a lot of my autism masking is just making myself more palatable for other people and my therapist said "does spock make himself 'more palatable' for others?" and had me promise to keep unmasking like:

Product Placement
Fai_Ryy
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her

No title available
The Bright Sessions
The Bowery Presents
Game of Thrones Daily
taylor price

ellievsbear
occasionally subtle

roma★
Cosimo Galluzzi

No title available

bliss lane
Phantogram Three
Claire Keane
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
The Stonewall Inn
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH

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@stanisnotonfire
a lot of my autism masking is just making myself more palatable for other people and my therapist said "does spock make himself 'more palatable' for others?" and had me promise to keep unmasking like:
ALT
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https://archive.org/details/vhsinstructionals
Instructional and Educational VHS Tapes : Free Movies : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive
me browsing this folder: omg omG I don’t know which one I’m more excited to watch, this Frontline episode from 1992 or this NOVA episode from 1984!!!
the NSA agent who can hear everything through my phone:
Yes… YES! fucking hell I LOVE this! Give them all to me!!
IMMEDIATELY hit gold, thank you OP, i am respectfully stripping for you (1987)
Redditors crashed the website with donations over $25k and 0 wishes left. via /r/MadeMeSmile
Click here and follow to get more daily positivity on your dash!
With the holidays here, thought this is worth sharing
This website is still here and some of the asks are heartbreaking. Like “Jamie wants a new pair of jeans because he’s never had new clothes before”. Or “Kayla wants a bag with her name on it for when she moves foster homes again.”
A lot of these kids ask for brand name clothing and it sounds pretentious but having one nice new fashionable piece of clothing means a lot when all your previous clothes have come out of black trash bags from charities.
Btw, you can filter wishes based on gender, age, price, etc to help you find the perfect wish for you. This charity is LGBTQ-affirming (unlike a lot of religion-based charities that are unfortunately homophobic), so you can even look for nonbinary kids to donate to.
Also, I would really encourage people to be open to granting wishes made by older foster kids (14+) or young adults who aged out of the system and still lack family support. They’re so often forgotten.
If you don’t have a lot of money but still want to help give a kid a nice Christmas, there are lots of wishes that are $24 for stocking stuffers as well, or $15 for a sqishmallow!
https://www.onesimplewish.org
I just want to add that right now, there are so many pending wishes for food. Kids are asking for food from the universe (and yeah, “kids” includes young adults just entering the work force–eighteen and hungry is just as morally wrong as eight and hungry).
[Image ID: A series of screenshots capturing a long tweet by Fara Kaufman (@ justfara), which reads
“So, I spoke to people getting food at a food bank and here are some things I learned from those in need:
1. Everyone donates Kraft Mac and Cheese in the box. They can rarely use it because it needs milk and butter which is hard to get from regular food banks.
2. Boxed milk is a treasure, as kids need it for cereal which they also get a lot of.
3. Everyone donates pasta sauce and spaghetti noodles.
4. They cannot eat all the awesome canned veggies and soup unless you put a can opener in too or buy pop tops.
5. Oil is a luxury but needed for Rice a-Roni which they also get a lot of.
6. Spices or salt and pepper would be a real Christmas gift.
7. Tea bags and coffee make them feel like you care.
8. Sugar and flour are treats.
9. They fawn over fresh produce donated by farmers and grocery stores.
10. Seeds are cool in Spring and Summer because growing can be easy for some.
11. They rarely get fresh meat.
12. Tuna and crackers make a good lunch.
13. Hamburger Helper goes nowhere without ground beef.
14. They get lots of peanut butter and jelly but usually not sandwich bread.
15. Butter or margarine is nice too.
16. Eggs are a real commodity.
17. Cake mix and frosting makes it possible to make a child's birthday cake.
18. Dishwashing detergent is very expensive and is always appreciated.
19. Feminine hygiene products are a luxury and women will cry over that.
20. Everyone loves Stove Top Stuffing.
In all the years I have donated food at the Holidays, I bought what I thought they wanted, but have never asked. I am glad I did. If you are helping a Family this Christmas, maybe this can help you tailor it more. It does for me!
At the bottom is a photo of a shelf at a food bank. Items on display include dry noodles, boxed stuffing mix, vegetable oil, dry beans, gravy mix, and various canned goods. Each item has a sign below it that reads “limit 1” or “limit 2”.
/End ID]
Since the holiday toy drive post is circulating again, I figured this would also be helpful! Food insecurity is such a massive problem in America, in general, and if you have the means to help feed others, I think you should take that opportunity. Here are some other tips:
1. If you’re planning on donating items from your own pantry, please check the expiration dates on the packaging. Think of your donations as gifts to bestow, not castoffs to be rid of. It’s awful to think of people feeling like they got scraps someone else just didn’t want. Everyone deserves dignity with their meals.
2. If you’d rather give money to a food bank, that’s also great since they buy food in bulk and know what items are most wanted/needed!
3. Not everyone has access to appliances like stoves or microwaves or hot plates so if you can donate items that don’t need to be heated up, that would also be greatly appreciated!
🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
speculative fiction writers i am going to give you a really urgent piece of advice: don't say numbers. don't give your readers any numbers. how heavy is the sword? lots. how old is that city? plenty. how big is the fort? massive. how fast is the spaceship? not very, it's secondhand.
the minute you say a number your readers can check your math and you cannot do math better than your most autistic critic. i guarantee. don't let your readers do any math. when did something happen? awhile ago. how many bullets can that gun fire? trick question, it shoots lasers, and it shoots em HARD.
you are lying to people for fun. if you let them do math at you the lie collapses and it's no fun anymore.
YOU GET IT
As more and more people are being forced to switch to Windows 11, Microsoft's most AI-malware-ridden OS yet, I've been putting together articles and links for how to undo the damage and save your battery, your RAM, your disk space, your privacy, and your sanity from this bullshit.
FIRST:
The easiest way to get rid of the majority of the bullshit that Windows is forcing on us, as of October 2025, is this one-stop-one-click debloat solution from a modern day hero:
A simple, lightweight PowerShell script to remove pre-installed apps, disable telemetry, as well as perform various other changes to customi
It's very easy, even if you're not tech savvy or get scared of pop up windows saying "ARE YOU SURE?" Yes, you are sure, I promise. This program takes maybe two minutes and will save you SO MUCH pain, time, and money (and exploitation).
Now that you've done that, here's the cleanup, to catch the little shit that the debloat might have missed (most of this will already be done by debloat, but hey, it's good to double check).
Microsoft wants to put AI everywhere on your PC, but you can take back control.
Even just reading about some of these features makes me angry. Fucking Copilot and "Discover" AI scrapers are in Notepad. NOTEPAD. And then there's this uncanny valley garbage:
No uncanny valley video calls for me, thanks! (Also, what else is it doing while it scans your face and listens to your calls? What else, microsoft? Because there was a lot of memory being assigned to this program for a simple "smooths your skin" add on).
Tired of Microsoft pushing ads throughout Windows 11? Here are the settings you can tweak to turn them off and reclaim some privacy.
The truly insane number of places they have stuck ads on your own home computer is sickening. Become Unmarketable.
Bonus:
Some background programs you probably don't need that are taking up space and how to remove them (Microsoft forums, 2024)
Your Samsung Galaxy Phone comes with 22 apps you don't need (Android Police, 2025)
How to disable the AI in firefox (still the only browser that lets you do this permanently) (Windows Report, 2025)
: You guessed it: looks like it's a so-called AI
Mozilla, in its finite wisdom, embedded LLM bots into recent versions of Firefox for the vitally-important purpose of… naming tab groups. Now, some users are noticing CPU and power usage spikes caused by a background process called Inference.
Ugh. Reminder again for Firefox users to visit your about:config page, search for the browser.ml.chat.enabled key, and set that to false:
If yours says true then double-click it until it reads false.
Doing that turns off the AI chatbot features in Firefox, but also the stupid new LLM tab-naming feature that's rolling out.
if you want to turn off as much ai crap in firefox as possible, from this post on mozilla's connect forum, you should also set all these to false using about:config:
browser.ml.enable
extensions.ml.enabled
browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled
browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled
browser.tabs.groups.smart.userEnabled
to get rid of the revamped sidebar, which is also trying to incorporate ai:
sidebar.revamp
unrelated anyone got browser recommendations for when we have to jump ship from firefox
and now keep in mind that all the other browsers are doing this shit, too, but you can't reconfigure them as with Firefox
on A for Effort's last point, is there any browser that offers users even half as much control as Firefox? if so, I'd like to try it as a backup
Everyone: Please please please don't write your books in Google Docs. Frankly don't use Google Drive for personal stuff.
Their terms of service say they take down stuff like content related to terrorism and trafficking, but this Google Sheet was literally a list of movies I'd watched this year and books I'd read.
Holy smokes, guys. It's way worse than I thought. Google actually took away access to every single file of fiction writing I'd made on that account. BUT I backed it all up on Scrivener yesterday by coincidence. So I haven't lost my work, but I could have just lost the 12,000 words I've written this month after a year of really intense writer's block. I honestly don't know what that would have done to my psyche.
Please be careful out there, folks! <3
That is awful! If you're looking for a gdocs-like replacement, Ellipsus @ellipsus-writes is a queer friendly, anti-AI equivalent with online syncing and sharing - I've been using it for almost a year now as a replacement for gdocs and absolutely love it.
I do still back up all my work to local storage on LibreOffice too though, thank goodness you backed up to Scrivener OP!
I’M A FREAKING HEAVY GOOGLE DOCS USER!
You can download any of your Google Docs in multiple formats, including Word, .txt, or .rtf. Back your stuff up right away.
What I suspect is happening is that Google is using AI to sniff out copyrighted material (which is darkly hilarious in itself) with absolutely no nuance.
This is a problem for anyone who writes fan fiction.
I now use Libreoffice for work stuff, and Nisus Writer Pro for fanfic writing (I'm on a Mac) – I'll probably pick up Scrivener again for editing longer fic. YMMV, but it's good to ask yourself what you're using Google Docs for before you start looking for an alternative. In terms of Mac word processors there might be something on thriftmac that you can get started with for free.
In my case writing comments to myself is part of my process – it helps me from getting bogged down in small details during a first draft where I just keep swimming. I also like saving to the cloud. So I've set Nisus to save every 2 mins and it allows me to write as many notes as I like.
Ellipsus is great for formatting for posting to Ao3.
I back my files up on dropbox – using a third party client, and also using the free iDrive plan.
Reducing my use of Google Drive, and stripping Chrome completely from my laptop (which included using Terminal to clear hidden files) has actually made my computer run better too!
A guide to designing wheelchair using characters!
I hope this helps anyone who's trying to design their oc using a wheelchair, it's not a complete guide but I tried my best! deffo do more research if you're writing them as a character
@a-captions-blog
[Art description: Several panels titled, ‘A Guide to Visually Designing Wheelchair Using Characters / (From a Wheelchair User)’ The title panel shows five boxes with red X marks drawn over them and one with a green checkmark. The five X boxes show a person in various inaccurate wheelchair positions, including lying on the floor, sitting with their head sticking out horizontally, and floating upside down above the chair. The subsequent panels have the watermark CowsABunges and are as follows:
1. Standard Chairs: Standard chairs are easy to obtain, cheaper chairs which come in standard sizes, so usually don’t perfectly fit the user. Consider how your character might customise their wheelchair. These chairs are usually dark colours, so think about easy personalisations such as stickers, and spoke skins. [Line drawing of a standard chair with blue text labelling it as a ‘transit chair’ and saying, ‘someone else would push this.’ Separate text emphasises the high handles of the chair.] [Coloured drawing showing a dark-skinned person sitting in the chair, with text that says, ‘Self Propel: This chair can be moved independently, but is often bulky and therefore hard to move.’] [Coloured drawing of one edge of the chair, which has a sticker that says, ‘Cripple punk’ as well as a strawberry sticker and a heart sticker, with descriptive text that says, ‘Wheelchairs can match your OC’s vibe!’]
2. Some people need more support in a standard chair. Some users need extras on their chairs to support them, such as head rests, and belts. Some users may use ‘tilt in space’ chairs. This is all dependent on factors such as core strength, and seating needs, so consider how your character is effected by their condition when deciding the right chair for them. [Drawing of a light-skinned person in a standard chair with a thick cushion and a head rest, which has been labelled in purple.] Foot propelling: Some users use their feet or toes to help propel themselves, and accomadate this by removing the footplate on their chairs. [Line drawing showing a person from the waist down in their chair. Text has been drawn to label the belt tightened across their thighs and to show that the foot plates have been removed.]
3. Active chairs: Active lightweight wheelchairs are bespoke chairs made to allow the user to propel themselves with as much independence as possible. Due to being totally customised to the user, they are expensive and less accessible than standard chairs. [Coloured drawing of a light-skinned person making a peace sign while sitting in a purple active chair. The chair has a noticeably lower back, sides, and handles than the standard chair.] Gloves: Wheelchair gloves are like marmite: some people love them, some hate them. [Three drawings of hands showing different types of gloves. One covers the thumb and leaves the other four fingers exposed, one covers the entire hand, and the last leaves all the fingertips exposed.] Wheels: There are also different types of wheels for chairs, with different price points and different qualities that people may need or want. [Drawing of two different types of wheels. One has a white rim and three wavy spokes, and the other has a black rim and many straight spokes.]
4. Standard Electric: Standard electric chairs are power chairs that come in preset sizes, so they might not be a perfect fit, but can be less expensive than active chairs, and easier for the user to be independent than a standard manual chair. There are many different variations of standard electric chairs, to fit different needs. [Coloured drawing showing a medium-skinned person in a pale orange headscarf in profile as they sit in a standard electric chair.] Chairs can come in different colours, with different levels of portability, and postural support. Like with all chairs, users can be fulltime, or ambulatory (part time). [Line drawing of a standard electric chair, which has a cushioned seat and back mounted on a base with three sets of wheels and a large flat foot plate.]
5. Bespoke Powerchairs: Similar to self propel wheelchairs, electric/power chairs can be made to the exact measurements to the user, with elements added to aid posture and stability of needed. These chairs tend to be expensive. [Line drawing of a bespoke powerchair. The back and seat have been customised, and the base is slightly smaller with a different foot plate.] Joysticks: Joysticks used to control the chair, can be customised to the style and needs of the user. [Two drawings showing a wide joystick with ‘wings’ on the edges and another that is a round knob on a stick.] [Coloured drawing of a light-skinned person sitting in a bespoke powerchair, shown from the front. Text highlights the arm rests and custom colour, a dark blue.]
6. Ambulatory users: Out of the 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK, a third are ambulatory users, meaning they are able to walk to some degree/under certain circumstances. It’s totally possible for your character to be a part time wheelchair user, and vary which mobility aids are used. [Three coloured drawings of a medium-skinned person whose right leg is amputated above the knee. They use a red active chair, a pair of crutches, and a prosthetic.]
7. Summary: This isn’t a totally comprehensive guide and there are definitely facts I’ve forgotten. This can be a start for those totally clueless on designing wheelchair users. Research is the best way forward if you have bits you have no idea about. Wheelchair users ‘experiences are the best research! [Line art of an active chair.] However: don’t just go asking wheelchair users and disabled people about your characters or invasive questions for your research. They aren’t here just to give you information. There are loads of already existing information from wheelchair users online. [Line art of a person in sunglasses finger-gunning at the camera.] \End descriptions]
[Plain text: A guide to designing wheelchair using characters! \End PT]
sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four
For anyone who needs this
!!!!
hey just a heads up, oreo is doing this as a distraction so you won't notice the boycott on oreos and their parent company, mondelez. along with Nestle, and proctor & gamble
they're being boycotted because the harvesting of palm oil and sugar cane for their products, like oreos, kit kats, smarties, ritz, herbal essences, pantene (products being boycotted) is all harming the indigenous Melanesian communities of West Papua New Guinea. the way that these products are being harvested is straight up ecocide. the communities' rivers are poisoned. their forests are being cleared with nothing left
we NEED to care, boost the power of the Melanesian communities, speak up about it, and save their communities and this earth.
you can make oreos at home y'all
more info below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
KitKat, Oreo and Pantene: I'll explain why the indigenous people of Indonesia are calling for a boycott of these products that you buy every
Unveiling the Crisis: Understanding the West Papua Boycott and the Call for Ecological and Human Rights Justice In the lush rainforests of W
Not my meme but figured I'd share for those about to ride out the storm
Explanation: The vast majority of homeowners insurance plans do not cover flood damage. You need separate flood insurance. Yes. I think it’s stupid too.
Browse the latest Government courses from Harvard University.
Verified: Microsoft 365 gets massive 45% price hike — and it's all to do with AI tools (Tom's Guide - January 17, 2025)
oopsie i tripped and spilled my link to archive dot org's downloadable copy of Microsoft office suite for 2007, which features no AI tools and is a powerful word processor that still holds up just fine on windows 10!
I hate when I say things like "oh I want an ipod classic but with bluetooth so I can use wireless headphones" and some peanut comes in and replies with "so a smartphone with spotify?" No. I want a 160GB+ rectangular monstrosity where I can download every version of every song I want to it and it does nothing except play music and I don't need a data connection and don't have to pay a subscription to not have ads and don't have popups suggesting terrible AI playlists all over the menus.
Gimme the clicky wheel and song titles like "My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade- Blood (Bonus Track)- secret track- album rip- high quality"
Tangara is an open source iPod clone, which includes bluetooth:
The music player you wish you had in the early 2000s
captain afab is honestly a very relatable character because whomst among us does not have some great beast that has eluded us all our lives. mine, for instance, is a decent night's sleep.
Ahab. I meant fucking. captain Ahab.
y'all are gonna make this a whole thing aren't you
top 5 things people have said in the tags on this so far:
moby girldick
I mean, he is chasing dick
the real white whale was testosterone
assigned whaler at birth
captain afab and his trusty crewman cismale
Cismale is sending me.
A boy can dream, can't he?
Hey, so if you have Windows 11 installed and have been losing your mind over the fact that you can't find your own files because Windows is now prioritizing internet search results first, you can fix it by following this guide:
Stop the OS from pulling up web results when you just want files and apps.
As someone with over 900 GB of intentionally and properly named files on her computer (I do a lot of digital art and digital media work that requires high-volume files that function off of dependencies), this feature was making me furious. I followed the above instructions and can confirm that the method outlined solves the problem.
I have just tried this, it works and the explanation how to do it was so user friendly and clearly laid out.
10 and 11 are also kinda secretly adding Windows Copilot to your computer when you're not looking. Even without software updates. You can follow this guide to disable Copilot
Completely disable Copilot in Windows 11 in just a few simple steps.
The guide uses a program called gpedit (group policy editor), if you can't find it on your computer, follow this guide to install/enable it, and remember to always run as administrator:
Run these commands in command prompt.
Win + Q
Search: command prompt
Right-click > Run as admin
Copy, paste, and enter these commands:
FOR %F IN ("%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~*.mum") DO ( DISM /Online /NoRestart /Add-Package:"%F" )
FOR %F IN ("%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~*.mum") DO ( DISM /Online /NoRestart /Add-Package:"%F" )
Test it by opening Win + R
Type: gpedit.msc
See if it opens