#idk kinda random

[crazypossumman]

A thing about binding…

So, as we all know, there’s a lot of reasons someone may not be able to bind with an actual binder. These include:

Financial reasons

Health issues

Inaccessibility due to lack of support from family

Hostility towards trans people in their area

Simply feeling uncomfortable in a binder due to chest size, body type, or any other factors

Or a multitude of other things

I’ve been binding for about 2-2.5 years now (I can’t remember exactly). Unfortunately, financial struggles make it seem like top surgery is a thing of the distant future, so I’ll probably be doing this for some time. I am also a plus-sized dude with a very large chest—approximately 38D, but I don’t wear bras so I don’t know my size exactly—which causes some issues. Being large-chested is already known to cause back pain BEFORE adding binding to the mix. And, with the size of my chest, I feel uncomfortable/unsafe being out in public without binding due to the fact that I pass in most other ways, as I live in a rather conservative state and typically try to avoid being flagged as trans by strangers.

As a result of these factors, I’ve been doing some experimenting with alternatives to binding. Now, again, being large-cheated really starts to limit options. Things like tucking are already considered dangerous, and they tend to be impractical with larger breasts.

So, I’ve been looking in to alternatives. The first thing I did some research on was the TomboyX compression bra that recently spiked in popularity after being sold at Target for a time. While these look like a promising and well made produce, they still run at about $40 (before taxes and shipping), making them comparable to the price of a binder. And, though the reviews on them seem very good, I wasn’t personally wanting to spend that amount of money on what appeared to be a glorified sports bra (I mean no offense by this, it’s just personal opinion).

And so, being the Broke Bitch™️ I am, I went to Walmart. There, I found this:

Looking at it, it seemed pretty promising. If nothing else, it would be a good alternative for when I needed break days or would be working out, so I bought it for a whopping $14.99 (after tax). Immediately when I went home, I tried it on and took comparison photos between that and my binder.

This is the GC2B half-tank binder in an XL compared to the sports bra in the photo above from two different angles. Obviously, the shape is quite different, but the sports bra is surprisingly comfortable and adds a very decent amount of compression. Next, I put on a t-shirt and retook the photos:

Again, this is binder on the top, sports bra on the bottom. Still, there is a slight difference in shape and size, but it’s generally not that noticeable. Granted, I do wear almost exclusively baggy t-shirts, so I’m sure that helps. Next, I took the same photos with my go to Trans Guy Baggy Hoodie:

So, there's a bit to unpack here. First of all, it's worth noting I immediately removed the pads from the bra. Even so, the shaping issue is still somewhat of an issue. Luckily(?) for me, with my body type, it would be believable for me to have a bit of Man Titty. For someone thin and large-chested, this may not be the case. On the other hand, for anyone relatively small chested, bra like this one would probably be (at least somewhat) effective.

To make things simple, here are the things I liked about the...

Binder

Is made especially made for trans men, therefore eliminating some of the dysphoria associated with wearing a bra (for me, at least)

Shapes the chest so that breast tissue more closely resembles "pecs"

Slightly flatter chest look

Is more comfortable to wear in public on its own (ie. for swimming shirtless)

Sports Bra

Thinner straps and lighter fabric can reduce sweat and therefore acne

More breathable/less compression on the lungs

Less risk for the health issues associated with binding (ig)

Might make my body personally look more proportionately accurate (idk if looking like I have massive pecs or slightly saggy man titties is better lol)

End game, I feel this experiment has left me with more questions than answers. Honestly, during the winter months when I have to layer up anyway, I may wear the sports bra to give my body a break, but I get the feeling I will be back to binding normally before long.

If anyone else has any information on this, please feel free to share your insight with me. Or, if any plus sized people have tried the TomboyX compression top or any other brands of binders that may be worth trying, let me know how you felt about it! Maybe I'm wrong and it would be worth the money lol.

Also, a friendly reminder that binding is by no means required for any chest size to be nonbinary, transmasc, transgender, etc. or any combination thereof, and that everything I reported here is based on my personal experience alone.

Note: Any comments on my weight or misgendering and I will start hunting you for sport :)

[meamiiikiii]

silly comic based on a time i struggled to read live on stream :thumbsup:

context clip compilation below ASDASDFASA

(cw for brief mention of hospitals/strokes)

[yuwuta]

olympics coming up…… athlete aus on the mind….. satoru as a swimmer….. unreasonably large wingspan…. huge hands..... thinks “official” competitions and tournaments are boring because he can’t use the goofy purple googly eyes goggles he likes to practice in…… practices at ungodly hours solely because he likes when the pool is empty because that means you’ll dip your feet in at the edge and be there to greet him with a kiss when he’s finished his laps….. they bring up the stats board and it’s just his name ten times before the next fastest person and he could still lap them, and even tho he’ll always put so much pressure on himself to be the best, it’s worth it to have you hold his face and tell him you’re proud of him... he’s gotten so much merch from events and sponsorships and he used to think they just created clutter but that all changes when you start to wear his clothes (esp the ones with his name on it… he’s not proud to admit that does Something to him)…. always looks up to the stands when he finishes a race and if he knows you’re not there, he looks right at the camera, draws an infinity sign with his fingers, and blows a kiss (which, some commentators routinely call “unsportsmanlike conduct” but he doesn’t care, and always, publicly says he’ll pay the fees if it means blowing a kiss to his girl at home)

[miku-meeku]

haha chat you wont believe what i got myself into haha

[helixcraft]

the fish that keeps appearing all over my recommended only that he's out of jail and happy

[klmmcqueen]

harem anime 🗡

[possiblylando]

HTP; Ghoul Lore Audio Log Spoilers/Analysis/Discussion

Dude holy shit uh Spoiler barrier and then all in cause

Okay Okay fuck where to begin this episode literally changes everything okay I guess lets start at the Draught. Based on what we know about this unique Draught, it means Grimal might not be the ghoul?? If the ghoul potentially has this Draught (which I vaguely doubt will come into play in this arc specifically) it could mean anyone could be the ghoul so long as they were only in a place without 1 other person. Atleast I assume so because if they could use this high power Dominate on multiple people simultaneously then this whole operation would be cooked from the start. While I was very mixed on the idea of Gloria as the Ghoul previously, I think its far more possible now. This high level Dominate (Lets assume 4 dots) This ghoul could have access to Rationalize or Forgetful Mind, Or any others in that category. If Grimal is was being commanded to act that could explain why everything is so suspicious around her. Have someone else go in and take care of Occam while the ghoul sits with someone else and has the perfect alibi. So now I think the possibilities for Ghoul are; 1. Grimal is the Ghoul (The Draught is a red herring and simply setting up something in a future arc instead of this current one.) 2. Gloria is the Ghoul & has this Draught; this is based more on Vibes and the fact Gloria doesn't actually do too much in part 1 outside checking Occam's pulse. If she's the ghoul and commanded someone (Namely Grimal) to attack Occam, she would have a vested interested in knowing if the attack was successful. Okay thats about it for my thoughts on the Ghoul right now. Onto the far more important bit of this episode. Because this was not simpyl a Ghoul Lore episode, THIS WAS A MARCKUS LORE EPISODE TROJAN HORSE.

But before the deep Marckus shit- Markus was 12 in 1988. Door was present and seems to be in his 20s or 30s. Boy has not been born yet and Boy is 11 in 2006 so he was born in like 1995. So I think its reasonable to place door as being in his 20s here, having Boy in his 30s. This means Door is probably 8-15? (Maybe) years older than Markus which would make him roughly 40 in modern day. D does look markedly younger in these photographs but I'm not sure if thats art style or actually because he's aged. It does put a damped on my thoughts about D being MUCH older than he seems. But we do know his previous Ex-Wife Rozalia (The Ghoul) is roughly 108 in modern day. It seems to be implied D had met & later married her after she was pretty deep into being a ghoul so there probably was a large age gap already. But it still kinda stands out to me. D is very afraid or Marckus becoming a Ghoul because he sees himself in him. I don't necessarily think D was a ghoul (thought it could explain his weird age). Thought all this might be confirmation Bias as in the more recent episodes D's hair has been more consistently colored with grey streaks when compared to earlier episodes where it was more like a sheen in his hair. It just feels like D has done too much to only be roughly in his 60-70s and very fit. While older people can certainly be in good physical condition it doesnt seem like D has suffered any real negatives from aging? He's MINIMUM 18 years older than Door who is in his 40s but again that's a low ball. I don't know. Alright time for the Marckus stuff. So its rather basic background knowledge that HTP's main cast is inspired by the cast of Warhammer 40k TTS. Now up until this point I had thought it was mostly a baseline thing. Only really carrying over personalities and vague relationships between characters while having the freedom to change them with that background knowledge. But based on this episode it appears to be more relevant.

Whatever the fuck Marckus managed to summon, It was something not even D understood. This is in directly parallel with 40k's Magnus who Marckus is based on. For those who don't know about 40k lore (I don't blame you its VERY long.), Magnus is a Primarch (Emperor's special kids) who ended up being manipulated by 40k's god of trickery and ended up fucking up literally everything because of his lack of thinking things through and the influence of said trickster god. Gods in 40k are manifestations of humanity (and alien's) collective subconscious minds and often take the forms of their most volatile negative aspects. They're entited formed from 'The Warp' which is the source of magic in 40k. Magnus is very naturally tuned to the warp. Almost all the issues in TTS (and 40k) relating to Magnus are because he has a MASSIVE complex. He craves parental affection and affirmation but in TTS every time he thinks hes denied it, some shit goes wrong. When he actually gets that parental affection (Earlier season 2 iirc) he mellows out alot until finding out the only reason the emperor (D's counterpart) brought him back was so that Magnus would act as a pawn and decoy in his 5d chess game to deal with political enemies. Magnus is not happy about this. With all this background information, whats present in this episode slots into place. Marckus seems to have forgotten about the incident yes. The better case is that he blocked out the memory due to trauma. But the worse possibility is that a seed was planted. One that's been festering within him since that time. D may be planning to tell Marckus everything in a few months, But I get the feeling before those months are up, That seed will sprout. In one form or another, Marckus will be given the option to go down the same path of darkness as his predecessor. I don't think Marckus would go for such a path without a push but the one providing that push might be D, even if unintentionally. D is so focused on the forest that he's missing the trees.

[coldarena]

mota uniform studies + a very good boy

[blaithnne]

Oh so I’m supposed to choose one outfit for The Goldie O’Gilt? Get a fucking grip

Meet the Cast!

╰┈➤ Canon ☄. *. ⋆

→ Scrooge McDuff → Matilda McDuff → Hortense McDuff → Qalhata Duiker → Jack Duckworth → Bentina Beakley → LÙ Huifen (pre-caseflies) → LÙ Huifen (post-casefiles) → Ludwig Von Druska → Bradford Butcher

╰┈➤ OCs ☄. *. ⋆

→ Lucrais NicRiada

.ೃ࿐

[winethorn]

(pls send tea recs i have like five different variations of earl grey and am starting to get worried) >-<

also kinda gave up on the emoticons for this one they were just too hard 😔

[sonknuxadow]

hey guys look what i found in my drafts. from a few days ago .

[meamiiikiii]

happy siffrin day / loop plush drop day / loop day!!! :D

[bugtoast]

i’ve been reading up on intersex issues here and there lately, and ngl i think the trans community should, as a whole, make it common practice to learn about intersexuality and the issues that come with the identity.

I feel like the same can be said about any and all oppressed groups, but I stress intersex folks here because it’s pride month, and they don’t get as much support from the wider community, which sucks because they have done so much for the wider community.

TL;DR: Intersex people are cool and we should listen to them more often, because the wider community could learn a lot from them

[phantom-0-writer]

scene 03: get in loser, we’re going shopping

original prompt: gotham academy's mentorship program

more at: table of contents

timeline: much later after scene 1 & 2

Danny and Damian sat at one of the corner tables in the library. Danny had finals coming up, and was busy reviewing the term’s worth of topics from all his classes. Damian, who had insisted on joining him, sat bored. having nothing left to study. 

Danny looked at the younger boy when he sighed for the 3rd time in the past five minutes. Deciding that maybe he should take a break and indulge Damian, Danny finished the last problem, and let his book shut with a loud finality. 

Damian looked up at him hopefully, “Are you done, now?” He asked. Danny could tell he was trying his best to not seem too eager, but Danny couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. 

“Yup,” packing his things away first, he waited for Damian, when he noticed what the boy had taken up in his boredom. “Woah, Damian.” He whispered in awe, picking up the paper closest to him. “You did this?” 

Damian seemed to need a moment to understand what Danny was referring to before becoming flustered and embarrassed, a soft pink spreading on his ears, “It was simply mindless work.” He sounded defensive, like someone had berated him for his artist interests before. Danny tried not to react to that, knowing Damian would probably find it insulting. 

The sketch was on the back of a math worksheet Damian had long since completed, it was of a fighter who seemed to be using his sword to attack a nondiscript opponent. Danny knew from his many intensive training sessions with Pandora that the figure's form was slipping into leaving them open for an easy frontal attack from their opponent, while simultaneously leaving the fighter to not have the range of motion they might need to defend themselves. Most of the lines of the drawing were scratchy and short but overly repeated giving the fighter the illusion of fast movement, directly in contrast the hard outline of the fighter’s form made it seem like the fighter was stuck in their position. 

Liminals and liminal-agencent people by definition did not have a strong awareness to manipulate ectoplasm consciously like other more ghostly beings could. Coincidentally, liminals tended to leak their own internally produced and stored ectoplasm when they acted on their deep emotions. Scientifically this usually showed itself as a person ‘harnessing their full potential’ in moments of crisis or in some more extreme and rarer cases accessing their metagene (meta’s were not to be confused with liminals or ghostly beings they hold few to no similarities outside of coincidence). Danny had known from the beginning that Damian was a liminal, likely from prolonged exposure to ectoplasm, and paradoxically had a difficult time understanding and accessing his own emotions. Emotional negligence was never healthy for an ectoplasmic being, and Danny knew it would be a long process for Damian to learn how to properly deal with his layered and complex emotions. 

  That being said, there was a steady level of ectoplasm spread over the paper, something that did not match what Danny would have expected from Damian’s current state with his emotional and subsequently his ectoplasmic abilities. The fighter was clearly a character Damian had either consciously or subconsciously created to represent himself. 

Danny could work with this. 

During the long moment of silence Damian seemed to have grown more and more anxious for Danny’s reaction. Danny let his emotions display easily on his face, wide eyed, “This is so good, Damian. I didn’t know you drew. Do you like art?” 

“I do not draw. Art is a meaningless waste of time and only those without higher goals would indulge in such an activity.” Damian sounded conflicted, and the words he was saying were pretty obviously echoed from what someone else had said to him. 

“That’s ridiculous,” Danny scoffed, “Art is a very important basis for almost everything. I mean it would feel pretty stale to live in a world where there was no uniqueness anywhere. Drawing, painting, writing, acting, sculpting, singing, or whatever else, are all unique forms of making something that no one else could truly ever recreate exactly. Even if it’s minute, there are always differences in the way that one person would commit to something than another person. It’s the basis of humanity and in the core of the human mind. If you try to block it so harshly from yourself, you’ll end up locking up an integral part of yourself that sets you apart from the other 7 million people on this planet.” 

Damain stood there, considering what Danny said. 

Not waiting another moment, Danny grabbed Damian’s bag heading out of the library. “What are you doing?” Damian asked suspiciously, quickly falling in step with Danny, grabbing his bag back. 

Danny smirked at him, “We’re going shopping, Loser.” 

Damian looked scandalied at the nickname, not understanding the reference. “I am not a loser.” he huffed. 

Danny just laughed as they waited for the next bus. Once they got to their stop and entered the store, Danny beelined for where he knew the art supplies to be. Damian followed behind him, unfamiliar with the store.

Sure, if Damian wanted, he could easily buy the more top of the line supplies, after all he was a Wayne. But Danny was pointedly a broke scholarship kid right now, and it didn’t sit right to let Damian pay for things he was buying, no matter how much of a trust fund kid he may be. Not that Danny was exactly broke, but he imagined the cashiers at their local supermarket wouldn’t appreciate him trying to pay for a sketchbook, a couple sketch pens and pencils, and a 25 pack of Crayola markers with solid gold coins. 

It was around 4:30 when they left the store with their stuff, Damian eyeing the bag curiously the whole time. They walked the rest of the way to a local cafe, and Danny sat Damian down. 

“Okay, we’ll be here for the next hour,” He pulled out his own sketchpad, the concepts filling the pages were more accurately  blueprints more than drawings, “Draw whatever you want.” 

“I don’t know what to draw.” Damian huffed, awkwardly taking the supplies from Danny, and examining his surroundings carefully. Damian sat in the corner for a while, blending into the surroundings as he watched how the world spun around him. Danny was half-way through reviewing one of his older designs when Damian finally decided to open the pack of pencils and the first strike on the paper was made. They stayed there for long over the allotted hour, both sucked into their own projects. 

“I finished.” Damian breathed in satisfaction, stretching his hand and back in his chair at the admission. 

Danny eyed him with curiosity. “Can I see?” He asked. Danny wasn’t sure how right he had been about Damian using drawing to help regulate his ectoplasm and emotions, and he wanted to check how consistent it would be. Also he was really curious to see what he had drawn. 

Damian looked a little bashful at his request, but he nodded, handing the sketch book over to Danny. Danny could easily feel the ectoplasmic energy scattered across the page, it wasn’t as constant as the first drawing had been, but it was still there. So he was right. 

The drawing this time was of what had likely originally meant to be the barista, based on the outlines of the industrial coffee machine and register that had started out but been forgotten later for the center of the piece. The man was wearing an apron similarly like the one the barista had been wearing and a similar uniform, but that was the only similarities that Danny could draw from his surroundings in the drawing. The man, unlike their teenaged barista, was quite aged, with thin but well groomed hair, and a mustache. He had a longer face scattered with wrinkles of old age. The old man was looking down, presumably working on something, and seemingly happy with whatever it was. The ecto-signature was more concentrated around the old man, leading Danny to believe it was someone Damian likely loved and admired. 

“You’re so good at this.” Danny complemented, honestly. “Did you have fun?” He asked, it was starting to get dark and they had stayed at the cafe longer than Danny had asked him to without complaint. 

“Yeah, I did.” He answered after a moment. Danny ruffled his hair affectionately, “Hey, you’re gonna mess it up.” He complained, making no effort to remove himself. 

“C’mon, let’s get you home. I have to go to work soon.” Danny led them out of the store, just in time for an expensive looking black car to pull around the bend and expertly stop in front of him. 

“Young Master Damian, I’ve come to pick you up.” An old British gentleman spoke from the driver seat, it was the man from the drawing. 

“Understood, Alfred.” Damian turned to hand the art supplies back to Danny. 

“They’re yours.” Danny refused. 

“I’ll take care of them.” Damian promised, placeing the supplies carefully inside his book bag. 

“I’m sure you will.” Danny nodded, stepping back so the car could drive away. 

“Mister Daniel, I would have no problem taking you home as well. It is quite late now.” The driver spoke kindly. It surprised Danny how accurate Damian had drawn that picture without so much as a reference. 

“No it’s alright.” Danny waved away the idea, “I have to go to work now, and it’d be too out of the way for you.” He explained. 

The driver didn’t press, but Danny noticed how his eye caught on something in the distance before he bid his farewells and left. 

Danny made his way to the bus stop, and waited, mindlessly scrolling through his phone. Moments later another older teen approached the bus stop as well, waiting idly for the transport to arrive. He had black hair with a white tuft in the front, a sign of prolonged ectoplasmic exposure Danny knew all too well, roughly 6’ and some inches, and wore a hood of his red jacket over half his head. 

Danny supposed it was fitting for someone who called himself the Red Hood. 

The bus arrived, and both Danny and his co-passenger got at the stop before Arkham Asylum. Park Row AKA Crime Alley. By the time Danny clocked in and changed into his uniform for his shift it was already dark outside. 

“Welcome to BatBurger.” He said in chorus with the rest of the workers at the bell chime of the door opening. The man walked to the counter silently, his white tuft of hair skillfully swept under a baseball cap he hadn’t had before. When he approached Danny’s station, Danny took his order, and right before completing the transaction, as per procedure, “Can I get a name for your order?” He asked. 

“Jason Todd.” 

[avornalino]

doing a little lovestruck gp with these two!! a little backstory under the cut if you're interested!

adelaide (ada) and valerie (val) met as freshmen in college at britechester when they were randomly paired together as roommates. ada studied communications and hoped to become a journalist, val was unsure what she wanted to do at first but knew that she wanted to do something with art and possibly fashion. they didn't click at first but over time became inseparable. for the next 3 years, they lived together and when graduation came, val decided she wanted to move back to her hometown, ciudad enamorada, and ada, now unsure of what to do with her life post-grad, decided to go with her. they found a nice 2 bedroom apartment in the historic center of the city to rent for the foreseeable future while they explore the city and all it offers.

despite getting along really well, the two are pretty much opposites. val loves going out meeting making out with new people while ada prefers to make friends, she's also a little awkward when it comes to romance... (she's trying her best!)

ada: writer (journalist) | best-selling author // active, creative, romantically reserved

val: style influencer (stylist) | romantic explorer // heartbreaker, clubber, high maintenence

[anonymouscheeses]

They are everything to me.