Currently It's The Little Friend By Donna Tartt

I can’t lie, the biggest reason I became more masc was because of my hatred of purses. I have a small “masculine” black bag for things like pride where I probably need a back up battery pack, band aids, snacks, and other things but that’s it. (And back pack for school and work but ya know)

wait do you guys actually carry purses/bags everywhere you go i really need to know

I'm trying to write a post about tick safety and avoiding tick bites, but a lot of the info on websites is like "Avoid going in the woods, in plants, and where there are wild animals" and "Activities like hiking and gardening can put you at risk" and I'm like thanks! This is worthless!

As ticks and tick borne illnesses are expanding their range, I think it's important for people to be educated about these things, and I think it's especially important to give people actual advice on how to protect themselves instead of telling them to just...avoid the natural world

Rough draft version of Tick Advice:

Ticks don't jump down on you from trees, they get on you when you brush against grass, brush, bushes etc.

Ticks get brought to an area when they get done feeding from an animal and fall off them. In the USA, the main tick-bringing animal is deer, but I've seen plenty ticks on feral cats and songbirds.

Ticks get killed when they dry out so drier areas with more sunlight are less favorable to ticks.

The above is useful for figuring out whether an area is likely to have lots of ticks, and how vigilant you have to be in that area.

Wear light-colored, long pants outside. Tuck your pants into your socks, and tuck your shirt into the waist of your pants. Invest in light, breathable fabrics idc

IMMEDIATELY change out of your outside clothes when you come back from a tick-prone area, wash them, and dry them on high heat to kill any ticks that might be stuck on.

Shower and check yourself for ticks after coming inside. Hair, armpits, and nether regions in particular. You can use a handheld mirror or rely on touch; an attached tick will feel like a bump kinda like a scab

While you're outside, you can just periodically check for ticks by running your hands down your legs and checking visually to see if anything is crawling on your clothes. Light colors make them easy to spot, and they don't move fast.

Combing through each others' hair to check for creepy crawly critters is a time-honored primate ritual and is not weird. When hiking, bring a friend who will have your back when you feel something on your neck and need to know if it's sweat or a tick

If you're careful, you can usually catch ticks before they bite you, but if one does bite you, it's not the end of the world. Since tickborne diseases are different regionally i suspect this advice will differ based on where you are, but the important thing is remove the tick with tweezers (DON'T use butter, a lit match, or anything that kills the tick while it's still attached, please) and contact a doctor to see what to watch for. Most illnesses you can catch from ticks are easily treatable if you recognize them when symptoms first appear

One thing I adore about Dead Boy Detectives is how brilliant the first ten minutes are. The pacing is incredible. You meet the boys, learn who they are, get a peek at what they want, and are shown what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Straight out the gate, you know that Charles is impulsive and more physically protective, and that Edwin is more intellectual and prone to magic. You learn magic exists and this is a setting where an infinite backpack can happen. Edwin gets a chance to show off his deductive skills with their client, and Charles gets to show off his people skills with both the client and the WWI ghost. Six minutes in and we already know these characters.

You learn that this is how these characters function together, and that they know each other well enough to know each others' strengths and weaknesses and rely on each other and compensate for them, respectively. The pacing is lively and attention-grabbing, and the back-and-forth between the office and the scene while they're on the job allows a fantastic showcase of the contrast between how they work together in different situations.

Then we get a look at the deeper need that motivates our two ghosts: staying together, against all odds, even after death, even in the face of Death herself.

And then we segue into another brilliant bit of exposition. Instead of a long, stodgy talking scene that would slow down the pacing, we get shown slices of Crystal acting strangely to explain what's going on.

In the space of ten minutes, we have met our characters, know what drives them, know their status quo, and are ready for that status quo to be upended, all without a single exposition dump.

No wonder this series series was met with critical acclaim. This is brilliant character writing and pacing. I write for a living, and this intro scene had me turning to the person next to me, saying, "THAT'S how you do it."

There's so much to appreciate about Dead Boy Detectives, but I feel like the script doesn't get anywhere near enough attention. Standing ovation for the absolutely brilliant writing, honestly.

started reading gideon the ninth! 🦴🦷

Happy 1000th day of alectopause

Wishing y’all sanity

Look at this gorgeous person. I am obsessed.

Jayden Revri for Behind The Blinds Magazine

☠️ punk butch / teddy bear butch 🧸

happy pride month! this is also me testing gl@ze for the first time lol

(as usual, posted early on ptrn)

verified ways to send aid to gaza directly

Help a Palestinian family directly:

gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical attention, food, rebuilding homes/businesses etc. (Spotlights 1 verified gfm at a time so if you don't know who/where to donate to just go here and donate to the one they show you!)

Help provide tents (urgent):

The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents for displaced families in Gaza (emergency bc tents in Rafah are being burned as we speak) (paypal) (gfm)

Food, cash & essentials:

Care for Gaza: Working on the ground in Gaza to distribute food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. (paypal) (gfm)

Direct Aid for Gaza: also working on the ground in Gaza to distribute food, cash & other daily essential suppliess to displaced families. (paypal) (gfm)

Water:

Gaza Municipality's water project: The official Municipality of Gaza needs help rebuilding the water infrastructure in Gaza City to restore access to clean water and waste management services for the people of Gaza. (This campaign only has a couple of weeks left but it's still only at 15%!)

eSIMs (urgent):

guide to buy & send esims for gaza

crips for esims for gaza: If you don't know how to buy esims or don't have the capacity to manage them (e.g. topping up regularly), this team of volunteers are collecting funds to buy & manage gaza esims regularly

Medical Aid

Palestine Red Crescent Society: Provides emergency medical and ambulance services and humanitarian relief on the ground in Gaza e.g. rescuing and treating the wounded.