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FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE Tobi or Fen // 27 // he/him // WEAR YOUR MASK FOLKS ITS NOT HARD Cats, Queer things, and Dragon Age appear frequently here My other blog for all your transgender or other LGBT+ positivity, questions, and needs!

[riding-with-the-wild-hunt]

a whole bunch of gazan mutual aid projects and nonprofits. if the decision of which individual fundraiser to give to feels too daunting, or if you just want to help as many people as possible in one go, these are great initiatives to support.

care for gaza - focuses on providing food and essential supplies. donate here or here.

connecting humanity - securing internet access via donations of virtual sim cards (esims). if you can't afford a whole plan yourself, crips for esims is a communal pool that will use your donation to purchase and maintain esims

gaza soup kitchen - provides food, medical care, and classes for children. also has a gofundme

glia gaza medical support initiative - provides medical care through field clinics and tents at hospitals. donations can also be sent through their website.

ele elna elak - provides clean water, food, clothing, and shelter. they also have a gofundme

life for gaza - raising money for the gaza municipality to repair water and waste management infrastructure

taawon - partners with local civil organizations to provide food, water, medical care, shelter, and basic supplies

the sameer project - running various initiatives providing tents, medical care, and necessities. they have their own encampment project focused on sheltering families with children, sick and disabled members, or members in need of perinatal care

islamic relief worldwide's gaza emergency appeal - provides food, water, hygiene kits, medical supplies, and psychological support

baitulmaal - provides a variety of necessities, including food, water, shelter, and medical supplies

gaza mutual aid fund - distributes food, hygiene products, water, and other essential supplies, including financial support. run by @/el-shab-hussein's amazing friend Mona. updates can be found on her instagram.

hygiene kits for gaza - provides hygiene supplies including menstrual products, wipes, and toothbrushes/toothpaste

anera - provides a variety of necessities, including food, water, hygiene supplies, medicine, blankets and mattresses, and psychological care

palestine children's relief fund - provides supplies and support with a focus on children. also has an initiative for lebanon

dahnoun mutual aid - provides water, food, tents, baby supplies, financial support, and other necessities. updates can be found through their instagram

certainly this is not an exhaustive list, so please feel free to add on other projects or organizations that i didn't include. and as always, please take the time to donate if you can and share. it truly makes all the difference.

[incidentalcomics]

How to Finish

I drew this poster for Jon Acuff and his FINISH book tour. Big thanks to Jon for this collaboration, his book has some great ideas about how to complete creative and life goals.

[dedalvs]

Love this, but reblogging it specifically for “Get rid of secret rules.” That’s one of the most amazing illustrations—and points—I’ve ever seen.

[apricot-studies]

so important especially for perfectionists who procrastinate and never finish, or even start because they set such high standards for themselves.

[i-am-a-fan]

(losing a trinket important to me): it’s just plastic. It’s just material. Someone else will find it and it’ll brighten up their day. If i really want to i can replace it. Loss is natural in love. Life isn’t fair and i’ll tear up earth and sky if i knew i could find you again under the covers of my pillows. But like, it’s $16.67 to replace. I’m okay.

[i-am-a-fan]

you have to realize that you CAN keep everything perfect and safe, but you’ll never get to fully enjoy them. Sweaters get stretched. Stuffed animals get worn. Earrings get lost. and love turns to grief. If i want to be happy, i have to know that sadness is the little brother who holds her hand.

[i-am-a-fan]

Nvm. Trinket was found and i’m now keeping it locked up forever so i can’t ever lose it again

[wizardworm]

this picture i took of my girlfriend taking a picture of our cat is absolutely killing me

[schizm-deactivated]

reminds me of this

[wizardworm]

@kisakisaxo

[kisakisaxo]

THAT IS HIM. THAT’S THE FACE. 

[kisakisaxo]

If anyone would like to see the end result of the picture I was taking of him:

[varcolaci]

Dragon Age: Origins maps

[il9vemyputer]

everyone on replies is terrified of this fact but i just think it's so sweet and heartwarming. she's holding our hand and leading us somewhere secret and we're both giggling like kids. i love her

[solowinged]

let’s travel through the vast unknown with mama

[omnybus]

Space chickens

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reblog this post with your favorite animal please here's mine :3

and one with mama 🩵

[dykeanarchist]

Alling gator :3

With mama !

[dorktapus42]

Dairy cow isopod

Leaf time with mama :3

[bogreader]

Wild boar!

With mama!

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Leatherback sea turtle!

let's fend for ourselves after hatching withOUT mama!!

[clown-town-central]

whale shark!!!

very rare sight with mama!!

[doodooass3]

the humble goat (this guy is an old Irish goat)

with mama :)

[hyenaswine]

giant anteater

on mama :)

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

pigeonn

with mama :]

[lilcritterdoingmabest]

WOLFYYYYYYY (this guys from the wolf conservation center in new york)

booping mama/papa/sis/brother

[grabtheauto5]

north american black bear, my love

and one with momma!!

[paradoxgavel]

my favorite is already on here, so! second favorite! the humble kakapo!

and one with mama! 💚

[moth-bells]

My addition!!

The spotted hyena

Resting with mama <3

[moonlit-dreamers]

harpy eagle :)

with mama!

[sharps-container]

the humble baikal seal.....

with mama !!

[cesspitoflove]

The Waldrapp (northern bald ibis)!!

with mama!!

[elkian]

My fave is already here, so here's an Egyptian Vulture!

Being reclusive with mama!

[moki-dokie]

most iconic eyeliner wearer - cheetah!

under mama!

[if-i-am-not-for-me]

The Duck Billed Platypus!

Lapping milk from mama's milk patches!

[cephalopodvictorious]

The delightful California Sea Otter!

Let's float with mama

[spicycheeser]

The majestic Marine Iguana

And smiling with Mama

[longsightmyth]

'Remove anything unnecessary to the story' is advice as often or more often misunderstood as the advice 'write what you know'

There is more to a story than a direct a to b to c to d to end plot. 'Remove what is unnecessary' is stuff like eight paragraphs about, idk, the ecology of one specific pond the characters happen to be passing... unless the pov is somebody super interested in ponds, or the you the writer are trying with your work to make people consider the beauty in the mundane or the importance of small things or whatever. It's all dependent on what you're trying to do. What is unnecessary to one story could be very necessary to the next and vice versa.

For instance, dragons are unnecessary in Fourth Wing, but extremely necessary in To Shape A Dragon's Breath. Both are in the blandest sense about young women attending dangerous dragon college, but only one used dragons to greater purpose and to further the worldbuilding, plot, and themes.

[longsightmyth]

'Remove unnecessary things from your novel' IS good advice, but people either misunderstand or have it explained to them so poorly that they believe removing things like what kind of dresses people are wearing in an epic fantasy is following this advice when really the dresses serve the narrative by showing you things like the social class, culture, and personal sensibilities of the characters wearing them without writing another two paragraphs of exposition.

[tricitymonsters]

Mastercard and visa have reported to a couple news outlets that they are currently being swamped with calls and complaints. Keep up the pressure and try to (politely) insist that you leave a complaint via phone instead of letting the rep direct you to emails. It's way easier to be overwhelmed by a much smaller number of calls so each one counts for a bit more!

[tricitymonsters]

This blsky thread has scripts and hotlines so if you wanna reblog this version instead that would be appreciated!!

[kirkwallguy]

like imagine it. you've been taken from your family and thrown in an abusive prison system that uses physical and emotional torture to keep its prisoners in line. you fall in love with another man there and spend a few years the happiest you've been until your gaolers catch on to your relationship and he's sent away just to hurt you. you spend the better part of a decade escaping your prison over and over again trying to cross the ocean to reach him. when you're finally free for good the first thing you do is head straight for the city he's in. you exchange letters with him and plan to meet, wanting to save him from what is probably an even MORE abusive prison than the one you were in. you finally reach him and find he has been illegally lobotomised just to spite you / lure you in. seeing you gives him a moment of clarity and he uses it to beg you to kill him. so you kill him. in that situation i would have gone straight back home and started plotting revenge, taking seven years to blow up the chantry is a sign of restraint imo.

[matchapancaekes]

So many people told me to skip Dragon Age 2 when I got into this series, and I’m? Absolutely floored by that.

The way the companions are introduced? The COMPANIONS themselves? The beautiful, unending tragedy of Hawke in this atrocious city, mixed with some brilliant banters and poignant monologues?

Like I cannot believe they got away with this game in 2011. Everyone is bisexual and it actually changes dialogue and acknowledges the queerness of it all. Aveline finds love and remarries after her husband dies (not for money or power or security but because she loves this man!!). Anders is literally a conservative’s greatest fear: a queer, demon possessed civil rights activist. The game feels entirely different depending on whether Bethany or Carver survive Lothering. Hawke becomes a nobleman in Kirkwall and their entire manor is run by two dwarves, a dog, and an elven girl.

And the companions and their relationships feel so alive and full, even when Hawke isn’t present. Varric pays off crime bosses to leave Merril alone as she wanders around Darktown. Aveline hosts holiday parties and is incredibly sad that Isabela didn’t come. They all play Wicked Grace at the Hanged Man and Fenris is awful, but Anders is worse. Aveline makes sure the guards don’t bother Fenris in High Town, and steers Templars away from Anders’s clinic. They don’t always agree, they bicker and fight with one another, but they are Friends.

Oh, you wanna know about the gameplay? I don’t play Dragon Age for gameplay, I got nothing. Something something spiders and reused maps but that just means I always know where to go.

I’m here for found family (and romance)

[mxrbutch]

the way my partner talks about my ocd is so hilariously on point. for context, i experience a lot of verbal compulsions (feeling like i Have to Say a Certain Thing to magically fix another) and he just told me. "most of the time it's easy to spot a compulsion cause literally nobody asked"

[mxrbutch]

i'll tell him that i want to watch a movie and then I'll specify out loud "you do not have to comply with my wish, but it was good to freely express it just as it is good for you to freely refute it" and he will look at me dead in the eye and say "who asked. compulsion". it's just brutal

[wizardarchetypes]

this is genuinely such good OCD treatment partnership though. acknowledging the compulsion & refusing to participate in the OCD narrative & reassurance loop. we love to see informed support.

[naamahdarling]

The look on my boyfriend's face when I read this to him tells me I'm going to be hearing "Who asked? Compulsion." a LOT.

[naamahdarling]

This post called me out so violently I'm meeting it at dawn with pistols.

[yekkes]

Dude this one customer was like MY SON HAS TO GET A JOB AND STOP MOOCHING OFF MY MONEY. And I was like “how old is he?” And she was like “17” and I was like. Holy shit you’re a freak! Lmao. Like teens can get jobs sure but he’s still a child you’re responsible for acting like he’s mooching off you when it’s YOUR responsibility to take care of him. What a fucking freak I hate capitalism lmao

[yekkes]

Imagine actually acting like this @ your child I can’t get over how evil this is

[matronofthevoid]

i hate to break it to a lot of people but uh….your Parental Duties do not stop once your child is old enough to legally find a job. 

if you think the ‘legal’ cutoff age for you having to be a parent is 18 then i’m sorta thinking that maybe you shouldn’t have ever been parents to begin with lmao

being a parent is a lifetime commitment you don’t get to opt out of when your kid is legally declared an adult. you brought a human being into this world and now you have to be responsible and love and care for them until you motherfucking die. maybe not financially but definitely emotionally. holy shit.

[itsme98z]

Weird connection/tangent but people say this about adopting teenagers. “Why adopt a teen when they’re gonna leave in a few years anyways?” Like, do you understand how parenting works? That it’s lifelong??????

[harvestspriteirl]

My grandmother and grandfather on my father’s side were foster parents for teenagers my entire childhood. They had a revolving door over the years of kids who aged in and out of the home, rarely having any under 16. And I remember that she said, over and over, when anyone asked why she would want to care for “bratty teenagers who would age out of the system in just a few months to years”, that every child may not want a mom and dad, but every child deserves a pull out couch they can crash on when things go badly. Every child deserves a birthday and every child deserves a bed and every child deserves a warm plate on holidays and a shoulder to cry on and someone to call if they need advice. And just because they stop being children doesn’t mean they stop being HER children.

Which is why holidays at her house are so crowded even now, when grandpa is gone, when all her kids are grown and some of her grandkids have babies now, because every child has a plate and a seat and a present and a hug. Because they’re all her children.

[kawaii-pigeon]

I thought the whole point of having kids is to love a new human and guide them into being the most capable human they can be and then when they naturally get ready to lead their own life you support them through that.

I didnt think you’d need an age limit for that

[wizardarchetypes]

it’s crazy how different you get treated in a mask but what really gets me is that when people ask why I’m masking, I’ve stopped saying I’m immunodeficient and started saying I have an immunodeficient family member at home. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this has 100% improved every single encounter I’ve had with anti-maskers. i’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

i used to tell people i’m immunodeficient and they’d ask invasive questions about my diagnosis, whether my parents kept my childhood overly sterile, whether I was vaccinated as a child (with the implication that it would have been bad if I were).

Now that I say I have an immunodeficient family member at home, people smile knowingly and say, “oh, well you do what you have to do,” and “my mom went through chemo. I remember how hard it was to do all the precautions” and “that’s so kind of you.”

if i tell someone i mask because i’m disabled, i’m assumed to be the weak link in our society, a burden to my family.

if i tell someone i mask to protect a disabled family member, i become the burdened, compassionate caretaker deserving of sympathy. how sad that i must limit myself to protect someone i love. how heroic that i choose to do so.

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Back in 2012, a friend pointed me to this Master's Thesis, posted online, about a common side quest trope in medieval literature (where a knight is challenged with kissing a maiden who has been changed into the form of a dragon):

When a Knight meets a Dragon Maiden: Human Identity and the Monstrous Animal Other - Medievalists.net

The amount of research into the field of medieval monsters has been growing within the past few decades, but the monster has not always been

And what you've relaid here reminds me of this line from the paper:

The main purpose of the stories, especially in the episodes where a dragon maiden has to be kissed, is to ascertain the worth of the human knight.

If you're masking for a family member, then (in their eyes) you're proving your worth as a human being -- being a knight in shining armor. But if you're the one whose disabled, then you're the monster.

[lambergeier]

truly can’t believe the entire internet used to be about playing little games. it was about having adobe flash and playing little games on nick.com

[bossymarmalade]

Museum staff push for all-gender restrooms

The [Manchester] museum’s new restrooms don’t just appeal to trans and gender-nonconforming visitors, though, Davies told Hyperallergic. They also feature baby-changing spaces and three different types of accessible toilets, including a “Changing Places” toilet, equipped with a full-size changing bench and hoist so people with limited mobility can use the restroom or have their continence pad changed.

“By combining these facilities under the All-Gender Toilets, visitors and families of any combination of disabled, neurodivergent, trans, and nonbinary identities can use the same facilities,” [Mattie] Davies explained.

[sadclowncentral]

the scariest thing about the generative AI thing is how quickly people have accepted it as an indefinite, irrevocable part of their reality. people have genuinely convinced themselves that ChatGPT is the only solution to most tasks - tasks they did with their own brain without any large effort two years ago. like you know damn well all of us used to write emails ourselves why are we pretending like this is an impossible task to do with your own two hands. what's with the fucking. AI revisionism. i feel like i am going insane.