Things I like to talk about: the fandoms I’m in, neurodivergency, headcannons for characters, art, my fics, writing and music.
Never be afraid to send me an ask about something! I REALLY like talking lol. I’ll do you one better, send me an ask with a rough genre, maybe with an example song, and I’ll respond with a song rec from my hodgepodge collection.
Well, that’s it for now, I think. If you read this, nice to meet you. Hope you don’t mind this messy, chaotic blog to float somewhere where you got to see it.
Came across this art installation, Liza Lou's Kitchen, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. It's a kitchen made of tiny glass beads, that artist Liza Lou did, taking 5 yrs. to complete, from 1991 - 1996.
helen “trans people are perpetuating gender steriotypes” joyce is now upset that the scientific american is writing about how women were hunters too back in the day, not just mothers and caretakers. feminist win!
Reading the article I see why TERFs are mad about it; it explicitly makes the distinction between gender as a social entity and sex as a biological category, and defines biological sex having multiple factors, both of which are anathema to TERF philosophy.
It also includes these fascinating paragraphs about the role of estrogen in different types of physical activity, directly debunking the widespread notion that estrogen is the weak human's hormone and only does weak human things:
Given the fitness world's persistent touting of the hormone testosterone for athletic success, you'd be forgiven for not knowing that estrogen, which females typically produce more of than males, plays an incredibly important role in athletic performance… The estrogen receptor—the protein that estrogen binds to in order to do its work—is deeply ancient. Joseph Thornton of the University of Chicago and his colleagues have estimated that it is around 1.2 billion to 600 million years old—roughly twice as old as the testosterone receptor. In addition to helping regulate the reproductive system, estrogen influences fine-motor control and memory, enhances the growth and development of neurons, and helps to prevent hardening of the arteries.
Important for the purposes of this discussion, estrogen also improves fat metabolism. During exercise, estrogen seems to encourage the body to use stored fat for energy before stored carbohydrates. Fat contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates do, so it burns more slowly, which can delay fatigue during endurance activity. Not only does estrogen encourage fat burning, but it also promotes greater fat storage within muscles… which makes that fat's energy more readily available. Adiponectin, another hormone that is typically present in higher amounts in females than in males, further enhances fat metabolism while sparing carbohydrates for future use, and it protects muscle from breakdown. Anne Friedlander of Stanford University and her colleagues found that females use as much as 70 percent more fat for energy during exercise than males.
Estrogen's ability to increase fat metabolism and regulate the body's response to the hormone insulin can help prevent muscle breakdown during intense exercise. Furthermore, estrogen appears to have a stabilizing effect on cell membranes that might otherwise rupture from acute stress brought on by heat and exercise. Ruptured cells release enzymes called creatine kinases, which can damage tissues… Linda Lamont of the University of Rhode Island and her colleagues, as well as Michael Riddell of York University in Canada and his colleagues, found that females experienced less muscle breakdown than males after the same bouts of exercise. Tellingly, in a separate study, Mazen J. Hamadeh of York University and his colleagues found that males supplemented with estrogen suffered less muscle breakdown during cycling than those who didn't receive estrogen supplements.
The article also talks about sexual dimorphism in different species, concluding that "Modern humans have low sexual dimorphism compared with the other great apes," and that overemphasis on averages obscures the wide dispersal of individual traits, which is what I keep saying.
Anthropologists also look at damage on our ancestors' skeletons for clues to their behavior. Neandertals are the best-studied extinct members of the human family because we have a rich fossil record of their remains. Neandertal females and males do not differ in their trauma patterns, nor do they exhibit sex differences in pathology from repetitive actions. Their skeletons show the same patterns of wear and tear. This finding suggests that they were doing the same things, from ambush-hunting large game animals to processing hides for leather. Yes, Neandertal women were spearing woolly rhinoceroses, and Neandertal men were making clothing.
Over 100 million children are homeless and/or on the streets.
[PT: Over 100 million children are homeless and/or on the streets /End PT]
That's the numbers estimated back in 2015, and regardless of whether they've grown or shrunk since then, the issue still remains that there are MILLIONS of minors on the streets.
Homelessness and street survival is an intersecting issue for people of all marginalized groups, and that includes the youth.
Homeless youth are very likely to be sex trafficked and targeted by dangerous people to be groomed into criminal activities or otherwise unsafe practices.
Many homeless youth are runaways, usually trying to escape abusive households.
Note for clarity: "Children" and "kids" throughout this post will be referring to teenagers as well, since minors of all ages are grouped together in these statistics.
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What is homelessness and street children?
[PT: What is homelessness and street children? /end PT]
Homelessness is defined by a lack of stable housing. This includes living without shelter, in a tent, in a car, in a homeless shelter, couch surfing, or using public locations/transport for shelter.
"Street children" are children who spend a majority of their time on the street due to housing complications. Some of them are not considered "truly homeless", because they technically have a house, but this house is usually inaccessible or unsafe for them, and thus they do not reside in it much, if at all. Usually, they only spend the night there, but the rest of their time is spent outdoors.
When discussing the statistics of both these concepts, I cannot neatly discern between them, because so many of the studies use the statistics interchangeably. Street children have very few distinctions anyways, and thus trying to separate the two is usually not beneficial anyways.
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What are the statistics of homeless youth and street children around the globe?
[PT: What are the statistics of homeless youth and street children around the globe? /end PT]
Around 30 million children in Africa are homeless/on the street.
There is no overall consensus on how many children in Asia (including The Middle East) as an entirety are homeless/on the street, however it is estimated to be quite high, with individual locations being given statistics (Bangledash having 445,000 homeless/street children, India having 11 million, Pakistan having 1.5 million, Indonesia having over 170,000, Iran having anywhere between 60,000-200,000, the Phillipines having 1.5 million, Turkey having 88,000, etc.)
There is also no overall consensus on how many children in the Oceania are homeless/on the street, however Australia estimates around 76,000, and New Zealand estimates around 33,000.
Around 400,000 children in the EU (European Union) are homeless/on the street. There is no overall consensus on how many children in Europe as a whole (not just the EU) are homeless/on the street, however individual countries also have statistics.
Over 1.2 million children in the USA are homeless/on the street. Over 40,000 children in Canada are homeless/on the street.
Around 40 million children in Latin America are homeless/on the street.
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What ways do homeless youth and street children suffer?
[PT: What ways do homeless youth and street children suffer? /end PT]
A higher risk of sex trafficking, rape, assault, and kidnapping.
A higher risk of child labor/slavery.
A higher risk of being poisoned or suffering from oral, throat, or gastrointestinal system damage (as malicious people often put poison, razors/glass/sharp objects, and other dangerous things into the food provided to the homeless.)
A higher risk of sexual, reproductive, urogenital, and gastrointestinal disorders/infections.
A higher risk of respiratory disorders.
A higher risk of nutritional disorders, growth disorders, and starvation.
Higher rates of substance use and addictive disorders.
A higher risk of mental health disorders.
Low or no accessibility to hygiene products or showers/bathing (which significantly increases risks of infections and diseases.)
And, of course, a higher likelihood of death and grave injury, due to weather conditions, untreated disease/injuries, hate crimes, overdose, and/or suicide.
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What about intersectionality? How does that affect homelessness and street survival?
[PT: What about intersectionality? How does that affect homelessness and street survival? /End PT]
Note: Whenever the discussion of employment comes up, we think it is important to remember that:
1- Unemployed adults can have children, and thus, the children in the equation will be effected.
2- Teenagers can also get employed in a majority of locations, and in many countries even minors younger than that, meaning their incomes could be contributing to housing as well.
The most obvious - being low income often risks loss of housing. Hell, being "average income" doesn't even afford housing anymore for most people, in the current financial crisis. Classism and homelessness go hand in hand, and the refusal to provide for the lower class their basic needs is the direct cause of homelessness.
Being a foster kid. Discussion:
Being a foster kid greatly increases the likelihood of homelessness, due to the foster system being notoriously abusive, and not providing minors with the proper funds, stability, and education necessary to survive in life. In the USA alone, 23,000 people age out of foster care a year. 25%-50% of those who age out end up homeless. Now imagine the statistics of that worldwide, of how many people are ending up homeless the moment they turn 18 (or younger, in countries where legal adulthood begins sooner)?
Additionally, minors will often run away from foster homes, because it is unsafe for them there. They wish to escape the abuse. A depressing fact is that a majority of sex trafficked youth are from foster care, usually runaways who were living on the street to avoid abuse.
(You can read our post about the statistics of foster kids here [link.])
Being disabled. (Note: Some of these statistics leave out emotional, behavioral, personality, or other mental disabilities, and also often leave out "small" physical disabilities, so the statistics may actually be higher if all disabilities were included.) Discussion:
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in Africa and Asia, unfortunately.
However, disabled people in Africa often suffer forced evictions and are more likely to be impoverished, and we did find statistics on specific locations of Asia (ie; 42% of homeless people [including adults] in Nagoya Japan are neuropsychologically disabled, 15% of homeless people [including adults] in Hong Kong are physically disabled, in South Asia 85% of disabled people [including adults] are unemployed which greatly risks homelessness, etc.)
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in the Oceania as a whole, however we did find statistics in Hawai'i, Australia, and New Zealand. in Hawai'i an estimated 62% of homeless people [including adults] are disabled. In Australia, an estimated 9.5% homeless people [including adults] are disabled, and 8.9% have an unknown disability status. In New Zealand, 4.1% of homeless people (including adults) are disabled.
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in overall Europe, however in the UK alone, 35-39% of homeless people [including adults] are disabled (and for comparison, only 20-22% of the overall UK population are disabled.)
In Canada, there is no minor-specific statistics for disability, however 50-60% of the overall homeless population (including adults) are disabled.
In the USA, 19% of homeless K-12 [pre-college] students are disabled (and for comparison, only 14% of the overall USA student population is disabled.)
We could not find any overall statistics on the intersection of homelessness and disability in South America as a whole, however in Latin America, disabled kids are 15% more likely to not attend school (and those who do attend are more likely to drop out), which inherently leads to employment issues down the line (and thus, housing issues) Additionally, 1 of every 5 households in extreme poverty houses a disabled person. And in some locations, people with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed (ie; in Argentina 91% of disabled people are unemployed), earn less money in work (ie; in Mexico and Costa Rica, disabled people earn 20% less than their abled peers), and/or have no insurance (in Ecuador, 84% of disabled people have no insurance), which can cause or exacerbate housing issues.
Being queer. Discussion:
In Africa, we could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of being LGBTQIA+ and homelessness, however homelessness is highly reported by LGBTQIA+ people (especially youth.)
We could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of being LGBTQIA+ and homeless in Asia, however we did find a few for individual Asian locations (ie; in Singapore 20% of LGBTQIA+ people [including adults] experience homelessness, in the Philippines 12% of people who are 15-25 are homeless, In Japan 4 in 10 LGBTQIA+ people struggle with housing, in India there is a hidden housing crisis within LGBTQIA+ people, etc.)
We could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of being LGBTQIA+ and homeless in the Oceania, however we did find some statistics for Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, queer-oriented people [including adults] are twice as likely to be homeless than nonqueer-oriented people, and 1 in 5 trans & gender diverse people aged 18-25 suffered homelessness (unfortunately we cannot find a statistics for people younger.) In New Zealand, 2.6% LGBQTIA+ people who are 15 and above are homeless, and unfortunately there is not a clearcut estimate on minors under the age of 15.
In Europe, 17.39% of LGBTQIA+ people [including adults] have been homeless, with 1/3rd of intersex people and 1/4th of trans people being homeless.
In the USA, LGBTQ+ minors are 120% more likely to end up homeless. They make up roughly 30-40% of homeless youth (and for comparison, only 9.5% of the overall population are LGBTQ+)
LGBTQ+ minors of color have an 83% higher risk of homelessness than their white peers. 44% of Indigenous LGBTQ+ youth, 16% of LGBTQ+ Asian & Pacific Islander youth, 27% of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth, 26% of Black LGBTQ+ youth, and 36% of multiracial LGBTQ+ youth have experienced homelessness.
38% of trans girl youth, 39% of of trans boy youth, and 35% of non-binary youth have experienced homelessness (compared to 23% of non-trans & non-gender diverse homeless queer-oriented youth.)
39% of intersex youth have experienced homelessness.
In Canada, 25% of homeless youth are LGBTQIA2S+ (and for comparison, only 5-10% of the overall Canadian population are LGBTQIA2S+.)
We could not find any statistics on the overarching intersection of LGBTQIA+ and homeless in South America, however we did find a few in specific locations (ie; 30-40% of homeless youth in Brazil, 30-35% of homeless youth in Argentina, 30-35% of homeless youth in Colombia, 25-30% of homeless youth in Mexico, 15-25% of homeless youth in Chile, etc)
Being a person of color. Discussion:
We could not find any statistics on the overarching intersection of race and homelessness in the Oceania, however we did find some individual statistics for Hawai'i, Australia, and New Zealand.
In Hawai'i, 28-50% of homeless people [including adults] are Native Hawaiian.
In Australia, 1 in every 3 Indigenous Australian is homeless.
In New Zealand, 31% of homeless people [including adults] are Māori, and 6.6% of Pacific Peoples [including adults] (and for comparison, 17% of the overall New Zealand population are Māori, and 8% are Pacific peoples.)
We could not find any statistics of the overall intersection of homelessness and being a BIPOC, however we did find statistics in the England, Ireland, and the EU specifically. In England, Black people [including adults] are 4x more likely to be homeless than white people. In Ireland, 15% of homeless people [including adults] are Romanian, and 6% are Black.
In the USA, Hispanic high schoolers are 2x more likely to experience homelessness than white highschoolers. Black highschoolers are 2.25x more likely to experience homelessness than white highschoolers.
Black and Hispanic people [including adults] make up 64% of the homeless population. Pacific Islanders [including adults] have the highest rate of homelessness in the USA. Native Americans [including adults] have the second highest rate of homelessness in the USA.
In Canada, 10-30% of homeless youth are Indigenous and 15.4% are Black (and for comparison, 5% of the overall Canadian population are Indigenous, and 4.3% are Black.)
We could not find any statistics of the intersection of race and homelessness in Africa or South America, unfortunately.
Other. Discussion:
In the USA, 17% of English learners (which are usually immigrants) in K-12 [pre-college] school are homeless (and for comparison, 10% of the overall student population are English learners.)
Being in areas of the world subject to war, genocide, political violence, and environmental disaster. Discussion:
16% of the population in Sudan had to flee their homes due to conflict.
90% of Gaza [including adults] are homeless right now.
46% of homeless people [including adults] in Ukraine became homeless due to the invasion costing them their homes.
Venezuelan immigration has led to a disproportionate amount of homeless Venezuelans in South America.
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Sources
[PT: Sources /End PT]
General:
Trends and dynamics of homelessness in Hong Kong: evidence from population survey in 2015 and 2021
Housing & Homelessness [link]
Global Homelessness Statistics [link]
Street Children - By Country [link]
Street Children and Homelessness [link]
28 Million Children Homeless [link]
Nearly 50 Million Children Uprooted Worldwide [link]
The Truth of Life in Accra (about Africa) [link]
The Health Profile of Street Children in Africa [link]
Street Children in Asia and the Pacific [link]
Street Children of South Asia [link]
5 Facts About Child Homelessness In India [link]
Understanding the Heart of Homelessness In Hawai'i [link]
Strengthening the European Child Guarantee to address Child Homelessness [link]
Statutory Homelessness in England [link]
Shocking Extent of Family and Child Homelessness in Australia [link]
Our Hidden Child Homelessness Problem (New Zealand) [link]
2023 Census Severe Housing Deprivation (Homelessness) Estimates (about New Zealand) [link]
Nationwide, More Children Live in the State of Homelessness than in Most American States [link]
The "Street Children" of Latin America [link]
Student Homelessness: Quick Facts and Resources for Governors (for the USA) [link]
Disabled homelessness sources:
Challenges and Struggles Faced by Persons with Disabilities Across Africa [link]
Forced Evictions and Disability Rights in Africa [link]
Prevalence of Mental Illness, Cognitive Disability, and Their Overlap Among the Homeless in Nagoya, Japan [link]
Trends and Dynamics of Homelessness in Hong Kong: Evidence From Population Survey in 2015 and 2021 [link]
Disability In South Asia [link]
People With Disability in Australia 2024 [link]
Disabled People Are Disproportionately Affected by Homelessness – And Getting support Feels Nearly Impossible (UK) [link]
Invisible Intersections: Disabilities and Homelessness (Europe) [link]
People With Disabilities in Latin America [link]
Disability In Latin America [link]
LGBTQIA+ homelessness sources:
Global Crisis of LGBTQ+ Homeless Youth: A Call for Inclusive Policies and Accurate Data [link]
Safe Homes for African LGBTQ+ Youth [link]
Experiences Of Conflict, Non-Acceptance and Discrimination are Associated with Poor Mental Well-Being Amongst LGBTQ-identified Individuals in Singapore [link]
2024, Philippines National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People [link]
4 in 10 LGBTQ+ People in Japan Still Face Report Housing Barriers [link]
The Hidden Housing Crisis Within India's LGBTQ+ Community [link]
Housing & Homelessness Transhub (Australia) [Link]
Homelessness Australia LGBTIQ+ People [link]
LGBTIQ+ Experiences of Poverty (Australia) [link]
LGBTIQ+ Population of Aotearoa New Zealand: 2023 [link]
Intersections Report: Homelessness (EU) [link]
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness (for the USA) [link]
LGBTIQ+ Population of Aotearoa New Zealand: 2023 [link]
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness (for the USA) [link]
LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness & Housing Instability (for the USA) [link]
Intersex Youth Mental Health Report (for the USA) [link]
2SLGBTQ+ and Homelessness (in Canada) [link]
Homeless POC sources:
Paradise for Tourists, a Struggle for Natives: Native Hawaiian Homelessness in the Hawaiian Islands [link]
Out of Sight is Not a Solution (about New Zealand) [link]
Australia National Homelessness Facts [link]
Racism and Racial Inequality Within the Homelessness System Needs Recognition and Action From Government (England) [link]
Homelessness, Race and Ethnicity Research Programme Finds Shocking Evidence of Inequalities (UK) [link]
Census of Population 2022 Profile 6 - Homelessness (Ireland) [link]
Rooted in Trauma: Homelessness in Native Communities (USA) [link]
State of Homelessness 2025 (USA) [link]
Racial Inequalities in Homelessness by the Numbers (USA) [link]
Racism and Homelessness (USA) [link]
Young People of Color Facing Homelessness (USA & Canada) [link]
Aboriginal Homelessness In Canada [link]
Black Communities and Homelessness (in Canada) [link]
Other sources:
Sudan's humanitarian crisis: The facts and figures [link]
Crisis in Gaza: What to Know and How to Help [link]
46% of Those Experiencing Homelessness in Ukraine Lost Their Homes due to Conflict, Report Finds [link]
Four Years of War in Ukraine: Childhood has ‘Moved Underground’, Displacement Continues – UN humanitarians [link]
Ukraine - Street Child [link]
A Latino Learning About Homelessness in Latin America [link]
Venezuela Situation [link]
Venezuelans Sleep in Cars and Under Trees as They Question Where They’ll Live After the Earthquakes [link]
Actually, no, I don't think that friendships dropping like flies in your late 20s and early 30s because no one has time for that between overwork and family obligations and marriage and kids and partners and the ritual of the time slayer is normal and ok. No I don't think deep conversations and spontaneous adventures being replaced with a tired coffee every six months is a normal part of growing up. I don't think that emotional intimacy and soul bonds disintegrating in the face of practical inconvenience is a fact of life. I think that means something is deeply deeply wrong with our society and I will never forgive it for the friends I've lost
"not every major political movement involves racism" yes it does, if you can't understand the basics on how racism has a major intersection between other issues like sexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and more, you can't fully understand the movement you're fighting for
nasa is using a 3D world graphic for the solar eclipse thingy today where germany is still devided in east and west adjfglkafdhgadfg. buddies, it's been almost 40 years.
So I showed this to a physicist and they were like "Oh! Yes! It's a figure from Fred Espenak's very old paper where he did a bunch of eclipse graphics! I've been looking at these my entire internet life, basically, for every solar eclipse! They called him Mr. Eclipse. He just passed away recently 🥺"
Anyway apparently Mr. Eclipse made 5000 years' worth of solar eclipse graphics, which you can find the simpler versions of here
So now instead of laughing at NASA for their outdated graphics I'm emotional about Mr. Eclipse and his hard work
please read this even if you're not indian. especially if you're not indian.
you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.
first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.
now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:
in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.
and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.
and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.
it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:
• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.
• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.
• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.
• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.
• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.
• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.
and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.
what i'm asking:
if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.
if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.
india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.
I thought it'd be fun if I made aliens that respirate CO² into O² like plants but I started thinking about how I'm not actually sure how exactly those chemical processes work and now I'm on the wikipedia page for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate
hard sci-fi is when the last quarter of the book is made of research papers references, scientific footnotes and explanation of the rabbit hole that author committed
Also it has to be turned off EVERY TIME you stream.
And the ceo apparently said if they made it opt in instead of opt out, no one would opt in. They know and dont care but click that toggle as many times as possible!!!
The setting is at the account level so not sure how it needs to be turned off every stream unless Twitch is somehow monitoring when people stream and then turning it back on in account privacy settings.
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