wonder how many people are going to be put off from donating to planned parenthood and end up accidentally donating to their local crisis pregnancy center instead. like i'm sorry but if you think planned parenthood is doing just fine, research is clearly not your forte
ok i was being snarky, but it occurs to me that people genuinely might not know this: crisis pregnancy centers are not real, licensed health clinics.
they exist primarily to discourage people from getting abortions. they are usually anti-contraceptive in addition to being anti-abortion. and, most importantly, they lie.
they lie about the risks of abortion. they lie about whether their "patients" are too far along for a legal abortion. they lie about contraceptives. they usually set up shop next to legitimate health clinics so they can steer people away from the places they might actually get help.
here is a map of cpc's in the US (note that this is not necessarily comprehensive). and here are some articles to help avoid them. there are lots of tells, but often the biggest clue is in the name. take a really skeptical look at any organizations calling themselves:
I once received a DM comprised of just that sentence. Nothing else. No constructive criticism or any reason as to why this person clearly agreed with my own view of myself.
For someone who has never told anyone in their real life that they write anything, reading something like this from an anonymous user only solidified in my mind the fact that this person was right.
I’m not a good writer.
After an embarrassing amount of minutes passed, in which I thought about deleting every story I ever posted, I decided to delete the message instead. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean I could delete the feelings it caused or change the fact that I’m not a good writer.
Two weeks went by and I didn’t write anything, let alone post. Then I received a comment on a story I had posted three years prior, one I’d written after a death in our family. The comment read, “Thank you for sharing this heartfelt story. I really needed this. I just lost my mom and this really got me today.”
I stopped thinking about being a good writer after that. I thought instead, “what if I had deleted my stories and that one person three years later hadn’t read it that day?”
Here’s what I realized: no one is a good writer.
Good means to be approved of, but stories aren’t created from approval. They’re built from life experiences, feelings, and emotions Therefore, the impact of anyone’s story isn’t good or bad. It’s a million other things.
Heartfelt.
Sad.
Funny.
Inspiring.
Romantic.
So to all the story writers out there, hold your head up, write what is in your heart, and never doubt that there isn’t at least one person out there that needs to read your story.
So, no.
We’re not good writers, but why would we want to be?
And if that person is just yourself, that’s okay too. I mean it, literally the only reason I started writing is that no one was writing what I wanted to read, and let me tell you, my writing may be a mess, but it’s a lot of fun for me to read. :)
i’m never getting over the fact that romance as a genre, as the HIGHEST selling genre, exists largely because straight women fantasise about being loved and treated kindly by men and men constantly make fun of this because they think it’s just that unrealistic that they could cherish women and that women are stupid in the first place for wanting such an impossible thing
everyone keeps talking about fifty shades in the notes but I wrote this post thinking about pride and prejudice which is basically the blueprint of all romantic novels and romcoms and romantic relationships in media ever since—a bookish loner has a fight with a guy that is above in the social hierarchy than her because she thinks he’s an ass and he later turns out to be a sweetheart when he’s kind to her/helps her out.
many romantic works that are labelled as romanticising abuse simply focus on the wrong aspect of this equation, where they make him an ACTUAL rich inconsiderate arse. Twilight falls in this zone (Bella has only one personality trait which is she loves Austen, how obvious can it be) and so does, consequently, fifty shades.
but that doesn’t change these fact that the CRUX of the liz-darcy formula is this: a man will listen to what I have to say and apologise for his behaviour and put my needs first. a man will love me for the bits (headstrong nature, a preference for solitude) that society asks I change. that’s the female fantasy. a rich handsome dude will love me for who I am and put my needs first.
and straight women have been mocked for this! for decades! because of wanting to be seen and heard and loved by the men they’re dating! and I say straight because while self indulgent romances exist for wlw’s and queer men, I have never, in my life, seen a queer person mock another queer person for reading romance. this derision only exists by straight men for straight women because the idea that they could dare to have standards in their relationships deserves to be mocked and shamed.
cishet men don’t need a romance genre because their dream fantasy woman pervades every single genre in every single medium, in all her hundreds of iterations where she sacrifices every aspect of her self to fulfil their needs and effortlessly fulfils impossible standards and finally is killed off so he can heroically avenge her before promptly finding another male fantasy to use and discard. but women are labelled shallow for wanting a darcy, when darcy has a personality and friends and family and motivations and isn’t dressed in gold bikinis and sensuously brutalised and tortured for our benefit.
My AP US Lit teacher gave us the assignment to write a research paper about a modern American author. It was a bunch of dudes mostly and Maya Angelou of course(respect on her name) and Toni Morrison(respect on her name) but nothing I was interested in. Cuz see teenage me’s parents we’re getting divorced and I was living in a fantasy world where love could last and David Balducci and James Patterson and Stephen King and even Morrison and Angelou didn’t write what I was reading: which were romance novels. All the romance novels.
And I emailed my favorite romance author at the time, who was coming to town for a signing, to ask if I could interview her for the paper. She said yes. So I took that yes back to my teacher, with the argument that I would also include the impact of romance in on the American literary landscape, and have the most impressive primary resource of any paper in class.
That’s how I got permission to write my term paper on Suzanne Brockmann back in 02/03.
In case you’re unaware? Suzanne Brockmann won the RITA lifetime achievement award a few years back and got up and liters took RITA to task for being homophobic and racist. Read her speech if you haven’t. It’s amazing. But 10 years before she was the first major writer to feature a queer man as a main character. And she let a skinny teenage girl in Florida take her to dinner and ask her every single question she could think of about the medium and writing in general.
And her answers were a master class on par with those I’ve seen/read by people like Vonnegut. And I had to kill my darling on the paper to not exceed the page limit there was so much to say.
I got an A by the way, with no comments on anything but formatting issues. Because my AP US LIT teacher couldn’t argue with the argument that romance is literature, and the most profitable genre at that.
Because it is. It was almost 20 years ago, it still is today and I sincerely doubt that will change in another 20 years.
Don’t use the #epilepsy tag for your GIFs/animations
(or weird voice/sound recordings)
I know a lot of you people don’t mean harm by using the tag, but the way you are tagging, you are actually not helping at all, which is unfortunate.
Please spread the word.
EDIT:
I wasn’t aware of how shitty tumblr’s tag system right now works, thankfully @fuckepilepsy mentioned that by simply having “epilepsy” within your tag will throw your gif images into the epilepsy tag.
I know it’s possible to filter by the actual tag name and not have them show up, but the standard option on tumblr generally seems to be to show everything containing epilepsy!
@instructor144, for your Anon requesting you tag flashy things, here is some info from the epilepsy community. I know they just said headaches, but flashy things are issues for lots of people.
5. It’s hard to be offended when white people jokes involve bland food/tourist dads in socks and sandals/white girls in yoga pants obsessed with pumpkin spice/suburban PTA moms and other harmless and mostly true stereotypes while jokes about POC involve them being called thugs/criminals/slurs/uneducated/illegal immigrants.
As a college student, currently really hungry with nothing to eat, I understand how hard it can be to get food. Sometimes you really just don’t have the money to eat and when you do, you waste it all on fast food instead of stocking up on cheap things because you’re so tired of Ramen Noodes and canned food you could barf. So, I’ve composed a list of recipes and resources that will fit a college kid’s budget and appetite. Don’t go hungry! <3
Look, I know a good number of you are from the US and things aren't amazing there either, but my country is literally on the brink of collapse. So I'd love it if we could talk about that for a minute.
If you can't do anything else, please just read and reblog.
A second COVID wave has taken out the healthcare system. There are no more hospital beds. There's an oxygen shortage. There's a critical vaccine shortage. The Central Government has thrown its hands up and is passing the baton to the State Governments to do what they can.
There are over 16 million covid cases. A record 330,000 new cases reported yesterday - comparable to the US at its peak. 187,000 dead as of today.
There is no plan.
Mass cremations are taking place. The cremation grounds are running day and night and they are short on wood. People are watching their loved ones die while waiting for a hospital bed, and then they're unable to give them the proper burial rights.
Hospitals are overwhelmed. Patients are being confined, two to a bed. They're the lucky ones.
We are on the verge of people dying in the streets.
This is the second-most populous country in the world. The largest democracy. A country that encapsulates over 15,000 years of recorded human history and has endured everything from famine to invasion to colonisation.
We might be at the end. This might be the thing that does us in.
People are dying.
People are dying.
People are dying and there is no plan.
More good news? Variants are popping up. A double mutation strain has shown up. It is resistant to current vaccines. This will not go away. This is the devastation they warned of when the anti-maskers were out protesting the minor inconvenience of covering their face in public.
My country is on the verge of an emergency state. Our government has failed us. This is as dire a situation as it ever could be.
Look. I don't do much with my life. I write fics, some of you have read them and that's pretty much it. I spend my days with my head in the clouds because that's where I like to be.
But two days ago, my grandmother tested positive, had to be taken to hospital and the ambulance caught fire.
She barely made it to the urgent care she needs.
So, here I am, using whatever meager platform I have to cobble this request together. Because I have to do something.
Even a small amount of 5 or 7 or 10 of foreign currency will help a lot. Our government has essentially abandoned us. People have turned to social media for help. WhatsApp groups and DMs on twitter/insta is where we find help. Our helpline is a Google doc. Situation is so dire that hospitals are discharging patients due to lack of oxygen. Every night the same story, oxygen running out in hospitals, citizens running around to somehow arrange for oxygen with minutes to spare. Last night, we had manged to get oxygen to a hospital with 14min to spare.
Reblogging with more links. Listen to @groundzero-and-deku ☝️ they know what they're talking about.
Some of you in the US have asked what else you can do. I'm not the best person to answer this since I'm not from there, but I do know that Biden is being urged to ship supplies to India. Maybe a more informed person can chime in with how best you can help but calling your representative and registering your concern sounds like a good starting point.
From one democracy to another, thank you. Please keep this going, you're all amazing.
EDIT: Reblogging with donation and resource links all in one place:
Here's a great post with links to petitions in the US and UK and a list of active charities and donation centres in India
And some more donation links from @spacegirlstuff
Here and Here
Some more posts with links, resources, and ways to help collected by @groundzero-and-deku who is doing the absolute most:
Here and Here
A few more NGOs that are helping:
Habitat for Humanity India
Oxfam India
Give India
Uday Foundation
Goonj
Not every listed charity has the infrastructure to accept international donations, so please be sure to check this list which has specific information about charities that can and are accepting international donations.
Also re-adding the link to the give2asia charitable foundation for those who don't want to go through the whole post.
One more comprehensive resource link here
And another one with many more NGOs, resources for oxygen and plasma, and other info
Y'all, this is a good time to mention that I am not affiliated with any charity or donation center and am not receiving donations on behalf of anyone.
This is a list of resources compiled partly by me and more importantly, by other people who have a better grasp on the situation than myself.
They are to the best of our knowledge great resources but I still encourage you to do your research and put your money where you believe it will be used best.
If you find more ways to help or donate, add them in a reblog - let's get as much information out there as possible.
Much love and please stay safe
PLEASE BOOST THIS VERSION OF THE POST WITH THE EXTENDED LIST OF LINKS TO DONATIONS AND RESOURCES
The number of new cases has almost hit the 350,000 mark. The total number of covid cases in the country is just shy of 17 million. This is the situation as of 25 April 2021.
The active tally is nearing the 27-lakh mark .The country has so far administered 14,09,16,417 anti-Covid jabs
Things are dire. People are largely on their own now and help, if any, is yet to come.
President Biden is being urged to ease restrictions or remove to embargo on raw materials that could be critical in India's fight against the virus.
Just a while ago, the US government committed to helping with "a small supply of inputs and components from US companies for production of COVID-19 vaccines in India".
By Andrea Shalal WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) -The United States is deeply concerned by a massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and will
There are no specifics yet and time is of the essence.
Friends in the US, we know you're in the middle of your own fight. We want you safe.
But a stockpile of tens of millions of vaccines exists in the US, a fraction of which could make all the difference to India right now.
No one needs to die. Things are bad but Indian lives can still be saved without costing American ones.
We've been allies for decades.
We need your help.
Please, please, please find it in your heart to help.
Call your local representative and register your concern. Urge them to offer India aid by way of donating some of the vaccine stockpiles and removing the ban on raw material exports so lives can be saved.
Take this message to other platforms. Spread the word. Those of you on Twitter, please use your voice to promote #indianeedsoxygen.
Most importantly, DONATE WHERE YOU CAN. As little as 5 dollars can make a difference right now.
Example: here is a screenshot from the page for Making the Difference on Donatekart
As little 7 dollars can get someone a bed or an oxygen tank.
Here's a list of independent NGOs and charities that are largely accepting international donations. REMEMBER: OXYGEN is the need of the hour.
I've heard from multiple sources that the government-run PM CARES fund is not directing funds to where they're needed and while I don't have exact information, I would advise you to avoid this platform out of caution.
Some of you are rightly concerned about where your money is going.
Again, I do not represent any charity or NGO, am not affiliated with anyone and am not involved in any stage in the collection or distribution of your donations. I'm just a person doing whatever she can so please do a little bit of research to help you identify the best place to put your donation.
Charity Navigator is a good place to get a good overview of your NGOs.
At the very least, please don't let this post die. Don't let more people die. Keep reblogging and yelling about it on social media.
As someone else pointed out in the notes, there is no central helpline. All we have is each other and the little we can do in the face of this chaos.
We're resorting to social media to get help and spread awareness. We have literally the same tools you do. Please don't let this die yet. Please get the word out if you can't do anything else.
Thank you so much and please, keep us in your thoughts.
hey there LGBTQ kids who are also Christian/Jewish! If you feel like you’re disobeying God, questioning your faith, or feel wrong and dirty for loving who you love, there’s this fantastic site I found today called hoperemains that accurately and thoroughly combs through scripture and its (many) mistranslations, validates your orientation, and basically let’s you know that you’re not pissing off God. It’s insanely thorough and after reading through every page on the entire site it’s super helpful. Go check it out!
Muslim LGBTQ kids, you can go to iamnotharaam! It’s run by a mod squad of different genders and orientations, and they take submissions from everybody!
REBLOGGING THIS AGAIN BECAUSE IT’S SO FREAKING IMPORTANT TO ME AND ALL MY FOLLOWERS TO READ THAT DEAL WITH GRIEF AND GUILT WHILE BEING LGBTQ AND RELIGIOUS
origamiaround
stormborns
gummygunk
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
