cactusfru1ts

[cactusfru1ts]

since mrs, ms, and mr are all descended from the latin word magister, i propose the gender neutral version should be mg, short for "mage"

[cactusfru1ts]

magical girl but the person you become when you transform is not you. it is something else. and the line between you and your magical form is drawing ever closer and yet so far away

[cactusfru1ts]

i saw that one disability-related post a while ago about dental care but i can't find it again so i'm gonna mention a few things as a (mild to moderately) mentally & physically disabled person, whose teeth hurt when i eat sweet stuff now + i've had a root canal due to a fall + i'm learning to take care of myself, that may or may not help other folks with their dental routine

note: i am not a dentist & this info is mostly what i've gleaned secondhand from dentists, so yeah, i am not an expert in any capacity

water flossers aren't as effective as regular flossing (doing both is actually what's most effective) but they're better than nothing & helpful in cases where coordination problems or other issues might prevent regular flossing technique (i imagine this also depends on the quality of the water flosser)

if you use one of the plastic pre-made floss picks things, rinse the string off in-between each time you use it to floss one side of a tooth, it's tedious but it mimics moving to a new (clean) part of the thread like you do with regular floss

if you get an automatic toothbrush, get one that does circular rotation rather than just vibrating or whatever, as this mimics the tools they use in a dentist's office + imitates the circular motion you're expected to make with a standard toothbrush (which is also hard with coordination issues), i got one that does this pretty cheap from walmart (it's an oral-b but i forgot the specific type) + it automatically times it for you

if you have white spots on your teeth that are uneven with the shade of the rest of the tooth those are potentially white spot lesions due to demineralization; whitening products can make this worse rather than help it, but some products can help with remineralization such as mi paste topical tooth creme, which contains calcium and phosphate (i have yet to try this myself but it seems to get suggested by a lot of dentists, orthodontists, etc. for white spots on teeth & it's also supposed to help with sensitivity and tooth health in general because the white spots are lesions so it's not purely cosmetic!)

it's advised to not rinse your mouth immediately after brushing as this potentially dilutes & reduces the effects of the flouride (if you use fluoride toothpaste), stuff says to wait at least 15 minutes or so

just giving your teeth a quick scrub (even if it's without toothpaste and just water) is better than not brushing your teeth at all

if you have trouble seeing a dentist for financial reasons, try to see if there are income-based or charity dental services in your area, sometimes dental schools also provide low-cost/free dental care

that's all i can think of for now, i wish i had more advice for people who struggle to be able to brush their teeth at all in general but this is all i got unfortunately :(

additionally - you're not bad, useless, gross, or a failure if you struggle to (or can't) maintain oral hygiene; this stuff is much easier for some people than it is to others & those who take it for granted like to forget that, no one deserves to be mocked or looked down on for being disabled & struggling to/not being able to do """basic""" stuff like this!

[cactusfru1ts]

It REALLY is fucking funny how there is genuinely a distinct third faction in AI discourse on this site that is not "Pro-AI" but "The anti-AI crowd is talking about divine sparks of creativity and shit and I'm not about that"

[cactusfru1ts]

Because I've recently had one of those "your experiences are not universal" moments, please humor me

[cactusfru1ts]

I love my beautiful wife.

[cactusfru1ts]

Without looking it up, when you first hear "Tornado Warning", what does that mean to you?

[cactusfru1ts]

[cactusfru1ts]

a story with that cyberpunk theme of “are you really human if you modify your body to gain power“, except the body modification is just strength training.

[cactusfru1ts]

[cactusfru1ts]

WHO GOT CAUGHT!?

[cactusfru1ts]

[ID: a very simply drawn three panel comic. the first panel shows a person approaching a cat that's laying on the floor and reaching down to hug her, saying "gertie." the second panel shows two coins falling from the person's shirt pocket. the third panel shows the coins bouncing off the cat, who doesn't care.]

[cactusfru1ts]

gertrude

[ID: a picture of an old, grumpy-looking brown tabby cat gazing dead-eyed into the camera.]

[cactusfru1ts]

the x files is funny because at the time it was “progressive” or whatever to have the ultra-rational, levelheaded character be a woman

but it’s also a show where all the fucked up alien shit actually is real, so she’s just constantly wrong about everything

[cactusfru1ts]

It’s funny when American authors come up with a new European nation so their main character can be a secret royal without the pain of researching a real nation. We should all start doing that with North America, just make up a new state. My protagonist lives in New Utahioshington which is the 51st state and located between Delaware and Maryland

[cactusfru1ts]

I actually really love that Hawkeye seems to consider 'Hawkeye' his Real Name, much moreso than Ben or Benjamin, and to a much stricter extent than any other nicknames we see, like Trapper, or even Radar, who seems overjoyed when football player Billy refers to him as Walter. I get the impression that Trapper thinks of himself as John, Klinger thinks of himself as Max, Radar thinks of himself as Walter even if he's resigned to only being known by a different name, etc, but Hawkeye thinks of himself as Hawkeye.

People, including Hawkeye, pretty much only ever refer to him as Ben or Benjamin in legal contexts, when yelling at him, when using his full name to make a joke, or to demonstrate their obnoxiousness (eg the Stars and Stripes guy in Depressing News). Even Daniel's use of "Ben" in The Party was in a mildly chastising context. tbf an aunt uses it in a letter too once, neutrally, but that's just how extended family is in my experience lol. He introduces himself as Hawkeye, corrects people when they use his legal name, and his childhood friends, his uni friends, and his ex girlfriend from his residency years all refer to him as Hawkeye.

Idk why I love it really lol, but it's a detail that I just dig. The sense of individualism, maybe? Hawkeye doesn't care for his stupid president name so he latches onto one that does have meaning for him and makes it his real name as far as anyone except paperwork filers are concerned? I do admire that vibe. Or maybe it's just that I can get attached to the names for characters we're given in canon and dislike when other names are used for them, at least in the wrong context (eg Starsky and Hutch referring to each other by first name after they fuck despite having already been about as emotionally intimate as possible) and I find it validating that Hawkeye also seems to dislike his alternate name and never uses it lol.

[cactusfru1ts]

just wanted to post about the books unbanned initiative — it allows teens/college students to get library cards in the following cities:

brooklyn public library (ages 13-21) — email booksunbanned@bklynlibrary.org to get your free card

seattle public library (ages 13-26) — sign up here

boston public library (ages 13-26) — sign up here

la county library (ages 13-18; california only) — sign up here

san diego public library (ages 12 -26) — sign up here

brooklyn public library, seattle public library, boston public library and la county library all use libby, whereas the san diego public library uses cloud library.

there's also the queer liberation library, which is a free digital library you can sign up for here. anyone with a US mailing address can apply for this one, and there's no age limit!