#especially if it is a scam

[wiisagi-maiingan]

I'm all for natural remedies and traditional medicine, but I think when your "natural remedy" is based on the idea that water can become medicinal by being in the presence of a teeny itty bit amount of something, then it's probably bullshit and you're getting scammed. Go buy some ibuprofen or see a doctor.

[blueteller]

I love how this one panel unironically shows their entire dynamic throughout the series

Just a proud dad and his overpowered Dragon toddler

💖

[auncyen]

Soulmate world except two people without marks decide they're going to fake being each other's soulmates with fake tattoos and what starts out as wacky shenanigans to reassure their families they can settle down and be happy ends up with them delving too far into the lore to make sure they get the act right and slowly piecing together, to their horror, that the whole soulmate system is a scheme of their people's gods to make the population boom before an upcoming war.

[lucabyte]

Happy PMD Red is on NSO day. Sadly I don't think King the Skitty and Muse the Cyndaquil will be returning to finish up their adventure regardless.

[ganondoodle]

1 year since i got scammed by nintedno leaving me forever yearning for a game we will never get and an extreme worry for the future

[spechblend]

Ran into this guy who told me he was a traveling yogi trying to sell me books. I politely decline because I’m usually in a hurry between classes, but he pointed out my “no masters” tshirt and asked if it was a nod to the classic saying, “no gods no masters.”

I told him it was more aligning to punk culture (but yes that too), and since I had my patch pants on, he asked if I was punk, so I said yes. Then he asked me, “isn’t punk a dying culture?”

Before I got into the scene, I thought the same thing. Then I started to post my interests on tumblr, and realized punk is all around us, but sometimes people just don’t dress as obviously as I do. And that’s fine. In every town, every city, you’re surrounded by allies, and that’s comforting to know.

(Except zombiepunk, he’s no ally, fuck him)

[khaire-traveler]

I reiterate that if you're going to ask people for donations, you will come across as extremely suspicious if you spam their inbox. People are likely to report and/or block you, thinking you're a bot. If you need donations, I do not recommend going about like this. I really, REALLY do not recommend it.

[bloomshroomz]

Aromantic*

(Alternate Title: Shrödinger’s Romantic)

I keep wondering if “aromantic” is really a good word to describe my romantic orientation. I have plenty of reasons for why it is, but also plenty of reasons for why it might not be. Shrödinger’s romantic.

In order to know whether you experience romantic attraction or not, you first have to have a solid definition of what romantic attraction is. A definition which is clear, and also distinct from other forms of emotional attraction. I don’t think such a definition exists, or at least, it’s not commonplace.

“Romantic attraction: attraction that makes people desire romantic contact or interaction with another person or persons.” - UNC Chapel Hill LGBT Center

But what is romantic contact or interaction? Is it contact which is culturally considered romantic? In that case, the ways in which romantic attraction is defined would vary by culture, and even by gender. Or is it contact which one intends to be romantic? That would make sense, but is incredibly subjective. How do you know where to draw the line? What if you haven’t drawn one?

“[Romantic attraction] involves a combination of physical, sexual, and emotional feelings toward someone.” - WebMD

This definition is ridiculously vague, especially for a page which defines multiple other types of attraction in relation to romance. What physical feelings? What sexual feelings? What emotional feelings? What about alloromantic asexual people, or other varioriented people, who don’t necessarily experience sexual feelings as part of their romantic feelings?

But the article also defines aromanticism as “when you don’t have any desire for a romantic relationship,” so I can’t count on it for accuracy regardless.

“Romantic attraction is the internal pull that you experience when you are with someone with whom you internally feel connected, comfortable and interested in spending more of your life with.” - Choosing Therapy

Do people not feel connected to their friends? Do people not feel comfortable with their friends? Are people not interested in spending more of their life with their friends? Why else would people find time to connect with their friends, to confide in them, to engage with them? What about these feelings is distinctly romantic?

The article goes on to say this:

“Romantic relationships are relationships intentionally initiated and maintained for experiencing sexual and romantic feelings together, whereas platonic relationships are usually centered on another purpose like hobbies, friendship, support, work, etc. Romantic relationships can also include these purposes as well, but the platonic relationship excludes the romance and sexual feelings.” - Choosing Therapy

I ask again, what about alloaces and other varioriented people? What about people who have sex with their friends? Even when it’s taboo, it’s not unheard of. The distinction can’t be sex, so it has to be romance. So, what is romance?

Later in the article, it defines romance once again:

“Romantic attraction: The internal pull that draws your attention to the other person’s positive qualities, and your internal reaction to connect, love, share and spend time with them to have more romance.” - Choosing Therapy

I feel like I’m running in circles here. People draw their attention to the positive qualities of not just romantic interests, but to friends, family, and other people with whom they’d have no romantic interest. Connection, love, and spent time are not exclusive to romance either. If the goal is to have more romance… What is that?

Every answer I find fails to say what romance is on its own. The definitions always rely on presence or absence of sex, or other things which can just as easily be present in platonic or otherwise non-romantic contexts. Romantic attraction is consistently defined by things which are not distinctly romantic.

Is it even a real thing? I mean, I feel like it’s clearly not, but it’s also clearly very real to most people. Most people don’t think about it this hard. It’s like they were given a manual that I can never possess. It comes naturally to them. They feel romantic attraction, and they know, intuitively, that that’s what it is.

Is my lack of intuition evidence that I don’t experience romantic attraction, or am I just autistic? Maybe it’s both. When I described to my aunts my emotional attraction, they described my way of experiencing and perceiving attraction as very “intellectual,” which I initially rejected. But I think they were right. I lack the intuition to understand my feelings in any way that doesn’t involve a literal or metaphorical chart. It’s something I can’t just feel and then know like other people do.

Is romantic attraction always a “you’ll know it when you feel it” sort of thing? It seems like it. Even when I search “romantic attraction” on Google, many results either come from queer Fandom Wiki pages, discussions amongst a-spec people, Reddit, or Quora. Some results aren’t even relevant to the question, including multiple results which just describe what “aromantic” means. The opposite of what I intended to search for.

The thing is, I do have feelings which would likely be perceived as romantic to most people. I have a deep desire for commitment and companionship. To touch and be touched. To love and be loved. To be emotionally and physically intimate with other people. To feel the warmth of other people as we lay in bed together. To live out our mundane lives together. Things that most people would find incredibly romantic.

But are these things romantic if I don’t explicitly intend for them to be? Is it romantic for me to be open to it being romantic, without actively wanting that?

When I’ve described my feelings online, I’ve gotten mixed responses from other people, but I’ve generally been given similar advice from different strangers, and similar labels thrown at me, even when I hadn’t asked for advice or labels.

“I think you’d enjoy a queerplatonic relationship.”

“You might be cupioromantic.”

“You might be bellusromantic.”

And I can understand where they’re coming from. I don’t think they’re entirely wrong, either. I would enjoy a queerplatonic relationship… But not for any reason that wouldn’t apply to other committed relationship types. Queerplatonic relationships, platonic relationships, romantic relationships, and whatever else there is are the same to me in all but label.

Cupioromanticism is something I have considered. I made the flag for it when I was 15 years old as well (yes, the peach one with five stripes; I always asked to be credited anonymously), so I’m biased towards liking the flag. But the definition is “being aromantic, and also wanting a romantic relationship.”

I don’t specifically want a romantic relationship, but I do want committed relationships in general, and romantic relationships are included in that. So, maybe?

Bellusromantic is something I have also considered, and it also has a pretty flag. But I think it’s less accurate than cupioromantic. The definition is “being aromantic, and enjoying traditionally romantic things, but not wanting a romantic relationship (or not wanting a committed relationship, depending on the definition used).”

I do enjoy traditionally romantic things in a way which is not explicitly romantic, and I don’t explicitly want a romantic relationship. But I’m not opposed to romantic relationships, and I do explicitly want committed relationships.

I took some aro-spec tests, and my results had a tendency to skew towards cupioromantic, bellusromantic, and quoiromantic. Quoiromantic is another orientation which I have considered, and it might be the most accurate.

Quoiromantic is also aptly known as “whatromantic” or “WTFromantic” because the defining trait is that romantic attraction as a concept doesn’t make sense to you.

“[Quoiromantic], also known as [whatromantic] or [WTFromantic], is a [romantic] orientation defined by confusion, vagueness, and/or obscurity. A [quoiromantic] person may not understand or relate to the concepts of [romantic] attraction and/or [romantic] orientation. [Quoiromanticism] may involve confusion related to what [romance] is, whether or not one experiences [romantic attraction], and how to differentiate it from other forms of attraction. [Quoiromanticism] can also feel blurry and unclear, and may center around general confusion around one's identity and attraction. It can also refer to a lack of identification with [romantic] orientation as a concept, and can additionally serve as a label for people who cannot fit into more specific identities. [Quoiromanticism] can also refer to when one does not experience [romantic] attraction in a "traditional" manner. It is sometimes used as a catch-all term for people who know they're somewhere on the [aromantic] spectrum, but aren't sure where.” - An LGBTQIA+ Wiki (originally about quoisexuality; I changed some words.)

In a similar vein, pomoromantic (“pomo” being literally taken from “postmodern”) would also fit. My romantic orientation exists from a post-romantic perspective, where romance is understood to be made up bogus which isn’t actually fundamentally different from any other form of emotional connection.

“[Pomoromanticism] is defined as refusing, avoiding, or not fitting any [romantic] orientation label in terms of conventional labels or classifications, such as gay, lesbian, [biromantic], or [aromantic]. It challenges categorizations in favor of largely unmapped possibility and the intense charge that comes with transgression. Some [pomoromantic] people may be queer or questioning, and others may not be.” - Another LGBTQIA+ Wiki (originally about pomosexuality; I changed some words.)

But at that point, is it even worth labeling my romantic orientation? Should I just be bisexual/omnisexual? Maybe with a little asterisk at the end? Does any of this matter? Am I thinking too much? (I am.)

I think that continuing to identify as aromantic will probably close me off to potential relationships. I feel like the word gives people the wrong idea. At the same time, the way that I think about romance is fundamentally different than the way other people tend to, and I do consider my aromanticism to be a notable part of who I am and how I experience the world. Maybe I should just send this to whoever ends up being a potential partner. Probably more useful than any label.

[sugarmeinsugar]

My advice to anyone new to jfashion:

Do not buy from Depop. Buy from secondhand in Japan. You’ll be saving a ton of money. I mean like a lot.

[boy-and-girl-crazy123456]

I know this is like a few years dead meme but "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" used as like representative of how schools don't teach "useful" knowledge actually really pisses me off cuz like, understanding cellular biology is actually pretty important to understanding you know, public health threats like say I dunno, some sort of pandemic or something!

[avaantares]

Verify.

Getting really, REALLY sick of all the botspam pretending to be refugees in Gaza. Just in the last couple of days I've had more than 20 new money requests land in my inbox, many of them exact duplicates sent from various randomly-generated URLs. Some of them seem to be AI-generated, or at least following a set Mad Libs format ("our beautiful ___-story house" is a perennial favorite; who knew Gaza had so many homes with 6 to 11 floors?).

Nearly all of these claim to be verified by some third party, but almost none have proof of it (links to a database, exact spreadsheet line numbers, etc.). Some that do give such information don't exist when you actually look them up; they're just assuming that nobody will bother checking.

This is why I never send money to unsolicited cash requests. Too many vultures are posing as victims to steal funds, and it's risky to trust a random DM without reliable third-party verification. By all means, support refugees and fund evacuation and relief efforts! But do it through safe/verified channels, and (for your own safety) never send random cash to a stranger on the internet without doing at least the bare minimum of fact-checking.

If you're considering donating to an individual campaign, ask for proof of third-party verification, such as whether it's listed on the fundraiser spreadsheet compiled by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi. While this is not 100% foolproof, it would require a dedicated scammer to jump through enough hoops to get listed, while most bots/scattershot scams are just pointing you directly to a GoFundMe link without taking the effort.

Here are a few more bot-free ways to help:

Gaza Funds - a safer way to give directly to those raising money for evacuation, medical treatment, or rebuilding. This site randomly displays a vetted campaign every time you load the page, so it helps all campaigns get equal exposure. All campaigns in the database have been screened to weed out likely scams.

Charity Watch Gaza Aid list - Choose your own charity to support from this verified list of humanitarian and relief services. From this site, you can learn what your money goes toward and what percentage of it will be used for direct relief, rather than administrative costs.

Connecting Humanity/eSIMs for Gaza - This organization uses donated eSIM cards to provide internet and communications access to refugees and displaced people.

Operation Olive Branch - A grassroots organization, OOB helps verify individual fundraising campaigns and supports relief organizations.

UNRWA - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine and the Near East provides food, medical supplies, educational materials, and more to affected areas.

Arab.org daily clicks to help - It's free and only takes a few seconds! You can click all six categories, once per browser per device per day (so different browsers, mobiles, desktops, tablets, etc. can all be used on the same day).

For more reading, here's the FCC guide to donating safely.

[tvckerwash]

all this buzz about "canon grimmons!!!" is giving me war flashbacks to pre s15 when joe or jason said they were going to make grimmons canon in s15 and then never delivered...

[bruciemilf]

Positively bonkers for a spoiled brat, 20 something Bruce being booted to farmer Clark Kent to "make an honest boy" out of him

Luckily, Thomas' old college friend, John Kent, thinks his boy might help Brucie Wayne just fine. (He's totally not playing matchmaker, nossir

After those horrible rumours he spread about Local Saint (TM) and family friend Carmine Falcone, there was no way but down. " He's a crook, scheming, fake mobster trash and you KNOW that!"

" Bruce; It's one thing to be nasty. It's another to be nasty towards others." Thomas and Martha are at the end of their rope; Their baby is adorable, but they can't enable his behaviour more than they already have. " Now you're going to be nice and not DIFFICULT, so Alfred can stop chewing us out, okay?"

oh bruce is hot and fuming silently, but Thomas and Martha are long gone, their Corvette vanishing in Smallville's golden dust.

" Thanks for this." hissing like a disgruntled kitten, Bruce easily picks up his bags.

Clark hums, says he'll do good work around the stables with those arms after all, and Bruce raises an eyebrow. Snorts. " You're funny. It's good to know you're funny,"

and Clark IS smiling (and ofc the bastard has the prettiest most heart melting smile, too) but it inspires no humor.

"... You're serious."

" Like Mother's Day."

" Okay, this won't take long. So, how much? Papa didn't leave me enough, I only have like, a couple thousands on my card, but is that gonna buy your silence on me bailing out of here? I have a spa appointment in, -"

" I don't think the rats in the barn can do your nails, but we can try."

"...Rats?"

" You know, those things with long tails and big teeth?"

" Very funny," Bruce is DISTURBED. '' Well I can't go anywhere in half of what I brought. Shame."

Something about that glare tells him he should stop talking and Bruce isn't good at that, but he makes an effort.

He looks around; It's an adorable house really. Looks almost identical to one of those dollhouses he played with as a kid.

" Cute place. Really elegant for the budget. But where are you gonna stay?"

Clark is amused; Albeit a little, but amused none the less. " There's a nice shoe box around here. I'm sure I'll fit there if I'm stubborn enough."

" ... No way."

" Yes way."

" But - but, there's only ONE shower?! Only one bathroom? I can't live like this!"

Clark shrugs his ridiculously toned shoulders and points to the barn, " Your second option isn't looking too hot, darlin'. " Then leaves Bruce alone, a blushing mess of satin shirt and muddied shoes.

He screams, " I HATE YOU!" To the trail of tires that left him in that horrible place before driving off back to Gotham, to their sweet Rosé and designer clothes and his beloved Alfred. Only for a few minutes. " ... I didn't mean that!"

At least the ducklings are cute. He fails at most chores, but he plays with them and tries to sneak them into the house, " Because it IS cold for them, CLARK!"

[nonbayanary]

This is EXACTLY the kind of scam Hiruma would pull to get someone's address in this day and age of modern technology:

[entropy-sea-system]

General psa to not just go for natural supplements claiming to boost testosterone or estrogen without looking into whats in it and what the ingredients actually do, because a lot of them will just boost LH and increase the more predominant hormone in your body or depend on what gonads you have. Im not sure how it would vary for different intersex conditions but unless its a drug that actually increases estrogen or testosterone or progesterone etc. (or is straight up the hormone) for anyone with any organs, its not going to give you your desired result.

Do research into what a drug or supplement does before taking it. Chances are, some boost hormones depending on the organs in your body and are not inherently masculinising or feminising(whichever effect preferred), and may have other unrelated effects on the body. I feel like people often ignore that herbal supplements can cause harm too, if taken improperly or with no knowledge of what they do to the body.

[manda-kat]

Looking at Wish, I just keep thinking of the people who called Frozen a 'lazy movie' because they used really similar face shapes for Anna, Elsa and their mother.

Look at the ice and snow effects in that movie. Listen to the music. Enjoy the comedy. Remember that it isn't even close to the beauty of Disney's best and yet it still remains a work of art.

Now look at Wish as the monkey's paw curls. Hey- at least they use different face shapes.