the spaghetti doesn't stick

the image of the voodoo doll as a magic doll you stab to hurt people actually comes from a practice by english pagan witches of making poppets. the poppet would be made in the shape of someone you hate and filled with their hair and then stabbed with big needles repeatedly. and the poppets got conflated with voodoo dolls later on.

voodoo dolls were actually a way of keeping records when black people were prevented from reading or writing. a voodoo priest who would serve as a communities doctor would make a doll that looks like the patient, and stick a pin in it where the patient was experiencing symptoms, this would let the doctor keep track of who was having what issues. for example if a patient has a headache, the voodoo priest puts a pin in the dolls head. the priest gives the patient a treatment, when the patient comes back the priest knows which doll is theirs because it looks like them, and they know they're dealing with a headache because the doll has a pin in it's head. when the symptoms resolve the pin is removed, until then the doctor has a reminder that this is an ongoing issue for a specific patient.

I wrote this because when I saw it this post had a TL;DW that conflated the information about poppets and the information about voodoo dolls, creating new and original misinformation about voodoo dolls that comes from confusing them with poppets so like don't reblog that one maybe.

also someone else in the chain included this freeze frame so you can read it

I don't give a shit if me being a weird furry online loses me any job prospects or if people talk or whatever- maybe it's fucked up that we hold something as minor and meaningless as that over someone's head, that we give it weight it doesn't deserve, you ever thought of that? Maybe I see the culture of belittling a person as "cringe" for having interests counter to the norms as a failure of society, and I'm gonna throw myself onto the damn pyre and fight to my last breath against it, ever considered that?

I'm not just being cute and funny when I say "live your truth no matter how weird it is," because you know what?

If you're not hurting anyone in a real and tangible way, if you're respecting the rights and comfort of others, nobody- NOBODY has the moral grounds to stand against you, and to hell with them if they try.

Please get weirder. Please stop being afraid of being your truest self for the sake of judgemental dorks online.

What you put into the world as a weirder, louder, more interesting person also enriches the people who read your work, see your art, take inspiration from your style or your courage, and from them it also enriches the people who reap THEIR increased and improved output.

Clients’ names and personal information have been omitted to retain their privacy.

You can read the sequel here: LINK

You can buy a digital copy of this and the sequel here: LINK

You can buy a printable copy of this and the sequel here: LINK

75% of the profits from sales are donated to the Northwest Community Bail Fund and the Transgender Education Network of Texas. The remaining 25% covers the various fees of selling online.

My Etsy: LINK / My Ko-Fi: LINK

I was going through some notebooks and found the first doodle on a page of notes for my “family systems therapy” class that lead to the creation of this comic

The first cat comes in ready for a fight. Low down, trying not to be seen, stalking/wary posture.

Second cat jumps in the air and then does the exaggerated arch. That's an absolutely terrified cat. No cool, no chill. A cat willing to fight would not have gone full arch because it's moving them out of a position where they could launch themselves at the other cat. However, a scared cat can move from this to a preemptive attack if they think the other cat is going to attack them and just moving slowly.

Realizing the second cat doesn't want a fight, the first cat comes out of the low, threatening slink quickly to roll around to say hey, whoops, they weren't here to attack, they don't want to fight either.

With similar speed and exaggeration as the arch, the second cat does the same wiggle that yes, I too have no desire to fight, look at me doing the same thing and conspicuously not attacking when you're vulnerable.

for any address to twitter you can replace the “x.com” with “nitter.net” and you will be able to browse as if you have an account. Lifesaver.

So, in terrible news, Trump's trying to pull some strings to pass this massive internet censorship bill, featuring all the kinds of internet censorship we're terrified of, including mandatory ID for accessing basically any website, specifically to crush state regulation of AI, because apparently this man will always see the moral bottom of the barrel and start digging.