Times Are Tough But You Are Tougher

this is based off a post by @absentlyabbie​  It got me through last years holidays, and i hope it helps you too.

Do YOU have a homophobic family member invalidating YOUR identity???

CONGRATULATIONS!! I’M YOUR NEW FAMILY!!!

My family member abilities include:

Mother

Father

Aunt

Uncle

Funky cousin

Another gay cousin to help gossip about your other, gross cousins

Brother

Sister

Step parent!

Grandpa

Grandma

Even the family DOG!!

That’s right!

I’ll even send you pictures of my DOG!

Not a dog person! THATS A-OKAY MY GUY

i also own a CAT!!!

That’s right I’ll also send you pictures of my CAT!!!!

AS YOUR NEW FAMILY MEMBER I WILL:

Call you by your preferred name

Use your correct pronouns

Tell you how AWESOME you are!!!

Respect your sexuality no matter WHAT it is!!!

If I don’t understand your sexuality? I KNOW HOW TO USE GOOGLE!!! :D YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF! YOU DO YOU BUCKO!!!

SO! if YOUR family is being SHITTY! Order your FREE new family member NOW!

But wait, there’s more!!!!

Are you an abused child? Does your family do nothing but fight? Is your family so dysfunctional you can’t believe you’re even a part of it? Have you been psychologically abused? Emotionally? Physically? This also extends to YOU!!!

That’s right! Offered throughout the holidays I also extend this offer to the AMAZING children who’ve been the victims of shitty families!!!!

My abilities include:

Respecting your triggers

Speaking softly

NEVER yelling at you!!

NEVER belitting you!!

Reminding you that you are worthy of love

And so much more!!!!!

You want animal pictures? YOU GOT EM TOO!!! FREE OF CHARGE!!!

So call now!

Or at any point in the holiday season you need to vent, cry, have someone listen, or be reminded that you are enough!!!!

A list of reminders that are mainly for myself

Sleep

Sleep is really important

Don't stay up till 11-12 every night you will cry the next day

GET BACK ON SCHEDULE NOW SO YOU DON'T DIE THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

Practice good sleep hygiene by getting into good habits before bed (I personally brush my teeth, change into my pjs, lay out clothes for the next day, then go make myself a mug of sleepy time tea to drink while I read)

Try to find a place to chill on your phone/read/do other not school/work related things that isn't your bed

SLEEP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PULLING AN ALL NIGHTER WILL NOT HELP YOU IT IS TOO LATE MY FRIENDS

Organization

Color code

Color code some more

Color code everything

Color coding is helpful if you enjoy visual learning and it makes things pretty

You know highlighting in pretty colors makes you happy don't lie

You're told to buy all your supplies beforehand but if you're a high school student honestly don't

Buy everything you know you'll need (paper, pencils, highlighters, pens, etc.)

Then after the first day when your teachers give you the supply lists you can fill in whatever you don't have

USE THE DOLLAR STORE THEY HAVE RELATIVELY DECENT STATIONARY FOR DIRT CHEAP

That's where I buy all my comp books and I got a really cute cat one there once

This will save you a ton of money

Try to keep your desk relatively clean but it's ok if it gets a little messy don't stress

Try to keep all your school stuff in one place

If you have classes that don't have required notebook set ups then take notes for all those classes in one notebook and transfer the notes into subject notebooks at home save your backs

COLOR CODE

For my fellow IBD, Crohn's, UC, IBS, lactose intolerant, or friends with severe food allergies

Don't eat your trigger foods during the school year

It's tempting but then you will cry

And since most GI conditions are aggravated by stress missing more school/work because of a flare will cause stress and make it worse

Don't make the mistakes I made last school year I beg

Rest when you need to

School is hard with chronic illness, make sure you take care of yourselves

Mentally ill friends

AGENDAS

I know they can be hard to use but planning things and breaking stuff down into small pieces really does help

I use an app called Egenda which let's me organize things by class and gives me notifications to get my shit done

REST

Get proper sleep because mental illness is draining

Don't stay up till 11 just cause you wanna talk to friends it will catch up to you

Your friends want you to take care of yourself so sleep

Eat properly

Even if it's something small for breakfast it's better than nothing

Make sure you're in classes you can handle

You might have the intelligence for AP but you may not have the stamina, that's ok

School is about learning not competition don't push yourself too hard

Food

Eat friends

Try to eat at least one fruit and veggie every day

You will feel better

Avoid diets during the school year unless necessary, stressing about food just adds more stress to your life

HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE

Dehydration is as killer when you live in a hot area

Please don't die

You are loved

Apps (my personal favorites)

Egenda - digital agenda

Desmos - graphing calculator

Quizlet - this app isn't just for cheating, you can create flashcards, quizzes, and more and it saved my ass on some of my finals last year

Khan is well loved for a reason, it's a great supplement program

Other

School counselor's really aren't great to talk to about mental health issues, they're there for scheduling and handling school problems like bullying and such

If you can, find a therapist, seriously

Find good friends who support you

STAY OUT OF DRAMA

Eat at lunchtime, you need that boost to power through the rest of the day

Stay hydrated too, carry a water bottle

READ

ENRICH YOURSELF

LIBRARIES EXIST FOR A REASON GO FIND A GOOD BOOK

For incoming freshman

Don't try to look cool

Stay out of drama it's not worth it

Don't feel pressured to date just because everyone else is

That senior is not actually interested in you, you're just easy to control

Upperclassmen can be rude but if you find some cool ones make friends with them cause they can warn you about teachers and classes and help you navigate your new school

Try to have good relationships with your teachers, people may call you a teacher's pet but there are perks to a teacher liking you

My bio teacher once called me up beginning of class just to show me a cat meme cause I have an "I like cats" pin

You can't get by doing nothing like in middle school and teachers are a lot stricter, now is the time to learn the value of hard work

Fights aren't worth it, if someone is challenging you just let it go

AND REMEMBER:

Grades do not define you.

You are loved.

People seemed to like my bi/pan post so I decided to make a similar thing for asexuality! Please know that this is based on my own experiences within the community and I can’t speak for all aces. However I hope this can be a good starter for people to understand. A lot of ace stuff on here is heated arguments and I wanted to get away from that and provide a resource so people can learn without having to wade through the Discourse.

💖

Please note, I intentionally did not include anything about the “is ace queer” debate because it warrants a whole separate post and I want this to be accessible to anybody willing to learn, despite my personal feelings on that topic. Please do not bring your ace/queer debate onto this post, it is not the place. Thank you!!

Also for my last graphic, people re-posted to other social media and translated it into different languages and I’m totally fine w that! I would love if you keep the bottom credit and let me know if you do this. 😊

Plain text under the cut.

Most important: Spend the money you have on a motel. Churches probably will not actually help and shelters can be dangerous or turn you away. At a motel you have free breakfast, access to running water, and a lockable place to sleep. Do not waste money on a gym membership like the popular version of this post says to do, YMCA memberships are like $40.

2. Contact family and friends. Now is not the time to worry about being a burden. Your survival and safety comes first and that is all that matters, anyone worth having in your life will agree.

3. Start a gofundme. Even if someone can’t offer you a place to stay, they might be willing to toss out $5 so you can eat today.

4. Libraries have free wifi. Apply to any and all jobs you can think of if you aren’t already working.

5. Any home is a good home. Even if it’s a dingy apartment in a bad neighborhood. If its cheap and you can afford it, snatch it up. 

6. Pancake mix and peanut butter are filling, cheap, and last a long time.

[Image description - Image of the aroace, aromantic, asexual, demisexual and demiromantic pride flag with the text: I will not be silent. End description.]

Please support me on kofi if you like what I make <3 https://ko-fi.com/samhannes And you can always send in a request if you want! http://queerlection.tumblr.com/ask

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YOUR FOLLOWERS CAN MESSAGE YOU IF THEY NEED HELP AND SOMEONE TO HEAR THEM.

We are all ears!!