’s up to if Reggie wants to keep seeing them and how Social Services feels.”

“O-okay...” Remus whimpered in response, “I don’t wanna put you out... I just– he knows Lily and I moved in together. I know he knows.”

“Baby, you should stay here.” Sirius responded, “I’ll keep you safe.”

It felt like the conversation was stretching on in a way that Remus hated. Sirius saw him bristle every time he asked a question, and every statement sounded like a whimper from a beaten dog. He knew that in Remus’s position, he wouldn’t want to talk about it anymore. He would want to talk about anything else. But he and Remus were different. While Sirius would run in this position, Remus had always been touch-motivated. Maybe that was something that happened before Fenrir, maybe it happened in the touch-starved years since, but Sirius noticed the way his brain stopped whirring at spiraling out of control when Sirius’s hands met the smooth expanses of his pale skin. Sirius put a finger under Remus’s chin, lifting it to pull him into a kiss. He didn’t mind that Remus’s eyes were rimmed red, or the tear tracks staining his cheeks. He found an overwhelming love for the other man, and all he wanted was to fix things.

“Let me take care of you,” Sirius mumbled, met with a hungry and desperate response from Remus. “Please, Siri. Please .”

It was explosive and beautiful and wild, and when the sun rose on that late December day when Remus’s thighs were covered in hickeys and his mind was fuzzy from pleasure, Sirius felt like things were finally unremarkable.

#unremarkable days #unremarkable days chapter 27 #my shit #wolfstar #modern wolfstar au #writer remus #poet remus lupin #artist x poet au #poet x artist au #sirius black x remus lupin #sirius black remus lupin #the black brothers

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justinspoliticalcorner · 2 months ago

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Jennifer Bendery at HuffPost:

WASHINGTON — House Republicans have tucked a provision into a must-pass defense bill that would strip health care from military families’ transgender kids, putting parents in a position of having to choose between their careers in the military and providing medically necessary health care for their loved ones. The language slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House is voting on later this week, is buried on page 399 of the 1,813-page bill. Republicans added it at the last minute, after Democrats had worked with them to help craft the legislation. It’s just one sentence: “Medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18.” The GOP has been relentlessly campaigning on restricting trans rights — Republican candidates spent a whopping $215 million on ads vilifying transgender people in this election cycle — and they’ve now found a way to tie trans issues to legislation that authorizes federal spending for the military. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that he’s “proud” of the NDAA bill and specifically pointed to its provision that blocks TRICARE, the military’s health care program, from covering the costs of gender-affirming health care for servicemembers’ kids. “We banned TRICARE from prescribing treatments that would ultimately sterilize our kids,” he told reporters at a press conference. Johnson’s claim and the bill’s language are misleading. Young children who receive gender-affirming care are not being sterilized. The procedures that Republicans have often pointed to when talking about trans health care — surgeries performed on a patient’s genitals — are, as a rule, only done on consenting adults and are only done after consultations with medical professionals. The kind of gender-affirming care trans kids who haven’t hit puberty yet typically get is mental health support and guidance for social transitioning. Once a kid hits adolescence, they may begin to take puberty blockers, medicine that delays the changes of puberty. This doesn’t cause permanent physical changes; when someone stops taking puberty blockers, their natural puberty resumes.

The House GOP’s insertion of a provision banning gender-affirming care for trans kids of military families into the NDAA is offensive and cruel.

#Tricare #NDAA #Transgender Health #118th Congress #US Military

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annabelle--cane · 1 year ago

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at the risk of sounding Really Bad and with the caveat that I mean this in the most pro vaccine pro taking Covid extremely seriously way possible. I think conflating mental health/personal hobbies and habits with physical health and wellness in the time of a literal plague is actually part of why we are where we are. The example of opting out of treating a broken bone that you used is the perfect metaphor because that’s something that mostly effects the person with the broken bone. But if you’re treating every goddamn thing a person can do like it’s potentially viral it makes it easy to sound reasonable to advocate for a lot of vigilance against individual choice. Is this totally off base? do I sound like a reactionary dipshit conspiracy theorist right now? Just… there’s something here right??

even if that isn't the total root cause, I definitely think you're onto something. covid is literally a deadly and disabling viral disease, so the logic of "your actions regarding this impact others" makes total sense, but I think a lot of people took that language and framework and just ran with it, hoping that alluding to a deadly and disabling viral disease would lend credence to their arguments about mental health and personal decisions.

for example, I am constantly thinking about this take I saw on a post about drug decrim in december 2021. it's so special and dear to my heart, it makes no fucking sense at all. the only copy of the screenshot I still have saved is just the tail end of it and it has my annotations, so bear with me.

first, just for a moment, I love the complete breakdown of internal logic. we need to end the stigma around drug abuse but I think using heroin is exactly like being anti-vaxx. we should decriminalize all drugs but you'd have to be craaaazay to think that legalizing them is okay. wait until this person learns that some addiction treatment programs include prescribing opioids as a harm reduction measure.

second, using heroin is in no way like being anti-vaxx oh my god, and this person just can't tell. they are explicitly applying viral disease logic to mental illness* and choices about individual bodily autonomy. I don't want to minimize the pain and distress that can come from having a loved one with a substance use disorder, but in no world is it the same thing as refusing to go to cvs a few times to get a free vaccine against, once again, a deadly and disabling viral disease. groundbreaking leftist take: drug use makes you a hazard and drain on society and honestlyyyy you should think about the consequences of your actions before choosing to become an addict :/

I don't have screenshot for this next example, but I've also seen this language and mindset particularly come up a lot in discussions about "bimboism," makeup, and cosmetic surgery. I've seen several discussion threads where a woman finally just says "look, I'm adult, I've thought about this, I've interrogated myself, and ultimately I still want to do it and I can do what I want with my body" and the comeback to usually is "are you stupid? this isn't just about you, you're a member of a society who inherently expresses your ideology through your choices. the personal is political, stop being so individualistic. what will young girls think when they see you in a miniskirt calling yourself a slut?"

again, the final point that's meant to win the argument is that your choices about your body aren't fundamentally your own but Society's, because other people can look at your body and have feelings about it, they may even want to emulate it. for an added bonus, this one doesn't just use viral disease logic, but also borrows heavily and directly from the really basic conservative idea that women are less people and more living mannequins that you can dress up and use to show off the ideals of your social group. you can't wear that, men might see you and think you're a hussy and then it'll be your fault when they harass other women, little girls might see you and copy you like mindless drones.

*obligatory asides that plenty of people can recreationally use substances without being addicted and they're also fine + I know that classifying addiction as a mental illness is a hotly debated topic, especially in antipsych contexts, but that's a whole different can of worms to the topic at hand.

#answered #anons #id in alt text

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 2 years ago

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By: Buck Angel

Published: Jul 21, 2023

A guest post by Buck Angel, which really should be in The New York Times—maybe they’ll republish it?

Every day, I’m called a new name. Sometimes it’s something obviously insulting, like bigot or transphobe. Sometimes it’s something more subtly designed to twist my knickers, like female. My critics assume this will wound me, because for the last 30 years, I have lived as a man. I medically transitioned at age 30, after what felt like a lifetime of struggle, and after many years of therapy and evaluation.

Transition saved my life. But being called female doesn’t hurt me, because while I changed my body, I’m well aware that I can’t change my sex. And even though I’ve felt since I was a young child that I would have preferred to be—and should have been—born male, I don’t believe that children should medically transition. I’m one of the oldest and most visible female-to-male transsexuals in the country, but because of my views, today’s trans activists not only don’t speak for me, they try to cancel me.

Let’s rewind. I grew up in the 60s and 70s, a time of tomboys, when I was one of several typically masculine girls in short hair and sports shorts, running wild. There wasn’t much difference between me and those other tomboy girls back then; I beat up the boys and earned their respect. For the most part, my parents let me dress and live as a boy. The few times I had to wear a dress for church were torture, but other than that I had an excellent childhood.

My parents assumed my tomboyism was a phase I’d outgrow, but at puberty, I became deeply uncomfortable with my female body, a condition I had no name for back then. I lived for many years as a butch lesbian, and was an internationally successful androgynous model. Sometimes I wore suits, but when they stuffed me into a dress, I would spiral.

Eventually, the disconnect between my body and my sense of myself became too great. Sad and lonely, I turned to drugs, became homeless, engaged in prostitution, lost most of my friends and family, and hit bottom.

Once I got sober, and got therapy, I also got clarity. I told the therapist I felt that I should be—no, that I was—a man, and, unlike everyone else I’d ever said this to, she said, “I hear you. I believe you.” She gave me a diagnosis of what was then called gender identity disorder, which didn’t feel like a stigma. It felt like a lightbulb going off, which allowed me to understand and accept myself. I had a mental condition. That’s why I experienced anguish. Our next task was to figure out how to treat it.

Gender clinics were hardly in existence then. She couldn’t just affirm me and send me off for drugs and surgery with a letter. We spent over a year exploring the source of my distress and what it meant to be or live as a man or woman. She dug deep, she pushed back. And eventually, together, we decided that the potential benefits of transition were worth the risks. I had already passed the “real life” test. Now I went in search of medical treatments.

We filled out an inch-thick pile of paperwork for a program at Stanford, and never even received a reply. Eventually, we found an endocrinologist who explained to me that if I took testosterone, it would be experimental. But by that time, after 25 years of navigating the world as a differently-gendered person and more than a year of intensive psychological evaluation, I was ready.

I did something even more radical than transitioning once my body changed: I became an adult film star, a man without male parts, making space for nonconforming bodies, raising awareness and increasing body positivity for trans people. Some of my lesbian friends called me a traitor, and haters sometimes called me a tranny, but for the most part, I found acceptance and joy. Until about five years ago, I was happily living as a transsexual, or, as I call it, “a man with a female past.”

Then several things started to change. The word transsexual—a person of one sex who changes their body to appear more like the other—was eclipsed by the word “transgender,” an umbrella term that included everyone from tomboys gently rejecting stereotypes to trans women who’d had penectomies, plus myriad gender identities that seemed to have no locatable meaning. The idea that people could actually change sex, that sex was mutable or unreal, took hold in society, especially with young people.

Then, as some clinicians, including trans women, have admitted, a rash of teen girls started to declare themselves trans and transition; some said they’d had no mental health treatments before doing so. Then I started to hear about and from detransitioners, who’d taken cross-sex hormones or had breast or genital surgeries, not to cure some kind of organic dysphoria but because they’d been taught that if they felt uncomfortable with themselves or their bodies, maybe they needed to change them to match their brains. One study of detransitioners showed 55 percent felt they weren’t properly evaluated.

When it comes to gender dysphoria, talk therapy is more important than anything else. In fact, several European countries are now insisting that therapy is the primary treatment for it, with medical interventions under strict regulation. Physical transition is hard both on your body and mind; I should know. You have to make sure this is the right path for you by working with a therapist who will push back and question and explore the source of your desire to change. Dysphoria is in the brain. If you’re skipping over the brain and going straight to the body, you’re not helping trans people.

People accuse me of climbing the ladder and pulling it up behind me, transitioning and then trying to stop other people from doing so. That’s not my goal at all. I transitioned at age 30 and never looked back or felt I’d made a mistake, and I welcome adults who can adequately weigh the risks and benefits of transition to join me. But I never could have been sure without the struggle I navigated, without my brain growing mature enough to decide. Every choice I made was in adulthood.

One reason I’m so adamant about not medically transitioning children is that those tomboy girls I played with growing up, who were just like me back then, didn’t turn out like me. Some are gay women. Some are straight. Some feminized during or after puberty. Some stayed masculine. Childhood gender nonconformity or even gender dysphoria aren’t indications of any one adulthood. We can’t just slap the label trans on a kid who’s differently gendered and assume we know what path that kid should take for the rest of their life. In fact, several studies show that the vast majority of kids who are gender dysphoric in childhood resolve their distress by the end of puberty, and a majority of those grow up to be same-sex attracted.

Instead of focusing on identity, we should be focusing on the rigid gender stereotypes kids are absorbing every day. Give them the room I had to be masculine or feminine without presuming what it means about their futures. For suggesting these ideas, my own so-called LGBT+ “community” attacks me, tries to silence and intimidate me, accuses me of condemning children to a lifetime of suffering. But that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying it may be hard to live in their bodies, but it’s important that they try, because we don’t know how to forecast the future from their current struggle, but we know it’s important that they learn to navigate and overcome hardship.

Myself, I’m glad for my many years of struggling. Struggle made me strong. Now the struggle is so different. It’s a struggle to tell an inconvenient truth in a world that thinks truth is transphobic. It’s a struggle to keep my business going amid #cancelbuckangel hashtags. It’s a struggle to feel part of a community that would oust a pioneering elder for wrongthink.

I’ve already been through so much, and I can handle it. But I don’t think suppressing knowledge, dissent and discussion is going to create more space for kids struggling today. I think those kids are best served by having time and space to understand themselves, and not rush—or be rushed—to make decisions about who they are going to be.

#LGBT Courage #Buck Angel #Tranpa #transsexual #gender dysphoria #gender transition #stereotypes #gender stereotypes #gender ideology #queer theory #social contagion #gay conversion therapy #gay conversion #religion is a mental illness

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mariacallous · 6 months ago

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We are seeing a worrisome rise in mental distress among young people in the U.S., a trend that began in 2011. Various studies show that young people are now the country’s most unhappy demographic, with unprecedented increases in anxiety, depression, and suicide. In a recent ranking of happiness in countries around the world, American young people came in at 62, behind Bulgaria, Ecuador, and Honduras.

What explains this rise? The usual sources of blame are all too familiar: smart phones, pandemic precautions, and declining church attendance, among others. In addition, political polarization, toxic debates, and misinformation increasingly influence our civic discourse and discourage the young from participating in civic life. There is also a stigma against admitting emotional problems—particularly for males—and a shortage of affordable mental-health treatments when people do.

Yet the root causes for this crisis run deeper. They include rising education costs, uncertain employment prospects and declining wages, particularly for those without a college degree, and the absence of a sense of community in many places. In a recent Brookings paper economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton found that the life expectancy for the college educated in 2021 was eight-and-a-half years longer than for the two-thirds of American adults without a bachelor’s degree—more than triple the gap in 1992. Most of the jobs available to those without a B.A. do not offer health insurance, part of the explanation for the mortality gap. These trends result in losses in human welfare and productive potential. They also exacerbate the uncertainty many young people feel about their futures.

While there is no magic bullet for this crisis, most suggested policies focus on better regulation of social media, programs that support civic engagement among youth, and better mental health care access. But an important and underreported part of the solution is restoring hope. The crisis stems in significant part from a lack of hope that often is fueled by a sense that higher education—and the economic and life expectancy benefits it brings—is beyond reach of many. My research finds strong linkages between hope and better long-term outcomes in education, health, and mental well-being, with hope more important to better outcomes of those with limited access to post-high school education and mentorship.

My recent research on populations and places vulnerable to misinformation, for example, finds that they share two linked challenges: the lack of opportunities for higher or vocational education and community-wide despair (and related deaths), with young people lacking a pathway to a better future particularly vulnerable. Solutions on the education front not only require reducing costs and increasing access to post-high school education opportunities but mentorship that supports young adults seeking more education to achieve their aspirations and suggest pathways to the kinds of employment opportunities that can give them better future lives.

Jose Santana’s story is telling. In early 2022 he was thinking about dropping out of his Bronx high school. He simply did not see a purpose in going to college. That changed the summer after he participated in Youthful Savings, a New York and Santa Monica-based program that educates low-income students in middle and high schools about economics and entrepreneurship, mental well-being, and ethical business. After completing the program, he started his own business, helping young entrepreneurs better organize and utilize web and graphic design tools. Jose earned his high school diploma this June and plans to major in business at Andrews University in Michigan.

While Jose believes the skills that he learned were valuable, what most influenced him was the mentorship he received from the program’s founder, Somya Munjal, who is a champion of educating youth about financial literacy. She shared with Jose her own struggles to pay for college and business school and how that led to what she does to support low-income youth get ahead.

On the surface, Youthful Savings may not look like a way of alleviating the mental health crisis that is plaguing American youth. Yet the program is part of a proliferating trend that has the potential to bolster young people’s mental well-being while fostering their immediate goals of acquiring more education. Somya’s ability to expand Youthful Savings was supported by Civic Wellbeing Partners, an initiative which facilitates opportunities for the young and supports well-being in low-income populations.

Somya grew up in Chicago, the child of Indian immigrants. From the time Somya was in high school, influenced by her parents’ struggles, she worked 40 hours every week. Given her strong performance in school, her parents dreamed of her attending Harvard but lost their savings during the 2001 recession. She attended Northern Illinois University, majoring in accounting. She was frustrated with her studies until she found her passion in a class about the role of education as a change agent. In Jose’s words: “Hearing Somya’s story … inspired me to continue and stay in higher education.”

Macomb Community College (MCC) outside Detroit provides another example of how to support young people in school and train them for meaningful work. The college pairs every incoming student with a mentor, which ensures that even those who need help or counseling but are reluctant to ask for it get ready assistance. Its university hub—founded in 1991—hosts several Michigan universities offering courses on its campus, providing students a more affordable route for gaining credits towards their degrees. Roughly 65% of transfer students from Macomb, many of whom remain on the home campus to get their degrees from the partner schools, complete a bachelor’s degree.

The hub—the first of its kind—has since been replicated by several other community colleges around the country, such as Lorain (Ohio) and Temple College (Austin). While some modalities have changed due to the increase of online learning, an important focus continues to be streamlining the pathway from associate to bachelor-degree completion to eliminate waste of time and money.

Macomb County, traditionally a political hotbed, has a population that is divided by three very different populations: retired autoworkers, a historically discriminated African American Community, and an influx of new immigrants. The Legacy Project at MCC invests in the civic engagement of these communities as a source of learning, credible information, and reasoned discussion. Jim Jacobs, president emeritus and legacy founder, noted that “the real value added of community colleges is how well they can convince young people that their aspirations for a better a life can be obtained within their communities. It is not only more education—but the belief they can use their skills.”

Communities—and their colleges—are an important source of support for low-income populations and their youth, providing mentorship and employment opportunities, among other things. They also play an important role in stemming the tide of loneliness that is linked to mental illness, as the data from the U.K.’s Campaign to End Loneliness shows.

Dunya Kilano, the daughter of immigrants from Iraq, came to Macomb as a child and later attended the college: “College wasn’t something that felt like a clear pathway for me. I was the first in my family to go. My parents supported me although … they would have been OK if I decided to take over their business instead.” Transferring to Oakland University while still taking courses at Macomb made a four-year degree more affordable. Her college experience laid the groundwork for her career with Face Addiction Now (FAN), a community organization that provides resources, education programs, and hope to those recovering from substance use disorder. “Education …[was] helpful but the connections I made are what led me to the work I do … An advisor suggested I take a social work class; I ended up becoming president of the Social Work Club and received a leadership award. Social work was my calling.”

Another example, focused on middle and high school youth, is the BeeWell initiative in schools and communities in the U.K.’s greater Manchester District. BeeWell introduces skills such as self-esteem, adaptability, and strategies to combat loneliness into school curriculums. It has yielded significant positive effects on both the mental well-being and academic performance of the students.

The combined emphasis on individuals and communities is key to the success of these initiatives. Macomb’s focus on civic engagement helps break down barriers separating the county’s diverse populations and enhances the chance that newly educated youth will live and work there. And communities are becoming a critical part of efforts to address the mental health crisis, as the traditional individual doctor-patient model is unable to keep up with the increasing demand for services.

Reversing the decline in youth mental health and addressing the uncertainties they face are daunting challenges. While we cannot immediately resolve them, providing youth with the skills they need to navigate them is an important step forward. By helping young people gain agency, skills, and connections through education—critical links to better outcomes—these efforts show that restoring hope and improving mental health is not just a pipe dream.

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dewitty1 · 1 year ago

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Fic Recs Wrap Up - October 2023 ꐑ(ꐌ◡ꐌꐐ)࿐࿔࿓[¬º-°]¬･*ᕐ ̆̈͜͡ ᕐ ોु✩°｡⋆:.｡. .｡.:*･ཥ•̬͡•ོཤ゜ﾟ･*☆ʔ•̫͡•ཻʕ

Nothing Like the Sun by Lomonaaeren

Harry finally realizes that he has trouble keeping lovers both because of his looks and because he isn’t very good at sex. He does what he can to alter that, but it seems he’s never going to be good enough to satisfy a wizard lover. When Draco Malfoy offers, Harry thinks a casual relationship with him might be the solution to his problems. But he should have remembered one thing: when it comes to Harry, Malfoy has a problem staying casual. Rec Post

And Still I Dream by greenmegsnoham, Yoro_Kobi @greenmegsnoham @gaudium6191

Draco was beyond frustrated with the school’s preferential treatment of sports programs over the arts. Determined to collect what is due, Draco must come toe to toe with the ever incessant thorn-in-his-side, Varsity Basketball Captain, Harry Potter. Though Draco may not receive the financial support he’d been hoping for, he just might get a boyfriend out of it instead… OR When you Dream a Dream, it just may come true… Rec Post

Curiosity, Wonder, Spontaneous Delight by cloudings

After Harry hears some rumours about Malfoy, he becomes more and more curious until he just has to get some answers. Malfoy is more than prepared to give him anything he needs, just as long as he gets something back in return. Harry’s not sure why he’s surprised that it’s something moderately illegal. In which Ron continues to get far too many eyefuls, Hermione has had quite enough with everybody, and Harry’s not sure why enemies to friends to friends with benefits isn’t enough for him. OR Harry becomes incredibly curious, and somewhere along the line ends up accidentally falling in love with Draco Malfoy. Because of course he bloody would. Rec Post

Romp and Circumstance by wolfpants @wolfpants

Since the war, Harry Potter has gone from Saviour to Scoundrel—not that he’s complaining. With a schedule full of gorgeous men, alcohol, and late nights, why would he want to change? Enter Draco Malfoy: beautiful, sharp, and completely untouchable. When Draco comes to Harry with a proposition to help him attract an engagement, Harry’s up for it—after all, how hard can it be not falling for his former nemesis? Very hard, apparently. Rec Post

A Shower, A Meal, A Nap, and A Shag by chickenlivesinpumpkin

Harry’s supposed to be alone in Grimmauld Place…so why is there a Malfoy in his shower? And what’s Harry going to do about it? Rec Post

Sunseeker by shiftylinguini @shiftylinguini

Harry is a struggling writer. Namely, he is struggling with: writing his next book, dealing with his agent, finding a decent tea strainer, fielding his friend’s concern over the aforementioned book, and figuring out who the cat loitering in his garden belongs to. He also has a slight liking-Malfoy problem. Okay, he has a massive liking-Malfoy problem. Rec Post

A Life Worth Remembering by Writcraft @writcraft

Severus Snape wakes in St Mungo’s, to discover that a potions accident has wiped the last forty years from his body and mind. Just twenty-five years old, Severus is reliant on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, now both in their forties, to help him fill in the missing decades. As Severus tries to navigate a much-changed world, Harry and Draco struggle with a secret of their own. Rec Post

New Message by Mosrael @mosrael

Harry Potter has a crush on his roommate–like, a BIG one–but he can’t say anything to him, can he?! Naturally, he does what any early 2000s young adult would do and asks the internet for help, and gets a lot more back than he expected. Rec Post

Life skills outside the curriculum by Endrina @llendrinall

It was "Witch Weekly", of all people and organizations, the first to notice and comment on The Boy Who Lived’s absence from the ranks of first years at Hogwarts. The magazine went on to elucubrate that the young hero was studying at a foreign school, possibly Beauxbatons or Holzschuhkäse. Rec Post

Here are a few more fics I've read recently that y'all might like to check out as well!(ノﾟ∀ﾟ)ノ━☆ﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･.*･｡ﾟ*:・ﾟ✧

Howlr by partialtopotter @partialtopotter

Howlr is the new dating application enchanting Witches, Wizards and Everyone in between. Are you looking for the one or a one-night stand; it’s all here folks. Howlr is sponsored by Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the same team that brought us the Spellular just two years ago. Ginny Weasley, famed chaser for the Hollyhead Harpies, swears by the app, ‘guaranteed to make sparks fly,’ she says. The magic awaits you!

where all the veins meet by eight_of_wands @saxamophone

It's the summer of 1998. The battle is over, and Voldemort is dead, but Harry still has more questions than answers. Who is he without a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head? What is he supposed to do now? His friends try to help, but the only thing that can hold his attention—one of the only things that ever has—is Draco Malfoy, out on parole and weirdly hanging around the British Museum. As they keep running into each other, Harry sees that Malfoy is different, and he wonders if he can be someone else, too. Featuring rumpled band shirts, poker games everyone hates, fumbling sex, and a Harry going a little mental over how wands even work.

The Secret's in the Telling by Verayne @veraynes-blog

Draco Malfoy suffers the unthinkable when he is turned into a werewolf. How is he supposed to live any kind of life afterwards, especially when Potter continues to stick his unwanted nose into things?

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Anonymous for hd-fan-fair/HD Career Fair 2023

Four years after the War, Harry still fights to save the wizarding world. Only, he’s traded prophecies and duels for fundraising and politicking. Worried that he’s burning himself out, his friends sign him up for a week-long muggle relaxation retreat in the mountains of Snowdonia. The last thing he expects to find there is Draco Malfoy, his old school rival, working as a yoga instructor. How on earth is he supposed to learn to relax when Malfoy’s meant to teach him? Rec Post

Connecting Lines, Connecting Crimes by Anonymous for hd-fan-fair/HD Career Fair 2023

Magic is going haywire after ley lines all over the world are mysteriously failing. A cross-border Task Force is set up by the League of Wixen Nations with Expert Cartologist Draco Malfoy and Ley Line Specialist Pansy Parkinson being called in from Britain to work with Magi-Geographers Harry Potter and Parvati Patil in India. But can they get to the root of the issue before it’s too late? Rec Post

Full Fathom Five by Anonymous for hd-fan-fair/HD Career Fair 2023

“Draco Malfoy is not a merman, and he does not perform for an audience in a tank,” Hermione said crossly. Harry had thought this would be just an ordinary holiday… Rec Post

( •ॢ◡-ॢ)-♡ I hope you enjoy these fics as much as I have! Happy reading, y’all! xoxo, Carey (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*💜💙💚💛❤💗💕💖

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