natural selection never saw me coming, baby!

they attempted to execute him but they couldnt find a backup vein, he was in pain for almost two hours before they gave up. his execution has been delayed by a year. PLEASE do not give up on him, keep contacting gov. lee and keep requesting forensic testing. do not let the state of tennessee wrongfully execute tony carruthers.

Pest bugs like carpet beetles and larder beetles, can be scary and highly unpleasant to find in your home, but they are actually relatively harmless. They don’t bite or carry diseases, and the most harm they can do to a human is causing some mild skin irritation if you come in contact with the hair on the larvae, and even that is if you are sensitive to them. (This is also something that the caterpillar stage of the Spotted Tussock Moth does, and I love those little guys so I can’t count it against the beetles.)

Carpet and Larder beetles play the same ecological role. They’re both decomposers, breaking down dead biological matter. Their larvae hatch in or around whatever food source the parent beetle chose for laying eggs, and begin seeking and eating protein-based material. This includes animal fur, carcasses, dead insects, and feathers among other things.

And this is where their jobs branch apart. Larder beetles continue to eat protein as adults, furthering their roles as decomposers. Carpet beetles on the other hand are actually pollinators as adults. They feed exclusively on nectar and pollen.

These two bugs are often drawn indoors by dry pet food and shed animal hair, which seem to them to be dead materials that need broken down. They don’t understand that we did not hire a colony of tiny 6-legged janitors to tidy up the cat hair and kibble crumbs that get stuck in the carpet.

below, are four drawings of a very fluffy creature with different presentations of strabismus. they're each labelled "hypotropia (eye points downward)," "exotropia (eye points outward)," "hypertropia (eye points upward," and "esotropia (eye points inward)."

the last has an arrow, with text reading "i looked like this when i was born!"

bottom text: it's not a quirky character design, it's a real disability!

it does not mean someone is clumsy, "stupid," or autistic

(ableist depictions of autistic and/or otherwise intellectually disabled people often have strabismus. why do you think this is?)

strabismus can occur from birth, later in life due to separate visual impairments, or because of physical trauma or strokes. it can cause permanent vision issues.

i'm partially blind in one eye!

when you design a character, think about if the traits you give them exist on real people! they often do!

what do you want your art to say about disabled people?

⭐ DISCLAIMER: this is for harm reduction purposes only. if you want to come off a medication, it is best to do so with a trusted professional.

unfortunately, not all professionals know how to properly taper and may put you in danger. some may deny assistance entirely. please advocate for yourself/bring someone with you, or seek better care.

please do NOT rely solely on this post to do a self taper. i am a patient, may be wrong, and do not know you. if you can't access professional assistance, do your own research before doing anything.

- check if your medication has a withdrawal syndrome. learn about the symptoms and watch for them as you taper. if you begin to experience moderate or severe withdrawal, return to the previous dose at next dosing and reassess the tapering schedule.

- start low and go slow. the higher your dose and the longer you've been on the medication, the smaller the dose reductions will be and the less frequently you reduce the dose.

- how your dose was increased does NOT translate to how it should be decreased. tapering depends on the medication, current daily dose, and how long you've been on the medication.

- make a schedule and stick to it. do not rush. depending on your situation, it can take anywhere from days to years to come off a medication. days if you've only been on it for a short time or are on a low dose, years if you've been on it for years, and weeks to months in most other cases.

- instant release is NOT the same as extended release. instant release medications are released into the bloodstream much faster than extended. extended stays in the blood for longer. generally, you will be tapering more slowly on an ER med than an IR one.

- signs you're tapering too fast are: feeling sick, heart rate and blood pressure changes, issues with temperature regulation, distressing mental health symptoms like severe depression or anxiety, erratic mood, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, severe insomnia

- normal changes as you taper down: mild changes in mood, energy, sleeping habits, appetite; these should fade as your body readjusts to the lower dose. if they do not go away after tapering ceases, contact a professional.

And as for the question of whether or not to taper, here are some reasons people choose to taper down or off:

The meds are causing side effects that cannot be tolerated

The meds are reducing quality of life instead of enhancing it (ex: being overly sedated or stimulated)

The meds are not effective or not effective enough to warrant the risks

To lower the risk of complications from long term medication use (ex: movement disorders from taking antipsychotics)

To avoid the withdrawal syndrome

The meds interact with other medications they are on, or are going on

The meds are too expensive

To learn to cope without medication

Psych meds have helped some, but there are also many more who find them not worth the risks or cost.

While I always hope people can safely taper down with a doctor, I know this is not always possible.

If you need to come off a medication for your health but lack support, self-tapering is an option. But it's risky, and can lead to crisis or hospitalization if done incorrectly.

If you choose to self-taper, if you do nothing else, please take it slow and stay safe! Do your own research!

-calculate decreases based on your new dose, not the original dose. ie a 10% decrease from 1mg is larger than a 10% decrease of .9mg, and so on

-if you have a good psych, ask about using a compounding pharmacy for slow tapering. this way you can take a liquid version of your medication and have more consistent + precise decreases in a syringe vs cutting up tiny pills

[Id: the aftermath of the fire in my apartment, you can see on the stovetop burner where it happened, and the charred remains of the box and crap that was on fire at the bottom. there is a yellowish powder everywhere. /end ID]

C'Mon, You Know You Wanna...

I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.

The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.

Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.

A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:

Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.

Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240, please ask your MP to sign this.

Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns

Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.

I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.

It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:

many cops make no effort to use alternative communication with Deaf people even after we have identified ourselves as Deaf.

audism is also the fact that our signing is considered threatening and something that warrants murder. audism is the fact that our signing is labeled as gang signs and is used to justify murdering us. (and, for the record, actual gang signs also don't justify murder)

audism is the way Deaf people are accused of lying to "get out of things" when we identify ourselves as Deaf.... which is then used to deny us accommodations like interpreters or written communication.

And another guy stitched it with a whole breakdown of her most recent posts to go “The day before you posted this you posted another video saying you met this celebrity and he had just posted that he was in this city. You also posted a video in a hotel room and after searching up hotels in this city, we can tell it was this hotel because the wallpaper in your video matches the wallpaper in pictures on their website. By looking up restaurants by this hotel we can tell you went to this specific restaurant” and he was right