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southernmedicalsuites · 2 years

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Don’t Skip your Eye Exam — Your Vision is Too Precious

Our eyesight is so precious, but can so often be taken for granted. In reality, proper vision is a complex balancing act requiring skills that must be carefully developed. No one understands this better than the doctors of optometry at the office of Southern Medical Suites, who are specially trained to detect signs of imbalance and ensure that our patients are seeing the world with precision and clarity.

It may be surprising to learn that each of our eyes actually see slightly different images, which are then fused by our brains into one three-dimensional picture. Finely tuned coordination is necessary to keep our eyes in their proper alignment, or else our vision can suffer from stunted development. Problems can arise due to poor muscle control, leading to eye strain and sometimes double vision. If our brains begin compensating for imbalances between the eyes, a condition known as “lazy eye” can develop that can cause long-term visual impairment that cannot be fully rectified — even with corrective lenses.

Poor eye coordination also can lead to headaches, difficulty concentrating and reading, dizziness, irritability, and eye fatigue. These symptoms can be especially acute in children, who can face obstacles focusing on schoolwork and while playing sports. They may tire easily and even resort to covering one eye to compensate for their vision imbalance. That’s why we recommend a comprehensive eye examination starting at 6 months of age and again at age 3, during which our specialists will test for indications of how the child’s eye coordination is developing.

At the office of Southern Medical Suites, our doctors of optometry are specialists in diagnosing eye coordination and imbalance conditions and determining effective solutions including eyeglasses and vision therapy. Call us today to learn how our friendly, attentive staff can make a clear difference in your family’s outlook on life

Each of your eyes sees a slightly different image. The brain, by a process called fusion, blends these two images into one three-dimensional picture. Good eye coordination keeps the eyes in proper alignment. Poor eye coordination results from a lack of adequate vision development or improperly developed eye muscle control.

Causes & risk factors

Eye coordination is a skill that must be developed. Inadequate vision development or improperly developed eye muscle control can cause poor eye coordination. Although rare, an injury or disease can also cause poor eye coordination. People with poor eye muscle control often subconsciously exert extra effort to maintain proper alignment of the eyes. In more severe cases, the muscles cannot adjust the eyes so that the same image is seen by both eyes, resulting in double vision. However, the brain will try to avoid seeing double, so it eventually learns to ignore the image sent by one eye. This can result in amblyopia, a serious vision condition commonly known as lazy eye. Left untreated over a long time, amblyopia can impair the visual system. Vision will not fully improve, even with glasses or contact lens correction.

Symptoms

Symptoms of poor eye coordination include double vision, headaches, eye and body fatigue, irritability, dizziness, and difficulty reading and concentrating. Children with poor eye coordination might cover one eye, skip lines or lose their place while reading, perform poorly in sports, avoid tasks that require close work and tire easily.

Diagnosis

Because poor eye coordination can be difficult to detect, the American Optometric Association recommends comprehensive eye examinations, beginning at age 6 months and again at age 3. In this comprehensive examination, a doctor of optometry will test for poor eye coordination.

Treatment

Poor eye coordination is often successfully treated with eyeglasses and/or vision therapy. Sometimes, eye coordination will improve when other vision conditions like nearsightedness or farsightedness are corrected. In some cases, surgery may be necessary.

This Blog “Don’t Skip your Eye Exam — Your Vision is Too Precious” was originally posted HERE.

#Multi Specialty Medical Center Bronx #Multi Specialty Care Bronx #Multi Speciality Clinic Bronx #southern optometry #optometrist eye exam #Optometrist in South Bronx

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matan4il · 29 days

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Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It? | by John Spencer

The Israel Defense Forces conducted an operation at al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas terrorists recently, once again taking unique precautions as it entered the facility to protect the innocent; Israeli media reported that doctors accompanied the forces to help Palestinian patients if needed. They were also reported to be carrying food, water and medical supplies for the civilians inside.

None of this meant anything to Israel's critics, of course, who immediately pounced. The critics, as usual, didn't call out Hamas for using protected facilities like hospitals for its military activity. Nor did they mention the efforts of the IDF to minimize civilian casualties.

In their criticism, Israel's opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set. In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the U.S. military, I've never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy's civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings. In fact, by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history—above and beyond what international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The predominant Western theory of executing wars, called maneuver warfare, seeks to shatter an enemy morally and physically with surprising, overwhelming force and speed, striking at the political and military centers of gravity so that the enemy is destroyed or surrenders quickly. This was the case in the invasions of Panama in 1989, Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and the failed illegal attempt by Russia to take Ukraine in 2022. In all these cases, no warning or time was given to evacuate cities.

In many ways, Israel has had to abandon this established playbook in order to prevent civilian harm. The IDF has telegraphed almost every move ahead of time so civilians can relocate, nearly always ceding the element of surprise. This has allowed Hamas to reposition its senior leaders (and the Israeli hostages) as needed through the dense urban terrain of Gaza and the miles of underground tunnels it's built.

Hamas fighters, who unlike the IDF don't wear uniforms, have also taken the opportunity to blend into civilian populations as they evacuate. The net effect is that Hamas succeeds in its strategy of creating Palestinian suffering and images of destruction to build international pressure on Israel to stop its operations, therefore ensuring Hamas' survival.

Israel gave warning, in some cases for weeks, for civilians to evacuate the major urban areas of northern Gaza before it launched its ground campaign in the fall. The IDF reported dropping over 7 million flyers, but it also deployed technologies never used anywhere in the world, as I witness firsthand on a recent trip to Gaza and southern Israel.

Israel has made over 70,000 direct phones calls, sent over 13 million text messages and left over 15 million pre-recorded voicemails to notify civilians that they should leave combat areas, where they should go, and what route they should take. They deployed drones with speakers and dropped giant speakers by parachute that began broadcasting for civilians to leave combat areas once they hit the ground. They announced and conducted daily pauses of all operations to allow any civilians left in combat areas to evacuate.

These measures were effective. Israel was able to evacuate upwards of 85 percent of the urban areas in northern Gaza before the heaviest fighting began. This is actually consistent with my research on urban warfare history that shows that no matter the effort, about 10 percent of populations stay.

As the war raged on, Israel began giving out its military maps to civilians so they could conduct localized evacuations. This, too, has never been done in war. During my recent visit to Khan Yunis, Gaza, and the IDF civilian harm mitigation unit in southern Israel, I observed as the army began using these maps to communicate each day where the IDF would be operating so civilians in other areas would stay out of harm's way.

I saw that the IDF even tracked the population in real time down to a few-block radius using drone and satellite imagery and cell phone presence and building damage assessments to avoid hitting civilians. The New York Times reported in January that the daily civilian death toll had more than halved in the previous month and was down almost two-thirds from its peak.

Of course, the true number of Gaza civilian deaths is unknown. The current Hamas-supplied estimate of over 31,000 does not acknowledge a single combatant death (nor any deaths due to the misfiring of its own rockets or other friendly fire). The IDF estimates it has killed about 13,000 Hamas operatives, a number I believe credible partly because I believe the armed forces of a democratic American ally over a terrorist regime, but also because of the size of Hamas fighters assigned to areas that were cleared and having observed the weapons used, the state of Hamas' tunnels and other aspects of the combat.

That would mean some 18,000 civilians have died in Gaza, a ratio of roughly 1 combatant to 1.5 civilians. Given Hamas' likely inflation of the death count, the real figure could be closer to 1 to 1. Either way, the number would be historically low for modern urban warfare.

The UN, EU and other sources estimate that civilians usually account for 80 percent to 90 percent of casualties, or a 1:9 ratio, in modern war (though this does mix all types of wars). In the 2016-2017 Battle of Mosul, a battle supervised by the U.S. that used the world's most powerful airpower resources, some 10,000 civilians were killed compared to roughly 4,000 ISIS terrorists.

And yet, analysts who should know better are still engaging in condemnation of the IDF based on the level of destruction that's still occurred—destruction that is unavoidable against an enemy that embeds in a vast tunnel system under civilian sites in dense urban terrain. This effects-based condemnation or criticism is not how the laws of war work, or violations determined. These and other analysts say the destruction and civilian causalities must either stop or be avoided in an alternative form of warfare.

Ironically, the careful approach Israel has taken may have actually led to more destruction; since the IDF giving warnings and conducting evacuations help Hamas survive, it ultimately prolongs the war and, with it, its devastation.

Israel has not created a gold standard in civilian harm mitigation in war. That implies there is a standard in civilian casualties in war that is acceptable or not acceptable; that zero civilian deaths in war is remotely possible and should be the goal; that there is a set civilian-to-combatant ratio in war no matter the context or tactics of the enemy. But all available evidence shows that Israel has followed the laws of war, legal obligations, best practices in civilian harm mitigation and still found a way to reduce civilian casualties to historically low levels.

Those calling for Israel to find an alternative to inflicting civilian casualties to lower amounts (like zero) should be honest that this alternative would leave the Israeli hostages in captivity and allow Hamas to survive the war. The alternative to a nation's survival cannot be a path to extinction.

John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, codirector of MWI's Urban Warfare Project and host of the "Urban Warfare Project Podcast." He served for 25 years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. He is the author of the book "Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connection in Modern War" and co-author of "Understanding Urban Warfare."

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kalamity-jayne · 2 months

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Another thing I find interesting about this latest tumblr drama is the CEO outlining his "beliefs and principles". To me it's a striking example of how cis people do not understand us and make no real effort to understand us, which of course kneecaps their ability to see things from out perspective or even have real genuine compassion for us.

For one thing, I think trans women are not going to be won over by outlining your anti-transphobia principles, we don't give a shit that you've read the yogyakarta princples or how many LGBT people you have on staff (especially since it is still unclear whether or not there are actually transfems on the moderation team which is what would actually matter here), or what sort of benefits you offer your trans employees. All good stuff to be sure but that doesn't absolve you of wrong doing and we are so used to people doing this sort of thing to be like, "see, I'm one of the good ones! Don't be mad at me!"

Like, to use an unrelated example, the former head of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that has done enormously important civil rights work and taken down many powerful hate groups, had to resign a few years ago for racism and sexual harassment, both of which are antithetical to the work he was doing. You can be doing things that help was with one hand while the other hand actively harms us.

Furthermore, trans people are always reading between the lines, we have to as a matter of survival. There are a number of things photomatt has said in his beliefs in principles that will read very very differently to a trans woman than it would to anyone other person reading it. For instance:

I bet any cis person reading that is nodding their head in affirmation to this but to a trans person the headline here isn't "I support the right to medically transition," it's actually, "I don't support transition care for trans youth." And whenever a cis person specifies they support transition for adults that tells us more about what that person's actually believes than they realize.

So all of Photomatt's attempt at establishing his pro-trans bona fides are absolutely hollow when you don't even need to read between the lines here, not when he's followed her to a different social media platform to continue throwing a tantrum at her. Matt's "principles and beliefs" are nothing more than a meaningless genuflection because it's motivated not by the selfless desire to make us feel safer here, it's motivated by his need for us to think he's actually a "good boy" and this all just a misunderstanding.

We aren't stupid Matt, we encounter schmucks like you every👏single👏day.

#tumblr has a transmisogyny problem #photomatt #hammer car #predgesterone #transphobia

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mariacallous · 5 months

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(JTA) — Vivian Silver, a Canadian-Israeli peace activist who had been presumed kidnapped by Hamas, was declared dead after her remains were found at her home.

Her death was confirmed to JTA by multiple activists who said they were in touch with Silver’s family. Shifra Bronznick, a prominent Jewish social justice activist and lifelong friend of Silver’s, learned from Silver’s son that her remains were identified via her DNA.

“Vivian was always persistent in the pursuit of peace and justice,” Bronznick told JTA on Monday evening. “She was a lifelong feminist, a committed activist, a fearless leader, an exceptional friend and a loving mother, wife and grandmother.”

Until Monday, Silver, 74, was assumed to be among the more than 200 people held captive by Hamas. She is now among the approximately 1,200 people murdered by the terror group in its Oct. 7 attack. Hamas terrorists killed more than 100 people at Silver’s home community, Kibbutz Be’eri, in one of the day’s worst massacres.

She is one of several peace activists to have been killed or captured by Hamas on Oct. 7. Hayim Katsman, 32, who worked with Palestinians in the southern West Bank, was killed in his home in another community on the Gaza border. Yocheved Lifschitz, who helped ferry Palestinians from Gaza to medical care in Israel, was taken captive by Hamas and released in late October; her husband Oded, also involved in peace work, remains missing.

“A woman of infinite, deep, ongoing compassion, humanity and dedication to Arab-Jewish partnership and peace. Yes. Peace,” Anat Saragusti, an Israeli writer and feminist activist, wrote on social media in a post announcing Silver’s death. John Lyndon, the executive director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, wrote that “she wanted to be free & at peace. Rest in power, Vivian.”

Silver’s sons, like the family members of many of those presumed hostage, lobbied extensively for her release, traveling the country and speaking to journalists around the world to call attention to her story. One son, Yonatan Zeigen, stood out for his calls for a ceasefire, an unusual position in Israel. He said he had learned from his mother to seek peace above all else.

“I would tell her, ‘Israel is dead. It’s hopeless,’ and she would say, ‘Peace could come tomorrow,’” Yonatan, a social worker in Tel Aviv told the Washington Post in a story published last week.

Chen Zeigen, her other son, is a doctoral student in archaeology at the University of Connecticut. She is also survived by four grandchildren.

On the day of the massacre, according to the Washington Post story, Silver took a call with a radio station where she pushed back against the idea that the Palestinians were “insane.” In messages with Yonatan, she expressed fear, frustration and love. “I’m with you,” he wrote to her. Her last message back to him was, “I feel you.”

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, she was the longtime director of the Arab Jewish Center For Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation, which organized projects joining communities in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 2014, after the last major war between Israel and Hamas, she helped found Women Wage Peace, which promotes peace-building actions among women from all communities and across the political spectrum.

Speaking to Forbes in 2021 for a series on women who assist the vulnerable, Silver said she remembered feeling relief after the government built bomb shelters in Kibbutz Be’eri, which had been subject to rocket fire from Gaza for more than a decade.

“In 2009, the [Israeli] government only built shelters for communities that were four kilometers from the border. The community I live in is four and a half kilometers from the border, so we didn’t have shelters then,” Silver told Forbes. “Now we do, so psychologically we feel better, and we feel safer, and in fact, we are safer, we’re a lot safer than the people in Gaza.”

At a 2018 Women Wage Peace event on the Gaza border in 2018, she said that the Israeli government needed to change its approach in order to bring peace to the area. “Show the required courage that will bring changes of policy that will bring us quiet and security,” she said then, addressing the government. “Returning to the routine is not an option.”

Appealing to women across the border, she said, “Terror does not make anything better for anyone, you too deserve quiet and peace.”

Bronznick first met Silver in the early 1970s when both were involved in organizing a national conference of Jewish women. They remained friends and, for a period of six years, took an annual trip together — the last one was to Santa Fe, New Mexico. When Silver would stay at Bronznick’s home, she would prepare an Israeli breakfast, Bronznick recalled.

“She would be passionately advocating for peace right now,” Bronznick said, referring to Israel’s war against Hamas, launched following the Oct. 7 attack. “She never gave up on bridge-building. She never gave up on making change. She never gave up on people… She always focused on people, children, what motivated them, what meant something to them.”

Before Oct. 7, Silver was due for another stay at Bronznick’s home in New York City in early December. On top of each of the days in Bronznick’s calendar, she had written “Viv.”

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intheholler · 3 months

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Donations for Appalachian/Southeast USA Queer Organizations

Here lies the sister post to my resource list.

Under the cut, you'll find a list of regional, primarily queer-focused groups to donate to, if you have the means.

If you've ever accused us of being beyond help, or have ever said we should be sawed off into the ocean, here's your chance to help the many helpers trying to make the southeast a better place--those that always go conveniently ignored in such conversations.

General Regional Links

Appalachian Outreach

STAY (Central Appalachia)

Help suspected transgender John and Jane Does regain their identities

Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP)

Southerners on New Ground (SONG)

Campaign for Southern Equality

Trans Health Project

Alabama

AIDS Alabama

The Knights & Orchids Society

Magic City Acceptance Center

Medical Advocacy and Outreach

Prism United

Shoals Diversity Center

T.A.K.E.

Thrive Alabama

Georgia

Carrollton Rainbow Inc.

Emmaus House

Feminist Women’s Health Center

First City Network

Georgia Equality

Kentucky

AIDS Volunteers of Lexington

Arbor Youth Services

Lexington Pride Center

Louisville Queer Youth

Louisville Youth Group

Kentucky Fairness

Kentucky Health Justice Network

Kentucky Youth Law Project

Sweet Evening Breeze

Louisiana

AcadianaCares

Louisiana Trans Advocates

OUTnorthla

PACE Louisiana

Shrevepride

Mississippi

Capital City Pride

Gulf Coast Equality

LGBTQ Fund of Mississippi

The Spectrum Center in Hattiesburg

Violet Valley Bookstore

North Carolina

Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group (CTHCG)

Down Home NC

Guilford Green Foundation & LGBTQ Center

Pitt County Aids Service Organization

Tranzmission

Triad Health Project

Triangle Empowerment Center

South Carolina

Alliance for Full Acceptance

Charleston Black Pride

Harriet Hancock Center

Palmetto Community Care

T-Time

Uplift Outreach

We are Family

We are Family Trans Love Fund

Tennessee

CHOICES

Launch Pad

Metamorphosis

Mountain Access Brigade

My Sistah’s House

Pride Community of the Tri-Cities

Trans Empowerment Project

Youth Villages

Virginia

Justice 4 All

Nationz

Side by Side VA

Virginia Home for Boys and Girls

West Virginia

Harmony House West Virginia

Fairness West Virginia

Holler Health Justice

WVFREE

#appalachia #appalachian #southeast usa #queer #anti-fascist south #donations #donate #queer resources #alabama #georgia #kentucky #louisiana #mississippi #north carolina #south carolina #tennessee #virginia #west virginia

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nansheonearth · 8 months

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A Boston shelter tried a new approach to finding women stable housing. Three years later, its success is clear.

Since launching its stabilization program in July 2020, Women’s Lunch Place says that 97 percent of women who found housing are still living in their homes.

By Alysa Guffey Globe Correspondent,Updated August 30, 2023, 5:51 a.m.

Nancy Edwards in her apartment.SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF

Two years ago, Nancy Edwards fell into homelessness after being priced out of rent in Southern California. With her two dogs, Roo and Tink, in tow, she decided to drive across the country with all her belongings packed in her small sedan. Her final destination would be Boston, the home of her only child and the last place she says she received adequate mental health care.

She arrived in Boston in September 2021, and later that month met Lianne O’Reilly, a behavioral health and stabilization clinician at Women’s Lunch Place, a daytime shelter and advocacy center serving people who identify as female.

With help from O’Reilly and Women’s Lunch Place, Edwards, 65, was able to receive the mental health care she needed and took the first steps in applying for housing in the city.

“I was able to make heads or tails out of life and rescue myself from being homeless,” Edwards said.

Edwards is one of 173 clients who Women’s Lunch Place has helped to secure housing since the organization launched its housing stabilization program in July 2020. Three years later, the organizaton reports that 97 percent, or 167, of the women are still living in their new homes.

At Pine Street Inn shelter, a mother and daughter persevere and find communityNew housing strategy behind Mass. and Cass cleanup offers ‘hope, dignity’ — and may be a solution to homelessness, officials say‘Permanent supportive housing’ may be controversial to would-be neighbors, but it’s been beneficial to those who live in it

Located on Newbury Street in Back Bay, the stabilization program is designed to provide clients at Women’s Lunch Place with wraparound services before and after they receive keys for an apartment, said Doris Romero, the center’s housing and stabilization manager. Often times, women who walk through the doors have a steep learning curve when living on their own and can be evicted if they do not have continuous support.

“The last thing that I want is after getting someone into housing is for them to lose their housing,” Romero said.

Romero facilitates conversations with landlords, property managers, leasing officers, and even other tenants to ease the burden on clients. Each woman seeking housing is paired with a full-time advocate from the organization, and the team has doubled in size since its inception, she added.

For some, the housing search can take years, with some guests only moving into homes now after originally starting a housing application five years ago, said Romero. Other times, partnerships and applications with the city can speed up the process for those who really need housing. For instance, Edwards submitted an application to the Elders Living At Home Program through Boston Medical Center.

“In the application you have to explain why this person needs housing, and as soon as I met [Edwards,] I knew that housing was really key to her stability and moving forward,” O’Reilly said.

As a result, Edwards moved in to her new home about seven months after connecting with Women’s Lunch Place.

“It’s nice and quiet and I feel secure,” Edwards said on a recent Friday in her one-bedroom apartment in the South End.

Nancy Edwards in her apartment.SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF

While stabilization programs are not necessarily a new invention, Women’s Lunch Place’s method of keeping tabs on and tracking women it helps find housing is encouraging, because it shows “obvious and dramatic evidence that it works,” said Susan Sered, professor of sociology at Suffolk University.

For the past 15 years, Sered has been following a group of about 50 women in Boston who fall in and out of homelessness. In her research, she has seen women lose housing because of substandard living conditions or abusive men in their life who visit homes and cause trouble — issues that can often be prevented with robust stabilization services.

“A lot of these problems are dealt with before they get out of control,” she said of the system in place at Women’s Lunch Place. “They can provide this kind of really intensive support that can help people get through that difficult period or a difficult incident and hold on to their housing.”

Romero said she poses as many questions as possible to find a strong fit for each individual client.

“Do they want to stay in Boston? Do they want roommates or their own space?”

However, even though the program is run through the shelter, women who seek the stabilization services have their own agency throughout the process, choosing where, when, and what they apply to.

“We can provide them options of different opportunities, but they get to choose where they want to apply to,” Romero said.

Most of the clients would prefer to stay in Boston, Romero said, but that doesn’t always work out. Sometimes, after looking at options in Boston, she encourages clients to look elsewhere, such as the North or South Shore, to set realistic expectations. Romero added that the center has had luck stabilizing people in Medford and Watertown homes.

The stabilization program is unique since it doesn’t end once women get the keys to their new place.

“People really assume like everything’s like sunshine and flowers once you get housed,” O’Reilly said. “And it can be, but for a lot of people it can be traumatic in many ways.”

The length of stabilization looks different for each client, Romero said. Advocates visit the homes of their clients as much as they need to help with everything from setting up cable to finding a church community nearby.

Women’s Lunch Place also assists clients facing possible eviction — a vital component of stabilization services, staff members say.

Estella Green, 55, credits the program for her finding stable housing and avoiding eviction after she had been sleeping on the streets or couch surfing for almost three years.

“I was in a place where I was about to go downhill, but I came here and I asked for help and they helped me,” Green said.

With help from her advocate, Christina Labossiere, Green has lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Brighton for more than two years. Since March, the organization has assisted Green in applying to the city’s Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program, which helps keep households in stable housing situations when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies.

Green said she loves the apartment, especially the bed to sleep in, but still comes to Women’s Lunch Place almost daily because that — not Brighton — is her community.

“You can relax, be comfortable, and you can always find someone to talk to,” Green said.

Alysa Guffey can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @AlysaGuffeyNews.

Edit:

Here's a link to donate to Women's Lunch Place

Follow them on ig

If you reblogged the previous version, reblog with the donate link.

#radfem #alysa guffey #women's lunch place #boston #massachusetts #new england #housing #sisterhood #solidarity #resources #welfare #ideas #to do #o #boston globe

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reasonsforhope · 1 year

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"A trio of health care bills enshrining access in Colorado to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications became law Friday [April 14th] as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care.

The main goal of the legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is to ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can go to Colorado to have an abortion, begin puberty blockers or receive gender-affirming surgery without fear of prosecution. Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma have passed abortion bans, and Utah has severely restricted transgender care for minors...

The governor’s office was packed with lawmakers, advocates and health care providers, many of them women, for a ceremony with a celebratory feel that resembled a rally at times with loud applause and call-and-response chants.

“We see you and in Colorado, we’ve got your back,” Democratic state Sen. Julie Gonzales said during the ceremony.

With the new laws, Colorado joins Illinois as a progressive peninsula offering reproductive rights to residents of conservative states on three sides. Illinois abortion clinics now serve people living in a 1,800-mile (2,900-kilometer) stretch of 11 Southern states that have largely banned abortion...

Colorado’s southern neighbor, New Mexico, is also controlled by Democrats and signed a similar abortion protection bill earlier this year. It legally shields those who seek abortions or gender-affirming care, and those who provide the treatments, from interstate investigations...

Polis added the first layer of abortion protection a year ago, signing an executive order that bars state agencies from cooperating with out-of-state investigations regarding reproductive healthcare. One of the bills he signed Friday codifies that order into law. Like the New Mexico law, it blocks court summons, subpoenas and search warrants from states that decide to prosecute someone for having an abortion.

Colorado’s abortion law extends the protections to transgender patients dodging restrictions in their own states. Gender-affirming health care has been available for decades, but some states have recently barred minors from accessing it, even with parental consent. Hospitals in some of those states say gender-affirming surgeries are rarely recommended for minors anyway. Puberty blockers are more common.

Also on Friday, Polis signed a measure that outlaws “deceptive practices” by anti-abortion centers, which are known to market themselves as abortion clinics but don’t actually offer the procedure. Instead, they attempt to convince patients to not terminate their pregnancies. The bill also prohibits sites from offering what’s called an abortion pill reversal — and unproven practice to reverse a medical abortion...

A third bill signed Friday requires large employers to offer coverage for the total cost of an abortion, with an exception for those who object on religious grounds. It exempts public employees because Colorado’s constitution forbids the use of public funds for abortions."

-via AP News, 4/14/23

#colorado #new mexico #abortion #abortion access #pro choice #gender affirming care #gender affirming surgery #puberty blockers #illinois #united states #us politics #reproductive rights #safe haven #jared polis #democrats #good news #hope

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uncharismatic-fauna · 2 months

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No Tears for the Southern Black Widow

Latrodectus mactans, more commonly known as the southern black widow, is the most common species in the black widow family. While it can be found throughout North America, they are found most often in the southern United States. Within this wide range, L. mactans enjoys a variety of habitats. They prefer areas that are close to the ground, dark, and sheltered; in the wild this may mean dense brush or under logs, while in inhabited areas they may be found in basements, log piles, or under trash lids.

In addition to being the most common black widow, L. mactans is also the largest member of the family Theridiidae. The females are larger than the males, averaging at about 8-10 mm (0.31- 0.39 in) in length and weighing about 1 g (0.04 oz); however the male's legs are generally longer than the females. Both males and females are black, with small thoraxes and extremely large, round abdomens. The female can be distinguished by the iconic red hour-glass shape on the underside of her abdomen, while the male has 4 pairs of red and white stripes on each side of his abdomen.

The southern black widow is mainly solitary, spending most of its time in or near its web. Only the females live long enough to build a web for catching prey, and are the sole source of black widow bites. While bites do require medical attention, no human fatalities have been reported since 1983.

During the day, females hang in the center of the web to expose the bright red warning on their abdomen; when startled they drop to the ground and play dead. Though the webs they construct are haphazard-- the stereotype of cobwebs-- they are extremely strong and are capable of catching woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, other spiders, and occasionally small mice. Once an animal becomes trapped in L. mactan's web, the spider envenoms its prey and wraps it in a thick cocoon. After the animal dies the spider injects it with digestive enzymes and consumes the resulting fluid. Despite their strong venom, the southern black widow can be victim to several predaotrs; namely wasps, the brown widow spider, praying mantises, and large centipedes.

The southern black widow mates primarily in the spring and summer. Mature males build small webs and deposit semen along the threads. He then coats his mouthpieces-- palps-- with sperm and sets out to find a female mate. To court her, he vibrates the threads of her web until she is receptive. On rare occasions, a displeased female may eat the male. Afterwards, if he survives, the male leaves the females web and dies soon afterwards. From just one encounter, the female can store enough sperm to last her a lifetime of reproductive cycles.

After fertilization, the female builds a small web where she lays her egg sac, which can contain up to 400 eggs. She guards these eggs until they hatch about 20 days later, and immedietly disperse to establish their own territories. Until they become fully mature, at about 90 days old, juveniles have no venom and are extremely vulnerable to predators- including adult black widows. Typically only about 30 individuals from a single clutch survive to adulthood. Once mature, males can live for only one year, while females can live up to three years in the wild.

Conservation status: The IUCN has not evaluated the southern black widow, but due to its large range and population size it is considered stable. It is able to adapt to most habitats, and thus the species' only threat comes from extermination via pest control.

If you send me proof that you’ve made a donation to UNRWA or another organization benefiting Palestinians, I’ll make art of any animal of your choosing.

Photos

Mark Kostich

James L. Castner

Meghan F. Murphy

#southern black widow #Araneae #Theridiidae #black widows #true widows #tangle-web spiders #cobweb spiders #spiders #arachnids #arthropods #generalist fauna #generalist arthropods #urban fauna #urban arthropods #north america #southern north america

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girlactionfigure · 20 days

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The IDF confirms that the body of hostage Elad Katzir was retrieved from the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip overnight.

The IDF says that according to its intelligence, Katzir was "murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terror group."

The operation to recover the body was carried out by the Commando Brigade, following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security agency and the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate.

"Following an identification procedure carried out overnight by medical officials at the National Center of Forensic Medicine, IDF and Shin Bet representatives informed the family of the late Elad Katzir about the recovery of his body," the military says.

The IDF and Shin Bet say they "express their deepest condolences to the family."

Katzir was abducted by Islamic Jihad from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught. His mother, Hanna, was also abducted and later released in a deal on November 24. His father, Avraham, was murdered in the Kibbutz.

May his memory be a blessing.

#Israel #October7 #Hamas Massacre #BDE #💔#HamasKidnappers

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southernmedicalsuites · 2 years

Link

An eating disorder can cause people to consume too much or too little food. Additionally, they may be preoccupied with their weight or shape. Anyone can suffer from eating disorders. Hunts Point Primary Care in the Bronx is a great place to seek treatment if you are also concerned about an eating disorder. Make sure you get the best treatment. Location: Bronx Primary Care 811 Southern Blvd, The Bronx, NY 10459, United States

#Multi Specialty Medical Center Bronx #Multi Speciality Clinic Bronx #southern optometry #optometrist bronx #Optometry in Bronx

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naughtyneganjdm · 1 year

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A Trade Off

Summary: Desperate to finally get some sleep, Y/N goes to Joel in hopes of getting some pills to help her.

Characters: Joel Miller & the reader (OC, third person)

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45693934

Warnings: Swearing, smut, cheating, a small amount of coercion, etc.

Notes: I kind of wrote this very quickly this morning. It’s a short little one-shot with no plot really just smut. So I hope you enjoy it. Y/N obviously means your name or whatever name you choose to use.

Exhaustion had become a well-known friend for Y/N these days. To say she was lacking sleep would be an understatement. Between her fear of the infected and FEDRA working her to the bone, she couldn’t shut her brain down to get some sleep. The only form of relief she could get these days was the kind that came in the shape of a pill and she hoped she would be able to get the same thing again.

Heading through the narrow, damp hallways of the apartment building she was in, she was praying that Joel or Tess would be home. The smugglers that were known on the streets to help get you anything that you needed. A few times in the past they had given her samples to test out their stash of medication. Joel more times than Tess. Tess was strict on how much she was willing to hand out, while Joel had been a little more understanding and lenient with her.

Stopping before their door, she knocked once and heard nothing on the other end. Waiting, she knew that she should have just turned around, but she was so tired and she knew that she needed some help. Knocking harder this time, she heard a grumble at the other end followed by the sound of something falling over behind the door.

“Dammit, I’m coming,” Joel’s deep voice rumbled making her thankful to know that he was actually home. She didn’t realize just how desperate she actually was to get some sleep. When the door pulled open, she felt her throat go dry seeing Joel’s dark eyes falling upon her. His arm rest against the doorframe while his other hand clung tightly to the door. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry for bothering you, but I was hoping that you could help me with something,” she whispered looking down the hallways making sure that they were alone. With a grumble, Joel held the door open further for her allowing her into the apartment. Once she entered, she waited at the center of the living room area while Joel limped into the room. With his disheveled appearance, she assumed that meant that he was sleeping when she knocked. “I’ve been having some trouble sleeping lately…”

“We all have trouble sleeping,” Joel scoffed, folding his arms out in front of his chest while he waited to hear directly what it was that she wanted. “What are you looking for?”

“I was hoping to get a few pills to help me sleep,” she pushed her hands into her pockets knowing that she felt she was doing something shady coming to Joel to get medication that only he and Tess were capable of getting.

“Okay, but you have to pay for them. No more freebies,” Joel reached back to caress his fingers over the back of his neck and then up through his messy hair making her nod her head. She knew that was coming. There was only so many free samples that she would be able to get. “How many did you want?”

“I don’t know, ten?” she came up with a random number making Joel’s eyes narrow out at her before nodding. Joel headed into a different room leaving her to herself to eye over the things in their apartment before she cleared her throat. “Where is Tess?”

“She’s on a supply run,” Joel’s southern drawl called out from the other room making her swallow down hard. Joel returned with a bag of something and when he stepped before her she couldn’t help but eye over the ruggedly good looking man that had drawn her eye on more than one occasion. “We’re running low on some things, so she’s out there getting it for us.”

Clearing her throat, she saw Joel hold the bag up and she gave him a nod, “I can’t give you the bag, so whatever you take you have to carry in your pocket.”

“How much are they?” she reached inside her pocket to pull out her ration cards making Joel shrug his shoulders.

“For ten hydro? Fifty rations,” Joel answered hearing her let out an overwhelmed sound when she counted what she had. When she counted it and realized she didn’t have enough, she raised her stare up at him to see Joel shrug.

“I only have forty-five and I still need to eat,” she reasoned with Joel who simply shook his head, his stare cold showing that he wasn’t breaking on the price.

“Forty-five gets you nine,” Joel pointed out with a bob of his head, lowering the bag at his side. “I can’t give you any breaks here Y/N. Tess is paying attention to our inventory here and I can’t be handing out any more samples for you.”

“I thought they were two a piece before,” she thought back to when Tess tried selling her more of the pills in the past and she turned them down knowing that she wanted to save her money to live better, but there would be no living at this point if she didn’t finally sleep.

“Low inventory, price goes up. So they are five a piece now,” Joel declared with another shrug of his shoulders. Y/N was taking her time to try to figure out what she should get and Joel dramatically exhaled. “Listen, are you going to get any or not?”

“I guess I’ll go with five,” she knew how much money she had and knew that she still needed to have enough to make it through her normal life as well. Hopefully with five, it would help reset her system and get her to start sleeping again. Joel started to open the bag before thinking something over and closing the bag back up to put them in his pocket. “What is it?”

“You really want those ten?” Joel pushed making her stand before him, not quite sure how she could even get them to begin with. “I’ll give them to you for thirty-five as long as you do something for me to make up for the rest you don’t have.”

“What could I possibly do for you?” her eyebrow arched in curiosity feeling Joel moving around her and she heard him drop down on the couch behind her. Turning on her heel, her eyebrow arched and she let out a shuddering breath. Joel was looking up at her with his chocolate brown eyes. His right arm draped across the back of the couch, while his left hand laid across the center of his groin almost in a suggestive manner. His eyebrows bounced up and she felt her heartrate quicken. “Are you saying…?”

“I reckon it’s pretty obvious what I’m saying,” Joel’s fingers stretched out enough for him to palm in over the front of his pants.

“What about Tess?” she inquired seeing him sliding further down on the couch, pushing his thighs further apart.

“What about Tess? She’s not here,” Joel pointed out, tossing his hand up for a moment before smirking. “Plus, knowing about Tess didn’t stop you that one night.”

“Oh, so now you’re acknowledging that something happened between us that night?” she threw out there making Joel’s head tip to the side. “Because as far as I was aware, when I woke up in the morning you were gone and you never acted like that night happened.”

“What was there to say? It happened, we went on with our lives,” Joel’s face twisted in contemplation, “and now I want it again.”

“How much do you want exactly?” she inquired making Joel smirk when she folded her arms out in front of her chest.

“How many pills do you want?” Joel’s expression didn’t change much when she thought about the whole situation. “You want your five, you can take your five. You want your ten, I’ll give it to you if you work that mouth of yours and if you want fourteen, well…I’m sure you could figure out a way to persuade me.”

“And when Tess notices that the supply is lower than it should be?” she quipped back making Joel sigh loudly.

“Then I tell Tess I went on a bit of a binge. It wouldn’t be the first time,” Joel grumbled under his breath watching her slowly lowered down to her knees making his dark eyes narrow. Gradually, she moved across the floor moving between his legs. Raising up higher, her palms slid in over his knees before sliding up over the lengths of his thighs making Joel let out a tight breath. “Now make it good…”

“I’m always good,” she claimed with a shake of her head, caressing over his thighs giving them a tight squeeze. Adjusting her body, she slid her right hand up toward the center of his pants. Finding the root to his masculinity, she palmed over his body through the material of his jeans feeling him hardening beneath her touch. Squeezing faintly made a small rumble fall from his throat with his lips parting while she teased him.

“You must really want those pills, don’t you?” Joel watched her fingers slide up toward the button in his pants pulling it open with ease. When her fingertips dragged down the zipper, he lifted his hand up to drag his thumb in over her bottom lip. With a purr, she kissed at the pad of his thumb before taking it between her lips making him grunt. Her tongue lapped at his flesh before pulling her head back with a wet sound.

“It’s not like I’m going to have a problem doing this,” she replied with a slur, working to pull apart the material of his pants. When they were separated enough, she worked her hand into his pants. Arching his hips up, Joel helped her pull his erection from behind the denim prison it was confined in. The way her eyes surveyed over his length sent a chill through his entire body. She looked at it with such awe before her fingers delicately wrapped around his girthy length to take her time to stroke over it. “You have such a beautiful cock.”

Leaning over his lap, she pressed faint kisses at the underside of the tip making Joel hum out in approval. Involuntarily, his hips arched up when her grasp got tighter and she started to pump her hand over the length of his shaft while her tongue dragged out over the tip. Purring out, the taste of him lingered on her tongue. Raising her eyes, she stared out at Joel for a moment longer before grabbing a firm hold of the base of his cock. Taking Joel between her parted lips made a grunt escape him when the warmth of her mouth surrounded him.

This was something she was enjoying. The way her tongue lapped at the ridges of his manhood and the sounds she made drove Joel wild with desire. Between her tongue and the wet kisses she would place at the swollen tip, she had him eager for more. Tangling his fingers into her hair, Joel helped lead her to his length knowing that he wanted a bit more than this teasing she was giving him.

With a proud smirk, she allowed Joel to push her further down his length having his tip hit the back of her throat making her let out a wet sound before pulling back. Joel set a tempo of her head bobbing over his length having her drag her tongue along the underside of his cock with every pull back. Her blowjob was something that he had been thinking about since the first night they had spent together. It was something he never thought he would have again with her, but when the opportunity arose, he couldn’t turn it down.

Closing his eyes and dropping his head back against the couch, Joel couldn’t help but enjoy himself with her pleasuring him. And she was certainly working hard for it making his abdomen tense up. By the sounds she was making while giving him a blowjob, he wondered who was actually enjoying this more. Him…or her. Regardless, he couldn’t help but enjoy getting the time to be pampered upon.

Tightening his grasp in her hair, Joel led her further down his length making her tense up when she took him as far back into her throat as she could. After a few seconds, he loosened his grasp and allowed her to pull back for a breath. When her wet lips pulled from his cock, her fingers still caressed over his body coating him in her saliva before she licked her lips.

Returning to her previous place over his lap, she wrapped her lips around the tip and the way she varied between using her tongue over him and her mouth had him twitching forward, his hand sliding down between her shoulders when his breathing grew louder. He was right on the edge of coming and he knew it. Closing his eyes, his whole body tensed up only for him to let out an unpleasant sound when she pulled her mouth away from him and licked her lips.

“What are you doing?” Joel grumbled looking down at his straining cock. It was solid and eager to get its release that she had stolen from him. Lifting his head, he watched as she pulled open her pants and eagerly tugged the material down her body after kicking out of her shoes. Swallowing down hard, Joel’s eyebrows furrowed when he watched her shimmy out of her panties making him lick his lips.

“Getting something out of this for me too,” she breathed out moving back to the couch to reach for Joel’s pants to tug the material further down his body. They finally dropped at his ankles when she crawled in over his lap. Resting her knees at each side of him, she felt Joel adjusting beneath her with his hands sliding up and over her bare hips.

“So none of that was for you?” Joel muttered, his right eyebrow arching while her fingers worked to open the blue denim shirt that he was wearing. After getting the material separated, she took her time to palm up and over the lengths of his abdomen toward his chest. It made Joel growl out, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat when he looked up at her with his dark stare. “It sounded like you were enjoying yourself.”

“Maybe a little bit,” she snickered, biting down into her bottom lip before reaching between the two of them to grab a hold of his solid cock, stroking it a few times to prepare him for her. “Try not to come too fast. I know you were right there when I stopped.”

“I’ll do my best,” he rumbled when she lined the tip of his body up with her already wet entrance. Pleasuring him earlier undoubtedly turned her on with how wet she already was with him. Lowering her hips over his length had her clutching tightly to his shoulders, a whimper falling from her full lips while she took him slowly into her. With her body parting to him, Joel couldn’t help feeling chills while she got adjusted to his size. Clutching tightly to her bare thighs, Joel knew that his grasp was strong enough that it was going to leave a mark on her, but she didn’t seem to care. When he filled her completely, she paused making Joel groan out with her surrounding him. Pushing his fingers up over her sides, he tugged at the material of her shirt and pulled it off to drop it onto the couch beside them. With his hands returning, he caressed up and over her ribcage before cupping her breasts making her purr out and drop her head back. “You’re something else.”

Joel’s rough thumbs circled over her nipples making her shudder against his touch before his head dropped forward to start pressing wet kisses down the side of her neck toward her collarbone. It was more personal than Y/N thought he was willing to go, but she liked it. Sinking her fingers into his hair, she purred out and started to raise her hips up almost all the way to the tip before dropping her hips back down. It made Joel moan out against her flesh sending a chill down her spine. One of Joel’s hands settled at the small of her back while she started to rock her hips over his length. The tip of his tongue circled her nipple before taking it between his lips with a faint sucking motion. The more animated her movements became over him had him letting out winces against her body. Dropping his head back against the back of the couch, his other hand fell to her hips to help her bounce over his length.

“Your big cock feels so good inside of me,” she whimpered out, digging her fingers into his shoulders while she had her way with him. Even exhausted, she found herself absolutely loving this. Being with Joel was addictive and she was eager for each movement she made over him. Having him inside of her was the sweetest stretching full feeling that she could have asked for. “Joel.”

“Fuck…” his moan was faint, but with his eyebrows furrowing and his head tipped down to watch the way his cock disappeared inside of her time and time again, it fueled her. Getting him off would be a present to her. Whether she got five pills or ten, she didn’t care. All that mattered was this moment right here with Joel. For so long she knew that Joel belonged to Tess so she never thought getting to be with him again would even be a possibility for her. Joel’s fingers curled around the side of her neck bringing her forward with a hum. “Come here…”

Joel’s lips covered hers, surprising her and slowing down her movements over him while his lips caressed over hers in the most demanding hungry sweep. The last time they were together, Joel didn’t kiss her so this was sensational for her. It made her body feel like it was on fire with him deep inside of her. The throbbing of Joel’s cock inside of her to his lips claiming her in the most animalistic of ways had the room spinning around her.

“Keep going,” he nipped at her bottom lip, his hands finding their way back to her hips to get her moving over him again. This time he led her over him in strong, swift movements knowing that he was searching for that release she had kept from him previously. Joel’s hips were now meeting her movements, arching up from the couch leaving a smacking sound surround them with each thrust he made beneath her. “Good girl.”

Hearing him praise her like that kickstarted her heart. She liked it. Taking it as encouragement, she started to roll her hips over him harder, her lips hovering over his while she took as much control of the situation as she could. Her cries fell from her lips while Joel watched her facial expressions. He wanted to witness what this was doing to her. It was an arrogance thing, but it turned her on all the more. His lips parted and a muscle at the corner of his jaw flexed.

“Yes,” she kissed him this time finding a fire growing at the pit of her stomach. They were both so close to their breaking points. Joel winced against her lips and she could feel his cock twitching inside of her. The warmth of his release started to fill her. Hot strands of his cum poured out into her making her purr against his mouth. Keeping up with her steady movements, she felt Joel’s tongue press between her lips and it drew a fire throughout her. Even after he came, she was looking for that release herself until she finally got it with her eyes slamming shut tightly. Falling in against Joel, she buried her head against the side of his neck and felt her heart pounding inside of her chest.

Joel’s hand caressed in over her hip before his hand found its way to her bottom. A gasp filled the air after he firmly smacked over her bottom making her arch forward toward him with him still inside of her, “Good girl. Very good girl.”

Licking her lips, she pulled back enough to look between them. Easing her hips up from his length, she watched it smack up against his lower abdomen when it pulled from her. His release slid down her thighs making him smirk when he reached between them to sweep some of it away with his thumb. Reaching up, he dragged his thumb coated in his release over her bottom lip making her purr when she took his finger between her lips cleaning his cum from his finger. It made Joel growl before pulling her down to him to get her to kiss him once more.

With a final firm smack over her bottom, she felt Joel adjusting her over him and moving her next to him on the couch. It took a while for her to gather herself while she watched Joel pulling his pants back up his legs. Her throat went dry watching him push his softening cock back into his pants before buckling them back together. Joel left his shirt open while he walked through the apartment. He went over to the counter to drop out the pills that she had come for.

Shakily reaching for her clothes, she pulled each garment on one by one. Standing on unsteady legs, she headed beside him seeing that he counted out fourteen pills for her and pushed them toward the corner of the counter.

“Thirty-five,” Joel held his hand out watching her smirk and shake her head. Grabbing her ration tickets from her pocket, she counted out what he asked from her and handed them over. Joel shoved the ration tickets into his pocket before glancing over at the pills. “They are all there.”

“So that’s it?” she watched him head over toward the bottle of whiskey that was there to pull the lid from the bottle. Joel’s eyebrow arched in amusement before he took a long swig of the burning liquid. “So I take my pills and leave? We never do this again?”

“I mean, it all depends on what you need next and if you have enough rations to pay for it,” Joel gave her a wink starting to button up his shirt.

“Or if Tess is home,” she pointed out watching Joel tip his head from side to side.

“That too,” Joel agreed biting at his bottom lip before nodding to his door. “Which is for another week or so. So if you think about something you are going to need more of, feel free to come back at any time. I hope you finally get that sleep you were looking for Y/N.”

#Joel Miller #Pedro Pascal #The Last of Us #Joel Miller x reader #Joel Miller fanfiction #Joel Miller x you #joel miller smut #joel miller imagine #tlou fanfiction

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haddonfieldwhore · 8 months

Text

best friend - jeff hardy

2001! jeff hardy x gn!reader

word count: 1.2k

warnings: mentions of (scripted) violence?, reader is younger than matt and jeff, best friends to lovers trope

you watched from ringside with wide eyes as your best friend of 10 years, jeff hardy, walked across the top of multiple ladders in the centre of the ring, before toppling to the canvas below, somehow landing on his feet. you breathed a sigh of relief, but your rapid heart rate didn’t let up as the match continued on. splintered tables and steel ladders littered the ground surrounding the ring, along with the barely moving bodies of the other tag teams. you felt like a spectator in your own body, like you weren’t really there, as you watched the 6 men toss eachother around for what felt like hours. jeff climbed back up the ladder and got a hold of the belts, before the ladder was pulled from under his feet, leaving him dangling high above the ring.

positioning another ladder in the center of the ring, edge climbed nearly to the top before spearing jeff mid-air, the two men plummeting to the mat below before laying there motionless. you had to physically held back from jumping into the ring to make sure he was okay, and if you weren’t panicked out of your mind you would have mentally thanked the official for not allowing you to interfere, or worse, throw the match. lita, one of your closest friends and also the girlfriend of jeff’s older brother matt, rubbed your back reassuringly, but you knew she was just as worried as you were. for the remainder of the match, you clutched the apron so hard your knuckles turned white, until finally christian grabbed the belt, ending the match.

as soon as you heard the bell, you slid under the bottom rope, immediately checking on jeff to make sure he was okay. he mumbled almost inaudibly that he was alright, as your hands frantically but gently checked him for signs of injury, before he began to sit up. jeff winced, holding his ribs as he got himself to a sitting position, letting you pull him into your arms in a hug filled with relief.

“are you okay?” you asked desperately, as jeff returned the hug, placing a kiss on the top of your head before you pulled away, cradling his face in your hands, his long red hair dripping with sweat as your brushed it aside.

“i’m okay, i promise,” he assured you, his southern accent peeking through as he spoke. you tilted his head to the side to kiss his cheek, and steadied him as he tried to stand, grateful to have you as a crutch for balance.

•

a few hours later, jeff had been checked over by the medical team and deemed fine, miraculously having sustained no serious injuries during what was sure to become a historic match for the ages. you were curled up next to him on the couch in the hardyz dressing room, waiting for it to be time to head to the next venue. your head rested on jeff’s chest, tangled in each others arms and you slept soundly. jeff’s attention was drawn to the sound of the door opening, and he placed a finger to his lips, signalling to his older brother to be quiet. matt obliged as he silently sat in a chair across from jeff, who’s tattooed fingers absentmindedly traced little patterns onto your back.

“you’d think we’d be the ones sleepin after that match,” matt joked, and jeff smiled down at you. “i guess it takes a lotta energy to worry about your dumbass all the time.”

“ain’t just me, you’re out there jumping off ladders an shit too,” jeff laughed, but his eyebrows furrowed together slightly.

“yeah, but you’re the one they haven’t let go of since the match ended. doctors could barely examine you they were clingin’ on to ya so tight,” matt teased, and jeff was worried you’d woken up as you made a small noise, but only snuggled closer to him and continued sleeping. “jesus jeff, quit droolin,” matt laughed. the younger hardy looked up at his older brother, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

“man, is it that obvious?” he asked sheepishly.

“jeff, i’m your brother; of course it’s obvious to me,” matt said. “but it’s pretty obvious that kid’s in love with you too.” jeff held you a little tighter, and you mumbled slightly as you awoke, eyes opening slowly as they adjusted to the light.

“hey sleepyhead,” jeff smiled, and your heart skipped a beat when you realized where you were. it was a common occurrence for you and jeff to wind up tangled on the couch on asleep on each other shoulders in the backseat driving from show to show, but it still have you butterflies every time you woke up in his arms.

“hey- is it time to go?” you asked, sitting up slightly to jeff’s disappointment as he let you out of his grip. he was relieved when you stayed close beside him however, keeping yourself tucked under his arm.

“not yet. y’all want anything from catering? i’m gonna grab a bite,” matt offered, and you turned your attention to him, only now realizing that he was in the room.

“no, thank you,” you replied as he stood to leave, jeff shaking his head as he also wasn’t interested.

“suit yourselves. be back in a bit.” he tapped jeff on the shoulder as he passed by, the sound of the door confirming that he had in fact left the dressing room.

“tired?” jeff asked, and you nodded, snuggling back into his chest, and cussing him to laugh as he tightened his arms around you again.

“are you sure you’re okay? that spot was insane,” you asked, looking him in the face and searching his eyes for any sign of hesitation. jeff leaned forward and kissed the end of your nose, and you felt heat rising to your cheeks as he replied.

“i’m okay, i swear. it coulda been a lot worse than it was,” he said, and you nodded, finally accepting his answer.

“okay. promise me you’ll be careful though?”

“how long have we been best friends? shouldnt you know by now that’s not in my nature?” he teased, pinching your side by your ribs, sending both of you into a fit of laughter

“alright alright! please stop!” you begged, laughing all the while until jeff finally stopped pinching and tickling your sides, smiling at you. “what? why are you looking at me like that?” you asked, your stomach doing a flip as jeff’s hand grabbed the back of your head softly and pulled your face down until your lips met his. the kiss was soft and sweet, but full of all the love you had both bottled up for years. you pulled away in shock, staring into jeff’s hazel-green eyes.

“i’m sorry, i..i should’ve asked-“ he stuttered nervously.

“so ask me,” you interrupted, and his eyebrows raised in surprise before he cleared his throat.

“can i kiss you?” he asked sincerely, and you nodded in response, jeff crashing his lips onto yours immediately after receiving your permission. it felt as if the weight of a thousand bricks had lifted off of your shoulders; of course you had always loved jeff. how could you not?

pulling away, he placed one more soft kiss on your lips before doing. the same to your nose and forehead, and pulling you into his lap, your head resting in the crook of his neck.

“i love you,” he muttered into your hair, and you smiled, breathing in the scent of his freshly washed hair and the cologne that lingered on his skin.

“i love you more.”

#jeff hardy #i’ve never written for wwe before #this is very out of my comfort zone but jeff is the loml #jeff hardy wwe #jeff hardy fic #jeff hardy imagine #jeff hardy x reader #matt hardy #hardy boys #wwe imagine #jeff hardy aew

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