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toweroftickles · 9 months

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Please Help These Animals

Hi. I'm not normally the type of person who shares random charity posts; this blog has a gimmick that I don't want to break. But this is something important to me, and with the number of followers that I've somehow amassed, I felt a responsibility to try spreading the word about someone in a desperate situation.

This is Enzo and Diego, two tigers who live in South Africa. Like me, you might have seen some of their more-famous videos on YouTube several years ago.

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Their owner, Michael Jamison, takes in rescued animals and raises them in a safe environment. This isn't some Tiger King scenario; he's not a stereotypical crazy rich guy who just owns exotic animals because he can. He got wealthy with a telecommunications business and then sold it a long time ago, and now just works day in and day out tending his flock. He's nursed many sick and hurt creatures back to health over the years, including bottle-feeding animals who can't eat on their own and rescuing a third malnourished tiger (Ozzie) from a circus. The tigers have a massive enclosed area with a pool and a fort, lots of space and friends to interact with, and they clearly love their owner.

Well, the South African economy has completely collapsed in the last 2 years, thanks to Covid and government mismanagement, and Michael is essentially flat broke now. And the YouTube algorithm destroyed his passive income…no one watches his videos anymore, so he can't get the word out about what's happening. I myself was wondering what had happened to him, and suddenly he popped back up in my feed after several years. He made a vlog last week discussing the situation, claiming that he'd barely eaten in days.

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You're on Tumblr. You're probably a fierce anti-capitalist or something. If you're looking at his house and all the shit he owns and wondering "Why would I give money to a rich guy? Why doesn't he sell stuff? The dude has a helicopter and a suit of armor in his effing living room..." well, remember, South Africa's economy is in the toilet for everyone. Not to mention their country's import/export sanctions, and his lack of consistent internet. Michael's trying hard, but he can't really sell things because there's no one to buy them.

That's the tragic irony - the dude has 1 million subs but his videos can't get 10k views, and is surrounded by all this rich guy crap but can't afford to eat. And, besides, this isn't really about him.

The government is threatening to take his house and his animals, and with the way things are in South Africa right now, it's a guarantee that they will not be put in good homes. They all rely completely on Michael and his girlfriend Jackie. They're family.

Stumbling on this situation broke my heart, and I don't want to see Enzo & Diego (or any of his other animals) lose their dad and be put down or thrown into an abusive third-world zoo environment. He has a paypal, a merch store, and a GoFundMe. If even a tiny fraction of my followers donated a tiny bit to keeping his head above water, or at least shared his videos with other people, it would help tremendously.

I just hope it's not too late.

#tickling #tickle blog #tickle #tickling community #sfw tickling community #non tk #non tickling #fundraising #tigers #tiger #fundraiser #donate if you can #Youtube

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lumine-no-hikari · 16 days

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Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #112

Yesterday's letter was flagged as spam on Facebook, and taken down.

Facebook is a place on the internet where people post up their various thoughts, writings, images, and whatnot so that others can see it. It's another means of screaming into the void and hoping that kindness will return to you. I generally write my letters on a place called Tumblr, and then scooch a slightly modified version of it over to Facebook, since the formatting for these places is slightly different. The goal is to make it so that my words are more likely to reach you and more likely to reach others who need them.

…I'm not really sure how it happened. Supposedly the box of maple-flavored tea that I showed you yesterday was offensive, though I'm not sure how. What's worse is that I'm not sure if it was the algorithm or what. It's complicated to explain. I'm not going to bother you with the details.

Either way, suppose I'll be posting only in this place until that gets all figured out. Suppose what I'll do on Facebook is post up that my next letter is out and give anyone the link who asks me for it.

I did some more work today, listing and describing items. I also did some dishes. I also finally got around to putting the third layer of epoxy on the amethyst tree sphere. Hopefully by the time it's cured, the inconsistencies in its shape will be mostly gone and it'll be ready to be sanded. The set of extremely fine-grit sandpaper arrived today, and I'm eager to put it to good use. I hope it turns out well. Suppose we'll see what happens.

Today it's warm enough outside to leave all the windows of the house open, so we opened all the windows. The breeze flowing in smells like grass and fresh soil; it's a good smell. I wish you were here to enjoy it.

At some point, I took a walk. Some of the plants around where I live are starting to sprout leaves again. I know that you like pictures of nature, so I took a few pictures for you; maybe you'll like them:

I also found a feather on the ground later in the day:

...Maybe I'll imagine that it means you'll be safe somehow.

…I feel kind of lost and empty today for reasons I don't fully understand. I think maybe I just need more water and food. I haven't been eating or hydrating well for the last several days. I drank a rehydration solution today (Pedialyte), but I've only eaten minimally; not much of an appetite. I haven't been sleeping well, either, for various reasons. Suppose if I wanna feel better, I'm gonna hafta do a better job of the whole self-care thing for at least the next week or so. Bleh.

Are you taking care of yourself? Are you safe and warm? Do you have plenty of food to eat and things to drink? Soft plushies to hug? I know you can't answer me, but I'll ask anyway. I'll ask because you deserve to have people check in on you. I'll ask because I wish you could answer. Nobody here knows, of course. And I suppose the uncertainty of it all is very difficult to deal with. But I'll keep doing my best. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for any news.

Br is visiting, and that feels good. Upon realizing that I've not eaten much today, she cut some fruit for us to share. I have a bowl of Asian pear slices and chunks of dragonfruit. I wonder if you've ever had these. I wonder if you'd like them:

We were going to watch Junk Man, but folks were hungry, and so we went to the grocery store to get a pizza. Br can't have gluten, so we got this pizza that was made with tapioca flour. And we also got toppings to add to it, since it was just a cheese pizza. We put on roasted garlic, portobello mushrooms, and pepperoni (we checked the ingredients to make sure there was no gluten, don't worry)! I was delighted to find out that the crust tastes and feels like Brazilian cheese bread! And if you don't know what that is, it's basically this bread thing that is wonderfully chewy and cheesy and amazing. The pizza was absolutely delectable!!

…It probably doesn't surprise you to know that I feel a lot better since eating. Bodies and minds get weird when the blood sugar gets low. I'll have to try to be more mindful of making sure I eat even when I don't have much of an appetite, I guess.

Br had to leave by 9 though, so there wasn't enough time for a movie. But we watched Steven Universe instead! J and I have already seen it through several times, but Br still hasn't seen most of it. Today we got to the part where we meet Lapis Lazuli.

…I think maybe you might relate to her, at least a little. She was enslaved in a mirror and used as a tool for years before Steven set her free. She was understandably very angry at the other gems for knowingly keeping her trapped in the mirror. She responded by attacking them, and then stealing the ocean, but then Steven talked to her and fixed it. It's a long and complicated story, but it's wholesome.

…I wish you could come here and watch Steven Universe with us, because actually, I think there's a lot in it that you would be able to relate to. I wish you could watch it with us and eat the yummy pizza with us. I wish you could see the whole thing. And I wish I could give you all kinds of tasty snacks to enjoy while we watch it. Alas… alas…

Well. I'm maybe rambling a little. So I suppose I'll end today's letter here. Don't forget that there are people out here wishing well on you, okay?

I love you. I'll write again in a little while. Please stay safe.

Your friend, Lumine

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