#and decreases the quality by like 60%

[strawberry-seal77]

my headphones: Oh- Oh I am about to die. collapsing on the floor. Please give me but a meager bite of energy from thine power cord..

also my headphones, whenever it connects: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[mightybeaujester]

Absolute shot in the dark but does anyone know any way to fix like the middle part of a crochet project?

I just finished a cardigan and I absolutely cannot stand the flare they have right below the shoulder, but I already frogged the sleeves like 5 times for dif reasons and I cannot take frogging both of them again.

[dresshistorynerd]

The Real Cost of the Fashion Industry

Atacama Desert, in Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chile. (source)

The textile industry is destroying the world. The industry is wasting massive amounts of energy and materials, and polluting the air, the ground and the water supplies. It overwhelmingly exploits it's labour and extracts wealth from colonized countries, especially in Asia. I assume we all broadly understand this, but I think it's useful to have it all laid out in front of you to see the big picture, the core issues causing this destruction and find ways how to effectively move forward.

The concerning trend behind this ever-increasing devastation are shortening of trend cycles, lowering clothing prices and massive amount of wasted products. Still in year 2000 it was common for fashion brands to have two collections per year, while now e.g. Zara produces 24 collections and H&M produces 12-16 collections per year. Clothing prices have fallen (at leas in EU) 30% from 1996 to 2018 when adjusted to inflation, which has contributed to the 40% increase in clothing consumption per person between 1996 and 2012 (in EU). (source) As the revenue made by the clothing industry keep rising - from 2017 to 2021 they doubled (source) - falling prices can only be achieved with increasing worker exploitation and decreasing quality. I think the 36% degrees times clothing are used in average during the last 15 years (source) is a clear indication on the continuing drop in quality of clothing. Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015, while 30% of the clothes produced per year are never sold and are often burned instead (source), presumably to prevent the returns from falling due to oversupply.

These all factors are driving people to overconsume. While people in EU keep buying more clothes, they haven't used up to 50% of the clothes in their wardrobe for over a year (source). This overconsumption is only made much worse by the new type of hyper fast fashion companies like SHEIN and Temu, which are using addictive psychological tactics developed by social media companies (source 1, source 2). They are cranking up all those concerning trends I mentioned above.

Under the cut I will go through the statistics of the most significant effects of the industry on environment and people. I will warn you it will be bleak. This is not just a fast fashion problem, basically the whole industry is engaging in destructive practices leading to this damage. Clothing is one of those things that would be actually relatively easy to make without massive environmental and human cost, so while that makes the current state of the industry even more heinous, it also means there's hope and it's possible to fix things. In the end, I will be giving some suggestions for actions we could be doing right now to unfuck this mess.

Carbon emissions

The textile industry is responsible for roughly 10% of the global CO2 emissions, more than aviation and shipping industry combined. This is due to the massive supply chains and energy intensive production methods of fabrics. Most of it can be contributed to the fashion sector since around 60% of all the textile production is clothing. Polyester, a synthetic fiber made from oil which accounts for more than half of the fibers used in the textile industry, produces double the amount of carbon emissions than cotton, accounting for very large proportions of all the emissions by the industry. (source 1, source 2)

Worker exploitation

Majority of the textiles are produced in Asia. Some of the worst working conditions are in Bangladesh, one of the most important garment producers, and Pakistan. Here's an excerpt from EU Parliament's briefing document from 2014 after the catastrophic Rana Plaza disaster:

The customers of garment producers are most often global brands looking for low prices and tight production timeframes. They also make changes to product design, product volume, and production timeframes, and place last-minute orders without accepting increased costs or adjustments to delivery dates. The stresses of such policies usually fall on factory workers.

The wage exploitation is bleak. According to the 2015 documentary The True Cost less than 2% of all garment factory workers earned a living wage (source). Hourly wages are so low and the daily quotas so high, garment workers are often forced through conditions or threats and demand to work extra hours, which regularly leads to 10-12 hour work days (source) and at worst 16 hour workdays (source), often without days off. Sometimes factories won't compensate for extra hours, breaching regulations (source).

Long working hours, repetitive work, lack of breaks and high pressure leads to increased risks of injuries and accidents. Small and even major injuries are extremely common in the industry. A study in three factories in India found that 70% of the workers suffered from musculosceletal symptoms (source). Another qualitative study of female garment workers and factory doctors in Dhaka found that long hours led to eye strain, headaches, fatigue and weight loss in addition to muscular and back pains. According to the doctors interviewed, weight loss was common because the workers work such long hours without breaks, they didn't have enough time to eat properly. (source) Another study in 8 factories in India found that minor injuries were extremely common and caused by unergonomic work stations, poor organization in the work place and lack of safety gear, guidelines and training (source). Safety precautions too are often overlooked to cut corners, which periodically leads to factory accidents, like in 2023 lack of fire exists and fire extinguishers, and goods stacked beyond capacity led to a factory fire in Pakistan which injured dozens of workers (source) or like in 2022 dangerous factory site led to one dead worker and 9 injured workers (source).

Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 is the worst industrial accident in recent history. The factory building did not have proper permits and the factory owner blatantly ignored signs of danger (other businesses abandoned the building a day before the collapse), which led to deaths of 1 134 workers and injuries to 2 500 workers. The factory had or were at the time working for orders of at least Prada, Versace, Primark, Walmart, Zara, H&M, C&A, Mango, Benetton, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Joe Fresh, Carrefour, Auchan, KiK, Loblaw, Bonmarche and Matalan. None of the brands were held legally accountable for the unsafe working conditions which they profited off of. Only 9 of the brands attended a meeting to agree on compensation for the victim's families. Walmart, Carrefour, Auchan, Mango and KiK refused to sight the agreement, it was only signed by Primark, Loblaw, Bonmarche and El Corte Ingles. The compension these companies provided was laughable though. Primemark demanded DNA evidence that they are relatives of one of the victims from these struggling families who had lost their often sole breadwinner for a meager sum of 200 USD (which doesn't even count for two months of living wage in Bangladesh (source)). This obviously proved to be extremely difficult for most families even though US government agreed to donate DNA kits. This is often said to be a turning point in working conditions in the industry, at least in Bangladesh, but while there's more oversight now, as we have seen, there's clearly still massive issues. (source 1, source 2)

One last major concern of working conditions in the industry I will mention is the Xinjiang raw cotton production, which is likely produced mainly with forced labour from Uighur concentration camps, aka slave labour of a suspected genocide. 90% of China's raw cotton production comes from Xinjiang (source). China is the second largest cotton producer in the world, after India, accounting 20% of the yearly global cotton production (source).

Pollution

Synthetic dyes, which synthetic fibers require, are the main cause of water pollution caused by the textile industry, which is estimated to account for 20% of global clean water pollution (source). This water pollution by the textile industry is suspected of causing a lot of health issues like digestive issues in the short term, and allergies, dermatitis, skin inflammation, tumors and human mutations in the long term. Toxins also effect fish and aquatic bacteria. Azo dyes, one of the major pollutants, can cause detrimental effects to aquatic ecosystems by decreasing photosynthetic activity of algae. Synthetic dyes and heavy metals also cause large amounts of soil pollution. Large amounts of heavy metals in soil, which occurs around factories that don't take proper environmental procautions, can cause anaemia, kidney failure, and cortical edoem in humans. That also causes changes in soil texture, decrease in soil microbial diversity and plant health, and changes in genetic structure of organisms growing in the soil. Textile factory waste water has been used for irrigation in Turkey, where other sources of water have been lacking, causing significant damage to the soil. (source)

Rayon produced through viscose process causes significant carbon disulphide and hydrogen sulphide pollution to the environment. CS2 causes cardiovascular, psychiatric, neuropsychological, endocrinal and reproductive disorders. Abortion rates among workers and their partners exposed to CS2 are reported to be significantly higher than in control groups. Many times higher amounts of sick days are reported for workers in spinning rooms of viscose fiber factories. China and India are largest producers of CS2 pollution, accounting respectively 65.74% and 11,11% of the global pollution, since they are also the major viscose producers. Emission of CS2 has increased significantly in India from 26.8 Gg in 2001 to 78.32 Gg in 2020. (source)

Waste

The textile industry is estimated to produce around 92 million tons of textile waste per year. As said before around 30% of the production is never sold and with shortening lifespans used the amount of used clothing that goes to waster is only increasing. This waste is large burned or thrown into landfills in poor countries. (source) H&M was accused in 2017 by investigative journalists of burning up to 12 tonnes of clothes per year themselves, including usable clothing, which they denied claiming they donated clothing they couldn't sell to charity instead (source). Most of the clothing donated to charity though is burned or dumbed to landfills (source).

Most of the waste clothing from rich countries like European countries, US, Australia and Canada are shipped to Chile (source) or African countries, mostly Ghana, but also Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire (source). There's major second-hand fashion industries in these places, but most of the charity clothing is dumbed to landfills, because they are in such bad condition or the quality is too poor. Burning and filling landfills with synthetic fabrics with synthetic dyes causes major air, water and soil pollution. The second-hand clothing industry also suppresses any local clothing production as donated clothing is inherently more competitive than anything else, making these places economically reliant on dumbed clothing, which is destroying their environment and health, and prevents them from creating a more sustainable economy that would befit them more locally. This is not an accident, but required part of the clothing industry. Overproduction let's these companies tap on every new trend quickly, while not letting clothing the prices in rich countries drop so low it would hurt their profits. Production is cheaper than missing a trend.

Micro- and nanoplastics

There is massive amounts of micro- and nanoplastics in all of our environment. It's in our food, drinking water, even sea salt (source). Washing synthetic textiles accounts for roughly 35% of all microplastics released to the environment. It's estimated that it has caused 14 million tonnes of microplastics to accumulate into the bottom of the ocean. (source)

Microplastics build up into the intestines of animals (including humans), and have shown to probably cause cause DNA damage and altered organism behavior in aquatic fauna. Microplastics also contain a lot of the usual pollutants from textile industry like synthetic dyes and heavy metals, which absorb in higher quantities to tissues of animals through microplastics in the intestines. Studies have shown that the adverse effect are higher the longer the microplastics stay in the organism. The effects cause major risks to aquatic biodiversity. (source) The health effects of microplastics to humans are not well known, but studies have shown that they could have adverse effects on digestive, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive and immune systems. (source)

Microplastics degrade in the environment even further to nanoplastics. Nanoplastic being even smaller are found to enter blood circulation, get inside cells and cross the blood-brain barrier. In fishes they have been found to cause neurological damage. Nanoplastics are also in the air, and humans frequently breath them in. Study in office buildings found higher concentration of nanoplastics in indoor air than outdoor air. Inside the nanoplastics are likely caused mostly by synthetic household textiles, and outdoors mostly by car tires. (source) An association between nanoplastics and mitochondrial damage in human respiratory cells was found in a recent study. (source)

Micro and nano plastics are also extremely hard to remove from the environment, making it even more important that we reduce the amount of microplastics we produce as fast as possible.

What can we do?

This is a question that deserves it's own essays and articles written about it, but I will leave you with some action points. Reading about these very bleak realities can easily lead to overwhelming apathy, but we need to channel these horrors into actions. Whatever you do, do not fall into apathy. We don't have the luxury for that, we need to act. These are industry wide problems, that simply cannot be fixed by consumerism. Do not trust any clothing companies, even those who market themselves as ethical and responsible, always assume they are lying. Most of them are, even the so called "good ones". We need legislation. We cannot allow the industry to regulate itself, they will always take the easy way out and lie to their graves. I will for sure write more in dept about what we can do, but for now here's some actions to take, both political and individual ones.

Political actions

Let's start with political actions, since they will be the much more important ones. While we are trying to dismantle capitalism and neocolonialism (the roots of these issues), here's some things that we could do right now. These will be policies that we should be doing everywhere in the world, but especially rich countries, where most of the clothing consumption is taking place. Vote, speak to others, write to your representative, write opinion pieces to your local papers, engage with democracy.

Higher requirements of transparency. Right now product transparency in clothing is laughably low. In EU only the material make up and the origin country of the final product are required to be disclosed. Everything else is up to the company. Mandatory transparency is the only way we can force any positive changes in the production. The minimum of transparency should be: origin countries of the fibers and textiles in the product itself; mandatory reports of the lifecycle emissions; mandatory reports of whole chain of production. Right now the clothing companies make their chain of production intentionally complex, so they have plausible deniability when inevitably they are caught violating environmental or worker protection laws (source). They intentionally don't want to be able to track down their production chain. Forcing them to do so anyway would make it very expensive for them to keep up this unnecessarily complex production chain. These laws are most effective when put in place in large economies like EU or US.

Restrictions on the use of synthetic fibers. Honestly I think they should be banned entirely, since the amount of microplastics in our environment is already extremely distressing and the other environmental effects of synthetic fibers are also massive, but I know there are functions for which they are not easily replaced (though I think they can be replaces in those too, but that's a subject of another post), so we should start with restrictions. I'm not sure how they should be specifically made, I'm not a law expert, but they shouldn't be used in everyday textiles, where there are very easy and obvious other options.

Banning viscose. There are much better options for viscose method that don't cause massive health issues and environmental destruction where ever it's made, like Lyocell. There is absolutely no reason why viscose should be allowed to be sold anywhere.

Governmental support for local production by local businesses. Most of the issues could be much more easily solved and monitored if most clothing were not produced by massive global conglomerations, but rather by local businesses that produce locally. All clothing are made by hand, so centralizing production doesn't even give it advantage in effectiveness (only more profits for the few). Producing locally would make it much more easier to enforce regulations and it would reduce production chains, making production more effective, leaving more profits into the hands of the workers and reducing emissions from transportation. When the production is done by local businesses, the profits would stay in the producing country and they could be taxed and utilized to help the local communities. This would be helpful to do in both exploited and exploiter countries. When done in rich countries who exploit poorer ones, it would reduce the demand for exploitation. In poor countries this is not as easily done, since poor means they don't have money to give around, but maybe this could be a good cause to put some reparations from colonizers and global corporations, which they should pay.

Preventing strategic accounting between subsidiaries and parent companies. Corporate law is obviously not my area of expertise, but I know that allowing corporations to move around the accounting of profits and losses between subsidiaries and parent companies in roughly 1980s, was a major factor in creating this modern global capitalist system, where corporations can very easily manipulate their accounting to utilize tax heavens and avoid taxes where they actually operate, which is how they are upholding this terrible system and extracting the profits from the production countries. How specifically this would be done I can't tell because again I know shit about corporate law, so experts of that field should plan the specifics. Overall this would help deal with a lot of other problems than just the fashion industry. Again for it to be effective a large economic area like EU or US should do this.

Holding companies accountable for their whole chain of production. These companies should be dragged to court and made to answer for the crimes they are profiting of off. We should put fear back into them. This is possible. Victims of child slavery are already doing this for chocolate companies. If it's already not how law works everywhere, the laws should be changed so that the companies are responsible even if they didn't know, because it's their responsibility to find out and make sure they know. They should have been held accountable for the Rana Plaza disaster. Maybe they still could be. Sue the mother fuckers. They should be afraid of us.

Individual actions

I will stress that the previous section is much more important and that there's no need to feel guilty for individual actions. This is not the fault of the average consumer. Still we do need to change our relationship to fashion and consumption. While it's not our fault, one of the ways this system is perpetuated, is by the consumerist propaganda by fashion industry. And it is easier to change our own habits than to change the industry, even if our own habits have little impact. So these are quite easy things we all could do as we are trying to do bigger change to gain some sense of control and keep us from falling to apathy.

Consume less. Better consumption will not save us, since consumption itself is the problem. We consume too much clothing. Don't make impulse purchases. Consider carefully weather you actually need something or if you really really want it. Even only buying second-hand still fuels the industry, so while it's better than buying new, it's still better to not buy.

Take proper care of your clothing. Learn how to properly wash your clothing. There's a lot of internet resources for that. Never wash your wool textiles in washing machine, even if the textile's official instructions allow it. Instead air them regularly, rinse them in cool water if they still smell after airing and wash stains with water or small amount of (wool) detergent. Never use fabric softener! It damages the fabrics, prevents them from properly getting clean and is environmentally damaging. Instead use laundry vinegar for making textiles softer or removing bad smells. (You can easily make laundry vinegar yourself too from white vinegar and water (and essential oils, if you want to add a scent to it) which is much cheaper.) Learn how to take care of your leather products. Most leather can be kept in very good condition for a very long time by occasional waxing with beeswax.

Use the services of dressmakers and shoemakers. Take your broken clothing or clothing which doesn't fit anymore to your local dressmaker and ask them if they can do something about it. Take your broken and worn leather products to your local shoemaker too. Usually it doesn't cost much to get something fixed or refitted and these expert usually have ways to fix things you couldn't even think of. So even if the situation with your clothing or accessory seems desperate, still show it to the dressmaker or shoemaker.

If it's extremely cheap, don't buy it. Remember that every clothing is handmade. Only a small fraction of the cost of the clothing will be paying the wages of the person who made it with their hands. If a shirt costs 5 euros (c. 5,39 USD), it's sewer was only payed mere cents for sewing it. I'm not a quick sewer and it takes me roughly 1-2 hours to cut, prepare and sew a simple shirt, so I'm guessing it would take around half an hour to do all that for a factory worker on a crunch, at the very least 15 minutes. So the hourly pay would still be ridiculously low. However, as I said before, the fact that the workers in clothing factories get criminally low pay is not the fault of the consumer, so if you need a clothing item, and you don't have money to buy anything else than something very cheep, don't feel guilty. And anyway expensive clothing in no way necessarily means reasonable pay or ethical working conditions, cheep clothing just guarantee them.

Learn to recognize higher quality. In addition to exploitation, low price also means low quality, but again high price doesn't guarantee high quality. High quality allows you to buy less, so even if it's not as cheep as low quality, if you can afford it, when you need it, it will be cheaper in long run, and allows you to consume less. Check the materials. Natural fibers are your friends. Do not buy plastic, if it's possible to avoid. Avoid household textiles from synthetic fibers. Avoid textiles with small amounts of spandex to give it stretch, it will shorten the lifespan of the clothing significantly as the spandex quickly wears down and the clothing looses it's shape. Also avoid clothing with rubber bands. They also loose their elasticity very quickly. In some types of clothing (sport wear, underwear) these are basically impossible to avoid, but in many other cases it's entirely possible.

Buy from artisans and local producers, if you can. As said better consumption won't fix this, but supporting artisans and your local producers could help keep them afloat, which in small ways helps create an alternative to the exploitative global corporations. With artisans especially you know the money goes to the one who did the labour and buying locally means less middlemen to take their cut. More generally buy rather from businesses that are located to the same country where the production is, even if it's not local to you. A local business doesn't necessarily produce locally.

Develop your own taste. If you care about fashion and style, it's easy to fall victim to the fashion industry's marketing and trend cycles. That's why I think it's important to develop your personal sense of style and preferences. Pay attention at what type of clothes are comfortable to you. Go through your wardrobe and track for a while which clothing you use most and which least. Understanding your own preferences helps you avoid impulse buying.

Consider learning basics of sewing. Not everyone has the time or interest for this, but if you in anyway might have a bit of both, I suggest learning some very simple and basic mending and reattaching a button.

Further reading on this blog: How to see through the greenwashing propaganda of the fashion industry - Case study 1: Shein

Bibliography

Academic sources

An overview of the contribution of the textiles sector to climate change, 2022, L. F. Walter et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science

How common are aches and pains among garment factory workers? A work-related musculoskeletal disorder assessment study in three factories of south 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, 2021, Arkaprovo Pal et al., J Family Med Prim Care

Sewing shirts with injured fingers and tears: exploring the experience of female garment workers health problems in Bangladesh, 2019, Akhter, S., Rutherford, S. & Chu, C., BMC Int Health Hum Rights

Occupation Related Accidents in Selected Garment Industries in Bangalore City, 2006, Calvin, Sam & Joseph, Bobby, Indian Journal of Community Medicine

A Review on Textile and Clothing Industry Impacts on The Environment, 2022, Nur Farzanah Binti Norarmi et al., International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Carbon disulphide and hydrogen sulphide emissions from viscose fibre manufacturing industry: A case study in India, 2022, Deepanjan Majumdar et al., Atmospheric Environment: X

Microplastics Pollution: A Brief Review of Its Source and Abundance in Different Aquatic Ecosystems, 2023, Asifa Ashrafy et al., Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

Health Effects of Microplastic Exposures: Current Issues and Perspectives in South Korea, 2023, Yongjin Lee et al., Yonsei Medical Journal

Nanoplastics and Human Health: Hazard Identification and Biointerface, 2022, Hanpeng Lai, Xing Liu, and Man Qu, Nanomaterials

Other sources

The impact of textile production and waste on the environment (infographics), 2020, EU

Chile’s desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers, 2021, AlJazeera

Fashion - Worldwide, 2022 (updated 2024), Statista

Fashion Industry Waste Statistics & Facts 2023, James Evans, Sustainable Ninja (magazine)

Everything You Need to Know About Waste in the Fashion Industry, 2024, Solene Rauturier, Good on You (magazine)

Textiles and the environment, 2022, Nikolina Šajn, European Parliamentary Research Service

Help! I'm addicted to secondhand shopping apps, 2023, Alice Crossley, Cosmopolitan

Addictive, absurdly cheap and controversial: the rise of China’s Temu app, 2023, Helen Davidson, Guardian

Workers' conditions in the textile and clothing sector: just an Asian affair? - Issues at stake after the Rana Plaza tragedy, 2014, Enrico D'Ambrogio, European Parliamentary Research Service

State of The Industry: Lowest Wages to Living Wages, The Lowest Wage Challenge (Industry affiliated campaign)

Fast Fashion Getting Faster: A Look at the Unethical Labor Practices Sustaining a Growing Industry, 2021, Emma Ross, International Law and Policy Brief (George Washington University Law School)

Dozens injured in Pakistan garment factory collapse and fire, 2023, Hannah Abdulla, Just Style (news media)

India: Multiple factory accidents raise concerns over health & safety in the garment industry, campaigners call for freedom of association in factories to ‘stave off’ accidents, 2022, Jasmin Malik Chua, Business & Human Rights Resource Center

Minimum Wage Level for Garment Workers in the World, 2020, Sheng Lu, FASH455 Global Apparel & Textile Trade and Sourcing (University of Delaware)

Rana Plaza collapse, Wikipedia

Buyers’ compensation for Rana Plaza victims far from reality, 2013, Ibrahim Hossain Ovi, Dhaka Tribune (news media)

World cotton production statistics, updated 2024, The World Counts

Dead white man’s clothes, 2021, Linton Besser, ABC News

[probablyasocialecologist]

The 388-page report featured 32 recommendations on how transgender care should be conducted within NHS England. It incorrectly claims that there is “no good evidence” supporting transgender care and calls for restrictions on trans care for individuals under the age of 18, although it does not advocate for an outright ban. The report endorses the idea that being transgender may be caused by anxiety, depression, and OCD issues, despite the American Psychological Association, the largest psychological association in the world, rebutting this as lacking evidence. It also claims that transgender individuals can be “influenced” into being trans, a nod to the discredited theory of social contagion and rapid onset gender dysphoria, rejected by over 60 mental health organizations. Lastly, it seemingly endorses restrictions on transgender people under the age of 25, stating that they should not be allowed to progress into adult care clinics. To support these recommendations, the report was released alongside “reviews” of the evidence surrounding transgender care, using these reviews to assert that there is "no good evidence" for gender-affirming care. A closer inspection of the reviews released alongside the Cass report reveals that 101 out of 103 studies on gender-affirming care were dismissed for not being of "sufficiently high quality," based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale—a subjective scale criticized for its flaws and potential unreliability due to a high risk of bias. This critique is particularly significant given the contentious political nature of the subject and connections between reviewers, Cass, and anti-trans organizations.

[...]

Immediately after the release of the Cass Review, experts in transgender healthcare from around the world voiced their opposition to its findings. Dr. Portia Predny, Vice President of the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health, criticized the findings and recommendations as “at odds with the current evidence base, expert consensus, and the majority of clinical guidelines worldwide.” Similarly, a statement from the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa condemned the review, noting, “The Review commissioned several systematic reviews into gender-affirming care by the University of York, but appears to have ignored a significant number of studies demonstrating the benefits of gender-affirming care. In one review, 101 out of 103 studies were dismissed.” It is important to note that gender affirming care saves lives, and there is plenty of evidence to show for it. Numerous studies have demonstrated that gender-affirming care significantly reduces suicidality, with some showing a decrease in suicidality by up to 73%. A review compiled by Cornell University, which compiled over 50 journal articles on the topic, shows the efficacy of transgender care. These findings were echoed recently in an article published by the Journal of Adolescent Health, which found that puberty blockers dramatically lowered depression and anxiety. All of these studies and more have led to The Lancet, a medical journal with international acclaim, to publish a letter stating that gender affirming care is lifesaving preventative care. The largest and most influential medical organizations support trans care. A recent and historic policy resolution passed overwhelmingly by the American Psychological Association, the largest psychological organization in the world, states that gender affirming care is a medical necessity and that being trans is not “caused” by things like autism and PTSD.

[carlos-in-glasses]

A Scarf Askew

Tomorrow, I will have been knitting for exactly one month - and I have an update!

Yesterday, I finished her! A scarf unlike any other (that's for sure!). The colours were dictated by the BEAUTIFUL Bergere yarn I found in a charity shop, which was part of the fun! The plain green and purple were an online purchase to complement. I'd love to do this a couple more times and make scarves of different blues and pinks.

Without a pattern, I cast on way too many stitches so ended up frogging the first six inches worth of rows - but I'm so glad I did, otherwise it would have been a monster. It looks a lot more sensible this size! The main challenges were working with such frizzy yarn (beautiful halo, though) and actually knitting in straight rectangles rather than whatever freeform, billowing nebula I ended up creating. My tension went wonky with the purple panel, but I simply stitched up the holes and you can't really tell unless you look close. I decided to add tassels into the mix so had to acquire a set of crochet hooks - but again, I'm so glad I bothered! They ended up being pretty fun once I got the hang of it!

Finally! I used a garment steamer for blocking - which made all the difference in the overall 'quality', if I may generously use that word. Crazy how much longer it grew though! Rougly 60 inches has blown to 88 inches! Clearly need to be more careful in the future if I don't want a jumper to look like I knitted it for a giant.

Ooh and - my partner, exited about a new gadget in the flat, broke the steamer after a single use when fiddling around, so I'm already in the market for a new one if anyone has any recs!

Overall, I'd say this was a success. It is definitely a functional scarf. You look at it and you think "that is a scarf!" It is in no way perfect, but I wore it out today and felt a million dollars because it was something I made and put hours into. I have no idea how long projects are meant to take for beginner-knitters with full time jobs and other hobbies, but I feel like this was pretty good going.

Currently, I've cast on practice yarn so I can improve stockinette, 1x1 and 2x2 rib stitch, and I'm itching to learn how to increase and decrease. It's freaking me out so much, and I just want to be able to do it! Not to be dramatic, but it feels like such a mountain to climb! I've bought a pattern for a hat (and a pattern for a jumper!) but I'm not starting either until I'm more confident with ribs and shaping.

So there we have it. First, chaos mitten. Now a scarf askew. I hope to be able to show you a hat that looks like a hat in the not too distant future! It comes with a bobble maker (!) so all being well, it could be pretty cute!

[mishydraws]

Very... very unfortunate life update

Hi, everyone.

Ok, I don’t want to waste your time but I wanted to be upfront about what’s going on in my life just so you all know.

Last night I got what is probably one of the worst emails that could have ever appeared in my inbox? Our landlord has given us a 60-day notice to get out. For context, my mom and I have been living here since the year 2000. We have never been late on rent or missed a payment despite every difficulty life has thrown at us in that time and this has completely blindsided us.

We haven’t spoken to any of the neighbors yet but some of the wording on the notice makes me think that they may be kicking out the entire building. Or maybe they’re just targeting those of us in the non-renovated units because we’ve been here so long and they could charge a new tenant much more with a quick kitchen and bathroom upgrade. Renoviction is a new word I just learned. I don’t know. That’s what happened to my brother at his last apartment. They kicked out everyone in his building, renovated, raised the rent, then let new people move in.

They suddenly started increasing our rent every year like clockwork a few years ago so I’ve had a feeling they’ve been trying to price us out for a while but I didn’t know they could just… tell us to leave just because they can. Rent consistently paid up and everything for 24 years.

The notice we received really doesn’t say much so it’s all speculation I guess. It doesn’t state a reason why it just says we need to be gone by March 31st.

But basically, I’m really not doing well right now in all honesty. I slept for maybe an hour last night and it’s like a switch flipped in me as soon as I read the email. My stomach has had this weird knotted feeling ever since and I can’t stand up for more than a few minutes before needing to lie down again in case I either faint or vomit… I’m not sure which but it’s been this way since last night. I had to stand up at the sink to wash one singular dish from dinner and I could barely do it. At least I didn’t see the email until after I ate last night because I still have no appetite now.

However bad I’m feeling I know my mom is probably feeling worse. She has been for a while. She’s getting older and my dad is no longer alive. Aside from my brother and one irl friend I still see in person regularly, we have no family or other support system in this country and are well and truly on our own, staring down the barrel of homelessness if we can’t quickly secure a place and move decades worth of our life there before the end of March.

All of this to say, I don’t know what our usual art shenanigans here are going to look like during this time. I am incredibly stressed to the point where I am physically ill but I also can’t pause and step away because I do need the income that I receive from your support of me/my art here. It’s just the reality. I’ve never been particularly Big And Successful with what I do so your support means all the much more and makes a real impact on my life.

I am so sorry if this dampens your mood at all today or if you notice a decrease in the quality of art I’m able to deliver over the next few months but I will try my best to keep things rolling and let you know if there’s any particular delays to expect.

To top it off, I requested a tour of a nearby apartment last night (more expensive than our current) and the name of the person who just texted me back has the same name as our current landlord. Who wants to start taking bets? I know for a fact they own a lot of property in the area so this isn’t looking promising.

Anyways. Sorry for this downer of a post. If we’re not homeless in 2 months then… I dunno. I’ll have somewhere indoors to do art? Yay? You can imagine the housing market we’re dealing with being in California. The prospect of moving at this point has always been one of my biggest fears but we’ll see if we get lucky real fast 😢

If you've ever thought about supporting my Patreon or anything else, now and over the next few months might be a good time if you can swing it. Maybe it'll help us secure a place to move if I can point to it and be like 'Look! A whole income!' 🥲 Idk man.

There's an art update in the (public) post I made if you want to see what we're at least trying to work on for sticker club through all of this.

Mishy

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Belly dance Week 16 Observations: "Opening Up New Worlds Via Egyptian Belly Dance"

I can't believe that I have been taking belly dance lessons for 4 months now! Woohooo!!!

I have mentioned before how any woman or non-binary person interested in amplifying their connection to the feminine must consider taking belly dance classes or any class where you get to broaden your hip-to-ass consciousness and its range of motion. If you can't afford classes YET, visualize yourself being able to. Use your imagination to walk yourself through your ideal day and bask in your belly dance lessons from here! When you are moving through lack/scarcity, it is not something to be ashamed of. It just means that at least 60 percent of your "free time" must include you colluding with the slow-footed or quantum leaping unseen realm and transcendentally playing in the prophetic dreaming space of your imagination to inspire a shift in consciousness. Anyone who has survived anything knows that even when you hit the bottom and life strips you of everything, you always have your imagination.

This is good news. We have always been more than survivors.

As a dancer (pole, aerial, and belly dance), I sense how the female form is nothing short of a creative canvas, a medium for sound, light, and expression to enter and exit and favorably impact anyone we encounter. We are always receiving and giving through our inner wisdom, so when we grow our dance skills, we gift observers with more light from our presence and heartfelt connection with our whole body, and not merely attempt to robotically connect with another from the limits of our mind/intellect. The better we learn to care for our body, the more deeply we can understand our inner workings and create new dreams through the portals of our body as a kind of moving prayer. For example, we can create an artful love story through our shaking in ways that enhance our health, quality of moon time and pelvic bowl, and vitality.

As someone with 3 Bachelor degrees, Accounting, Chemistry and Biology, through my university studies I learned the basics of physiology and anatomy—the muscles, tissues, blood and bones, but there is nothing like having a hands-on, body-based dance rites of practice with nightly homework that can only be done while dancing to ambient music and gazing into a full length mirror . What I have learned in my lived experience as a belly dance student for 4 months is that the human body, human potential, and performance optimization rest in understanding the fascial system as part of our own self-care. And belly dance or any other form of dance helps us to get to know our creative wisdom, our womb wisdom, more intimately.

Our spiralic female body needs movement like it needs air and water. We are naturally receptive beings and movement helps us to open, awaken, and let go the accumulations. When we belly dance or routinely move our hips and belly in multi-directional ways, we naturally unwind the fascia in every area, which decreases our body’s tensions, stuckness, aches and pains, and mystically unlock and realign us to our magic and miracles. When our body is working more harmoniously, we are naturally more magical and miraculous in this reality. That is because everything orients from inside the dark and radiates outwards eventually, like a seed becomes a flower, you see.

You must get to know this nebulous word called "fascia," pronounced "fas-sha." Not only is it valuable to your body, it secretly holds a lot of old narratives, inherited trauma patterns, and the results from “harmful” programming and the accompanying choices made in earlier years. Fascia is so valuable, earthy, and ancient that without it, our bones would just fall straight onto the ground. We would not be able to walk, stand, or move. Fascia is what holds us together. Literally. Pray to it. It is spider web-like substance, an intricate, a 3-dimensional net of connective tissue, a root chakra energetic, and the support system of our entire body. Like a spider web, when there is a blockage somewhere, the whole web will shift and pull towards it and create other irregularities in the webbing i. e. body.

In belly dance, our movement geometry is rarely linear. We unwind in spirals, waves, circles, breasts shakes, spinal undulations, gyrations, hip drops, belly rolls, figure-8s, shimmies, and other wild uncoilings which instinctively create more lubrication in our fascia. More lubrication eventually leads to new body narratives. And new body narratives leak wide open into new life narratives. Even when there appears not to be forward progression, we have the wet pussy energy flow to stay 100 percent devoted and confident in our passions, medicine, and purpose.

India Ame'ye, Author

[ntenvs3000w24]

05: The ways nature has impacted me? (free prompt)

I believe that spending time in nature offers numerous physical, mental, and emotional benefits. During the summer, I have complete access to nature trails and may spend countless hours outdoors. There may be obstacles such as weather and restricted access to these areas in the winter for our own safety. During the academic year, I attributed my lack of drive to a lack of time spent outside. I find that when I lose motivation, my other positive behaviours fall out of sync. I spend less time exercising, my dietary intake becomes more unhealthy, my sleep schedule becomes disorganized, and I feel inconsistent.  

This year, I decided to take control of my winter, knowing that these changes usually occur during this time of year. I wanted to find strategies to maintain a balanced diet, get enough and high-quality sleep, and have a regular gym regimen while also attending school and maintaining good grades. So I'd like to share some changes I made to my routine to ensure improved habits. 

My first major shift was to devote 30-60 minutes every day to outside activities. Now, I cannot say that I do this every day without fail, but I have been able to do so at least 5 days per week. It helps me to organize my thoughts without having to focus on schoolwork. During this period, I would either softly jog to get some physical activity in or take a walk along the trails in my neighbourhood. I would listen to a podcast, whether it was about amusement, learning, motivation, or self-discipline, to help pass the time. I believe this helped me relieve some of my tension and allowed me to unplug from school.

As we discussed several times throughout the course, the nature trails within the Aboretum made incorporating this practice into my day a breeze. After class, before leaving for home, I take a little walk through the Aboretum to reorganize after a few hours of classes. I sometimes have friends join me, which makes it much more pleasurable because we spend the most of our time on campus together studying. If you don't already, I recommend using the Arboretum to break up your day and get your mind off of school.

I also told myself this year that I would keep a consistent sleep routine. To ensure that I am properly refreshed, I try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. Again, are there times when I don't get a complete 8 hours? Of course. However, for the most part, I have been able to prioritize my personal health over academics, and I no longer have to pull all-nighters to complete projects. This has not only allowed me to be properly rested, but it has also taught me how to better manage my time during the day, decrease screen time, and focus on the tasks at hand. 

As a fellow student, I understand how tough it is to maintain healthy habits when there are so many assignments due each week, but it is critical that we remember to take care of ourselves. You may even discover that prioritizing your personal health during the school year has an impact on your academic performance. Can any of you think of a moment when you implemented new habits and saw improvements in your daily life?

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jess Piper at The View from Rural Missouri:

“It’s the statehouses, stupid.” That quote is by David Pepper and I think about it often. I live in Missouri with a GOP supermajority and 22 years of of the worst sort of governance.

Want to see extremism? There are currently three bills being sent to the Governor’s office for signing: One to defund public schools, another to defund Planned Parenthood, and the last to make sure Missourians can’t sue the Bayer corporation for their Round-Up caused cancer. True story. So, where are the Democrats and voices of dissent? They are nearly silenced with a superminority and a Democratic Party that has been almost non-existent in my district for at least a decade. The proof is in the legislative pudding. The Democratic Party lost the plot when they pulled out of rural America leaving huge swaths of the country to be taken over by the GOP. I should know…I am a rural person, a former teacher, and a former Democratic Nominee for State House. I did not receive funding from the Democratic Party to run my race — not a penny, and this is very common in rural races. We have been left to our own devices and many have just decided to acquiesce to Republican rule rather than fight on our own.

I refuse to give up. What’s the point of running in a district you know will not flip for a few cycles? What’s the point of funding a nominee who will likely lose? Because local candidates do the hard work. They talk to their neighbors and district. They put a Democratic message out in their community. They let voters in their area know that Democrats aren’t gun-grabbing communists, but they do want to fund public schools, pave roads, keep the local rural hospital open, and create jobs for their kids so they don’t abandon the farm or the small town. Progressives have a message that rural folks like if we can just keep the message consistent by having nominees on every ballot every single year. If you have a nominee, you have someone talking to their neighbors. Without a nominee, there is no one knocking doors, or making calls, or attending forums, or spreading the message about progressive polices.

[...] Rural Democratic voters are almost certainly voting at the top of the ticket, and this November, that means a Presidential nominee, maybe a Senate position, and possibly a Governor, but many are stopping there. The research from Sister District indicates that Democratic and women voters are more likely to roll-off than Republicans and men. They don’t feel confident that they know enough about the down-ballot nominees to keep voting. The research concludes that decreasing roll-off by 1-2% would result in massive state legislative gains. It also states that 60% of roll-off voters rank Federal elections as the most important. That stat made me gasp. You and I know that statehouses are where awful and hateful laws originate. We know that GOP-dominated states are doing the bidding of the wealthy and of corporations, but if Democrats aren’t even voting for the state legislative races, we are going to keep losing our states to the extremists. This extremism then bleeds out into the country.

Jess Piper wrote a quality Substack post on why Democrats should NOT abandon Rural America (or anywhere for that matter).

[barrowsteeth]

your gifs are always so crisp and clear. how do you make the magic happen??

thank you! i i've answered this question before but my process has changed a little since then so here's an update!

first and foremost, i start with the highest quality video possible. i only work with 1080p or higher, and the largest file size i can find.

once i've picked my scene(s) and imported the files into photoshop, i always follow the same flow: crop | color | sharpen | tweak | export.

i won't go into too much detail about color but one thing to keep in mind is that it's likely you will lose quality with drastic color adjustments. i prefer to make several minor adjustments as opposed to drastic changes because they're much easier to undo if you find you've lost your way. i use the eyedropper tool and/or the individual color sliders on my base layers (levels and curves) on almost every gif. these layers do a lot of heavy lifting to even out coloring (curves are especially helpful in decreasing the yellow/orange hue that is so common in a lot of media these days). then i follow up with a combination of contrast, exposure, channel mixer, selective color, hue/sat and vibrance, as needed. i hand color all of my gifs so the layers i use vary greatly from gif to gif. in the sample pics i've included below, you will see that the only color layer i used is hue/sat. the rest of my color adjustments were made in the first curves layer. i'm also using a gradient map to adjust the background color of the scene, which is important to keep in mind when you're doing your coloring.

next up, sharpening! i use the sharper action in this pack as a base, which applies two layers of smart sharpening. next i add a high pass filter (filter | other | high pass) which i think adds an additional pop of refinement to a gif on top of the smart sharpening. you can read all about high pass here. i typically use a radius between .5 and 1.0, then set the blending to soft light. finally i add a noise reduction layer (filter | noise | reduce noise), set the strength 3-5 and preserve details to 15-20. i usually set the opacity of this layer to 40-60% but again, it varies from gif to gif. i know some other gifmakers who like to add a gaussian blur at this stage instead, so i'd suggest playing around with both settings to find what works best for you.

and that's basically it! i may make a few color or brightness tweaks to the final gif but otherwise it's ready for export.

here's a look at my layers panel and a frame from a gif i'm working on for an upcoming set at various stages in the process.

this all may feel like a lot of steps but once you figure out what works for you, it becomes second nature and part of the fun. sorry for the delay in answering and thanks for the ask! feel free to message me again if something isn't clear. 💜

[crossdreamers]

Puberty blockers have almost universally been shown to result in positive outcomes and to be safe

Over at CDL Lost247365 answers a question about the safety of puberty blockers in the treatment of transgender kids, and provides some really useful references to relevant science papers.

She writes:

Puberty blockers have almost universally been shown to result in positive outcomes and to be safe.

QUOTE: "Studies reviewed had samples ranging from 1 to 192 (N = 543). The majority (71%) of participants in these studies required a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to qualify for puberty suppression and were administered medication during Tanner stages 2 through 4. Positive outcomes were decreased suicidality in adulthood, improved affect and psychological functioning, and improved social life. Adverse factors associated with use were changes in body composition, slow growth, decreased height velocity, decreased bone turnover, cost of drugs, and lack of insurance coverage. One study met all quality criteria and was judged 'excellent', five studies met the majority of quality criteria resulting in 'good' ratings, whereas three studies were judged fair and had serious risks of bias."

https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/news-r ... -blockers/

QUOTE: "Researchers found a 60% decrease in moderate and severe depression and 73% decrease in suicidality among transgender and non-binary youth who received puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones over a 12-month period, according to a study abstract presented during the virtual American Academy of Pediatrics 2021 National Conference & Exhibition."

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics ... redirected

QUOTE: "This is the first study in which associations between access to pubertal suppression and suicidality are examined. There is a significant inverse association between treatment with pubertal suppression during adolescence and lifetime suicidal ideation among transgender adults who ever wanted this treatment. These results align with past literature, suggesting that pubertal suppression for transgender adolescents who want this treatment is associated with favorable mental health outcomes."

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/land ... cestitle70

QUOTE: Gender incongruence in children and adolescents is complex, and medical treatment raises several ethical considerations. Clinical decision making has been fostered by research efforts, but there are still substantial knowledge gaps that warrant examination to inform best clinical practice (panel 4). The limited available evidence suggests that puberty suppression, when clearly indicated, is reasonably safe. The few studies that have examined the psychological effects of suppressing puberty, as the first stage before possible future commencement of CSH therapy, have shown benefits.

All of this should also show that puberty blockers are not experimental and are life saving:

QUOTE: "Puberty delaying medications are currently provided off label to adolescents affected by gender dysphoria and this particular use cannot be investigated by a RCT. We have shown that this does not mean they are experimental drugs or are provided experimentally. Whether or not these (or even approved drugs) are ethically prescribed depends on whether they are likely to serve the patient’s health interests based on the evidence available at the time of prescription. "The published literature provides insight into the likely benefits of GnRHa. In summary, they reduce the patient’s dysphoria (Cohen-Kettenis & Pfäfflin, 2003, p. 171; Kreukels & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011, p. 467), reduce the invasiveness of future surgery (for example, mastectomy in trans men; treatment for facial and body hair, thyroid chondroplasty to improve appearance and cricothyroid approximation to raise the pitch of the voice in trans women) (Cohen-Kettenis & Pfäfflin, 2003, p. 171); GnRHa is correlated with improved psychosocial adaptation (Cohen-Kettenis & Pfäfflin, 2003, p. 171; Kreukels & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011, p. 467) and reduced suicidal ideation and attempts. Hembree noted increased suicidal ideation where blockers were not given (Hembree, 2011; see further, Imbimbo et al., 2009; Kreukels & Cohen-Kettenis, 2011; Murad et al., 2010; Spack, 2008)."

Some people think that puberty blockers might cause kids to think they are transgender and convince them to wrongfully go on to take HRT. The research shows this not to be true:

QUOTE: "In this cohort study of TGD adolescents, GnRHa use was not associated with increased subsequent GAH use. These findings suggest that clinicians can offer the benefits of GnRHa treatment without concern for increasing rates of future GAH use." Puberty blockers are in fact a wonder drug. Extremely safe and they can prevent trans kids from experiencing irreversible changes to their body due to the wrong puberty while they reach an age where they are old enough to consent. Similarly, they prevent confused Cis Children (who make up only about 2% of all the kids pursuing puberty blockers) from making a mistake that would create irreversible changes to their body as well. Meaning that this drug helps both trans and cis kids!

You can read the whole post here.

[trainerseyes]

i'll be honest and say that part of the reason i haven't been feeling this blog as much is because i'm falling out of love with the pokemon series

i'm sorry, but as a loyal customer since D/P/Pt, tell me the newer games are worth $60 + however much DLC is when far better games in the same series costed like, what, $40 and that was the whole game?

it's like going to a restaurant that may have been a little pricey, but you remember the food being really good. when you come back to that restaurant a few years later and realize that not only has the food decreased in quality and increased in price, but it costs another meal's worth of food to make it anywhere near as good as you remember, you start to wonder why you keep eating there.

[eggmixercortex]

the thing about skinamarink is that people tend to say that it would have been better as a shorter film - particularly people who hated it - and while i understand where that idea is coming from i actually disagree.

(long as hell)

people who disliked skinamarink for the most part cite the long, "empty" shots between relatively little/mediocre action as the reason that the film didn't work for them. and i actually agree with that last bit, i think that the scares in skinamarink are kind of badly done*. they're just the sudden movement + loud noise combo, if they were standalone they would suck. and the first point isn't technically wrong either! i would bet like 50-60% of skinamarink is just still shots of dark hallways with film grain. and i'm going to make it clear that i have no problem with people who see the film this way. if you hated skinamarink that's perfectly fine and you aren't 'missing something' that could magically make you like it.

however, I do think that making skinamarink shorter would actually DECREASE the quality of the film. Heck, the short film that kickstarted the creation of skinamarink, is about 1/3 the length, and about 0% as scary. is it well made? absolutely. is it interesting and worth the watch? very much so. but scary? not in the damn slightest. and that's why the length of the full film is important, because when the action of the film is condensed it removes the truly unique thing about Kyle Edward Ball's style as seen in the bitesized nightmares and Skinamarink.

i'm a pervert for this type of film so i am of course highly biased but the thing that skinamarink does is kind of like the allegory of the cave. in the allegory of the film you the audience are expected to be affected by the suggestion of the film rather than its direct contents, in a really extreme fashion. this is a relatively unique way to present a film, and i personally think Ball is really very good at building a successful atmosphere for this type of device, and i hope that he makes more films like this in the future. BUT the issue of course is that because it relies so heavily on the audience being able to essentially scare themselves, if you the viewer can't do that, skinamarink immediately falls flat on its face. if you look at each action scene in isolation it becomes fairly obvious that they're all... a little silly. the formula is pretty much just ack! something is weird! and suddenly it jumped at the camera! excepting the ending which is 3x speed settings of the same thing. and that's fine, but not showstopping or anything.

most horror that utilizes 'jump-scares' tries to build up to it of course, but skinamarink almost literally gives you nothing to work with except for the knowledge that something is going to happen... eventually. and for me that worked really really well! i was literally frozen in fear! it took me around 10 minutes to be eaten alive by the damn film! but for someone who that doesn't work on, its not going to work at all. the film will genuinely be boring and the audience member who walks out or says that is was a dud isn't actually missing anything - skinamarink is just a film that relies so heavily on its one aspect that the rest of it crumbles if that doesn't land.

skinamarink was made (intentionally or not) to appeal to a very, very specific type of audience, and pretty much ignores anyone else. if skinamarink were more like Heck it would definitely appeal to more people, but also would have been a significantly less interesting film. this is also why i get a little annoyed at people who act like skinamarink fans are 'snobs' or that people who didn't like it are 'missing something' because it isn't actually a particularly artsy film in story. reading an essay about the themes isn't going to make the film experience scarier (but would be a fun read, mostly) its just that the film works best with people who can scare themselves out of going to the bathroom at night.

genuinely, if you watch 20 or so minutes of skinamarink and you aren't enjoying it, leave. it won't get better** and it's not worth wasting your time on an experience you really won't enjoy just because you feel like you have to. if it sucks hit the bricks man

(i would love to re-watch with a staunch skinamarink hater so we can discuss the different pieces of it tbh... there's so much to talk about in the structure here)

i adore the empty skinamarink shots because they demand you fill them yourself with only the little paper towel ghost they gave you to work with it's awesome. but also sometimes you would prefer the movie give you at least a bedsheet lawn ghost instead.

*the action moments are some of my least favourite scenes, and i genuinely think that the toy phone moment could have been removed entirely. it's not good...

**again, not saying its bad to dislike skinamarink! it also might improve for you but like. don't let people force you to sit thru paint drying for 16 hours part two just bc it could get good later

[characters-as-skylanders]

Undyne as a Skylander!

Undyne would be a Water element Skylander, and a Trap Master, since her spears shares similar looking traits to Snap Shot's arrows. She would have a simplistic and offense oriented strategy themed around chasing down foes and immobilizing them to deal powerful attacks in a small area. Read below to find out more!

Stats:

Health: 390 (Level 1) 1170 (Level 20)

Power: 60

Speed: 35

Armor: 60

Critical Hit: 32

Elemental Power: 25

Core Abilities:

Primary - Spear Throw: Undyne throws a spear in front of herself, where it will travel quite far very fast.

Secondary - Green Soul Slash: Undyne slashes in front of herself, dealing minor damage and stunning anything hit for quite some time.

Upgrades (ordered by cost to purchase):

500 - Ground Spears - Undyne summons a wall of spears from the ground that stab upwards, doing damage to anything that tries to pass through them, similar to Hex's upgraded Bone Wall.

700 - Speedy Spear - Undyne's Spear Throw travels farther and faster

900 - 'No Running, Punk!': The stun from Undyne's Green Soul Slash becomes stronger, making it take longer before they can move.

1200 - 'Nghaaaaaaa!': Undyne deals more damage while at 30% health or lower.

Upgrade Paths:

Path 1 - Merciless Hunter: Undyne is famous for stalking her target across countless locations without tiring. Pick this path to grow Undyne's relentless devotion to the kill.

1700 - Furious Steps: Undyne's Speed increases by 10, making her move quite a bit faster.

2200 - Sharpened Spears: All of Undyne's Spear attacks deal a bit more damage.

3000 - Ramp-Up Spear: Undyne's attacks will do more damage if she keeps hitting the same target over and over again with the same attack.

Path 2 - Determination: Undyne's sheer will to win grants her abilities far beyond what is normal for Monsterkind, and she can use these to pull out all the stops in battle!

1700 - Polished Armor: Undyne uses Alphys's gift of Armor Polish, making it much better quality, and giving her 10 Armor.

2200 - Hearts, Beating as One!: If there is a second player, then Undyne and the other skylander's damage will be doubled if they attack at the same time.

3000 - Indominable Spirit: Undyne's willpower allows her to keep going, till the very end. Her damage will increase as her health decreases.

Soul Gem:

4000 - "You're gonna have to try a little harder than that!": After running out of HP, Undyne will respawn in her Undying form at full health, dealing more damage and having all around better stats, with 3000 HP, but she will take 100 damage every second, making her at most, able to survive for 30 seconds like this.

[ablogofchanges]

Id like to see what its like to be you santa for a day.

Excellent....Perfect timing actually! I have seen no more wishes sent so i was just applied for disguising as Santa in the mall since i have nothing to do now, but then a load of Christmas wishes come right after that and now i don't know what to do! I can't just quit the position and disappointing my children here! But oh boy lucky me, you have come in time for me, and I promise, I will never let you down by taking this opportunity... I order you putting on this Santa outfit and get to see your face expresses the satisfaction letting the cloth materials touching your skin, and believe me, it will fully touch your skin from this point...

With the buckled belt sealed, a hot and shocking wave gets through your body making you stunned for a bit and sweaty, not because of the sudden heat, but your hair grows under the fur jacket, pants and head. Your stomach slowly peaks out while your booties are expanding, going with it is a pair of extending moobs and a sensation in those Christmasy boots.

Your life is draining years and ages, slowly 30, 40 to your hair growth appearing on the knees and shins while your hair is growing longer and longer as if you are getting transgendered. But he is called "Santa" for reasons, isnt it? While seeing your hair is growing down, long enough to touch your new gut slowly becoming bigger, your hands and forearms are upsizing, making your Santa cloth feels like it is narrowing down in size, not to mention your feet are getting huge in the boots coming with the hyperhidrosis upon your hands and feet.

Stepping into your 50, 60, you feel the pain in your spines, aching and decreasing your height as your thighs and shoulders covering with a thick black fur layer, running from your chest, down to your belly and to your groin. Your hands and face starts to feel the dense and wrinkles taking over your outlook as you slowly experience the exhaustion, even you were just sitting.

Thats indeed because we are in the last steps of your 70s and 80s! Aren't you excited?! You try to make a smile back as your legs and arms have been expanding and now are nothing but mobile flesh. You notice your hair have turned into white, cut down and leaving you bald as your beard grows, long enough to be about to reach your own belly poking out, round and enormous! And just like that, your body hair was now deprived of its color and becoming entirely white, from the beard to your hair lines on your outlook body. With the steady transformation of wrinkles and tanned skin coming with the dropping quality of your eyes, the conversion has been done! Waving your hands in the air, i can see those darted, old eyes have made you endure the blurrying, so i handed you a pair of glasses and white gloves.

With a clear sight and noticing your transformation is complete, you feel cheerful and delighted that you jump rapidly on the floor as the broad-waist belt suffers from carrying your massive gut and immediately your spine and back pain. But im glad for that! We need a happy Santa for children and everyone for days. Yup! More than what you desire, i need you to be me 'til the end of this year, and with that joyful attitude, i can see you agree with it!

[mediaflamingoos]

YouTube Shorts: The Quick Entertainment Fix Taking Over Screens in the U.S. - By Beidi

In a world where quick and easy content is king, YouTube Shorts has emerged as the newest player on the digital stage in the United States. This feature allows creators to make short, snappy videos that deliver entertainment in 60 seconds or less. It's YouTube's answer to the rising popularity of short-form video platforms like TikTok, and it's changing the way we consume content—one short clip at a time.

YouTube Shorts came about as a response to the ever-decreasing attention span of the general public and the increasing demand for content that's both engaging and quick to digest. In the busy lives of most Americans, finding time to sit down and watch a 30-minute video is a luxury. Shorts offer a way to sneak in a laugh, learn a new trick, or catch up with a favorite creator without having to carve out a significant portion of the day.

One of the biggest draws of YouTube Shorts is its accessibility. Since it's rolled into YouTube, a platform that already boasts over 2 billion logged-in monthly users, Shorts has a massive built-in audience. It's easy for viewers to stumble upon Shorts while browsing their regular YouTube feed, which has led to its rapid growth in popularity.

For creators, YouTube Shorts presents an opportunity to reach a wider audience, experiment with different types of content, and increase their visibility. The shorter format lowers the barrier to entry for content creation, encouraging more users to become creators. With features like the Shorts camera, which includes a variety of editing tools, and the Shorts Fund, a 100-million-dollar initiative to reward creators, YouTube is investing heavily in this bite-sized content.

But what does this mean for the average viewer in the U.S.? YouTube Shorts offers a diverse buffet of content, from comedy sketches and how-to guides to music performances and daily vlogs. The sheer variety means there's something for everyone, and the algorithm quickly learns to serve up personalized recommendations based on what you like to watch.

However, the rise of YouTube Shorts isn't without its challenges. The platform must continually work to balance monetization opportunities for creators while keeping the content viewer-friendly. Plus, with so much content being uploaded every minute, maintaining a high standard of quality and filtering out inappropriate material becomes a Herculean task.

YouTube Shorts illustrates the ever-evolving landscape of online entertainment. As more people in the U.S. look for quick content fixes, Shorts is poised to satisfy that craving. Whether you're in line for coffee or taking a quick break from work, these bite-sized videos promise to fill every spare minute with content that's fast, fun, and tailored just for you. The future of digital entertainment is here, and it's shorter than ever.

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