Nerd Alert

current obsessions: kcd, critical role, interactive fiction.

[yviisxo]

rest in peace to this diva

[emtmercy]

I understand all the ways Pap smears can suck but I do get so nervous when ppl w vaginas start telling each other how evil and horrific they are bc you need to get them like my moms alive bc of getting them yearly

Like they can suck but it’s ok!!! My first one was before I’d ever done anything w my actual vaginal canal so it didn’t go well so I get that they can go poorly but there are lots of ways they can change the experience to help you

Like when I wasn’t as used to it they would use the baby speculum for me and that made it very doable

And now I do regular size but I get the plastic one because it feels better

[frottinggg]

reblogging and not keeping this in tags because i think it's really, really important

i have vaginismus and vulvodynia. i got my first pap smear at 23 and even with these conditions and my chronic spasms, it was not painful. my gyno switched to smaller tools and used a plastic, regular sized cervical swab. i have been going to the gyno for years for ultrasounds and tests to get to the bottom of my irregular periods and check on my cysts and the pap smear was quick & painless, even with my conditions. a good gyno will understand how daunting it is, especially because people make it seem like the worst thing ever. my own anxiety and nervousness worsened my vaginismus and it ended up feeling like less than a tampon (which i've only been able to use recently because of pelvic floor therapy). pap smears have saved my mom and are now part of my routine checks to ensure that i am not dealing with my family's history with various vaginal conditions. it is intimidating, but like mammograms, they are absolutely necessary when it comes to maintaining your health & can be a matter of life or death, especially if you have a history of cysts, benign tumors that must be monitored, or any vaginal conditions that might not be easy to catch on an ultrasound (especially external ones). pap smears can suck, but making them seem like something horrific when they have been a massive part in understanding my own conditions and vaginal health is really saddening!!

[elbiotipo]

More than "here in the Southern Hemisphere we have inverted seasons :)" thing, which is TECHNICALLY true, I would go a step further and encourage to think about that "much of the world does not exactly has a spring-summer-fall-winter season sequence as they show in cartoons"

[paperdragonsong]

I will scream about this to anyone who listens forever. AUSTRALIA DOES NOT HAVE "ENGLISH SEASONS BUT BACKWARDS" and the insistence that it does creates a massive layer of alienation from the natural world.

I never really realised how much difference it makes until I went to England and realised that here the change of seasons is an obvious, visible, physical change in the world. Like, everything REALLY IS orange and foggy in autumn! In spring there are flowers EVERYWHERE, so much more than any other season, and the trees really do have all blossom and no leaves. Even if it doesn't snow, in winter there's frost all the time and the trees are bare and the sky is visibly greyer all the time. You don't need to be told "this date is the first day of spring", you can SEE IT (although this is getting way messier and less precise due to climate change).

By contrast, most places in Australia the seasons we're taught feel like arbitrary categories - and is it any surprise considering they're colonial constructs? Orange-leaved autumn and blossom-covered spring is a cartoon stereotype with no relevance on a continent where ALL NATIVE TREES ARE EVERGREEN!! Snowy winters are a joke in the desert, and even sunny summers don't ring particularly true considering that much of the country is in the tropics, where summer means monsoons - not that I've ever seen the concept that WE HAVE A MONSOON SEASON taught at an Australian school.

Most Indigenous nations around Australia had six or more seasons, revolving around wet and dry times as much as hot and cold, and marked by the appearances of certain native animals and flowers. Schools need to start teaching the real seasons, and explaining that climate cycles are too complex to generalise globally, or else we will keep raising generations who view the natural world as hostile and unpredictable and climate predictions as generally irrelevent and frequently wrong - and I'm sure I don't need to spell out why that's a problem in the era of climate crisis.

[tiredtransgal]

i want to add that 40% of the world's population lives in the tropics, and the 4 season model just doesn't make much sense for a lot of places in there. usually it's just the wet season/monsoon season and the dry season. it's often hot year round.

the 4 season model as you and i know it is a european invention, though 4 season models aren't unique to europe! most notably china has the same type of season subdivision.

in general the way humans define seasons is largely subjective and varies across cultures. the one you were taught is not at all universal!

[mamoru]

there is something really nasty the body does that I have to tell you about. sleep deprivation causes the body to feel stronger signals. it can make light and sound and pain worse, just from not sleeping. and then, get this - - that can be the kind of shit that keeps someone up at night. less sleep makes more pain happen, more pain can make less sleep happen, and this feedback loop keeps spinning. and then that feedback loop fucks with your body and can make you have worse illnesses, worse infections, worse physical health, worse mental health, and feel like shit overall. and then THAT can make it even harder to sleep.

quality of sleep is quality of life. no matter what else you have going on, you have to prioritize sleep. if your sleep is not restful, you might have something like sleep apnea that can make you weaker until you get treated. whatever is stopping you from sleeping needs to be a priority because it will wreck you until you can sleep. your body cannot function properly without enough sleep, and it might not even tell you that sleep is the problen.

your body might just tell you that everything sucks forever until you can figure it out and get it addressed. there are ways to break the pain and sleep deprivation feedback loop, like medication. and if sleep still sucks, really consider getting a sleep study. even if it is a pain in the ass, your health might depend on it.

no matter what else you try, no matter how else you try to prioritize your health, and no matter how you have to accomplish this, you might not be able to feel better until you can actually get enough quality sleep.

[justcallmedom31]

These are so beautiful.

Credit goes to the wonderful artist: ChibiGreen

There's a Part 2 here :))

[luulapants]

actually once you do vote by mail once, it feels STUPID that in-person voting is even a thing. getting to sit with your ballot in your house, easily see your options, have time to do research and consider your choice, talk with friends and neighbors about their vote. it's especially so for small local elections and primaries where you might not have heard about different candidates and really have to ask around, attend local events, or dig into local news stories to find out who they are and what they stand for. but, of course, not allowing voters to easily research and carefully consider their votes is why there is opposition to vote by mail in the first place.

[crabussy]

hi trans kiwis and friends. if you haven't seen the news, they're trying to pass a frankly insidious bill in aotearoa to define the terms 'man' and 'woman' based on biological sex. this unsurprisingly reflects a lot of similar cruel efforts happening overseas at the moment. IT HASN'T PASSED YET, but I figured I should speak up about it because this is happening as we speak.

(screenshot from the linked RNZ article)

it seems very fucking bleak!!!! please don't lose hope! it hasn't passed yet and a lot of the shoddy bills suggested by the coalition have been shot down already. it's still worth knowing about. you don't have to share this post if you don't want to. I just know that a lot of my followers are kiwi. if there are any updates as to what we can do to push back against this, I'll make a relevant addition. kia kaha, okay? love you all.

[crabussy]

UPDATE: you can now very quickly and very easily submit a comment on the bill! these will be counted and considered in parliament.

it took me less than three minutes, and that's only because I wrote a whole paragraphs on why this is a stupid idea. all you really need to put is "don't pass this bill" if you want. it'll only take 30 seconds.

if you're able to and you want to, please consider reblogging! the more reach this gets, the better. thank you all so much [:

[noah-wyles]

all i want for 2026 is that gigantic rancid AI bubble to finally burst in such a catastrophic way that the consequences will be so good and i'll never have to see another AI generated image ever again

[fluoritegalaxy]

Like to charge, reblog to cast.

[catchymemes]

They supporting

[kairithemang0-fm]

Reblog if you're transmasc, support trans men, or want a chocolate chip cookie

[adhd-alien]

Why can I only get myself to work 2 days before deadline?? 😭 Part 2 & Poster version http://adhd-alien.com Why am I a Fish? I don't know but I'm live right now http://twitch.tv/adhd_alien/

[ataleofcrowns]

New Chapter Released!

Hello again! Hope the spring has been pleasant for you 🌷

With this update we're continuing the pilgrimage, which is turning out more dangerous than even the Crown and their companions anticipated:

The Crown will be revisiting an old place they had forgotten about, and learn more about the scars left on the land from the reigns of Crowns past

Whether you brought the water spirits with you or whether Eshkar is also there or not will give you additional variations and, depending on one choice you make this chapter, may lead to someone getting hurt

There will be more lore on the religious practices of Arsur, and an opportunity to customize your Crown's religious beliefs as well

A dangerous encounter shakes things up this chapter--is it a test of the spirits, or just bad luck? Either way, how your Crown handles this situation will not go unnoticed!

And last but not least, romance scenes with your chosen love interest, though the tone of these will be quite different considering the previous encounter...

Thank you for all your patience and support, I hope you enjoy the new chapter as summer approaches 💖

For those that are unfamiliar with the game

A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy romance story, told in the form of a text-based interactive novel with choice mechanics. The setting is inspired by Kurdish culture as well as other historical settings in the Middle East such as Ancient Persia, but it also draws heavily from other cultures and countries in the region.

Your character is native to Arsur, a vast empire overseen by a single ruler known as the Crown. Unlike traditional monarchies, however, the title is not inherited through blood. Whenever the Crown dies, their famed golden eyes pass on to the one chosen by the Spirits of this world to be the new Crown. In this story, your MC takes on that role.

There are four different love interests to choose from, whose genders will be customized to suit the preferences of your Crown. You can find more info about them on the blog page!

Also note that this current version of the game is safe for those 16 years and older.

Like the premise so far? Play it and give it a try! The entire game is free!

If you enjoyed the game, please reblog! Share it with your friends! Recognition and reader interaction is just about the only thing I get in return for creating it ❤️

[artassdumpr]

Reminding the people who matters the most… Javik, obviously. Happy pride folks!

[teaboot]

Can I be honest with yall I don't want to hear SHIT against cishets at pride this year

[teaboot]

"But it's not FOR them!!!" The biggest military power in the world belongs to a christofascist nation overseen by a felon found guilty of 34 federal crimes and has greenlit a gestapo with more direct funding than the entire military of Canada for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Let Hetero Jessica throw some biodegradable glitter at a municipal parade

[blinkees]

updated the character limit on the blinkie maker! previously 15 characters, you can now attempt to cram a whopping 25 characters on your blinkies!! certain fonts and font sizes WILL cut off. use your best judgement ok?

[fasciation-fascination]

perfect

[persona-game-info]

IGN Japan made a post implying that new P4 Revival information will be shown at the upcoming summer game fest stream

I checked a second translation that also seems to line up the Twitter one but keep in mind this could still just be speculative hype on their end

[bedupolker]

I loooooove getting rejected. People should reject more. It's the "maybes" and ghosting that's just like too much. A firm but polite "no" is infinitely more respectful of everyone's time and feelings. Can we just do that?

[bedupolker]

You guys know this is a pretty normal human want and not a special accomdation to be saved for people with autism right?