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Kwek-kwek

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The 1960s United States through Evelyn Hofer’s lens.

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Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind 
 my amazing friend collabed w me on this Conzeit pls follow them, and inspired by a painting i saw on pinterest, by William Silvers ! follow me on twitter / instagram / patreon / shop / leave a tip  

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Dead Poets Society (1989) dir. Peter Weir

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pixel pokémon milk cartons ♡‧₊🧃⟡

shop - twitter - instagram - etsy - kofi - commissions

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Concept art by Claire Keane from The Art of Tangled

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“I’m an optimist, in the sense that I think we will build a sustainable future,” Wagner says. “But it’s going to take 30 or 40 years, and by then, it’s going to be too late for a lot of the creatures that I love. I want to do what I can with my last decade to chronicle the last days for many of these creatures.” Decades on from his months spent bound to the rocking chair, Janzen still watches. He records the yearly data, the shifts in dominant species. But today, there is so much less to see. Once, when he and Hallwachs would type up their notes in the night, they would pitch a tent in the living room to protect their computers from thousands of moths that flocked to the blue glow. Now, they work with the house open to the forest air. “I find myself saying, ‘Winnie! A moth has arrived at the light on my laptop,’” Janzen says. “One moth.” Elsewhere in their profession, some scientists are starting to look away. “We know quite a number of entomologists who have experience dating back to the 70s, 80s or 90s,” Hallwachs says. “One of our very good friends – he now does not have the emotional courage to hang up a sheet to collect moths at night. It is too devastating to see how few there are.”

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jiuzhaigou and ili area in china

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If you mess up a social interaction you can say "Failed Experiment" and move on

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How to Make a Safety/Harm Reduction Plan with Trans Kids

Friend asked me on how to help her trans kid. I couldn't find a good guide for this, especially with states like Iowa stripping us of our rights.

I want to be clear that this should not be done without the child's input. Always, always trust the kid to understand and always give them the chance to participate. There are ways to adjust the language for the age of the child, and children often have creative ideas when given the chance to participate. The goal here is to give the child the tools to help them thrive, okay? Thanks for understanding.

So without further ado, here's steps on how to help trans kids navigate all of this.

1. Identify safe groups where the child can be themself. Remember, the child likely will have ideas on who to ask. So be sure to ask the child who they trust for this conversation.

NOTE: Talk with those on the "trusted" list and/or leaders of the trusted groups and verify they will defend the kid's right to be themself and support them. (Child doesn't necessarily have to be present for this, but let the child know how it went to ease anxiety.)

2. Identify which friends are safe and will honor their pronouns. Again, the child will have ideas on this too. Make a list together!

3. Sit down with the kid and explain this process.

(For my friend, I shared with them how I also wrote up a safety plan and harm reduction plan on how to navigate an increasingly hostile society such as my state stripping me of my civil rights. Having examples of others who have done this can help solidify the need and make it more approachable and less scary).

4. Share the list of groups and people who support the kid and will have their back 100%. (Be ready to hold those people accountable as a behind-the-scenes thing). Ask the kid if there are others they think you should work with to get them on board. Add them to the "talk to" part of the list."

5. Build a harm reduction and safety plan with the kid. This includes:

Talk about how to handle strangers in public spaces in a way that avoids too much misgendering but also keeps the kid safe. (Maybe use only their name and avoid pronouns entirely for instance).

Talk about how to handle medical professionals who are not known for being trans-friendly; how in those instances the kid will be wearing a "costume" as a safety strategy where they pretend to be x gender.

Talk about parks, stores, and other public spaces.

Talk about how to handle when meeting new people. How to test the water to see if it is safe to take off the 'x gender costume' or not.

6. Make sure the kid signs off on the harm reduction and safety plan, and that they feel included in it. Try to make it fun by drawing out scenarios, and explaining how sometimes we have to act like we're in a play for that scenario. We put on our "costume of x gender" and act out a play. Then when we are out of that scenario, we can take off our "costume of x gender" and enjoy being ourselves again around our safe groups and people.

(I'll write this up as a blogpost eventually. But for now, wanted to put it out there for folks to think about since transphobia and anti-trans legislation and policies are ramping up again. Please share any tips or resources you know of that can help!)

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Shattered is finally finished. This story is incredibly personal for me.

I wrote this story because I have DID (and several other chronic conditions that makes navigating it even more difficult).

I wrote this story because I am tired of stories that villianize those with DID. No, most people with DID are not serial killers. And yet so much media paints a horrific view of it that is mired in falsehoods and misinformation. The stigma against DID is painful and isolates.

I want a good portrayal of DID. One that really digs into what it is actually like, how healing may go, and ways to navigate it.

Stories like that are so incredibly rare, so I decided I'll write it myself. I used a fantastical setting -- the Supergirl universe -- to give myself some space so it wouldn't completely overwhelm me.

I also wanted to write about what a healing journey looks like, and how we cannot heal without the love and support of our chosen family and community. Healing is not a solitary thing. It's a communal action.

We have to choose to heal.

In this story, Lena has DID, where Lex did horrible things to her when she was a child. The fic explores her and her alters, how they cope, what exactly Lex did, how hard it can be to learn who all the alters are and their needs, and the healing journey Lena and her alters walk.

I also cover Kara, who as an alien her psyche differs from humans. I explore how she ends up splitting herself in order to fit in with humans and to keep her alien core self safe. How absorbing Red Daughter causes a shake-up in her system, and she has to engage in mind-healing to integrate Red Daughter in a healthier way.

I cover Sam, who is a singlet -- she does not have DID. Instead, her story digs into being a homeless, pregnant teen and how she overcame that. How she built up a chosen family and healed from that. It also digs into how the worldkiller crisis impacted her, and how she heals from that through the help of her loved ones and community.

All three have different traumas but interwoven healing journeys.

This story is me shouting to the world: we are not evil. We are people who have great trauma. We are worthy of care and acceptance. We are trying our best to find healthy ways to cope and heal, and we will mess up just like anyone else but repair is possible. Healing is possible. When we care for one another, support one another, we can heal.

It's also me exploring how I approach my own healing journey. In the end-notes I provide detailed explanations about DID, about alters, about different methods of healing, about integration (and how it's a personal choice whether to integrate or not).

I did this so people could at least get a glimpse into the truth of what living with it is like. I shared all I did so that understanding can be bridged and perhaps care built up.

Comments blew me away as many shared how it's been helping them heal too.

In the end, that's all I ever wanted.

If something I wrote brought healing and hope to another? Then I consider my job done.

The stories we tell matter. How we tell them matter. Sharing them matters.

You are not alone. No matter what you face. No matter what hardship or illness it is -- you are not alone. Others are out there that have or still face it. You are worthy of care and acceptance and community.

Yes, healing is so very hard at times. You will fuck up. We all fuck up at times, but that's part of healing. We engage in repair once we are in a mental state to do it in a healthy way, and we choose to heal and move forward.

Because that is how we grow. We don't grow by experiencing trauma.

We grow from choosing to heal and then acting on that decision to heal.

So remember that, and remember you deserve love and care too. Be safe, and happy reading.

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Leif Engström (Swedish, b. 1992, Brunskog, Sweden) - Skördetid, 2023, Paintings: Oil on Canvas

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Decoding Turner (Sonia Anderson, 2023).

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🚨🗣️📣 ATTENTION ALL 5 HOLM FANS WORLDWIDE: i made this holm spin gif for all your holm rotating needs :)

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blue sky and white clouds in ili by 刘知著