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princessozera · 3 years

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Scientist MC: PADs

Word count: 1.3k

It’s come to my attention that certain feminine hygiene products are rare in the Devildom. While the Devildom isn’t completely barren of these items, I’ve looked them over and they all contain one ingredient or another that would prove extremely harmful to any human exchange student that might need to use them. As such I’ve prepared a short letter to Diavolo where I ask to use an empty stock room at RAD for human-centric necessities and comfort items, that I will provide if need be:

...

Okay, I don’t think any of the brothers honestly give a damn, and they’ve all stopped reading by now. I need to come up with a secret code or carve out a piece of furniture so I can hide these notebooks. I caught Mammon snooping around in my room last week with Beel and while I don’t think either of them would care too much about a random journal, I REALLY can’t risk them finding out I’ve been using them like Guinea pigs.

P(rotection) A(gainst) D(emon)s: PADs.

Yes I did choose pads specifically because I think Mammon is the most likely to look through this journal, and immediately put it back if he sees the word pad.

Okay so I may have become better acquainted with the 7 demon lord-brothers and the royals but a LOT of my other classmates are still proving to be a bit of hard asses. I had 3 attempts on my life in the past week alone and I’ve caught a handful of individuals repeatedly trail me and Luke when we were a bit aways from our usual groups.

Also... I don’t want to doubt them, but, at the end of the day, even the demon lord brothers have a nasty temper in them. For as much as Lucifer talks about composure, when he loses his, it’s COMPLETELY gone. He’s tried for my life at least once by this point, and knowing how we butt heads, I don’t doubt there’ll be another murder attempt.

So I’ve been thinking, I need a little protection and the only thing that I know for now, that works on demon is holy water (hw). I know where I can get a couple of cups of it, maybe even a liter if I ask nicely enough, but then we have the little problem of actually implementing/ hiding it. As it turns out, holy water leaves a distinct silver shimmer in it’s wake and smells of almonds and something sweet. While I have to focus to be able to smell it, I’ve run a test on Beel’s sense of smell and found out how to counter act it, so really it’s just the storage that’s giving me difficulties.

Spray Bottle:

Pros: It wouldn’t look out of place in my bathroom or my room, no training needed, doesn’t necessarily require a high degree of accuracy, and can switch between a mist (lighter damage, a bit of suffocation is all) and a direct squirt (concentrate stream, high damage in the same vein as third degree burns in humans)

Cons: There’s a high chance Asmo would walk in and randomly use it or one of the brothers casually uses it as a regular water spray bottle against another brother, accidentally harming them. Also, if you fuck up and try to shoot it on direct shot but end up with mist? You’re done, dead, you won’t get a second chance to fire.

Water Gun:

Pros: Different sizes available, it wouldn’t look out of place for me to just be wandering the back of the H.O.L with it strapped to my back, larger one have a great distance, only middle accuracy and little training, concentrated h.w will do a lot of damage.

Cons: It would look out of place in my room and around me in general 3/4ths of the year, and while I could carry a tiny version with me because most of these are very cheap toys they tend to leak.

Reusable Water bottle:

Pros: The most scent blocked, portable, can hold a substantial amount, would never look out of place in my bag or backpack. Depending on the top, it can shoot out a small stream.

Cons: Someone’s gonna drink it. Not even the brothers on accident, there is a 98% chance I’m going to forget what’s in it, or I’ll be tired and grab the first bottle in my vicinity and down it without a second thought. Very little accuracy and a weak stream so it would have to be used at close range and you’re not really allowed to miss because then you’re completely out.

Squirt Gun Umbrella:

Pros: About half a liter of water can be stored in it, on applicable days it would raise no suspicion, and it is a long range weapon. I could alter the sections of the umbrella itself to double as a shield with the right materials.

Cons: These don’t exist in the Devildom, I would have to recreate it myself. It would also look out of place most days, and if I DO have it and it DOES rain, the cross contamination would ruin my entire supply of holy water.

Perfume bottle:

Pros: Portable and inconspicuous in my vanity so it’s close at hand, if I’m able to make it aerosolized, I can make a small “perfume” bottle for on the go as well. No accuracy needed, and can probably work as a general repellant as long as I don’t apply it too heavily and layer it with other scents.

Cons: It only has a mist form so it would have to be a close range attack where I realse enough to choke them so I can run away and maybe give them light acid-type burns. I would have to forsake a cup or two of h.w to try and see if I can make the holy water more... concentrated? If that’s even possible. There is also a slight chance Asmo would use it, just to smell it once, and accidentally hurt himself. A bigger problem arises if Mammon were to take a bit for himself or to sell without actually using it, putting a random vial of h.w out into the Devildom market on accident.

Vial Earrings

Pros: Tiny, cute accessories that I can have on my person 24/7. I haven’t done crafts in a while so it would be fun.

Cons: If I made them for future students, there is no guarantee they have their ears pierced and I don’t want to even imagine the drama of someone trying to self pierce for the first time in HELL. Also, any reasonable vial that wouldn’t arouse suspicion would be so tiny it would only work to poison a demon’s food or drink.

Beads + slingshot:

Pros: I can make the beads myself, gel or glass as needed, watch with their own benefits. Gel are easy to store, while glass provided extra damage on impact, both would break easily. Long range weapon, and with it’s concentrated impact, if I can take out an eye or hit the ear, I can almost guarantee my survival.

Cons: A lot of training and extremely high accuracy needed, also I would get clowned for being a grown person with a little kids toy in my bag.

I think a mix of these items would be the best, but maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to actually go and get the holy water first because when it was offered to me it was in a half joke sort of sense. Maybe if I take him some of those pastries I saw him hiding in his backpack, the scream cheese ones from Madam Scream.....

#obey me scientist mc #Scientist MC #obey me shall we date #om #obey me #obey me devildom #obey me house of lamentation #obey me RAD #starting to realize that my scientist MC is pretty much just Carmafe's om route #but imma stick to using They/them because science and chaos has no gender 😌❤

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extremelyblackandwhite · 3 years

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innocence - 20

PAIRING: bodyguard!bucky barnes x innocent actress!reader

WARNINGS: age gap

A/N: enjoy xxx

NEXT CHAPTER

Y/N was sat on the floor of her bathroom, leaned against the absurd quantity of objects barricading her door. She would be alright, she would be alright. Only someone with super strength could break through it ... or an axe. As that thought crossed her head all she could think of was of a little memory of her childhood. She and her younger brother had padded down the stairs to where his parents were watching a movie she would later learn it was the Shinning. She couldn’t forget the scream she had let out as she saw Jack break through the door using an axe and right now, right now all she could think of was that, something breaking through her door and harming her.

She looked at everything in her bathroom thinking of what she could use as a weapon to defend herself. Suddenly her friends back home forcing her to choose reusable razors were her best of friends. She could probably arm someone with the razor blade or try to stab them with eyebrow scissors. Bucky had once told her the damage doesn’t need to be big, only in the right place.

She continued to stay sat down, mumbling to herself she would be fine until she heard footsteps. They were loud, heavy and echoey. Her breathing stopped, hands over her mouth fully knowing any sound would give away her location. However was walking in her flat kept walking and the steps got closer and closer until there was a knock on her door.

- Y/N? Y/N, it’s Steve. Open the door. - her heart returned to beating, breath normalising as she broke through her barricade, opening the door. It was really Steve, standing in front of her and was this another situation, she wouldn’t know what to act but right now, right now he was the best thing that could’ve arrived.

Steve however seemed to lose colour to his face as the mirror became visible to him. Bucky hadn’t told him what was written in the mirror and if he didn’t know, he wouldn’t definitely be pleased about it.

- I checked the flat, there’s no one here. Whoever wrote that isn’t inside the flat, you’re safe. - he put his hands in his back pocket, seemingly conflicted of what to do or what to say. His eyes whoever were glued on those words, scribbled in big letters, tarnishing her reflection. He felt guilty for those words he had told her, maybe Bucky was right in being mad at him. - Do you want some tea? Yeah, you should get some tea, maybe some food?

- I really don’t want any of that.

- It’ll help you calm down.

- I’m calm! - the words came harsher than she anticipated, tears pooling at her eyes as she turned her head away from him. However, turning his head away from him meant looking straight into the mirror, those words in front of her, written across her forehead only added salt to injury. She held her hair, trying to hold in the tears. No, she was not going to cry, she was not going to cry.

- Hey ... - Steve pulled her in for a hug. - It’s okay. I’ll make you some tea and we’ll wait for Bucky. I promise no one is gonna come in and harm you.

- I don’t want Bucky to see me like this. - she wiped the tears with her back of her hand.

- It’s okay, just come with me okay? - Steve took her by the hand to the kitchen but not before locking the bathroom door. He’d deal with that later. Walking into the kitchen, things looked normal. Everything looked so normal, Steve wondered how someone could’ve easily entered her flat. - You can wash your face in the sink, it’ll hopefully reduce some puffiness and the red eyes. I’ll put on the kettle and we’ll have a tea, okay?

She didn’t reply to him, merely nodding before making way to the sink in the skin. Shaky hands reached to the tap, moving it and causing the cold water to start streaming. Her mind got lost in sound, not wanting to get lost in her insecurities. The sound of water running, water boiling in the kettle and the cold feeling of the water against her warm skin. She felt like crying again. She shouldn’t be crying, she shouldn’t be a cry baby, she told herself. The water kept running, being slashed onto her face occasionally until the sound of the kettle on the background ceased.

Turning off the tap, she wiped her face clean with some kitchen towel before turning to face Steve who held one of her mother’s Christmas’ mugs up to her. She had that mug for what felt like ages now, the painting was starting to chip and there were English Breakfast tea stains on the bottom yet she couldn’t let go of it. She couldn’t let go of the only thing which seemed to make her feel as if she could control her life in a house filled with agency bought furniture.

- Is Bucky coming?

- Yes, he is. Just stuck in traffic. Brooklyn traffic is quite bad. - he chuckled, trying to break the ice. - We once got jammed in it when we were trying to leave Coney Island. Bucky hadn’t told his ma and she gave him an earful.

- Was it worth it? - she laughed of the thought of Bucky getting reprimanded by his mother.

- Yeah, he made me ride the Cyclone over and over again until I threw up and then tried to bribe me with ice cream.

- I know, he told me. - she smiled at Steve, taking him off guard. Bucky had talked with her about him? He wasn’t expecting that. Bucky barely spoke to him after the incident at the compound, if he did it was normally because he had no choice and if he were to guess he would say the two of them would probably be bad mouthing him behind his back.

- Wh ...

- Y/N. - she turned her head to the familiar voice, jumping from her seat when she saw Bucky standing in the kitchen, catching his breath in a white wife beater shirt and light grey yoga trousers. She wrapped her arms around him, letting his warmth involve her as he kissed the top of her head, arms supporting her against him. His eyes roamed the room, falling on Steve. - What are you doing here? Where’s Sam?

- Sam had his meeting ... I offered to come check on Y/N instead.

- How nice. - the sarcasm rolled off his tongue, something which came by unappreciated by Y/N who looked up at him with disapproval in her eyes.

- You should probably take her to a hotel for a few nights, maybe your Brooklyn flat? I can get Natasha and Tony to come take a look at her flat, look at the security cameras, scan for fingerprints.

- I can protect her, I don’t need your help.

- Can I show you something? - Steve remained his regular calm self, arms crossed over his chest as he motioned with his head towards the bathroom. Bucky was reluctant to get away from her, afraid if he let go something would happen to her. She, on the other hand, pulled away from him, giving him a reassuring look. His hand unlaced from hers as he followed Steve onto the bathroom.

He expected broken glass, artefacts that would show a break in but as Steve opened the door, the bathroom was intact. There was no broken glass, no forced entry just the word Slut scribbled all over her mirror. His blood boiled, fists clenching as he went to grab a towel to scrub it of the mirror but Steve stopped him.

- We need to examine it, first. It’s no good scrubbing it off. Right now, you need to take her out of here. We’re not sure how the person got in or how he got out, if there’s a blind spot he might try to use it again. Go to a hotel, register under one of your old alternate identities or to your Brooklyn flat.

- Yeah ... uhum ... you’ll sort it from here or should I drop her off in Brooklyn and return?

- Go be with your girlfriend, Bucky. - Steve smirked at the word, not remembering the time he had called anyone Bucky’s girlfriend.

- Should I pack? - Y/N poked between the two friends.

- No, I’ll ... I mean, I’ll get Sam to drop some of your stuff wherever you guys go.

- Thanks, Steve. - the actress gave him a quick hug before disappearing onto the kitchen to grab her bag and phone.

- I’ll see you around?

Bucky didn’t reply, instead turning on his heel and leaving the blonde hero in the bathroom. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to say anything and so he left him there, instead walking to the kitchen and taking Y/N by the hand. She thought better not to say anything until they were in the car.

- What happened between you and Steve? - she asked once they were stuck on the traffic leading back to Brooklyn.

- Nothing happen between me and Steve, princess. - his eyes were glued onto the road, hands gripping onto the steering wheel.

- Really? Because if my best friend of more than fifty asked me a question, I wouldn’t just leave.

- It’s really nothing, Y/N. He was rude to you and he didn’t apologise, that’s all.

- No that’s not all. - she turned her head to face him. - At least it doesn’t feel like that’s the only reason. Do you wanna tell me? Is it because he was the first one on the flat?

- No, listen ... Y/N, it’s complicated.

- Do you want to be mad at Steve?

- It’s more complicated than that, princess.

- It’s a yes or no question, Buck.

Bucky sighed, turning the wheel towards Brooklyn once the traffic cleared. The conversation ended there but it didn’t end in her mind. She didn’t want Bucky to be mad at Steve because of her, or him to be mad at Steve at all. Yet, she wasn’t going to push his buttons, she knew better so she just put her hand on his tight, head tilted against her own shoulder, watching his wild blue eyes on the road. The drive seemed longer as he tried not to look at her. He didn’t want her to get caught up in whatever he was dealing with Steve. Maybe it was wrong of him to get mad Steve due to things he had bottled up for years, yet, he just couldn’t help it. He wasn’t a baby, he wasn’t a cripple, he shouldn’t be treated like one.

He drove up to his street, exiting the car first to check if there was any danger before opening the door to her. She looked around the neighbourhood, it was rather picturesque. Open large streets with close by apartments with little trees in front. It was the type of neighbourhood you would see in a coming of age movie.

- Come on. - he took her hand in his, walking her to his flat building. She stargazed at everything, watching the beautiful doors and matts until she reached Bucky’s door, the only door without an entry mat. - Listen, before you get it, you should know ... it’s not the best flat in the world. I’m still ... doing some things.

- I’m sure it’s charming.

- If you don’t like it, we can go into a hotel. I want you to be ...

- James. - she interrupted his rambling. - I’m sure it’s great.

- Okay ... - Bucky insecurely opened the door of his flat, pushing it open with his feet to allow her in.

She furrowed her brows as she entered the empty home. There was no furniture, just boxes and a furnished kitchen, possibly bought that way. Now she understood why he was so insecure about opening the door, while she had too much in her flat, he had too little. Y/N moved further into his flat, opening the first door she saw which proved to be his bedroom and her heart shattered. There was no bed, just mattress on the floor and a few notebooks surrounding it. No pillows, no sheets. Nothing.

- Uh .. we can buy you a bed. Whatever bed you’d like. - Bucky came up from behind her, kissing her shoulder.

- Bucky, how long have you had this flat?

- For a while now ... I know it doesn’t look good but I was thinking about buying some paint ... Yet, I don’t really know if I get to be like this for a while.

- What do ... Oh. - she turned around and placed her hands on her shoulder, giving him a slow, soft kiss. - You’re not going back to that. I know you’re not, you’re strong. This is your home, you should treat it like a home.

- Princess, I don’t need much.

- Well but if you don’t get a bed, I’m afraid I won’t sleep with you. Sounds dangerous. I don’t want to end up in A&E and explain to the nurse that my spine is cracked because my boyfriend doesn’t have a bed.

- Holding sex? That’s a low move, princess.

- IKEA. We need to go to IKEA.

- Are you sure you don’t want to rest? I mean, you just wen ...

- We could get meatballs. - she interrupted him, clapping happily. - Meatballs and home shopping, it’s gonna be marvellous.

- Y/N, we can order in meatballs.

- But not IKEA meatballs. Come on Bucky, it’ll be fun! It’s like playing the Sims but in real life.

- I’m not gonna question you about what the Sims is. - he smiled at her excitement, pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear. - Are you sure you don’t want to test the mattress? I think I can make you like the bare mattress.

- I know, love. That’s exactly why I’m not gonna try the mattress. - she held onto his shirt, little smile on her lips. - But I do think you need to change out of your pyjamas and maybe put some shoes on.

- You’re being awfully demanding of me, Ms. Y/N. I might have to punish you later.

- Bed first and then you can do whatever you want.

taglist: @disasterbii @lookiamtrying @buckysteveloki-me @americasass81 @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @lostinthebeans @mariahthelioness29 @buckyandsebastian @peaches-roses-sins @theadorasabditory @sipsteacasually @saiyanprincessswanie @booktease21 @noiralei @learisa @everythingisoverratedbutgreat @uglipotata72829 @naturalthrone22 @husherstan @mandiiblanche @vicmc624 @newyorkgoddess @itsallyscorner @chipilerendi @emzd34 @writerwrites @bluevxnus @that-girl-named-alex @captnrogers @nsfwsebbie @sarge-barnes-sir

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therefrigerated · 3 years

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My Take On The "No Shame Period" Campaign

It’s my absolute dream that a woman should be able to go to a regular restaurant and ask for the menu with a heavy flow pad, as you might say.

Hey kings! Hey queens! If you’re new here, I’m Paarth. Now, this thing has always bothered me that how the hell can I, as a sophomore, contribute to abolish this senseless absurd taboo. So what exactly is the point of me writing this? The thing is, even if I could impact just one person to give up on this silence, it’d all be worth it. So yeah, here you go. This article is distributed into 4 parts, a. Menstrual education should not be restricted to only women, b. Should menstrual products be made free? c. Encouraging eco-friendly alternatives to regular sanitary pads and finally d. The takeaway. Let’s get into it.

An incredible number of girls and women in our societies, especially those from not so affluent backgrounds with crisis settings who are impoverished and extremely vulnerable experience period related pain. Period shame is even more dangerous than the pain itself, because it makes barriers for them to access the basic menstrual health information and supplies.

It’s high time to start normalising the process because it is totally natural, and essential, part of the reproductive cycle; about half of the human population has or will experience it at some point of their life. It’s absolutely unbelievable that this process is shroud in mystery, leading to so much of unnoticed and systematic exclusion, and ruthless discrimination.

Menstrual education should not be restricted to only women.

The first thing we need to do is to normalise this so-called stima of menstrual education and to demystify the ordinary human biological process and finally start promoting it as a human right and not only as a women’s issue.

“My aunty told me I should stay away from boys,” a 16-year-old girl in Zambia told UNFPA.

“I want to study but the boys started bothering me,” a 13-year-old in Madagascar said.

The question is how to end this shame? Silence plays a significant role in perpetuating these beliefs, but things need to change. The upfront conclusion is to finally educate all the people of the globe, irrespective of their sex, genders, country, race etcetera and to encourage the issue as a human right issue. Education is the ultimate key to end the ongoing taboo. People need to know that menstrual blood is not impure, just like any other blood from a part of body, this blood too starts decomposing and thus emanates an odour.

Should Menstrual Products Be Made Free?

India eliminated its 12% tax on feminine hygiene products in 2018. This was after a year of lobbying by advocacy groups and even celebrities. ... In 2004, Kenya was the first country to abolish sales tax for menstrual products.

Every month, an uncountable number of girls and women face the cycle of pain, discomfort, shame, anxiety, and isolation. Yes, the periods, the menstrual periods. In so many countries like India, we have so many low income and even middle income families, where the access to sanitary cups, sanitary pads, tampons is very limited. As a result, women often rely upon these proxy materials like mud, leaves and even animal skin, in some part of the country. Hygienic and safe toilers are rarely available. One in ten girls aged between 14-21 years, even in developing countries like the UK can’t regularly afford menstrual products, forced to stay home.

The change has already started taking place, efforts have been made worldwide to empower and educate adolescent girls as well as guys about menstruation, and to highlight the right of women and girls to hygienically manage their periods. We applaud all of these efforts made by strong men and women leaders across the globe!

But, at the end of the day, the needs of 300 million women and adolescents remain buried on a large scale. The reason is simple, because they are often embarrassed for casual and candid discussions about menstruation. It is time to finally give up on this senseless, pointless, absurd silence and start normalising the free menstrual girls. My dream is that a woman should be able to go to a regular restaurant and ask for the menu with the heavy flow of sanitary pads. How can it be possible? By simply talking about it, just like we talk about our usual social and human issues. I believe that only words can change the world. Menstruation, a sign of a good health, must be normalised and in fact celebrated.

Encouraging Eco-Friendly Alternatives To Sanitary Pads

Out of less than 20 % of the women who use some sort of sanitary products in India, the majority of them are only aware of regular sanitary pads. The problem with them is that sanitary napkins are 90 percent of plastic, even the upper layer commonly referred to as the fabric layer is a plastic woven sheet.

A regular sanitary pad could take about 500-800 years to decompose because it’s made out of plastic that is totally non biodegradable and stays in the environment for absolutely ages.

Some cool alternatives of the regular sanitary pads could be:

Menstrual Cup- It is like a small, flexible, funner shaped cup kind of a thing which is made of silicone and rudder. It is inserted directly into vagina and provides absolutely leak fee experience for about 12 hours and is totally reusable. For the record, it can be used for more than 10 years, making it both environmentally friendly and economical.

Cloth pads- These come with the same mechanism of that of the disposable ones, the difference is that it is made of cotton layers encased in a waterproof fabric that can be washed or rescued.

Period panties- These are the undergarments with built in period protection that can be worn as normal knickers that we wear in general. This is the most comfortable, user friendly alternative of the regular sanitary pads which makes it the best option with heavy flow? They are reusable, washable, and absolutely long lasting. Can anything be better than that?

Outro- The Final Takeaway

Menstruation is a normal and regular event in every healthy adolescent girl’s life. They need the support of their governments, families, and all the people around to them to have the access to at least basic sanitary products and gender equity to manage their periods We can take inspiration from many other countries like Kenya, which now provides absolutely free sanitary pads to girls in education, and Ethiopia, which now has established menstrual hygiene. Our strong community leaders, both men and women, the social media influencers are perfectly positioned to abolish this unwholesome stigma. The parents, especially in rural India, need to be educated about what are the things that are wrong, which is most likely to cause unintentional harm to our youth. For the purpose of establishing a social change, education is the key. The people from all the genders must be educated about menstruation and basic reproductive health to empower them to discuss comfortably about their periods and menstrual health. Not to mention, we should finally stop calling this process as ‘impure’ or ‘dirty’ because it is the cause of our very creation of life, the creation of human beings, our very own existence. How can anyone even to dare to call this process as ‘impure’, it is no different than calling our very creation as impure.

#gorgeous women #women #social justice #menstruation #period pain #radical feminst #feminizedmen #loveyourself #health

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zombiemarydaly · 4 years

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Hiya, I currently live in one of the most impoverished cities in my country, and I really want to start distributing reusable sanitary towels but I have no idea how to start. I’m a student so I have a lot of free time but very few connections and not a lot of experience. Any ideas? Thanks x

Hello, I am so happy you are even looking into starting a project like that.

It took me a long time from first ideas to first attempt to finally getting something that worked.

Don’t be down if it it takes a while. Take what you can do as a success even if it isn’t your full vision.

First step: Get out all your initial ideas in writing. Goals, lists of resources you know you have, plus ones you need. I can give you as much advice as possible, but still nothing will beat engaging yourself on the topic, because you know yourself and your city best and you are the one who you have to work with at the end of the day!

Now, because this is such a long post, I will add a break. Beyond it is a little more of my project and some more specific advice.

I can tell you have actually done some good pre-planning, because you noted one thing you think you are missing: contacts. You are so right, those are important.

So that first thing I did was actually reckless. I dumped the funds I usually save into buying lots of disposables and some cloth sanitary pads.

I also bought 2 menstrual cups but I later found out people really do not want to take one from you for some reason, even if they want to try them. And it really is not cost effective unless you have a lot of donations to get into handing them out. It was still good to have around to show they were an option.

These conversations you have with people as you are out and about in the world is how I would say you get the best contacts if you don’t know anyone to start.

It at least got me was attention. I set up shop near a university campus with all my goods organized in a big cardboard box I’d decorated and written “Have a Happy Period” and “Free Care Women’s Health” on it.

I started on a campus because I was a student at the time, though not at that university. I skipped starting where I actually went to school because my college had next to no foot traffic because most people commuted.

At that time I also had less friends in the area and also was not as confident in my ideas. Later I found out that there was a lot of help just waiting for me if I had been more open sooner.

So I was out with my box mostly on that campus, sometimes outside other places. Sometimes many days a week, sometimes not at all for a month. It was a new thing and new things tend to start that way.

Once I got out there, some women would start to stick around and chat. Now I had a list of numbers of contacts. People who thought this project was cool and wanted to help.

After that I stalled out on it for a while, which wasn’t ideal, but I was nervous with the idea of actually doing this and stretched for time. I also did not have a lot of actual offers to do work just interest in it. And I did not know how to ask people to do things.

It took being involved in a group that had a really nice volunteer sign up page made on a spreadsheet to inspire me to do the same.

It was full of places prompting people to say what they could give and do specifically. If you show new volunteers very specific tasks you need done upfront, they are way more likely to stick around and actually work.

For a cloth sanitary towel creating and distributing group like you mention, you need to find out who can sew and who has materials. So that would go on your sheet.

By this point plenty of my old contacts were no longer available and I had to start back up with my box to get more. Giving people regular updates on where you are at and your thoughts for next steps is vital in keeping people engaged.

It is also some of the hardest not-work work you have to do. Emailing, texting, calling, reaching out on all sorts of different social media I had not even used before. Keeping all these conversations going and being the one pushing the momentum forward was not as easy as it seemed.

Even as a very gregarious person I am in many ways the least likely person to do that successfully. It had its ups and downs. Eventually though you get enough going that some other people start taking the work you struggle with.

It is important to judge their character, and then if it passes for trustworthy, LET THEM HELP. Let them help with the organizing and leading, too.

But keep handing out tasks. Tell someone to research shelters in the area and contact each one about the project. Tell someone else to look up info on making better pads. Tell a third person to lead a group making a pamphlet about endometriosis. Make it clear that if they can’t do something, just say so, so you know to give it to somebody else. Keep lines of communication open, compassionate, and clear.

You have to keep planning, constantly. Getting your thoughts out, then laying into them. What’s going wrong? What do we need? Where am I going to look? Who should I ask for help? When can I do it by? Set aside planning time, schedule it like you would anything else.

Treat it like your business if you can. That means set aside money for it separately, budget before you buy, record purchases and donations, keep inventory, record what you give out. This is very optional but I wish I had done it sooner.

There is someone in our group now who knows how to apply for grants. Our ability to apply for grants is messed up some because we were such a chaotic group who didn’t document much of anything until recently.

Take pictures of your goods all nice and organized. Take pictures of crafting things or distributing. This can go on social media, and can drive donations or crowdfunding. If you take pictures with volunteers or people you help, make sure to gain at least verbal consent for posting their image respectfully.

Letting other leaders lead becomes more important once you start having more than 20 people involved. Which is a lot. So there’s got to eventually be other people you can trust.

For my first 3 years I had between 5 and 8 people at any given time. Do not be discouraged by going it alone or with a few people. Having just a core group for a while is a great way to find the people you trust and build those bonds.

It is important to get familiar with where you operate. That means getting into local everything. Local politics and media is one angle, getting out on the regular to different places and just being observant is another.

Things you might observe are where homeless people are, places people go for aid, places where students are, places where the elderly congregate. Older women make great contacts for endless reasons, so strike up conversation and bring up your project.

We have struggled some with Covid dealing with disrupted schedules and people under extra stress. Keeping ourselves and the people we meet safe is also rough.

I can imagine it is daunting to think about starting up right now, because it is a lot harder to make those contacts, but between masks and coordinating online I hope it can work out for you too.

Don’t give up the idea forever if you can’t start right away. Even if you cannot get out there you can probably do something. Save up for a sewing machine, collect materials, read how-tos, practice.

Hit up stores that sell fabric in any form, ask if there is scraps you can have. You may even get more offers of donated supplies.

If you get to the point of having something planned out and have a link to where you are collecting funding, send it my way as well. Good luck!

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mnthpprt · 4 years

Text

Chapter 18: A Certain Kind Of Intimacy

[Extra long and angsty chapter because I am an insomniac and a sucker for Arthur being soft]

The rest of the week passes uneventfully. By now, I have developed a comfortable sort of daily routine, and have gotten to know all the residents to some extent.

Every morning, Sebastian wakes me up with a light breakfast and a steaming cup of black coffee. He has quickly learned the way I like it, and to his credit, it is the most effective way of getting me out of bed so early. I take a few drops of Saint John’s Wort before I eat, get dressed, and go to work in the garden.

I water the violets under Mozart’s window, chat with Dazai, and watch Vincent paint. Although he has not said anything about it, I suspect he is using me as a model. He has taken to sit by the greenhouse, and I feel his observant gaze on me as I repot exotic plants or shake the jar of tincture I am making.

I eat lunch with Isaac, and he silently works on his research while I read the English copy of Dazai’s book that I borrowed from Sebastian. Afterwards, if I am done in the garden, I spend some time in the training room. For a couple days, le Comte insisted on giving me dancing lessons there, but I caught on quickly enough for him to drop it. Napoleon likes watching me skate, and we talk about my hometown during breaks. He asks me a lot of questions about the future, mostly about politics, and I do my best to explain the major events between his time and mine. I admit I do not do a great job of it. I have a very strange patchwork of knowledge, and while I could easily list the chemical composition and dates in which each pigment was discovered, I have a hard time remembering names and places. Jean is elusive as ever, and I only ever see him when he’s sparring with Napoleon.

When they are hogging the training room, I tend to stay in the library. Leonardo is usually there, and he jokes around as he helps me find the relevant books for my own research. He is charming and funny, but I have noticed the sadness that seeps into his eyes when he thinks I am not looking.

A couple days ago I found him working on some kind of machine with Isaac. They needed a wrench small enough to fit into a specific piece, I suspect a part taken from another object. I gave them the tool I use for my skates, and Leonardo has spent most of today apologizing profusely for losing it in the dumpster that is his bedroom.

I help Sebastian here and there. Sometimes it’s laundry, sometimes it’s cleaning, or even delivering rouge and blanc to the vampires. We talk about the things we like about the mansion, and about the things we miss from our time. I have come to understand why he chose to stay, and quite frankly, I am starting to lean the same way, although for entirely different reasons.

I tell him about my job, and about my friends in the year 2020. I tell him how much I miss my best friend Mila, who I was about to meet for the first time in over a year, and about Carlos and Jack, who are just as dear to me but I get to see often. They would all love to see what I now live every day, and I am sure that, given the chance, they wouldn’t have hesitated to come with me, especially Carlos. Like Sebastian, he would have given anything for the chance to see the past with his own eyes.

“I have a sister,” I said to him when he asked about my family. He spoke very fondly of his. “She lives in Milan. Our parents aren’t really in my life anymore...” He understood when I said I did not want to talk about it. Though stern, he is a kind man. We have become close while working together.

I have also spent a lot of time with Arthur lately. In the spare moments when he is not writing or out in some bar, he has taken up the habit of visiting me wherever I am. He gives me riddles to solve as I work, and teases me about the odd answers I come up with. While neither of us really confide in the other, conversations with him are always fun and stimulating. He still flirts relentlessly, but I have become used to it.

This afternoon in particular, he drops by my bedroom while I am reading, and I welcome him and the cup of tea he offers me. He brings one for himself, too, and does not hesitate to get comfortable on the armchair as I sit on the edge of the bed to face him, the tray on top of the ottoman between us.

“I am afraid I have come up with a case of writer’s block,” he says as his only explanation. “I need a break from that story. Will you distract me, my dear?”

“Uh, sure,” I shrug. Maybe he can answer my questions about living in this time. “I have no idea how women do their hair for special events in this decade. Perhaps you could help me with that? You know, with the ball being tonight, and all.”

“Could you show me the dress you’ll be wearing?” he asks thoughtfully.

I oblige, and pull it from the wardrobe. It is a beautiful shade of lilac, made of delicate chiffon. Aside from the slightly puffy cap sleeves, it is simple, yet elegant. Arthur examines it for a few seconds, holding it up in front of me.

“I am afraid I can’t help you, darling. I know nothing about hair,” he concludes, the pondering look in his eyes replaced by an amused glimmer.

“Then why did you ask for the dress?”

“Why, I just wanted to see how hot you would look in it, dove,” he laughs. I playfully smack his arm, and he laughs harder. “This shade brings out the green in your eyes!” I laugh too, rolling my eyes, and let him put the dress away as I return to my spot on the bed.

“Okay, then I hope you can actually answer this,” I giggle. “You’re a doctor, right? And you’re obviously well acquainted with female anatomy.” He smirks as if he thinks where this is going, and boy is he wrong. “How do women deal with menstruation? Am I just supposed to use a piece of cloth or what?”

He chokes on his tea, and lets out another boisterous laugh.

“By Jove, I was expecting you to go the sexy route with the way you phrased that!”

“Arthur, I’m being serious!” I giggle. He is still chuckling when I begin my endless tirade of questions. I would genuinely like to know the answers to them, but I mostly just ask for the sake of keeping up the joke. “Do you know any women vampires? Do they menstruate too? Are vampires fertile, or are you, like, dead in that sense? Oh my god, do you drink period blood? I really hope not, but I wouldn’t put it past you,” I tease him, mockingly disgusted.

When he finally calms down, Arthur proceeds to answer all the questions in methodical order, still clutching his sides.

“They sell special undergarments for that, coated in something that makes them impermeable on one side, I think. Just go to any shop that sells ladies’ dresses in town.” I nod, satisfied. Reusable pads it is, then. Next comes the rapid fire of answers to my increasingly ridiculous questions. “I personally do not know any women vampires, but Leonardo and le Comte definitely do. There are two kinds of us: purebloods like him, who are born like that, and lesser vampires like me and everyone else in this house. Purebloods are the only ones who can turn people, and I have no idea if they menstruate or not because I have never met another one, but they certainly do reproduce like humans. Lesser vampires are very much alive, but while we can have sex, we are infertile, and I suppose the women follow the same rule. And no, we do not feed from menses, you filthy lunatic! Don’t be absurd!” he concludes with a chuckle.

“Good to know,” I laugh at his horrified expression.

“It actually smells completely different from regular blood,” he says. “It’s very unpleasant and does not trigger hunger at all, though I have no idea whether a vampire could potentially survive on it. I am relieved to say I don’t think anyone has tried.” He raises his eyebrows and takes a deep breath before he goes on, condescendingly adding explanations that I did not ask for. “By the way, yes we do have reflections. Also, crosses don’t scare us and neither does sunlight. Anything else you’d like to know, dove?”

“Give me a break, I am curious, not stupid,” I roll my eyes. “Oh! I thought of one! The garlic thing is obviously false, but it is a natural anticoagulant, so I wonder: was that myth started by vampires so you could feed on people better? Like, if superstitious people ate a lot of garlic to try to avoid being bitten, their blood would be thinner and therefore easier to suck, right?”

“Frankly, I have no idea.” He looks surprised. “I can’t say I’ve ever thought about that before, but it makes sense. You’re a clever one, darling.”

I flip my hair over my shoulder with a cocky smile, earning yet another chuckle from Arthur. Suddenly, his eyes focus on something behind me, and he grows serious. He walks over to my nightstand and picks up the small vial on it, carefully reading the label with a furrowed brow.

“Did you cut yourself while gardening?” he asks, a hint of worry on his face. I simply shake my head, and he looks at me, and then at the vial again. Having rejected one of the two main uses for the tincture, he quickly figures it out “Oh. I did not know you suffered from melancholy. I used to give this to soldiers who were affected by their time in the army.”

“Well, you hardly know anything about me. Did it work?” He shrugs, which I interpret as a ‘sometimes’. “In my time we have more effective medication for that sort of thing. I kind of depend on it, but being here... Well, it’s been an unexpected inconvenience. I was lucky to find a mediocre replacement before the effects wore off. It cancels out my contraceptive, but I don’t have that here either, so it’s pointless to worry about.”

He listens intently, his head slightly tilted. He looks at me with sadness in his eyes, the same kind of sorrow that I saw that day at the market. It is not pity, but rather... a mutual understanding. He gets it.

“Oh, Anaïs... I took the Saint John’s Wort myself for a while in my previous life, but it never really did anything for me,” he sighs. I am somewhat surprised by his words. “I hope it works for you, dear. I would hate to see you unhappy.”

“Thank you,” I mutter. He is standing close enough for me to hold his hand, and I am overcome with the urge to reach for it. I interlock my fingers with his, and he squeezes gently in response. We stay like this for a while, silently looking at where our hands meet. His touch is warm and comforting, and he makes no attempt to break contact.

“Oh, shit,” I exclaim, abruptly standing up. “The ball! I have to get ready!”

Arthur lets go of my hand and I immediately begin to undress myself, unbothered by his presence.

“I’ll leave you to it. Have fun, darling,” he says, but I stop him before he gets to the door.

“No, no, don’t leave. I need help getting into the dress.” I shove the one I am wearing down my hips, dropping it on the floor, and hastily remove my bra to change it for the corset. “Besides,” I turn to him, my breasts exposed as I fumble with the clasps on the stiff garment, “you’ve already seen me naked, remember?”

“I suppose you’re right,” he responds with a smirk and, as always, I roll my eyes.

He hands me the lilac gown, and proceeds to helpfully search the room for my shoes as I put it on. By the time he returns by my side, a pair of matching heels in his hand, I am holding my hair up, ready for him to button the back of my dress. His agile hands work fast, and soon he taps my shoulder to let me know that he has finished. I relax my arms, letting my hair cascade over the chiffon bodice, and slip my feet into the shoes he has left by my side, suddenly becoming two inches taller. I kiss his cheek and thank him for the help, to which he replies with a whistle.

“You look lovely.” He looks genuinely impressed, for once, causing me to blush.

“You really think so?” He nods, and I walk over to the mirror. A chuckle escapes my lips upon seeing my reflection. “I look like a cupcake. Seriously, though, this is so different from what I am used to wearing. I hardly recognize myself.”

“You almost seem ladylike, even,” Arthur jokes. “All prim and proper. I agree. That,” he says, pointing at the mirror, “is a totally different person.”

It is amazing how effortlessly he can make me laugh. I move on to the dressing table, and pull out every hair accessory I can find in the drawers. Arthur observes thoughtfully as I quickly brush my long hair and begin to work on the styling.

“You were wrong, you know?” he finally breaks the silence. “When you said I hardly know anything about you.”

“Huh?” I raise an eyebrow at his remark. “Well, go on, don’t leave me hanging. What do you know about me that I haven’t told you?”

“For starters, I know that you were not scared of Isaac feeding on you that night.” I look at him through the vanity mirror and nod for him to go on, my hands still braiding through my hair. He seems almost hesitant to keep talking. “When I brought up biting you in the thermae, you were completely unfazed. Considering the incident was so recent, it just didn’t add up. It wasn’t the idea of him biting you that scared you, was it? It was the way he acted when he tried to. I won’t pry if you do not wish to talk about it, but I know that your past can’t have been easy, Anaïs.”

“You’re right,” I whisper. My braid now hangs limp and undone over my shoulder. I must have stopped at some point without realizing. “If he had explained, I might have let him do it, but... I don’t know. He became so violent, so suddenly. The way he grabbed me, it just... It brought back a lot of memories I’d rather forget,” I explain. My voice is barely a murmur, but I am sure Arthur can hear me just fine. “I know it wasn’t his fault, and I have long since forgiven him. Honestly, the reason I was so shaken up after the incident was because I kept reliving all those things it reminded me of. Granted, suddenly learning about the existence of vampires just added to my stress, but ultimately, It had nothing to do with Isaac himself. Or with any of you, for that matter.”

“You’re strong, Anaïs,” he comforts me. “That’s another thing I saw the moment I met you. You’re clever as the devil himself, and I have no doubts that were I human, you could absolutely destroy me in a fight. Those skater legs of yours are good for more than just walking, I bet. Not to mention how kind and caring you are, even for a bunch of strangers who could kill you. You manage to be so open without being naïve. I love that about you.”

I look down at my hands and resume braiding my hair, unsure of how to respond. I refuse to look at my reflection for fear of Arthur seeing it too, but I can feel my cheeks burn. My fingers work fast, providing a distraction, and I blindly pin the braid into a bun at the back of my head.

“Another thing I know,” Arthur continues, granting closure to my silence, “is that you played Mozart’s piano.” I notice his choice of words. He said ‘played’, and not ‘touched’. Coming from him, I have no doubt it was intentional.

“How on Earth do you know that?” I look up at him through the mirror as I keep working on my hair, adjusting strands and adding pins every now and then. He chuckles.

“I heard Wolfie complain about going to the ball with you. You clearly did something that upset him, although I must admit that’s not exactly a hard task.” He waltzes over to the vanity and comes to a stop right behind me, putting his hands over my shoulders to playfully lean closer. “And I know you were playing, specifically, because you do this thing with your fingers when you’re quiet. Like you’re playing a song in your head.” He wiggles his fingers on my shoulders to illustrate his point.

“I do?” I ask, puzzled. “I have never noticed.”

“Yes,” he laughs. “I first saw you do it in the bath, when you closed your eyes. After that, and after spending some more time with you, I have been able to notice how frequent it actually is. It’s rather adorable, if you ask me.”

“Oh, no,” I laugh, embarrassed, and bury my red face in my hands. Once again, Arthur has successfully made me feel better. He sits back on the armchair and finishes his tea, which is probably cold by now.

Meanwhile, I dig around my backpack for the small amount of makeup I happen to bring with me when I arrived. I apply some mascara, and smudge a tinge of red lipstick on with my finger, before reaching for the last product. I spend the next few minutes applying layer upon layer of concealer over the few tattoos that are visible over the dress: the one on my collarbone and a portion of the flower on my right arm, just below my shoulder. While the gloves will cover the rest, I made sure to try them on beforehand, only to find out an inch wide portion of skin would remain visible.

“Okay, can you still see it?” I turn to Arthur, applicator still in hand, for his approval. He squints and then shrugs lazily.

“Only a little, and only because I already know it’s there,” he says. “Honestly, I doubt anyone will notice.”

I sigh, defeated, and walk to the full length mirror to add one last coat, for good measure. This is surely going to become a cakey mess in a few hours, but there is nothing else I can do. I guess that means I am ready for the ball.

#ikevam #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikemen #ikemen fanfiction #ikemen vampire arthur #ikevamp arthur #ikemen vampire fanfiction #ikevam fanfic #ikevamp fanfiction

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canarycontessa · 4 years

Video

youtube

alexandrasgirlytalk, feminine essence and the perpetual complainers

So I follow Alexandrasgirlytalk on YouTube. I adore her channel, her voice, her style and, most of all, the sheer megaton of invaluable substance she packs into EVERY video. She’s been really stepping it up lately with her Womanly series (which she gives to us FOR FREE, I might add). And because I’m a sucker for pain, I tend to read the comments on these videos.

Without fail, on every single one, there’s the same complaints, gripes and not-quite-jokes:

“If I were rich, I would do this“

“Step 1: Have a perfect body“

“This is impossible without a thigh gap“

It’s annoying, but it doesn’t affect my viewing experience, so who cares?

Today, Alex premiered this video about how to carry a look beyond the makeup, hair and clothes and into the realm of posture, demeanor and the overall vibe. She talked about how to embody a feminine archetype, or what she called an “essence” (one of many <---- remember this because it’ll be relevant later) Personal branding is one of my favorite things to talk about and learn about. So, of course I’m on board and totally excited. Today she focused on “The Angel” and what sort of behaviors and vibes don’t mesh well with this portrayal. I thought it was very clear that a) this is one mode of expression and b) she’s going to cover many others.

But lo and behold there’s all sorts of comments to the effect of:

“There’s more than one way to be a woman, this is very limiting“

“Don’t listen to her, you can be sarcastic and masculine and still be a woman!“

“This isn’t natural! Just be yourself!“

Look .... I’m somewhat androgynous, I’m plus size, and I’m not rich, though I have come into more money recently. If I had seen any sign that she was being gender essentialist or anything like it, I would have chucked the deuces and been out of there. If any one one of her regular viewers were at all entitled to this kind of criticism, it would be yours truly.

And YET all that being said: I get so much value from her work and she never makes me feel like I’m being talked down to or harangued into some unrealistic standard of femininity. I’ve applied so much of her advice to my life and, honey, let me tell you that shit pays dividends! She’s the reason I’m reading more deeply about fast fashion and committing to building a capsule wardrobe. She’s the reason I put my toner on with my hands and haven’t bought cotton pads in like a year. She’s the catalyst I needed to finally make the switch from disposable to reusable and all-natural menstrual products. She’s the reason i bought my FIRST EVER bath bombs. And I’m not the only one either, it’s not like I’m in some kind of fan minority. Read the comments under her video and they’re mostly to the effect of:

because she’s THAT GOOD.

So yeah, I’m a fan with a capital F, if not an outright stan. My only genuine criticism of the video is that poor Alex was in such a rush to get this out that she misspelled “demeanor” XD

But more to the point: I know defensiveness when I hear it.

I think the reason this irks my spirit is because I’m in a place where I’m ruthlessly in charge of rooting out negativity in my home. Without going into too much detail, I’m in a position where I’m around other women in recovery and I’m responsible for keeping them and myself on track. It’s literally my job to spot stunted growth, defensiveness, deceptive behavior, circular reasoning and holding patterns.

I’ve been doing this for so long that I just don’t have any more patience when I see it. I called them complaints, but that’s not quite right. They’re excuses. Whenever someone’s not doing what they’re supposed to do, when they’re letting their life slip through their fingers, when they’re just dragging their heels instead of attacking life and I ask them why, I get the same answers again and again:

“I’m too busy, I didn’t have enough time, it’s not my fault!“

“I don’t have to change, the rules have to change“

“If I had more money, if my baby daddy were around, IF IF IF IF“

Sound familiar?

I can’t stand the people that show up to get mad at Alex and other content creators in the “level up genre” for some stuff that they were too lazy and defensive to do. For god’s sake it’s called alexandrasGIRLYtalk.

It’s girly, it’s high maintenance, it’s sometimes costly, it’s all about the glo up. It’s Womanly.

So now that that’s out of my system, I’ll just say that this type of response is just another sign that Alexandra has touched a few nerves and she’s making her presence known. I’m reminded of Estella Havisham in Great Expectations saying:

“Moths, and all sorts of ugly creatures hover about a lighted candle. Can the candle help it?“

#alexandrasgirlytalk #feminine archetype #glo up #level up #this has been a recommendation

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rocket-remmy · 4 years

Text

Intro To Queer||Morgan and Remmy

In which Morgan explains to Remmy what U-haul Lesbians are.

(Content warning: Mild homophobia mentions)

Morgan had shed two of her extra sweaters and done her hair to greet the InstaCart driver without getting weird looks. It was bad enough being perma-cold, still living at the Traveler’s Rest, and ordering jelly beans along with her tea and microwave soup. She could at least spruce up and look like the composed adult she wished she was. And now Remmy was coming over! With a thermal blanket! It was silly, certainly, but Remmy for some reason thought well of her without Morgan putting in too much effort. It as a nice, if not unfamiliar feeling, and Morgan didn’t want to disappoint by answering the door half-feral in her pajamas and hoodie. She made herself some coffee, courtesy of Cassie, and took her cup outside to watch the sky. She hadn’t seen the sun in three days, but the cloud cover was looking extra thin; maybe she’d get lucky. When she saw a lanky ragamuffin of a person start ambling uncertainly up the stairs, she leaned over the railing and called down. “Are you Remmy?”

Remmy had met a lot of people off the internet in the past few weeks. It was almost becoming a regular thing, now. But it was a community board! It was supposed to be for this kind of thing to happen safely! It was just a weird thing, for Remmy. Remmy, who had mostly been without internet and cell phone service and satellite TV for several years. They had an old bunny ears box back at base, but they were only allowed to turn it on every other night, and only for an hour or two, if the Lieutenant was feeling nice. They had radios, though. Lots of radios. The point in all that, Remmy reminded themself, was that the internet just wasn’t something they were used to. But hey hadn’t been led wrong yet. And Cece vouched for Morgan. So this was going to be okay. Remmy didn’t really know what to expect, or what else to bring, so they’d brought some tea Blanche had bought them, a beanie, some hand warmers, and, of course, the blanket. When someone called out to them, Remmy stopped and looked around. “Yeah! That’s me!” Squinted. “Are you Morgan?”

Now that they were closer, it was painfully, sweetly, obvious who this was. Remmy, who apparently hadn’t gotten around to buying a backpack or even one of those reusable plastic bags from the grocery store, had taken it upon themselves to wrangle her get-well presents and carry them all the way from Gallow’s End. It was just the kind of earnest thing someone who could call her a good person without meeting her would do. Morgan gave them a friendly wave and came to meet them at the top of the stairs. “It’s me!” She called. “Come on up, I’ve got snacks I don’t want to move to my new place! You know, you look pretty good for someone who lost an arm today.”

Remmy couldn’t see too well from far away. It was probably the missing eye, but it could’ve also been the pile of stuff in front of them that prevented them from fully seeing Morgan. Just a puff of curly hair and a sweater, right now. “Hey!” They called out, trying to give a wave, but realized they’d drop all the stuff if they did that, so they just gave a shrug. “Coming!” Padded quickly up the stairs until they reached almost reached the top, finally able to see the person waiting for them at the top, pausing in blindsighted surprise. Morgan was shorter than Remmy, but she had one of those cute, innocent faces framed all the more by her bustle of curls on her head. It wasn’t the sight Remmy had been expecting, and this would make the second time they’d almost stumbled into something when seeing a pretty girl for the first time. They tried to hand off the stuff, stuttering to say a proper hello and almost running straight into the pole at the top, a foot catching on one of the stairs.

“Oh my god!” Morgan reached out to snag some of Remmy’s things and put a steadying hand on their arm. They were cold to the touch, about as frozen on the outside as she felt on the inside. Morgan made a careful note of this, in case it helped them figure out what they were, and helped them up the last step. They had lost their balance out of nowhere. “Careful, don’t want you to lose a foot too. Although, who knows, maybe it’s not that big a deal! But uh, you sure you didn’t get any other injuries on the beach?” She smiled at them coyly; there was a flustered look in their face, like they were embarrassed, the way teenagers sometimes got. Heck, the way even she’d sometimes gotten over a pretty face. “We don’t have to talk about it, though, let’s just get inside in one piece, yeah?” She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders as she spoke and propped open her rickety door for Remmy to come inside.

“Sorry!” Remmy called out, even as they stumbled and tried to catch themself on the railing. “Sorry! I’m just--” Clambered up the last step and onto stable ground, though that wasn’t saying too much for Remmy. Their dad always said they could probably trip over nothing. Standing up straight and holding out the blanket, Remmy gave as much of a grin back as they could, their eyes darting to try and stay focused on Morgan, but having a bit of a rough time with it. This usually happened with new people. “Umm-- yeah. I mean, no! Nothing else! I think. Just a lot of lobsters! Or um-- whatever they were. But yeah! Inside. Let’s do that.” Scooted through the door before turning around to look at Morgan, unsure of what to do now. “Uh-- I didn’t know if you needed anything else! So I brought like...a hat. And some tea! And those handwarmers. They’re great, you can even put them like in your gloves or socks and they make your whole hand or foot warm!” Stood with their hands held out, holding up the aforementioned gifts, a crooked smile on their face.

Morgan curled up at the foot of the bed, nicely cocooned in the thermal blanket for all the good it did and let Remmy talk themselves out. They were a nervous one, and she couldn’t suss out just from observation whether it was her, or the day, or just...Remmy. “Thank you,” she said. “This is really kind of you to do for someone you’ve just talked to a couple times. But listen, I was planning on having some jelly beans with my coffee and watching some old Grey’s Anatomy episodes if you hadn’t come,so you don’t have to stay if hanging out in a room like this with a stranger-like person makes you nervous. And, you know, we can try and unpack some of that stuff you mentioned too, if you did feel like staying around.” She took another sip of her coffee and smiled up at Remmy in a way that she hoped convey her lack of desire to murder them or whatever else they might be worried about. “You just seem tense, which is more than understandable, and I don’t want you stick around because you feel like you have to, okay? This right here is perfect.” She clasped the blanket a little tighter. “I’m good.”

“Oh, well-- you were like super nice when we talked and answered my questions and put up with me,” Remmy immediately said, “And plus I accidentally flaked on helping you pack that one time! But I-I promise it’s not you! Well, I mean, it’s kinda you-- but not in a bad way! In the like ‘you’re really pretty and I didn’t expect that and I sometimes just get really nervous around pretty people’ kind of way! So like… not bad.” They paced a minute, before deciding to force themself to sit down in the one little chair by the bed. “Not that I’m hitting on you or anything! I just think you’re very pretty! And like nice and sweet and you didn’t freak out on me when I told you my arm grew back.” A pause, where they were sure they should need to take a breath, but didn’t. “And I wanna stay! I do. I’m sorry-- the rambling probably doesn’t help. It’s uh-- my doctor said it’s a coping thing. Um, cause my mind races a lot? I guess that happens to vets um...a lot. When they come back. You sure you’re okay? Is the blanket helping? Can I get you more coffee or something?”

So it was just Remmy, poor thing. Morgan couldn’t help but smile wider, fluff her hair back and over the side the way she thought made her look even younger as they stumbled over themselves to explain. Like, very pretty? Who even talked that openly anymore? Did Remmy even know how to be any other way? Morgan was almost afraid to ask. This town had some dark shadows hiding in it, and even if most people she had met were nice, people like Remmy were usually the first ones kicked down and crushed when something went wrong. “Remmy, I would bottle you up and keep you on tap for dark days if I could. Figuratively speaking, of course. Not actually, even if that was a thing that I could do, which it isn’t.You are, as the kids say, too good for this world, Remmy. Grab one of the other blankets and come sit by me. I have all the coffee I need--nothing actually makes me warmer, so I’ve been going with distraction to help facilitate a nice placebo--and I promise not to bite, or hit on you either. Although you are very fine looking yourself and it’s always nice to get some queer attention with a face this girly.” She wriggled her free hand out of her blanket burrito and patted the floor.

Remmy looked over at Morgan, then to the spot next to her. “Oh? I mean, you may not be able to bottle me, but you can definitely message me any time! I don’t sleep a lot or often anymore, cause of all the meds I’m on, although now I’m not sure it’s cause of those. Cause, like, if I’m not human, then, do human drugs work on me? You know?” Swallowed heavily. The word reverberated in Remmy’s head. Queer. Not that it was bad or sounded bad or was negative in anyway, but that ingrained, visceral reaction to hearing the word, the one that was drilled into Remmy’s head, made their fingers wring tightly together. “Is it that obvious?” they blurted without thinking, then stopped, biting their lip. “I mean-- sorry! It’s not that-- I’m not like-- I mean I am like that, it’s just-- new.” They stood up from the chair, sat back down. Looked at the spot next to Morgan and her welcoming face; the blanket burrito looked comfortable, too. Remmy bit the inside of their cheek, before standing up again and tentatively scooting over, sitting down next to Morgan, making sure to not touch her. Their eyes stared holes into the ground in front of them. “I’m not like-- ashamed or anything. I think. At least, not anymore. It’s just-- cause in the military-- with DADT-- and most of the higher ups didn’t approve. But like-- it’s obvious?” Finally, they looked up at Morgan, but only for a brief second, before their eyes fell back to the floor in front of them. They weren’t sure what they wanted the answer to be.

“Oh, Remmy,” Morgan whispered. Whatever she had expected them to say next, it hadn’t been...all of that. This was much more real shit than Grey’s Anatomy. “Wow. Okay….okay…” She breathed out slowly, knowing she should pick her words extra careful. Shit, of course Remmy would be fucked up after DADT. In her head, it was over when it was over, and as bad as things were for people like them, people didn’t talk about it getting back-walked like they did other things. She tried to think about what she would have wanted to hear when she was more scared of herself, or scared for different reasons. What she wished she’d heard after the news broadcasts and the protests blipped off the TV and she crept back to bed, unnoticed by her parents. She had no clue. “Well,” she said gently, watching the ripples in her coffee cup as it quivered, “Straight women don’t get so flustered like that around girls. And second, you’re a ‘they,’ right? I only know that from knowing you and your pronouns, but all the same…” It felt like she was breaking some bad news to Remmy, and she didn’t want to be. But how else did she talk about this when she remembered so vividly-- “Look, I was seven, when they were making jokes about gay plague in the white house press briefing room, and the president was pitying those poor gays, bringing it on themsleves, and my grandma said things like, ‘it’s adam and eve, not adam and steve!’ I didn’t know how I was then. No one did, because I liked my dolls and my dresses so much. But it was in my head when I started figuring it out.” Worse than that, it had convinced her she was the reason so many bad things happened to her family. If all the gays in New York City could bring down a plague, of course one girl could ruin her family. It had been happening since she was born, so why not? Even after her mother told her never, baby, never, this is so much bigger than you, this has nothing to with how special you were made, Morgan had found herself wondering anyway for a long time after. But she wasn’t ready to tell that part to Remmy, or to anyone. “I get how afraid someone can be about this. And you should keep saying...what your are, and that you’re not ashamed. As often as you can. Because it’s probably going to take awhile before you really get there.”

“I don’t know what I am,” Remmy said after a long silence. They were trying to let Morgan’s words settle in, but it felt as if there were trampolines inside their head and everything was just bouncing around with no stopping, no one thought to hold onto. “I mean...I know I’m not...what I was born as. And it’s weird, but that’s somehow easier to accept than being--” they stopped. Maybe they were still ashamed. They couldn’t say the word out loud without feeling their skin bristle and their hands shake and their senses sharpen. Just like when they were in the field, that impending sense of doom. That someone had spotted them, that someone knew, and they were going to hurt them. Because they could. Because they wanted to. Remmy swallowed. “They still said those things, even when I was born. When I was growing up, where I was from. It got you beaten at best, and killed at worst. I didn’t even know until I was older. I couldn’t even entertain the idea that I might be.” They hadn’t even noticed there were tears in their eyes. Remmy scrubbed one away with their sleeve. “Sorry...I know that’s not fair. You lived through a really rough time, too. And-and you very brave, to have been open about it. Sometimes I wish I had been, maybe this’d all be easier. Maybe I wouldn’t be pushing thirty and just now trying to figure out how to talk to pretty girls, you know?” Remmy gave a sniffle and a crooked smile. “But I am now. And I just gotta...think about that.” They scrubbed their face again. “You musta been so scared…” they said quietly.

Morgan stayed still and quiet. She hadn’t been open, was the thing. Sure, she came out to her mom, once in awhile she sat in the back at student meetings. She’d kept a flyer in her notebook about a bus trip to visit the AIDS quilt when it came to Austin once. But she let her sweaters and her makeup do most of the hiding for her, and if she ever stared too long at a girl, or brushed up too close, there was always some excuse and people always seemed ready to take it. She didn’t have her first real date until she was practically Remmy’s age. She still hadn’t had much in the way of a real relationship. How could she, with what happened to her dad? “Yeah, course I was,” she said quickly. “But it was never going to be easy, okay? No matter what disaster you were born in the middle of. I mean that in a nice way. You’re not...doomed or anything just because you’re on your own time. Temporality is different for queer children. Does that make sense?”

The hesitation should have given a Remmy a hint at something else, but they kept quiet. If Morgan didn’t want to bring it up, neither would they. Remmy looked back down at the carpet, playing with a snagged bit that had stuck up and begun to fray. “I don’t think I feel doomed. I just feel...cheated, I guess. Like...I missed so much time. Time that I can’t get back.” They glanced over at Morgan. There was a sort of relief to being able to dump all this on someone, finally, but Remmy still felt that pang of guilt. That saying these things, talking about this, was just dumping their problems on someone else. It was don’t ask, don’t tell for a reason in the military. It wasn’t just queer people that kept their mouths shut. It was everyone with something that showed any bit of weakness or non conformity. Their life had been order and strict and routine for so long they hadn’t realized that time was being stolen from them, bit by bit, as they fell in line and did as ordered. “The first, um-- the first time I kissed a girl was in high school and it scared me so much I pretty much ghosted her for the next two years. Which is kinda...hard to do in a school of only 300 students.” They were quiet again, and found that they really wanted to be closer to Morgan. Scooted slightly. She felt safe. It’d only been five minutes, but Morgan felt safe. “I wish it was easy.”

Morgan noticed Remmy scoot closer to her. She looked over her shoulder at them. She had imagined them as older, even with all the anxiety, they were so reserved, so haunted. But in this moment they just seemed lost. “Maybe one day it will be,” she said. “You’ll...take the leap enough times that you get used to it!” She brightened herself up with a big smile. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she hoped it made Remmy feel better all the same. “Not ghosting girls you kiss is probably a good start. I mean, unless that’s something you agree on doing together, in which case, that’s great.”

Remmy gave a little smile, still crooked and tired on their face. But they hoped Morgan got the point. They were grateful for her. “I just don’t want anyone to ever have to suffer like that, you know…” They stopped picking at the carpet. “Not even for myself, I just...don’t want anyone to go through that.” A tiredness settled over them, one they hadn’t felt in a long time. “Yeah, I think I can handle that. The um-- not ghosting anyone.” They scooted a little closer again, then leaned over and set their head on Morgan’s shoulder. She was still shivering slightly, but it didn’t bother Remmy. They just liked being close, to a physical body. “I’m still just figuring out how to navigate being...you know, um...liking girls? And now I might have to try and learn what it means to not be human…” a sigh. “How do you do it?” they asked. “Be so open with it all? The magic, the liking girls...Isn’t it scary?”

Morgan didn’t mind Remmy’s cold little head on her shoulder. As they settled in, she tugged on their arm through the blanket and tucked them around her in a way that felt more cozy to her. She leaned her head in theirs, trying to nest in like those nesting necklace halves, but not quite getting it right around ears and jawlines and tufts of hair. “The magic is actually kind of easy. Kind of. I mean, my shop is Beck’s Witchery, it would be stupid to talk out of both sides of my mouth about that. But when I say I’m a witch, nine times out of ten people assume I mean I burn incense in a pentagram stamped cauldron and like, doodle rhyming spells with the help of my tarot cards. It doesn’t mean anything. I only talk about the alchemy when I think it’s at least reasonably safe to. And if I’m wrong, then they just don’t believe me. They assume I’m delusional, or stupid, or both, and in that case, what’s the point anyway, right?” She sighed and tried to settle into Remmy again. She couldn’t tell if they really were as cold as they felt or if the chill inside her was just that bad. “As for making time with pretty girls, well, I hate to break it to you, but it really was just practice. I um, I was actually your age, basically, when I went on my first date-date.” She laughed. “Is that something people say? Date-date? But my first kiss was a little before then. Real kiss, unless we’re counting drunk truth or dare, which I don’t think we should. She just uh—kinda did it. We met at a bar, danced and drank, and she walked me to my car. ‘I’m gonna kiss you goodnight okay?’ And I was so relieved and excited I didn’t do anything. I just...melted and watched her walk away. Like, crap, people do that? It made me realize I could do it too. Make it into something easy. It’s not so different from magic in that way. You have to say what you want if you want to get anything at all. And then, well, all the practice.”

Remmy let Morgan tuck herself against them, staying still while she adjusted. They missed being close to people. Though their other teammates hadn’t been so openly intimate, Remmy could always count on crawling into a bunk next to Dario and falling asleep in his arms. Moose was a nice cuddle buddy, but it was hard to spoon a dog. “I guess, yeah,” they said, trying to take in exactly what Morgan was saying. It was hard, though, for Remmy to brush people off like that. “I don’t think I’m as um...easy going as you might be. About other people. Maybe that’s not the word, um…” They paused as Morgan shifted. “S-sorry, I can move if…” Cleared their throat. “Oh, uh-- I think people still say date-date. I guess there’s a difference between like, friend-date and date-date.” They reached out to pick at the carpet again. “I’m sorry…” they weren’t sure for what, exactly, but if felt like the only thing to say. “I’m glad you um-- got to experience that though. And learned how to be yourself. Guess we’re all kinda...running late on that dating thing, aren’t we?” They pulled their hands back into their lap, thinking for a moment. “A girl kissed me the other night. Um-- outside a bar. It was….really nice actually. And now she wants to come over and watch movies and I’m freaking out a little.”

“You’re fine, silly,” Morgan laughed. “And by easy-going do you mean demi, or like, just not into hook ups and friends with benefits? Or just like...confidence? These are all big distinctions, and I’m feeling curious.” She nudged Remmy in their side through her blanket, teasing. “And we’re not running late! Not...exactly! We operate under different temporal rules because or coming to understand ourselves has been so historically fucked and endangered! And delayed queer adolescence is a thing and---I’m turning into a lecturer now,” she laughed again. “So tell me more about this girl. And also don’t freak out. You’re a cute, scruffy little stud. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” Well, except getting their heart broken. Which, given this was a rando at a bar, seemed pretty likely. But that wasn’t exactly pep talk material.

Remmy felt their cheeks get a little warm. “Um-- I don’t think I entirely understand what demi is, but um...I guess I’m not really into hook-ups. I like feeling a connection with someone. Never really...considered friends with benefits thing before. There wasn’t really room for um-- sexual experimentation in the army. And since I joined when I was seventeen, I didn’t really...leave myself that room to explore.” Morgan always seemed positive about things, and Remmy liked that. It was a sort of kindred experience. There were a lot of people here, and back at the VA that were nothing but bad vibes and pessimism. Not that Remmy really blamed them, everyone had their own shit going on-- but it was nice to meet another person who also tried to look more on the bright side of things. “It’s okay. To lecture. I don’t know a lot of this stuff. I feel so...outside of the um-- culture? I don’t know...how to explain it. I try my best, but it’s-- there’s a lot.” They couldn’t help but smile at the mention of it, though. “You think I’m cute?” More of a tease, but Morgan was the second person to tell them that. “Oh, um-- her name is Taylor. She’s a singer.”

Morgan nudged Remmy again. “I think you’re very cute. If you ever figure out your stance on friends with benefits, you should definitely let me know.” She wasn’t exactly holding her breath. Remmy was fresh as a baby when it came to the whole intimacy and relationships. Morgan had heard more than one woman swear they never wanted a basket of rainbows and forever, but she didn’t buy it. Maybe it wasn’t what fit everybody, but she couldn’t imagine someone not hoping it might and trying to find it. “A singer? Like, rock and roll, or just a girl and her guitar, or, I guess they come with a ukulele more often now. Either way, not too shabby. But why are you freaking out? If she’s interested in you, what’s to worry about?”

Remmy’s cheeks got warmer. “Oh, um...o-okay.” They swallowed, and were suddenly thankful that Morgan couldn’t see their face right now because it was probably beet red and they were sure their eyes were wider than coins. Remmy had done friends with benefits with a couple of the guys before, but that was because dating was almost strictly forbidden in boot camp, and there wasn’t much time for anything else when they were deployed. “Yeah! A singer. Um-- I think more rock? She’s in a band. It’s called Knot Known. I guess they’re going on tour soon, that’s what she said. I walked her to her car and she gave me her card.” They smiled again, softer. “I-i don’t know why I’m worried. I just...get that really weird feeling in my stomach and like, I’m gonna say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing or not be good enough or funny enough or smart enough.”

“Aaw, you like her!” Morgan cooed. “Oof, and after just one meeting. She is either crazy impressive, or you fall hard and fast, bless your heart.” Called it, she thought with a wry grin. “But that’s not always a bad thing. We need more hearts of gold in this cold, cold world. But, you can’t let all those butterflies get the better of you. You just have to be yourself, let yourself enjoy the moment. Like right now but different.”

“What!? No! I mean-- I like her, of course I do! She’s nice and pretty and--” Remmy paused mid-sentence and closed their mouth. Their whole face felt warm now. “I...okay, maybe I do like her, but like-- I don’t know if I’m ready for anything. Or if I want anything to happen? I just…” They crinkled their nose, felt that tightness in their chest again just like that night outside the bar. “It felt really nice. To be...liked by someone like that. N-not that no one’s ever liked me! It’s just always been...guys.”

“Bless your poor heart!” Morgan laughed. “Guys? No shame, or judgement. But guys will get into anything if they think there’s a piece of ass for them in it. That’s their thing. And you don’t really sound like someone who also likes guys, so she’s still your first. Your first serious crush!” She wanted to pinch their cheeks, they were getting as flustered as a child. “Of course it feels different! Just, okay, don’t go too hard, like bring flowers on the first date. Try and keep your cool for a little bit before you fall into big, deep, U-Haul love. And having a crush doesn’t have to mean doing anything about it. If you want to take it slow and steady, you should do that.” Morgan was thinking all of this out as she spoke, but it sounded right, like something a person with relationships would say, and it made enough sense for her to stand by it.

“I mean, I dated guys for a long time,” Remmy said. They understood that dating guys before didn’t take away from who they were now, or even back then, but the idea of being an imposter among queer peers still plauged them when they thought too much about it. Not realizing you were gay until you were 28 didn’t seem like a very shared experience. “Oh, yeah-- o-okay. I mean...I’m not even sure it’s a date. It’s just movies and stuff. U-haul l-love?” They blinked, finally sat up, looked at Morgan confusedly. “I don’t know...what that means.” Furrowed their brow. “There should be like...a book for all this. Or like a youtube tutorial video.”

Morgan looked at Remmy with a fond kind of pity, so alone! So anxious! So much life ahead of them! “It’s just a thing people say, or said, maybe I’m dating myself. But it’s just this idea that, when it comes to women dating each other, they’ll get attached super quickly, and by the second date they’ll want to move in together. And, I have seen that sort of thing happen before so it’s not just a cliche about femmes having too many feelings, but that’s beside the point,” she explained. “Just find your way between having fun in the moment in being careful. That’s the most anyone can do, right? And the good news is that these days there probably are a lot more resources for you right now. Just just have to give yourself time to look for them! Ooh, you should see if the VA will pay for you to go to UMWC! You can get a minor in gay studies. But—besides the point! Just, do the thing I said before, and you’ll probably be fine.”

Remmy couldn’t quite place the look on Morgan’s face, but it was definitely one they’d seen before. Tilting their head, they listened intently to her talk. She sure could talk an ear off, that was for sure. It kinda made Remmy smile. “After only two dates!?” they said, exasperated. “Geez...I don’t think I could ever do that. As much as I like people…” a shrug, chin tucked into their shoulder in a shy gesture. “Oh, I-- I’m not smart enough for that. I barely graduated high school. It’s sorta why I went into the military, you know? I didn’t really have any other options… But, um-- thanks for the vote of confidence. It um...means a lot.”

“Okay, so, maybe a slight exaggeration,” Morgan confessed. “But you get the idea. Two girls who met in my masters program did go from zero to living together in a week, though. But, you should really think about college! Maybe take some online community classes. You can learn, Remmy. You’re worth taking a chance on at least, right?”

“Wow, that’s…” Remmy shook their head, “I can’t even fathom that. Maybe it’s just me, though. I try not to judge people though. If that’s what they wanna do…” They looked over at Morgan, smiling a little brighter now. The day had had a rough start, and even though they still had so many questions about what they were and how to deal with it, they felt okay. They knew they’d be okay if there were people like Morgan in their life. “I guess I could look into it...a sort of friend offered me a job at his garage if I could get the schooling. Not sure I wanna be a mechanic, though. Too close to following in my dad’s footsteps.” They made a decision, then, nodding. “Whatever does happen, I’m gonna figure this out for you, Morgan. You’ve helped me so much, it’s the least I could do.”

“Oh, don’t,” Morgan said dryly. The words had slipped loose before she could think better. Maybe it was the cold was finally getting to her head. Maybe Remmy was making her melt around the edges, guilting her with all their sad young puppy eyes, their earnestness, their energy. For someone who’d seen a battle zone, Remmy was relentless, even optimistic, at least about the world; about other people. “Let’s just watch some Grey’s, we have time for that right?” she said, shrugging it off like she was only talking about their situation here and now, like she wasn’t afraid the universe would hear them and pull on just that one thread to fuck with her, unraveling what little she’d managed to scrounge together here.

Remmy’s face twisted a moment. That wasn’t the reply they’d been expecting. Sure, they didn’t know what they’d expected Morgan to say, but it wasn’t that. Still...Remmy couldn’t just leave her when she was sick like this, and all she wanted to do was watch some TV with a friend. Remmy could give her that. The chest wasn’t going anywhere, anyway. They could go check it out tomorrow, later at night, when everyone else was tucked in bed and they were lying awake staring at the grey ceiling of their apartment. “Yeah…” they said, sitting back down and settling back against Morgan, shoulder to shoulder. “We’ve got time for that.”

#chatzy #chatzy: morgan #morgan #intro to queer #a much needed talk

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for-the-love-of-a-snake · 5 years

Text

how to care for a snake in an emergency

Here’s a scenario that has happened to me more than once- you wake up after a snowstorm and your house is cold. The powers out. Your snake is chilled. You panic. What can you do? It may seem scary, but there’s actually a lot to be done! I’m going to go over both how to care for your reptile in a cold house and how to emergency pack up your reptile and travel. This isn’t about how to travel with a reptile if you have time for planning, supplies, etc. This is unplanned crunch time limited supplies information. This can be a lot of work but your pet is your responsibility and you better be prepared to put in effort when things go wrong.

Key items you will need- shoebox, hand towel, hot water, pillowcase, and a plastic bag

No power or heat in a cold house

First thing to do- get your snake out of their enclosure and stick them right in your shirt. You can keep them warm against your skin! Normally you wouldn’t want to handle them for hours on end, but this is emergency time. If you put a hoodie on backwards and flip the hood in (silly I know) you can stick them in there once they warm up a bit. If they keep wiggling away and won’t curl up stick them in a tied pillow case and back in your shirt.

There’s a few things you can do once your snake is secure. It’s easier to keep a small space warm then a big one, so get a shoebox just big enough to hold your reptile comfortably (keep one ahead of time!). A regular box will work as well. Poke enough holes in it that they get airflow, but not too many because you want heat to stay in there. Put a towel in the bottom. Find a breathable pillowcase and tie your reptile inside so it’s like a closed bag, giving them enough space to move inside. Now comes the work. This goes much smoother with a heat gun and/or a temp probe. Get a gallon Ziploc bag, or a plastic shopping bag if you need to, and smallish towel (a thick hand towel is perfect). Heat water on the stove. Put the hot water in a bowl and stick the towel in it and slightly squeeze it out. The heat gun will help get a good water temp but isn’t required. If you don’t have one you don’t want the water too hot, so test it against your wrist, but you don’t want it just warm either. Stick the towel in the bag and flatten it out. Close the bag and place it in the box wrapped in the towel, put your snake on top of the towel in the pillowcase, and close up the box with just enough tape to keep it shut but easy to open again (you don’t want any escape attempts). If you have a temp probe stick it in the box to keep an eye on the temps. The hot towel will give your snake belly heat and also warm the air inside the box. You can keep adding hot water when it cools down, and it usually stays warm for at least an hour if its decently insulated.

No hot water

Keep doing the first step. If you have a car, run the car and get it warm and put your boxed snake in there. If its cold out move your snake’s box from the house to the car wrapped in a blanket so they don’t get a temperature shock. Keep checking on them. Run your car outside obviously because carbon monoxide is a thing.

If you won’t have power anytime soon and would like to not stay up all night fussing with your snake, you may need to move your reptile. Call a friend, family member, etc who has power and ask if you can crash their house for a bit. If you can’t be gone from home long, ask if you can drop your snake off. This may feel like imposing but help during emergencies is what friends and family are for! Get your snake in the box and in the car with their enclosure and whatever else they will need. Ideally, you’d have the hot towel for this, but if you keep the car nice and warm they will be okay. I taped the temp gauge to my dash so I could keep an eye on the temps in the box while I drove. Focus on driving while checking temps occasionally, and pull over if you have to adjust something (drive safe!!). If it’s a short drive don’t worry about this. If you have a copilot life is easier and you can put them on snake monitoring duty. If you don’t have someone to hold the box put it in the passenger seat footwell circled by a towel or blanket so the box won’t shift if you stop suddenly. Once you get to your destination, get your snake set up and breathe a sigh of relief. You did it! Crisis averted.

Long drive or evacuation

I haven’t had to drive more than 2 hours with a snake like this, but if you need to drive longer you can stop at gas stations and get hot water from the tap or coffee station to add to the towel every few hours (you can also go to fast food place and ask for a cup of hot water but you’ll have to mix it with cold because it will probably be a million degrees). This method could keep you going pretty indefinitely. If the car is toasty and the bin is secure you can keep your reptile in their enclosure with the hot towel in it like a heat pad (under substrate or towel). Try to get water in them if you can, because dehydration can be a problem while traveling. If you a have a dropper and or use your finger to dab water around their mouths they’ll sometimes drink it. You can mist if you have spray bottle or open the hot towel bag and the humidity will help them stay hydrated. If they’re in the enclosure a little bit of water in the water bowl is also good even though it’s unlikely they’ll drink it.

If you have to sneak your snake into a hotel or motel, hide the box in something where they can still get air and get them inside (a big purse or reusable shopping bag is perfect). If you have a bin for an enclosure you can put clothes or stuff in it so it looks like a travel container (also good use of space if you need to pack things). Try not to look relaxed and not suspicious.

Things aren’t ideal but snakes are tough little guys and remember that you are doing everything you can! The worst thing you can do is do nothing at all. Shit happens and you have to get it together and get creative. Try to remain calm and don’t be afraid to reach out for help. If your snake seems to not be feeling well after all this excitement has passed (give it at least a week after for them to settle), consider taking them to the vet for a checkup and explaining what happened.

If anyone also has experience with this sort of thing please add on!

#reptile care #snake care #snakes #ball pythons #long post #sorry this is so long but I'm very detail oriented #i don't want to leave anything out

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bittysvalentines · 5 years

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Something Sweet

From: @ackermom

To: @stickinotes

Notes: Happy Valentine's Day to stickinotes! There's a little bit of everything you requested in here, so I hope you enjoy it. Summary: Jack and Bitty have their first breakfast together as official boyfriends.

August 2015

Boyfriend.

Jack had said boyfriend, and the tiny plastic figure he'd pressed into Bitty's hands had been smiling just as sweetly, just as nervously, as he'd waited for Bitty's answer. There'd been sweat and tears and one very long hug, spun around the kitchen, before Bitty had been carried off to the living room to study his flashcards while they waited for the cassoulet to finish.

The studying hadn't lasted very long. Jack's first mistake was cozying them up on the couch, where Bitty could lean back into the pillows and press his feet against Jack's thighs, serving as the perfect distraction. They barely made it five minutes before Bitty was completely in his lap, intent on a very heavy make-out session with his boyfriend.

The oven timer had gone off, they'd eaten dinner together standing at the kitchen counter, brushing against each other as they ate straight from the pan, and then it had been off to bed after a long day. Bitty fell asleep with one of Jack's hands in his hair, the soft white lights of the bedroom slowly fading from his view. He drifted off into warmth.

Not a bad way to end his first night at Jack's new place, and a wonderful way to wake up in the morning between the arms of his official boyfriend.

Bitty stirs first, coming to under the glowing beams of a late summer sunrise. He wakes gently, and when he shifts between the sheets, yawning as he rubs a hand of his eyes, he feels the weight of Jack's arm draped over his stomach. He blinks into the soft light; Jack's eyes flutter when Bitty traces a finger through his hair, but otherwise, he remains dozing, his breaths soft and slow. Bitty lies still for another moment. Jack had always woken first in Madison, so to watch him sleep is a new, precious thing for Bitty. And it's absolutely adorable.

He gets out of bed, finally (and maybe it's only after taking a dozen pictures of Jack's sleeping face, but how could he resist?), and he pads around the bedroom in his socks, looking for something to snuggle up in. It may still be summer, but Jack insists on sleeping in the freezing cold; Bitty is damn near shivering under the high-speed whir over the ceiling fan. It's alright though- he finds a brand new Falconers sweatshirt hung at the end of the bed, and the bottom hem clings perfectly to Bitty's thighs. He tucks the long sleeves up past his wrists, pauses to snap a few sultry bedhead selfies, and heads to the kitchen.

"Coffee," Bitty murmurs as he opens the fridge to peruse.

He'll have to remind himself again in a few minutes, when he's been distracted by whatever sizzling, toasting breakfast he's about to embark on. He prefers his coffee sweet, with a healthy dose of whipped cream, but he knows, after some slow mornings at the Haus, that he won't get to see that loving light in Jack's eyes until at least one sip of caffeine.

It's funny, the things he notices now that they're together: the way Jack always smiles before he kisses Bitty, the way their bodies fit perfectly into an embrace, the way they can talk without saying a word. The way Jack looks at Bitty when he's rambling. The way Jack stocked his pantry for Bitty's arrival, including the expensive red mixer that Bitty gets the honors of unboxing today.

And, of course, the tiny grumpy lines that tug at Jack's mouth when he doesn't have coffee in the morning.

His choices in the fridge aren't overly abundant (that's another thing: the way Jack eats eggs like his life depends on it), but there's certainly enough to make a hearty breakfast for the two of them. Bitty can't help but hum as he sets about the preparation, whisking eggs in a bowl on his hip and waiting for the skillet to heat. He has another pan out before he glances back to the bacon, thinks for a second, and changes his mind. Oven on, baking rack laid with thick slices, aluminum lining the pan to catch the grease. It's less fatty.

He's about to start on the omelets when he remembers.

"Coffee," Bitty exclaims to himself.

The bacon has to cook for a bit anyways, and he doesn't want anything getting cold; he sets the egg mixture aside and begins on the coffee. It's a complicated process- to him, at least, because the most complex the Haus coffee ever got was when Lardo introduced the reusable K-cup. He puts the water on, then sets about discovering the secrets of the pour over. There's a funnel thing, and the filter goes in there, and he thinks Jack said something about using the espresso because it'll be too weak otherwise-

Bitty yelps when two-hundred pounds of muscle suddenly wrap around him.

"Sorry," Jack says, pulling back.

Bitty turns around, settling his hands on Jack's warm arms, and huffs. "That was sneaky."

"I thought you heard me. I said your name."

"Oh, Lord," Bitty sighs, smiling. "I'm trying to figure out your coffee thing."

He tries not to blush when Jack chuckles and bends to kiss him. He fails.

"It's not that hard," Jack says as he pulls away, one arm curling around Bitty's shoulders. "You just pour water into the thing."

"I got that part," Bitty exclaims. He gives Jack's arm a playful hit as he turns to finish making the coffee. "I just couldn't remember if I'm supposed to use espresso or regular ground coffee."

He feels Jack's weight press up against him, Jack's chin settling on top of his head.

"Either is fine," Jack murmurs. "But I like the espresso."

"Espresso it is, then," Bitty says, reaching for the coffee tin. "Jaack."

"Hm?"

"You have to let go if you want coffee."

"Hm."

That's less of an argument than Bitty expected, but that must be because Jack doesn't leave after he lets go. He lingers behind Bitty, hands trailing over his neck and shoulders, sending chills down Bitty's arms as he spoons the coffee grounds into the filter. Bitty smirks to himself, laughing at Jack's insatiable sense of touch, but he says nothing and just pours the water.

"There," he says when he's finished, stepping back. "You can have the first cup while I finish the eggs. Do you want anything in your omelet?"

Jack drags his coffee cup across the counter to follow Bitty to the stove, one arm still firmly attached to him. "I think I have some mushrooms."

"And there should be some onion leftover from last night," Bitty says. He pours the egg mixture into the pan, keeping a careful eye to make sure nothing spills over. He sets the bowl aside, readies his spatula, and glances up at Jack with a smile. "Can you get them, sweetheart?"

He bends down to kiss Bitty's forehead, fingers tingling along Bitty's back, before he finally detaches himself and heads to the fridge. His touch leaves an impression on Bitty's skin that lingers with warmth as Bitty works on the omelets, humming. Jack grabs the fixings, stops to reset the coffee to brew a cup for Bitty, and returns just in time.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Bitty coos.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Smells amazing."

Bitty can't help but giggle. "You're gonna start calling me sweetheart?"

"Maybe I will," Jack says, wrapping his arms over Bitty's shoulders again. "You're my boyfriend now."

"If you want to make me blush, you can just call me that."

"Just boyfriend, eh? What about darling? Or sugar?"

"Jack," Bitty exclaims through a laugh as Jack presses a kiss behind his ear. "Even I don't call you sugar."

Jack straightens up and reaches for his coffee cup. "Maybe you should start."

Bitty holds back another laugh and folds the omelet. "Okay, sugar. Now move your big butt so I can check on the bacon."

"Mm, that's what I'm smelling," Jack says, stepping aside. He leans against the counter and sips on his coffee as Bitty shuffles backwards and bends over to peer inside the oven. "Is that my sweatshirt?"

Bitty glances down at himself. "Oh, is that okay? I was feeling a little chilly when I got up this morning, so I just thought I could throw this on."

"That's fine," Jack says. His eyes travel down as Bitty closes the oven door and stands upright. "Makes you look like you're not wearing pants."

He gives an oof in mock pain when Bitty slaps his stomach with the oven mitt.

"My eyes are up here, Mr. Zimmermann."

"I'm not looking for your eyes, darlin'."

"Jack!" Bitty exclaims through a burst of laughter as Jack presses him against the stove, one hand tickling at the bottom hem of the sweatshirt. A shiver runs along Bitty's thighs. "I'm going to burn your omelet if you don't stop messing around!"

"I'll still eat it," Jack says. He grins and settles back against the counter.

"I know you will," Bitty sighs with a side-eye.

"I'll eat anything you cook, Bits."

Bitty smiles at him. "I know you will."

He finishes the omelets as Jack fixes Bitty's coffee for him, stirring in the milk and sugar (two heaping spoonfuls) while they wait for the last few seconds on the oven timer to run out. The bacon comes out, perfectly sizzling on the rack; the smell is mouthwatering, and Bitty's stomach growls, reminding him just how hungry he is. They ate dinner late last night, but then they'd stayed up for a while, talking: elbow to elbow washing dishes, side by side brushing their teeth, and then snuggled up together in bed, letting the warm lamplight fall over them as they finished their midnight whispers.

They sit catty-corner at the table, their feet knocking together underneath. Jack's legs are cold, but Bitty warms himself quickly, a hot mug of sweet coffee cupped between his hands, which are hidden by the long sleeves of Jack's sweatshirt. He has his own. Jack brought it to him in Madison and he found excuses to wear it down there, even during the sweltering heat of July. But this one's nicer.

"You're keeping that sweatshirt, aren't you?" Jack asks when their plates are empty.

Bitty hums to himself. "No, I'm stealing it."

"Ha, alright."

"You'll have to wear it for me, before I leave. So it can smell like you."

"Of course," Jack says, smiling across the table at him. His eyes are full of love, warmed by the coffee, the breakfast, and the two of them sitting there together. "That's what boyfriends are for."

#bittyjack #fanfiction #bittysvalentines #bv2019 #omgcp

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mousedetective · 5 years

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My Holiday Wish List

So, while yes, I am getting a few thousand dollars in back pay for disability, most of it is not arriving until January, I think, and then $2,000 needs to be used to pay off the debt that’s negatively impacting my and my mom’s credit, I need to buy my mother a new laptop since I rather ended up stealing hers (but hey, the computer is mine, yay), and we promised my son a 2DS but are planning on surprising him with a Pikachu 3DS instead since he’s kicked ass at school lately. I just might not be able to get their gifts until January, and neither of them are getting anything for me. So this is my wish list with things for all three of us:

Donate time and/or money to homeless causes in your area. I've come to realize that there are some absolutely amazing resources in my area for the homeless and they're trying super hard to help however they can. But they can always use more help. If you live in an area that has a food donation program, give them food this year or volunteer to help feed the homeless. If your area has a plastic bag ban like mine does, buy reusable bags and donate them to food distribution centers so they can provide food for people in a sturdy bag. Donate old clothes and blankets and other items (socks, menstruation products, diapers for both babies and toddlers, disposable underwear for adults and travel-sized hygiene products are a huge help, let me tell you). If you have more money, donate gift cards to homeless programs to grocery stores so people can get their own things they need/Wal-Mart/gas cards so people in vehicles can go around/Starbucks since you can camp out in a store for hours. If you see someone on the street asking for money and you have a few bucks, give it to them. And reblog signal boost-type posts from homeless people and people in financial need if you can't help; having my posts on Tumblr reblogged has saved my butt so many times.

Anything off the Absolute Necessities list. I'm especially in dire need of the cat harness for Sally, the carpal tunnel braces, at least one of the ankle braces and the Depends underwear, as I have major bladder control problems and most stores don't carry the overnight pads in XL, but honestly, anything on the list will help so so much. If anyone could get me the hard drive that would be an amazing help and allow me to take a bunch of stuff off this laptop which is causing it to go slow (my Tumblr downloads for all my blogs is well over 100 GB ALONE, not to mention media I have for fic purposes)

The entire series of The West Wing for my mother on DVD. She's borrowing various seasons from the library but would like to own the whole series at some point.

Light material plaid button-down shirts in women's 2XL (no juniors) or men's XL for my mother. She prefers short sleeved shirts since she overheats a lot but will take either long or short sleeved in any color combos.

Any Nintendo DS games that will work on a 3DS that are T or under for the kidlet. These don't need to be new, either, as I'm planning on buying a case to hold 16 games without cases. He's a huge Pokemon and Super Mario Bros. fan and I don’t think the 3DS has any preloaded games.

Any comfortable clothing in women's XXL tops/pants or men's XL tops/48 waist pants for me Warm stuff is great because I don't have much of it but tank tops and T-shirts are fine too, because it's still somewhat hot during the day with Santa Ana weather here in So Cal.

Mail that is not bills I don't mind whether it's cards, letters or postcards (I do collect postcards and hopefully I grabbed my collection but if not I'll need to start over)

Stuff related to Alice In Wonderland (any version, but I'm especially fond of the Disney cartoon and "Care Bears In Wonderland") Clothing, stuffed animals, accessories, DVDs, I will take it all.

Anything related to Grumpy Bear. Y'all have no idea how long I've wanted my own Grumpy Bear but literally if it has to do with Grumpy I will take it, I don't care what it is.

PayPal donations. Right now we have no money until some point around the 12th, and then most of that check will be going to paying the housing debt. I have no idea if I’m getting a disability payment for the month of December loaded onto the debit card they’re sending me or if my regular payments won’t start until January 3rd, so I have the real possibility of having no money for the month of December and having to spend Christmas and New Years in the car and only getting to see my son for a few hours tomorrow. Getting a hotel from the 23rd to the 2nd would probably allow me to have my son that whole period and let us have a half-way decent Christmas even if we have no gifts. And we have so little food and can’t get more until January at the earliest, so this would be a big deal for us to have warmth, food and comfort over the holidays.

If anyone would like to help by mailing me things, let me know and I’ll provide my mailing address. The stuff on the wishlist will come right to me at Interfaith’s offices, just let me know if you’re sending me a package so I can alert them.

#Holidays #wishlist #wish list #amazon wishlist #signal boost #please help

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but-the-library-of-alexandria · 7 years

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Easy-ish Ways to Help The Planet For Free or Cheap

I’m aiming to make sure everything on this list is either free, very cheap or saves you money in the long run. I also don’t want to include anything that requires owning a house because this is 2017 and we’re all millennials here

Cheap/Financially Beneficial:

You’ve heard this one before but if you menstruate, buy reusable products. The average person uses tens of thousands of pads and tampons in their menstruating life, which is not only wasteful but expensive.

If you wear makeup, use cloth pads instead of disposable wipes. You can even make your own makeup remover using olive or coconut oil and water.

The same goes for cleaning supplies: use washable cloths and for extra brownie points buy non toxic or eco cleaning supplies such as Ecover brand supplies or castille soap.

Buy bar soaps in paper instead of gels in plastic bottles. It’s usually as cheap if not cheaper, although it’s harder to find bar face soaps.

Support local small businesses!

Try indulging your online shopping cravings and/or doing some groceries on EthicalSuperstore.com or EthicalShop.org if you’re in the british isles. If anyone knows any equivalents in the USA or anywhere else please add it below!

If you have bulk stores nearby, bring your own containers and buy unpackaged bulk items.

If you can use public transport to get somewhere, always choose this over using your car. Try to nurture a ‘driving is my last resort’ mentality.

If you’re planning a holiday (lucky you!) consider exploring the beauty spots in your own country instead of going abroad to avoid air travel. I know you want to be ‘cultured’, but why not get to know your own culture a little better? Plus, the tourist industry can often be really damaging to some beautiful countries.

Buy a stainless steel reusable water bottle and stop buying bottled water if your tap water is drinkable. If it isn’t, look into filters.

Replace some of your meat with meat-free alternatives and/or try to eat less meat. Regardless of your stance on animal rights, livestock farming is bad for climate change.

Loan $25 to small business owners struggling with poverty all over the world with Kiva.com. Not only is a $25 microloan fairly affordable when it comes to potentially pulling someone out of poverty, but if and when they start earning, they’ll pay you back! And the site pays your second loan for free! Plus you can claim to be an investor on your CV. Look out for causes where a lender is matching your donations to make maximum impact.

Watch documentaries (legally) to support people who are spreading the word/doing something about issues, and to educate yourself and get more ideas on how to help.

Stop buying new clothes and start buying vintage or second-hand. I’ll let you off for shoes an underwear.

Look for products in glass or metal not plastic. Not only are you more likely to reuse them, but they’re much easier to recycle and are more often made from recycled materials.

Buy metal safety razors and razorblades instead of disposable plastic ones.

Free:

Set Ecosia as your homepage and default search engine. It’s a search engine that uses its profits to plant trees! You plant about one tree every forty searches

For both the planet and the people, go to GreaterGood.com and click a button to donate to a different cause on each tab. You can do it once a day.

Recycle. Even if they don’t have home collection where you live, there should at least be a collection point you can go to.

Don’t throw away empty jars and bottles. Use them to fill with other things, especially homemade food, drink and toiletries.

Use your vote to support politicians, locally and nationally, who prioritise the environment.

Share your eco-doings on social media. Give local small businesses a shout-out by by posting pics of your delicious meal or pretty soap and tagging them, or let people know that you took your old furniture to the recycling place at [address].

Get new furniture from Freecycle or similar sites to save money, prevent those things from going to landfill, and avoid using up new resources on new furniture. Also, donate your own old stuff.

If you have free time, try volunteering. If you can’t commit to a regular shift, look for local beach cleans or similar events.

Watch YouTube videos by people living zero waste, low energy or eco-food lifestyles. You’re not only supporting them and spreading their message, you can pick up some tips. You don’t have to go vegan or zero waste or whatever, but just one or two changes can help. I recommend trashisfortossers especially as a starting point!

Stick seeds or roots of your vegetables into pots and grow your own vegetables from it. Some of these are super easy, some might need a bit more effort. Celery really takes off.

If you have the confidence, ask your boss if you can pitch some ideas on making your workplace/company more sustainable. If you hint that it could save money, they’ll probably go for it.

Turn the heat settings on your heating and hot water down. You don’t need your water scalding, and if it’s coming out cooler from the boiler, you need less cold water from the cold water tap.

Get wildflower seeds for free from Grow Wild and sprinkle them anywhere, be it your garden or a roadside verge (out of a car window, don’t walk on roadside verges).

Support your local park, library and other services that provide free stuff for the public. Libraries = less books being bought while still supporting writers, and parks = green spaces.

That’s all I can think of right now - I’ll add more if I think of more. Add your tips below!

#eco friendly #green living #green #eco #sustainable #sustainability #life hacks #zero waste #Elise's posts #save the planet

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missixo · 6 years

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St Balderich Slays the Dragon [12/19]

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 |(on tumblr)

This fic (on AO3)

Pairing: Balderich/Mondatta

Summary: The humans are right to fear omnics and what they can do. What he can and will do to humanity. He is Jörmungandr, and he will see humanity fall.

St Balderich Slays the Dragon

Chapter 12

Over the next few months, every Crusader on base is deployed to some part of Europe or other to assist in a push back against omnic incursions. Jörmungandr isn’t overly worried, he’s heard them talking about how they’re still nowhere near destroying an omnium.

Halfway through the first month, Ozzie does indeed make it on base, thankfully with a matching foot, and into the communications center. Well, all of his regular patients are going to be in and out for at least a few weeks, now is as good a time as any to catch up. It doesn’t take much to convince her to let him on the fifth floor with her so they can continue talking while she’s on shift.

“Just don’t tell anyone I did this, ok? Your voice is different than what I remember.”

“My synth is locked. And I got punched in the head about a month ago, quite the story...”

The communications center is mostly staffed by omnics with one or two human supervisors, and he learns it’s kept on a completely separate network from the rest of the base. Explains his inability to remote hack it.

“Everyone has some access to it, but it’s all level one, or level two, which is the bigwigs.”

The ‘work stations’ are microscopic desks with stools all huddled in an empty area by the door, each with a port that allows direct access to the digital entry into the system. Jörmungandr quietly ports into the station next to Ozzie’s and starts scanning the firewalls he needs to get through. It’s a nightmare. The best he can do for now is leave a scrap of code that can slowly drill a small hole for him to use later. It’s going to take months. He wants to throw something out a window. Preferably whoever designed this, possibly after shaking their hand.

After Ozzie shoos him out citing a supervisor coming on shift, he heads for the service stairs and, for old time’s sake, sets off at least one fire alarm per floor. Petty, but it feels so good to inconvenience these humans a little bit after the news he got today.

***

A week later, MD is just back from bullying Ferdinand into going to his physical therapy appointment - the happy idiot can come back unscathed from a battle with bastions and OR-13s, but manages to pull a muscle in his hand opening a pickle jar of all things - when Balderich, Reinhardt, and Henri get back from their latest deployment almost three days late.

“... Lieutenant, would you like a razor for that thing on your face?”

He doesn’t know what’s so funny but Balderich and Henri break down laughing while Reinhardt looks wounded by his question.

“I’m trying to grow it out!”

***

Jörmungandr spends the months of back-to-back deployments taking shifts at the base hospital again, clipping loops of security footage - empty stairwells and hallways - and chatting with Ozzie and Broom when their breaks line up. He trades meaningless gossip back and forth, carefully nudging Ozzie for information on how the communications system works, porting in to a station each time they meet up in there and nudging his drill code that hundredth of a percent ahead of schedule.

During the occasional week that the colonel is on base, he focuses on this new bond the man seems to have formed for him. The flirting is strange, but he feels like he's improving as he goes.

***

Balderich levers himself slowly out of his bed, groaning the whole way. He's on two weeks mandatory rest after pulling something in his leg, and he has check-ups that need doing. Three months of these in-and-out deployments are taking a toll on him and his men, and he can only see more of the same when he thinks of the weeks and months to come. He rubs at a sore muscle in his neck and suddenly remembers his physical later this morning, a small point of pleasure in this mess the world is becoming.

MD still doesn't go easy on him when he's between missions, even with this budding... thing between them. He'd like to call it attraction, maybe a relationship on his more confident days, but some days he's not entirely sure; on those days it almost feels like an acting role the omnic is still figuring out how to play convincingly.

He scratches his jaw and makes a face at the heavy stubble he finds, effectively distracting himself from his contemplations. A quick pass over his scalp leaves the same prickling sensation over his palm.

'Get over it or get it over with...'

In the end, he can't get over it, so he hobbles into the bathroom, sits on the toilet lid, and blesses his long arms that can reach the sink so he can shave sitting down. His scalp is nearly clear when Reinhardt disregards proper decorum - it's becoming an 'as usual' thing, and it's becoming annoying - and enters his quarters.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant?"

"MD wanted me to let you know he'll be making housecalls today because, I quote, 'I've seen geriatrics more mobile than you lot.'"

Charming as always. "Thank you, Reinhardt. Do the others know?"

"Mhm, you were my last stop." His desk chair squeaks as his former squire makes himself comfortable. Must be bored if he's willing to sit with Balderich on his off day. The younger man is recovering from a nasty concussion because he refuses to wear his helmet now unless Balderich shoves it on his head for him and a cracked clavicle. The sling pinning his arm looks a little worn, like MD had to scrounge around to find one the right size.

He finishes making himself feel human again and slowly makes his way back to bed. Reinhardt is badly suppressing a grin. "You look too happy, what's going on?"

"I can't wait to see your face when he stops by, that's all."

One eyebrow rises to his newly-removed hairline. What the hell does that mean?

***

Reinhardt ropes him into watching some awful American 1980's TV show because David Jackenoff - "Hasselhoff!" whatever - is in it. They're three episodes and one and a half hours of regret into it when MD comes to the rescue.

The lieutenant does indeed burst out laughing at Balderich's face when the omnic walks in wearing nothing but his plates, not even his ugly flipflops. MD notices and pokes his shoulder.

"Everything alright, Colonel? I didn't realize American TV was truly so effective at brain rot."

"I-- Where are your clothes?" Genius response there.

"I didn't feel like wearing them today, and as I'm only 'government property,' there's no dress code I'm required to observe." The loathing and disgust reassures him it is indeed MD standing nude in front of him. And about to examine the pulled muscle in his leg.

'Someone somewhere hates me.' Talk about look but don’t touch.

The presence of an entirely unwelcome audience keeps any swelling down, at least, and the exam goes smoothly. The pair of them share a look and Balderich envies MD his unemotive face as he forces down laughter.

"You're recovering well, which is good news. I'd be disappointed if a pulled muscle was all it took to remove you from the picture."

"It'll take more than this to keep me pinned. How much do you weigh, again?" He curls his hands a little to keep them to himself. MD's been allowing him liberties with touch the last month or two, but he gets a feeling he'd be pushing it right now with Reinhardt in the room.

Reinhardt's face nearly breaks his veneer of calm. He's getting old, but he's not dead yet.

"Not enough to keep you on your back unless you wanted." MD drops a reusable cold pack next to him. "Until the next time you can't keep out of trouble, then. Honestly, this is the only way you can think of to get me in your quarters?"

"It's certainly the easiest, give me credit for that much."

"I won't because it just makes more work for me, which is hardly my idea of a good time. Lieutenant, I'll see you later to check on that break."

Reinhardt nods dumbly as MD gathers his things. His jaw drops when Balderich blatantly watches the omnic's silicone padded ass as he leaves. Once the door clicks shut, he finds his voice again.

"You're a cruel, dirty old man."

Balderich laughs so hard his face almost hurts enough to match his leg.

***

Jörmungandr can't help a quiet laugh as he slips into the safety of the med bay.

'His face! Maker, that was priceless.'

Circuits buzz pleasantly under his chassis, a fairly normal occurrence since he decided to pursue this distraction with the colonel. It settles down enough after an hour that he can ignore it and check on his little scrap of hacking code.

It moves at a glacial pace, but it makes progress all the same. It's so close now, the buzzing in his circuits returns with a slightly different feeling, no less pleasant for that extra edge to it. He has months invested already, he can wait a few more days...

***

MD isn’t sure how, but one night almost six months after he first gained access to the communications room, he gets roped into playing ‘referee’ - glorified audience - for a few rounds of competitive drinking between the men - all on base at once for the first time in four months - while he nurses a bottle of oil. At least he gets to claim one of the couches in the rec room to himself while they get hammered. Balderich opts out early on, something about the whiskey affecting his plans for later? They’ve slowly been getting more physical lately, when Balderich asked him to his quarters later this evening.

Reinhardt gets knocked out in round three and collapses on the couch next to MD so heavily the omnic bounces a few inches and almost spills his oil. He barks a rebuke at the inebriated lieutenant, who drunkenly laughs through an apology. MD is reminded of Balderich’s complaints that Reinhardt is getting cocky on deployments recently. And he still wishes Reinhardt would shave the beard he’s slowly trying to grow out from its original goatee.

“How any of you still have your liver is beyond me.”

“It would take more than a few pints of beer to finish off a mighty Crusader!”

“Perhaps, but those few pints could make you an easier target for a bastion if you get deployed tomorrow.”

Reinhardt laughs, “You have a good heart, my friend! Always concerned about us.”

“I have a core, lieutenant.”

“Hey hey hey, we’re past this lieutenant nonsense. It’s Reinhardt, remember? And ok, yes, but a core is like… like a tech heart, ah?” The German’s speech was so slurred from drink, the last words almost sounded like one long one, and it took the omnic a minute to parse out what he said.

“You clearly need sleep, my friend. I think I’ll let you have the couch for the night.” He carefully but firmly takes the stein of beer the man is still holding and dumps it in the sink before heading to Balderich’s quarters. He has an idea of what the man meant, though he’s not sure how it’s going to play out.

The man greets him at the door with a kiss, answered with a spark of omnic energy he only recently figured out.

“You took your time getting here.”

“Your men are very distracting.”

“Not too distracting, I hope?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That you are.” Balderich startles a squeak out of the omnic when he picks him up, MD’s arms wrapping snug around his neck.

“I should kick you for that.”

“Ah, but you won’t.”

#mondatta god ai #tekhartha mondatta #balderich von adler #reinhardt wilhelm #monderich

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fbwzoo · 7 years

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I’m sorry if this has already been asked before but I / really / want a hedgehog but haven’t found any reliable care sheets for them that I trust. Thankfully, I follow your blog and your hermit crab care is astounding so I was wondering if you could maybe run down the basics of their care and what I should potentially feed it? :)

Hedgehogs were my first love, so I’m usually pretty happy to talk about them! :) I’ve been a moderator on these forums for a number of years & joined back in 2009, shortly after I got my first hedgehog - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/ They’re not perfect, but I think there’s a fair amount of good information, especially for new owners.

The stickies (threads at the top of the forum section) have a lot of good basic information. Here are some of the really important ones to check out:

Health: Health FAQ section

Nutrition:Beginner Nutrition Guide

Advanced Nutrition Guide

Safe Treat List

Insect Guide

Fresh Food Guide

Raw/Home Cooked Diets

Enclosure & Toys:Heating Info

Enclosure Examples

Enrichment & Toys

Behavior:Behavior Expectations

Biting

Other:Traveling

HedgehogsofAsgard’s FAQs

Hedgehog care tag on my blog

Common Misconceptions

Some more basic care info that may not be listed in above links:

Enclosure: Should be a minimum of 8 square feet. Solid floor, and solid walls up 8-10″, at least - they like to try & climb & can injure themselves in falls. Keep heating in mind - if you’re in a cold climate or keep your house cold, a vivarium is a better choice. Best to keep cages as one level, but if you want to use multiple levels, make sure ramps & second levels are enclosed. Hedgehogs have poor depth perception & will often walk right off an edge.

Temperature: Should be 73-80F (23-27C). Best to keep temperature relatively steady - some do okay with fluctuation, but drops over more than a couple degrees can cause a hibernation attempt in sensitive hogs. They can also become more temperature sensitive as they get older. They handle hotter temperatures better than cooler, but every hog is different. Typically best to start around 75-78F & adjust from there as you get to know your hedgie.

Heating: Do NOT use heating mats - space heater, CHE set up, or radiating heat panel (RHP). The third have not been used for hedgehogs much yet, but I hope to get one for Bindi at some point. More info on heating set ups in the link above.

Lighting: Not enough light can also cause hibernation attempts. They should have 12-14 hours during the daytime - don’t depend on daylight, as it gets too short in the winter & storms can make it too dark. Best to have a light for the cage or put a lamp near the cage. Timers help with keeping light schedule regular & eliminating the concern of forgetting to turn it on/off. No light on at night - it can discourage many hedgehogs from normal behavior.

Nutrition/feeding: This is mentioned in the links above, but to stress the point - hedgehog foods are crap. Cat foods are not ideal, but the best option we currently have. Check out the Beginner Guide for specifics on protein, fat, and ingredients. The Advanced Guide goes a bit more in depth with ingredients, choosing brands, etc.

It’s really preferable to have insects included in their diet - they need more fiber than cats (insect exoskeletons) & the majority of their natural diet is insects/invertebrates. The US hedgehog community doesn’t tend to stress insects enough, really. If a hedgehog won’t eat them, it won’t kill them not to have them. But every effort should be made to include insects in their diet daily.

Do a lot of research if you want to try out a home-cooked or raw/natural diet. There’s not a lot of specific info known for hedgehogs, but @hedgehogsofasgard has a great post on hedgehog nutrition in her FAQ & we’re working on getting more of a community going for English-speaking hedgehog owners who want to feed raw/natural diets. It’s already fairly common in some other European countries, like Germany, Russia, and I believe some others.

Grooming: Hedgehogs poop on their wheel, so usually need foot baths, sometimes even nightly. Just a half inch or of water to get their feet clean is fine. Full baths shouldn’t be given more than every other week or so - it dries out their skin & most hedgehogs don’t like water & are very distressed by baths. If they get dirty more often, you can use a warm wet cloth to wipe them down. For full baths, use an oatmeal-based body wash (not shampoo) if you need to use a soap of some kind.

Nails should be checked frequently & will need to be trimmed weekly or every other week. It can be difficult, so go slowly & be patient. Work at getting your hedgie used to having feet played with during your nightly bonding time by lightly grabbing, rubbing, and pulling them out to look at them. You can use cuticle scissors, regular human nail trimmers, baby nail trimmers, or pet nail trimmers - whichever is comfiest & easiest for you. Back nails typically grow faster, but front nails typically grow curved & should be watched carefully for curling so they don’t start to injure the paw pad.

*** Do NOT use nail trim inserts on the wheel! Hedgehogs run on the pad of their foot - these inserts will rub their foot raw & do nothing for their nails. Inserts of any kind should not be used on hedgehog wheels due to the risk of getting tangled on their feet/legs - just wash the wheel daily or as often as needed to clean poop off it.

Bedding: Another area the US differs a lot on. Fleece/fabric liners are popular over here. They’re reusable, easy to change out & clean, look cute, and they don’t have a lot of safety risks. The biggest risk with them is if you have long hair - it clings to the fabric & hedgehogs can get hair wrapped around their legs (or penis, for males) & cut off circulation. But they don’t allow for digging, which is a major natural behavior. People try to accommodate this by giving dig boxes with natural substrate, fleece strips, craft pompom balls, etc., which some hedgehogs will use.

Other options include aspen or kiln-dried pine (risk of mites & getting caught in penile sheaths), paper bedding (minor risk of mites, can be dusty & cause dry skin & sneezing), or a naturalistic/bio-active set up. There’s more info on that last one in Hedgehogsofasgard’s FAQ link and also a FB group.

Vet Care: Be prepared for vet bills. Hedgehogs are notorious for racking up big vet bills. If you’re in the US, look into vet insurance - Nationwide is the only one that currently offers an exotics plan. It’s only about $8/month for a hedgehog, well worth it! Have a vet fund ready, with at least $500 in it. Also check into CareCredit, a credit card specifically for vet/health costs. High interest rate on charges less than $200, but 6+ month payment plans with no interest for amounts $200 & over, so it’s helpful for surgeries or expensive diagnostic tests like biopsies, x-rays, etc.

Have a vet located before you get your hedgehog. Exotic vets are harder to find & often more expensive. Find out how experienced they are - whether they’re just willing to see hedgehogs, but haven’t seen many or any, see hedgehogs a few times a year, or if they’re pretty well experienced. Less experience isn’t necessarily bad, but make sure they’ll be willing to work with you to find the best treatments & care for your hedgehog.

Those are most of the main topics I can think of. If there’s any major ones I missed, let me know and I can expand on it! :)

#hogblr #petblr #hedgehogs #hedgies #pet hedgehogs #hedgehog care #hedgehog caresheet #african pygmy hedgehogs #long post

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slakaros · 4 years

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Answers so far

1.As a trans person, what is the #1 thing you want cis people to know about you?

The first thing I want people to know about me is that I'm a person, just like everybody else. I'm not always straight up telling people I'm trans, even though I usually don't try to hide it (I do have this privilege since I live in East Frisia in Northern Germany, very close to a small city with a CSD / pride, most people here are rather open). If it comes up, it comes up, if it doesn't, I will probably drop a thing casually at some point in some conversation and have people find out that way. I do however get wearier around men with this topic. This is why I want people to know me as a human being before letting them know about my history. I very rarely disclose that I am non-binary and just masc-leaning though, simply because I don't feel like explaining it to people who shouldn't be concerned about it.

Trans people are not just made up of the fact they're trans. We're regular people with regular lives that do not usually revolve around us being trans. It's different in times when dysphoria hits you, but especially once you get older and you sort of "finish" transitioning (which, mind you, can be any state of transition! Social, body, anything YOU feel comfortable with) it will sort of fade into the background. That doesn't mean it's not an important part of my identity, it simply means that it's not the first thing people should know about me. I'm less of a trans person (for the sake of being a trans person) and more of a person that just so happens to be trans. Sorry for the long explanation, I hope I cleared everything up. If not, shoot another message!

2. I am just learning about trans people and what it means to be trans, and as such I'm unused to using the singular they and other pronouns. How can I make it clear to my trans friends that I'm not trying to be disrespectful if I mess up their pronouns?

My partner happens to use they/them pronouns and I'm not gonna lie, it was incredibly hard for me to get used to that! I did my best by correcting myself immediately whenever I messed up and either consciously using the right pronouns in the next sentence or immediately phrasing three to five sentences in my head using the right pronouns. (Example: "They said they worked a lot today.", "They have curly hair", "They are a great person and I'm glad to be their friend")

I always also used that moment to think about a quality I liked especially about them. Unfortunately, because I have ADHD and am not currently medicated, I sometimes forgot to tell them about said quality, but it might be something that really can strengthen a bond!

Point is, show them that you're making an effort. Try to talk positively about them and use their correct pronouns. Practice a lot, even if it's just in your head, that's gonna make it a lot easier over time. At some point, it won't really happen anymore, at least not in a more frequent way than it does with every other person. I mean, I regularly accidentally refer to my brothers as "she" or "her" and they're cis. It's normal to goof up. The most important thing: Don't beat yourself up too much over it. As long as you show them that you try your best, everything will be okay, I promise.

3. If I think I might be trans (FTM) but don't want to make any permanent decisions (like taking hormones) what can I do to help me make a decision?

Talk about it to people you trust. Depending on how accessible therapy is where you live, I would definitely try to see if there is a specialist for gender identity you could see. Otherwise, find a safe space to explore and just try things out.

I had a bit of misfortune when it came to my medical transition and had to wait for several years to be allowed to start hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is a long time considering I come from Germany (you usually only need 12-18 months of therapy, some doctors even prescribe it earlier, though it is not recommended for Testosterone because of how irreversible the changes are).

Try looking at tutorials about contouring and faking stubble, practice a deeper speaking voice and maybe see if you can get a (safe!) binder (gc2b was recommended to me as the best on the market at the moment, I personally always had the tri top binders from Underworks) to wear for a couple of hours a day. Always make sure to practice safe binding! If you feel any sort of bodily discomfort, immediately take off the binder and take a break. Always move your chest up and to the side, not down, that makes it easier to preserve healthy tissue, which in turn will come in handy for top surgery and your general health!

But most importantly: Take your time. Take one step at a time. See if hormone blockers might already help you, if you have too many issues with your period. Don't rush. You have your entire life ahead of you. You probably won't know some things until you finished other things. Up until I had top surgery, I always thought I needed bottom surgery to feel like myself. I woke up in hospital and I knew I didn't need bottom surgery. I actually stopped taking testosterone because I achieved all the changes that I needed to feel happy (deeper voice, slight stubble, my proportions went back to pre-medicated state because my body still produces it's own hormones).

A transition is something deeply personal and you have to find your own way through it. Feel free to drop messages if you need more advice or if this was not enough!

4. I'm not trans but I'm very curious about trans people, only because it's something I don't understand at all and have no experience with. Is it okay to be curious about trans issues and ask about them, just out of curiosity? I want to be an ally of course and I support my trans friends, but is it okay to just be curious?

It is only natural to be curious. It's normal to be curious. You should be curious! You're a human being and you can only truly understand something, if you're curious enough to ask.

You already took the first right step. Seek out ressources like this or ask in forums. Always ask if it's something you may ask about since every trans person handles things differently. Remember that trans people are not obligated to give you an answer and respect their decisions on whether or not they want to tell you things, but I do absolutely encourage curiosity. This is actually why we started up this project, because I am super comfortable talking about my personal trans experience and the things I learned through my trans counselling seminars. Not everyone is as open as I am, so I do want to share my experiences. I would also suggest that with every question you ask, be prepared for a "no" and always add that it's okay if the person doesn't want to answer that question. Make sure to be respectful and everything is gonna be alright. Also, feel free to drop me any questions you might have!

5. I am a trans man that gets really depressed around my period. Do you have any advice on how to cope with that time of the month?

I definitely get where you come from. Be aware that a lot of it can be caused by hormonal imbalances so none of the advice I can give is an absolute guarantee to feel better. I can only share my own experiences.

What's very important to know is that having a period does not make you any less of a man. Having a period is not something that is inherently tied to women.

I personally try to make periods more bearable by making those times my "feel good" time of the month. This means that I will actually make a conscious effort to treat myself well during this time, be more lenient with my work and allow myself pleasures without giving in to my depression. For me that means I'm allowing myself my comfort foods, spend more time with the horses (riding actually helps with periods) and just spend some cuddly times with my partner. Something that I really recommend is getting reusable period products, such as reusable cloth pads (you can get them online, my partner gets ours from Ecoimpakt) and menstrual cups. I personally use a menstrual cup and a light pad and I very often even forget that I'm actually bleeding until my alarm to empty the cup goes off.

Using reusable period products means that you don't have to go to a store to get them. The menstrual cup makes me feel very very clean and I mostly use the pad as a back-up. You practically don't feel the cup at all. Just make sure you get the right size, sizing can be looked up online as well. I got a pretty cheap one from a German store brand, so unfortunately I can't recommend mine to you, but there's a lot of information on good cups out there and you can get them as cheap as 10€.

Talking about what specifically makes you feel depressed can also be a good help. Try to be aware of triggers for negative feelings and actively fight that bully brain. If you need help with that, don't be shy to ask a friend for help if you don't have a therapist on hand. There is also some free online and anonymous counselling for when bully brain gets too strong for you to handle it on your own. Don't feel ashamed to ask for help.

#transgender #trans #queer #trans support #transidentity #lgbt #lgbt+#lgbtq #lgbtqa #trans questions #lgbt questions #answer

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